Wayne Anderson
First class of Lethbridge Junior College
Wayne Anderson recalls his Lethbridge Junior College student ID number as easily now as he did nearly 60 years ago. The number – 570001 – reflects the year he started and the fact that as his last name came early in the alphabet, he was the first student listed on the official rolls.
Like many students in the first class to attend Lethbridge College, Anderson came to the new school with plans of becoming a teacher and the support of his local school district. “My family didn’t have a lot of money, and the bursary helped pay for the tuition,” he says. “I originally wanted to be a phys ed teacher. I had played on the basketball team in high school and loved it.”
Anderson ended up playing on the first college basketball team as well – which was a highlight of his year at the then-junior college.
“It was, to me, a good starting point,” he says. “I ended up having a good time and playing basketball with the fellas. We were the first basketball team – me and Jim Giacchetta and Leslie Lavkulich and Fiori D’Andrea – we played teams all around the south.”
Anderson admits that despite the good times, in the end he “blew things” at the college. Instead of continuing his studies, he went to work in the soil sciences and came back to the college in 1966 to continue and eventually completed his education. By the time he finished, the college and university had split and he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Science and Geography degree from the new University of Lethbridge.
“My mother was quite disappointed when I didn’t make that first year at the college,” Anderson says. “I wanted to complete it and go back and make amends for what I had blown.”
He went on to a successful career working at the research station until he retired. Anderson says he remains grateful to his wife, Rita, who helped him through some challenging times over the years, and he was pleased when both of his daughters, Carolyn and Taunya, attended Lethbridge College. Today he works with the Commissionaires in Lethbridge.
Anderson fondly remembers his year at the college, including interactions with the Dean of the college, Jim Cousins. “Dean Cousins was great,” Anderson said. “He was really interested in the students, and he ended up designating myself and two other students to develop a coat of arms for the college. He ended up choosing my design” and it could be found on doors and documents for years.
Anderson says if he had to give advice to students starting college 60 years after he did, it would be simple. “Don’t do it my way!” he says with a laugh. “That’s the tough way. Perseverance was the main driving force in my case.”
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Fiori D’Andrea
Fiori D’Andrea was the first president of the students’ union at Lethbridge Junior College. Student union fees were nominal – just $2 a year – but activities were abundant and included a student newspaper called The Torch. Although D’Andrea planned to study medicine, he ended up earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Film and Television Production from Montana State College and a Master of Arts in Education from San Jose State University. From 1971 to 1987 he brought his knowledge and skills home to work at Lethbridge College.
Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day was the valedictorian of the first graduating class. At the ceremony, she said: “We want to thank
those who worked so hard to bring the junior college into being, and for planning such a fine school… Some day we shall be doctors, school teachers, optometrists, engineers, economists, dental secretaries, diesel engineers and experts in the field of commerce. Wherever we came from, whatever we are, and whatever we shall do in the future, we shall always be proud to say we attended the first year of the Lethbridge Junior College.”
Jim Giacchetta
Jim Giacchetta was the only student who came to the college during the first year to take a vocational course; he was enrolled in automotives. Even though he took Automotives 20, 30 and 40, the college was not able to certify him. College founder Gilbert Paterson had assumed that if the college wanted to offer a course and if there were people to teach it and take it, it could be done. However, the Apprenticeship Board had firm control in the province and was reluctant to certify students in new programs. It wasn’t until the college moved to its permanent campus in 1962 that the vocational program started to grow.
Dr. L. M. (Leslie) Lavkulich
Leslie Lavkulich was the first graduate from Lethbridge College to receive a PhD. He had attended McNally School, came to the college and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Alberta, a Master’s degree and finally a doctoral degree from Cornell University in New York. At the college’s 10 year anniversary, he was working as a professor of soil science at the University of British Columbia and was invited back to speak at convocation. He told the 300 students and guests that they were “celebrating the 10th anniversary of a dream come true.”
