Mount Allison University
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| Mount Allison University | |
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| Established: | 1839 |
| Type: | Public |
| Endowment: | $82.8 million |
| Chancellor: | John Bragg |
| President: | Dr. Robert Campbell |
| Students: | 2,200 |
| Location: | Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Campus: | Rural |
| Athletics: | Mounties |
| Affiliations: | AUCC, IAU, CIS,CVU, ACU, AUS |
| Website: | http://www.mta.ca/ |
Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MTA) is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, near the city of Moncton.
Mount Allison University is was the first university in the British Empire to have awarded a baccalaureate to a woman (Grace Annie Lockhart, B.Sc, 1875). Over the years, Mount Allison graduates have been awarded a total of 47 Rhodes Scholarships[citation needed]; more than any other liberal arts university in North America[citation needed]. (Williams College, in Massachusetts, is second with 37 Rhodes Scholars)[citation needed]. Mount Allison is the wealthiest university in Canada on an endowment per student basis - $37,636. [1] [2] Mount Allison students and alumni are referred to as "Allisonians".
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[edit] History
Mount Allison's origins go back to a boys' academy founded in 1839 by a local Methodist merchant, Charles Frederick Allison. Charles Allison's grandfather had emigrated from Ireland to Canada in the late 1700s, because of the after effects of a dinner with the local government tax collector. Wanting to impress the man, the family had set the table with their one valuable possession; silver spoons. After entertaining their guest, the Allisons were informed by the tax collector that if they could afford silver spoons, then they could certainly afford to pay more taxes. The Allisons left Ireland shortly thereafter. The offending spoons are now on display in the main university library.
In June 1839, Charles Allison proposed to the Wesleyan Methodists that a school of elementary and higher learning be built. His offer to purchase a site in Sackville, to erect a suitable building for an academy, and to contribute operating funds of £100 a year for 10 years was accepted and the Wesleyan Academy for boys subsequently opened in 1843. In 1854, a girls' institution (later known as the "Ladies College") was opened to complement the boys' academy.
In July 1862, the degree-granting Mount Allison College was organised. The first two students, Howard Sprague and Josiah Wood, graduated in May 1863. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to confer a Bachelor's degree to a woman (Grace Annie Lockhart, B.Sc. 1875). It was also the first university in Canada to grant a Bachelor of Arts to a woman (Harriet Starr Stewart).[citation needed] For nearly a century, Mount Allison functioned as three distinct, mutually enriching parts: the College proper, the Boys' Academy and the Ladies College.
By 1920, Mount Allison University had three faculties: Arts, Theology, and Engineering. It awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Divinity (BD), and Master of Arts. It had 246 male students and 73 female students, as well as 28 academic staff, all male.[3]
The closure of the School for Girls in 1946 and the Boy's Academy in 1953 coincided with a period of expansion and provided much-needed space for the growing university. In 1958, a period of construction and acquisition of buildings began, easing the strain of overcrowding at the institution. At this time the university board and administration decided to reaffirm the traditional aims of Mount Allison in providing a high-quality undergraduate liberal arts education, along with continuing to offer professional programmes in already-established fields. As such, the university decided not to compete for new professional programs and generally avoided post-graduate course development.
[edit] Academics
Mount Allison University is considered[clarify] one of the most prestigious undergraduate universities in Canada[citation needed]. The institution consistently[when?] ranks amongst the top three primarily undergraduate universities in the annual Maclean's magazine rankings[citation needed]. Mount Allison has also produced 47 Rhodes Scholars, more than any other liberal arts university in North America[citation needed].
Mount Allison University is committed[clarify] to the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a community of higher learning, centred on the undergraduate student and delivered in an intimate and harmonious environment. Mount Allison offers Bachelor's degrees in Arts, Science, Commerce, Fine Arts and Music, as well as Master's degrees in Biology and Chemistry and Certificates in Bilingualism[citation needed].
Current full time enrollment at the university is about 2,200[citation needed]. The student body at Mount Allison comes from every province in Canada and there is a large proportion of international students as well. They are attracted by the university's reputation, academic standards, collegiality and small class size[citation needed].
[edit] Trivia
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- Mount Allison boasts the oldest university art gallery in Canada.
- Mount Allison was the first university in Canada to have Wi-Fi access on its entire campus.
- Mount Allison offered the first Canadian Studies programme in the country.
- Mount Allison is a recognized pioneer in the establishment of support services for students with learning disabilities.
- Mount Allison was the first Canadian university to offer a B.F.A (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree in Visual Arts in 1941.
[edit] Achievements
In December 2007, Mount Allison University was ranked the #1 university in Canada, in the primarily undergraduate university category, as rated by Maclean's magazine[citation needed]. Mount Allison has been ranked #1 twelve times and #2 five times in this category where 21 undergraduate universities all across Canada are ranked[citation needed].
