It was with tremendous interest and some form of satisfaction that I read recently that the great Harvard University in the United States was offering free tuition next year to students whose families earned less than $ 200,000 a year. In addition to that Harvard says if a family earned less than $100,000 then housing and books would be thrown into the deal. Of course, you still have to have the marks to get into Harvard, but the promise is to make the university affordable for low and middle-income families. In addition, students who make it through the Harvard doors will also get a $2,000 start-up grant from the university and another $2,000 grant in their final year to help them transition back into the real working world. Again, you still have to get the marks to get in.

This has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it? It does for me. In 1965, here in Newfoundland, then premier Joeseph R. Smallwood announced that tuition at Memorial University would be free the following year for Newfoundland students. It was a bold and revolutionary move that gained favour in most, but not all, circles. The revolutionary plan couldn’t last for reasons that quite simply were economic. Newfoundland couldn’t afford it. The reason? Well, the free tuition program was to apply to all students, not just the ones from poor families. That was the great flaw. It was universal. There was no “means test”. Smallwood’s dream lasted for two years but the Warren Commission report that looked into education in Newfoundland said the notion of free tuition at Memorial was unsustainable.

That was the end of that bold notion but there were aspects of it worth remembering. I was part of inner working-class St. John’s. Our neighbourhood was the area bordered by New Gower Street-Hamilton Avenue and Patrick Street and Casey Street there were at least half a dozen students that were able to get a start at Memorial because of free tuition. I can almost name them because I was one of them and just going to Memorial changed my life. I met a lot of very smart people at Memorial University, and they weren’t all professors or lecturers. Lots of them were students who went on to run our province.

The great irony in all of this is that the germ of the revolution that got Smallwood flicked out of office eventually was started at Memorial. Smallwood made it a “modern” university and a whole new generation of students went there. They came from the outports, and many went back to the outports to teach.

Now in 2025 there are calls within Canada that the idea of free tuition be explored. Free tuition was of enormous benefit to thousands of Newfoundlanders and that simply can’t be denied. Watching the august Harvard University give it a go must bring a smile to the faces of whatever “Smallwood Liberals” are still around. Somewhere else the spirit of Joe Smallwood is also smiling.

You can contact Jim Furlong at [email protected]