For Grebel’s 50th Anniversary year, Marlene Epp wrote Bridging Mind & Spirit, Conrad Grebel University College, 1963-2013 to tell the story of the College’s founding, accomplishments, people, and traditions. Although ten years have now passed and the College has had another anniversary, for this issue of Grebel Now, we have chosen to reflect on Grebel’s 60 year legacy by inviting a small group of former board members, faculty, and administrative leaders to share their memories, even if some details have faded.
Jake Hildebrand, who served as a Board member from 1967-68, was a young lawyer working in St. Catharines in 1959 when the idea of a Mennonite college on the campus of the secular University of Waterloo began to take shape. “We talked to the United Mennonite Conference to get some money to help start up Conrad Grebel. It took some effort,” he shared. “We said that the next generation would have a lot of kids going to university, and this would give us some presence.”
In 1961, Conrad Grebel College was officially established, thanks to many discussions and a shared vision by representatives from the Mennonite Conference of Ontario, United Mennonite Conference of Ontario, Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference, and Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church. According to past Board member Jim Good, his father, Milton Good, “had tremendous faith in education” and as the first Board Chair, when organizing the College’s structure, Milt Good and the founding Board members “spread out the influence that each contributing group had on the institution, so it was decentralized.”
Reflecting on working closely with founding President J. Winfield Fretz and the beginnings of the College, Grebel’s first Chaplain, Walter Klaassen, explained that “the negotiations with the University went very well because Winfield was a good diplomat, and very importantly, he was a good friend of Gerald Hagey, who was the University of Waterloo President at the time. They worked hand in hand.” He added, “Winfield didn’t have to twist my arm at all to move from Bethel to Waterloo.” Klaassen worked as the chaplain and taught courses in Old Testament, New Testament, and Anabaptism until he retired in 1987.
“I do think that the original vision for Grebel has been met,” reflected Klaassen. The plan for Grebel was that it would be a residence that taught a few 
courses, but according to Klaassen, the academic program “just grew.” Fretz was instrumental in this growth, in part, because of his winsome personality and people skills. “We had a good relationship with the university departments. And when I came, I was immediately co-opted into the History Department of the University. We had good enrolment in our class offerings, and they were open to anybody, so we had a lot of non-Grebel people in the classes as well.”
Walter Klaassen (second to the right) meeting with students in 1969
“One of the things that I liked about being at Grebel was that the teaching load was such that there was lots of time for research,” Klaassen noted. “And so we started publishing right away, both in terms of monographs as well as articles.”
“Music came on board when Winfield brought Helen Martens in,” explained Klaassen. “It wasn’t simply an adjunct to the Chapel.” The decision to build a music program was not made lightly, due to the cost of hiring instructors for each instrument and ensuring there was enough space at the College. “That then became one of the reasons to build a larger building which had practice rooms and so on,” he added.
As the new chaplain at Grebel, Klaassen shared that one of the first decisions he made in his new job was a bit controversial. “I said, the one condition I am making is that Chapel will be voluntary. Attendance went up and down, but on the whole, it was always a viable program.”
Helen Martens playing piano and leading a choir in 1969
In 1964, an article in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record mentioned that about 27 percent of students in the Grebel residence were Mennonite. “That made it very vibrant and interesting, to have that mix, particularly also for the Mennonite students,” said Klaassen.
Looking at where Grebel is today, Klaassen commented that “It has far exceeded what I thought might happen. We had no idea at first. I am always so gratified that I was able to be part of Grebel at the beginning. I would have never dreamt of what was going to happen.”
Under Nelson Scheifele’s leadership as VP of Finance and Administration at Grebel from 1981 to 1993, the College added the patio and spaces beneath it, and renovated the dining room and kitchen. “Unfortunately, financial constraints prevented the connecting link with the academic building at that time,” Scheifele said. “Fundraising for this project was challenging.” He explained, “Initiating an ongoing long-term fundraising program in a constituency that had been assured the College would be self-sustaining and not require funding assistance was a difficult sell.”
Grebel programs grew quickly; the Music Department had become more established within the University of Waterloo and the Peace and Conflict Studies program had begun enrolling students in 1977. “The ’80s saw significant expansion of programs, great energy, and solidification of vision,” explained Scheifele. “Much energy was devoted to maintaining and cultivating collegial relationships with the university administration, other Church Colleges and the conference constituency.” Scheifele also worked to establish an alumni association, which continues to organize alumni activities today.
“Work culture and community spirit were strong during my time at Grebel,” he shared. “President Ralph Lebold was very much a community builder and maintained strong positive relationships with staff, faculty, students, constituency, and the university. Programs expanded, energy was high, and sense of community strong. This was all achieved within an increasingly restrictive financial environment,” Scheifele said. “It was most gratifying to maintain balanced budgets throughout my years in administration,” he explained. “Though we never had adequate funds to meet all the wishes and dreams, we still maintained and expanded programs.” Scheifele reflected, “I remain thankful for the years I was able to serve.”
Overlapping with Scheifele, Gloria Eby worked as Dean of Students from 1983 to 1995. “Students came looking for a place to live comfortably and happily while studying at the University of Waterloo,” she recalled. “Students in the ’80s and early ’90s were entering a rapidly changing future where globalization, economic downturns and the rise of the internet were both opening and rapidly changing jobs and career tracks,” she recalled. “But what I remember most is the energy, curiosity, and levels of participation the students brought and shared.”
Gloria Eby, far right with resident students in 1992
“Grebel’s most significant accomplishment has always been that it is a place where community can happen,” said Eby, articulating one of Grebel’s core values. “As a College, we named the expectations, made sure we had returning students as well as new, created events and rituals to ensure students and sometimes faculty connected —and then said ‘go.’ The College does not create community, it prepares the bones, then everyone creates it together.”
