National Federation of Canadian University Students

National Federation of Canadian University Students (NFCUS) was a national university student organization founded in 1926. It is the oldest and first national student organization in Canada. It was the primary student organization in Canada during the 1920s, 1930s (except for the Canadian Student Assembly created in 1937), 1940s (NFCUS ceased operations from 1940–1946) the 1950s, and the early 1960s.

NFCUS changed its name to Canadian Union of Students (CUS) in 1963 and continued operations under that name until CUS ceased to exist in 1969. Several adhoc committees operated on a national level for a few years until the National Union of Students in Canada was organized in 1972.

The Federation was formed in Montreal on December 1926 with representatives from ten student associations. Its formation was encouraged by a former president of National Union of Students in England, Ralph Nunn May, who was touring Canada as a member of the Imperial Debating Team. NFCUS was initially established to facilitate student engagement in debating events, and to organize student exchanges, sports events, and discounts on train tickets. Although NFCUS was organized amongst other more politically involved student organizations, NFCUS remained largely apolitical in its early existence.

In the 1920s and 1930s, university in Canada was the purview of the wealthy and upper middle class. University students were predominantly white males and were a minority amongst their cohort. In 1930, approximately 33,000 students attended Canadian universities full-time, which comprised 3% of college aged youth. Aside from regular university antics, University administrators during this time had traditionally succeeded in managing and socializing students.

Paul Axelrod, professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at York University, asserts NFCUS had been created amongst a common desire for pace and international harmony after the carnage and collective trauma experienced as a result of the First World War. Initially NFCUS resolved to “promote national unity” through campus cooperation and to facilitate the exchange of information on student concerns. Axelrod asserts that NFCUS became an apolitical service organization for students, even during a time in the 1930s when other student groups advocated peace and social change, “NFCUS avoided taking controversial positions on issues of the day.” This is consistent with Nigel Moses and Robert Fredrick Clift’s assessment of NFCUS in its early days. Canadian university administrators were warm to NFCUS and saw it as part of student learning and development on campus. Surveillance reports of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mention NFCUS as a “reliable and approved institution.” Other groups, many inspired by the Social Gospel movement, were more active on social justice initiatives, such as the Student Christian Movement, the Canadian Youth Congress, and the Canadian Student Assembly (created in 1937). There were students involved in activism resembling a type of student movement at the time, but as Axelrod wrote, the campus culture of conformity and repressive nature of university administrators made it difficult for students to express independent political views. It wasn’t uncommon for editors of newspapers and student councilors to lose their positions after criticizing the university, government, or the dominant order.

...
Wikipedia