Winter 2008 - St. Francis Xavier University Alumni
Winter 2008 - St. Francis Xavier University Alumni
Winter 2008 - St. Francis Xavier University Alumni
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Frank Muller ’84 cheers on the X-Men at the Homecoming football game.
<strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong>News<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong> l Antigonish l Nova Scotia l Canada<br />
7<br />
In This Issue<br />
6 <strong>St</strong>FX Among The Best<br />
Globe and Mail Canadian<br />
<strong>University</strong> Report puts <strong>St</strong>FX at<br />
the head of the class<br />
7 New Home For Music<br />
and Fine Arts<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX brings teaching and<br />
learning facilities up to high<br />
standards for the future<br />
20<br />
22<br />
10 The Magic of<br />
Coming Home<br />
The wonderful truth about<br />
Canada’s best Homecoming<br />
20 Meeting Grandpa<br />
How a trip to <strong>St</strong>FX provides<br />
unexpected bonding<br />
moments<br />
22 Honouring Allan J.<br />
A rock of Nova Scotia<br />
25 Classics for the Classics<br />
Here’s your chance to come<br />
back to the classroom!<br />
ON THE COVER: Special touches. That’s what<br />
a <strong>St</strong>FX Homecoming is all about. Here, Keith<br />
MacDonald (left) from Mabou, this year’s house<br />
director of House International, and Rankin<br />
MacInnis, also from Mabou, resident assistant<br />
in Lane Hall, pipe the X-Men football team onto<br />
the field before the afternoon classic.<br />
6<br />
25<br />
10<br />
Regular Features<br />
President’s Message 5 l <strong>Alumni</strong> Association News 29 l The Word From Our Chapters 30 l News Exchange 36<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 1
From the editor l Helen murphy ‘08<br />
That intangible something<br />
tFX alumni often speak about the strong pull to<br />
S come back to campus, in some cases after 50<br />
years or more. At Homecoming, the attraction<br />
of alma mater is something that’s easy to recognize,<br />
but hard to put into words.<br />
We’re often asked by folks at other universities about<br />
the “secret” to <strong>St</strong>FX’s incredible alumni support and<br />
spirit (as you know, <strong>St</strong>FX is widely recognized as having<br />
the most loyal alumni in Canada). But really it’s no<br />
secret at all, and it’s not something you can orchestrate<br />
through a new program or policy. Those alumni bonds<br />
are firmly rooted in the student experience.<br />
Many of you spent three or four years living on<br />
campus. During that time, <strong>St</strong>FX was your second family.<br />
It was a close-knit, supportive family; a place where<br />
fellow students, faculty and staff helped you through<br />
the tough times and celebrated with you the good<br />
times. The friendships forged during those years have<br />
withstood the test of time.<br />
As alumni, when we see another X-Ring we know<br />
we share something special with that person. There’s<br />
a shared understanding that we’ve spent three or four<br />
wonderful years of our lives at a truly special place.<br />
In this issue we delve deeper into the magic of<br />
Homecoming and that pull to return to alma mater<br />
– an attraction that is perhaps stronger at <strong>St</strong>FX than at<br />
any other university in Canada.<br />
Each year we tweak our Homecoming schedule a<br />
little. This year we added Homecoming Inn pub nights<br />
after our dinners on Friday and Saturday nights, which<br />
were very well received. We were also very pleased to<br />
have 55- and 60-year class reunions for the first time – a<br />
new tradition we think is here to stay. Another exciting<br />
development this year was the enthusiasm and strong<br />
turnout for our 10-year reunion.<br />
We’re also very pleased to see more and more alumni<br />
come back to Homecoming regardless of whether they<br />
are celebrating a milestone reunion year or not. This<br />
year’s Homecoming was another record-breaker for<br />
both those celebrating special anniversary years and<br />
other alumni.<br />
We’re already working on Homecoming 2009. We’ll<br />
be rolling out the red carpet for all alumni and friends<br />
October 2nd to 4th, especially our 50-year class from<br />
1959 and the 25-year class from 1984.<br />
Whether you’ve been a regular at Homecoming,<br />
or maybe never participated before, we’ll hope you’ll<br />
make plans to experience what promises to be another<br />
magical weekend back home at <strong>St</strong>FX.<br />
Hail and Health,<br />
Helen Murphy ‘08<br />
Director, <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs<br />
Display with Pride<br />
Degree and photo frames<br />
Display your <strong>St</strong>FX diploma and grad photos and those of your Xaverian<br />
children proudly with custom-designed <strong>St</strong>FX frames. These make an<br />
ideal gift for new grads. Each official <strong>St</strong>FX frame comes with a blue acidfree<br />
mat featuring the university crest in gold foil. Your<br />
degree or photo can be mounted in seconds – no wires,<br />
screws or complicated assembly. Save shipping and<br />
handling charges by buying directly in the <strong>Alumni</strong> Office<br />
year round Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.<br />
To purchase frames online,<br />
visit www.alumni.stfx.ca<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>News<br />
st. francis xavier university<br />
MANAGING EDITOR<br />
Helen Murphy ‘08<br />
Email: hmurphy@stfx.ca<br />
Phone: 902-867-2243<br />
Assistant EDITOR<br />
Shelley Cameron-McCarron<br />
Email: sacamero@stfx.ca<br />
Writers<br />
Shelley Cameron-McCarron<br />
Photo EDITOR<br />
John Bastin<br />
Email: jbastin@stfx.ca<br />
PRODUCTION & DESIGN<br />
Angela Penney<br />
Email: apenney@stfx.ca<br />
NEWS EXCHANGE EDITOR<br />
Glenda Bond<br />
Email: gbond@stfx.ca<br />
PHOTOGRAPHS<br />
John Bastin<br />
COVER DESIGN<br />
Angela Penney<br />
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES<br />
Glenda Bond<br />
Phone: (902) 867-2186<br />
Fax: (902) 867-3659<br />
Email: alumni@stfx.ca<br />
upcoming deadlines<br />
spring Issue<br />
copy deadline February 20 for<br />
April mailing<br />
Summer Issue<br />
copy deadline May 20 for<br />
July mailing<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>News is published by <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs and Communications<br />
three times annually for alumni and friends of<br />
the university. Views expressed are those of<br />
the individual contributors or sources quoted.<br />
Contents, copyright © <strong>2008</strong> by <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>. Subscriptions to <strong>Alumni</strong>News are<br />
available to the public for $21 a year, single copies<br />
$7. Letters to the editor are welcome. Address<br />
correspondence to:<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>News<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
PO Box 5000<br />
Antigonish, NS<br />
B2G 2W5<br />
Email: alumni@stfx.ca<br />
Phone: 902-867-2186<br />
Personal Information: <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong> gathers and maintains<br />
records of personal information for the purposes of admission, registration,<br />
provision of educational services, ongoing contact with students and alumni,<br />
and soliciting support for these and other <strong>University</strong> activities. The collection,<br />
use and disclosure of personal information by the <strong>University</strong> is governed by<br />
the Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, S.N.S.<br />
1993, c.5. Information provided to the <strong>University</strong> from time to time will be<br />
maintained in the <strong>University</strong>’s records. The personal information provided may<br />
be used by <strong>University</strong> personnel and disclosed to third parties as required or<br />
permitted by applicable legislation or in accordance with the purposes for<br />
which it is collected. If you wish to have your contact information removed for<br />
the purposes of any mailings to alumni from <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong>, the<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> Association or our Affinity Partners, please send us a note using the<br />
contact information on this page.<br />
CANADA’S PREMIER<br />
UNDERGRADUAT E EXPERIENCE<br />
WWW.STFX.CA<br />
letters<br />
X-Ringers on the Great Wall: l-r Jake MacDonald ‘07, Colleen Turlo ‘07, Jesse<br />
Withrow ‘06 and Emily MacIsaac ‘06<br />
Looking For <strong>St</strong>FX WWI<br />
Memories<br />
My fellow Xaverians,<br />
I am a 4 th year history honours<br />
student working to complete an<br />
undergraduate thesis. I have chosen<br />
to write a history of <strong>St</strong>FX during<br />
the First World War.<br />
As I delve deeper into my research<br />
I am quickly discovering that<br />
my thesis will be largely dependant<br />
Donald L. Anderson ’38<br />
on primary documents – personal<br />
letters, newspapers, magazines,<br />
photographs, and pamphlets of<br />
the period. Consequently, I must<br />
ask a favour: if you happen to have<br />
any such documents, I would be<br />
deeply indebted if you would permit<br />
me to borrow them, or perhaps<br />
make copies.<br />
I promise to treat all documents<br />
with the utmost respect keeping in<br />
Dear Ms. Murphy,<br />
My father, Donald L. Anderson,<br />
was a 1938 graduate of<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX. He passed away in August<br />
and I wanted the <strong>St</strong>FX community<br />
to know how much his time<br />
there meant to him.<br />
He always spoke fondly of<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX and all that he gained academically,<br />
socially, and through<br />
sports.<br />
After graduating from <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
he went on to get a degree in<br />
mining engineering at the <strong>University</strong><br />
of Illinois, which he used<br />
to build a career. But his gratitude<br />
toward <strong>St</strong>FX was reflected when<br />
he wrote that the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
Illinois gave him a job, but that<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX gave him an education.<br />
During WWII he was a lieutenant<br />
with the Canadian Army<br />
Engineers in Europe, and meeting<br />
fellow <strong>St</strong>FX alumni overseas<br />
during those trying times was<br />
special. He received the Croix<br />
de Guerre from the French for<br />
“exceptional war services during<br />
operations”, and although<br />
this was several years removed<br />
from his time at <strong>St</strong>FX, alumni<br />
directory (Rev.) F.J. Smyth sent<br />
a kind letter of congratulations,<br />
writing “it came as no surprise<br />
to me that Donald’s work was<br />
outstanding, because he was a<br />
superior man here at <strong>St</strong>FX where<br />
I knew him well.”<br />
Dad was proud to have attended<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX, writing that <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
was, and is, a prestigious institution.<br />
My brother and twin sisters<br />
knew of his feelings so this is a<br />
letter of recognition and thanks<br />
for what <strong>St</strong>FX gave to him as a<br />
young man. The experiences,<br />
growth in character, and insight<br />
gained during those formative<br />
years influenced him throughout<br />
his life. May <strong>St</strong>FX always offer such<br />
a positive, enduring experience!<br />
– <strong>St</strong>eve Anderson<br />
Port Angeles, Washington<br />
mind that they may be family heirlooms.<br />
In particular, I am looking for<br />
personal letters of <strong>St</strong>FX students<br />
serving overseas or in Canada during<br />
the war. In addition, there was<br />
a magazine entitled Camouflage<br />
produced by the <strong>St</strong>FX No 9 <strong>St</strong>ationary<br />
Hospital Unit while in-theatre in<br />
France. All copies of this magazine<br />
are believed to be lost; however,<br />
I am hopeful that someone out<br />
there may have a copy.<br />
Thanks to all,<br />
Scott Matheson, ‘09<br />
15 James <strong>St</strong>, Apt 3<br />
Antigonish, NS B2G 1R6<br />
x2005ewt@stfx.ca<br />
Pay it forward<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
Here’s a story that makes me<br />
proud to be a Xaverian. I was<br />
rushing to be somewhere when<br />
I realized I was out of gas. I had to<br />
quickly stop to fill up. I went to grab<br />
my wallet… but it wasn’t there.<br />
I had left it in my yoga bag, now<br />
sitting in my front hallway.<br />
I made my way over to the<br />
counter, nervous, embarrassed,<br />
panicked, feeling like a total idiot.<br />
As I walked toward the counter,<br />
another customer called out to me:<br />
“Hey! Nice ring!”<br />
I think, ‘Oh God, not now!’ I say,<br />
“Thanks! You too!”<br />
“I’m Joe,” he says. “Hi Joe, I’m<br />
Emily.” We chat and I find out he<br />
graduated in ’88. As Joe finished<br />
his transaction, his friend walks in.<br />
“Check out this girl’s ring!” he says.<br />
I quickly celebrate yet again our<br />
loyalty to our school. As the two<br />
friends chat I make my way over to<br />
the clerk. His response is not good.<br />
I began to panic: “What Do I Do!?”<br />
May <strong>St</strong>FX always offer such a positive,<br />
enduring experience!<br />
<strong>St</strong>eve Anderson, Port Angeles, Washington<br />
At that point my fellow Xaverian<br />
stepped in and asked about the<br />
problem and if he could help. I am<br />
beyond mortified but I tell him,<br />
“Oh no, no it’s nothing. I just forgot<br />
my wallet. ”Without hesitation, Joe<br />
paid for my gas. I was shocked and<br />
almost in tears at the amazing act<br />
of kindness. I asked how I could<br />
repay him. Could I send a cheque?<br />
Did he have an address? Something.<br />
Anything. “Pay it forward,”<br />
was all he said.<br />
To me, this represents a true<br />
commitment to the pursuit of<br />
“whatsoever things are true, noble,<br />
good, and worthy of praise.” Joe:<br />
thank you. You have inspired me to<br />
be a better Xaverian, to be a better<br />
person. You are a walking example<br />
of the Xaverian commitment. As a<br />
way to pay it forward, a donation<br />
has been made in Joe’s honour to<br />
our alma mater, <strong>St</strong>FX. Thank you!<br />
– Emily Asbell ‘07<br />
Bill and Barbara (Palmer) Shaw<br />
Rocks, Rings, Romance & X!<br />
In 1945, Bill Shaw and Barbara<br />
Palmer met at <strong>St</strong>FX. Bill was a senior<br />
and received his X-Ring that year,<br />
Barbara graduated and earned her<br />
ring in 1948. The two fell in love and<br />
married in 1950. In the 1950s while<br />
living in Trinidad, Barbara’s X-Ring<br />
was lost. Bill’s ring lasted 60 years,<br />
but finally wore thin, possibly due<br />
to the handling of so many rocks<br />
in his career (Bill is a retired <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
geology faculty member). This<br />
past winter the Shaw children (all X<br />
grads), Harry, Margaret, Joanne, Bill,<br />
Liz and Edie gave their father a new<br />
X-Ring. Then Bill promptly went out<br />
and got a new one for his Barbie -<br />
who celebrates her 60 th anniversary<br />
from graduating this year!<br />
– Margaret Shaw Chernosky<br />
2 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 3
President’s page l dr. sean e. riley ‘74<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Legacy Circle<br />
Plan to Make A Difference<br />
The new <strong>St</strong>FX Legacy Circle is being launched to recognize the<br />
commitment of alumni and friends who have confirmed a legacy<br />
gift to <strong>St</strong>FX in their estate planning.<br />
Legacy gifts from alumni and friends are important and will ensure<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX continues to offer the highest quality undergraduate education<br />
to future generations of students.<br />
A legacy gift to <strong>St</strong>FX offers a number of benefits:<br />
• You can participate in the education of generations of students by<br />
supporting a university which has been important in your life.<br />
• It offers the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy in the name of<br />
a loved one, a friend, or in your own name.<br />
• It enhances your lifetime relationship with <strong>St</strong>FX.<br />
• It can create a tax benefit for you or for your estate.<br />
• You decide how the gift will be designated. Your gift can be used for<br />
scholarships, bursaries or awards, special projects, academic chairs or<br />
for another purpose that is important to you. Unrestricted gifts are<br />
most welcome as they can be used for the areas of greatest need.<br />
• Members of The <strong>St</strong>FX Legacy Circle will receive a membership<br />
certificate, a welcoming gift and an annual newsletter, and will be<br />
listed with their approval on The <strong>St</strong>FX Legacy Circle honour roll.<br />
If you have already made<br />
a gift to <strong>St</strong>FX in your will,<br />
please let us know and you<br />
will be included in the <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Legacy Circle. To become a<br />
member, contact:<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Legacy Circle<br />
Planned Giving Office<br />
PO Box 5000<br />
Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5<br />
(902) 867-3380<br />
mhartery@stfx.ca<br />
T<br />
Sharing the Spirit<br />
he X-Spirit has been alive and well<br />
this past fall. Without fail, our alumni<br />
came out in strong numbers to fill the<br />
sidelines and stands with blue and white in<br />
Lethbridge, where our rugby X-Women fought<br />
hard at nationals and took home silver medals;<br />
in Quebec City, where our outstanding crosscountry<br />
teams, Atlantic champs, excelled at<br />
the CIS championships and the X-Men finished<br />
second; and in Halifax where our football X-Men<br />
fought to the last seconds in an exciting Loney<br />
Bowl championship, ending with a close 29-27<br />
loss to <strong>St</strong>. Mary’s.<br />
In fact, it’s not uncommon for the Blue & White<br />
to outnumber hometown fans when <strong>St</strong>FX is the<br />
visiting team. And it gives our varsity teams a real<br />
boost on the court, in the field or on the ice.<br />
That kind of spirit has a big impact in other<br />
areas as well, especially in recruitment. When I ask<br />
new students what brought them to <strong>St</strong>FX, they<br />
often talk about an enthusiastic alumna/us who<br />
influenced their decision. Sometimes it’s a relative,<br />
a teacher or a recent graduate, but the common<br />
element is their passion for the <strong>St</strong>FX experience.<br />
One student from Vancouver made the<br />
decision after meeting a recent grad who was<br />
working as a recruiter and visited her high school.<br />
“She was just so excited and passionate about her<br />
own <strong>St</strong>FX experience,” the student told me, “that<br />
I knew there must be something very special<br />
about this place.”<br />
We’ve welcomed many of our top young<br />
scholars and student leaders because of such<br />
encounters. And of course our alumni feel good<br />
about connecting a promising student with one<br />
of Canada’s finest universities.<br />
On campus, we’re working hard to ensure that<br />
the <strong>St</strong>FX experience continues to be everything<br />
it should be. This year we’re enhancing the<br />
international experience of our students by<br />
bringing the Coady Institute to the heart of<br />
campus. We’re also making significant progress<br />
on plans and fundraising for the new Gerald<br />
Schwartz School of Business and Information<br />
Systems.<br />
I encourage you to continue to share your <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
