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The Mount Saint Vincent University Student Union is comprised of the entire student body. Individual students are then elected as Student Union executive members to represent the entire student body. These elected officials are also known as student council members, or councillors.

The Mount Saint Vincent student government association became a member of the Maritime College Students Federation in 1939 and later became a charter member of the Canadian Federation of Catholic College Students in 1941. Student government has been a part of the Mount’s tradition since its early days. Initially, class presidents, vice presidents, and treasurers were elected for each graduating class (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior) on a yearly basis. This tradition began to change during the 1950 – 1951 academic year when Mary Cossitt was elected as the first Student Union president. Class presidents were also elected during this year. Tradition changed yet again in 1952, when only one president (Marguerite Peddle), was elected to represent the entire student body for the 1951-1952 calendar year.

The fist edition of the Mount’s student newspaper entitled: The Picaro, was printed in October of 1965. The newspaper was operated by the Mount’s Student Union and published until 2005. The name was briefly changed to Jargon from 2002-2004 and was eventually changed to the Sentinel in 2005. The last issue was published in January of 2011. The name Picaro, was chosen because of its meaning. Picaro is the term used to describe a hero in early Spanish literature. He is a person who roams about the countryside, retaining the ideas and philosophies expressed by the people he encounters. He then forms his own philosophy and ideas. The objective of this newspaper was to give an overall picture of the times and events as they happened.

It was under Student Union president, Linda Bergstorm (1966), that the Student Union revised their constitution and began working towards incorporation. Mount students were involved in the organization of the Nova Scotia Union of Students in 1967 and participated in a march on Province House to present a brief on student fees to the Premier. It was in 1968 that the board of governors invited the Student Union to send two student representatives to be voting members of the board. The board also invited the university senate to send faculty representatives to join the board. In 1969, the senate voted to have 3 student representatives join the senate, despite the fact that the student brief had asked for 9. The students served on the library, convocation, cultural affairs, and academic committees of the senate.

The Student Union had traditionally recognized those executive members who had made outstanding contributions to the student activities by awarding them a Gold V in their Senior year. On April 6, 1969, the Student Union instituted the silver-V’s and council pins. The council pins are awarded to executive members of the Union in any year and may be for contributions in a specific area. The Silver and Gold V’s are awarded only to those in their graduating year for superior leadership, achievement and service.

The Student Union revised its constitution and became an incorporated body in 1970. It also established guidelines for elections and financial controls. The Union's executive members were involved at a national level and the Student Union president became an active member of the Student’s Affaires Committee of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (A.U.C.C.). This organization was established in 1911 and is now known as Universities Canada.

The Student Union broadened its horizons and introduced communications procedures for dealing with university and inter-university committees. The Union cooperated with Dal Housie University in community action programs, student orientation, and winter carnival. In October of 1974, Mount Saint Vincent University singed an official agreement with Dalhousie University which specified a desire for cooperation between the two universities in order to avoid the unnecessary duplication of resources and services. The executive member in charge of External Affaires for each union would then have the same rights and privileges as executive member of the other’s union (other than voting and committee membership).

During the 1970’s, the Student Union sponsored and conducted a course evaluation of the Mount professors and published the results. A few years later, Mount students and professors collaborated to create a more in-depth survey. It was also during this decade that the Student Union took over the production of the student handbooks from the Mount administration. The books continued to deliver helpful advice to Mount students attempting to navigate their way through university life but no longer included information about prescribed behaviour or dress.

The Student Union store opened in the fall of 1972, in the Rosaria Centre. The store began as a Student Union summer project but remained open afterwards. The goal of the store was to offer reasonably priced products to students that were easily accessible. It initially sold snacks, penny candies, basic groceries, and toiletries. Over the years, the store has also sold second had books and school clothing. The store still operates today and is known as the Crow n’ Go.

