Giving Report

I am honoured to present Mount Allison University’s 2025-2026 Giving Report, where we celebrate the many ways donors like you are making a difference.

It is a great privilege to work alongside donors as they discover and create opportunities that reflect their values and fuel their passion for giving back. Mount Allison’s donors are an enthusiastic group who often choose to support more than one project, combine current giving with plans for their estate, and routinely join with like-minded individuals so that together they can realize an even greater impact. My colleagues and I are consistently inspired by your thoughtful and heartfelt generosity.

Together, Mount Allison University alumni and friends raised $18,451,445 in 2025–2026. This has been one of the institution’s most successful fundraising years.

It’s been a milestone year with much to celebrate. The University continues to experience strong enrolment, with growth anticipated once again in the 2026-27 academic year. Our student population now exceeds 2,400, and we are working to ensure current and future generations of students have access to the facilities and resources that support Mount Allison’s extraordinary education and student experience.

Construction is underway on the Scott McCain and Leslie McLean Centre for Health and Wellness, which will provide three new hardcourts, space for winter training for football, soccer, and other field sport student-athletes, and Sackville’s only indoor walking track. We are also beginning extensive renovations of the R.P. Bell Library, creating modern study and gathering spaces, while preserving the library’s much-loved character and history. Donors are supporting these and other projects on campus, including upgrades to the University’s pool and new training tools for aviation students — you will find stories about both projects, and the donors behind them, in this report.

Financial aid — scholarships, bursaries, and other student awards — continues to be the most popular way donors support our students. Thanks in large part to our donors and their commitments to creating new awards and strengthening existing ones, financial aid will increase 7.3 per cent in the coming year. Each student award donors support is a joyful affirmation that one of the best ways to build the future we hope for is to help someone else pursue their dreams.

Thank you for another wonderful year of generosity and impact. Every hour you volunteer, every act of friendship you extend, and every gift, regardless of size, contributes to the excellence that is Mount Allison University.

Thank you for supporting Mount Allison University and its students.

Sincerely,

Courtney Pringle-Carver
Chief Strategy Officer and
Vice-President, University Advancement

Individuals and groups have been aligning their efforts and philanthropic donations for key renovations to Mount Allison’s pool. A little more than a year ago, new diving blocks were installed, which are essential in helping the Mounties’ swim team train for competitions.

“It was a big update for recruitment and the calibre of our sport,” says Mounties Swimming Head Coach Brenna Maddalena (’17). “In the past, our student-athletes had to practice this skill of working with modern, professional diving blocks at the same time they were competing at other facilities. Now, our blocks are the best in the business. It shows that at Mount Allison there is real investment in the swim program.”

Maddalena says there was wonderful excitement when the team walked in and saw they had this new equipment, and that excitement carried through the season and was evident in the results. The team broke nine school records, and at the 2026 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Swimming Championships, the women finished second and the men third — a result that reflects the steady growth and momentum of the program.

“We have an incredible group of student-athletes that show up ready to work, support one another, and bring great energy to the pool every day,” says Maddalena. “We are so grateful to the donors for helping our students train at a high level and for making Mount Allison a place students want to be for both its great academics and athletics.”

Camren MacLeod, a third-year biopsychology major and one of the swim team’s captains, says even the smallest donation goes a long way in supporting student-athletes and reminds the team they are part of something bigger.

“That we have all these alumni and supporters investing in us really means a lot,” he says. “It shows that our teammates are more than the people we see every day on the pool deck. We are part of such a big family — a family of Mount Allison athletes of the past and non-athletes who want to see us succeed. I think that is one of the biggest sources of our excitement as we take these steps to modernize the pool.”

Thanks to donor support, next year Mount Allison will add a bulkhead to the pool, making the facility regulation size for many major competitions. At the same time, a new electronic scoreboard and touchpads will be installed, allowing swimmers’ times to be automatically recorded and displayed on the board when they touch the pad at the end of their race.

