laval university


Motto: Deo favente haud pluribus impar (Latin: "With God's help, to no one equal")
Founded	1663 as the Sminaire de Qubec, chartered in 1852
School type	Public
Rector	Michel Pigeon
Location	Quebec, Quebec
Enrollment	28,902 undergrad, 8,689 grad (2003)
Campus surroundings	Suburban, park
Campus size	1.2 km²
Sports teams	Rouge et or
Mascot	Victor
A view of the Laval University campus A view of the Laval University campus.

Laval University (Universit Laval) is one of Canada's leading universities. It is located in the Sainte-Foy borough of Quebec City, Quebec (and not in the city of Laval, a suburb of Montreal, as is sometimes assumed).

Profile

It was founded in 1663 as the Sminaire de Qubec by Monseigneur Franois de Laval, the first bishop of New France. The Sminaire de Qubec was granted a Royal Charter in 1852 by Queen Victoria, creating Laval University. In 1878, the University opened a second campus in Montreal in an attempt to offer higher education there; this Montreal branch became the University of Montreal (Universit de Montral) in 1920. Laval University was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French. As of 2002, Laval University has over 350 programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and 36,000 students, 20 per cent of whom are at the graduate level. The University also attracts more than 2,500 foreign students yearly, and has close to 1,000 students from English Canada and Acadia. The Franais pour non-francophones program also offers instruction in French as a second language to students from across Canada and around the world. Laval's campus is considered to be one of the most striking in Quebec. It covers 1.2 km and has over 30 buildings, all linked by 10 km of underground walkways, which are frequently used particularly in the winter, when temperatures drop below freezing. Of the campus lands, 56 per cent are wooded areas, grasslands, and sportsfields; the campus is home to a plethora of different flora and fauna, including some 67 species of deciduous and coniferous trees, 60 different species of birds, and 15 animal species. Asteroid (14424) Laval is named in honour of the university. The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Laval Rouge-et-Or.