ANTIGONISH: With the academic year in full swing, the warden of the Municipality of the County of Antigonish says their weekly updates with StFX President Andy Hakin will continue.
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit the area, the county’s senior staff, along with representatives the Town of Antigonish, began to have routine update meetings with StFX University.
Following the municipality’s regular monthly council meeting on Sept. 14, Warden Owen McCarron suggested when he looks at the enrollment numbers, he attributes a lot of that to the success they had last year.
“Coming into last year’s academic year, there was a lot of anticipation and a lot of anxiety because COVID had just been around for a few months by that point,” McCarron said. “But the university, the town and the county worked very closely, had a very successful year with over 75 per cent of classes being face-to-face; the best in the country.”
Which really opened the doors, he said, for more people to look as Antigonish as a community.
A release from the university indicated they were welcoming students back to campus for the academic year, which included one of its largest ever incoming classes, with about 1,100 first year students.
“You can feel the energy rising on campus as campus starts to get busier again for the academic year. Students bring such a positive experience to the campus and the wider community so we’re all very excited to see them back for another successful year,” Heather Butler, coordinator, campus tours and special events said. “Students stepped up last year and followed all necessary COVID-19 protocols and as a result got to enjoy a fairly ‘normal’ academic year, so we are looking forward to the same commitment so we can have another successful year at StFX.”
The warden hopes the same success the community and university saw last year is carried over into this year.
“Right now, things are operating very well, obviously we’re going to follow the public health protocols,” McCarron said. “We think it’s prudent they exercise caution as we get ourselves out of this next round.”
Earlier in the day, Minister of Health and Wellness Michelle Thompson and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang announced the province would no longer be entering into the next phase of the province’s re-opening plan as scheduled for Sept. 15, and would be waiting until Oct. 4.
McCarron suggested council feels a two week delay in opening up to Phase 5 is the responsible thing to do.
“We’ve been very successful in the province in respect to COVID,” he said. “And I think exercising just a little bit of caution is a good thing, and we feel most residents in our area, understand that.”
The warden indicated he wants, not only for council, but for the municipality as well, for the community to open up safely, so things can get under control and back to the new normal.
“We’re quite pleased, the university is doing a great job, promoting and working together with town and county on bringing students and really embodying the total community experience,” McCarron added. “As these new students come in, they are residents of our community and we want to support them.”