Royal Roads University (also referred to as RRU or Royal Roads) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

with its main campus in Colwood,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. It is located at

Hatley Park National Historic Site Hatley Park National Historic Site is located in Colwood, British Columbia, in Greater Victoria. It is the site of Hatley Castle, a Classified Federal Heritage Building. Since 1995, the mansion and estate have been used for the public Royal Ro ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. Following the decommissioning of Royal Roads Military College in 1995, the

government of British Columbia The Government of British Columbia (french: Gouvernement de la Colombie-Britannique) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of British Columbia. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, ass ...

created Royal Roads University as a public university with an applied and professional degree-granting focus. The university considers alumni of RRMC to be part of its broader alumni community.

History

Royal Roads Military College Stained-Glass Window

Royal Roads Military College mace @ Royal Roads University

The university's main building, Hatley Castle, was completed in 1908 for coal and rail baron

James Dunsmuir James Dunsmuir (July 8, 1851 – June 6, 1920) was a Canadian industrialist and politician in British Columbia. He served as the 14th premier of British Columbia from 1900 to 1902 and the eighth lieutenant governor of British Columbia from ...

, who was

Premier of British Columbia Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of gov ...

and then Lieutenant Governor during the first decade of the 1900s. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, plans were made for King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, his wife Queen Elizabeth, and their two daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

, to reside in Canada. Hatley Castle was purchased by the federal government in 1940 for use as the King's royal palace, but it was decided that having the Royal Family leave the UK at a time of war would be too big a blow to morale, and the family stayed in London. After the death of Dunsmuir and then his widow Laura, the family sold the estate to the federal government in 1940 to be used by the military. (named after an offshore naval anchorage) was commissioned in December 1940 to train reserve officers for service in World War II. The institution had several names before it eventually became Royal Roads Military College in 1968 (achieving full degree-granting status in 1975). Petty Officer First Class Gabby R. Bruner, Royal Roads bandmaster from 1979–85, composed `Hatley Park` as the official quick march for RRMC and `Dunsmuir Castle` for the visit of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to Royal Roads in 1983. When the military college was decommissioned, many of the academic staff stayed on. The historic buildings of the military college, and the extensive gardens, which were part of the estate of the Dunsmuirs, continue to be a centrepiece of the campus. Hatley Castle, the former residence of the Dunsmuir family, houses a small Canadian Military museum. In June 1995, Royal Roads University became a public degree-granting university. A replica of

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...

's quote, "Duty is the great business of a sea officer: All private considerations must give way to it however painful it is", which hung over the entrance to the Grant Building, was returned to Royal Roads University's campus for Homecoming in 2011.

Royal Roads University Museum

The

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

is located in the lower level of Hatley Castle, on the campus of the Royal Roads University and former campus of the Royal Roads Military College. The museum's mandate is to collect, conserve,

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

and display material relating to the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

of the Royal Roads Military College, its former cadets and its site. The Royal Roads Military College Museum is a member of the

Canadian Museums Association The Canadian Museums Association (CMA; french: Association des musées canadiens, ''ACM''), is a national non-profit organization for the promotion of museums in Canada. It represents Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internat ...

and the Organization of Military Museums of Canada Inc. The Royal Roads Museum is an accredited museum within the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

Museum System. The museum has formed a cooperating association of friends of the museum to assist with projects. The museum is not open to the public.

Academics

Royal Roads University offers applied and professional programs at the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

, graduate and doctoral levels, focusing on graduate level career development. The programs are primarily offered in a cohort model as a blended format, combining periodic on campus residencies for face to face intensive sessions with on line courses. This format is designed to favour working professionals, who may complete the programs at a distance while maintaining their career. The University offers three formats: i) on-site with 100% face to face learning, ii) blended, with part of the program taught in a face to face residency and the balance on line; and iii) completely on-line. Residency based programs range from one to three weeks, and are often held on-campus, but select programs host their residencies in unique locations around the world. Mature students are welcome, and credits are available for prior experience in the subject area. The university also offers some full-time accelerated on-campus undergraduate programs.

Student government

The Royal Roads University Student Association represents undergraduate students at the university.

Campus and grounds

The campus and surrounding grounds of Royal Roads University are situated at

. Royal Roads leases the land from the Department of National Defence for $1 per year and assumes all stewardship responsibilities related to the site including the cost of site management, operations, the protection, preservation and restoration of heritage assets, which include all buildings on the site as well as many heritage gardens and educating the public about the site's historic and natural attributes.

Other buildings

The grounds, a mix of landscaped gardens and natural woodland, still go by the name of

Hatley Park Hatley Park National Historic Site is located in Colwood, British Columbia, in Greater Victoria. It is the site of Hatley Castle, a Classified Federal Heritage Building. Since 1995, the mansion and estate have been used for the public Royal R ...

that the Dunsmuir family gave their estate (it is not a designated park). Hatley Castle and its surroundings have made appearances in numerous movies and TV series programs such as ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/G ...