experience with our next generation of students.<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs and our Recruitment Dept. have<br />
developed materials to help in making referrals<br />
to <strong>St</strong>FX. (Visit www.alumni.stfx.ca for more<br />
information.)<br />
At a time of increased competition in postsecondary<br />
education, we know our 30,000<br />
alumni and our unwavering commitment to<br />
the undergraduate together constitute our<br />
competitive advantage.<br />
I want to thank all of you who share your <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
experience with future university students. In<br />
ways small and big, you’re not only helping build<br />
a stronger <strong>St</strong>FX, but also helping many promising<br />
young adults to achieve their potential.<br />
Warm regards,<br />
Dr. Sean E. Riley’74<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX President<br />
4 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 5
NewsFlash<br />
What’s New on Campus and in the <strong>St</strong>FX Community<br />
Globe and Mail Canadian <strong>University</strong> Report Again<br />
Recognizes <strong>St</strong>FX Among The Best In Canada<br />
F<br />
or the second straight<br />
year, <strong>St</strong>FX has aced The<br />
Globe and Mail’s university<br />
report card, and has been again<br />
recognized as one of Canada’s very<br />
best universities.<br />
The annual Globe and Mail<br />
Canadian <strong>University</strong> Report released<br />
Oct. 23 says that no one scores better<br />
than <strong>St</strong>FX for academic reputation,<br />
campus atmosphere, extracurricular<br />
activities, class size, most satisfied<br />
students, and quality of education.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX was also among the very top<br />
schools in student-faculty interaction,<br />
campus technology, quality of<br />
teaching, career preparation, and<br />
student services.<br />
This is The Globe and Mail’s<br />
seventh exclusive national survey of<br />
undergraduate student satisfaction.<br />
The survey has grown this year to<br />
more than 43,400 students, allowing<br />
the Globe to grade the performance<br />
of no less than 55 universities. As<br />
the single largest publicly-available,<br />
undergraduate student-satisfaction<br />
survey in Canada, the report asks<br />
students to rate their own campuses<br />
on about 100 distinct elements of<br />
university life. In lieu of the rankings<br />
system, the Globe rates universities<br />
with letter grades, and groups them<br />
into separate size categories based on<br />
enrolment.<br />
“It’s very gratifying to see <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
continue to be recognized as one<br />
of the premier undergraduate<br />
experiences in the country,” says <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
President Dr. Sean Riley. “We’re proud of<br />
the experience we offer our students,<br />
and that it continues to be seen as<br />
among the very best in Canada.”<br />
One of the unique aspects<br />
of the <strong>St</strong>FX experience is its rich<br />
residential experience combined<br />
with a complete focus on the<br />
undergraduate. The benefits of a <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
education are featured prominently<br />
in one of the report’s articles, No<br />
Commute, No Crowd, No Worries,<br />
http://globecampus.ca/in-the-news/<br />
globecampusreport/no-commuteno-crowds-no-worries/.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX grad named Minister of Natural Resources<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX grad Lisa Raitt, elected as the Member of Parliament<br />
for Halton, ON, in <strong>2008</strong>, was appointed Minister of Natural<br />
Resources by the Right Honourable <strong>St</strong>ephen Harper, on October<br />
29, <strong>2008</strong>. Until her election, she was president and chief executive<br />
officer of the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), responsible for leading<br />
the Canadian federal corporation that manages commerce,<br />
transportation (including the Toronto City Centre Airport) and<br />
recreation in the Toronto harbour. In <strong>2008</strong>, she was elected chair of<br />
the Association of Canadian Port Authorities. She had previously<br />
served as the TPA’s chief counsel, and Harbourmaster. Minister<br />
Raitt pursued education first in science, graduating with a B.Sc. from <strong>St</strong>FX, and a M.Sc. in chemistry,<br />
specialized in environmental biochemical toxicology, from the <strong>University</strong> of Guelph. She then<br />
earned her LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School. Upon her call to the bar in 1998, she was honoured<br />
as a Dr. Harold G. Fox Scholar and trained with barristers in the United Kingdom who specialized in<br />
international trade, commerce, transportation and arbitration. The youngest of seven children, she<br />
grew up in Cape Breton, where her father was first a mine worker, who loaded coal onto ships, and<br />
later a union leader and elected town councillor, and her mother was a small businesswoman. Minister<br />
Raitt is married, with two young sons. Her husband Dave is an award-winning writer/comedian and<br />
an alumnus of the world-famous Second City comedy troupe, and is a small business owner.<br />
For a complete summary of <strong>St</strong>FX results, visit<br />
www.globecampus.ca/navigator/st-francis-xavier-university/<br />
Dr. Jock Murray ‘59, ‘89 has<br />
received the <strong>2008</strong> Order of<br />
Nova Scotia. Dr. Murray, former dean<br />
of medicine at Dalhousie <strong>University</strong><br />
and past director of its Multiple<br />
Sclerosis Research Unit, is widely<br />
respected as a teacher, administrator,<br />
neurologist<br />
and researcher.<br />
In the early ’90s,<br />
he launched a<br />
series of innovative<br />
programs<br />
that dramatically<br />
c h a n g e d t h e<br />
face of Dalhousie<br />
Medical School.<br />
He is founder and<br />
first president of<br />
the Dalhousie Society for the History<br />
of Medicine, and Professor Emeritus<br />
in the Humanities at Dalhousie<br />
Medical School.<br />
newsflash l what’s new on campus and in the stfx community<br />
Olympic Widget Success For X Grads<br />
B<br />
randon Kolybaba ’02<br />
and his colleagues at<br />
Norex, an 18-member<br />
Halifax-based web design and<br />
marketing firm he runs with<br />
Xaverians Matthew Rudderham<br />
’02 and Farlan Dowell ’02, took<br />
the Beijing <strong>2008</strong> Olympics by<br />
storm, via a dashboard widget<br />
they created to keep tally of medal<br />
standings.<br />
“We looked at the Internet and<br />
couldn’t find one,” Brandon recalls.<br />
isitors to <strong>St</strong>FX’s music and<br />
fine arts departments on<br />
Oct. 2, <strong>2008</strong> had many<br />
‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and positive<br />
comments as they toured the<br />
halls of the departments’ new<br />
homes – the result of $5 million in<br />
renovations conducted over the<br />
summer months.<br />
Over 70 people, including<br />
government officials, project<br />
contractors, and members of<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX’s board of governors and<br />
alumni board, attended the official<br />
opening celebrations.<br />
“I want to congratulate faculty<br />
on building these programs over<br />
many years. We needed to bring<br />
the teaching and learning facilities<br />
up to a high standard for the future.<br />
Art and Music now can focus<br />
on the future with confidence,”<br />
noted <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean<br />
Riley, adding, “We are grateful to<br />
the province for support.”<br />
Gilmora Hall<br />
renovation<br />
dramatically improves<br />
space for music<br />
program<br />
Gilmora Hall, originally a fourstorey<br />
residence built in 1938, is<br />
now the newly renovated home<br />
to the <strong>St</strong>FX music department.<br />
The $3.05 million renovation<br />
includes new and renovated<br />
“We couldn’t believe nobody had<br />
thought to make it. We had an<br />
idea and ran with it. We made it<br />
happen in a very short period of<br />
time.”<br />
Within three days of putting<br />
the computer application online,<br />
it became the number one<br />
download on apple.com. The<br />
widget’s link to Norex’s website<br />
proved a marketing boon. “We<br />
had millions of hits to our website,”<br />
Kolybaba says. “I was extremely<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX music and fine arts have<br />
new facilities to call home<br />
V<br />
classrooms, faculty offices, and<br />
teaching and practice rooms. A<br />
new elevator, washrooms and<br />
lounge space makes the building<br />
more accessible and comfortable<br />
for use by faculty and students.<br />
The renovation was made possible<br />
in part from funding received from<br />
the provincial government under<br />
the Nova Scotia Crown Share<br />
<strong>University</strong> Infrastructure Trust.<br />
Immaculata Hall<br />
renovation provides<br />
inspiring space for fine<br />
arts program<br />
The fine arts department has<br />
relocated to the newly renovated<br />
first floor of Immaculata Hall.<br />
Now bathed in natural light,<br />
the old heating plant has been<br />
transformed into an open concept<br />
drawing and painting studio. Old<br />
classrooms have been given new<br />
life as general studio areas, and<br />
some are outfitted with exhaust<br />
systems and computer equipment.<br />
New offices, research labs, and<br />
lounge spaces have given the<br />
faculty and students spaces to<br />
promote creativity and a sense<br />
of community. The $1.93 million<br />
renovation was made possible in<br />
part from funding received from<br />
the provincial government under<br />
the Nova Scotia Crown Share<br />
<strong>University</strong> Infrastructure Trust.<br />
surprised. We never expected<br />
that kind of exposure. It’s not a<br />
revolutionary piece of software.”<br />
As luck would have it, business<br />
partner, former Olympian Julia<br />
Rivard, was in Beijing at the time.<br />
The Halifax-based marketer<br />
was able to capitalize on the<br />
connection, and Norex now may<br />
have “interesting opportunities” for<br />
the 2010 Games in Vancouver.<br />
Looks like an Olympic case of<br />
right time, right place. Brandon Kolybaba ‘02<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX students taking music and fine arts now have great new<br />
facilities to call home thanks to $5 million in renovations done<br />
in Gilmora and Immaculata Halls over the summer.<br />
Fine Arts<br />
Program Facts<br />
# of Faculty: 2 full time, 17 part time<br />
# of Courses Offered: 30<br />
# of <strong>St</strong>udents Earning Credits: 764<br />
Music<br />
Program Facts:<br />
# of Faculty: 12<br />
# of Courses Offered: 35<br />
# of <strong>St</strong>udents Earning Credits: 642<br />
# of Classrooms: 5<br />
# of Practice Rooms: 12<br />
# of Combo/Ensemble Rooms: 4<br />
6 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 7
newsflash l what’s new on campus and in the stfx community<br />
newsflash l what’s new on campus and in the stfx community<br />
A Ripple Effect<br />
K<br />
risten Roe knows how<br />
to make waves. And how<br />
to help women in Africa.<br />
In July <strong>2008</strong>, the <strong>St</strong>FX master’s of<br />
adult education student (she’s<br />
in the community development<br />
Coady stream) swam a grueling 30-<br />
kilometre double crossing of the<br />
Northumberland <strong>St</strong>rait between<br />
New Brunswick and PEI, in under 15<br />
hours, to raise money for the <strong>St</strong>ephen<br />
Lewis Foundation and Farmers<br />
Helping Farmers, an organization<br />
that assists women farmers in<br />
Kenya. Her motivation? “In 2005, I<br />
completed a single crossing of<br />
the Northumberland <strong>St</strong>rait for the<br />
<strong>St</strong>ephen Lewis Foundation. I raised<br />
$25,000. The idea was to continue<br />
with “making a ripple effect,” to<br />
challenge myself to do a double<br />
crossing, and to challenge the<br />
community to raise more money.”<br />
She is now at about $40,000 with<br />
the goal being $100,000 by the end<br />
of <strong>2008</strong>. On Oct. 9, <strong>St</strong>ephen Lewis<br />
was in Charlottetown to speak for<br />
her campaign, which focuses on<br />
African women within the agricultural<br />
sector and women affected<br />
by AIDS. Funds are split evenly<br />
between the two foundations. In<br />
2006, Roe spent six months living<br />
in South Africa. While there she<br />
became the first Canadian to swim<br />
from Cape Town, South Africa to<br />
Robben Island, in a fundraiser for<br />
women living with HIV-AIDS. For<br />
more, please see, www.kristinroe.<br />
com<br />
Golden X’s in Europe<br />
David O’Brien (Class of 1980) and Jason MacKenzie (Class of <strong>2008</strong>) struck<br />
up a conversation after spotting each other’s rings in Europe this past<br />
August. Here, they are shown sporting their Golden X’s outside the Yacht<br />
Club de Monaco, on a sunny day in Monte Carlo. (Photo: Linda O’Brien)<br />
Imperial Oil Foundation, <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
bring the fun and fascination<br />
of science to students<br />
S<br />
tFX’s science outreach program, offered on campus and in schools<br />
throughout northeastern Nova Scotia, is being enhanced and expanded<br />
thanks to a <strong>2008</strong> $200,000 four-year investment from the<br />
Imperial Oil Foundation. “We in the chemistry department are delighted<br />
with this announcement,” says chair Dr. James Cormier. “Outreach has<br />
been an important part of the department for many years, due mainly to<br />
the work of Dr. Truis Smith-Palmer. It contributes to the education of the<br />
participating <strong>St</strong>FX students and allows us to expose students of all grades<br />
to science in ways that would otherwise be unavailable in this area.” Here,<br />
Imperial Oil Foundation president Monica Samper joined <strong>St</strong>FX President<br />
Dr. Sean Riley, Dr. Cormier, Dean of Science Dr. Bill Marshall, <strong>St</strong>FX and <strong>St</strong>.<br />
Andrew Junior School students at the announcement.<br />
Dr. Martin van Bommel<br />
named one of Atlantic<br />
Canada’s best teachers<br />
C<br />
omputer science professor<br />
Dr. Martin van<br />
Bommel has been<br />
recognized for his excellence in<br />
teaching, receiving the <strong>2008</strong> Association<br />
of Atlantic <strong>University</strong><br />
(AAU) Distinguished Teaching<br />
Award Sept. 17. “My first reaction<br />
was ‘no way.’ It just floored me. I<br />
am very flattered,” a humble and<br />
excited Dr. van Bommel said.<br />
Others were quick to sing his<br />
praise. <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean<br />
Riley, faculty members and former students wrote glowing letters<br />
in a nomination package for the award, based on an educator’s<br />
overall demonstration of knowledge, their ability to engage students<br />
and inspire a lifelong interest in learning. The news marks<br />
the second consecutive year a <strong>St</strong>FX faculty member has won the<br />
award. Human kinetics professor Dr. Angie Thompson received<br />
the honour in 2007.<br />
Pope honours<br />
Archbishop Currie in<br />
Vatican City<br />
Most Rev. Martin Currie ‘64 with Pope Benedict<br />
T<br />
he Most Rev. Martin Currie ’64, the Roman Catholic Archbishop<br />
of <strong>St</strong>. John’s, was in Vatican City in June for a prestigious honour.<br />
Pope Benedict conferred The Pallium on Archbishop Currie on<br />
the Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul. The Pallium is bestowed by the Pope<br />
on archbishops and bishops having metropolitan jurisdiction, as a symbol<br />
of their participation in papal authority. Rev. Currie is considered the<br />
metropolitan bishop of Newfoundland and Labrador, and has supervisory<br />
authority over the bishops in the dioceses of the province. The Pallium itself<br />
is made of white wool, to be worn around the neck at major ceremonies.<br />
The wool comes from lambs blessed in Rome on the feast of <strong>St</strong>. Agnes,<br />
and symbolizes the lost sheep that is found and carried on the shoulders<br />
of the Good Shepherd. Pope Benedict conferred the Pallium on 42 other<br />
metropolitan archbishops, including one other from Canada.<br />
X grad Hendrickson rocks Piping Live!<br />
Picks up international win<br />
<strong>2008</strong> music grad Peter Hendrickson has won a prestigious snare<br />
drumming award in Scotland. The Edmonton, AB native took first<br />
place amongst a world field of snare drummers, including<br />
representatives from Canada, the U.S., Australia, and<br />
Denmark, at the second annual Lord of the Todd<br />
Challenge which played to a full house at the Lord<br />
Todd Bar at the <strong>University</strong> of <strong>St</strong>rathclyde in August<br />
<strong>2008</strong> in Glasgow, Scotland. The invitational<br />
competitions for snare, bass and tenor<br />
drummers kicked off the Piping Live!<br />
festival held during the World Pipe Band<br />
Championships. Hendrickson won a<br />
new Premier drum and £500 in cash<br />
and vouchers.<br />
Robyn Tingley, a<br />
1996 psychology<br />
graduate, has been<br />
appointed vice-president,<br />
human resources and<br />
communications (Europe,<br />
Middle East and Africa)<br />
at Ingram Micro Europe,<br />
the European division of<br />
Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE:<br />
IM), the largest global<br />
wholesale provider of<br />
technology products and supply chain management services.<br />
Tingley joins Ingram Micro EMEA from Bell Aliant, where she<br />
served as vice president of communications and public affairs for<br />
the last five years. Tingley will be located at Ingram Micro’s EMEA<br />
headquarters near Brussels, Belgium.<br />
X-Women hockey grad earns<br />
prestigious international<br />
internship appointment<br />
C<br />
ommonwealth Games<br />
Canada has appointed<br />
former X-Woman hockey<br />
grad Alexis Lemmex to the Canadian<br />
Sport Leadership Corps (CSLC) international<br />
internship program for <strong>2008</strong>.<br />
The program uses sport to address social<br />
issues such as HIV/AIDS education,<br />
gender equality, and opportunities for<br />
people with a disability, in developing<br />
Commonwealth countries in Africa<br />
and the Caribbean.<br />
“The value of sport is often underestimated,” says Lemmex, 23 of Ottawa,<br />
who graduated from <strong>St</strong>FX with a B.Sc. in human kinetics. She also has a <strong>2008</strong><br />
international masters in adapted physical activity – a joint degree from the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Leuven in Belgium and the <strong>University</strong> of Limerick, Ireland.<br />
As a youth development officer, her mandate is to offer services to promote<br />
the ongoing improvement of society in <strong>St</strong>. Kitts & Nevis.<br />
Good Piping!<br />
Piper Andrea Boyd ’06 recently<br />
won the Silver Medal Competition<br />
at Scotland’s prestigious Argyllshire<br />
Gathering <strong>2008</strong>, the pre-eminent<br />
piping competitions in the world. A<br />
native of Antigonish, Andrea moved<br />
to Ireland and then Scotland after<br />
graduating from <strong>St</strong>FX to pursue<br />
senior solo piping competitions<br />
and complete her master’s degree<br />
in political communication from<br />
the <strong>University</strong> of Glasgow.<br />
8 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 9
on the cover<br />
magic<br />
The<br />
of<br />
coming home<br />
Thousands back on campus.<br />
A magical combination of<br />
