{"id":643406,"date":"2026-05-02T17:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T17:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/643406\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T17:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T17:06:13","slug":"mckenna-family-announces-20-million-scholarship-donation-to-st-francis-xavier-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/643406\/","title":{"rendered":"McKenna family announces $20-million scholarship donation to St. Francis Xavier University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank McKenna first set foot on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University in 1966 at 18 years old, the only one of his eight brothers and sisters to go to college. It was the first step in a dynasty that would see 15 members of his family attend the school. <\/p>\n

Almost 60 years later, the same day two of his grandchildren are set to graduate from StFX, Mr. McKenna \u2013 a former premier of New Brunswick and Canadian ambassador to the United States \u2013 will return to Antigonish, N.S., to announce his family\u2019s donation of $20-million in scholarships to the university. <\/p>\n

Under the McKenna Scholars Program, which opens for applications this year, $2-million in scholarships will be awarded annually for the next 10 years. The first cohort of McKenna scholars will matriculate in September, 2027, with 60 scholarships, ranging from $20,000 to $125,000 over four years, set to be awarded in the first year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we had a chance as a family, we all agreed that StFX is where we should try to make a major philanthropic impact,\u201d Mr. McKenna said. <\/p>\n

StFX president Andrew Hakin said the McKenna family\u2019s gift, the largest private philanthropic donation in the university\u2019s history, will \u201cproduce transformational change in the way we bring students to StFX.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dTo see such a gift and such generosity to be given to a school is rare, and it takes leadership to do that,\u201c he said.<\/p>\n

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre receives $41-million to bolster Canada\u2019s position for clinical trials<\/a><\/p>\n

The program plans to award 192 scholarships over its tenure, including 30 of the top scholarships, valued at $30,000 per year, plus a dedicated $5,000 in the top scholars\u2019 third year to fund international study abroad, which Mr. McKenna said is key to the program\u2019s philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hugely supplements a formal education,\u201d he said. \u201cWe very much want the leaders that we\u2019re going to produce to be citizens of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

StFX was first established in 1853 in Antigonish, a town of about 5,000 located approximately 160 kilometres northeast of Halifax. The town\u2019s population more than doubles when the liberal arts university\u2019s staff and students return to campus. <\/p>\n

As a student driving through town for the first time, Mr. McKenna had been struck by the candy-coloured houses dotting the streets and the grandeur of the intimate campus\u2019s palatial red-brick buildings. Much remains the same today. Graduates still get the legendary X-ring<\/a>, students still gather at the campus bar and soulmates are still introduced. (More than 20 years after Mr. McKenna met his wife Julie while attending the school, their daughter also met her husband on campus).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this as the family university now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe love all the traditions, we love our friendships and we want to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four of Mr. McKenna\u2019s grandchildren attended the school this year, with granddaughter Ella Smith as the clan\u2019s latest alumna. She swears there was no pressure to join the family dynasty, but despite applying elsewhere, she knew Antigonish was inevitable.<\/p>\n

Her memories on campus extend back to her early childhood. \u201cWhen we went to visit the school, my uncle\u2019s name was written on the wall in his old dorm room,\u201d Ms. Smith said. \u201cIt brings us closer together that we\u2019re all able to share those experiences at the school.\u201d <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Mr. McKenna\u2019s first donation to Atlantic Canadian universities; he previously contributed $1-million toward a $10-million leadership centre at StFX and made donations to Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University in Fredericton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s gold in these liberal arts universities and in the Maritimes; they really are a crucible in which bodies and minds are formed,\u201c he said. \u201dIt\u2019s been a warm, embracing home-away-from-home for all of our families. So we want to get back to that institution.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank McKenna first set foot on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University in 1966 at 18 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-643406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}