We are so pleased to share the Summer Record with you, our first issue to appear both in print and online since the pandemic began.

We are grateful to have completed the academic year safely and to have supported our students throughout this unprecedented experience — with only three COVID-19 cases reported in the Mount Allison community over the whole year. You can read more about Mount Allison’s COVID-19 experience from different perspectives across the University community in An academic year like no other.

This issue also celebrates the legacy of our Fine Arts program. We are honoured to have the original work of Michael de Adder (’91, LLD ’20), Fine Arts grad and political cartoonist with The Washington Post, on the cover of our issue. He is known internationally for his political cartoons, and as he moves to this next stage in his career with a major U.S. publication, we have been pleased the Record has, for the past number of years, been included among the many publications in which his work has been featured. 

This year is also the 80th anniversary of Mount Allison’s first BFA graduates, Colin Harley Falconer, Phyllis Jean MacPherson, and Bertha Alexandria Warren. We share their stories in Allisonian Archives.

The University celebrated many consequential gifts this past year in support of its students, including the establishment of the Pierre Lassonde School of Fine Arts last February. This landmark announcement has helped launch a number of new projects and programs within the School, designed to enrich the student-artist experience, including new scholarship and internship opportunities and a dynamic artist-in-residence program. This gift, along with the establishment of the Frank McKenna School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and the new McCain Scholars program, made for many celebratory moments over the past year, even if they were done virtually for the time being.

We’re also delighted to feature retiring Vice-President, University Advancement Gloria Jollymore (’77), who has served Mount Allison for 25 years, helping to lead and support the University’s strategic direction and hear from Provost and Vice-President, Academic and Research Jeff Hennessy on what’s next for academic innovation.

As we welcome summer in Sackville, we hope all of you are doing well, remembering the mantra of BC’s Provincial Medical Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry (’86, LLD ’21) — Be Kind. Be Calm. Be Safe.

Carolle de Ste-Croix (’90)
Editor of the Record
Director of Alumni Relations