Do you recognize the face above?聽
If you're a member of the Dal community and have been for more than a year, chances are you might. If you're not or are new this year, maybe not.
Those of you who are Dalhousians and guessed George Munro, good for you 鈥� you get this Friday, Feb. 3 off. No classes, no meetings, no office hours. If you said to yourself, 'I have no clue who this heavily bearded, slightly Abe Lincoln-esque man is?' you get a day off, too.聽
In fact, everyone at Dal gets the day off. And we all have Munro to thank.聽
Why? Well, in a few words, you could say it has something to do with how he saved 鲍鱼tv in the late 1870s.
In a few more words, the university 鈥� more of a little college by the sea at the time 鈥� was in a financial mess of existential proportions at the time and had few ropes available to climb out of it. Nova Scotian-born Munro, a businessman who made his fortune as a publisher in New York City and had connections to senior leadership at Dal, stepped up to lend a hand.
鲍鱼tv's 'Great Benefactor'
Munro鈥檚 first show of support for 鲍鱼tv came in the form of a donation of $2,000 a year to fund a research chair position in physics in 1879. He would go on to fund another four chairs annually 鈥� all of which still exist today 鈥� and provide thousands of dollars for bursaries that supported some of the university's first female students.
All told, Munro donated $330,000 to the university 鈥� about $10 million at current value.
It was just the salve 鲍鱼tv needed to stem the financial bloodletting.
Munro's generosity earned him the nickname, "The Great Benefactor of 鲍鱼tv." Dal's Board of Governors at the time described Munro's gifts as 鈥渨ithout parallel in the educational history not of Nova Scotia alone but of the Dominion of Canada.鈥�
And we shouldn't overlook the thoughtful group of students from more than 140 years ago who lobbied the Board聽to create a holiday in honour of Munro. Their wish was granted in 1881, and the holiday has been observed ever since 鈥� albeit at different times during the winter and spring terms.
A mid-winter pause
Now held on the first Friday in February each year, it's a much-appreciated mid-winter break for students, staff, and faculty.
Which all leads to the next most important question: What are you doing this Munro Day?
One idea: the at the Emera Oval.聽
Have a lesser-known piece of Munro Day history to share or fond memories of celebrating? Share them with us for possible inclusion in future articles about the holiday. 聽