The Mount Saint Vincent Student Union was among the first members of the Atlantic Federation of Students, (A.F.S.). The federation began in January of 1975 as a forum in which students of the Atlantic region could discuss their mutual concerns and deal cooperatively. The Mount Saint Vincent Student Union later became a member of the Students’ Union of Nova Scotia (S.U.N.S.), which is the provincial organization of students attending a post-secondary institution in Nova Scotia. The organization was established in November of 1978 in response to the need for students organizing on a provincial level rather than a regional one.

Up until the 1979-1980 school year, all Student Union presidents at the Mount had been female. Men began attending the Mount in 1967. The first male president elected was Paul McNair, who held office for the 1979-1980 academic year.

The Mount Saint Vincent Student Union had previously been a member of the National Union of Students (N.U.S.), which was founded in 1972 but the organization was reorganized and the name was changed to the Canadian Federation of Students (C.F.S.) in October of 1981. This organization was established in order to provide Canadian students with a national decision-making forum. The goals of this organization were to achieve a system of post-secondary education in Canada that is rationally planned, of high quality, and accessible to all.

The first annual Athletics Alumnae and Student Union Awards Banquet was held in 1978. Prior to this year, the Athletics Awards dinner and Student Council Awards dinner were held separately. The event is typically held in March and honours those who have done outstanding work in sports, government, or in a particular society.

The campus pub, which is owned and operated by the Student Union, first opened its doors during the 1981-1982 school year. It was quite successful, even in its early years. In addition to serving pub style food and drinks, the pub has played host to many talent shows, coffee houses, dances, trivia nights, live performances, and other social events. The pub is also available for student bookings such as fundraisers and society events. The pub continues to be a popular campus hangout at the Mount today and was renamed Vinnie’s Pub.

During the 1981-1982 school year, an Inter-University agreement was signed between the Mount’s Student Union and the Student Unions of other local universities. The Open-Door Policy Agreement included Mount Saint Vincent University, the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Saint Mary’s University, Dalhousie University, and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The purpose of this agreement was to allow students to gain admittance to the functions of these universities’ cooperative adventures which would take place during the 1982-1983 academic school year.

The first annual Student Union Leadership Conference was held in March of 1982 at the Mount. The conference offered leadership workshops to society and student leaders, as well as other interested students. Topics covered included entertainment and publicity, assertiveness, special needs of international students, time management, and many more. The conference was attended by students from Mount Saint Vincent, Saint Xavier, Acadia, Dalhousie, and Saint Mary’s University.

Home Economics at Mount Saint Vincent University began as a Diploma in 1925, and later became a four year Household Science degree in 1928. An exhaustive study of Textiles and courses in Nutritional Physiology, Bacteriology, Organic Chemistry, Child Care, and Sociology, as applied to the home, all formed a part of the course which led to the degree of Bachelor of Household Science. The degree also offered a following two year certificate program which allowed students to pursue careers as teachers of Domestic Science in elementary schools; or, after six months of hospital training, as a hospital dietitian. At this time, domestic science was being taught in many elementary schools and teachers of Domestic Science were needed all over Canada.

Plans for the Household Science program began in 1927 when Sister Mary Evaristus Moran requested that Sister Irene Marie Keegan develop plans for a home economics department and program at the Mount. Soon plans for a spacious foods laboratory and clothing room were under way. The laboratory, designed to accommodate 16 students, consisted of four laboratory tables, three gas stoves, one electric stove, one refrigerator, two large sinks, one small hand sink, two supply tables, and a portable blackboard. Sister Keegan was the director and teacher of all the courses except for clothing, which was taught by Sister Elizabeth Clare. The first year of the program saw one student enrol, and the next year saw three students enroll. Enrolment in the program increased dramatically in the 1970's, with a peak enrolment of 212 students in 1975; the highest enrolment in any undergraduate home economics program east of Guelph, Ontario. The degree later became known as the Bachelor of Science Home Economics prior to 1945. The name change was influenced by a previous conference in New York in 1902, where leading figures in the field determined that home economics was better suited to describe the discipline which was so closely associated with women's work.

