Head and shoulders graduation image of Mary Isabella Oliver, Arts '12 and first graduate of the University of Saskatchewan.

Bio/historical Note: The U of S had from its inception intended that women should have access to higher education. The University Act bolstered that aim, stating “no woman shall by reason of her sex be deprived of any advantage accorded to male students of the university.” In fact, of the three students from the class of 1912 who earned honours, two were women. Mary Isabella Oliver, high honours in Classics and the Copland Scholarship, and Marion Bruce Pettit, honours in English and History. David Hossie earned honours in Latin and English and was Rhodes Scholar. Might Mary Oliver, the best student that year, have been a contender for the Rhodes Scholarship? It’s impossible to say since it was a privilege out of her reach. Oxford University, host institution for the Rhodes, did not confer degrees on women until 1920; and the Rhodes remained unavailable to women until 1976. Mary Oliver, Arts ’12, died in April 1961 at Cobourg, Ontario. Her husband was Dr. Frank Percival Lloyd (1892-1964), Arts ’14. She was a sister of E.H. Oliver, first principal of St. Andrew’s College. Lloyd was the son of George Exton Lloyd (1861-1940), Anglican Bishop of Saskatchewan.