Innis started out as a college of solely undergraduate students at a tiny little building not far from its current location. Along came Bob Bossin, enrolling in 1965, just a year after Innis’s founding, who submitted this song as a pitch for Innis College’s official song.

Nowadays, Bossin is a musician and activist. He co-founded the Canadian folk group, Stringband, and still works as an activist. Look up his recently uploaded song protesting the Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion, “We Don’t Want Your Pipeline” on Youtube.

An Innocuous, Inoffensive, Totally Respectful and Reverent, Albeit Tongue-in-Cheek School Song for I N N I S C O L L E G E

Even in his school days, Bob stood out musically and academically. He played for the Engineering Skule Band, known as the Lady Godiva Memorial Bnad [sic] (it was spelled correctly when it was originally founded, but not for long). The band is known for its open admission policy and now plays with a working cannon, Ye Olde Mighty Skule Cannon. When Bob graduated in 1968, he was awarded the prestigious John H. Moss Scholarship, which recognizes students who have shown outstanding academic and extra-curricular leadership during their undergraduate careers.

In 2014, Bob came back to Innis to do a one-man performance show. Earlier this year for the 50th anniversary reunion of his graduating class, he even sung a few lines of this very song.

In the October 1966 edition of The Innis Herald, the Innis College Student Society commented on the back page, “Bob Bossin, take note, the “Innis Who” school song was rejected by the Executive as an officially recognized anthem.”

The Innis Throwback is a regular column in The Innis Herald, highlighting memorable articles from our earlier editions and the college’s colourful past.