In 1938, Sister Keegan was transferred to the Halifax Infirmary as head dietitian. By the time she returned to the Home Economics Department at the Mount in 1949, Sister Keegan had obtained a Masters degree in nutrition from Simmons College in Boston and had also chaired the student training committee of the Canadian Dietetic Association. Founded in 1935, the CDA (now Dietitians of Canada) was the governing body of professional competence in dietetics as it was determined and warranted by certification and registration by nationally affiliated provincial associations. In 1950, thanks to Sister Keegan's efforts to adapt the best in all the hospitals and schools she had visited over the past years to suit the Mount's Home Economics program, the Mount was admitted as a member into the Canadian Dietetic Association. Later that year, in April, the Maritime Home Economics Association annual meeting was hosted by Mount Saint Vincent College, thus introducing the College as a provincial member of the home economics field.
In 1951 a devastating fire destroyed the entire Mount Saint Vincent Mother-house, which housed most of the classrooms and residences for the Academy, College, and Novitiate. Thankfully, not one student or faculty was injured and plans for a new home economics department were under way as part of a new building development which had already begun construction in 1949. Completed in 1952, the new College building, Evaristus Hall, enabled the home economics department to expand and accommodate more than 100 students. In the same year, Dr. Alleyne Murphy joined the Home Economics Department at MSVC as the first non-Catholic, or lay, faculty member. Dr. Alleyne Murphy was an active member of the CDA, as well as other influential organisations like the Canadian Home Economics Association and the Nova Scotia Dietetics Association. Her considerable involvement in these organisations was invaluable to the Mount's success in the Home Economic and Dietetic fields.

In 1969, two years after receiving a University charter, the Mount established a graduate program in home economics to offer their students an improved professional program more suited to their career paths. In the same year, Dr. Mary Morley joined the home economics department and conducted an intensive three year study of all home economics programs at Canadian and American universities. The study led to the development of new programs in family and consumer studies and home economics education. As a result, in 1972 the Senate of MSVU was asked to approve alterations to the foods and nutrition major to include specialisation in the areas of nutrition, nutrition and administration, and food services administration. Advances in nutrition and medical science meant that students pursuing dietetics required a greater understanding of biochemistry, physiology, cellular and clinical nutrition. At the same time, the Senate was also asked to give approval of the Bachelor of Home Economics degree with specialisation in clothing and textiles, consumer studies, family studies, and home economics education, thus making the distinction between home economics education and scientific food study.
The 1980’s saw an increase in international projects for MSVU with the establishment of the Canadian International Development Association and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. The first international project for the Home Economics department at MSVC was a nutrition and rehabilitation project in the Dominican Republic, which was followed by an outreach to populations in the Canadian North. Mount Saint Vincent followed these projects under the direction of Dr. Marilyn McDowell who joined the Mount Home Economics faculty in the 1979-1980 academic year, with links to the Universities of Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia in Africa, as well as with Universities and Home Economics departments in Malaysia and Pakistan. The Mount assisted these Universities with the establishment of home economics departments and faculty training.
In January 1989, Dr. Alleyne Murphy, Chair of the Home Economics Department, wrote a proposal to students of the Mount suggesting a name change from Home Economics to Human Ecology. The impetus for this name change stemmed from several studies which indicated that Home Economics students tended to be stereotyped with outdated images of the profession, and had also been a topic of debate for many years within the department. In the academic calendar year of 1991-1992, the Mount officially changed the name to Human Ecology and made changes to the program. Prominent changes included the removal of specialisation in Housing and Facility Management and Consumer Studies and the transition of the Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology to Nutrition & Dietetics from Foods & Nutrition. While some of the same courses were still offered under the new name, most of the courses originally taught under the HOM (Home Economics discipline) were removed or merged into other areas of study such as family studies and institutional management.