conversation, music, friends, food<br />
and football. The wonderful truth<br />
about Canada’s best Homecoming.<br />
By Shelley Cameron-McCarron<br />
On the 50 th anniversary of her <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
graduation, Toni (Mazerolle) Mac-<br />
Donnell ’58 cleaned her Antigonish<br />
area home for company, took a trip<br />
dress shopping, baked two tourtières, two<br />
pumpkin and two chicken pies, and planned<br />
a wine and cheese reception. “I’ll be ready for<br />
everything that happens,” she said just before<br />
the big weekend.<br />
Five months pregnant, C.J. (Jamieson) Healy<br />
’98 left her two older kids at home in California<br />
with their dad, boarded a plan to Calgary to<br />
meet friend Sarah Williams ’98, and then took<br />
the red-eye straight on to Antigonish where<br />
she planned to meet more friends, grab a slice<br />
of donair pizza at The Wheel, buy X-gear for her<br />
kids, watch a pick-up basketball game between<br />
former and current X-Women, and take in every<br />
Homecoming event she could.<br />
Why? What makes <strong>St</strong>FX alumni go out of their<br />
way to attend Homecoming?<br />
“Something happens here that’s hard to put<br />
into words, but I know I haven’t seen it anywhere<br />
else,” muses Helen Murphy ’08, Director<br />
of <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs.<br />
Homecoming guests agree: That special<br />
something is why <strong>St</strong>FX has one of the most<br />
successful Homecomings in Canada.<br />
“We get queries and questions from all over the<br />
country on how to replicate it, but it really goes<br />
back to the student experience our alumni had on<br />
campus, and the ties that were established here.”<br />
Murphy says <strong>St</strong>FX grads feel that connection<br />
in their hearts and are excited to come back<br />
home. “There’s something deeply meaningful<br />
and satisfying about reconnecting with old<br />
friends and faculty from <strong>St</strong>FX.”<br />
Each year thousands of faithful alumni, from<br />
“It’s hard to beat a beautiful blue sky on a fall day in<br />
the bleachers on Homecoming Saturday and you’re<br />
chatting up a buddy that you haven’t seen in years<br />
but yet, it just feels like yesterday.”<br />
Mary Fauteux ’82<br />
California to Florida and from New Zealand to<br />
Newfoundland, flock back to campus in early<br />
October to celebrate the Xaverian experience.<br />
Coming back to alma mater appeals for various<br />
reasons. <strong>Alumni</strong> meet old friends, but also<br />
have an opportunity to witness campus renewal.<br />
It’s a chance to reminisce, while also seeing the<br />
future unfold on campus.<br />
10 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 11
on the cover<br />
X-Spirit was out in full force during Homecoming.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX rolls out the red carpet for its alumni<br />
each fall, providing a weekend sure to bring back<br />
golden memories and create new ones.<br />
Recent years have seen the evolution of the<br />
Welcome Home Dinner, featuring the <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Awards of Excellence, which is now the premier<br />
reunion event of the weekend. The football<br />
game is always jam-packed and is almost always<br />
guaranteed to provide edge-of-your-seat<br />
excitement. The Hall of Honour is inspiring; class<br />
reunions and dinners across campus provide the<br />
pleasant buzz of animated conversation, laughter,<br />
music, and inevitably a trip to the Golden X<br />
Inn. This year comedians Bette MacDonald and<br />
Maynard Morrison spiced up Friday’s Homecoming<br />
Inn pub night.<br />
There’s so much to enjoy, from the Homecoming<br />
Mass to the farewell brunch at Morrison Hall,<br />
from campus walking tours to the new Coffee<br />
with Coady event. In between there are soccer<br />
and rugby matches, a reunion for Mount <strong>St</strong>.<br />
Bernard alumnae, and other big events in the<br />
life of the university.<br />
Homecomers over the years have also had<br />
the chance to participate first-hand in <strong>St</strong>FX history.<br />
There’s been the dedication of Confusion<br />
Square, when the-ever eloquent, former <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
president Dr. Malcolm MacDonell spoke of the<br />
early beginnings of <strong>St</strong>FX. Others have gathered<br />
to toast Harry W. ‘Buddy’ Sweet, a loyal and longtime<br />
supporter and former owner of The Wagon<br />
Wheel. There were tours of the impressive labs<br />
and classrooms in the new Sciences Centre and<br />
next year Homecoming alumni will be among<br />
the first to tour the new Coady International<br />
Centre at the heart of campus.<br />
Over and above these kinds of exciting events,<br />
Golden Grads had the chance to dance<br />
the night away.<br />
almost everyone will tell you of the deeply personal<br />
connection that brings them back to alma<br />
mater.<br />
“Homecoming, for me, means going back to<br />
the place where I spent the best four years of<br />
my life,” says Mary Fauteux, who graduated with<br />
a BA in 1982.<br />
The PEI native, now living in Dartmouth, NS,<br />
like so many alumni met her spouse at <strong>St</strong>FX. She<br />
and Jules ’81 married in the <strong>St</strong>FX Chapel in 1983.<br />
Their daughter Julia is now in her third year and<br />
“loving every minute of it.”<br />
For the Fauteux family, Homecoming weekend<br />
is always circled on the calendar. It’s a<br />
given that they’ll be heading to Antigonish for<br />
the weekend or, at the very least, for game day<br />
Saturday. Each year Mary eagerly anticipates who<br />
she will meet there and who is going to surprise<br />
her by showing up.<br />
“It’s hard to beat a beautiful, blue sky, fall day<br />
in the bleachers on Homecoming Saturday and<br />
you’re chatting up a buddy that you haven’t seen<br />
in years but yet, it just feels like yesterday.”<br />
Fauteux says <strong>St</strong>FX has a good thing going with<br />
its alumni.<br />
Grads from across the country give of their<br />
time and talent to maintain alumni chapters and<br />
keep that ‘family’ spirit alive. They promote the<br />
university within their communities, support its<br />
varsity teams, recruit new students, and the list<br />
goes on.<br />
“We are reminded in the newspapers and<br />
magazines of <strong>St</strong>FX successes in research, its<br />
high standing in university rankings and its<br />
world-wide recognition as a leader in social<br />
justice and outreach. So, not only do we reunite<br />
at Homecoming to celebrate all that the university<br />
is about today, but we’re also celebrating<br />
all those yesterdays that made <strong>St</strong>FX what it is<br />
today…What better cause for celebration?”<br />
That kind of X-Spirit among alumni impacts<br />
recruitment.<br />
“One of the things that’s important when you’re<br />
considering <strong>St</strong>FX for a university is how strong<br />
the alumni support is,” says C.J. (Jamieson) Healy.<br />
“Everyone brags about it. To me, that meant a lot,<br />
that people still maintain their identity.<br />
Katie Fleming Award receipient Dawn Mokgautsi<br />
“I still wear my X-Ring every day, though no<br />
one out here knows what it is, and I still feel very<br />
strongly tied to the university.”<br />
For Toni MacDonnell, the connection comes<br />
from the closeness of students. “We did everything<br />
together. We got to know each other very well.”<br />
In the days leading up to Homecoming, Toni<br />
was eager to see friends and classmates.<br />
“When your children are young, you don’t<br />
have time, but then when they have grown<br />
up, then old friends become very important<br />
again. At one of our last reunions one of our<br />
classmates said to us, ‘I think about you guys<br />
all the time.’ And it’s true. You’re in each other’s<br />
minds.<br />
“It’s just the feeling that we have. When we’re<br />
together, we’re 20 years old again, not 70. The<br />
feeling never dies. In our hearts, the dreams<br />
never die.”<br />
Kevin Deveaux ’83, now principal at Sydney<br />
Academy, was another grad anticipating being<br />
back in the atmosphere of campus to celebrate<br />
his 25 th anniversary.<br />
Though he’s been back to campus fairly<br />
frequently – he’s dad to three current students<br />
“It’s just the feeling that we have. When we’re together,<br />
we’re 20 years old again, not 70. The feeling never dies. In<br />
our hearts the dreams never die.”<br />
– he hasn’t always had the chance to return for<br />
Homecoming.<br />
“It’s an opportunity to see people from my class,<br />
some from 25 years ago. Even to get the emails,<br />
to have re-established that contact is great.”<br />
Deveaux says the sense of community the<br />
university establishes is like no other.<br />
“I took two kids here as frosh and I’m incredibly<br />
impressed with how the university creates<br />
an atmosphere. As soon as you’re there, you’re<br />
a Xaverian. That’s part of your identity. I always<br />
have that great feeling for <strong>St</strong>FX.”<br />
“I’m very much looking forward to seeing<br />
friends I haven’t seen in awhile,” agreed classmate<br />
Rick Benson ’83, who graduated with a BA in<br />
theology. “It will be great to touch base and catch<br />
up on the last 25 years.”<br />
Did you know?<br />
• Each of the last few years has broken records<br />
in terms of Homecoming attendance. This<br />
year the number of registered guests was up<br />
by 16 per cent.<br />
• <strong>St</strong>FX Homecoming is increasingly appealing<br />
to all alumni, not just those celebrating milestone<br />
anniversaries. This year the number of<br />
Fr. Malcolm MacDonnell ‘38<br />
Dr. Leo P. Chiasson ‘38<br />
Toni (Mazerolle) MacDonnell ’58<br />
Benson, a class life officer who served as <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Dean of <strong>St</strong>udents for eight years in the 1990s,<br />
says the weekend really is a homecoming in that<br />
it offers a wonderful combination of interaction<br />
between alumni, students, faculty and staff.<br />
Arriving from Saint John, NB for the weekend,<br />
he was looking forward to checking off all on his<br />
must-do list: attending his class dinner, going to<br />
the Hall of Honour, looking up faculty members,<br />
and as a former rugby player, catching up with<br />
the current team.<br />
“One of the things I’m looking forward to,”<br />
he says, “is seeing my oldest son, Brendan, who<br />
is a student at <strong>St</strong>FX now. It’s a full circle. It’s the<br />
combination of being there with my fellow<br />
classmates, and my son, and to see that connection.”<br />
X<br />
guests not celebrating a special anniversary<br />
year increased by 25.45 per cent.<br />
• In <strong>2008</strong>, two new class reunion celebrations<br />
were held for the first time: grads celebrating<br />
their 55th and 60th anniversary. It looks like<br />
those two milestone anniversary celebrations<br />
are here to stay!<br />
Agnes MacLellan ‘29<br />
Jack Madden ‘32<br />
70-year grads given piece of <strong>St</strong>FX history<br />
Two special guests at the Welcome Home Dinner on Oct. 3 were honoured on the occasion of<br />
their 70th anniversary of graduation from <strong>St</strong>FX. Former <strong>St</strong>FX president Fr. Malcolm MacDonnell<br />
and former chair of biology Dr. Leo P. Chiasson of the Class of 1938 were each presented with a<br />
piece of <strong>St</strong>FX history: a brick from Somers Chapel, built in 1911. These bricks, available because of<br />
renovations taking place at Somers Chapel as part of the Coady International Centre construction<br />
project, were engraved with an X and bear a message of congratulations. Their classmate, Rev.<br />
James MacLean of Sydney, was also awarded a brick from Somers Chapel during the <strong>St</strong>FX Day<br />
celebration in Sydney on Dec. 2.<br />
Somers Hall bricks were also presented during Homecoming to two of our most elderly<br />
alumni, Agnes MacLellan from the Class of 1929 and Jack Madden from the Class of 1932.<br />
12 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 13
Homecoming <strong>2008</strong><br />
A record-breaker<br />
1<br />
homecoming<br />
Renewing Connections: One of the best things about <strong>St</strong>FX Homecoming is the chance to catch up<br />
with old friends. Shown here, this group of alumni gathered for dinner together following the football<br />
game. Pictured l-r, are Greg MacEachern ‘96, Jay Donlevy ‘92, Phil Markovich ‘85, <strong>St</strong>eve Shields, Angela<br />
Lerikos Shields ‘91,’92, Krista Lake Settle ‘90, Dave Bernatchez ‘85, and Jen MacDonald Williamson ‘91.<br />
Class of 1958 For more class photos, see pages 34 and 37.<br />
2 3<br />
S<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Homecoming broke records with<br />
close to 700 guests on campus Oct. 3-5,<br />
ballooning to several thousand during<br />
the Homecoming football game. The number<br />
was up from 600 registered visitors in 2007.<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> flew in from as far away as California,<br />
from Florida to Newfoundland, to find a number<br />
of new, exciting events on the schedule along<br />
with old favorites. Grad years ranged from one<br />
year out to 79 years since graduation with 1929<br />
alumni Agnes MacLellan.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX annually rolls out the red carpet for members<br />
of its ‘Golden Grads’ class, and this year was<br />
no different for the 50-year grads. The Class of<br />
1958 enjoyed a number of special events including<br />
a bus tour to Cape George, lunch at Crystal<br />
Cliffs, the Golden Grads class dinner, a wine and<br />
cheese reception, and a reunion of the popular<br />
’50s campus band, X-Men of Note.<br />
New to the schedule this year were two Homecoming<br />
Inn Pub nights including the Friday night<br />
highlight appearance of Cape Breton comedians<br />
Bette MacDonald and Maynard Morrison.<br />
Coffee with Coady, campus walking tours, the<br />
Homecoming football game, Mount <strong>St</strong>. Bernard<br />
Tea, and Hall of Honour ceremonies were among<br />
other weekend highlights. X<br />
Above: The Hall of Honour <strong>2008</strong> induction ceremony, Hall of the Clans, Angus L. Macdonald Library.<br />
Below: <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean Riley; Hall of Honour inductees David Barry ‘66 and Irene MacDonald<br />
‘73; Mairi MacKinnon, daughter of inductee, the late Dr. Ken MacKinnon; Faye Murrin, wife of inductee,<br />
the late Dr. Joe Brown ‘68, <strong>Alumni</strong> Association President Ed McHugh ‘79, and <strong>St</strong>FX Chancellor, Bishop<br />
Raymond Lahey.<br />
Bottom left: This year’s <strong>Alumni</strong> Recognition Award winners were introduced to <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> during the Hall<br />
of Honour ceremony: (l-r) <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean Riley; second-year student Jamie Roberts representing<br />
fourth-year winner Danielle Thow; first-year winner Sheralynne Deveaux; third-year winner Ian Arbuckle;<br />
second-year winner Emily Love; <strong>Alumni</strong> Association President Ed McHugh ’79; and <strong>St</strong>FX Chancellor, Bishop<br />
Raymond Lahey. Each award is valued at $1500.<br />
4<br />
5 6<br />
1. Roger Boudreault ’58 takes a classmate for a<br />
twirl on the dance floor<br />
2. Joe Curry ’63 cheers on the football X-Men.<br />
3. Leigh Ellen Walsh, lecturer at the Gerald<br />
Schwartz School of Business and Information<br />
Systems at the Homecoming Fun Run.<br />
4. <strong>Alumni</strong> join the Chapel Choir.<br />
5. Janet MacDonald ’59 and Barb Munroe ‘57<br />
6. Brunch at the Keating Centre.<br />
14 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 15
homecoming <strong>2008</strong><br />
special report<br />
7<br />
8<br />
Editor’s Note: The following excerpts come from the Globe and Mail’s Canadian<br />
<strong>University</strong> Report, in an article entitled No Commute, No Crowds No Worries<br />
7. Richard Pyne ’58 holds the ball as Danny<br />
Graham ’83 prepares for the ceremonial kickoff<br />
before the Homecoming football game.<br />
8. The annual Katherine Fleming Award for a<br />
student of the Coady International Institute was<br />
presented during the Coffee with Coady event<br />
on Saturday morning. Pictured here are (l-r) Dave<br />
Bernatchez ‘85, friend and classmate of the late<br />
Katie Fleming and Coady volunteer; bursary<br />
recipient Dawn Mokgautsi from Botswana; and<br />
Katie Fleming’s daughter Madeline Zutt.<br />
9. John Angus MacNeil ’53 and Doug MacMaster<br />
’53 share memories at their 55-year reunion.<br />
11<br />
13 14<br />
9 10<br />
12<br />
10. <strong>Alumni</strong> Association board member Morag<br />
Graham ’68 presented the Young Alumnus<br />
Award of Excellence to Celtic musician Troy<br />
MacGillivray ’02 during the Welcome Home<br />
Dinner on Oct. 3.<br />
11. Friends from the Class of 1988 catch up during<br />
their 20th reunion.<br />
12. <strong>Alumni</strong> Association Past President Bill Kiely ’67<br />
and Fr. Paul MacNeil share a Xaverian greeting<br />
after Bill presented the former <strong>St</strong>FX Chaplain<br />
with the Friend of <strong>St</strong>FX Award.<br />
13. <strong>St</strong>FX Professor Emeritus Jack O’Donnell ’58 was<br />
presented with the Distinguished Alumnus<br />
award by <strong>Alumni</strong> Association Vice-President<br />
Austin Hawley ‘67.<br />
14. Troy <strong>St</strong>anley ’95 was presented with the Chapter<br />
of the Year Award on behalf of the London, ON<br />
alumni chapter by board member Paul Fraser ‘82.<br />
I<br />
No Commute,<br />
No Crowds,<br />
No Worries<br />
As sprawling, research-intensive urban campuses<br />
struggle to serve their customers, thousands of<br />
students are finding many good reasons for<br />
choosing universities that put undergrads first.<br />
KATHERINE LAIDLAW<br />
n August, 2007, Jessi Fry left the small town of Castlegar, British Columbia,<br />
with as many belongings as she could pack into two suitcases<br />
and a bad case of nerves. Just 17 years old, she was hopping a plane<br />
to start business studies at a university on the other side of the country, a<br />
school she had read about and talked about, but never seen. While she was<br />
in high school, Montreal’s McGill <strong>University</strong> was her dream destination. But<br />
a recommendation by her sister, followed by an encouraging alumni phone<br />
call, sent her on her way to <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.<br />
Ms. Fry is one of thousands of Canadian students attending what are<br />
dubbed “undergraduate universities”— schools with an intense focus on<br />
the undergraduate experience and few, if any, graduate programs — set<br />
in small towns and concentrated for the most part on the East Coast.<br />
Along with receiving high grades for their quality of teaching and education,<br />
the schools are also lauded for their overall excellence in student<br />
satisfaction. In this year’s survey, <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> and Mount Allison each<br />
received an A, while <strong>St</strong>. Mary’s and Acadia followed with grades of A- for<br />
overall university satisfaction.<br />
Boasting vibrant residence communities, small classes and strong<br />
student-professor interaction, they offer an alternative to large, urban, research-driven<br />
universities, which critics say often penalize their undergrads’<br />
experiences in favour of revenue-generating graduate programs.<br />
… its international focus and sense of worldliness drew her back for her<br />
second year. “Here, there’s a huge sense of belonging to something that’s<br />
bigger than me, and that’s good,” she says. “I encountered people who are<br />
