Grant MacEwan Community College Oral History

[Dr. MacEwan] was the kind of man when he asked you a question, he looked you in the eye, and he listened to your answer. You maybe only talked to him for 30 to 60 seconds, but you felt like you were important for that 30 to 60 seconds. That made a huge impression on me, and I went to anything after that that Dr. MacEwan would be at whether I was a student, and when I came to work at MacEwan, I went to every event that I knew Dr. MacEwan would be at. I admired him so much – Jill Day 

We had golf tournaments, we had picnics, a day at the races, a day at the theatre, and a lot of that was due to John [Haar]. And of course, we participated in things like MacEwan Day. They were always very special – Chuck Day

Cromdale was a very special place. You really got to know everybody. I remember there were two ladies that worked in the cafeteria, and I just loved them both. Sometimes they would go and sit down and have coffee, and I would go and make myself a sandwich – Michelle Bezenar

One of the big things back then was people smoked in their offices. When I started, you could walk into someone’s office, and they’d be sitting there chain-smoking – Trevor Beck

It was the feeling of being valued, knowing that people mattered, and people really believed that they were contributing to changing the lives of students. They really believed it no matter where you worked here; they knew that they impacted the students and also that the institution and their contribution to the institution made a difference in our city – Margo Baptista

I think MacEwan would not be what it was today had it not been for those of us who were here at the founding level, and that includes all of us. Because we came from all facets of life, business life, academic life, and the college developed into what it is now, which is an institution of which I’m very proud because it is a fine place – Paul Ancel

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