Grebel’s intention to keep the academic and residential programs integrated remained a challenging priority that, Eby explained, required commitment and effort from both sides. “We worked at it, and we found that the effort was worth it,” she reflected.
My best memories—and I think the heart of my role as Dean of Students—are of conversations,” Eby recalled. “Young adults are asking and thinking about, sorting and rejigging really important things as they leave home and begin to figure out what their adult lives are going to be about. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that Grebel provided a good place to do that and good people to do that with, and that for a little while, I had a hand in caring for that place and those people.”
“Grebel had lots of leadership roles for students to take on, but I think the best preparation happened as students from different homes, faith communities, and academic programs got comfortable enough with each other to get to know themselves better,” Eby summarized. “One of my rewards is knowing that these students have contributed to all sorts of families, organizations, and communities ever since.”
Professor Hildi Froese Tiessen began teaching English and Peace and Conflict Studies at Grebel in 1987 until she retired in 2012. She spent almost half of her 25-year tenure serving as Academic Dean. “During my time at Grebel, the faculty were producing a substantial amount of very fine and influential research, much of it on subjects that inform our understanding of Mennonites and the roles they play and have played in the world,” she recalled.
“I arrived at the College just in time for the birth of the master’s degree in theological studies, the brainchild of then Dean Rod Sawatsky and theologian Jim Reimer,” Froese Tiessen explained. “As the first registrar of the program, I was fortunate to occupy a front seat for its development.” She added, “In spite of Grebel’s small size, we moved ahead with academic development through strategic faculty hiring and exciting course development.”
Froese Tiessen recalled that faculty members in Biblical Studies and Theology were quite active as preachers and teachers in the church, but she
maintained that “the College’s impact on the church was rooted in these Grebel faculty members, and others, but also in the students and supporters who demonstrated in a myriad ways how the people who identify with the College happen also to be people who enlarge the church, and vice versa.”
“The Grebel I remember was an amazing academic community,” Froese Tiessen shared. “Rod Sawatsky, during his years as Dean, had assembled a remarkable group of young scholars whose work converged on an intense interest in Mennonite Studies.
Hildi Frose Tiessen teaching in 2006
We had a Faculty/Staff lounge where most of us gathered every morning and most afternoons for coffee and conversation. Our illuminating (and sometimes challenging) conversations, often begun and nurtured in that lounge, never ended.”
Mary Brubaker-Zehr served Grebel as Director of Student Services from 1996 to 2022. During this time, she experienced “the gradual yet steady and ever-growing ‘voicing’ of individual student needs, rights, and expectations, from both students and parents. This resulted in many good changes to the residential program,” she noted, “but it also created some challenges.” Shifts over time included requests for single rooms and private washrooms, increased dietary options, more regard for both physical and psychological safety, increased expectations for counselling and mental health care, concern about the level of equity and diversity at the College, and encouragement to be more 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly.
Brubaker-Zehr explained how building projects have impacted student life over the last 25 years. “Linking the residence and academic building, and then expanding the dining room and kitchen to accommodate the growing number of students and associates was significant,” she explained. “This expansion enabled everyone to come to Community Suppers and End-of-Term Banquets. Expanding the library and linking it to the residential building was a huge perk for residential students.” Building the 32-person apartment complex was another boost to the residence program. “Consistently, students living in the apartments held leadership roles, acting as role models and coaches for newer students,” she added.
“I believe that Grebel has stayed true to its mission and values in many ways,” reflected Brubaker-Zehr. For example, “several decades ago, Waterloo’s administration insisted that Grebel’s residence be comprised of 100 percent first-year students to remain a part of Waterloo’s extensive on-campus housing promotion and residence guarantee system. Grebel knew the impact of first-year students living amongst upper-year students,” she explained, and “it has continued to fill the residence with students who value multi-year commitments, leadership development, and community building.”
“Grebel is skilled at caring for the whole student,” reflected Brubaker-Zehr. “Each student matters, and care and attention is given to how each is doing mentally, physically, emotionally, and academically.” The College is also good at “implementing a multitude of small things that come together in a 
powerful way to create and support a rich and vibrant residential community.” Brubaker-Zehr listed some of these differentiators that include learning each student name at the beginning of the term, the residence application and interview, a family-friendly welcome, intentional conversations at the beginning of each term, eating together and filling the first empty table, and Community Suppers. “The annual Act of Community calls everyone into community life and names the importance of each person’s role in creating community spirit,” added Brubaker-Zehr. “Community isn’t just handed to students on a platter—all must take responsibility for building it.”
Mary Brubaker-Zehr welcoming new students on Move-In 2017
Now, sixty years after Winfield Fretz and Walter Klaassen helped bring to life the vision of Mennonite community leaders, Grebel is home to more than 300 resident students each year. A faculty complement of 15 professors and many more part-time lecturers and instructors teach more than 4000 undergraduate course enrolments each year in Music, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religious Studies, Mennonite Studies, and Sociology. Graduate programs in Peace and Conflict Studies and Theological Studies deepen the College’s dedication to social justice and theological inquiry, while community education programs and activities foster connections and learning opportunities in the wider community. For a bigger picture of Grebel today, the Annual Report included in this issue of Grebel Now shares statistics and accomplishments for the year.
This account doesn’t mention all of Grebel’s programs or leaders, but it does share some of the trajectory and growth of the College over the last 60 years. Conrad Grebel University College is a collaboration that has been created by and influenced by many people in leadership, as well as each student who has passed through its doors, all working toward a shared vision of community and scholarship.
