St. Francis Xavier University has long recognized that its knowledge and resources must be made available to the community at large and, in particular, dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged people. Over 80 years ago, a few committed faculty members began an outreach program to local farmers that enabled them to grade and market their wool more effectively. Then the "people's schools" of Rev. Jimmy Tompkins opened the doors of the university to men and women from impoverished fishing, farming and mining communities in the region.
"You are poor enough to want it and smart enough to do it."
—Dr. Moses Coady
By the early 1920s, Fr. Tompkins and his cousin, Rev. Dr. Moses Coady, had begun pioneering a practice of popular education and community organizing that enabled people to change their lives and their futures. In 1928, the StFX board of governors asked Dr. Coady to establish the university's Extension Department and appointed him its first director. Over the next two decades, the unique and successful extension work of StFX became known worldwide as the Antigonish Movement.
"They will use what they have to secure what they have not."
—Dr. Moses Coady
Following World War II, global attention began to focus on the plight of newly emerging nations. Men and women from these countries came to StFX University to study and examine the approach and methods that had been so successful in the region. In 1959, the University established the Coady International Institute, named after Rev. Dr. Moses Coady, and gave it the mandate to train leaders from around the world in the principles and practice of this people-based approach to development.
"The world calls loudly for a real democratic formula to bring life to all its people. It is not going to be done by guns, making armies or bombs, but by a program in which the people themselves will participate. This is democracy not only in the political sense but it is participation by the people in economic, social and educational forces which condition their lives."
—Dr. Moses Coady
Building on the experience of the Antigonish Movement and on contemporary development practice, the Institute continues to provide programs that promote education, innovation, group action and sustainable economic activities for disadvantaged groups. Through the work of the Coady Institute, the impact of the Antigonish Movement continues to increase with the cooperation and networking of community-based organizations and educational institutions around the world.
Over the past four decades, the global reach of the Institute has grown immensely. Thousands have graduated from the Coady's campus-based programs and, through Coady's global partnerships, tens of thousands have participated in our programs overseas.