just really good people, people I really respect.”<br />
More than 90% of the university’s faculty members have PhDs, and the<br />
school does not employ teaching assistants, meaning professors’ teaching<br />
abilities play a big role in their recruitment. “We expect professors to be in<br />
their offices and available throughout the week, throughout the term,” says<br />
school president Sean Riley. “We tend to<br />
attract people who realize we’re focused on<br />
our students, we’re focused on teaching.”<br />
“We’re really the direct opposite experience<br />
that the majority of Canadian students<br />
have, which is a large, commuter<br />
school,” he says. “At any particular time,<br />
we have about 50% of students living<br />
on the campus. The experience is really<br />
much more of a total immersion experience,<br />
and that has impact on the<br />
relationships among students and<br />
the relationships between students<br />
and faculty.”<br />
16 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 17
School’s In<br />
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T<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX welcomes students with support, fun, and MTV!<br />
he <strong>St</strong>FX campus came alive over the<br />
Labour Day weekend as the student<br />
body arrived for another academic<br />
year. <strong>St</strong>udents found a warm welcome, a personal<br />
greeting from university president Dr.<br />
Sean Riley, academic support – and this year,<br />
MTV cameras!<br />
MTV was on campus Tuesday, Sept. 2 in their<br />
quest to find the “coolest school” in Canada. The<br />
competition – narrowed down to four schools,<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX, the <strong>University</strong> of Ottawa, the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
Manitoba, and the <strong>University</strong> of Saskatchewan<br />
– is part of MTV’s “Maclean’s ranking – MTV <strong>St</strong>yle,”<br />
which documents First Week activities.<br />
“We have one of the best frosh weeks going<br />
and now we have the chance to share the<br />
experience with the country,” says Jeff Paddon,<br />
<strong>St</strong>udent’s Union vice-president of activities and<br />
events.<br />
“It’s really exciting when you consider this is<br />
our opportunity to show that our school is the<br />
premier undergraduate experience we already<br />
know it is.”<br />
Alex Gosselin, the Union’s vp of student relations,<br />
said the spirit, enthusiasm and Xaverian<br />
pride was like nothing she’d seen in her three<br />
years at <strong>St</strong>FX.<br />
“Frosh week was amazing! Having MTV present<br />
really added to the excitement of the whole<br />
week.”<br />
Alex says it was especially impressive that<br />
nothing could deter the students from events,<br />
not even the rain.<br />
“One event that will always be in my memory<br />
was the cheer-off on the first day the students<br />
arrived. It was pouring rain and all the students<br />
came parading into the main gym. It took 40<br />
minutes to get their attention because they<br />
were cheering so loud. It was awesome. That’s<br />
the spirit that makes this school the best.”<br />
A key component of First Week is a series of<br />
welcoming, entertaining and reassuring events<br />
designed to help students make friends and<br />
get acquainted with their surroundings. Arrival<br />
on campus is a big event for first year students<br />
and their parents. It can often be overwhelming<br />
and a make-or-break event for their university<br />
career.<br />
“What our focus has been for the past few<br />
years is how we are able to engage students<br />
during First Week in ways that ensure a successful<br />
transition into university life generally<br />
and <strong>St</strong>FX specifically,” says Dean of <strong>St</strong>udents Joe<br />
MacDonald.<br />
“We reinforce what is special about <strong>St</strong>FX and<br />
how that experience guarantees that each student<br />
made the correct choice in coming to X.”<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean Riley made it a point to<br />
meet each and every student and their parents<br />
on the first day during the President’s Welcome<br />
and Parents Orientation session.<br />
Other highlights included the Xaverian<br />
Welcome Ceremony and Shinerama, the annual<br />
fundraising event for Cystic Fibrosis. Classes<br />
began September 4. X<br />
18 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 19
alumni profile<br />
Q&A with a Xaverian<br />
Meeting Grandpa<br />
By Mark Reynolds<br />
M<br />
y father and I were in Antigonish,<br />
NS, when we discovered my<br />
grandfather had another woman<br />
in his past.<br />
We had made the trip up from Halifax to find a<br />
photo of my grandfather, Tom Reynolds. Dad said<br />
he had seen it years before on the walls of one of<br />
the buildings on the <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
campus; Tom had graduated from there in 1924.<br />
We didn’t know exactly where it was, but as my<br />
dad is retired and I was on vacation, we had time<br />
to waste, wandering from building to building<br />
on a pleasant afternoon.<br />
The trip was my idea - I was moving to France,<br />
thanks to my wife’s work. I didn’t know how long<br />
we’d be overseas, so many of my activities over<br />
those past few months were imbued with a tint<br />
of sentimentality. When I suggested to my dad<br />
that we do the two-hour drive to Antigonish,<br />
I suppose I was looking to create some violinscored<br />
bonding moment.<br />
My dad had little opportunity for that growing up.<br />
My grandfather died in 1960, when my father was 14.<br />
Tom had early-onset Alzheimer’s, which was<br />
then so little understood it must have seemed<br />
like madness to his family. Dad’s memories of his<br />
father are few, and many relate to his disease.<br />
With Tom unable to work, my grandmother<br />
went back to teaching. As most of his siblings<br />
were working, too, my dad ended up spending<br />
a lot of his time looking after his father - a huge<br />
responsibility for a young teen.<br />
As a result, when my father had children, he<br />
was operating with only a hazily remembered<br />
and incomplete template for fatherhood. He<br />
tried his best; as a kid, I remember him patiently<br />
teaching me “man skills” – how to throw a<br />
baseball, how to pour a beer.<br />
However, it’s little surprise that as I moved<br />
into my teens, dad and I found it hard to<br />
communicate. He had been the youngest son in<br />
a raucous household of six where circumstances<br />
He was as much a<br />
mystery to my father as<br />
to me. What we found,<br />
neither of us expected.<br />
forced him to deal with life largely on his<br />
own. Relating to a sullen, suburban, teenaged<br />
boy wasn’t easy. For my part, I could never<br />
understand why he seemed to expect me to be<br />
so tough.<br />
In this way, Tom, in his absence, had a major<br />
effect on my upbringing. As we drove up to<br />
Antigonish, I saw he was just as much a mystery<br />
to my dad as to me. With nothing but youthful<br />
memories and his brother’s tales, my dad had<br />
built an image of Tom coloured by myth.<br />
Dad was fairly certain the photo he’d glimpsed<br />
years before had shown Tom with the <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
hockey team. He believed Tom had been in the<br />
boxing club, too, although he had not been<br />
a brawler by nature: He preferred the more<br />
contemplative pursuit of fly-fishing. The image<br />
building in my head was of a sportsman who<br />
never let his physicality overcome his essential<br />
sobriety. When Tom went fishing, my dad<br />
assured me, he did so in trousers, never jeans<br />
or, God forbid, shorts.<br />
It was a surprise, then, when the woman in<br />
the university’s alumni office who found Tom’s<br />
picture in the 1924 class yearbook looked at me<br />
in my T-shirt and jeans and declared, “My God,<br />
you look just like him.”<br />
There he was, younger than I am now, the<br />
black and white of the photo showing the<br />
white vastness of forehead and jutting ears to<br />
nice effect. I conceded there might be a slight<br />
resemblance, cursing that I hadn’t worn a hat.<br />
Tom’s influence had expressed itself in other<br />
ways. I fell into freelance writing through my<br />
university’s student newspaper, a vocation I try<br />
to blend with my love for the outdoors. With<br />
the assistance of a helpful woman from the<br />
university archives, we discovered Tom had<br />
contributed several articles to the Xaverian, the<br />
student paper. These included a self-deprecating<br />
account of a camping trip in Algonquin<br />
Provincial Park (on describing his performance<br />
at a campfire sing-along: “Billy leaned over to Phil<br />
and I heard him remark: ‘Better make that chap<br />
cut that, it will draw the wolves.’ “)<br />
Dad was determined to find the hazily<br />
remembered sports photo. We searched the<br />
yearbook, Dad rushing to the sports clubs<br />
section while I scanned each page more<br />
carefully, finally catching my surname on a<br />
page describing the activities of the amateur<br />
dramatics society - another activity Dad and I<br />
had dabbled in during our respective college<br />
days.<br />
I read, eagerly. The play, called <strong>St</strong>op Thief!,<br />
told the story of a husband and wife, partners<br />
in crime, who wanted to pull off “one last score”<br />
before going straight.<br />
A difficulty, in 1924, was that <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong><br />
was an all-boys school.<br />
According to the write-up, my grandfather<br />
played Nell, the female lead. I interrupted Dad’s<br />
perusal of the hockey club’s season to point out<br />
what I’d found.<br />
Watching his face, as he added a frock to his<br />
mental picture of his father, was something I’ll<br />
never forget - wonder, disbelief, amusement,<br />
back to disbelief. Finally, he looked at me.<br />
“We must never speak of this again,” he said.<br />
I’ve been teasing him mercilessly ever since.<br />
And we never did find that hockey photo. X<br />
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Globe & Mail Facts<br />
& Arguments: THE ESSAY on July 7, <strong>2008</strong><br />
Meet<br />
Harris<br />
Fricker<br />
I<br />
n September <strong>2008</strong>, Xaverian<br />
Harris Fricker ’86, a Rhodes<br />
Scholar and martial artist,<br />
an entrepreneur and investment<br />
banking specialist, originally<br />
from Ingonish, Cape Breton, was<br />
appointed president of GMP Securities<br />
L.P., a leading, publicly<br />
traded Canadian investment dealer<br />
with offices in Toronto, Calgary,<br />
Montreal, London and Geneva, employing<br />
approximately 400 people.<br />
GMP trades on the Toronto <strong>St</strong>ock<br />
Exchange. Prior to joining GMP in<br />
2002, Mr. Fricker held a variety of<br />
senior managerial positions in the<br />
North American financial services<br />
sector. He holds an MA from Oxford<br />
<strong>University</strong>, which he attended as a<br />
Rhodes Scholar, and an honours<br />
BA in political science from <strong>St</strong>FX.<br />
We took a moment to chat.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: Congratulations on this new<br />
appointment. Could you give a brief<br />
overview of your new responsibilities?<br />
What’s a typical day like?<br />
Harris Fricker: Thanks. Honestly,<br />
a typical day is never typical. As<br />
an investment banker I do a lot of<br />
mergers and acquisitions advisory<br />
for clients wanting to buy or sell<br />
companies and this takes me all<br />
over the world. As the head of<br />
our European business, I am typically<br />
in London for a couple days a<br />
month. Finally, as president I liaise<br />
on a daily basis with other members<br />
of our executive committee,<br />
especially our CEO, to discuss and<br />
address any number of strategic,<br />
corporate, financial or personnel<br />
issues pertaining to GMP.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: Is there anything in particular<br />
about your experience at <strong>St</strong>FX that<br />
influenced you or helped you in<br />
your career?<br />
Harris Fricker: My experience at<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX was very grounding in that<br />
the campus was as conducive to<br />
learning about oneself as one’s<br />
curriculum. I just came out of there<br />
with a stronger belief in who I was,<br />
what mattered most and where I<br />
hoped to take my life.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: From what we hear, you never<br />
intended to work in the financial<br />
world. Your studies at Oxford were in<br />
politics, philosophy and economics.<br />
What got you hooked?<br />
Harris Fricker: The first hook was<br />
that I was poor kid who had been<br />
in school for seven years and so<br />
I needed a good paying job. The<br />
second hook was meeting Peter<br />
John Nicholson of Bank of Nova<br />
Scotia and going to work for him<br />
in the chairman’s office at BNS in<br />
Toronto. He was a wonderful boss<br />
and used his diverse and deeply<br />
impressive academic background<br />
to great benefit in business. The<br />
rest as they say is history.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: In light of your experience,<br />
what advice would you offer a student<br />
entering university today?<br />
Harris Fricker: Try to learn as much<br />
about yourself as your given curriculum.<br />
You do that by meeting<br />
as many different types of people<br />
and seeking out as diverse a set<br />
of experiences as possible during<br />
your time on campus. Another<br />
thing to recall – your youth is a precious<br />
gift and while it is important<br />
to bring your best to whatever it<br />
is you are doing, you must ensure<br />
that you are also fully enjoying<br />
and experiencing one of the most<br />
precious and formative periods of<br />
your life. My final advice is to learn<br />
to properly speak and write the<br />
English language – you would be<br />
shocked by the number of highly<br />
accomplished graduates who are<br />
still writing at a high school level.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: You are a former member of<br />
the <strong>St</strong>FX Board of Governors (retired<br />
2006). Why is it important to<br />
stay involved with alma mater?<br />
Harris Fricker: For me, membership<br />
on the board was a way to<br />
lend support to and affirm the<br />
vision of Sean Riley. To be honest,<br />
I did not do a great job as the<br />
demands of my job at GMP had to<br />
take priority and that impacted the<br />
regularity and quality of my input. It<br />
will be fun to do again when I have<br />
the ability to give it my focus.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: You’ve been a lifelong supporter<br />
of <strong>St</strong>FX, most recently with<br />
a generous $250,000 donation to<br />
the Coady International Centre.<br />
What motivates you to play such a<br />
leading role philanthropically?<br />
Harris Fricker: Well I have been<br />
blessed with financial success and<br />
Sean Riley was instrumental in<br />
working with me on how to best<br />
give back to <strong>St</strong>FX. The $250,000 to<br />
Coady was given in honour of my<br />
dear friend, Kate Fleming ’85.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: Financial markets, particularly<br />
in the U.S., have seen their share of<br />
challenges of late. What do you see<br />
for the future in Canada?<br />
Harris Fricker: Canada has been<br />
propped up by the demand for<br />
raw materials in Southeast Asia and<br />
years of good fiscal management<br />
in Ottawa. That said, our manufacturing<br />
base is in the midst of painful<br />
adjustment to a slow U.S. economy<br />
and strong Canadian dollar. Plus<br />
there is no end in sight to the<br />
global credit malaise arising from<br />
the unwinding of the securitized<br />
credit market in the U.S. (Note to<br />
file: The simple problem with securitization<br />
is that is separates the guy<br />
who makes the loan from the guy<br />
who, via its sale through securitization,<br />
comes to hold it on his books.<br />
Is the lender really going to do as<br />
rigorous a job of adjudicating the<br />
credit if he knows he is going to<br />
sell the loan to someone else in 30<br />
days?) Overall, I think <strong>2008</strong> will be a<br />
very tough year in the markets but<br />
am hopeful that we will see some<br />
life by spring of 2009.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX: And finally, what does wearing<br />
the X-Ring mean to you?<br />
Harris Fricker: I still have my X-Ring<br />
and think it is a wonderful symbol<br />
of our community at <strong>St</strong>FX. X<br />
20 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 21
<strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Happenings<br />
It’s not about the bike l MacEachen honoured l <strong>Alumni</strong> tour to Celtic Colours l and more!<br />
Peter McCormick ‘81 (l) and John Dobrowolski ‘78. Inset - Lance Armstrong.<br />
Editor’s Note: The following excerpts come to us from Buzz from Burbs, a column written by <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Association president Ed McHugh.<br />
It’s Not About The Bike –<br />
X alumni pedal towards a cancer cure, meet Lance Armstrong<br />
H<br />
ere is your assignment: get on a<br />
bike and ride it from Halifax, NS to<br />
Austin, Texas. You leave the morning<br />
of October 14th and arrive 10<br />
days later. You will have to get people to sponsor<br />
you before you can head out. Sound reasonable?<br />
Quite a tall order, but that’s what approximately<br />
65 people did including <strong>St</strong>FX alumni John Dobrowolski<br />
’78 and Peter McCormick ’81 as part of<br />
The Cycle for Life, Celebrate Life event. The bike<br />
riders travelled 4,300 km to raise money for the<br />
Tony Griffin Foundation, www.tonygriffinfoundation.com,<br />
which raises funds for prostate, pancreatic<br />
and ovarian cancer research. Originally<br />
from Cape Breton, John is a life-long educator<br />
and community volunteer who currently is<br />
vice principal of <strong>St</strong>. Margaret’s Bay Elementary<br />
School. Peter was raised in Moncton and also<br />
has a stellar record of community involvement.<br />
He works with the Owens MacFadyen Group<br />
in the financial sector. “Our group will get the<br />
opportunity to meet Lance Armstrong and be<br />
part of his Livestrong Challenge in Austin, Texas<br />
on October 25th,” Peter says. “The plan is to get<br />
Lance to autograph all of our bike jerseys and<br />
then auction them off at some point to raise<br />
more money for the fight against cancer. I am<br />
very excited to be a part of this challenge and<br />
journey and I hope people can help us out.” John<br />
noted that his sister had beaten cancer 33 years<br />
ago and remains cancer-free. “It is up to all of us<br />
to try to make a difference.” X<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX alumnus Allan J. MacEachen ’44 rose from humble roots in rural<br />
Cape Breton to become one of this country’s most distinguished politicians.<br />
His home community of Inverness gathered to salute the man, the<br />
legend, by unveiling a monument in his honour on October 18, <strong>2008</strong>.<br />
The monument was erected with the support of Allan’s friends across<br />
Canada and a committee of the Inverness Development Association.<br />
Here are excerpts of the editorial that appeared in the Thursday, Oct. 23,<br />
<strong>2008</strong> edition of The Halifax Chronicle Herald describing the event.<br />
Honouring Allan J.<br />
A rock of Nova Scotia<br />
T<br />
he laird of Lake Ainslie. The Celtic Sphinx.<br />
Or, around home, just Allan J. Former<br />
