"Greystone Secrets" was an interactive historical walking tour of the University of Saskatchewan campus that commemorated the struggles and victories throughout a vast history of sexual and gender diversity on campus. Through storytelling, historical exhibits, and a tour of the Saskatchewan Archives Board, the event aimed to provide a venue for inter-generational community building and to encourage local research on sexual and gender diversity. The event was free of charge, wheelchair accessible, and open to the public. The tours ran daily from October 4-6, 2013. As part of the tour, Greystone Secrets provided costumes and a professional photographer for tour participants to recreate the photo, "Nan & Hope & the 99 Year Old Kiss."

Prior to 1936, the University of Saskatchewan football team played its home games at Cairns Field on the corner of Avenue A (now Idylwyld Drive) and 25th Street. Athletic Director Joe Griffiths longed for a ‘‘home field’’ and had lobbied for its construction since his arrival on campus in 1919.

Merits of the project were debated back and forth but little progress was made. In 1935 a student- organized bowling tournament raised $275 and kick-started the process. Dean C.J. McKenzie of Engineering next seized the initiative by organizing and chairing the U of S Stadium Fund Association. The plan was to fund construction in stages with donations from “students, graduates, faculty and well-wishing business men of the community.” Architectural plans, supplied “gratis” by faculty of the College of Engineering, envisioned a structure costing $25,000 whose final stages would include a grand entrance, bus mall, dressing rooms, showers, etc.

The corner of College and Cumberland, site of the ill-fated 1912 City Hospital project, was chosen as the stadium location. Although tenders were initially called for, the University decided to build the project itself using primally student labour. With the Depression showing no signs of lifting, the University saw the stadium as a opportunity to give financial aid to several students who were in danger of having to discontinue their studies. Sod was turned May 17, 1936 and under the supervision of Professor A.R. Greig, Superintendent of Buildings, construction was carried out through the summer.

The first stage of the original Griffiths Stadium was officially opened 3 October, 1936 amid speeches, bands and a parade. In front of 2,000 fans, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies beat the Alberta Golden Bears 5-3.

Decades later, the widening of College Drive and the desire for a new stadium combined to fuel construction of today’s Griffiths Stadium, a few hundred metres east of the original site. It was officially opened 23 June, 1967. Improvements were made in 1988 to accommodate the Jeux Canada Games.

Hockey has been played at the University of Saskatchewan as long as there have been students to play it. In the early years both men and women braved the cold to play hockey on an outdoor rink situated just east of the Engineering Building. Built on the footprint of the original rink, Rutherford Rink was finished in 1929 and remains home to the Hockey Huskies. Whether their hockey has been played at the inter-collegiate or inter-mural level or in one of the regional leagues, students of the U of S have embraced Canada’s game and made it part of the student experience.

In 1910 the Saskatchewan Department of Agriculture turned over to the University the responsibility for the development and delivery of agricultural and women's extension programs throughout the Province. To fulfill this mandate, the Department of Agricultural Extension (1910) and Women's Work (1913) were established within the College of Agriculture. Initially the activities of Agricultural Extension focused on services to the Agricultural Societies--short courses, institutes (meetings and conferences), plowing matches, field crop contests, stock judging, etc. Starting during the war years, a Better Farming Train toured the province providing lectures and demonstrations and presenting exhibits on matters pertaining to agriculture. In 1915 "educational holidays" or camps were initiated for farm boys and girls and in 1918 4-H clubs were formed throughout Saskatchewan. Farm and Home Week, a period of exhibits, lectures, and demonstrations at the University, was introduced in the early 1930s. Special projects and programmes for rural women were offered through Homemakers Clubs, established in 1911. In addition to basic domestic activities, women received advice and instruction in fruit growing, tree planting, home nursing, water supply and purity, libraries, health and welfare services, etc. Adult Education services, begun in 1938 in response to forces for social reconstruction, consisted in part of groups formed to discuss planning, economics, cooperatives, government institutions and policies, international affairs, trade unions, etc. This was a logical expansion of the variety of information (bulletins, leaflets), informal (lectures, demonstrations), public (testing, analyses), professional (training), and cultural (drama, music) services, as well as a variety of services to governments at all levels. In 1949 the work of Agricultural Extension and Women's Work were combined in the Department of Extension. It remained a department in the College of Agriculture until 1963 when administrative responsibility was transferred to the Office of the President and renamed the Extension Division. Since the 1970s non-degree programs were offered in the areas of agriculture and horticulture, women, business, languages, indigenous people, community development, liberal studies, arts, seniors, science and technology, career development, and adult education. The name changed again in 1979 to Division of Extension and Community Relations. It was changed back to Extension Division in 1990. The Extension Department was disestablished on 1 July 2007, and replaced with three new departments.

