Yep; Stratford’s whoring itself out to the University of Waterloo because it wants a “liberal arts campus”
The deal’ll be similar to what happened in cambridge with the campus there - “local partners” buy the land and build the campus, Waterloo puts the academic program in place and signs the diplomas.
Apparently, the City of Stratford, the Festival, and the University are all in talks with each other. Who the hell knows what the Fesival is in there for… besides the fact that they’ve got pots of money. Really, what does the Fesival - a shakespearian repituare theatre - have to do with the Corporation of the City of Stratford and the University of Waterloo? I think the Festival would be stretching its mandate pretty far if it really started participating in this process in a meaningful way (i.e. - cash). I think they just want to be listed as being a part of this.
Speaking of just wanting to be listed as being a part of this: “Senators had received a confidential e-mail briefing about the proposal last week, but Johnston said Stratford officials had been keen to “bring the discussions into the public realm as part of the municipal election””
So, it’s really just a pre-election carrot, I guess. If it was a serious announcement, they’d probably know where they wanted it, how many student’s they’d want to be there, or even WHAT PROGRAMS MIGHT BE OFFERED! All they’ve done is had all parties say that they in some way support this idea.
With Stratford having to supply the land and building, I’m giving 2 to 1 odds that they try and shoehorn them into the old Nancy Campbell building - it’s got a stage, some residence rooms, and (best of all for the city) it’ll probably be cheap. Never mind that there’s no parking whatsoever there; that’ll just solve itself!
If they really wanted to do something good, they should finally bulldoze the Cooper Site and put it there - it’s nice and downtown, there’ll be enough room to park, and the city can finally justify putting up the cash to make Lawrance Ryan shut up.
Some other favourites:
-Johnston commented on the assumption that because the Festival is involved, UW would be building a drama program in Stratford: “Certainly we’d have an interest in theatre arts, but we’d by no means be limited to theatre arts.” In the news release he added that “My own vision includes an international student body attracted by a unique liberal arts curriculum with its roots in culture.”
-“We need to diversify our economic development portfolio in Stratford,” says Mathieson. “With an aging population, we need to attract and retain young, great minds. A liberal arts college would be a wonderful addition in a city where culture is an important part of our economic mix.”
So; Mathieson wants to bring new, educated, hard-workers into the Stratford fold. That’s groovy. UW wants another way to suckle at the tit of unrestricted tuitions for international students. Let’s face it, no matter what, Stratford looks fucking AWESOME on film. I’ve seen just as many glossy photos of it as anyone else - somehow they always manage to find a photo op that doesn’t show the piles of crap, just the nice stuff. They’ll get the international students they want.
BUT!! How many international students stick around? 10%? 20%?
They’re dealing at cross-purposes. If Stratford wants people who’ll stick around, they need to go after people who are really looking at staying somewhere long-term; I think you’ll find a lot more of those people will be Canadians or Ontarians.
Getting even crazier, UW wants to offer Coop in Stratford. Besides the Festival, how many places are really looking for people in liberal arts courses? Maybe I’m not seeing the forrest for the trees, but not many come to mind.
The only really positive thing I see about this is that in two years - MAYBE - I’ll be able to grab a summer course there.