St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)

St. Thomas University (STU) is jointly a public and Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work. Lawrence Durling and Dr. Barry Craig serve as the university's Vice-Presidents, with Larry Batt as the Registrar. The university's president and vice chancellor is Professor Dawn Russell as of July 1, 2011, replacing former president and vice chancellor Dennis Cochrane.

History
The origin of St. Thomas University dates back to 1910. At that time, the Most Reverend Thomas F. Barry, Bishop of Chatham, invited the Basilian Fathers of Toronto to assume charge of an institution in Chatham, New Brunswick, providing education for boys at the secondary and junior college levels. The institution was called St. Thomas College.

The Basilian Fathers remained at St. Thomas until 1923. That year the school was placed under the direction of the clergy of the Diocese of Chatham. In 1938, the Diocese of Chatham became the Diocese of Bathurst. In 1959, a section of Northumberland County, including within its territorial limits St. Thomas College, was transferred from the Diocese of Bathurst to the Diocese of Saint John.

From 1910 until 1934, St. Thomas College retained its original status as a High School and Junior College. It became a degree-granting institution upon receipt of a University Charter on March 9, 1934, at which time the provincial legislature of New Brunswick enacted the following:

“St. Thomas College shall be held, and taken, and is hereby declared to be a University with all and every power of such an institution, and the Board of Governors thereof shall have full power and authority to confer upon properly qualified persons the degree of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor in the several arts and faculties in the manner and upon the conditions which may be ordered by the Board of Governors.”

In 1960, an act of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick changed the name of St. Thomas College to St. Thomas University. The following year, the high school courses were eliminated from the curriculum. In 1962, a Royal Commission on higher education in New Brunswick recommended that St. Thomas University enter into a federation agreement with the University of New Brunswick and relocate to the Fredericton campus of the latter institution.

In 1963, an agreement was drawn up between St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick. According to this agreement, St. Thomas University continues to grant its own degrees in arts and education. The agreement further provides that St. Thomas University make regulations governing student admission to courses leading to such degrees and retain control of the content and administration of its curriculum. To avoid duplication, the two universities avail themselves of various services and facilities in common. Thus, they share each others’ libraries and St. Thomas students benefit by the scientific, cultural, and athletic facilities of the University of New Brunswick.

On September 2, 1964, St. Thomas University opened its new premises in Fredericton. Since its relocation, the university has undergone significant growth in the number of students, faculty, and facilities. From less than 500 students, 22 faculty and 3 buildings at that time, St. Thomas has grown to nearly 3000 students, 121 full-time faculty and 12 buildings.

St. Thomas is now nationally recognized for the beauty of its campus and the quality of its learning environment. In 1964, the institution consisted of the Administration Building (now George Martin Hall), Harrington Hall (residence), and Holy Cross House (classrooms, faculty offices and residence). Vanier Hall (residence) was added in 1965; Edmund Casey Hall (classrooms and faculty offices) in 1969; a new wing to Edmund Casey Hall in 1985; Sir James Dunn Hall (student area, classrooms) in 1994, and the J.B. O'Keefe Fitness Centre and the Forest Hill Residence (now Harry Rigby Hall) in 1999.

The new century saw the opening of the Welcome Centre (Admissions) and Brian Mulroney Hall (classrooms, faculty offices, and student areas) in 2001; Chatham Hall was added to the Forest Hill Residence in 2003. During that year, St. Thomas University also began leasing classroom space in a CBC broadcast facility for use by its journalism programme, a unique and beneficial arrangement. Margaret Norrie McCain Hall, an academic building consisting of a large auditorium, a two-storey student study hall, and numerous classrooms and seminar rooms, opened for students in January 2007.

Relationship with UNB
St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus are located in the College Hill neighbourhood in Fredericton (named after UNB). The two institutions share facilities for their student unions, libraries, athletics, and a common heating plant and building maintenance services. Students from STU are permitted to take a certain number of classes at UNB and vice versa. However, STU and UNBF itself are financially and academically separate. STU is able to offer many amenities other smaller schools can't, thanks in large part to its UNB partnership. The two universities have a good-natured rivalry with each other.

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

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

Campus life
There are six academic buildings on campus housing classrooms and faculty offices. They are: James Dunn Hall, Edmund Casey Hall, George Martin Hall, Brian Mulroney Hall, Holy Cross House, and Margaret Norrie McCain Hall.

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

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

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

The student newspaper, The Aquinian, is available on campus and around the city during the regular academic year.

Notable alumni

 * Sheree Fitch, Author, Poet
 * Harry Forestell, Journalist
 * Raymond Fraser, Author
 * Shawn Graham, Former Premier of New Brunswick
 * Kelly Lamrock, Former New Brunswick Minister of Education
 * Brian Mulroney, Former Canadian Prime Minister
 * Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, Canadian Senator
 * Al Pittman, Poet and Playwright
 * Anna Silk, Actress
 * Lyman Ward, Actor
 * Edan Welch, Professional Hockey Player
 * David Adams Richards, Author, Screenwriter