[edit] Notable alumni
Mount Allison has produced more Rhodes Scholars (noted by RS in the list below) per capita than any other university in the Commonwealth. The latest, Dara MacDonald, was nominated in 2007 for the year 2008 and was the school's 47th scholar.
- John Peters Humphrey, jurist
- Ivan Rand, jurist
- Christopher Pratt, artist
- Mary Pratt, artist
- Cuthbert Sebastian, Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis
- John Buchanan, Premier of Nova Scotia, senator
- George F.G. Stanley (RS), historian, designer of Canadian flag, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
- Robert Winters, politician
- Ruth Goldbloom, former Chancellor of the Technical University of Nova Scotia, fundraiser, Chair of Pier 21 National Historic Site Society, Halifax, NS
- Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, physician, Senator, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
- Heward Grafftey, politician and businessman
- Ian Hanomansing, journalist
- Alex Colville, artist
- Frank Parker Day (RS), author
- Muriel McQueen Fergusson, senator
- Herménégilde Chiasson, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
- Barra MacNeils, entertainers
- Edgar Ritchie (RS), diplomat
- Moses Morgan (RS), academic
- Henry Burr, entertainer
- John Clarence Webster, physician/historian
- Charles Beall, litigator
- John Bragg, industrialist
- Wallace McCain, industrialist
- Margaret McCain, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
- Michael deAdder, cartoonist
- Daniel Theaker, composer
- Kate Braid, poet
- Tom Forrestall, artist
- John Gray, playwright
- Eric Lapointe, football player
- Angus MacLean, Premier of Prince Edward Island
- Catherine Callbeck, Premier of Prince Edward Island; businesswoman
- Steven Singh, physician
- Brenda Mary Robertson, First female in the New Brunswick Legislature; Order of Canada
- Erminie Cohen, Senator
- Don Hannah, Playwright; novelist
[edit] Campus life
The university has residence facilities which divide the community into social groups, although approximately half of the student body lives off-campus. Still, 85% of first-year students live in the following residences:
- Windsor Hall
- Bigelow House
- Bennett House
- Trueman House (closed as of June 2005)
- Hunton House
- Thornton House
- Edwards House
- Harper Hall
- Campbell Hall
- Cuthbertson Sustainable Residence
Social life at Mount Allison tends to focus on extracurricular activities. Mount Allison students also socialize at places like Ducky's, the Tantramarsh Club ("The Pub")[1], Joey's, and the Bridge Street Café.
Mount Allison's campus paper, The Argosy, is produced weekly by Argosy Publications Inc., an independent organization funded by the students through an annual fee. The publication dates from 1875, making it one of the oldest continuous publications in Atlantic Canada. Its community radio station, CHMA 106.9 FM, is owned and operated by the members of Attic Broadcasting Company Ltd., a non-profit organization with its offices on the university campus.
Tintamarre theatre company was founded at Mount Allison by Professor Alex Fancy and produces a bilingual collective each year, staged at the Windsor Theatre and later presented at junior and senior high schools throughout the Maritime provinces.
[edit] Athletics
The school's team name in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) is the Mount Allison Mounties. The football team has not fared well in recent years, but won their first game in more than three years in October 2006 against Saint Francis Xavier University, with a score of 24-18. This win broke a losing streak of 34 games. The football Mounties finished their 2006 season with a record of 2-5, their best record since 1999. Mount Allison is also home to CIS-level women's hockey, swim, badminton and soccer teams. Basketball and volleyball teams compete against colleges and other smaller universities. Mount Allison is also the holder of the first ever ACAA men's rugby championship[citation needed].
[edit] References
- ^ Audited Financial Statments 2006
- ^ Trinity College, University of Toronto [Accessed 2 June 2007]
- ^ Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Canada Year Book 1921, Ottawa, 1922
[edit] See also
[edit] Books
- Dr. Marie Hammond Callaghan, Ed. 'We Were Here: Women's History at Mount Allison University' (Sackville: © Mount Allison University Press, 2006);
- J.W. Falconer and W.G. Watson 'A Brief History of Pine Hill Divinity Hall and the Theological Department of Mount Allison University' (Halifax: Pine Hill Divinity Hall, 1946 Pamphlet)
- John G. Reid, 'Mount Allison University: A History to 1963' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984);
- John G. Reid, 'The Mount Allison Ladies College: A Short History, 1984. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984);
[edit] External links
- University Website
- Tantramarsh Club Website
- Campbell Hall Online
- Windsor Hall Online
- Edwards House Online
- Trueman House
- Hunton House Online
- Mclean's 2005 University Rankings
- The Argosy
- CHMA 106.9 FM
- Music Departement
- Mounties Football
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