“You’re one of my boys, aren’t you?”

In the summer of ’54, I made my way to the office of the Dean of Interfaculty Affairs to inquire about the status of my scholarship application, submitted complete with photo and I was about to introduce myself to Dean Gage when he said, “Don’t tell me. You’re Daniel Richard Birch. Your brother is a great student! That’s a pretty shirt you’re wearing. I was floored that the Dean knew my name.

That continued for many years. In 1969, having completed my PhD at Berkeley and accepted appointment at SFU, I stopped to pick up Dean Gage as he approached UBC, walking along University Boulevard and once again he called me by name, saying, “You’re one of my boys, aren’t you?”

Dan Birch
BA 1963
MA 1968

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