deputy prime minister Hon. Allan J.<br />
MacEachen inspired a few epithets in four<br />
decades as MP for the Cape Breton Highlands,<br />
heavyweight minister in the Pearson and Trudeau<br />
governments and Liberal leader in the Senate. In<br />
all these roles, Allan J. had two consistent claims to<br />
fame. He was a rock of the Liberal party, as a social<br />
reformer and unmatched parliamentary tactician.<br />
And he was a rock of his native Cape Breton,<br />
applying the philosophy of Father Moses Coady<br />
and the resources of government to address the<br />
economic and social needs left by the decline<br />
of coal and steel. So Mr. MacEachen, now 87,<br />
could not have a more fitting tribute than the 10<br />
tonnes of Grit‐red rock unveiled in his honour (and<br />
presence) Saturday in his hometown of Inverness.<br />
More than 200 people came to dedicate the<br />
marble monument to the miner’s son from<br />
Beaton <strong>St</strong>reet who guided some of Canada’s most<br />
important social welfare programs.<br />
Hon. Allan J.<br />
MacEachen stands<br />
by the plaque in his<br />
honour, unveiled<br />
in his home<br />
community in<br />
Cape Breton.<br />
AUS Team Wins Kehoe<br />
Golf Classic<br />
Atlantic <strong>University</strong> Sport team<br />
The Atlantic <strong>University</strong> Sport team with members from Halifax and Antigonish took home top low gross<br />
honours (55) as the tournament champions. The team consisted of captain Phil Currie along with John Keefe,<br />
Ryan Power, Ron MacDonald and Paul MacDonald.<br />
Wayne Synishin’s team<br />
Second low gross honours (59) went to Wayne Synishin’s team from Antigonish<br />
Ron Lirette’s team<br />
The first low net winners (39) and recipients of the Irene McFarland Memorial trophy was Ron Lirette’s team<br />
from Halifax. Joining Lirette were Derek Martin, <strong>St</strong>eve Sarty, Wayne Johnson, and Louis Deveaux<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Athletics team<br />
The <strong>St</strong>FX Athletics team led by Leo MacPherson took home second low net honors (45).<br />
T<br />
he 17 th annual Father Kehoe Golf Classic took place Friday afternoon,<br />
July 25 at the Antigonish Golf & Country Club. Twenty-nine teams and<br />
approximately 145 golfers participated in the five-person scramble,<br />
which honours the legacy of <strong>St</strong>FX alumnus and former athlete, coach and<br />
athletic director, Father George Kehoe. The Atlantic <strong>University</strong> Sport team with<br />
members from Halifax and Antigonish took home top low gross honours (55)<br />
as the tournament champions. The team consisted of captain Phil Currie along<br />
with John Keefe, Ryan Power, Ron MacDonald and Paul MacDonald. Second<br />
low gross honours (59) went to Wayne Synishin’s team from Antigonish. The<br />
first low net winners (39) and recipients of the Irene McFarland Memorial<br />
trophy was Ron Lirette’s team from Halifax. Joining Lirette were Derek Martin,<br />
<strong>St</strong>eve Sarty, Wayne Johnson, and Louis Deveaux. The <strong>St</strong>FX Athletics team led<br />
by Leo MacPherson took home second low net honors (45). The tournament<br />
is an annual fundraiser for the <strong>St</strong>FX Department of Athletics. In addition to the<br />
golf tournament, a dinner, and silent and live auctions were held at the <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Keating Centre on Thursday evening.<br />
X<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> on the road again.<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> tour to Celtic Colours<br />
There’s always one weekend when Cape Breton’s brilliant fall<br />
colours are at their peak. We were very fortunate to hit that<br />
weekend for our first alumni and friends tour to Celtic Colours,<br />
the internationally acclaimed music festival, Oct. 16-19.<br />
Xaverians boarded the <strong>St</strong>FX motor coach on Thursday, Oct. 19<br />
and made a stop in Whycocomagh before landing at the Inverary<br />
Inn in Baddeck, where we stayed for three nights. That first evening<br />
the <strong>St</strong>FX tour group took in the Guitar Summit concert in Judique<br />
and visited the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre. The next day<br />
included a tour of Glenora Distillery and a concert in Big Pond.<br />
On our final day we took in a milling frolic at the Gaelic College<br />
in <strong>St</strong>. Anne’s and the Celtic Colours finale, a tribute to Rita MacNeil<br />
at the Marine Terminal in Sydney.<br />
This was our second alumni and friends tour aboard the <strong>St</strong>FX motor<br />
coach. The first was to Maine and Boston for <strong>St</strong>. Patrick’s Day weekend in<br />
March of this year. Both trips were lots of fun and a chance for Xaverians<br />
to enjoy the company of friends old and new.<br />
We welcome suggestions on future alumni and friends tours,<br />
both the destination and time of year. Please email your suggestions<br />
to Helen Murphy at hmurphy@stfx.ca<br />
22 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 23
<strong>Alumni</strong> Happenings<br />
M. Colleen<br />
Kennedy Bursary<br />
established<br />
Colleen Kennedy<br />
A<br />
new <strong>St</strong>FX student bursary<br />
has been established by<br />
members of the Technology<br />
Support Group (TSG) in memory<br />
of friend and colleague Colleen Kennedy,<br />
who passed away on April 4,<br />
<strong>2008</strong> after a long and courageous<br />
battle with cancer.<br />
As training and communications<br />
coordinator, Colleen was a valued<br />
member of the TSG, and provided<br />
technology training to much of the<br />
campus community.<br />
To help fund the M. Colleen Kennedy<br />
Memorial Bursary, members<br />
of the TSG and Campus <strong>St</strong>ore are<br />
taking part in fundraising activities.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX alumni, staff and anyone interested<br />
can also make a pledge to the<br />
bursary by contacting Linda Henke,<br />
lhenke@stfx.ca; (902) 867-5017. X<br />
he legacy of two recently<br />
retired <strong>St</strong>FX history professors<br />
will make a lasting<br />
impression with new generations<br />
of <strong>St</strong>FX students thanks to a new<br />
endowment and recently renamed<br />
student history prize.<br />
In recognition of their contributions<br />
to the department of history,<br />
the graduation award has been<br />
renamed the Hogan-Phillips History<br />
Prize in honour of longtime history<br />
professors Dr. Pat Hogan and Dr.<br />
Paul Phillips, both retirees of 2007.<br />
Dr. Hogan and Dr. Phillips each<br />
taught at <strong>St</strong>FX for nearly 40 years.<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Athletics Announces<br />
<strong>2008</strong> Sports Hall of Fame Inductees<br />
I<br />
L-r: Director of Recreation and Athletics Leo MacPherson, Bill Kiely, Richard Bella,<br />
Mickey Oja, Pat Jancsy and <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean Riley<br />
Hogan-Phillips History Prize Established<br />
T<br />
1993 X-Men Basketball team. Back row (l-r): <strong>St</strong>FX President Dr. Sean Riley, Todd<br />
McKillop (assistant coach), Blair White, Aristide Nguilibet, Mike Clarke, Sean<br />
Clarke, Leo MacPherson (director of recreation and athletics). Front (l-r): Jason<br />
Hirtle, Richard Bella, <strong>St</strong>eve Konchalski (head coach), Brian Lee, Merrick Palmer,<br />
Joe Odhiambo. Missing: Mark Corrigan, Guy Mbongo, Sean McLean, Kyle Walsh<br />
(manager) and Dave Gordon (trainer)<br />
Dr. Hogan has been much beloved<br />
as a professor for her enthusiasm<br />
and extensive knowledge of medieval<br />
history. She received <strong>St</strong>FX’s<br />
Outstanding Teaching Award in<br />
1991. Dr. Phillips has been a very<br />
productive scholar throughout his<br />
tenure at <strong>St</strong>FX, having published<br />
multiple and well-regarded books<br />
on British history. He received the<br />
<strong>University</strong> Research Award in 2002<br />
and holds the <strong>St</strong>FX designation<br />
“Senior Research Professor.”<br />
The Hogan-Phillips History Prize<br />
of $100 recognizes outstanding<br />
achievement in history and<br />
is awarded to a full-time senior<br />
history student with the highest<br />
average in history courses over the<br />
final two years of study.<br />
Anyone interested in making<br />
nductees into the <strong>St</strong>FX Sports<br />
Hall of Fame this year included<br />
three athletes, one builder<br />
and one team.<br />
The three athletes receiving<br />
the entry include X-Men hockey<br />
sniper Dr. Mihkel (Mickey) Oja ‘71,<br />
X-Men football defensive all-star<br />
Patrick Jancsy ‘85, ‘86 and X-Men<br />
basketball standout Richard Bella<br />
‘93. Being inducted into the builder<br />
category was long-time <strong>St</strong>FX Athletics<br />
supporter William (Bill) Kiely<br />
‘67. Entering in the team category<br />
is the 1993 CIAU (now CIS) national<br />
champion X-Men basketball<br />
team.<br />
The <strong>St</strong>FX Sports Hall of Fame<br />
was founded in 1976 and exists<br />
to honour those individuals who<br />
have contributed significantly to<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX sports as athletes, teams or as<br />
builders. Those chosen inductees<br />
have exemplified the spirit and<br />
ideals of Xaverian athletics in their<br />
professional and community lives.<br />
Induction ceremonies take place<br />
every two years. X<br />
Photos by Emery Gbodossou, <strong>St</strong>FX Athletics<br />
Dr. Paul Phillips and Dr. Pat Hogan<br />
a donation to the Hogan-Phillips<br />
History Prize, please contact Linda<br />
Henke at lhenke@stfx.ca or toll-free<br />
at 877-367-7839. X<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> Happenings<br />
Classics for the Classics<br />
An Invitation to All <strong>Alumni</strong>: Come Back to the<br />
Classroom – but Without Examinations!<br />
T<br />
his summer you are invited<br />
to continue the best<br />
part of your life at X: your<br />
intellectual life. Six professors in<br />
the Faculty of Arts would like to<br />
spend a week with you to read<br />
and to discuss Plato’s Republic.<br />
We’d like you to come to campus<br />
July 13 – 17, 2009, with the option<br />
of staying in beautiful Governors’<br />
Hall. Dr. <strong>St</strong>even Baldner, Dean of<br />
Arts and professor of philosophy,<br />
will take you through the Republic,<br />
and five professors (in philosophy,<br />
history, art, literature, and religious<br />
studies) will lecture on topics such<br />
as: the Homeric background to the<br />
Republic, the Peloponnesian War,<br />
classical Greek art; the literary structure<br />
of the Republic, and the history<br />
of later Platonism. The goal of this<br />
Classics for Classics<br />
Want some intellectual stimulation<br />
this summer? Come back to campus<br />
and study Plato!<br />
No exams, we promise.<br />
Topic: Plato’s Republic<br />
Dates: July 13-17, 2009<br />
Faculty: Led by Dean of Arts, Dr. <strong>St</strong>eve<br />
Baldner, with related lectures from<br />
professors in Philosophy, History, Art,<br />
Literature and Religious <strong>St</strong>udies.<br />
Cost: Free for alumni, $100 for non-alumni<br />
($100 deposit from alumni is reimbursed<br />
after course); nominal cost for outings<br />
during the week.<br />
Accommodations: Available in beautiful<br />
Governors Hall at discounted rate<br />
Register by contacting<br />
Helen Murphy,<br />
Director, <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs,<br />
hmurphy@stfx.ca<br />
902-867-2243<br />
week of study will be to appreciate<br />
and to enjoy one of the great classics<br />
of our civilization – and to do so<br />
in a way that is serious, but friendly<br />
and relaxed. No essays, no grades,<br />
but you will be assigned sections<br />
of the text to read and to prepare<br />
for each day’s class meeting. We’ll<br />
study the text every morning, with<br />
a mixture of lecture and discussion,<br />
and a different member of faculty<br />
will provide a stimulating lecture<br />
each afternoon. You will have to<br />
spend some time every day to<br />
prepare for the next day’s class, but<br />
we’ll leave some time for getting<br />
to the beach; and the Highland<br />
Games are held at week’s end, if<br />
you wish to stay. <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs will<br />
also be planning an outing or two<br />
during the week.<br />
The Name?<br />
We’re calling this program “Classics<br />
for Classics”, because we’re<br />
studying those great works that<br />
only improve with age, and we’re<br />
teaching them to those great<br />
alumni who only … well, you get<br />
the point.<br />
Tuition?<br />
We will charge a modest tuition fee<br />
of $100, but this fee is waived for all<br />
alumni. You do a lot for us; we’d like<br />
to do something for you!<br />
Residence and meals?<br />
Upon request from course participants,<br />
rooms will be reserved<br />
in beautiful Governors’ Hall at a<br />
special discounted rate of $70 per<br />
night. Information on meal options<br />
on campus will be provided.<br />
Dr. <strong>St</strong>even Baldner<br />
You are also free to make other<br />
accommodations and meal arrangements,<br />
if you wish.<br />
Date?<br />
July 13 – 17, 2009. This is the<br />
week before the Highland Games<br />
in Antigonish. We expect that you<br />
would arrive on Sunday the 12th,<br />
because the first class will be at 9:30<br />
a.m. on Monday the 13th.<br />
Limits?<br />
We may have to limit enrolment<br />
to keep the class size optimal for<br />
discussions. It would be advisable<br />
to reserve a place early.<br />
Reserve a Place?<br />
Please call Helen Murphy in <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Affairs to reserve a place in Classics<br />
for Classics, 2009: hmurphy@stfx.ca,<br />
902-867-2243 (tuition deposit of<br />
$100 to reserve a place is refunded<br />
to alumni after completing the<br />
course).<br />
More Information?<br />
If you want information about the<br />
course, get in touch with Dean of<br />
Arts, <strong>St</strong>eve Baldner, 902-867-2165,<br />
sbaldner@stfx.ca.<br />
24 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 25
on campus<br />
Gaels Gather!<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX plays host to two pre-eminent<br />
Celtic events<br />
V<br />
isitors to <strong>St</strong>FX’s Keating Millennium<br />
Centre and Oland<br />
Centre July 24-26 may well<br />
have imagined they stepped into a<br />
wonderful Celtic stronghold.<br />
A chorus of voices, led by internationally-known<br />
Gaelic songstress<br />
Mary Jane Lamond, floated down one<br />
corridor. A floor below Mary Janet Mac-<br />
Donald enthusiastically put a group<br />
through a square set while in the next<br />
door classroom Scott Williams offered<br />
beginner piping classes.<br />
Back upstairs, fiddle instructor Shelly<br />
Campbell offered words of wisdom<br />
over one tune. “It’s just like waves in<br />
the ocean, it has that ebb and flow,”<br />
she told her students. “Like an older<br />
person talking in the upper register,<br />
‘yes…yes…yes.’ Just imagine that in<br />
your head.”<br />
The scenes were all part of Cruinneachadh<br />
nan Gaidheal, or the Gathering<br />
of the Gaels, the first international<br />
Gaelic celebration of its kind to be<br />
held outside of Scotland. It featured<br />
in-depth workshops with expert<br />
instructors on the Gaelic language<br />
and song, fiddling, piping, stepdancing,<br />
and storytelling. It also brought<br />
participants together to celebrate the<br />
language and heritage.<br />
“This is certainly a one-of-a-kind<br />
event for Nova Scotia, perhaps unique<br />
world-wide,” says organizer and <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Celtic <strong>St</strong>udies professor Catriona<br />
Parsons. “The scale of the project also<br />
presents an opportunity to further raise<br />
the profile of Gaelic culture in Nova<br />
Scotia.”<br />
Rannsachadh na Gáidhlig a<br />
resounding success<br />
Over 90 delegates from as far away<br />
as Scotland, Wales, the U.S., the Isle of<br />
Man, and Japan converged on <strong>St</strong>FX July<br />
21-24, <strong>2008</strong> to attend Rannsachadh na<br />
Gáidhlig, a premier academic Scottish<br />
Gaelic research conference held for the<br />
first time in Canada.<br />
“It’s been an excellent conference,”<br />
enthused Celtic <strong>St</strong>udies chair and<br />
organizer, Dr. Ken Nilsen.<br />
“It has truly been an international<br />
event, with academics from all the<br />
universities that have Celtic programs.<br />
Papers have been presented on all<br />
aspects of Gaelic culture, on every<br />
possible research topic. It’s been wonderful.”<br />
Among those presenting papers<br />
were several <strong>St</strong>FX grads, including<br />
Michael Linkletter, who completed<br />
his PhD at Harvard and is now on staff<br />
in the <strong>St</strong>FX Celtic Department. His talk<br />
focused on the history of Gaelic at<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX. Fellow alumni Lindsay Mulligan,<br />
now a grad student at the <strong>University</strong><br />
of Aberdeen, and Tiber Falzett, a grad<br />
student at the <strong>University</strong> of Edinburgh,<br />
also presented.<br />
“Our students have done us proud,<br />
and it’s nice to have them come back,”<br />
Dr. Nilsen said.<br />
The four-day conference saw a<br />
number of social and cultural events<br />
including a trip to the Highland<br />
Village in Iona, Cape Breton, a wine<br />
and cheese hosted by the town of<br />
Antigonish, a lobster boil at Crystal<br />
Cliffs and a closing banquet and youth<br />
ceilidh. X<br />
Upcoming Events<br />
Check out www.alumni.stfx.ca for a<br />
complete listing of upcoming events and<br />
up-to-date event details.<br />
Keep the following dates open in 2009:<br />
Florida, March 7, 2009<br />
Annual gathering – contact Kathy<br />
Achorn at 813-962-3549 or mkachorn@<br />
msn.com or John T. MacDonald at 941-<br />
966-1574 or janjon@comcast.net<br />
Toronto, May 19, 2009<br />
Toronto Annual Golf Tournament<br />
Where: Kleinburg Golf & Country Club<br />
Contact: Bill McDonnell ‘77<br />
william.mcdonnell@jonesheward.com<br />
Montreal, June 5, 2009<br />
Annual Montreal Golf Tournament<br />
Where: Candiac Golf Club<br />
Contact: Gerry Roy ‘50 at 450-653-2045<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> Family Fun Weekend!<br />
July 31, Aug. 1 and 2, 2009<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>, spouses and children<br />
welcome, Dundee Resort, Cape<br />
Breton, NS. Open to ALL alumni.<br />
Space is limited!! Contact John<br />
Shaw at johnshaw@alumni.stfx.ca<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Day widely celebrated:<br />
Vancouver, November 22<br />
Truro, November 24<br />
Montreal, November 27<br />
<strong>St</strong> John’s, November 28<br />
Moncton, November 28<br />
Bermuda, November 28<br />
London, ON, November 29<br />
Fredericton, November 30<br />
Antigonish, December 1<br />
Sydney, December 2<br />
Calgary, December 3<br />
Prince George, December 3<br />
Ottawa, December 3<br />
Amherst, December 3<br />
Sudbury, ON, December 3<br />
Jasper, AB, December 3<br />
Halifax, December 3<br />
Saint John, December 3<br />
Hamilton, December 4<br />
Toronto, December 5<br />
Ft. McMurray, December 5<br />
PEI, December 6<br />
Northern California, December 7<br />
Mississauga, December 7<br />
England, December 7<br />
Edmonton, December 7<br />
Nursing Centennial<br />
Distinction<br />
Award of<br />
In honour of its upcoming centennial celebrations, the College of<br />
Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia has introduced a unique, once-ina-lifetime<br />
award, the Centennial Award of Distinction, to recognize<br />