Maddalena hopes to now work with University Advancement and supporters to raise funds for upgraded bleachers, inviting more spectators to witness the accomplishments of student-athletes.

The pool is used by more than Mount Allison students — it is a resource much appreciated by the wider community, including individuals who take advantage of lane swim times and members of the Sackville Swim Club, which delivers programming to area children and youth. Maddalena, born and raised in Sackville, just finished her eighth season as the club’s head coach and is deeply appreciative of this campus-town collaboration.
 

“I grew up practicing and competing in this same facility and know it is special for so many reasons and has the powerful support of the local community and Mount Allison alumni behind it,” she says. “Our donors know that we are the little school that can — they see the growth in our program, all that is possible, and we are forever grateful for their support.”

Michael Wu (’61, LLD ’05) came to Mount Allison from Hong Kong to study engineering and went on to careers in mechanical engineering, banking, and finance. He has also spent decades praising his Mount Allison experience and cherishing the lifelong friendships he made while at the University.

“He has always spoken very highly of how much he enjoyed the experience, of how supported and welcomed he felt — when he talks about Mount Allison its from the heart,” says daughter Michelle Wu. “He never forgot that Mount Allison opened the door for him to study engineering and to build the career success that followed.”

 

Michael Wu has stayed connected to the University through the years, including creating an endowment fund that supports the resources and activities of the University’s International Centre and, in 1996, making a gift to create the Wu Teaching Centre, named in honour of his father, Dr. Y. S. Wu. In 2005, the University conferred Michael Wu with an honorary degree, recognizing his advocacy of education and commitment to the success of future generations of Mount Allison students.

“Dad has been a dedicated, supportive, and modest alumnus, never looking for or expecting recognition,” says Michelle. “His past gifts to the University are examples of his wish to recognize other people and the causes that are important to him.”

Michelle and her two siblings, inspired by the values of gratitude and giving back to the community that their father taught them and by his love for his alma mater, recently made a new gift to Mount Allison — supporting the Dr. Michael PK Wu Aviation Space.

“This is our opportunity to recognize dad,” says Michelle. “We think the Aviation Space is a wonderful way to celebrate his connection to Mount Allison.”

The Dr. Michael PK Wu Aviation Space is located just around the corner from the Wu Teaching Centre in the University’s Dunn Building. The space provides aviation students a much-needed place to study, collaborate, and access aviation training tools. Students use flight simulators and other technology to build their skills and strengthen their training when they are not logging practice time in the air.

“As an aviation student, the space has been really important to me and my classmates, especially as I work toward my goal of flying fixed wing medevac, an air ambulance service,” says Ava Halperin. “I am a double major in physics and aviation, so spend a lot of time in the Dunn Building’s Wu Centre and Aviation Space, and I am really thankful for the Wu family support.”

Michelle says her family was attracted to the project because it was a need identified by the students themselves as something that would remove barriers to their success, and she remembers the smile on her dad’s face when they told him about the gift.

“My dad has always said attending Mount Allison was one of the best decisions he ever made,” says Michelle. “Back then there were not a lot of international students in the country, and it took a lot of courage and initiative on his part to come to Canada. As a young man, Mount Allison became his first community. Dad believes that a strong, connected community is essential to building a better tomorrow. Mount Allison gave him that feeling and it’s why he has remained such a devoted and loyal supporter of the University.”

 

Mount Allison introduced Dr. Joanne Hackett (’00) to an entire new world and forever changed her life.

Hackett grew up in a single-parent household in rural Prince Edward Island and says that many in her family had not completed high school and that well into her teenage years she had very little idea of what a university was. Hackett, however, had always been a good student and, with encouragement from those around her and at the suggestion of a family friend, decided to apply to Mount Allison.

“I had extremely good counsellors at school, and they said Mount Allison was the best university and I might as well aim big,” says Hackett, who would earn a BSc with a major in biology. “The education was fantastic, and it was the first time in my life that I had seen such a community — that’s the only way I can describe it. I hadn’t really seen people taking care of each other, looking out for each other, and being collaborative like that, working together and wanting other people to do well. It was almost overwhelming to be honest with you.”

