Located in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, St. Francis Xavier University was originally founded at Arichat in 1853 and known variously as Arichat Seminary, Arichat School of Higher Studies and Arichat Academy. Two years after opening it was moved to its present location, and in 1866 the provincial legislature granted it full university status.

St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) is noted for being the first Catholic University in North America to grant university degrees to women. Gradually such firsts saw college enrollment for women and men steadily increase from 1910 to 1940. St. Francis Xavier also acquired a reputation for leading the way in adult education beginning as early as the 1950s and 1960s. Of particular importance was the founding of the Antigonish Movement (a program of adult education and self-help), The Coady International Institute (providing education to those in developing countries) and the Co-operative Movement. These programs were of increasing interest to many underdeveloped countries. “Evidently, many people in underdeveloped nations found . . . the grass-roots methods of the Antigonish Movement . . . inexpensive, effective, supportive of democracy, and self sustaining” (James D Cameron).

Today the university is regarded as one of the best undergraduate institutions in the country, with graduates identifiable by their customary X-Rings. The "X" itself has been a symbol for the university since at least the early 1900s, as is apparent from the hockey sweaters in the adjacent photograph of the men's hockey team from 1904.