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An opportunity for Memorial University students to study French in St-Pierre-Miquelon has come to an end after five decades.
The school has confirmed its Frecker program has been scrapped due to a lack of host families to provide students a place to stay in recent years.
There were only 10 students participating in the fall 2025 program and a dozen in the spring, which is lower than years past, MUN spokesperson Chad Pelley said in a statement Friday morning.
He said the decision was made by the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in mid-June.
The Frecker program was first offered 53 years ago, according to an announcement on MUN’s website.
More than 2,000 students participated in the program over the years, giving them a chance to learn French and take in the culture of the French territory off Fortune, N.L.
In a later email, Pelley added that the school is still continuing with other exchange opportunities. There are three opportunities in France, and a partnership with the French-language Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia — which eight students are taking part in.
Facing a financial crunch in recent years that has led to layoffs, the university says any course with low enrollment is being re-evaluated.
When asked if he was concerned with the latest cutback at MUN, Premier Tony Wakeham said, “I think what the university is doing is trying to re-engage itself or reinvent itself in terms of what are its priorities.”
The university is facing a number of challenges at present, he said, pointing to problems with decreasing enrollment.
“I think the university is taking measures to make sure that… it keeps itself in a position where it’s able to keep offering the programs that people of Newfoundland and Labrador want to see,” Wakeham told reporters.
‘Such a shame’
Yvonne Manning participated in the program in winter of 1980 and later became a French immersion teacher. She said her learning experience went beyond the language, and being immersed in a different world was “life altering” for her.
She was surprised and disappointed to hear the program was ending, she said.
“To have islands that are France right next to your province, what an anomaly that is, and what a great enriching program it could be for young people to take advantage of just like we did,” she said.
“It’s just such a shame,” she said, later adding that she understood there were reasons behind the decision.
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