— just as St. Dunstans resented the notion of being tied to what it 
     
     saw as a smaller, more junior institution. 
     
    

    
     And there were many who saw religions hand behind any talk 
     
     of merger. Frank l\IacKinno11 himselflater penned a gothic tale of 
     
     Catholic conspiracy, of how his little school fell under the watchful 
     
     eye of “Rome and Charlottetoyvn” as personified by the shadowy 
     
     Bishop hiacEachern.~ Likewise, St. Dunstan's board fretted that 
     
     amalgamation might be used to overwhelm the Catholic minoritys 
     
     role in higher education.‘ But the growing interest in amalgamation 
     
     among many Islanders — Protestants and Catholics — is simpler to 
     
     explain. In a province of 110,000 souls, it made little sense to have 
     
     two liberal arts, undergraduate universities a stones throw apart 
     
    

    
     each with its own library p11rch1se calculus courses Bunsen burn— 
     
     ers, and political science profs —— especially when both were receiv— 
     
     ing public funds, and when both were seeking millions of dollars to 
     
     expand further. 
     
    

    
     Even so, the Campbell government did not initially move for a 
     
    
   
   
    
     U 
     
    
   
   
    
     merger. It instead in 1967 set 11p a Universities Co—ordinating Coun— 
     
     cil, assisting — spurring —— St. Dunstans and P1ince 0t VVales to 
     
     work together It seemed th at the p10\ ince had chosen federation 
     
     over amalgamation. The University Study Group talked ofdisband— 
     
     ing, and one glum member concluded, “I dont think there’ll be one 
     
     university in twenty years.”" But they underestimated the two uni— 
     
     versities int1ansige111lle.1e new Council met just three times in its 
     
     first year, the representatives from the two schools not getting much 
     
    
   
   
    
     beyond introductions; any co-ordinating that occurred was strictly 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     f No relation to the author! 
     
    

    
     8 l'irank 1\la1‘l\'innon, (Klimt/,3 12/1/1111 11/11/ Iii/mution IN (alum/11: WM [’15] l‘,‘.\'/11'1'/1'/1.'1' 
     
     (Calgary: l)etseli<r l‘interprises I015) and “U l’l‘ll Ori<rins ~ Baker papers" vertical 
     
     file folder: items 172;. H l Loll11t1on \ly 1ese111'h on l l’l lstoun1ling,\\hi1h 
     
     i111luded 1ecess to 1onfidential files 111“ PL] s l’l.l C ollc1tion, found absolutely no 
     
     evidence that either Protestants or Catholics exerted pressure for a merger, or even 
     
     discussed benefiting from a merger: Olicourse, to conspiracy theorists, this only 
     
     proves that evidence must have been destroyed. 
     
    

    
     1) S1‘e“lll)l'il Origins —— Beck l’apcrs # University Study Group" Vertical iilc, folder 
     
     2, I’ll] Collection. 
     
    
   
   
    
     1(1—1"1'o1>1,\x 11