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Stong’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations

More than 320 attended the Stong College 50th Anniversary celebration on October 5th, 2019.

Alumni and both former and current students, staff, Fellows and friends of Stong College joined us as we celebrated 50 years of dynamic student life, outstanding academic and extra-curricular programs, domination of inter-college sports and commitment to social responsibility.

Please also visit and “like” the Facebook Page, York University Stong College Alumni Network (YUSCAN) for more photos of the 50th Anniversary Celebration; photos of Stong College, students and staff throughout the years; and most importantly, to stay in touch with Stong College and other alumni!

A green, white, and black logo of Stong College's 50th Anniversary.

Stong’s 50th Opening Ceremony

Time (EDT)ActivityDescriptionLocation
10:00 AM – 5:30 PMCheck-InAll pre-registered participants are to confirm their arrival at the Stong 50 Check-in Station on the lower level of the College near the Orange Snail.  You will be given a colour coded name tag on a lanyard showing the package of events for which you have registered.  “Sports Only” participants will also be given a name tag at the Check-in Station at Stong College.
1st Floor Hallway by Orange Snail
10:30 AM – 11:00 AMOpening CeremonyWhat would a reunion be without a ribbon cutting ceremony? Join Dr. Mazen Hamadeh, Head of Stong College, members of the Stong 50 Planning group and other College leaders for the ceremonial opening of Stong College’s 50th-anniversary Celebration.



Olga Cirak Junior Common Room

11:00 AM – 3:00 PMSports With Stong’s depth of athletic talent, we plan to form sports teams “by the decade” for friendly competition: 1970s versus 1980s, 1990s versus 2000s, and 2010s versus current students. We are planning slow-pitch at the Passy Softball Fields and indoor sports (to be determined based on preferences indicated on the registration form) in the Field House Gym at the Tait McKenzie Centre. All teams will be co-ed, both women and men.  Spectators and cheerleaders are welcome!  To participate, please indicate your interest on the online registration form. All participants are asked to pick up their name tag at the Check-in Station at Stong beforehand.

Tait McKenzie’s shower and change facilities will be open to Stong 50 sports participants at no cost onOctober 5th. For entry, your Stong 50 name tag needs to be presented to staff at the Tait McKenzie control desk. Please note that the entrance to the Tait McKenzie complex is now on the south side facing Stong and Bethune Colleges. Additionally, First Aiders will be available at the sports activities.		Passy Softball Fields; Tait McKenzie Centre, Field House Gym East & West

11:00 AM – 3:00 PMIndoor SportsFor those interested in less aerobic competition, a foosball (table soccer) tournament and a dart tournament will be held in the Samuel Beckett Theatre (now the Stong College Student Government Lounge) in Room 112, adjacent to the Olga Cirak Junior Common Room.  Card games and board games are also possible if there is sufficient interest.  A cash bar will be available.  To participate, please indicate your interest on the online registration form.



Beckett Theatre / SCSG Lounge, 112 Stong


11:00 AM – 3:00 PMBarbecue LunchCome to the Orange Snail for a barbecue lunch of a hamburger, veggie burger or sausage; salad, potato chips, and soft drink.  Overflow into the Olga Cirak Junior Common Room or outdoors into the courtyard and “pit,” weather permitting.  A cash bar will be available.



Orange Snail, Outdoor Courtyard & Olga Cirak Junior Common Room

11:00 AM – 5:30 PMStong Memorabilia ShowOn the screen in the Olga Cirak Junior Common Room and during the 50th Anniversary Dinner, we will project images of Stong’s 50-year history.  Lots of memories!  Maybe you’ll see yourself!

Additional contributions are welcome!

If you still have photos of campus life, sports teams, Stong College, or the York campus, please send them along.  If you have actual T-shirts, old meal cards/“script”, York U cards, library cards, College handbooks, bills showing how inexpensive things were in the “old days”, coffee mugs, etc., we would be interested in getting photos of these to include in the digitized Memorabilia Show.

All images should be submitted in jpeg format.  Please date (or date range) your submission, include any other pertinent information (if known) and send your contributions as e-mail attachments:
stong.alumni@gmail.com

Please send submissions by July 15, 2019.

Please note:  By submitting photos, you agree to their use in the Stong 50 Memorabilia Show.  This Show is intended to be used ONLY at the Stong 50 celebration as well as a basis for any College/University reunions in the future (we would like to leave this digitized show for future Stong-ites).  Use of submissions will be at the discretion of the Stong 50 planning group.		Olga Cirak Junior Common Room

1:30 PM – 4:45 PMCampus ToursYork University has changed a great deal over the last 50 years.  When Stong was created as College E in 1969, there were 24 buildings on campus, including residences, the physical plant buildings, and a temporary office building. Today, the campus boasts 75 buildings, a retail mall, two Student Centres and two subway stations! 

You can take a tour of the York Campus two ways:  either a self-guided walking tour of the Campus, using the Campus Map (in your Stong 50 SWAG bag or available at the Check-in Station) OR there will be Bus Tours, with exceptional student Tour Guides, scheduled to leave from the front of Stong Residence at 1:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on October 5th.  The tour will last 60-75 minutes, including stops to allow you to see the York Lanes mall and some prominent buildings.  The cost is included in any registration package so you just have to show your name tag (although tips are always appreciated by “starving” students!).  If taking a Bus Tour, please sign up for a tour departure time at the Check-in Station.

