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The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. The university has two main campuses: the principal campus founded in 1785 in Fredericton and a smaller campus which was opened in Saint John in 1964. In addition, there are two small satellite health sciences campuses located in Moncton and Bathurst, New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and was the first public university in North America. (The University of Georgia was established the same year.) UNB offers over 60 degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels with a total student enrollment of approximately 12,000 between the two principal campuses. General Information Location UNB Fredericton is located on the banks of the Saint John river. The campus is well-known for its colourful fall foliage, Georgian style red-brick buildings and a very steep hill. UNB Fredericton (UNBF) has shared the "College Hill" with St. Thomas University (STU) since 1964, when the former St. Thomas College moved from Chatham, NB (now Miramichi). They share some infrastructure but remain separate financially and academically. The UNB Saint John (UNBSJ) campus is located in Tucker Park in the Millidgeville neighbourhood, several kilometres north of the city's central business district and offers spectacular views of the Kennebecasis River and Grand Bay. New Brunswick's largest health care facility, Saint John Regional Hospital, is located adjacent to the UNBSJ campus. University Growth Both campuses have undergone significant expansion over the years with many prominent buildings at UNBF and UNBSJ being the recipient of funding from Lord Beaverbrook and other prominent industrialists and philanthropists. UNB's largest expansion coincided with the Baby boom, and its Fredericton campus tripled in size. In 1973 the New Brunswick Teachers' College (now the Faculty of Education) was absorbed into UNB. The growth of the UNBSJ campus is particularly notable, considering it began in 1964 with only 96 students, spread around buildings in Saint John's central business district. By the late 1960s, the Saint John Law School was moved to UNBF to become UNB's Faculty of Law, and in 1968 UNBSJ moved into its new campus at Tucker Park. Currently UNBF has approximately 9,000 students while UNBSJ has 3,000 although UNBSJ is currently growing at a faster rate. Building History Sir Howard Douglas Hall, which is commonly known as the 'Old Arts' building on the Fredericton campus, is the oldest university building still in use in Canada. The lobby of the building resembles a small museum due to the historic documents and other artifacts stored there. The Edwin Jacob chapel is also located in the lobby of the Sir Howard Douglas Hall. The 'Great Hallways' of this building are filled with history as they are lined with portraits of past presidents of the university. The first astronomical observatory in Canada, the Brydone-Jack observatory lies adjacent to Sir Howard Douglas Hall and was first operational in 1851. The observatory was named after William Brydone-Jack, a professor of mathematics and later president of the university. Due to the work done by Brydone-Jack at this observatory, Fredericton was the first location in Canada that had its longitude accurately determined. Forging Our Futures Campaign Forging Our Futures is the most important development campaign in UNB’s more-than-200-year history. It will make strategic investments in students, faculty, facilities and programs. The campaign will strengthen UNB’s position as a national university that is fundamentally important to the economic, social and cultural well-being of the province, the region and the country. Officially launched in June 2005, Forging Our Futures is the largest fundraising campaign in New Brunswick history. More information on the campaign can be found online at www.unbfutures.ca. Institute of Biomedical Engineering The Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) on the Fredericton campus is one of the leading research institutes in biomedical engineering in Canada. It was founded in 1965 as the Bio-Engineering Institute, making it one of the oldest research institutes to be solely dedicated to the field of biomedical engineering. The institute is also the region's prosthetic fitting centre where amputees are fitted with state-of-the-art intelligent artificial limbs. The institute also carries out research in the field of myoelectric signal processing, biomedical instrumentation and human motion analysis. The IBME also developed the UNB Test of Prosthetic Function which is used by researchers all over the world. Although the institute does not offer degrees in biomedical engineering, students at UNB usually enroll in one of the other faculties of engineering such as electrical or mechanical and pursue their research in biomedical engineering at the IBME. Notable Scholarships According to different sources, UNB gives away somewhere in the range of 2.2 and 4 million dollars worth of scholarships each year. The most prestigious of these are the Blake-Kirkpatrick, Beaverbrook, and President's scholarships. Athletics UNB Fredericton is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the UNB Varsity Reds while UNBSJ is represented by UNBSJ Seawolves. UNBF used to have different names for each individual sport's team; for instance, the men's swim team was the Beavers, and the hockey team was the Red Devils. A variety of sports teams are organized as "club" teams, supported financially by the Student Union as well as by individual members of the team. These club teams do not use the Varsity Reds name, and continue the tradition of different nicknames for each sport. Sports at the club level include rugby, baseball, cheer leading, and the Woodsmen (amongst others). The UNB men's rugby team is known as the Ironmen, and boast numerous New Brunswick and Maritime championships at the 'A' and 'B' levels of competition. St. Thomas and UNBF have a fierce rivalry in men's ice hockey and a growing one in women's ice hockey. These "Battle of the Hill" games are among the most attended. In 2005, the UNB Cricket Association organized the initial UNB Cricket Cup, which took place in October. Featuring teams from several Residences on campus, it is believed that it is the first of its kind to take place at UNB. The tournament was won by Harrison House who chased a target of over 150 to beat McLeod by a margin of 1 wicket. All games, of innings comprising 10 overs, took place at Queen's Square Ball Field in Fredericton. The trophy is proudly displayed in the Harrison lounge. Harrison House Pumpkin Sacrifice The Great Pumpkin sacrifice is a tradition that has currently been in existence for 34 years at Harrison House. As part of the ceremony, a large Pumpkin is carried around campus, blessed and then thrown off the residence roof. It symbolises hope for a good academic harvest. It is currently the longest running residence tradition in Canada. The tradition began on Halloween 1972, when an inebriated student began throwing pumpkins off the roof of the residence. The tradition has continued and expanded, despite efforts by the university administration to discontinue the event. There is typically a large party following the ceremony held off campus. Neville House Bed Push The annual Neville House Bed Push is a marathon event used to raise money for Women in Transition House, Inc. (WITH), a local shelter for abused women and children. After a door-to-door fundraising campaign, the Norsemen travel to Saint John, NB where they construct a bed on wheels and set off on provincial highways to push the bed 100 km to Fredericton, overnight - a 12 hour running journey. Since its inception, the Bed Push has grown to become the largest student-run fundraiser at UNB, having donated over $130,000 to the transition house. Aitken House Club Med Aitken House annual beach party. Trivia Notable Students and Alumni UNB Fredericton UNB Saint John | |||||||
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