St. Mary's University, Calgary

Dr. Gerry Turcotte became St. Mary’s third president and vice-chancellor on July 1, 2011. He was renewed for a second term of office on July 1, 2016.

St. Mary’s University is accredited to offer a Bachelor of Science degree, a Bachelor of Education after degree, eight Bachelor of Arts degrees including: 3 Year General Studies Degree, 4 Year Liberal Studies Degree, 3 and 4 Year English Degrees, 3 and 4 year History Degrees, 3 and 4 year Psychology Degrees, a 4 year Bachelor of Science in Biology program as well as transferable university courses in 35 academic disciplines.[1]

In addition to academic expansion, the St. Mary's campus has undergone a major change. The land upon which the campus is situated accommodates several buildings, dating from the early 1900s, designated as provincial heritage buildings, including a wooden water tower. As the buildings have heritage status, this legally forbids any alteration of their exterior, with the exception of repair, a prohibition which does not extend to their interior. Thus these buildings have been transformed into new classrooms, a bookstore, common areas and cafeteria. The water tower has been braced to protect it from collapse, and repainted in its original colour, Canadian Pacific Railway red, the only colour legally allowed due to its heritage status. In September 2016, the new Heritage Centre building was officially opened.[2]

In 2011, St. Mary's initiated a site development planning process to identify guiding principles, development options and concept plans for its 35-acre campus.

St. Mary's library contains over 30,000 titles and has 51 workstations accessible by students.[3] The St. Mary's library is also home to The St. John's Bible. It is a fully illuminated bible that is handwritten by world renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson (calligrapher) who is the scribe to the Queen of England. It is arguably the first time a cathedral, monastery or religious organization has commissioned something to this scale in over 500 years.

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  Distant view of St.Mary's University campus
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  St.Mary's University St. Basil's Hall Library
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  St.Mary's University historic water tower and carriage house
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  St.Mary's University Cairn dedicated to Father Albert Lacombe
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  St.Mary's University McGivney Hall

The student body of St. Mary's is represented to faculty and administration by the Student Legislative Council (SLC). St. Mary's University supports student-run clubs and activities. Current clubs include a book club, board games club, The Ed society, The Historical Society, Literary Guild, Outdoors club, Science Club, Psychology Association, Student 4 Social Justice, D&D club, and ethics club.[4] As of recently, the St. Mary's community had produced and premiered the play The Ghost Wilderness written by Dr. Gerry Turcotte. The play was well received by the university, city and theater communities.

St. Mary’s University was a founding member of the Alberta Colleges Athletic League. The league is composed of small colleges and has affiliated members in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The institution was accepted into the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) in May 2010. Lightning basketball teams began competing at this level in Fall 2012. In fall 2014, the Lightning introduced their Cross Country program, making it St. Mary’s University’s third team competing in the ACAC.

• official website