Stong Residence Tours
What can we say?  Haven’t you always wondered what your residence room would look like now?  How small was a single room, REALLY?  Now, you have the opportunity to go back and see a room… and possibly what the view from the window looks like today!   Remember, though, that there are residents in the rooms and it IS a Saturday, so please be respectful of residents’ privacy as you would have appreciated it when you lived there. Please sign up for a Residence Tour at the Check-in Station on October 5th.




Depart from the front of Stong Residence

3:00 PM – 6:00 PMAfternoon Social MixerThis will be open time for enjoying the Memorabilia Show in the Olga Cirak Junior Common Room visiting with old friends, taking the Campus Tour and/or Residence Tour and for different interest groups such as residence floors, sports teams, former Orange Snail staff, etc. to organize their own reunions. There will be a cash bar in the Junior Common Room and in the Orange Snail.



Olga Cirak Junior Common Room & Orange Snail

Stong’s 50th Dinner & Evening

Time (EDT)ActivityDescriptionLocation
5:30 PM – 7:00 PMCheck-InReception & Check-In will remain open until 7:00 PM.2nd Level, New Student Centre
6:00 PM – 7:00 PMCocktails & AppetizersCocktails and appetizers are served while guests settle in and mingle with their Stong College peers.Conference Hall, 2nd Level, New Student Centre
7:00 PM – 9:00 PMDinner The centrepiece of the Stong 50 celebration will be held in the beautiful conference hall in the New Student Centre, which opened in 2018 and is located immediately south of the Ross Building, a five-to-seven-minute walk from Stong College. A SHUTTLE BUS will also be available between Stong and the New Student Centre from 5:45  to 7:00 p.m. and after the dinner from 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. 

The dinner reception commences at 6:00 p.m. with appetizers and a cash bar.  Table seating for dinner is at 7:00 p.m.  The dinner itself will offer a selection of herb grilled chicken, baked salmon with salsa verde, roast potatoes, rice pilaf, vegetable medley, mixed green salad, red and white wine on the table, dessert with coffee and tea. At the dinner, there will be tables of 8:  if you want to sit with friends, please make those arrangements yourself. There will be lots of time to mingle during the cocktail hour, at dinner and afterward back at Stong.

Dress for the dinner will be smart casual.		Conference Hall, 2nd Level, New Student Centre


10:00 PM – 1:00 AMTom Barlow “Unplugged”A favourite performer in the Orange Snail through the 1980s and one of our own, Tom is a four-time Juno Award nominee.  A well-known rocker across the GTA and southern Ontario who mixes his own works with popular songs of others, Tom will play unplugged in the Olga Cirak Junior Common Room – as he did at Stong’s 25th Anniversary in 1994.  A cash bar will be available.  http://www.barlowonline.com/Olga Cirak Junior Common Room
10:00 PM – 1:00 AMMix and MingleGuests are welcome to join others at the Orange Snail to meet their peers and/or network.Orange Snail
10:00 PM – 1:00 AMCoffee and ConversationFor those who would prefer a quiet venue to catch up with old friends, away from the bar scene, there will be coffee and plenty of seating available in the Hédi Bouraoui Master’s Dining Room, at the far end of the Main Dining Hall.Hédi Bouraoui Master’s Dining Room (101)

Stong50 Golf Tournament

As part of the Stong 50 celebration, there will be an 18-hole golf tournament, best-ball format, at the Remington Parkview Golf & Country Club, located at 6400 Steeles Ave East on the north side of the road, east of Markham Road. Open to golfers of any gender and caliber, the entry fee for the tournament is $60 per player or $240 per foursome, riding carts included. Tee-off times will be mid-morning (times to be determined, based on the number of participants). Singles, foursomes, pairs, threesomes are all welcome. Confirmations of groups and tee times will be sent prior to the tournament. Prizes will be awarded to the members of the winning team. There will be a number of other prizes for longest drive, closest to the pin, etc. The Club has a large restaurant, lounge, and patio, should participants wish to stay afterward to socialize.

Deadline to pay the registration fee for the golf tournament is September 25, 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, please contact:

Ralph Gauthier – ralphgauthier@msn.com – 705-431-8514 res; 647-401-6242 cell, text only

Steve Dranitsaris – sdrano@rogers.com – 647-880-4214 cell; 905-880-1556 res.

Stong 50 – stong.alumni@gmail.com

Stong50 Hockey Tournament

Would you be interested in playing in a friendly Stong 50 hockey tournament? Plans are just in the infancy stage for the evening of Saturday, December 7th at the Canlan Ice Complex at York University (Murray Ross Pkwy, south of Steeles Ave. West). If you are the slightest bit interested, please check off the box once you Link to Registration & Payment, providing your contact information, and we’ll be in touch to confirm costs and other details.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact:

Chris Deighan – chrisjdeighan@gmail.com

Stong 50 – stong.alumni@gmail.com

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