Trent University Colleges, Peterborough, Ontario

Robert J. O’Hara (rjohara@post.harvard.edu)

Trent University in Canada was established in the 1960s as a collegiate university. Sometimes called “Oxford on the Otonabee” from the river which passes through the main part of the campus, Trent is made up today of Catharine Parr Traill College, Champlain College, Lady Eaton College, Otonabee College, and Gzowski College. People familar with Morse College and Ezra Stiles College at Yale University will recognize the architectural inspiration those residential colleges provided to the designer of Champlain College, Ronald Thom. Lady Eaton College, adjacent to Champlain and also built by Thom, has wonderfully scaled buildings and its architectural configuration merits study by anyone planning residential colleges today. Traill College, one of Trent’s founding colleges, is made up of a collection of lovely old homes in downtown Peterborough. These informal photos by Robert J. O’Hara were taken during a speaking visit to Trent. For more information about the residential colleges please visit the main Collegiate Way page.