St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. Thomas University (STU) is a Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work. Lawrence Durling and Patrick Malcomson serve as the university's Vice-Presidents, with Larry Batt as the Registrar. The university's president and vice chancellor is Dr. Michael Higgins.

1 History
2 Relationship with UNB
3 Reputation
4 Academics
5 Campus Life
6 Notable alumni
7 External links

[edit] History

The university itself was founded by the Roman Catholic Church in 1910 in Chatham, New Brunswick, but moved to a new campus in Fredericton's "College Hill" neighbourhood, adjacent to the University of New Brunswick in 1964. This move was controversial at the time, since it was made by the Bishop of Saint John without consulting the Catholics of the Miramichi River valley, who had contributed heavily to the university's construction and had financially supported it for many years.

[edit] Relationship with UNB

The relationship between St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick is unique when it comes to Canadian universities. The two campus share the college hill area in Fredericton, classifying New Brunswick's capital city as a university town. The two institutions now share facilities for their student unions, libraries, and athletics, and they have a common heating plant. However, STU and UNB itself are financially and academically separate. STU is able to offer many amenities other smaller schools can't, thanks in large part to its UNB partnership. The two universities have a good natured rivalry with each other.

[edit] Reputation

STU markets itself to prospective students as a 'small scale university with a big scale reputation.' STU's marketing campaign prides itself on its small school approach with a big school feel. While keeping class sizes small (the biggest class size at STU is at the most 60, with about 30 students in each class the norm), they are able to offer students a library and athletic facilities on par with larger institutions (thanks to its UNB partnership). STU's current advertising slogan is 'Think for yourself,' and is meant to highlight its commitment to the liberal arts. According to the 2006 Maclean's magazine rankings, STU places 8th out of 21 undergraduate school's included in Canada.

[edit] Academics

STU offers the following programmes to students: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Applied Arts, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Social Work.

STU offers the following degrees to students: Anthropology, Aquinas, Catholic Studies, Co-op Programme, Core, Criminology & Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, English Language and Literature, English as a Second Language, Environment and Society, Fine Arts, French, Gerontology, Great Ideas, History, Human Rights,Humanities, Italian, Interdisciplinary Studies, Irish Studies, Journalism, Latin, Mathematics, Media Studies, Native Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Romance Languages, Science and Technology Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Spanish, Women's Studies and Gender Studies.

[edit] Campus Life

There are six academic buildings on campus housing classrooms and faculty offices. They are: James Dunn Hall, Edmund Casey Hall, George Martin Hall, Brian Mulroney Hall, Holy Cross House, and Margaret Norrie McCain Hall. Margaret Norrie McCain Hall, STU's newest academic building, opened for classes in January 2007, however an official ceremony marking the building's opening has yet to take place.

STU's athlethic facility is called the J.B. O'Keefe Centre.

There are five residence buildings at St. Thomas University. Three are located on campus (Harrington and Vanier Halls, and Holy Cross House), while two are located a short distance away (Chatham and Rigby Halls).

The university maintains its own campus police force. Campus police members are students who are hired annually by the University to maintain security at campus events.

The student newspaper, The Aquinian, is available on campus and around the city during the regular academic year. The newspaper made international headlines in 2004 when it published a photo of several nude rugby players streaking across the field.

[edit] Notable alumni

Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, Canadian Senator
Shawn Graham, Premier of New Brunswick
Stompin' Tom, Musician
Brian Mulroney, Former Canadian Prime Minister
Raymond Fraser, Novelist, Poet, and Biographer
Al Pittman, Poet and Playwright
Lyman Ward, Actor
Edan Welch, Professional Hockey Player
Harry Forestell, Journalist
Sheree Fitch, Author, Poet

[edit] External links

	New Brunswick universities
Public universities
Moncton \| Mount Allison \| New Brunswick \| St. Thomas
Private universities
Atlantic Baptist \| Bethany \| St. Stephen's