Keys to History

In 1960 the government of Louis-J. Robichaud set up a commission of inquiry into higher education in response to demands from French-language institutions of higher learning in New Brunswick. The commission's recommendations were favourable to the Acadian community.

The commission recognized that New Brunswick had a large enough French-speaking population to justify the founding of a modern university. On June 19, 1963, the Université de Moncton was established on the foundations of existing French universities, which agreed to dissolve their university charters and become colleges affiliated with the new university. Some of those institutions were the Université Saint-Joseph in Memramcook, the Université Sacré-Coeur in Bathurst, with which Collège Jésus-Marie in Shippagan was affiliated, and the Université Saint-Louis in Edmundston, with which Collège Maillet in St. Basile was affiliated. The role of the new university would be crucial to the survival and development of the Acadian language and culture in the Maritimes.