Extension work was begun at the University of Saskatchewan in 1910 when the Minister of Agriculture, Motherwell, W.R., sent his superintendent of fairs and institutes, Auld, F.H., to head the Extension Department. Through the support of the College of Agriculture and the Extension Department, rural men and women were reached with such events and activities as the Better Farming Train and the Homemakers' Clubs.

"An IBM 1620 computer was purchased in 1963 for the special university price of $89,120. Soon after, as well as the previous instructional and research uses, the administration began taking advantage of the Computation Centre, with the introduction of preparing payroll 'by IBM punched cards.'" Taken from: The First Decade of Computing at the U of S by Tim Hutchinson; published in On Campus News, v7, n7, 26 Nov. 1999.

The Bible of Borso d'Este is a two volume manuscript. The illuminated miniatures, work of Italian Taddeo Crivelli and others, were executed between 1455 and 1461.

Three string quartets bearing the name Amati have been based in Canada. Two separate Amati string quartets have performed on 17th-century instruments built by the Amati family of Italy, and owned by the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. A third unrelated Amati String Quartet was based in Ontario, primarily Toronto, from 1985 to 2000. This first Amati String Quartet was founded in 1968 by Murray Adaskin and three other faculty members of the University of Saskatchewan: Norma Lee Bisha (second violin), Michael Bowie (viola), and Edward Bisha (cello). It gave its first concert on 2 February 1969. Later that same year, Robert Klose was named second violin and Norma Lee Bisha replaced Michael Bowie. The personnel remained stable until the group was supplanted in 1971 by the Canadian Arts Trio after fewer than 10 formal concerts. The quartet was too short-lived to develop a wide repertoire or a distinctive style. The University of Saskatchewan Amati Quartet in Residence was established in August 2003 and also played on the university’s Amati instruments. This quartet had previously been known as the Cole Quartet. The initial members were Marla Cole (1968-2017) first violin), Michael Swan (second violin), Geoff Cole (viola) and Linda Bardutz (cello). In 2004, Luke Henny became second violinist and Peter Hedlin replaced Bardutz as cellist. The Amati Quartet performs a yearly recital series, including a Thanksgiving Monday concert, and plays at various University of Saskatchewan events. It performed for Queen Elizabeth II in honour of Saskatchewan’s 100th anniversary in May 2005, and since its opening season has undertaken a project to perform all of Haydn’s string quartets. The Amati instruments at the University of Saskatchewan — one violin built in 1627, another violin built in 1637, the viola in 1607 and the cello in 1690 — are the only set in Canada built by the Amati family of Cremona. The viola’s back bears the painted crest of the Borghese family that commissioned it. All were purchased by Kindersley, Sask. collector Stephen Kolbinson (1888-1986) and sold to the university in 1959 for $20,000 on the condition that the university establish an Amati string quartet. The Canadian Arts Trio (active 1971–1975) — which comprised Robert Klose (violin), Edward Bisha (cello) and Robin Harrison (piano) — used two of the four Amati instruments owned by the university. The Amati instruments were lent to Victoria's Lafayette Quartet 1992-1998. They have also occasionally been played by members of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. The estimated value of the instruments is approximately $3 million (2020).

The Law Building was officially opened on September 22, 1967, and was first occupied in the Spring of 1968. At opening it included one 80-seat classroom, two 45-seat classrooms, one 30- seat classroom, four 15-seat seminar rooms and a library. Other space in the complex included the Dean’s office, a general office, 18 faculty offices, the librarian’s office, three graduate students’ offices, a Bar Review office and a Student Society office.

On opening, the Law Library contained stack space for 60,000 volumes and seating for 150 students. The Library consists of two floors, a full main floor and a balcony level which take up 16,000 square feet of space. An additional 6,400 square feet of book storage space, enough to house another 30,000 volumes, was left available in 1968 in the unfinished basement of the building, to be used when it was required.