Hackett went on to earn graduate scholarships and advanced degrees from universities in Canada and England and is today an accomplished geneticist and health-care executive leading global organizations.

She says her success is in large part thanks to her time at Canada’s best university.

“I have spent my life working very hard, but I wouldn’t have got to where I am without my foundation of education,” says Hackett. “I see how much Mount Allison has changed my life, and I want other people to have that opportunity as well — I want the future little Joanne from PEI to have a choice.”

To help make that possible, Hackett and her partner have made Mount Allison part of their estate plans, arranging a gift by will to create the Hackett and MacDonald Award. The award will someday cover the full cost of tuition and fees for students.

“It’s a small amount to pay back for what I have received,” she says.

Hackett, who lives in London, U.K., wants others to know that whether you live internationally or not, leaving a gift in your will to Mount Allison is not complicated and that she would encourage anyone thinking about it not to wait.

“It was very easy to do, and the whole experience was almost all over email with just a couple of calls with the University,” she says. “I’m hoping that I don’t die for a while, but strange things can happen in life, and if I become ill, I don’t want to be trying to get something sorted because at that time there are going to be more pressing matters. It is quite a nice thing to have the peace of mind knowing I have secured something for the next generation.”

Hackett appreciates that the process of setting up the legacy gift has allowed her to grow her connection with the University and share her story. She says another benefit is that having the framework of how she wants to give documented makes it that much easier if she decides she can start funding the scholarship during her lifetime.

“I would love to be able to see the scholarship supporting someone earlier,” says Hackett. “Maybe even being able to live long enough to see them graduate and do something with their lives. It would be really profound to be able to be a part of that.”

A conversation with Shannon and Mike Baxter effortlessly jumps from Mount Allison stories and memories from decades ago to those from just last week. It’s impossible not to be swept up in their enthusiasm, and one thing becomes clear: Mount Allison has always been — and always will be — an important part of their lives.

Mike’s mother graduated from Mount Allison, and his grandmother graduated from Mount Allison Ladies’ College. Shannon says that, in her family, it was just understood they would go to Mount Allison. She and all her siblings are graduates, as are her mother and all her siblings, nearly all her cousins, and the University’s Avard-Dixon Building is named, in part, in honour of distant relatives. Shannon and Mike met as Mount Allison students, and their son, Robbie, graduated in 2017.

Although the couple’s careers kept them busy moving to various cities, they tried to stay connected to their alma mater and were thrilled to become more involved in recent years, especially while Robbie was a student and member of the Mounties Football team. The couple proudly wore their Mount A gear at home and away games, helped with game-day preparations, and volunteered at the team’s fundraising golf tournaments. They continue to volunteer with the team, and they are often the first to volunteer for the University’s annual Homecoming and Reunion events. Shannon also serves on the Mount Allison Alumni Board and hosts local women in business luncheons for Commerce students.

“When asked, we help,” says Mike. “Volunteering with Mount A is about giving back and paying it forward. And it’s not a chore — it’s an experience. You get to see people you haven’t in a while and share stories.”

“It’s fun to be involved,” adds Shannon. “It’s fun to feel a part of something bigger than you.”

Both exclaim, “You get to re-live your youth!”

The couple remember their own student days with much affection. Shannon lived on the fourth floor of Windsor Hall and later the fourth floor of Harper Hall, and she chaired Winter Carnival for two years. Mike lived in the basement of Thornton House, served as house treasurer, and was an almost daily participant in pickup hockey games at Allison Gardens.

You came to Mount Allison for the great academics and left with that and so much more, says the couple, citing the connections, lifelong friendships, and unbeatable student and life experience. They know this remains true today and it’s why they volunteer and donate to various initiatives.

Shannon and Mike encourage others to get involved when they can, emphasizing that it is never too early — or too late — to reconnect with Mount Allison.

