Oral history interview with Sharon Shilliday

Sharon Shilliday is the subject of this interview. Her involvement with TechBC dates back to 1990 with her participation in the Canadian Federation of University Women and the Fraser Valley University Society, two organizations that were instrumental in garnering community and political support for a new university south of the Fraser River. Representing the community, she was also on TechBC’s Interim Planning Council and its Board of Governors until TechBC was shut down.   Sharon Shilliday discusses her role in lobbying for a university south of the Fraser River as part of the Fraser Valley University Society in the early 1990s. She then discusses her role with other committees such as the Interim Planning Council and the TechBC board of governors during various iterations of the project’s development, from conception to termination. Shilliday talks about the relationship these committees had with the government, and how those relationships were affected by changes in government. Finally she discusses the various locations proposed for the school and the ultimate success that the Fraser Valley University Society achieved in reaching its initial goal despite the closure of TechBC