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John Deutsch University Centre

Accessibility [Accessibility Information]

Address: 87 Union Street

Building Code: JDUC

What's Inside

Meeting Rooms: including Wallace Hall, Polson Room, Memorial Room, John Orr Room, Robert Sutherland Room, McLaughlin Room
Alfies
Alma Mater Society
Tricolour Outlet
Performing Arts Office
Publishing and Copy Centre
Office of the University Rector
Quiznos
Signatures Hair and Tanning Salon
Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS)
Town Gown Relations
Tuck Shoppe
Virtual Tour of Graduate Residence

Known as the J-DUC, the John Deutsch University Centre site was originally home to the Kingston Orphan's Home, which was built in 1862 and purchased by Queen's in 1928 to serve as the Students' Memorial Union in commemoration of students who died during WWI. The early Union was essentially a men's club, housing a cafeteria, meeting and reading rooms, and student society offices — almost all of which were closed to women. After a serious fire in 1947, the building was pulled down and the main part of the present JDUC constructed in its place. In this new building, women were originally permitted only in the business offices, and a room that was known as the Co-Ed Lounge (known today as the Oak Room). By the 1950s women were allowed into all areas of the building, except for Wallace Hall, which remained off-limits, except for formal dinners, until 1960. The Union was extensively renovated and expanded in the mid-1970s in response to the expanding the student population. It was renamed the John Deutsch University Centre at the same time in honour of economist John James Deutsch (1911-1976), principal of Queen's from 1967-74. The Memorial Room still exists, and on its wall lists the names of all Queen's students and professors who fell in the two world wars.