In 1996, the Bachelor of Science Human Ecology program received accreditation from the Dietitians of Canada (formerly CDA), thus increasing internship opportunities for graduates of the Nutrition and Dietetics program.

In January of 1998, faculty members aligned with the Nutrition and Dietetics program submitted a proposal to the Dean to establish a Department of Applied Human Nutrition. In September of 1998, the Departments of Gerontology and Human Ecology submitted a proposal to establish a Bachelor of Applied Arts within a new Department of Gerontology and Family Studies at the Mount. These decisions were made based on a number of factors such as: diminished enrolment for Human Ecology programs; a historical, but informal, relationship between the Departments of Gerontology and Human Ecology; the impetus within the University to merge small departments into larger units where it is philosophically and academically logical to do so; and many Human Ecology programs in North America had realigned with such programs as Gerontology. In the fall of 1999, the Human Ecology Department was absorbed into the Gerontology and Family Studies Department, while other faculty from the Nutrition and Dietetics program were merged into the Department of Applied Human Nutrition.

In 1921, Sister Mary Columba Hayes, Mary Reardon (Mitchell), and a group of about 12 other Mount graduates formed the idea for an alumnae association. They sent out invitations, and nearly 200 women arrived for the first alumnae meeting in December. After this initial meeting, a formal Alumnae Association was formed in June of 1922, where committees were established to plan future meetings, various chapters were formed, and the constitution and by-laws were drafted and approved. Elections were also held for the association’s officers and Nan O’Mara (Emerson) was elected president. This meeting also established the motto: Fides, Sapientia, Amicitia-Alumnae.

Formal meetings were held at the Mount in October and at Saint Theresa’s Retreat in Halifax during winter months. News of these meetings was also published in Folia Montana, the school’s paper and later yearbook which was designed to keep graduates in touch with each other.

In 1873, the Sisters of Charity purchased land along the Bedford Basin in Rockingham and facilitated the construction of a new building, moving from their previous location at Saint Mary’s Convent on Barrington Street. In August of that same year, the new building was formally blessed by Archbishop Connolly and named Mount Saint Vincent. It housed the motherhouse and novitiate which also served as a normal school (a teacher-training school), marking the beginning of Mount Saint Vincent Academy.

In 1874, the sisters advertised for students at their all-girls academy. Tuition and board cost $120 per year, and students would receive religious training as well as an education in music, art, and deportment. Non-Catholic students were also welcome to apply. Sixteen students were enrolled in that first year.

The Academy’s curriculum was based on course standards from the Nova Scotia school system and taught grades 5 to 12. Courses included cultural subjects, dramatics, music, and painting. The lower grades were eventually phased out and in the later years of its operation, the Academy only taught grades 11 and 12.

In 1914, Mount Saint Vincent Academy began teaching college courses. Through an affiliation with Dalhousie University, the first two years of a liberal arts college degree were taught at Mount Saint Vincent, and the final two years were taught by Dalhousie professors. This initiative had been considered for some time, as by 1909 college degrees were required to obtain higher level teaching certificates. The agreement was formalized by Dalhousie Senate and the Sisters of Charity in 1916, and five courses were taught by Dalhousie professors who travelled to the Mount to deliver their lectures. The Dalhousie-Mount affiliation continued until 1941.

Mount Saint Vincent Academy burned down in a fire in 1951, eventually reopening in a new building in 1958. It remained there until 1972. By this time public schools had become more accessible, lowering need for private institutions. Due to the high costs of maintenance and lower demand, the Academy was closed in 1972 and the building was repurposed as a residence for 180 MSVU students.

The Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery was opened in 1971 by MSVU President Catherine Wallace. In line with MSVU’s mandate, the Art Gallery was committed to keeping the art and craft of artists from the Atlantic Region, with particular attention paid to women. The Art Gallery’s initial curator, Mary Sparling, made efforts to ensure the gallery would be community based and display works from established, emergent, and non-mainstream artists and craftspeople alike.