'' where it serves as the Luthor Mansion, and the second and third ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'' films where the university is transformed into Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Visitors to the

can tour the extensive walking trails, as well as the Hatley Castle museum. The museum is free to enter, and contains historic, local memorabilia as well as a gift shop. Tours of the castle itself are available (schedule is seasonal) and access to the heritage gardens (approx 20 acres) have a visitor fee that helps offset the cost of preserving the site. In a visit to the university in August 2009, Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

stated: "There is surely no more beautiful campus in Canada than Lord Dunsmuir’s magnificent castle and the majestic forest and gardens of the Hatley Park National Historic Site. But beneath the Edwardian grandeur of Royal Roads lies a cutting-edge modern university". During the life of the college, the HMCS Royal Roads Bell was displayed in the porte-cochere of Hatley Castle. After the closing of Royal Roads Military College, the HMCS Royal Roads Bell was kept in the Museum at CFB Esquimalt. It was officially repatriated on 10 Sep 2010 during the Royal Roads University 2010 Homecoming.

General ranking

Based on the 2011 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Royal Roads University was ranked 1st public institution for an active and collaborative learning experience and for level of academic challenge In 2008 ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''s Canadian University Report gave Royal Roads grades in particular categories along with 55 other universities. The grades are based on the Globe and Mail student satisfaction survey. Royal Roads was one of the 14 universities in the under 4000 students assessment pool and received a grade of B-:

Business school ranking

The BCom and MBA programs at Royal Roads were ranked by Corporate Knights Magazine in July 2007. The Royal Roads BCom program placed 28th out of the 47 BCom programs in Canada. The MBA placed 20th out of 35 MBA programs. In 2008 Corporate Knights Magazine dropped the Bcom ranking from 28th to 36th out of 47 Bcom programs in the country. The MBA program dropped from 20th to 31st with the assessment pool for the ranking growing from 35 to 38 MBA programs. In 2009 Corporate Knights Magazine ranked the Bcom 25th overall out of 47 universities and 4th in the Small Sized Business School category.Knight Schools 2009
at the Wayback Machine The MBA ranked 22 overall out of 35 universities and 4th in the Small Sized Business School category. Corporate Knights magazine bases its rankings on "the integration of environmental and social issues into university and college programmes."

Notable alumni

*Vice-Admiral Jean-Yves Forcier, Commander Maritime Forces Pacific, Commander Canada Command, currently Head of Program for the Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management at Royal Roads. * Kellie Garrett, Executive Coach, Speaker and Consultant; former Senior Vice President of Farm Credit Canada; named Fellow of International Association of Business Communicators (2015); one of Canada’s 25 Women of Influence (2010); and 100 Most Powerful Woman by the Women’s Executive Network (2007). * David Hamilton (deputy minister), Deputy Minister of the Legislative Assembly and Chief Electoral Officer of the Northwest Territories. *

Jim Kyte James G. Kyte (born March 21, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Kyte made history by being the first (and to date, only) legally deaf National Hockey League (NHL) player, playing 598 games in the NHL. Kyte is the son of ...

, former NHL player and Chair of Business School Algonquin College * Hugh MacDonald (executive), former VP Strategic Alliance Management at CIBC, currently owner of HR Macdonald Training and Development, Inc. * Peter Robinson (CEO), CEO of the

David Suzuki Foundation The David Suzuki Foundation is a science-based non-profit environmental organization headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Montreal and Toronto. It was established as a federally registered Canadian charity on J ...

and former CEO of

Mountain Equipment Co-op Mountain Equipment Co-op (now called 1077 Holdings Co-Operative) is a Canadian co-op that started the MEC outdoor gear retail brand. The MEC brand name, assets and store leases were purchased by the American private investment firm Kingswood C ...

. * Doug Stables, President of Bluewater Technologies Corporation. * Jennifer Walinga, Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion in rowing. *Capt. Kelly Williams (director of maritime strategy), Director of Maritime Strategy for the Department of National Defense. * Col.

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also se ...

, Canadian Astronaut *Senator Vernon White, Canadian Senator

Media appearances

The Royal Roads campus has been used as a location for filming TV shows and movies, including '' The Changeling'', the X-Men movies '' X2'' and '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', ''

'', ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...

'', ''

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadpo ...

'', and '' The Professor''.

Arms

Books

* *

References

External links

Royal Roads UniversityAsian MBA ProgramHatley Castle

Royal Roads University Bangladesh Campus
{{authority control Universities in British Columbia Educational institutions established in 1995 1995 establishments in British Columbia Distance education institutions based in Canada