“Can I see those shoes?”

It was during one of my undergraduate years at UBC … In any case by December I was bankrupt and had neither money for Christmas nor money for the second-term living expenses. I was so badly off that the only pair of shoes I owned had worn through and I was walking on cardboard, which is hell, considering how wet UBC can be by December.

Eventually I applied for a student loan and in my application I noted the distressing state of my shoes. Somewhere along the way I was invited to meet Dean Gage to discuss my loan application. I entered his office in the Buchanan Building, sat down, and he looked at me across the desk and said, “Can I see those shoes?” I turned them up and he said “You’ve got a bursary and a loan.”

I’ve never forgotten that moment and I’m deeply grateful for his compassion.

C. Lloyd Brown-John
BA 1962