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“It was my first year [at UVic Law] and I was, frankly, broke,” said Rideout in a video call from his judge’s chambers in Vancouver.

In his second term of law school Rideout was expecting a student loan payment to arrive. It didn’t.

So, the 24-year-old walked into the office of UVic Law’s founding Dean, Murray Fraser, and asked for $110 for food and rent. (Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $610 in today’s dollars).

“He cut me a cheque. I think it was $250. I said I just needed $110, but he said: ‘No, take the extra money’,” Rideout recalled.

“I said, ‘OK, well, I’ll pay you back for sure’.”

And Rideout kept his promise – only, half a century later.

At the law school’s 50th anniversary celebrations in October, Rideout presented a $100,000 cheque designated for the Dean’s Innovation Fund.

“I decided I had to repay Murray somehow, as he’s passed now,” said Rideout, who’s planning on retiring as a judge in 2026. “I thought [donating the money] would be a nice gesture at the reunion with the Dean and with Anne Fraser there,” said Rideout.

Murray Fraser was Dean of UVic Law for six years, now immortalized as one half of the Fraser Building’s namesake. Murray became Vice President Academic at the university in the 1980s before becoming President of the University of Calgary in 1988, and later received an honorary degree from UVic. Murray died in 1997 at age 59.

The other half of the Fraser Building’s namesake, Anne Fraser, says Murray often helped students financially when needed.  

“He really cared deeply about his students. When a student comes to you and needs money – you don’t hesitate, it takes five seconds and the student has the money,” said Anne Fraser.

Anne Fraser knew Rideout well in the 1970s and remembered him as an “outgoing and involved student,” as well as the first UVic Law student to sit on the University Senate.

“I was just so delighted to see him [at the anniversary],” she said. “Aside from the donation, I always love to see our former students and, in the early days, we knew them all. Every one of them was at our house at least once or twice.”

Innovation and connection

That connection is a theme Rideout has noticed over the years – UVic Law’s small community fosters a different kind of connection than other law schools.

“I know through dealing with some other law schools, UVic kept away from linear bureaucracy. It was more enveloping students with faculty, working together,” said Rideout.

To that end, Rideout thought his donation to the Dean’s Innovation Fund was a perfect fit. The fund is flexible, allowing money to be spent at the Dean’s discretion.

The fund is designed to respond and act upon opportunities and challenges as they arise. And Rideout stresses that innovation is essential in today’s world, particularly for solving complex issues he encounters daily in the Downtown Eastside.

“I thought probably one of the nicest things would be if it went to the Dean’s Innovation Fund, which I think would be very important to Murray. He was such an innovative person, both with respect to the development of the school and his own personal lifestyle,” said Rideout.