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St. Francis Xavier University

Coordinates: 45°37′0.47″N 61°58′58.40″W / 45.6167972°N 61.9828889°W / 45.6167972; -61.9828889
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St. Francis Xavier University
File:St.FX university coatofarms.png
MottoQuaecumque Sunt Vera
(Whatsoever things are true)
TypePublic
Established1853 St. Francis Xavier College/Seminary (1855). Subsequent name, St. Francis Xavier University.
Endowment$ 100 million[1]
ChancellorBrian Joseph Dunn
PresidentDr. Sean Riley
Academic staff
264
Students4267 full time
627 part time
Location
Antigonish
,
Nova Scotia
,
Canada
CampusRural
Sport TeamsX-Men and X-Women
Coloursblue   and white  
AffiliationsAUCC, IAU, CIS, CUSID, AUS, CBIE, CUP.
Websitestfx.ca
File:Stfx-logo-full.png

45°37′0.47″N 61°58′58.40″W / 45.6167972°N 61.9828889°W / 45.6167972; -61.9828889

St. Francis Xavier University is a primarily undergraduate university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university brings together 4,200 students from across Canada and around the world in arts, science, business and information systems.

History

St. Francis Xavier College was a Roman Catholic institution founded at Arichat, NS, in 1853.[2] The university was moved in 1855 from Arichat, NS to its present location in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.[3]

Xavier Hall

In 1866, St.Francis Xavier College was given university status, becoming St. Francis Xavier University and awarding its first degrees in 1868.

In 1883, Mount St Bernard Academy, was founded for female education teaching from primary grades to twelve and taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame.

In 1894, the academy affiliated with St Francis Xavier University as Mount St Bernard College.

In 1897 the school became the first co-educational Catholic university in North America to grant degrees to women.[2]

In the early part of this century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced.[4]

The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.[4]

In 1985, women equalled men in numbers for the first time. In 1990 the ladies' college existed as a residence only.[2] The St Francis Xavier tartan was designed as a University tartan in 1994.[5]

Academics

Angus L. MacDonald Library

Profile

Maclean's Magazine has ranked St Francis Xavier as the top Primarily Undergraduate university in Canada for five consecutive years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). The university has also ranked first in alumni support for the past six years (2001–2006). This[6] In 2007 Maclean's Magazine had changed the requirements for being the best "Primarily Undergraduate" university and it put the university in 3rd place in the Primarily Undergraduate category, having been replaced by two other Atlantic Canadian universities, who tied for first place.[7] However early in 2009, Maclean's did report that according to students, St FX University ranked 1st in choosing to return to their current institution among other categories.[8]

Between the years 2000 and 2004 more St Francis Xavier students, on a per capita basis, have received Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) awards for post-secondary study than any other university in Canada.[9]

Faculties

St Francis Xavier University is organized into the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science, Gerald Schwartz School of Business and Information Systems, School of Education, and the Coady International Institute. Each faculty has subordinate departments under its administration appropriate to each discipline, for example the Department of Philosophy is part of the Faculty of Arts. Faculties are headed by a Dean elected from among the constituent professors. The current Dean of Arts is Dr. Richard Nemesvari, the Dean of Science is Dr. Robert van den Hoogen, the Dean of Business is Dr. Leo Gallant, and the Dean of Education is Dr. Jeff Orr.[10]

new Gerald Schwartz School of Business

Student life

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Flame at StFX

Newspaper

The Xaverian Weekly is the student newspaper, run by the Xaverian Weekly Publications Society, and prints 2,000 copies every Wednesday. The newspaper is a member of Canadian University Press. The current co-editors-in-chief are Jean Ketterling and Tara MacInnis.

Originally called Excelsior, the newspaper began as a monthly journal of literary essays and campus news founded in 1896 by M.A. McAdam and J.W. McIsaac. The high-minded editors changed the paper's name to the Xaverian in 1903.

Yearbook

The Xaverian Annual is the student yearbook, founded in 1924 and run by the Yearbook Society. The Yearbook Society prints the publication on a student by student basis every year. The current editor-in-chief's are Mary Cranmer-Byng and Ryan Isenor.

Annual jello-slide during Frosh Week festivities.

Students' Union

At St Francis Xavier, students are represented by the St. Francis Xavier University Students' Union. Known as "The U" it is a student-run organization providing services and activities ranging from administering a medical and dental plan to concerts and orientation activities.

The Students' Union Building (Bloomfield Centre) houses the offices of the Students' Union Executive and various societies, the Golden X Inn, the MacKay Room (a large space for events), a cafeteria, Jack's Lounge, the campus post office, and the university bookstore.

Residence life

Physical Sciences Center Classroom

Approximately 50% of students at St. Francis Xavier live on-campus in the university's traditional residences or apartment-style housing. Students who live in traditional residence are registered in a mandatory meal plan at the central dining facility, Morrison Hall. Residents may choose to buy a plan consisting of 11, 14, or 17 meals per week, with unused meals forfeited at the end of each month. Alternatively students may also choose to enroll in a block plan that provides a specificied number of meals, which are usable anytime but are forfeited if unused by the end of the year. Apartment-style residences consist typically of four bedroom apartments with 2 full bathrooms and a small kitchen. All students in residence regardless of housing style are required to purchase a minimum amount of "declining cash balance" or DCB, which is loaded onto student ID cards and can be used at any of the food outlets on campus.[11] St. FX has an exclusive contract with Sodexo giving that company a monopoly on food and conference services at every facility on campus.[12]

Traditional residences at St. Francis Xavier:

