Dr. Terry Flannigan and Dr. Thomas Charles (Chuck) Day have been friends for more than 60 years. Both helped to build MacEwan as an institution from its infancy, and now they have each established endowed funds in order to continue helping students into the future.

“We’ve worked in the same institution more than once,” Dr. Day says. “We started out teaching together at City Park, a high school in Saskatoon, and we coached football together.”

Dr. Day began his career at MacEwan on May 1, 1971. “I was the fourth person hired by the college. We had no students, no staff, no programs and no buildings. We were going to open in the fall of that year, so there was a lot of work ahead of us.”

Dr. Flannigan was brought into the fold when the then-college needed someone with his expertise. “We needed somebody at MacEwan to do our scheduling, and I knew the guy to do it,” says Dr. Day.

“I was at a school in Ohio at the time,” says Dr. Flannigan. “Chuck phoned me and asked if I wanted to get in on something special, the start of a new college. I said sure, came back to Western Canada and the rest is history.”

Dr. Flannigan worked tirelessly in fundraising, becoming the executive director of the Grant MacEwan Community College Foundation – known today as the Grant MacEwan University Foundation.

“I started the foundation at MacEwan, and one of the things I really pushed for was planned giving,” says Dr. Flannigan. “When I left, we had over a million dollars in planned giving from various people.” The foundation continues to aid students with a variety of scholarships, bursaries and awards each year.

Dr. Day started his time at MacEwan in a role that would have been the equivalent of the dean of Arts and Science today. From there, he advanced to the position of academic vice-president.

“I was acting president during the year City Centre Campus was funded –  that was a highlight,” says Dr. Day. 

Some of his favourite memories over the years were of spending time with Dr. J.W. Grant MacEwan himself. “He used to come up to the college and visit, and we would talk about the state of the institution, the books he was writing and so forth. He was an amazing man.”

In 1986, Dr. Day was awarded the MacEwan Medallion for his service. Dr. Flannigan received the same honour in 1989.

Outside of the workplace, the two had a close friendship. They lived in houses across the alley from one another, and raised their families alongside each other.

The pair’s friendship has persevered over the decades since, and today they live in the same building in B.C., just one floor apart. They may have moved on from their MacEwan careers, but their desire to assist current and future students persists.

The Flannigan Family Scholarship was established in 1996 through contributions by Dr. Flannigan and his children, Jean Anne and Philip, and is in place to support student athletes with outstanding academic achievements. The trio have collectively spent over 70 years working at MacEwan and helping to build the institution into what it is today.

“I think it’s important that people know that our family has put their lives into MacEwan as an institution,” says Dr. Flannigan. “It really is a family built scholarship, and we’re proud of that.”

The family has recently donated $45,000 through life insurance policies and personal funds, bringing the endowment for the scholarship up to $60,000. The Flannigan Family Scholarship is now awarded to two student athletes annually.

In 2022, Dr. Day established the Dr. T.C. Day Bursary in Science – Chemistry, donating life insurance policies as well as an additional $10,000 to establish an endowment. The $1,500 bursary is distributed to one student each year who has declared chemistry as their major and has demonstrated financial need.

“As you get older, you think about things that are important in life. And in addition to your family and friends, education is pretty important,” says Dr. Day. “Back when I was going to university, there were a lot of students who needed help, and they were so happy when they got it. I also wanted to give back to MacEwan; it was certainly good to me.”