Alumni to present replacement ‘Senior Stick’ back to BU

Thanks to a hugely successful fundraising effort led by Brandon College and Brandon University alumni, a symbolic staff that represents student leadership will soon be back in the hands of students.

“We know that so many of our alumni have very fond memories of the Senior Stick and Lady Stick, and we are thrilled that we were able to so quickly reach our fundraising goal,” said Carla Eisler, Alumni Relations Officer at BU. “Along with several of the donations came touching notes that really drove home how important this symbol has been to alumni who were here at that time.”

For decades, the Senior Stick and Lady Stick were some of the most senior roles in the student executive at Brandon College. Although their precise roles and responsibilities changed over time, they were generally seen as president and vice-president of the entire student body, working with the heads of other student organizations and class year presidents to help the college’s social and student life run smoothly.

Not just a title, each Stick also carried an actual stick — a ceremonial wooden staff, about three feet long, topped in silver, and covered in silver rings that bore the name and year of every previous officeholder.

After the positions were phased out in 1967, when Brandon College became Brandon University, the staffs were placed on display in a custom-made case in the university library. Now, the case and the Lady Stick are housed in the S.J. McKee Archives at BU, but at some point in the intervening years, the Senior Stick had gone missing.

Until tomorrow, that is.

Brandon College and BU alumni raised nearly $6,000 to re-create the Senior Stick, as authentically as possible, and will present it back to students and student government in a special ceremony during the BU Homecoming Awards Banquet.

The replica is as authentic as possible, featuring a vintage wooden staff, a custom-cast silver headpiece, and custom silver rings with hand-engraving of the names of all previous Senior Sticks, including Tommy Douglas, who was Senior Stick in 1929–30.

To recreate the Senior Stick, BU turned to Alex McPhie, a Winnipeg-based archaeological silversmith who specializes in old-fashioned metalwork. Basing his work on the existing Lady Stick as well as photographs of the original Senior Stick, McPhie crafted a reproduction that is as faithful as can be to the original.

The total cost of the recreation, including several ounces of solid silver, came to just under $5,300. Because alumni went above and beyond with their fundraising, the additional money will help cover the costs of mounting the two sticks in the case, ensuring it is secure with a new lock, and producing a permanent informational plaque.

The recreated Senior Stick will be presented back to Brandon University, and to BU students, in a ceremony tomorrow evening. The McKee Archives will be custodian of the sticks, and it’s hoped that they will once again go on permanent display in the library.

In the future, the Senior Stick and Lady Stick could once again be used for special occasions, such as Convocation, Homecoming, or students’ union elections.

BU’s Homecoming weekend continues all day tomorrow with brunch, campus tours, the dedication of the McCutcheon Alcove, and an awards banquet. The weekend wraps up with a farewell brunch on Sunday.

Senior and Lady Stick

In 1919-1920, all of the societies of Brandon College amalgamated into one students’ association. The Christmas issue of The Quill that year is the first to list the position of President and Senior Stick, although the text indicates the term “senior stick” had been used in previous years around the college. Prior to 1919, the main student executive appears to have been the Literary Society, for which there were elections every year. Presidents of the Lit Society (1910-1918) could be either male or female. The position of Lady Stick first appears in 1923-1924.

A history of student sticks

YEAR	SENIOR STICK	LADY STICK
1919 – 1920	Norman McDonald
1920 – 1921	H. Olson
1921 – 1922	Alexander M. Derby
1922 – 1923	Donald G. McKnight
1923 – 1924	Elmer Raymond Carter	Aleta Elizabeth Stewart
1924 – 1925	Frederick James Westcott	Kathleen Emily Kenner
1925 – 1926	Joseph Lester Gayton	Rose Jeane Vasey
1926 – 1927	A Derby	Ruth Ethel Clement
1927 – 1928	J.B. Thompson	Doris Marietta Cochrane
1928 – 1929	John Bernard Hawson	Berth Clark
1929 – 1930	Thomas Douglas	Mary Helen Dunkin
1930 – 1931	Stanley J. Westaway	Lois R. Gainer
1931 – 1932	Frank A. Kerr	Phyllis Grace Blandford
1932 – 1933	Hugh Lorne Umphrey	Ruth Thornton
1933 – 1934	George McGregor	Eileen Metcalfe
1934 – 1935	Norman Keith McKinnon	Marion I. Thomson
1935 – 1936	Tommy Morison	Ruth Jacqueline Bell
1936 – 1937	Earl T. Mills	Doris M. Fraser
1937 – 1938	Douglas C. Downing	Mary Stewart Murray
1938 – 1939	Leslie W. Roberts	Elva C. Way
1939 – 1940	Thomas H.M. McLeod	Gwendolyn Elizabeth Dobbie
1940 – 1941	Stanley “Bud” Searle	Ruth Hunter
1941 – 1942	Jim Nelson	Alixe Meadows
1942 – 1943	Clifford Kitson	Doreen Bolstad
1943 – 1944	George Longphee	Iva J. Delamater
1944 – 1945	Andrew Judson	Lenore Gusdal
1945 – 1946	Gordon Lindsay	F. Elizabeth Northcott
1946 – 1947	Jack Neelin	Doreen Rowse
1947 – 1948	Frank Humphries	Eunice Hunter
1948 – 1949	Stephen Symbalisty	Marjory Fleming
1949 – 1950	Finley Campbell	Margaret Gerow
1950 – 1952	Angus Juckes	Patricia Magnacca
1951 – 1952	Paul McKinnon	Joan Garnett
1952 – 1953	James Struthers	Mary Jane McLachlan
1953 – 1954	John P. Minions	Olga Evaskow
1954 – 1955	Frank McKinnon	Verda Peden
1955 – 1956	Laurie Craddock	Jean Hannah
1956 – 1957	Jack Fotheringham	Barbara Mills
1957 – 1958	Jack Jubenvill	Elaine Fraser
1958 – 1959	Jim Melvin	Barbara Russell
1959 – 1960	Robert Melvin	Regina Armstrong
1960 – 1961	Gladwyn Scott	Penny Smith
1961 – 1962	Ron Keeler	Florence English
1962 – 1963	Spence Bell	Verna Moore
1963 – 1964	Warren Veale	Poppy Cumming
1964 – 1965	Russell Lusk	Anne Franklin
1965 – 1966	Bill Sparling	Terry Moore

Contact