Located in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, Mount Allison University was founded in 1839 by a local Methodist merchant, Frederic Allison.

Mount Allison University is committed to the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a community of higher learning, centred on undergraduate students, in an intimate and harmonious environment. Mount Allison offers Bachelor's degrees in Arts, Science, Commerce, Fine Arts and Music, as well as Master's degrees in Biology and Chemistry and Certificates in Bilingualism.

Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to confer a Bachelor's degree to a woman; Grace Annie Lockhart received a Bachelor of Science in 1875. It was also the first university in Canada to grant a Bachelor of Arts to a woman, Harriet Starr Stewart. Mount Allison boasts the oldest university art gallery in Canada; it was the first to wire all of campus to the information highway; it was the first to offer a Canadian Studies programme; and it is a pioneer in the establishment of services for students with learning disabilities.

Founder Charles Frederick Allison's grandfather emigrated from Ireland in the late 1700s, as a result of a dinner with the local tax collector. Wanting to impress him, the family set the table with their one valuable possession of silver spoons. After entertaining their guest, the Allisons were informed that if they could afford silver spoons, they could afford to pay more taxes. They left Ireland shortly thereafter. The spoons are on display in the main Library.

In June 1839, Sackville merchant Charles Frederick Allison proposed to the Wesleyan Methodists that a school of elementary and high learning be built. His offer to purchase a site in Sackville, New Brunswick, to erect a suitable building for an academy, and to contribute operating funds of 100 pounds a year for 10 years was accepted. The formal opening of the Mount Allison Academy for boys took place in 1843. In 1854, a branch institution for girls, known as the "Ladies College", opened to complement the Wesleyan Academy for boys. In July 1862, the degree-granting Mount Allison College was organized. The first two students graduated in May 1863. For nearly a century, Mount Allison functioned as three distinct, mutually enriching parts: the College proper, the Boys' Academy and the Ladies College.

The closure of the School for Girls in 1946, and the Academy in 1953, coincided with a period of expansion and provided much-needed space. In 1958, the beginning of a period of construction and acquisition of buildings eased the strain of overcrowding. At this time, it was decided to reaffirm the traditional aim of providing a high-quality undergraduate liberal arts education, along with continuing to offer professional programmes in already-established fields.

Mount Allison University has routinely topped the Maclean's Magazine Annual Survey of Canadian Universities in the category for small undergraduate schools. In the first survey, it ranked third over-all, which led to the division of the ranking into categories the next year.

Mount Allison has produced more Rhodes Scholars per capita than any other university in the Commonwealth. The latest, nominated in 2003, was the school's 45th.

The school's team name in Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the Mount Allison Mounties. Unfortunately, the football team has not fared well in recent years, and as of January 2005 hasn't won a game in two years.

The university has residence facilities which divide the community into social groups, although approximately half of the student body lives off-campus. Still, 85% of first-year students live in the following residences:

• Bigelow House
• Bennett House
• Trueman House
• Hunton House
• Thornton House
• Edwards House
• Windsor Hall
• Harper Hall
• Campbell Hall

External link

• University Website
• Windsor Hall Online
• Edwards House Online