One of the first additions to the Gallery’s permanent collection were ceramics, pottery, and pictures by Nova Scotia potter and MSVU alumna Alice Egan Hagen which were donated by the artist.

In addition to supporting the MSVU Cultural Studies curriculum, the MSVU Art Gallery also maintains a collection of art on behalf of the University, much of which can be viewed in the E. Margaret Fulton Communications Centre.

The School of Library Science at Mount Saint Vincent College was started in 1938 by the Mount’s head librarian, Sister Francis de Sales. The school offered a Bachelor of Library Science degree to those wishing to continue their studies beyond a Bachelor of Arts or Science degree. The one-year program taught library methods and techniques and provided training for those students wishing to pursue a career in public, college and school libraries. Practical training was provided within the Mount Saint Vincent College library and other libraries around the city. Sister Francis Dolores was the first student to graduate from the program in 1939.

The school stopped conferring degrees in 1958 due to new requirements for accreditation by the Canadian Library Association and the American Library Association. At the time, the Mount Library was not large enough and did not have enough staff in their employ to maintain this accreditation. However, library courses continued to be taught at the Mount into the 1960s as a Summer School course offered through the Department of Education. These courses provided training in School Libraries for qualified students but could not be used for credit towards a degree program.

Sister Therese Moore completed a Bachelor of Arts and Education at Mount Saint Vincent University in addition to joining the Sisters of Charity. She worked as a teacher in Halifax and Quebec City before returning to MSVU in a teaching capacity in 1977, teaching in the English Department, mainly writing- and literature courses. She was also on the Alumnae Board of Directors, and involved in the Renewal Centre in the Motherhouse.

Dr. Jeffrey J. MacLeod is a professor and Chair of Mount Saint Vincent University’s Political Studies department. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies from Cape Breton University, a Master of Arts in Political Science from Acadia University, and a doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. MacLeod’s research explores politics, culture, and art through arts-based methods of inquiry. Dr. MacLeod is also an active visual artist, with drawing, painting, and digital art mediums. He has won an award at HalCon, and his work has been displayed in several galleries including the MSVU Art Gallery.

Naomi Hersom was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1927 to Fred and Anna Hersom. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba in 1947 before beginning a career in teaching. In 1969 she received her Ph.D. in education from the University of Alberta and was appointed associate professor in the University of Alberta’s department of education. Noticing the limited number of women in the faculty, she started an association for women at the University of Alberta.

In 1975, she was appointed head of elementary education at the University of British Columbia, where she met and worked with Dr. Margaret Fulton who was dean of women at UBC at the time. Dr. Fulton encouraged Dr. Hersom to apply for the president position at Mount Saint Vincent, where she became the seventh president from 1986 to 1991.

During her tenure she oversaw the building of the E. Margaret Communications Centre, the expansion of distance education learning and Open Learning Programs, and the Initiative for Women in Science, which established a chair for women in science at MSVU and a science centre with classrooms, offices, and research spaces for students and faculty in the sciences and mathematics departments.

Distance University Education via Television (DUET) was launched in 1982, providing a method of distance learning where students could watch lectures off campus. It was initially shot with black and white cameras and broadcast to short circuit TVs using ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network), a regional television channel for Atlantic Canada. DUET filmed course lectures in Gerontology, Accounting, Women's Studies, and more, that were broadcast to students studying remotely, who could then phone in with questions and comments. DUET was the result of President Dr. E. Margaret Fulton’s efforts to gain support from provincial and federal governments as well as cable companies. The first director of the program was Dr. Diana Carl.

This program was useful especially to women, in the context of the 1980s when many women were returning to the workforce after raising families and were looking for ways to update their education. The program began with fewer than 100 students but expanded throughout the years of operation.

In 1999, DUET, along with the Open Learning Program became the foundation for the Department of Distance Learning and Continuing Education. Eventually the program transitioned from local channels to digital, and in 2011 it ceased broadcasting and became online-only programming.