What a delight to read Rector Niki Boytchuk-Hale’s well-written “The Heart of ϳԹԴ” (Issue 03, 2025)! Her words, accompanied by excellent illustrations, convey the excitement she and her fellow students feel about the newly expanded spaces and multiple eateries of the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC). Because the entire JDUC renovation project excluded it, however, her article necessarily overlooked the true “heart” of the “heart:” Wallace Hall.
Wallace Hall, an integral part of the original, Gothic-Revival building of 1948–49, was the main university dining room until 1973. Subsequently, a host of events, from occasional concerts and special guest-lectures to receptions and rehearsals took place within its portrait-lined, wood-panelled walls under a beamed ceiling; a scene reminiscent of the great hall at Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School – minus the flying owls and blazing chandeliers.
A grand, centrally located, multi-purpose space such as Wallace Hall is all too rare on the ϳԹԴ campus. It should not continue to languish, shabby looking, Cinderella-like. We pledge to ensure the restoration of its historic character. Revitalized, for the future benefit of the ϳԹԴ community, Wallace Hall will add a touch of tradition to the spanking new JDUC, returning a forgotten jewel to its crown.
Pierre du Prey, Professor Emeritus, Department of Art History and Art Conservation, and Julia du Prey, Ed’92
I was very interested to read in the Alumni Review about the new clock being installed in the Grant Hall tower. When fundraising (entirely by students) was in progress for the erection of a building to honour Principal George Grant, Professor Nathan Dupuis was approached for a donation. He replied that while he had no money to give, he would build a clock for the building’s tower. In 1993, while a staff mem-ber of the Physics Department, I was creating an exhibit in Stirling Hall to commemorate Nathan Dupuis and the Centennial of the Applied Science Faculty when I received a phone call from someone in Physical Plant Services. A new, electric clock was being installed in Grant Hall and he asked me if I had any ideas of what to do with the original Dupuis clock. I sensed relief in his voice when I offered to take it to include in the Stirling Hall display.
That clock is still in the Stirling Hall foyer display cabinet along with its driving weight and the mitre-gearbox that transmitted the motion to the four clock faces. The pendulum rod with its weight, and a few related items, are in storage elsewhere in Stirling Hall. This display also includes three other clocks designed and built by Dupuis, as well as various astronomical instruments used in the early observatories at ϳԹԴ.
Bernard Ziomkiewicz, Arts’99
While reading the Spring 2026 issue online, I could have burst with excitement when I saw that the “If These Walls Could Talk” section features the student house I once called home. Reading the memories of past tenants brought back a wave of nostalgia.
Maddie Lebarron, Artsci’23
