Lalia Halfkenny Award

Award | Eligibility: Arts, Pure and Applied Science, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island

Established by sisters Laura Robinson (’88) and Alva Robinson (’77) in honour of Lalia Halfkenny (Acadia Ladies Seminary 1889), this award is granted to an in-course Black Canadian student, preferably from Nova Scotia or the Maritimes, in the BA or BSc program (alternating) in recognition of academic success and community service.

New Brunswick-born Lalia Halfkenny was the first Black woman to graduate from an institute of higher education in the Maritimes at a time when few Black Canadians had access to any schooling at all. Halfkenny was the only Black graduate in her class at the Acadia Ladies Seminary in 1889. After graduating she looked for work but found few opportunities in the Maritimes. Halfkenny went to Virginia, where she was a very active and much beloved teacher. She volunteered in a home for African American families who were living in poverty.

Alva Robinson (BSc), Secretary of Acadia’s Class of 1977, enjoyed a career in digital information with the City of Halifax and then Halifax Regional Municipality. Laura Robinson (BA English ’88) continued her academic life and is Dean of Arts at Acadia. Both sisters spent their Acadia years as residents of Whitman House (“Tully”) and were inspired by Lalia’s story and those of current Black Acadia students.

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