The University of St. Joseph's College was the leading Acadian cultural institution, an Acadian Catholic university in Memramcook, New Brunswick that closed in 1966, when it was amalgamated with two other Catholic Acadian colleges to form the secular Université de Moncton. The process of amalgamation excluded a full reflection of the founding Catholic Culture of the Acadian people, fostering a secularization of Acadian life. The Collège Saint-Joseph, the Université Sacré-Cœur in Bathurst, and the Université Saint-Louis d'Edmundston suspend their respective charters and assume the status of affiliated colleges (Collège Saint-Joseph, Collège de Bathurst, and Collège Saint-Louis) in the secular Université de Moncton, named after the city of Moncton, which in turn was named after General Robert Monckton the British General who directed the Acadian deportation.
Founded in 1864 as St. Joseph's College on the site of St. Thomas Seminary which had closed two years earlier,Musée acadien of the Université de Moncton St. Joseph's was the first French-language, degree-granting college in Atlantic Canada. The university was closed in the 1960s with the establishment of the University of Moncton. The university facilities now house the Memramcook Institute, now properly called the Memramcook Learning and Vacation Resort. There is a national historic site, Monument Lefebvre, located on the Institute grounds that features exhibits about Acadian History.
In 1898 the college obtained the status of a university and became the University of St. Joseph's College. In 1928 the title was shortened to University Saint-Joseph..
By 1920, the university had two faculties: Arts and Sciences. It awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Law (BL), and Master of Arts (MA). It had 389 students and 40 academic staff, all male.Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Canada Year Book 1921, Ottawa, 1922
Notable alumni Louis Cunningham, author and novelist Henry Emmerson, lawyer, businessman and politician J. Michel Fournier, politician Gilbert Anselme Girouard, politician David-Vital Landry, doctor and politician Roméo LeBlanc, journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada Antoine Joseph Léger, politician Aurel Léger, politician Édouard H. Léger, politician Laurier Lévesque, politician George Valentine McInerney, lawyer and politician Pius Michaud, lawyer and politician Melvin Perry, politician Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa Pascal Poirier, politician Clovis-Thomas Richard, politician Albany Robichaud, politician Hédard Robichaud, politician Ferdinand-Joseph Robidoux, politician
References
External links New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 Memramcook Resort Monument Lefebvre National Historic Site, featuring the exhibit "Odyssey of the Acadian People"