University of King’s College: student life on campus

The 411

If I wrote the school motto:
“Open your mind”
Best place for a nap:
When it’s nice out, the lawn in front of the library
Best cheap lunch:
There is a pizza place on every corner. You can find a slice the size of your head for $5. If you want something different, Mashawee Mediterranean. Good falafel.
Best hangover breakfast:
Coastal Café is the best place for anything breakfast
Best bar for hanging out:
The Board Room Café. Shelves filled with board games and delicious beer on tap.
Best place to study:
Basement floor of King’s library
Weirdest tradition:
Matriculation. But in a cool way.
Best food on campus:
The treats in the Galley
Best campus event:
Classics in the Quad
Best place to live:
There are some cool house apartments north of campus on the other side of Jubilee Street
Best live music venue:
There’s a lot, honestly. The music scene is awesome. If you want a loud and rockin’ time, I’d suggest the Marquee Ballroom. If you want intimate and mellow, the Carleton.
Best campus freebie:
Luncheons in the President’s Lodge. A free meal—and food for thought from a good discussion.
What surprised me most about the school:
Every student really is willing to engage with others intellectually

PROFILE: University of King’s College | Halifax, N.S. | Founded 1789

Home to some of the country’s brightest young minds, the University of King’s College looks like a quaint little campus, but what it lacks in land mass, it makes up for with personality and intellect.

King’s is a university, but it’s also an intellectual community. It is where the renowned Foundation Year Program teaches young adults how to analyze the world and express themselves. It’s where readers, writers and journalists look at the oldest questions and ask new ones. King’s is the type of place where learning does not only happen in the classroom, but in the Quad on a sunny afternoon, or sitting on your dorm windowsill late at night, or spontaneously during a meal at Prince Hall on a Tuesday night. King’s is where students and faculty raise money for community organizations by reading and acting out Homer’s The Odyssey for 24 hours straight. And they have fun doing it! It’s where students actually read during reading week. It is a place with some amazing people and great ideas.

With a population of approximately 900 students, King’s is very tight-knit. Yet its unique relationship with neighbouring Dalhousie University offers many opportunities for students to chase a degree that suits them best.

After Class
Every school year, there’s a matriculation ceremony. Matriculation is an ancient tradition practised at medieval universities. At King’s, everyone gets dressed in gowns, makes an oath in Latin and signs their names in the register to mark their formal entry into the college. It’s kind of surreal, but in a cool way.

King’s badminton team just won a second straight ACAA title. The university also just announced more than 50 academic-athletics scholarships to support student athletes.

Local Vibe
This university happens to be in one of Canada’s best and oldest cities. Halifax truly does not get the credit it deserves. With King’s steps away from the waterfront, students breathe the ocean air every day. The historic Citadel Hill watches over us all. The buildings, the music, the food and the history—there’s an energy to it all. Nova Scotia’s history is diverse and alive. The vibrant cultures of the Acadians, African-Nova Scotians and the Mi’kmaq people are very much part of what makes this place what it is today. Just like King’s, Halifax broadens a young person’s perspective on the world.

More Info
Not only is UKings.ca easy to navigate, but King’s staff are incredibly helpful. When I was getting set to move to Halifax and start at King’s, all the contacts on the site responded to my inquiries immediately.

Also, I recommend signalhfx.ca. This is where you get in the know.