Countdown to X-Ring!

Only six days left! Excitement is building on campus this week as StFX Day and those prized X-Rings get closer. Our alumni will be sharing in the excitement as they gather at 25 StFX Day celebrations taking place across Canada, in the U.S. and Europe. If you haven't already done so, check out the list of StFX Day events on the main page of The X-Ring and see if there's one taking place near you. Organizers and fellow grads would love to see you there.

On a personal note, I have to say that I'm especially excited about Dec. 3 this year because I'll be getting my very own X-Ring! After four-and-a-half years of part-time studies, I'll be graduating next spring and I'm thrilled to be one of almost 1,000 seniors getting their rings Monday. Today I did what almost all our grads do in early December: I headed down to Cameron's Jewelry on Main St. to try on my new ring. That was a lovely feeling. It was really hard to hand it back to the staff at Cameron's so they can safeguard it with the others before the X-Ring ceremony, when they'll finally be ours to keep.

I just hope we don't have the snowball effect this year. That's when a senior student with a shiny new X-Ring decides to let off some steam while studying for Christmas exams by engaging in a little snowball fight. You see, the cold air and snow causes one's finger to shrink up a little, and then that new ring catches flight as the snowball is pitched, to land somewhere in a sea of snow, much to the student's dismay.

So on Monday I'll be reminding everyone to play safe.

National Dinner outstanding event

It was a pleasure to see so many alumni and friends of the university -- and meet lots of people getting to know StFX for the first time --at the StFX National Dinner in Toronto last week. There was lots of excitement in the air and no shortage of wonderful testimonials, both on stage and off, about the StFX experience. This event does a lot to expand and enhance StFX's national reputation for excellence and the level of care in every detail did not go unnoticed. For this we can thank a talented team of organizers, led by StFX's VP of Advancement Peter Fardy. It was wonderful to have members of our Students' Union executive in attendance, as well as Ed McHugh, Austin Hawley, Andrea Holahan and Janet-Lynn MacNeil from our Alumni Association Executive. Pictured here is Dr. Sean Riley, SU Pres. Adam Harris, keynote speaker the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, and SU VP Marc Rodrique.

Coady Celebrates impresses

There was a good showing of alumni at the annual Coady Celebrates fundraising dinner at the Westin Nova Scotia in Halifax Oct. 30, including our national president Ed McHugh, his wife Shelley, our vice president Austin Hawley and secretary Andrea Holohan. It was a lovely and inspirational event that garnered rave reviews. Guest speaker was former federal cabinet minister Flora MacDonald. She gave a very impressive presentation on her recent visits to Afghanistan. At 82, she is an outstanding Canadian with a great sense of adventure who continues to make a difference in the world.