Remembering Ivan McFarlane

By Sylvia Lassam, Rolph-Bell Archivist

A year ago, during Black History Month 2020, Trinity alumnus Ivan Owen McFarlane (Class of 1964) passed away. Ivan was a great friend to Trinity College, a frequent presence who contributed both to the serious business of governance, and the business of enjoying fellowship and fun. Ivan, a lifelong learner and educator, had an illustrious career, and kept close to Trinity throughout his life.

The anniversary of his death presents an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances that brought Ivan to us from his home in Jamaica, circumstances that brought a number of other young men and women from the  West Indies in the 1950’s and 1960’s to  Trinity College and other Canadian universities.

Canada’s immigration policies through the first half of the twentieth century were discriminatory towards non-white peoples. As a result, most West Indians seeking to emigrate left for Great Britain or the United States. However, in 1952 the U.S. imposed a highly restrictive quota for non-white immigrants and in 1962, Britain passed the Commonwealth Immigration Act to stem the flow from its former colonies. As a result, Canada became more attractive, even though its policies were not welcoming. Domestic servants were incentivised, and students were allowed; both groups arrived in greater number during the 60’s as restrictions permitted. In the 1950’s, approximately 11,000 West Indians came to Canada; in the 1960’s that number rose to 46,000. At Trinity College there were only a small number of Black students during the 1950’s, but that number included Austin Clarke, who moved from Barbados in 1955 and attended Trinity from 1956-1957. He wrote movingly of the life of domestic servants in his trilogy of novels, The Meeting Point, Storm of Fortune, and The Bigger Light. Many, like Austin, applied for permanent residency status when they graduated and went on to Canadian careers and citizenship.

Added to the political situation and the obvious connection with Anglicans in the British colonies, there is a third reason why West Indian students came specifically to Trinity College: Professor of Classics, Registrar and Dean of Men, Allan Earp. Prof. Earp was at Trinity from 1955 to 1965. According to David Neelands, he was “really committed to making Trinity an international place, with good relations on a student level with those who came from the Caribbean and Africa.”  Former Trinity student Weston Miller interviewed Prof. Earp when he was 94, retired after a distinguished career at Carleton University, the University of Guyana, and finally as Provost and later President of Brock University. Writing in the Salterrae (September 2016), Miller notes that Prof. Earp partnered with the governments of the Gold Coast in Africa to have two students study at Trinity, the first ever African students accepted here. Inspired by the activism taking place in the United States at the time, Prof. Earp championed the cause of Black students from Africa and the Caribbean, picketing on University Avenue, and pleading with the government of Prime Minister Diefenbaker to reverse the ban on summer jobs for overseas students. Prof. Earp told Weston Miller that he was most proud of two things during his time at Trinity: his willingness to listen to students’ calls for change, and his attempts at enhancing inclusivity.

Ivan, arriving in 1961, was preceded by Chamberlain Hope, 5T8, who returned to Barbados and a career as an educator at the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College. Mr. Hope was also a novelist. Helen Pyne (later Pyne-Timothy) of Jamaica (5T9) was a feminist literary critic and academic, a founder and inaugural president of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars. A senior lecturer in Literary and Linguistics at the University of the West Indies, she held Visiting Professor/Fellow roles at Radcliffe, UCLA, Cornell, and other American universities. Eric Lindsay of Jamaica, 5T9, became an Ontario Court Judge; Colin Worrell, 6T1, became a professor at Ryerson; Ethel Webber (6T1) became a teacher, later principal, at Shortwood Teachers’ College in Jamaica.  George Meikle, 6T1, pursued an MBA after Trinity, and had a 32-year career in Canada before returning to Jamaica and writing a book, In Praise of Jamaica. Philip Headley of Barbados, 6T4, became a high school teacher in Wawa, retiring to Saskatoon. Chloesta Claxton, 6T5 (later McKay) from St. Kitts, had a teaching and counseling career in the U.S. E. Barry Isaac from Tobago (6T5) became a radiologist who practiced in Burlington and Hamilton. Two Trinity graduates returned to Grenada and roles in the government of Eric Gairy. George Hosten (6T6) was Finance Minister in 1974 when independence came to Grenada and he later served as an MP.  George Ashley Griffith (6T7) was Ambassador from Grenada to the US and a representative at the United Nations.  He also served as High Commissioner to Canada and as Honorary Consular Agent. In 2016 Griffith wrote The Gairy Movement: a history of  Grenada, 1947-1997. Gregg Edwards, 6T6, from Barbados, had a career as a civil servant in Ottawa.*

We are grateful that Ivan, and his fellow students from the West Indies, chose to come here, to enrich our lives and the communities they chose when they left us.

*The information compiled in this paragraph was gathered from online sources – updates can be sent to archives@trinity.utoronto.ca.

For Black History Month, Trinity College recognizes and celebrates members of the community who have made a difference. Read their stories – trailblazers, change makers and community leaders who fought against racism, barriers and challenges of their times.

Categories: Alumni; College News