Athol Murray College of Notre Dame


Athol Murray College of Notre Dame is a private, co-educational boarding high school located in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis in 1920 as St. Augustine school when they established Notre Dame of the Prairies Convent. The school was later renamed to honor Father Athol Murray.

History

In 1920, the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis opened the Notre Dame of the Prairies Convent and St. Augustine's residential elementary and high school for boys and girls at Wilcox, Saskatchewan, a small town on the Canadian prairies south of Regina.
Father Athol Murray was appointed to St. Augustine's parish in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, in 1927. The institution's name was eventually changed to honor his contributions.
In the beginning, the college had no running water or central heating. In 1930, fees were $18 per month, but many students were unable to pay. Murray accepted students on the basis that they desired an education, not on their ability to pay. A side of beef, a chicken, a bucket of coal and produce were often accepted instead of money. Students came from everywhere and from every type of social, cultural and religious background.
Murray was assisted by Sister Mary Edith McCullough, whose teaching career spanned 30 years at Wilcox. McCullough ran the elementary and high schools while Murray spent most of his time with the students in the Arts programs. In 1933, Murray succeeded in obtaining an official affiliation with the University of Ottawa.
The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at the school, which include windows dedicated sixty-seven ex-students of Notre Dame College who served and died during World War II. The stained-glass window by Colonial Studios, Ottawa, circa 1948 depicts St. Augustine.

Archives Museum

The Archives Museum established in 1993 includes a replica of the office of Father Athol Murray, a rare books vault, and a display of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Athletics

In addition to its academic programs, the college has many sports teams, including the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Notre Dame Hounds. There are also a number of minor ice hockey teams affiliated with Hockey Saskatchewan, and as members of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Notre Dame currently fields three midget 'AAA' teams: two male teams, and one female team. The Notre Dame Hounds are five-time Telus Cup Champions and most recently won in 2018.
Former Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards played together in the school's AAA Bantam program, while numerous others have gone on to be drafted into the NHL.
Notre Dame also runs high school athletics programs in basketball, rugby, football, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, track and field and wrestling.

Notable alumni

The Prayer and Victory March

"Dear Notre Dame,
We hail the Alma Mater.
Thy loyal sons,
Thy banners proudly bear.
We pledge to thee,
Our love and our devotion,
We beg thee hear and grant our prayers.
Oh guide our steps,
And lead us safely onward,
Through all the years,
With love and care.
What though the odds be great or small,
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching,
Onward to victory,
Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley, cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky!
What though the odds be great or small,
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory,
Notre Dame!"

Hazing controversy

On December 22, 2021, TSN broke a story about a Notre Dame student who claimed to have been the victim of "a series of vicious sexual, physical and psychological assaults during his time at Notre Dame" in 1986 and has been unable to get an apology for what happened to him since 1999. The hazing incidents included him being forced by other students to eat Kraft Dinner that had been cooked in human urine, to play a tug-of-war-like game wherein his genitalia were attached to those of another student and stretched, and to massage the buttocks of senior students. The student allegedly visited the school nurse at least twice each week because of the beatings, but the nurse never informed his parents of the incidents. A dorm supervisor who witnessed an alleged incident where students whipped the victim with wet towels while he was forced into a jetliner position allegedly ignored the incident. The student fled the school but was forced back inside. The next day, his mother arrived at the school to take him home, and the dorm supervisor informed him that he was being expelled for having left the school without permission, and that the alleged abuse was being investigated. The alumnus filed a negligence lawsuit against the school in 2018, which is ongoing. Notre Dame has not yet apologized for the hazing—which has resulted in mental health challenges and suicide attempts by the victim—and claims that the student's records went missing.