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The Kerby Cup
One of the oldest items in our archive collection, the Kerby Cup was commissioned in 1912 by students to honour Mount Royal’s first principal, the Reverend George W. Kerby, when he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Victoria College at the University of Toronto.
The trophy features a sterling silver cup with antler handles and a wooden base. The engraving on the cup reads, “Presented to Rev. G.W. Kerby B.A. By the Students of Mount Royal College on the Occasion of the degree of Doctor of Divinity Being Conferred Upon Him By Victoria College Toronto University April 1912.”
Kerby graduated from Victoria College in 1888 with first-class honours in theology and arts. He was valedictorian of his class.
A good and great man
As principal from 1910 until his retirement in 1942, Kerby was much loved by his students. After his death in 1944, that year’s issue of the Varshicom, the school yearbook, was dedicated to Kerby, “a good and great man.”
Students described him as an upstanding role model and a true ambassador of goodwill who left a deep impression on the entire community.
They wrote: “His intellect was scintillating, his oratory was forceful and interesting, his moral principles of the highest, but it was in the realm of friendship that Dr. Kerby made his supreme contribution.”
Kerby moulded the lives of thousands of students in his 32 years as principal of Mount Royal and remains an inspirational figure in our history.
This page regularly showcases the collections of the Mount Royal University Archives. Thanks to the Director of the Archives, Patricia Roome, PhD, and her staff for their assistance in selecting artifacts and conducting research.