The athletics program at UNB began with a student initiative in 1930 when the Students' Union hired Ted Coffey as UNB's first Physical Director, a position which was terminated in 1934. In 1941 the UNB Senate reinstated the position of Physical Director and hired Howard Ryan to fill it. The Athletics Board was formed in 1955 as a Senate Committee to govern all athletics ranging from recreational clubs to varsity sports enjoyed by the students of UNB and administered by the Athletics Department.
The physical education program at UNB began with individual courses operated under the auspices of the Education Faculty. In 1957 the degree program in physical education was first offered with an initial enrolment of twenty-three students. In 1975 an independent Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation was established which encompassed both the B.P.E. program and the athletics program. This merger made official the union of two areas whose administration and personnel had long overlapped.
Two series, Athletics and Education, each of which documents a separate function of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation comprise this record group. The 39 cu. ft. of records in Series l, Athletics, reflect the various recreational and competitive sports activities carried on under the auspices of the Dept. of Athletics, later the Division of Athletics after incorporation into the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. This series is futher subdivided into seven sub-series documenting the administration of the department, the network of sports organization within which the department functions and the various sports activities which they govern.
Series 2, Education, which contains 10 cu. ft. of material, focuses on the academic programs in physical education. The series is sub-divided to reflect the administration of the department, the programs, faculty and students. A large portion of the Education Series has been restricted due to the personal information contained in the records.
The Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation records were transferred from the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium where they were being held in storage. Although some of the records were in what appeared to be their original order, the majority of them were not. In many cases, groupings of files were out of place or incomplete. In view of the absence of meaningful original order it was deemed advisable to give precedence to intellectual control. The physical materials were reboxed but no major attempt made to restore original order in the physical arrangement. However, in the finding aid, materials of like function have been drawn together from throughout the record group, thereby creating an order which probably resembles that employed when the records were in active use. The physical location of each file is indicated as the final element in the file title.
Chantelle D. MacDonald
Archival Assistant
Archives and Special Collections
Harriet Irving Library
University of New Brunswick
October 1993
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