the accomplishments of 100 current/former registered nurses. These<br />
individuals will be nominated for their significant influence on the<br />
advancement of college initiatives, nursing practice and/or the nursing<br />
profession. Ten recipients will be selected from each of the 10 decades<br />
leading up to the centennial. The awards will be presented during the<br />
Centennial launch on May 13, 2009.<br />
Nomination forms can be downloaded at www.crnns.ca. Electronic or<br />
hard copies may also be obtained by contacting the College’s executive<br />
assistant at 491-9744, ext. 223 (toll-free NS 1-800-565-9744) or sf@<br />
crnns.ca.<br />
NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED AT THE COLLEGE BY<br />
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009.<br />
Nominations may be submitted by mail, fax or e-mail. Please submit<br />
to the attention of: Chair, Centennial Award of Distinction Selections<br />
Committee, c/o Executive Assistant<br />
Mailing address:<br />
College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia,<br />
600-1894 Barrington <strong>St</strong>reet, Halifax, NS B3J 2A8<br />
Fax: 902-491-9510<br />
26 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 27
on campus<br />
Aquinas walls yield lost<br />
wallet after 48 years<br />
I<br />
n late July I received a message<br />
from Jennifer Gillies from the<br />
Dalhousie <strong>Alumni</strong> Association<br />
who said she received an e-mail from<br />
the <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> Association saying<br />
that in recent renovations to Aquinas<br />
Hall they found a wallet that belongs<br />
to me. When I called back, Jennifer<br />
said I should contact <strong>St</strong>FX directly<br />
as they couldn’t pass on my contact<br />
information without my permission.<br />
As an “X” student from 1960-63,<br />
(engineering diploma), who went<br />
on to Nova Scotia Technical College<br />
(integrated as part of Dalhousie in the<br />
past five years), to graduate in 1965 as<br />
an electrical engineer, it was impressive<br />
that both <strong>St</strong>FX and Dalhousie<br />
were able to locate me.<br />
To be sure this wallet, found by<br />
Leon MacLellan on July 22nd in the<br />
walls of Aquinas Hall, was mine I<br />
called Jessica Smith at <strong>St</strong>FX and in<br />
return received a call from Glenda<br />
Bond following my e-mail. Glenda<br />
advised that there were papers (regrettably<br />
no money - but alas I was<br />
a poor student!!) that confirmed this<br />
was indeed my wallet. Glenda offered<br />
to send it to me and it arrived three<br />
days later.<br />
John Wright ‘63<br />
with his wallet<br />
I was amazed at the excellent condition<br />
of the wallet. It was embossed<br />
with “Compliments The Halifax Herald<br />
Limited” which I received as a paper<br />
boy in high school at Shannon Park,<br />
Dartmouth. I found it contained papers<br />
that included my <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>St</strong>udents<br />
Union ID with picture (the only thing<br />
that deteriorated was the Scotch<br />
tape holding it), my <strong>St</strong>FX Meal Ticket<br />
No.156 for 1960-61, <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>St</strong>udents’ Cooperative<br />
Society No. 6428 and <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Engineering Society Membership<br />
for 1961. There were also two keys,<br />
one was my post box key and the<br />
other my room key from Aquinas Hall.<br />
Beyond the <strong>St</strong>FX documents it also<br />
contained my memberships to the<br />
Shannon Park Teen Town and Coca<br />
Cola Hi Fi club of CJCH radio station<br />
(920 AM), a blood type identification<br />
card from <strong>St</strong>. Martha’s Hospital dated<br />
Sept 25th, 1960 and a picture of my<br />
girl friend from Shannon Park High<br />
School.<br />
Needless to say it was a trip down<br />
memory lane and I have recounted<br />
the tale to many people who are<br />
amazed at the story. The only missing<br />
piece of the puzzle is that I can’t recall<br />
how the wallet ended up in the wall<br />
of my dormitory. I was living on the<br />
third floor with two roommates and<br />
can’t figure out how or when I lost it;<br />
but finding it and then tracking me<br />
down by the two alumni associations<br />
probably surpasses anything a professional<br />
CSI team could accomplish.<br />
Many thanks to Dalhousie and <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> Associations for their efforts:<br />
the wallet has made me reflect on the<br />
great years I had at <strong>St</strong>FX and the many<br />
students and faculty that helped me<br />
in the pursuit of my education. X<br />
– John Wright, Engineering ‘63<br />
Never worry about changing<br />
email addresses again!<br />
With the use of <strong>St</strong>FX Email Forwarding, you can<br />
establish a lifetime email address which does<br />
not change. You can give this address out to<br />
family, friends and associates without worrying<br />
that it will be altered in six months to avoid<br />
spam or because you relocate or change jobs<br />
or Internet service providers.<br />
alumni association update l ed mchugh ‘79, President<br />
Homecoming Inspires<br />
H<br />
omecoming <strong>2008</strong> is in<br />
the books. Each one has<br />
its own unique feel and<br />
memories.<br />
The fact that we had our first<br />
separate celebration for a 60th anniversary<br />
class (Class of 48) speaks<br />
volumes about the link X has with<br />
some of our more experienced<br />
alums.<br />
The Saturday night of Homecoming<br />
is special for Shelly (’80)<br />
and me as we visit every nook and<br />
cranny of the campus (and sometimes<br />
the town) to visit every class<br />
gathering that evening. Obviously,<br />
the 25th and the 50th are special<br />
events with terrific turn-outs, but<br />
every room is full of great conversation<br />
and loud laughter.<br />
It was especially joyful this year<br />
to honour Jack O’Donnell (‘58) at<br />
our Friday evening dinner with our<br />
Outstanding Alumnus award. Jack<br />
was my first professor at X and his<br />
teachings influence my life to this<br />
day. He is a gifted teacher, administrator,<br />
conductor and musician. His<br />
outstanding work with the Cape<br />
Breton-based coal miner choir The<br />
Men of the Deeps is legendary and<br />
stretches back to 1966.<br />
Saturday morning is wonderful.<br />
The Katie Fleming ceremony honours<br />
a current Coady student who<br />
is truly making a difference in the<br />
world. This is immediately followed<br />
by the Hall of Honour ceremony<br />
which was created by the Class of<br />
1991.<br />
Inducted this year were David<br />
Barry (’66), Joe Brown (‘68), Irene<br />
MacDonald (’73) and Kenneth<br />
MacKinnon (’41). These are people<br />
who have combined the concepts<br />
of building one’s own life while also<br />
focusing on the needs of others<br />
along the way.<br />
A few years ago we decided to<br />
add the reading of the winning es-<br />
Fun at the Inn: (l-r) Tim Hynes ‘86, Shelly McHugh ’80, Ed McHugh ’79, Fr. Danny<br />
MacLennan ’85 and <strong>Francis</strong> LeFort ‘84 share good times at the Golden X Inn<br />
during Homecoming weekend.<br />
says from the <strong>St</strong>udent <strong>Alumni</strong> Recognition<br />
program. Four students<br />
get to express the impact that X<br />
has had on their lives. They are truly<br />
moving. It also convinces you that<br />
today’s students are a very talented<br />
and gifted group of people.<br />
One essay from the many submissions<br />
truly moved me last year.<br />
It was very impactful. Anthony<br />
Cotter is a science student from<br />
Delta, BC. He wrote about the<br />
X-Ring as “…the recognition of a<br />
sturdy heart, an open mind and a<br />
commitment to whatsoever things<br />
are true.”<br />
He went on to note that “…I<br />
have met extraordinary people in<br />
common circumstances and seen<br />
common people become extraordinary<br />
because of the passionate<br />
spirit that saturates this school…I<br />
have recognized that ability is<br />
nothing without opportunity. <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
has laid so many paths before me<br />
that my path has become a field.<br />
The trust, confidence, and pride<br />
that this university shows in its<br />
students is first class and inspires<br />
the performance and growth that<br />
we are recognized for across the<br />
globe.<br />
“Through my involvement at<br />
X, I have been a doctor, a lawyer,<br />
a professor, a politician and a<br />
chemist and I can’t even rent a car<br />
yet! …Eventually I want to study<br />
medicine and be involved with a<br />
children’s hospital but I know even<br />
the best laid plans can go astray, so<br />
Ed McHugh at Homecoming ‘08<br />
I make plans lightly and go heavy<br />
with the moment.<br />
“As a Xaverian graduate, I will<br />
not be static. I will move to pursue<br />
truth in my studies. I will move to<br />
spread communion through my<br />
relationships. I will be grateful for<br />
the opportunity and leave the<br />
windows wide open for those who<br />
follow behind me. I will embrace<br />
the kaleidoscope of perspective<br />
I encounter. I will carry strength<br />
of heart and flexibility of mind<br />
through all my challenges and I<br />
will never, ever, forget this place.”<br />
It is the time of the year to reflect<br />
upon December 3rd and the true<br />
essence of the meaning of the X<br />
Ring.<br />
I can’t say it any better than<br />
Anthony. Hail and Health!! X<br />
Here’s how it works:<br />
You create an email address in the online alumni community<br />
by providing a name (yourname@alumni.stfx.ca). This address,<br />
however, is not a “real” email address with an email box and email<br />
server. Instead, when emails are sent to that address, they<br />
are automatically forwarded to the real email address<br />
you have on file in the online community. Each time your<br />
email address changes, you simply update your personal email<br />
address on file, and all email reaches you without you having to<br />
inform everyone of the change.<br />
SIGN UP FOR LIFETIME EMAIL TODAY AT<br />
WWW.ALUMNI.STFX.CA<br />
28 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 29
Edinburgh, Scotland<br />
chapter news<br />
calgary<br />
Some of the Calgary-and-area frosh at the annual student send-off picnic in June <strong>2008</strong>.<br />
Chapter<br />
news<br />
New and growing chapters – Chapter development is an<br />
ongoing priority of the <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> Association and <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Affairs. This year a new chapter has been established in <strong>St</strong>FX’s<br />
hometown of Antigonish. The Antigonish-Guysborough chapter<br />
held a kick-off event at Crystal Cliffs this past summer and<br />
recently held a founding meeting. Efforts are also underway to<br />
establish new chapters in Mississauga and Hamilton, starting<br />
with <strong>St</strong>FX Day events. Interest has also been expressed in<br />
starting new chapters in Winnipeg and the South Shore of Nova<br />
Scotia. We welcome your ideas on starting new chapters and<br />
strengthening our existing ones. Please don’t hesitate to contact<br />
Jessica Smith, our programs coordinator, with your suggestions<br />
on chapter development: jasmith@stfx.ca, 902-867-3760.<br />
Edinburgh, Scotland<br />
Pictured here in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the group of 31<br />
who toured Scotland with <strong>St</strong>FX alumnus Father Vern<br />
Boutilier recently. They group had just finished dinner with<br />
Keith Patrick Cardinal O’Brien, the Cardinal Archbishop of <strong>St</strong><br />
Andrew’s and Edinburgh. The Cardinal is a 2004 honorary<br />
doctorate recipient from <strong>St</strong>FX.<br />
Moncton, NB<br />
The Moncton chapter of the <strong>St</strong>FX alumni recently held their<br />
annual student send-off. Seven new students, two returning<br />
students and parents from the Moncton area joined<br />
X alumni near the Petitcodiac River for a barbeque. Helen<br />
Murphy from the alumni office was there to calm the first<br />
year jitters and prepare both new students and parents on<br />
what to expect the first day and frosh week.<br />
Jack Lamey ‘95 ‘99, Claudia MacLean ‘92 and Richard<br />
MacGillivray ’77 participated at the Saint John chapter<br />
golf tournament and student send-off in Hampton this<br />
year. The Saint John event was fantastic and was a very<br />
nice way to spend some time with students and alumni.<br />
Congratulations to the Saint John alumni group for the<br />
success of their event.<br />
– Jack Lamey ‘95, ‘99 and Claudia MacLean ‘92<br />
CALGARY<br />
The alumni chapter in Calgary had a very busy summer. In<br />
June, alumni and current students welcomed the newest<br />
members to the Xaverian family at the annual <strong>St</strong>udent<br />
Send-off Picnic. About 25 first-year students learned more<br />
about their new home for the next few years. Mark Kolanko<br />
‘05 from the Admissions Office spoke about the academic<br />
stream and what to expect. Calgary-area students continue<br />
to head to Antigonish in growing numbers. Among those<br />
heading to Nova Scotia are Rachelle Ramsay ’12 and Jaclyn<br />
Wright ’12, the newest recipients of the prestigious Dr. Ed<br />
O’Connor Scholarship. Rachelle and Jaclyn receive $5,000<br />
a year toward their studies.<br />
Joining Rachelle and Jaclyn is Kristen Osterling ’12, the<br />
recipient of the Calgary chapter’s alumni scholarship. Kristen<br />
impressed the selection committee with her ability to balance<br />
academic proficiency with her athletic and extra-curricular<br />
activities. And she’s not alone. <strong>St</strong>FX offered entrance<br />
scholarships to 25 Alberta students. Congratulations!<br />
With one of the biggest alumni chapters in Canada, the<br />
Calgary chapter is planning events for local alumni and<br />
Xaverians who may venture into the area on<br />
business. The first came October 10th, when the<br />
hilarious Gerry Dee ’94 brought his comedy act to<br />
Calgary. Gerry finished third in the fifth installment<br />
of NBC’s “Last Comic <strong>St</strong>anding”, and is currently<br />
touring with his “Last Canadian <strong>St</strong>anding Tour.” On<br />
December 3rd, alumni celebrated the feast day of<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> with a Mass and reception at the<br />
FCJ Christian Life Centre in downtown Calgary.<br />
Grads reconnected with other alumni and shared<br />
stories about the day they received their X-Ring.<br />
Looking ahead, mark a big ‘X’ on March 7, 2009<br />
to remind you to hire the babysitter and make<br />
sure you’re in town: the chapter is throwing its<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong> Party. How can we possibly match the<br />
tremendous show put on by ‘Fraid Knot last<br />
year? The local chapter is planning the first-ever<br />
“Xaverian Welcome to Calgary.” The intent is to<br />
allow a formal setting for recent grads to network<br />
over a pint or two, and find out first-hand about<br />
their new home with local alumni. Look for the<br />
“Xaverian Welcome to Calgary” in the summer<br />
or fall of 2009. As more Xaverians move to the<br />
area, the Calgary chapter is updating its contact<br />
list, especially among recent grads. <strong>St</strong>ay on top<br />
of all the chapter news by registering with the<br />
“X-Ring” at alumni.stfx.ca! You can also find the<br />
chapter on Facebook! Finally, the Calgary alumni<br />
chapter welcomes Jay Donlevy ’92 as the new<br />
president of the local chapter. Jay replaces Kelly<br />
(MacEachern) Benson ’97, who has stepped into<br />
an advisory role. Thank you Kelly for your tremendous<br />
leadership that is definitely worthy of the<br />
Xaverian spirit and legacy!<br />
The Calgary alumni chapter is pleased to congratulate<br />
local alumna Irene MacDonald ’73 who<br />
was inducted into the <strong>St</strong>FX Hall of Honour at this<br />
year’s Homecoming. A passionate educator in<br />
the Calgary Separate School System for years, her<br />
work with L’Arche in Calgary and with the Canadian<br />
Women for Women in Afghanistan shows us all the<br />
true Xaverian spirit. We are very proud and pleased<br />
that she has been recognized so.<br />
– Oliver Munar ‘98<br />
VANCOUVER, BC<br />
The <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong> Vancouver chapter<br />
alumni hosted its 7th annual student send-off<br />
barbeque at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. The<br />
purpose of the event is for all new and returning<br />
students to feel welcome in the Xaverian community<br />
before heading to Antigonish. The event<br />
was a tremendous success as over 80 current students<br />
and alumni attended. The day included the<br />
barbeque where ‘Veteran Grill Master’ AJ Beaton<br />
treated the attendees to great food, a raffle of a<br />
number of prizes kindly donated to support the<br />
annual scholarship fund, and of course some fun<br />
in the sun in true Xaverian spirit. The event was<br />
somewhat nostalgic in that our alumni chapter<br />
president Jim Bowne announced he would be<br />
moving back to Cape Breton. Jim is the pioneer<br />
of the <strong>St</strong>FX alumni here in Vancouver and is in<br />
my view the very definition of a classy individual.<br />
Jim will be greatly missed, his contribution never<br />
forgotten and with the help of the rest of the<br />
chapter alumni his legacy kept strong here in<br />
BC. We would like to thank the alumni office as<br />
the day also included a visit from Neil <strong>St</strong>ephen.<br />
For those of you who have not met Neil he is<br />
an impressive young man recently taking on<br />
the position of networking office, admissions<br />
and recruitment at <strong>St</strong>FX. He delivered a great<br />
speech and put in a tremendous effort ensuring<br />
all the new and returning students felt welcome.<br />
Special thanks go to our president Jim Bowne,<br />
vice president Candace Mackenzie, Suzanne<br />
Anderson, events coordinator for Renaissance<br />
Hotels & coordinator of the annual scholarship<br />
fund, AJ Beaton, Paul Richards president & CEO<br />
of Canfor Pulp & Paper, Van City, Labatt, Glendora<br />
Distillery and Precious Blood Catholic Church.<br />
At press time the chapter had just hosted a<br />
President’s Reception on November 22.<br />
– Matty Johnston<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX Vancouver alumni chapter president<br />
SYDNEY, NS<br />
August 6th saw our first <strong>St</strong>udent Send-Off and<br />
barbeque for new students and their parents at<br />
Rollie’s Wharf in North Sydney. The students and<br />
parents had a chance to talk to current students<br />
and recent graduates over steamed mussels,<br />
hamburgers and hot dogs. Bill Kiely, past president<br />
of the <strong>Alumni</strong> Association worked the room<br />
making people feel welcome and comfortable.<br />
After the food there were short presentations on<br />
areas of importance to the new students. Elena<br />
vancouver<br />
Sydney<br />
Elena White Robertson, Class of ‘99, shares tips with<br />
new Xaverians at the student send-off in Sydney,<br />
NS last summer.<br />
White Robertson ’99 gave pointers on money<br />
management and how to handle student loans.<br />
Anthony MacPherson ’08 Natasha O’Rourke ’08,<br />
both with excellent academic backgrounds<br />
spoke on study tips, where to get academic<br />
help, the reading centre and joining subject<br />
groups. Sam MacKinnon ’09, house director of<br />
Lane Hall and Ashley Heffernan ’09, president of<br />
Governor’s Hall, with the voice of success and<br />
experience, talked about managing the mix of<br />
