St. Francis Xavier University

St. Francis Xavier College was founded as Arichat College, a Roman Catholic Diocesan educational institution at Arichat, Nova Scotia, in 1853.[3] Arichat College was moved to its present location in Antigonish, and established as St. Francis Xavier College in 1855.[4] On May 7, 1866, St. Francis Xavier College was given university status, becoming St. Francis Xavier University.[5] The University awarded its first degrees in 1868.In 1883 Mount St. Bernard Academy was founded for female education, with girls from primary grades to grade 12 taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame Henry Frederick Busch (architect) designed the College building, 1888.[6] 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. Four women were awarded university degrees in 1897.[5] A metal plaque in the St. Francis Xavier University Chapel is dedicated to the thirty-three members of the college, now St. Francis Xavier University, who were killed in service during the First World War (1914–18).[7] In February 1922, St. Francis Xavier University's War Memorial Rink, with a brick exterior and wooden interior, opened. After the War Memorial Rink was officially closed on February 8, 2002, the building was torn down and a new science complex was built in the old rink's place.[8] StFX’s extension department has engaged in community development in Antigonish since 1928 while the Coady International Institute at StFX has engaged in community development globally since 1959.[9]