St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) in Nova Scotia, Canada, has received a generous C$14.5 million ($10.7 million) gift from the late alumna Jeannine Deveau (’44). The bequest will fund the creation of campus centres and support equity initiatives.
The donation includes C$5 million ($3.6 million) for the establishment of the Deveau Centre for Indigenous Governance and Social Justice. This centre will support scholars engaged in human rights research, advocacy, and policy development.
An additional C$5 million is reserved to match further contributions. The funding, combined with support from the McCall MacBain Foundation, will also create the Black Student Success Centre, providing Afrocentric spaces and programming to support the academic journey of Black students.
Jeannine Deveau’s gift extends support to various ongoing initiatives at StFX, including the John Jerome Paul Chair in Math Equity, scholarships and bursaries through the Deveau Scholars program, X-Project, the Circle of Abundance at Coady Institute, Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian nursing students, Kiknu (the Indigenous students’ centre), and various aspects of student services.
This substantial contribution follows Deveau’s 2015 donation of C$8 million ($5.9 million) to establish the Jeannine Deveau Educational Equity Endowment. Jeannine Deveau passed away in July 2022, just three weeks before her 99th birthday.
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StFX President Andy Hakin expressed that the Deveau Centre will serve as a hub for critical assessment, policy development, and combatting systemic discrimination and racism, staffed by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