  • MacIsaac Hall
  • MacPherson, MacDonald, and TNT (Thompson and Tompkins) Houses in Cameron Hall
  • Chillis (Chisholm and Gillis) and MacNeil Houses in MacKinnon Hall
  • Lane Hall
    Snowball fight on University Avenue
  • Mount St. Bernard
  • Plessis, Fraser, and Burke Houses in Bishops' Hall

Apartment-style housing at St. Francis Xavier:

  • Somers and Power Halls
  • Governors Hall
  • West Street Apartments

X-Ring

File:X-ring.jpg
Actual X-Ring Graduates Receive on December 3rd of their fourth and final year

St. Francis Xavier University is known for its distinctive X-Ring, awarded to students on December 3 of each year before their graduation. December 3 marks the feast day of the University's patron saint and namesake, Saint Francis Xavier. On average, more than 95% of the graduating class opt for the ring.[13]

The X-Ring is presented to students in a ceremony during the afternoon, which only recipients may attend. Traditionally, this ceremony was held in the University Chapel; however, in recent years it has been hosted in the new Keating Millennium Centre. There is typically a live video link of the ceremony available for family and friends to watch from across the world or from a large screen set up in the Oland Centre on campus.

Gerald Schwartz School of Business

Each X-Ring is engraved with initials and other distinguishing marks so that no two rings are exactly alike. This ensures that if an X-Ring is ever lost, the finder can send it back to the University and the original owner can be traced.

In addition to those awarded to students, there is one Honourary X-Ring awarded annually. The X-Ring Eligibility Policy states that this recipient must not already hold an X-Ring, and must demonstrate outstanding contribution to the Xaverian community and be exemplary of the Xaverian motto: "Quaecumque sunt vera" (Whatsoever things are true).[14]

Honourary X-Ring Recipients

2002 - Mary Lillian MacDonald 2005 - Dr. Doug Hunter 2006 - Dr. Ed Carty 2008 - Dr. Mary McGillivray 2009 - Mitch Hudson 2010 - Werner Schnepf

Campus renewal

Keating Millennium Center

An $11 million renovation of Bishops Hall, which includes Fraser, Burke and Plessis residences, was completed in September 2007. The building was upgraded with wireless internet access, new heating, plumbing, ventilation and electrical systems, elevators were installed, and most rooms became single occupancy, with a small number of them remaining as double occupancy.[15]

Coady International Institute

Over the summer of 2008, Gilmora Hall in Mount St. Bernard College underwent a state of the art renovation in order to house the university's Music Department.

In June 2008, construction of the new Coady International Centre began. The project includes the restoration of four historic campus buildings in order to expand the current Coady Institute at St. Francis Xavier University.[16]

Construction of the new Schwartz School of Business building began in June 2009, after an investment of $22.7 million from the federal and provincial governments. The school is to be housed in the former engineering and science building at the heart of campus.[17]

Athletics

New Football field and running track.

StFX is represented in the Atlantic University Sport conference by 11 varsity athletics teams. The X-Men teams include men's football, basketball, soccer, hockey and cross-country. The X-Women teams include soccer, rugby, hockey, basketball, volleyball and cross-country.

St.F.X. Women's Hockey

In 1966, the X-Men Football team won the College Bowl (now the Vanier Cup) as top university football team in Canada. The X-Men Basketball program has won 3 CIS Championships (1993, 2000, and 2001) and in 2004, the X-Men Hockey team won their first CIS Championship.

In 2006, the X-Women Rugby team became the first female StFX varsity team to win a CIS Championship, as 10-time defending AUS Rugby Champions. In 2008, the team placed 2nd at the CIS Championships in Lethbridge, Alberta after capturing their 12th consecutive AUS Championship.[18]

X Alumnus, Eric Gillis (2003 CIS Cross Country Champion) competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and placed 33rd in the 10 000m race.

Noted alumni

Angus L. MacDonald Library (left) and Morrison Hall
Charles V. Keating Center and Governor's Hall Residence

Histories

  • Father Jimmy Tompkins "Knowledge for the People--a Call to St. Francis Xavier College" 1921
  • Dr. James Cameron "For the People: A History of St Francis Xavier University". Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996.

See also

References

  1. ^ StFX President Dr. Sean Riley's Contract Extended To 2011, St. Francis Xavier University Media Room
  2. ^ a b c St. Francis Xavier University, Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
  3. ^ http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/tlctd10.txt The Project Gutenberg EBook #6466 of 'The Intellectual Development of the Canadian People, A historical review' by John George Bourinot, House of Commons, Ottawa, February 17th, 1881
  4. ^ a b University, Encyclopedia of Canada
  5. ^ http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com/tartan.aspx?record=2787 St Francis Xavier tartan
  6. ^ [1], St. Francis Xavier University Media Room
  7. ^ McGill U. Tops Canadian University Rankings Issued by 'Maclean's', Chronicle of Higher Education Blog, November 8, 2007
  8. ^ [2], St. Francis Xavier Media on Maclean's Report
  9. ^ St. Francis Xavier University, Associations of Universities and Colleges of Canada
  10. ^ http://www.stfx.ca/academics/
  11. ^ http://www.mystfx.ca/services/residence/pdfs/Dining2009-ON-CAMPUS.pdf
  12. ^ http://mystfx.ca/mealplans/locations/index.html
  13. ^ The X-Ring, St. Francis Xavier University
  14. ^ [www.stfx.ca/pdfs/x-ring_policy99.pdf/ X-Ring Eligibility Policy], St. Francis Xavier University
  15. ^ St. Francis Xavier invests another $11 million in residential campus, St. Francis Xavier University Media Room
  16. ^ Coady, StFX Host Historic Groundbreaking, St. Francis Xavier University Media Room
  17. ^ StFX receives funding for completion of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business and Information Systems, St. Francis Xavier University Media Room
  18. ^ CIS Rugby Silver Lining, St. Francis Xavier University Athletics
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