the academic and social. They also emphasized<br />
that getting involved in activities, sports, social<br />
activities, getting to know the other students<br />
and forming life-long friendships is one of the<br />
many advantages of the residential experience at<br />
X which is not available at many other Canadian<br />
universities. Showing true Xaverian spirit, Ashley<br />
drove over 600 km from Digby to help with the<br />
event. Helen Murphy, director of <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs,<br />
as the parent of a current student, gave some<br />
tips to the parents. Three admission advisors,<br />
Jennie MacDonald, Emily McKenna and Kristin<br />
MacLellan explained what they do and offered<br />
their help to the students once they got to<br />
Antigonish. The event closed with drawing for<br />
prizes brought by Helen Murphy, the admissions<br />
officers and some donated by local alumni.<br />
MONTREAL, QC<br />
On September 13, Montreal alumni, friends, fans<br />
and parents of the X-Men football team watched<br />
as they challenged the UMontreal Carabins but<br />
sadly they lost the battle. After a great afternoon<br />
watching the X-Men, roughly 120 people gathered<br />
at the Baton Rouge (Decarie) restaurant to meet<br />
and greet the team and old friends. On Thanksgiving<br />
weekend both the X-Men basketball team<br />
and the X-Women rugby team competed in the<br />
greater Montreal area. X-Men basketball played<br />
in a Concordia tournament Oct. 10-11. They finished<br />
up the weekend with an exhibition match<br />
on Sunday Oct. 12 against McGill. The X-Women<br />
rugby team played in Ottawa on Oct. 10-11 and<br />
then challenged McGill on Oct. 12 for the McEwen<br />
Cup. X-Women basketball competed in a Laval<br />
tournament Oct 24-26. X-Women hockey was in<br />
Montreal November 21-22. Efforts are being made<br />
to create a revised email list and Facebook page<br />
to keep everyone informed. Those wishing to add<br />
their email address to the Montreal chapter please<br />
email kevin.macsween@mcgill.ca<br />
– Kevin MacSween ’89<br />
30 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 31
Warning: Wording of disclaimer must be expanded if performance data is<br />
chapter news<br />
chapter news<br />
London, ON<br />
The London chapter of the <strong>St</strong>FX alumni<br />
association gathered on Saturday, June 14 for its<br />
annual Golf Day & <strong>St</strong>udent Send-Off Barbeque.<br />
The day began with nine holes of best ball golf<br />
at the Hickory Ridge Golf & Country Club on<br />
a beautiful day perfect for the occasion. Prize<br />
winners for the event went to Dan Hickey, Ellen<br />
Handley, Gerard Hatchette, and Jim MacDougall.<br />
This was followed by a lovely barbeque dinner<br />
at the home of Tracy and Drew Smith ’90. There<br />
were several new and returning students in<br />
attendance who had the opportunity to listen to<br />
stories from alumni, as well as provide updates<br />
on campus activities. We were fortunate to have<br />
a special guest in attendance; Neil <strong>St</strong>ephen<br />
from the <strong>St</strong>FX Admissions Office was on hand<br />
to provide information to new students and<br />
give out prizes. Bernie Gilmore provided the<br />
The X-Women Volleyball team was recently hosted for<br />
a team dinner in Halifax by Kevin Ryan (Class of 1970, BA) and his<br />
wife Mary (seen with the team in the attached photo, along with<br />
family dogs Annie and Belle). Their daughter Katherine is in her<br />
first year at X (BA) and is a member of the team. Son Emmett is<br />
also an X student in his 4th year. Katherine is the granddaughter<br />
of the Late Senator Finlay MacDonald (X student in 40’s) and the<br />
niece of Finlay MacDonald (Class of 66).<br />
London, ON<br />
wonderful entertainment for the evening and<br />
had many of the crowd up and dancing to our<br />
favourite East Coast tunes. Thanks to Tracy Smith<br />
and Pat Lowe who did an exceptional job at the<br />
barbeque! Thanks to Sleeman Brewery, Taco<br />
Del Mar London, and the <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> Office,<br />
and <strong>St</strong>FX Admissions Office for their generous<br />
donations, and special thanks to Tracy and Drew<br />
for hosting us once again this year. As always, a<br />
great time was had by all! Plans are already in<br />
progress for our annual <strong>St</strong>FX Day event, which<br />
will be taking place on Saturday, November 30<br />
at Scots Corner, located at 268 Dundas <strong>St</strong>reet in<br />
downtown London.<br />
– Troy <strong>St</strong>anley ‘95<br />
FLORIDA<br />
On Saturday, March 1, <strong>2008</strong>, 74 Xaverian alumni<br />
met for a get-together at the Heritage Oaks Golf<br />
and Country Club in Sarasota.<br />
We were fortunate enough<br />
again to have Father Tony<br />
MacDonald ’60 say Mass for us.<br />
After Mass we had a excellent<br />
lunch starting with a very tasty<br />
salad followed by a choice<br />
of Norway salmon, chicken<br />
picata or vegetarian. This<br />
was accompanied by wine<br />
for those who wished. For<br />
dessert there was a wedge<br />
of cheese cake and tea or<br />
coffee. After the meal and<br />
lots of talking to renew old<br />
friendships and make new<br />
ones, Dick Dumais ran a CD<br />
showing some aspects of<br />
today’s students with special<br />
greetings to our Florida<br />
reunion. Helen Murphy, director<br />
of <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs and<br />
managing editor of the <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>News, brought us up<br />
to date on happenings on the<br />
campus. This was followed<br />
London, ON<br />
by a 50/50 and an auction of a <strong>St</strong>FX jacket. The<br />
highlight was the auction of two airline tickets<br />
to anywhere in continental North America donated<br />
by American Airlines which was won by<br />
the Granvilles. Because of this we were able to<br />
send a cheque of $1,250 to the university. As the<br />
university advised, we put the money in the fund<br />
for students in need. We are asking that this be<br />
in honour of Jim Kenney ’43, one of the founders<br />
of our Florida alumni. Don’t forget next year’s<br />
reunion will be, as always, on the first Saturday<br />
of March (March 7, 2009). Many thanks to John T.<br />
MacDonald, F. Marie MacDonald, J. J. MacDonald,<br />
Kathy Achorn, Dick and Rosemary Dumais, Carol<br />
and Owen Granville, Janet Kennedy and Dave<br />
and Barbara Parker for their work in preparation<br />
of this year’s reunion.<br />
For further information please contact Kathy<br />
Achorn at 813-962-3549 or mkachorn@msn.<br />
com or John T. MacDonald at 941-966-1574 or<br />
janjon@comcast.net<br />
– Owen Granville<br />
OTTAWA, ON<br />
On Sunday August 17th, the Ottawa alumni<br />
chapter hosted its annual <strong>St</strong>udent Send-Off<br />
barbeque to 30 guests, including students and<br />
their families. The Britannia Yacht Club, on the<br />
Ottawa River, was the setting for our picture<br />
perfect day. <strong>St</strong>udents got a chance to meet each<br />
other and mingle, discussing their programs and<br />
places of residence. Many thanks to the students<br />
and their families who attended and we wish<br />
all the best to the new students heading off to<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX this year. Thanks to Kelly-Ann Chisholm and<br />
Trevor Shannon for their contribution in helping<br />
put this event together. The Ottawa chapter<br />
extended an invitation to all alumni in the area<br />
to join them in celebrating <strong>St</strong>FX Day / Feast of<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> on Wednesday, Dec 3rd. The chapter<br />
had the extreme pleasure of welcoming Antigonish<br />
Diocese Bishop and Chancellor of SFX,<br />
Rev. Raymond Lahey, who joined them in this<br />
year’s celebration and led Mass on Wednesday<br />
December 3rd, 4:30 p.m., <strong>St</strong>. Patrick’s Basilica (281<br />
Nepean <strong>St</strong>reet, at Kent <strong>St</strong>.) A wine and cheese reception<br />
followed in the church hall, with Bishop<br />
Lahey giving a special X-Ring blessing.<br />
– Karri Cameron ‘92<br />
Antigonish-Guysborough<br />
This past summer, over 200 local alumni and<br />
friends boarded the <strong>St</strong>FX bus for Crystal Cliffs<br />
for a family picnic to help kick start the new<br />
Antigonish-Guysborough Chapter. Guests were<br />
entertained by young, up and coming musicians,<br />
pony rides, lots of games and activities, and a free<br />
barbeque. Thanks to the hard work of several<br />
volunteer committee members, the picnic was<br />
a huge success. The chapter hopes to make<br />
this an annual and free event. The chapter also<br />
held a first ever student send-off for freshmen<br />
from the Antigonish and Guysborough area. A<br />
barbeque was held on the front lawn of the Keating<br />
Millennium Centre with a Q&A session with<br />
recruitment & admissions staff and prizes.<br />
On November 13 th , the chapter held its first<br />
general meeting in the Keating Millennium<br />
Centre. During the meeting the following were<br />
elected as the new executive: President – Nicole<br />
Proctor `91, VP, Antigonish – Sheila Runnalls<br />
`98, VP, Guysborough – Christopher West `79,<br />
Treasurer – Heather Murphy `07, and Secretary<br />
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32 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 33
Homecoming <strong>2008</strong><br />
Class of 1948 Class of 1953<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> Weekend at<br />
Dundee Resort<br />
Class of 1963<br />
Class of 1973<br />
Class of 1968<br />
Class of 1978<br />
T<br />
ogether with the Sydney and Area<br />
Chapter, <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs is planning a<br />
family fun weekend for <strong>St</strong>FX alumni<br />
and friends at the Dundee Resort & Golf<br />
Club on the beautiful Bras d’Or Lakes of Cape<br />
Breton. This is a perfect place to spend time<br />
with family and catch up with old friends<br />
(and new)!<br />
With so much to do and see at Dundee,<br />
we’re sure you and your family will have a<br />
weekend to remember. Besides the 18-hole<br />
championship golf course, Dundee also<br />
has indoor and outdoor pools, a recently<br />
expanded resort spa, a large supervised<br />
children’s playground, and lakeside activities<br />
(boat tours, paddleboats,<br />
kayaks,<br />
canoes, tennis,<br />
volleyball, beach<br />
swimming, snorkeling<br />
and water<br />
trampoline).<br />
The date for this family fun weekend is July<br />
31-August 2, 2009. Plans for this weekend have<br />
just begun and at this time we want to gauge<br />
alumni interest. If you’d like to include a <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
Family Fun Weekend at Dundee Resort on your<br />
family’s vacation calendar, then drop us a line<br />
at jasmith@stfx.ca or 902-867-3760. Please also<br />
get in touch with us if you’d like to help us plan<br />
activities for this weekend.<br />
SAINTS<br />
Wanted!<br />
T-shirts<br />
Hoodies<br />
Jackets<br />
Golf Hats<br />
Accessories<br />
And More!<br />
Shopping for premier X-gear just got easier!<br />
<strong>Alumni</strong>, family, and friends can now purchase quality<br />
university merchandise online.<br />
Most items can be crested with your<br />
choice of the <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>University</strong> or <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
logo, making the perfect gift for anyone!<br />
Visit often to discover new items<br />
as they are added to our store.<br />
• Ship directly from manufacturer<br />
• Easy and hassle-free returns<br />
• Secure website for credit card<br />
transactions<br />
www.alumni.stfx.ca/xgear<br />
Class of 1983<br />
Class of 1988<br />
X alumni leaders of Catholic education in eastern Ontario – In June <strong>2008</strong>,<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX was well represented when administrators from CDSBEO, a rural Ontario school board that<br />
serves 14,000 students outside the city of Ottawa, gathered for their year-end retreat. Many<br />
X grads have chosen this board as a place to start their teaching careers. It’s a place, they say,<br />
that has inspired many Xaverians to discover “whatsoever things are true...” Pictured from left<br />
to right: principal Robert Hannigan ’96 ‘98; principal Bev Bellfeuielle ‘86; director of education<br />
Bill Gartland ‘85; principal John Cameron ‘90; vice principal Chris Oldford ‘96/‘98; and principal<br />
Michael Crossan ‘92. Missing is vice principal Karen MacKinnon ’84 ‘85.<br />
For more than a decade, the mentoring<br />
program at <strong>St</strong>FX has provided assistance to<br />
students seeking advice on career choices.<br />
SAINT (<strong>St</strong>udents and <strong>Alumni</strong> IN Touch) is an<br />
email-driven program that matches third- and<br />
fourth-year students with X grads in the workplace,<br />
in all fields of endeavour.<br />
Many alumni have volunteered to participate<br />
in this program each year and I am grateful for<br />
the support and enthusiasm you have shown in<br />
giving of your time and talents to assist others.<br />
I am asking for your support again this year as<br />
we begin a new term with the program. I have<br />
a significant number of grads in my database<br />
but am always looking for more.<br />
You can reach me at my home email: austin.<br />
hawley@ns.sympatico.ca; or go to the <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
website and sign up there. My sincere thanks<br />
for your continued support of our mentoring<br />
program!<br />
Austin Hawley, ‘67<br />
Coordinator, SAINT<br />
34 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 35
news exchange<br />
Girls from the class of ‘68 – friends for 40 years – they met at <strong>St</strong>FX and continue to meet every five years.<br />
Dylan James, July 2004<br />
Daryl Patricia, January <strong>2008</strong><br />
Madeleine Erica, Oct. 20/06<br />
Send News Exchange items to Glenda Bond, <strong>Alumni</strong> Affairs Office<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong>, PO Box 5000, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5<br />
Phone: (902) 867-2186 • Fax: (902) 867-3659 • Email: alumni@stfx.ca<br />
Gathering in Houston, Texas<br />
Joan Muir ‘48, ‘50, Dr. Bernie<br />
Hicks ‘54 and Fraser Muir ‘52<br />
X-Spirit at Flyers game<br />
Jack Coughlin ‘56 with<br />
grandson Sean, age 10<br />
Vautour family gathering<br />
Mary Clare Vautour ‘84, Lise (Vautour)<br />
Booth’ 74 and Marc Vautour ‘ 76<br />
‘60s<br />
Joe Ronco ‘64 retired at the<br />
end of 2006 in Colorado,<br />
USA. He would like to hear<br />
from any 1964 graduates.<br />
He can be reached at joe@<br />
halzel.com (please note: the<br />
wrong email address was<br />
listed in the summer issue.)<br />
John Gorman ‘68, lawyer<br />
in Ontaro – 10 years,<br />
builder in Okanagan – five<br />
years, realtor and property<br />
manager in B.C. – 15 years,<br />
now in Toronto as a property<br />
manager where four kids<br />
and eight grandkids reside.<br />
John’s home!<br />
Jane Rush Cummings from<br />
Maine attended Mount <strong>St</strong>.<br />
Bernard from 1965 - 67.<br />
She would love to hear<br />
from old friends especially<br />
Nora Roderick, Jeannie<br />
McCarten, Linda Heffernan,<br />
Judy Gaultois, and Judy<br />
Quinn. She can be reached<br />
at janec@fairpoint.net<br />
‘70s<br />
Margaret “Joan”<br />
MacDonnell ‘73 has<br />
recently retired from work<br />
with the Chignecto Central<br />
Regional School Board<br />
after 30 years of doing<br />
private work part-time.<br />
She is now involved in a<br />
full-time private practice<br />
in psychology.<br />
Anne Emery ‘74 has<br />
signed on with ECW Press<br />
for three more books in her<br />
mystery series featuring<br />
Halifax lawyer/bluesman<br />
Monty Collins. The first<br />
three novels are Sign<br />
of the Cross, Obit, and<br />
Barrington <strong>St</strong>reet Blues.<br />
Visit Anne’s website at<br />
www.anneemery.com.<br />
Elaine (MacLeod) MacNeil<br />
‘74 began a two-year term<br />
as provincial president of<br />
the Ontario English Catholic<br />
Teachers’ Association<br />
(OECTA) in July 2007, after<br />
serving four years as first<br />
vice-president. OECTA is<br />
the union that represents<br />
37,000 elementary,<br />
secondary and occasional<br />
teachers in the publiclyfunded<br />
Catholic school<br />
system in Ontario.<br />
Richard Leach ‘79 died on<br />
Nov. 7, <strong>2008</strong>. He became<br />
a professor of English after<br />
obtaining his Masters<br />
degree from McMaster<br />
<strong>University</strong> in 1988. His<br />
love of teaching took him<br />
to Asia where he also<br />
began a writing career. He<br />
coauthored “The Writing<br />
Process” while teaching in<br />
Beijing and wrote several<br />
articles on environmental<br />
and political issues.<br />
‘80s<br />
Donald Rodgers ‘80 has<br />
accepted a position with<br />
the Alberta Securities<br />
Commission as public<br />
information officer as of<br />
February <strong>2008</strong>.<br />
Kelley O’Rourke ‘81<br />
and her husband (Gregg<br />
Thomassin) are living in<br />
Baie D’Urfe, Quebec, along<br />
with their five children.<br />
K e l l e y r u n s a s m a l l<br />
landscaping business with<br />
two of her daughters. She<br />
would love to hear from<br />
her old <strong>St</strong>FX friends. She<br />
can be reached at kelley.<br />
orourke@videotron.ca<br />
Michael J. Ross ‘81 is<br />
currently teaching high<br />
school English and history<br />
in Frontier, Saskatchewan.<br />
Mark MacNeill ‘82,<br />
received a LLB from the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Edinburgh<br />
School of Law in November<br />
2007 and completed an<br />
LLM from the <strong>University</strong><br />
of Miami in May <strong>2008</strong>. He<br />
is also a December <strong>2008</strong><br />
candidate to receive an<br />
LLM in Environmental &<br />
Natural Resources Law at<br />
the <strong>University</strong> of Denver.<br />
His 2007 paper entitled<br />
“G a i n i n g Command &<br />
Control of the Northwest<br />
Passage: <strong>St</strong>rait Talk on<br />
Sovereignty” was a winner<br />
of the American Bar<br />
Association Section on<br />
Environment, Energy &<br />
Resources law student<br />
writing competition and<br />
has been published in the<br />
Transportation Law Journal.<br />
Mark was nominated in<br />
March <strong>2008</strong> as the NDP<br />
candidate for the riding<br />
of Cape Breton-Canso. He<br />
has resided with his wife<br />
and two children near<br />
the Glenora Distillery in<br />
Inverness Co. since 2004.<br />
His children sing locally as<br />
Gaelic singers and his son<br />
Donovan acted as Calum’s<br />
grandson in the feature<br />
Gaelic film ‘Wake of Calum<br />
MacLeod’. Mark is looking<br />
forward to hearing from<br />
friends & fellow alumni of<br />
the 80’s. He can be reached<br />
at macneillmark@hotmail.<br />
com<br />
Bill Gorman ‘84 has<br />
been appointed a Crown<br />
attorney in the New<br />
Glasgow office of the Nova<br />
Scotia Public Prosecution<br />
Service. Throughout his<br />
legal practice in the private<br />
sector, the Antigonish<br />
native focused on criminal<br />
law and civil litigation.<br />
He has prosecuted cases<br />
in Pictou, Antigonish,<br />
Inverness, Colchester,<br />
Cape Breton and Halifax<br />
counties.<br />
Mary Vautour ‘84 is<br />
teaching in the business<br />
administration department<br />
at the New Brunswick<br />
Community College in<br />
Moncton. Life is busy with<br />
two teenaged sons. Alex<br />
is going into Grade 12<br />
and Marc is just starting<br />
high school. An “X”-cellent<br />
family picture of me (1984),<br />
Lise (Vautour) Booth (1974)<br />