“We lived in the states for years, where there were not as many alumni events, so lost touch for a while,” says Shannon. “But that’s the thing about Mount A. It’s always your home and it’s always here for you. Even if you haven’t been in touch and involved in a while you can begin to be, at any time in your life.” 
 

Several years ago, Shannon joined her father, Robert Eaton, and siblings in creating the A. Jane Avard Eaton Student Leadership Awards, which are named in honour of Shannon’s late mother. Presented annually, the awards recognize graduating students who have made extraordinary contributions to student life and the community.

“I’m happy we have this award that honours my mother because she loved Mount Allison so much,” says Shannon. “I love that her name will live on here forever.”

Amelia Jane (Avard) Eaton (’61) served on the University’s governing Board of Regents. Shannon says she always reminded her children that the generosity of others had made their Mount Allison experience so great and that someday, when they were able, it was important for them to give back to the University through their time and philanthropy.

Shannon says one of the best things about creating the award has been meeting and hearing from student recipients. She is continually inspired by what they have accomplished and by the impact they hope to make in the future.

Ed Rieger always wanted to leave Mount Allison a gift in his will, says wife Barbara Rieger. It was his way of giving back to the University and town that had given him so much.

Rieger was born and raised in Quebec and entered Mount Allison after serving two years in the Canadian Navy.

“He was a couple of years older than most the students, but he really jumped into everything Mount Allison offered,” says Barbara. “Ed was bound and determined to do his best, and he loved Mount A, he loved every bit of it.”

Deeply involved in campus life, Rieger played both varsity and intramural sports, contributed to student leadership through his service on the Students’ Union and in Bigelow House residence, and, in recognition of his exceptional commitment and achievements, was awarded several prestigious University prizes. Rieger was also a young entrepreneur — in his final year, he partnered with his friend John Bragg (‘62, ‘63, LLD ‘93) to build an apartment building in Sackville.

After graduation, Rieger spent some time working and studying in other parts of Canada and then returned to Sackville where he held various positions with Mount Allison and with other organizations in town. Eventually, Rieger would spend most of his career living in Ontario and working in the field of medical devices. His love for Mount Allison and Sackville never faded, and he travelled back often to visit.

Ed Rieger passed away in January. A gift in his will creates the Edward Lindsay Rieger Memorial Bursary.

“Ed was a very proud Mountie, and I am sure this bursary will help students as he was helped many years ago,” says Barbara. “He was very kind to other people and basically lived his life by the thought that you treat people how you want to be treated. I’m so glad there is this bursary in his memory and that it will help others.”

This is the second Mount Allison student award named in honour of Ed Rieger. In 2021, John and Judy (LLD ‘25) Bragg created the Ed Rieger Scholarship for students in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program. Bronwyn Larsen received the scholarship in 2024–25.

“This scholarship allowed me to fulfill my dream of travelling from my hometown of Calgary and going to Mount Allison to study politics and play soccer,” says Larsen. “Student awards are cherished and appreciated and motivate students to work even harder. I feel incredibly privileged to carry on Ed Rieger’s legacy via my pursuits in both sports and academia.”

• Alumni and friends donate more than $200,000 to the Mountie2Mountie Fund in 2025–26, providing more than 50 students with scholarships and bursaries and supporting other areas of greatest need.
   
• The Windsor Foundation supports Mount Allison’s Meighen Centre, which supports students with disabilities and medical conditions by providing academic and campus accommodations and offering an orientation for new students.
   
• George L. Cooper (’89), highly respected legal and community leader, is Mount Allison’s 10th Chancellor.
   
• Leaders in the Field: The History and Legacy of Art at Mount Allison is published. The book includes reproductions of work by artists who studied or taught at the University, including the work of Alex Colville, Mary Pratt, Christopher Pratt, and Tom Forrestall.
   
• RBC Barrier Buster Grants Program presented by the Rick Hansen Foundation supports accessibility on campus with a grant for improvements to door-opening mechanisms.