In 1972 proposals were made to build additional classroom and lounge space in the unfinished basement of the building as part of greater renovations. Plans for the renovations were laid in 1977, and in 1980 the unfinished space in the basement of the Law Building was completed. An existing seminar room and a stack room in the main building were also converted into four new offices for faculty, and the existing lounge area as well as an adjacent classroom were renovated. The renovations were contracted to Tubby and Wilks for $120,800 and were designed by the architectural firm of Holliday-Scott Desmond Paine.

The first ski jump on the east bank of the South Saskatchewan River was built in 1929-1930 by the Saskatoon Ski Club with permission of the university. It was located at "Devil's Dip" and inaugurated on 18 Jan.1930. However, during the same season a jumper broke his leg and the ski jump had to be closed since the university withdrew its permission. Already in the following winter a new, larger ski jumping hill with an approximately 18-meter high tower was erected a few hundred meters north at "Varsity Site". The first record there was 97 feet (29.5 m) by Dave Wood. In 1933 a clubhouse was added and in 1936 the hill, which was also called "Ski Jump Coulee", was reconstructed and enlarged with a 25 meter high tower. The hill was then used for a few decades and competitions there even attracted up to 2,500 spectators. Furthermore, alpine slopes, a ski lift and a toboggan run were added at the site. Though interest in ski jumping had already been decreasing, the ski jump was reconstructed in 1963, reorienting the outrun from the river onto the bank and thus making the hill smaller. However, in 1974 ski jumping operations stopped and in 1978 it was torn down. In 1971 the Jeux Canada Winter Games were held at Saskatoon and for that purpose a new winter sports facility was opened at Mount Blackstrap, which made the other facilities at Varsity Site unnecessary as well. Off the trail are the remnants of the jump’s footings and tow lift.

The Place Riel Student Centre was constructed in three phases from 1976 to 1980 for a combined cost of $5,794,315. The original concept for the project had been the construction of a large freestanding building which incorporated all of the needs of the Student Centre. This plan was eventually adapted to include the use of space in the Arts Building and the Memorial Union Building (MUB) for student facilities primarily to offset construction costs. The Centre officially opened in September, 1980.

The first phase of the project involved the renovation of the Theatre Wing of the Arts Building. This was completed in 1976 for $178,080 by Smith Bros. and Wilson. It was designed by D. H. Stock and Partners. The second phase of construction involved the building of Place Riel itself. Place Riel was completed in 1979 for $3,916,235. It was designed by the architectural firm of Ferguson Folstad Friggstad and was built by Ellis Don Construction.

The final phase of construction involved the renovation of the MUB, which was again designed by Ferguson Folstad Friggstad. The renovations were completed by Bennett and White Construction in 1980. They included the demolition and removal of portions of the building, structural alterations, interior renovations, improvements to the elevator, and alterations and renovations to the Tunnel. Originally estimated at $902,688, this final phase of the project would eventually cost $1.7 million.

The completed building provided space for the Students’ Union Business Office, Sheaf Offices, commercial space for kiosks, meeting and seminar rooms, several general lounge areas, a theatre in the Arts Building, a discotheque (Louis’ Pub) in the MUB, a music listening room, a television lounge, a grad student lounge and a billiard and arcade room. Space in the building was also leased to campus radio station CJUS-FM, the Alumni Office, Student Counselling Services, a Canada Manpower Centre, the campus bookstore and food and vending services.

While construction on the complex was not begun until well into the 1970's planning for the structure actually began a decade earlier. During the 1964-65 academic year the Students’ Union recognized the need for facilities much more extensive than could be offered in the MUB. While the MUB had only been completed in 1955 an expanding student population had already made it obsolete as a central location for student activities and leisure on campus.

A Commission was established to investigate the matter and in 1964 student questionnaires and several studies were carried out. In a referendum in February, 1966 69.4% of students voted to increase a mandatory building tuition fee to $12. In 1967 the University and the Students’ Union jointly established a Project Building Committee to plan the required facilities. The University recognized its financial commitment to the project in late 1967 and included its anticipated share in the capital program request for 1968/69 and subsequent years. During the 1973-74 academic year the student body voted in favour of another increase in the annual building fee to $20.