and Marc Vautour (1976)<br />
last year during a family<br />
gathering in northern NB<br />
is also in this issue.<br />
Daphne Klemme ‘84 has<br />
been living in New Haven<br />
for almost three years now<br />
and is still enjoying working<br />
in the physics department.<br />
Her children are doing well<br />
and growing fast!<br />
Nicole Tupper ‘85 is the<br />
executive director of the Dr.<br />
Everett Chalmers Regional<br />
Hospital as well as the Oromocto<br />
Public Hospital. She is<br />
currently the administrative<br />
director of the Healthy Aging<br />
and Rehabilitation program<br />
for River Valley Health.<br />
Then<br />
Back (l-r): Mary (Leahey) Crilly, Alice (Hughes) West, Marg (Wilson) Wright, Isabel (Curley) Christian, Eileen (Hornby) O’Neill, Anne<br />
(Beaton) Beaton, Doreen (Coolen) Burke, Morag (Macdonald) Graham. Front (l-r)Sheila (Buckle) MacNeil, Elaine (MacDonald) Tyler.<br />
Nicole is a registered nurse<br />
who received her bachelor<br />
of science in nursing degree<br />
from <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> and a masters<br />
of nursing from Dalhousie<br />
<strong>University</strong>. Nicole began her<br />
career as a staff nurse at the<br />
Oromocto Public Hospital.<br />
She has since obtained extensive<br />
clinical and administrative<br />
experience in acute<br />
care, rehabilitation and long<br />
term care settings. She has<br />
held positions as clinical<br />
instructor and lecturer with<br />
both the <strong>University</strong> of New<br />
Brunswick and Dalhousie<br />
<strong>University</strong>.<br />
Marty ‘89 and Karen<br />
(Chisholm) ‘92 Corsten<br />
currently reside in Ottawa<br />
where Mar ty recently<br />
accepted the position of<br />
chairman of the department<br />
of otolar yngology at<br />
the O ttawa Hospital.<br />
Friends can reach them at<br />
mjcorsten@yahoo.ca<br />
‘90s<br />
Major Tim Barter ‘90 has<br />
deployed to Kandahar,<br />
Afghanistan for an eight<br />
month tour. Waiting for his<br />
safe return is his wife, Dr. Jill<br />
Now<br />
Bulman and their children<br />
Gavin, Lauren and Bronwen<br />
(ages 10, nine and eight).<br />
Joseph Odhiambo ‘94 has<br />
changed jobs in the federal<br />
government, moving from<br />
the Office of Greening<br />
Government Operations<br />
to Environment Canada<br />
where he is a senior policy<br />
analyst for the International<br />
Affairs Branch (Climate<br />
Change). H is area of<br />
responsibility is Australia/<br />
Asia-Pacific. Joseph was<br />
also recently chosen as<br />
one of 10 Canadians for the<br />
Canada Meets Germany<br />
Trans-Atlantic Exchange<br />
Programme sponsored by<br />
the Canadian and Germany<br />
Embassies. Joseph was also<br />
recently in Beijing (shown<br />
here) to represent Canada<br />
at an international climate<br />
change meeting hosted by<br />
the Chinese government.<br />
Dale Brown ‘96<br />
and Damian Buzugbe<br />
Class of 1998 at Homecoming <strong>2008</strong><br />
‘00s<br />
Kyle Harrietha ‘00 has recently<br />
moved from Ottawa,<br />
ON to Fort McMurray, AB<br />
to start work as a program<br />
manager with the Cumulative<br />
Environmental Management<br />
Association. He can<br />
be reached at harrietha@<br />
gmail.com<br />
Sharon MacDonald ‘03<br />
After graduating from <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
in 2003, she took part in a<br />
Coady Youth Internship to<br />
Ethiopia, following which<br />
she moved to Iqaluit, Nunavut<br />
to experience Canada’s<br />
North. She has been there<br />
since 2004 and has made<br />
it her home, for now. She is<br />
working for the Iqaluit Fire<br />
Department as a firefighter<br />
and emergency medical responder.<br />
She is gaining some<br />
great experiences there.<br />
Kari White ‘96<br />
and Jeffrey Davison<br />
Feb. 16/08<br />
Deanna (Andersen) ‘97<br />
and Jeff Burbine<br />
Rebecca Violet, March 12/08<br />
Kelley Beth (Baltzer)<br />
and Hector Fraser ‘99<br />
Anthony Joseph, Jan. 27/08<br />
Lora and<br />
Chris ’98 Witzel<br />
Sadie Beatrice, Aug. 1/06<br />
Noah (3), TJ (3 months) and<br />
Lauren (5) MacDougall<br />
A visit to Neeta’s classroom<br />
Emily Estelle, April 22/07<br />
Macy (3), Ainsley (1), & Kendra (5)<br />
Haley (4) and Hannah (2)<br />
Lily Cai Qin, 2007<br />
July, 14, 2007<br />
Nov. 8/03<br />
Corbin Frances, May 7/08<br />
Jennifer Larsend<br />
and Brent Dakai ‘86<br />
Lana Dinn ‘91, ‘92<br />
and Troy MacDougall ‘91, ‘92<br />
Neeta Kumar-Britten ‘92 ‘06 and<br />
Premier Rodney MacDonald ‘94<br />
Lisa (MacDonald) ‘93, ‘95<br />
and Michael MacDougall<br />
Michelle (Rose) McDonell ‘94<br />
and Ian (Eli) McDonell ‘94<br />
Sheila (Long) ’98<br />
and Sean Runnalls<br />
Mary Ellen and<br />
Paul Breneol ‘99<br />
Kristin Vessey and<br />
Ryan Casey ’99, ’01<br />
Colleen MacKenzie ‘00<br />
and Andrew Colville ‘00<br />
Colleen MacKenzie ‘00<br />
and Andrew Colville ‘00<br />
36 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 37
Hannah Kathleen Monica, May 19/08<br />
Lori (Chisholm) ’00<br />
and Ryan Connors ’03<br />
August 7/04<br />
Terri (Parsons) ‘01<br />
and John MacDonald ‘01<br />
June 14/08<br />
Carla (Nauffts) ’02<br />
and Derek Battist<br />
July 7/07<br />
Jessica (McLaughlin) ‘04<br />
and Bob Parker ‘02<br />
June 25/07<br />
Jeremy Clowater ‘07 and Jasmine<br />
Graham ‘07 with X-alumni at<br />
their wedding in New River<br />
Beach, New Brunswick<br />
July 14/07<br />
Meghan Lynch Briand ‘01<br />
and Lawrence Briand<br />
July 6/04<br />
Alyson (Wister) ‘01<br />
and Raoul Rozier ‘01<br />
Isabella Josephine, March 17/08<br />
Nadia Berardelli ‘02<br />
and Lorne MacIsaac ‘99, ‘02<br />
Iqaluit Fire Department<br />
Sharon MacDonald ‘03 – Annual<br />
Canada Day Firefighter’s Obstacle Course<br />
X-<strong>Alumni</strong> at the wedding of Jennifer MacIntyre ‘06<br />
and Trevor Sheppard ‘05<br />
July 5/08<br />
Julie (LeBlanc ) ‘06<br />
and John Richmond ‘05, ‘08<br />
August 2/08<br />
<strong>St</strong>ella Smith, October 7/07<br />
Shona Bowes ‘01<br />
and Ryan Smith<br />
Maya Pamela (5) and<br />
Theo Simeon (Nov. 7/07)<br />
Alyson (Wister) ‘01<br />
and Raoul Rozier ‘01<br />
August 2/08<br />
deceased<br />
Rt. Rev. Cyril H. Bauer ‘34 and former<br />
faculty/administration<br />
Sr. Irene Doyle ‘35<br />
Donald L. Anderson ‘38<br />
James A. “Fred” Brothers ‘42<br />
Rev. John R. Williams ‘45<br />
Rev. Murdoch J. MacLean ‘46<br />
Vincent P. Allen, QC ‘47<br />
Dr. William Gardiner ‘48<br />
Malcolm MacNeil ‘48<br />
Daniel Almon ‘49<br />
John “Ralph” Dorsey ‘49<br />
Howard E. MacIntyre ‘49<br />
Maurice V. Connolly ‘50<br />
Hugh J. Douglas ‘50<br />
Bernard J. Kilbride ‘50<br />
Aubrey Kyte ‘50<br />
Blaise B. Cameron ‘51<br />
James M. “Buck” MacDonald ‘51<br />
Msgr. John A. MacIntyre ‘51<br />
Dominic T. Marrocco ‘51<br />
Michael Myketyn ‘51<br />
Mary Ann (Hemeon) Sears ‘51<br />
<strong>Francis</strong> Albert Godin ‘52<br />
Raymond A. “Buddy” Keating ‘53<br />
James G. Butler ‘56<br />
Dr. Frederick A. Murdoch ‘57<br />
Daniel J. Tremblay ‘58<br />
T. Bert Hanratty ‘61<br />
David B. MacIntosh ‘61<br />
Luke Raymond, July 5/07<br />
Sheri (MacDonald) ‘05<br />
and Ray Burns<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX alumni at the wedding of<br />
Kendra Martin ‘ 07 and Christopher Buxton-Carr<br />
Allan “Al” Keith ‘64<br />
<strong>Francis</strong> “Frank” McKenna ‘65<br />
Sr. Teresina McNeil ‘66<br />
Lt. Col. Douglas A. J. Belliveau ‘67<br />
John G. Churchill ‘67<br />
James E. Merchant ‘68<br />
Emmanuel “Manny” Boudreau ‘69<br />
Alexander J. “Sandy” Morrison ‘70<br />
Prof. John McKendy ‘71<br />
Joseph A. “Joe” Borden ‘73<br />
Robert A. “Bob” MacNeil ‘75<br />
Delores F. “Dee” McDowell ‘75<br />
Avice M. (Lewis) Matheson ‘77<br />
Margaret C. (Gillis) Turnbull ‘77<br />
Richard A. Leach ‘79<br />
Cynthia F. (MacDougall) MacAdam ‘79<br />
Donald Hugh James MacLennan ‘79<br />
Marion Hollohan ‘83<br />
Diane J. (MacEachern) MacDonald ‘84<br />
Christy Ann (Lomas) MacKenzie ‘99<br />
Heather Hamilton ‘00, ‘02<br />
Thomas Bata, Hon. Deg. ‘02<br />
Pte. Douglas J. Pierce ‘03<br />
Beverly Lynn (Bowen) Benoit ‘04<br />
Ifeoma S. “Ify” Obi ‘07<br />
Melissa Leslie, 1st year student<br />
Rachael Duffley, 2nd year student<br />
Justin Manser, BEd student<br />
Charles “Chuck” Brister, former staff<br />
Richard T. Nash, former faculty member<br />
December 31/07<br />
Kirsten (Mattie) ‘07<br />
and Neil <strong>St</strong>ephen<br />
MacQuarrie Family <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
Clockwise fr. lwr. left: Clare ’01, Heather<br />
‘98, Neil ‘06/’08, Aaron (son-in-law) ‘98,<br />
Melanie ‘97 and Cameron ‘80<br />
obituaries<br />
Rev. Murdoch<br />
MacLean<br />
The <strong>St</strong>FX community<br />
was saddened to learn<br />
of the death of retired<br />
education professor,<br />
Reverend Murdoch<br />
MacLean. Dr. MacLean,<br />
88, taught at <strong>St</strong>FX for 34<br />
years. He taught in the<br />
psychology department<br />
for a short time and<br />
then taught educational<br />
psychology, measurement<br />
and evaluation and a graduate course in guidance.<br />
Father MacLean was born in Bay <strong>St</strong>. Lawrence, Cape<br />
Breton. He graduated from the Nova Scotia Normal<br />
School (Teachers’ College) in 1939 and from <strong>St</strong>FX in 1946.<br />
He attended Holy Heart Seminary in Halifax and was<br />
ordained in 1950. He received his Ph.D. from Fordham<br />
<strong>University</strong>.<br />
He loved his students and had a wonderful sense of<br />
humour. A lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan, he endured<br />
much teasing about this errant affliction.<br />
Funeral Mass took place at the <strong>St</strong>FX Chapel August 22,<br />
Bishop Raymond Lahey presiding.<br />
Rt. Rev. Cyril H. Bauer<br />
The university community was saddened to learn of<br />
the death on Tuesday, September 9, of Rt. Rev. Cyril<br />
H. Bauer, C.P., B.A. at the age of 94. Monsignor Bauer<br />
held many positions at<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX. He was professor<br />
of German, dean of<br />
studies, executive vicepresident<br />
and dean of<br />
arts, administrative vicepresident<br />
for student<br />
ser vices and awards<br />
officer. He retired from<br />
the university at the age<br />
of 70, but was a familiar<br />
face on campus until just<br />
a few years ago.<br />
For many years Father<br />
Bauer was director of<br />
theatre at <strong>St</strong>FX. He directed many plays and musicals<br />
and often took these student productions on tour from<br />
Sydney to Moncton. The Bauer Theatre was named in<br />
his honour to recognize his long service to the cultural<br />
life of <strong>St</strong>FX and the community.<br />
Father Bauer was born in Sydney on May 5, 1914. He<br />
received his B.A. from <strong>St</strong>FX in 1934 and attended the<br />
Sulpician Seminary in Washington, D.C. from 1935-39.<br />
He was ordained in 1939 and served parishes in Iona and<br />
Bras D’Or. In 1943 he joined the staff of the university.<br />
Visitation and Prayer Vigil took place at the <strong>University</strong><br />
Chapel. The Funeral Mass was held at the <strong>University</strong> Chapel<br />
Friday, Sept. 12, Bishop Raymond Lahey presiding.<br />
Photos courtesy of <strong>St</strong>FX Archives<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX mourns the passing of three student<br />
members over the past year. The Chaplaincy<br />
department held a Celebration of Life in<br />
September to honour their memories.<br />
Melissa Leslie<br />
Melissa Leslie of Dieppe,<br />
NB, was in the first<br />
year of a BA when she<br />
became ill and returned<br />
home for treatment. She<br />
was a resident of MacIsaac<br />
House. Melissa was 18.<br />
Rachael Duffley<br />
Rachael Duffley had<br />
completed her first<br />
year in human kinetics and<br />
was from Kiersteadville, NB.<br />
She was a member of the<br />
varsity rugby team and<br />
lived in TnT. Rachael was<br />
killed in an accident in July.<br />
She was 18.<br />
Justin Manser<br />
Justin Manser was from<br />
Musquodoboit Harbour,<br />
NS. He graduated with a<br />
BA in 2007 and completed<br />
one year in the B.Ed<br />
program. He was an RA at<br />
Governor’s and Lane. He<br />
died suddenly on July 20.<br />
He was 23 years old.<br />
Calling all<br />
X-Women Hockey <strong>Alumni</strong><br />
We are meeting in March at the CIS Hockey Nationals at <strong>St</strong>FX. Come on back to campus<br />
and cheer on the Current X-Women to a National title. Twenty players are confirmed<br />
to date and we are planning on a dinner as well as volunteering at<br />
the tournament. More events are being planned and we are open<br />
to ideas and suggestions. For more information contact Colleen Wall<br />
‘05 at cwall@oldscollege.ca<br />
Lost<br />
&<br />
Found<br />
Lost<br />
Woman’s ‘81<br />
Man’s ‘81<br />
Woman’s ‘86<br />
Woman’s ‘86<br />
Woman’s ‘89<br />
Man’s ‘91<br />
Man’s ‘91<br />
Woman’s ‘99<br />
Man’s ‘01<br />
Woman’s ‘02<br />
Woman’s ‘03<br />
Woman’s ‘03<br />
Woman’s ‘03<br />
Woman’s ‘04<br />
Woman’s ‘06<br />
Man’s ‘04<br />
Man’s ‘05<br />
Man’s ‘05<br />
Man’s ‘06<br />
Man’s ‘07<br />
Man’s 07<br />
Found<br />
MSB ring ‘55<br />
2009 CIS Women’s Ice<br />
Hockey Championship<br />
March 19-22, 2009<br />
Hosted by <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>University</strong><br />
Tournament passes<br />
now on sale<br />
Adult: $40<br />
Senior/<strong>St</strong>udent: $30<br />
<strong>St</strong>udent: $30<br />
Youth: $20<br />
Keating Centre Box Office<br />
Phone: 1-866-259-8169<br />
(toll free)<br />
or locally 1-902-867-3304<br />
38 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong> <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2008</strong> 39
Update<br />
Have you moved, changed<br />
careers, been promoted?<br />
We’d like to hear about it.<br />
Full Name: _______________________________________________<br />
Class Year: ______________________________________________<br />
Spouse’s Name: __________________________________________<br />
Is spouse an ‘X’ alum? ____________ Year: _______________________<br />
Address<br />
<strong>St</strong>reet: __________________________________________________<br />
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Employment Information<br />
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City: ___________________________________________________<br />
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Phone: (________) ________________________________________<br />
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Who can always reach you?<br />
Name: _________________________________________________<br />
Position: ________________________________________________<br />
<strong>St</strong>reet: __________________________________________________<br />
City: ___________________________________________________<br />
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Fax: (________) ___________________________________________<br />
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Homepage: _____________________________________________<br />
Information you would like to have published in the ‘News Exchange’<br />
section of our <strong>Alumni</strong> News.<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
_______________________________________________________<br />
Return your X-Update to:<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Francis</strong> <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Advancement Records<br />
PO Box 5000, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5<br />
Phone: (902) 867-5327 • Fax: (902) 867-3659<br />
Toll-free: 1-888-739-0031<br />
Email: alumni@stfx.ca<br />
Update online at<br />
www.stfx.ca/alumni/<br />
update-info.htm<br />
Date: ___________________________________________________<br />
X-ring story l <strong>Alumni</strong> Office<br />
Friendship is Pure Gold<br />
A<br />
fter encountering difficulty immigrating<br />
to the United <strong>St</strong>ates, my<br />
newly wedded husband and I and<br />
took a quick look at the Canadian map, and<br />
randomly chose a city where I would reside<br />
until my green card showed its stubborn<br />
head. Arriving in Calgary, I began the job<br />
hunt. Through a fellow alumni’s suggestion<br />
I found myself working at a posh seniors’<br />
residence as an events manager. One can<br />
only imagine how displaced I felt…a new<br />
city, a new job, a new (long distance) marriage,<br />
and now…seniors. I didn’t know a<br />
thing about entertaining seniors. I was at a<br />
loss. Until one day I stumbled upon a man<br />
who taught me that being senior, as cliché<br />
as it sounds, is truly a state of mind.<br />
His name is Bill Gormley. I served him a<br />
drink at the senior’s residence bar. Bill took<br />
his drink, placing it gingerly on the table, and<br />
then reached out for the gold ring on my<br />
hand. He asked me with a thick east coast<br />
accent, ‘Where’d you get that ring?’ And<br />
before getting the words out of his mouth,<br />
he answered, saying, ‘I graduated from <strong>St</strong>FX<br />
in 1955 – didn’t buy a ring though, was too<br />
expensive, a whole $18. ’ This was the beginning<br />
of a beautiful relationship.<br />
I would see Bill in the hallways and he<br />
would wink and scold me on the days I<br />
forgot to put on that ring. As our friendship<br />
blossomed, I learned much about this<br />
man with the sparkling blue eyes; Bill was a<br />
teacher and a principle in Pictou for many<br />
years. He had obtained his BSc in 1954 and<br />
his B.Ed in 1955.<br />
“This man doesn’t<br />
wear an X on his<br />
finger, but carries<br />
an X in his heart.”<br />
One time, Bill experienced a fall which<br />
left him with a broken arm. He shook his<br />
head at me, expressed how silly he felt falling,<br />
and then in the next breath, informed<br />
me that he booked a room with a buddy of<br />
his at the Claymore Inn as he – a man well<br />
into his 70s – would be returning to Antigonish<br />
to celebrate Homecoming this fall.<br />
As he told me of his upcoming adventure,<br />
I longed to join him. I wanted to share this<br />
Sarah Rutherford and Bill Gormley<br />
experience with him, sitting down in the<br />
Golden X Inn, buying him and his buddies<br />
a round. This man had become dear to me,<br />
in a way that I considered as family.<br />
Today my residents threw me a goingaway<br />
party. They gathered in the main dining<br />
room, and we shared cake and coffee.<br />
In the midst of the goodbye, Bill stood and<br />
grabbed the microphone explaining, that<br />
he and I are more than friends, because we<br />
share the Xaverian family. He told of how<br />
50 years after his graduation, I had mine,<br />
and how we exchanged stories of days<br />
gone by, and compared dreams we had<br />
at <strong>St</strong>FX. He then did the most unexpected,<br />
and presented me with what he referred<br />
to as a “hand-me down,” unraveling a blue<br />
<strong>St</strong>FX sweatshirt. He held it for the room to<br />
see, and passed it to me as if it were gold,<br />
saying, ‘remember me.’ It was like no other<br />
award I had ever received. I was beyond<br />
honoured. I wished I could present him<br />
with the ring he never bought, but always<br />
wished he had.<br />
It was in this moment that I realized<br />
that the mark of a Xaverian is more than<br />
our shiny gold rings, but the way we embrace<br />
each other as strangers, and leave as<br />
friends. This man doesn’t wear an X on his<br />
finger, but carries an X in his heart.<br />
– Sarah Rutherford ‘05<br />
40 <strong>St</strong>FX <strong>Alumni</strong> News l winter <strong>2008</strong>
The X-Ring Celebration: Keating Centre, 4:33 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3<br />
More on X-Ring <strong>2008</strong> in our spring issue.
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