Written by Leah Oake

Thumbnail & Header Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

At the end of a successful and exciting active year, it’s a great time to reflect on the societies’ contributions to the Saint Mary’s community. The societies were more active this past winter and fall semesters than in the past couple of years as COVID put society activities on hold, reducing students’ morale at Saint Mary’s. The lack of spaces where students can involve themselves has made all university education in the past few years a less-than-ideal experience. People come to universities excited to meet new people and get involved, but without societies, those hopeful wishes are left unfulfilled. Now, all of the students' involvement desires can be achieved! Thanks to the incredible leadership and ambition that the executives have, they were able to make this 2022-2023 academic year a brilliant one.

The active societies of these past terms were the following: the SMU African Student Society, the SMU Ancient Studies Society, the SMU Society of Anthropology, the SMU Bangladeshi Students Society, the SMU Biology Society, the SMU Chinese Student Association, the SMU Commerce Societies, the SMU Debate Society, the SMU Drama Society the SMU Environmental Society, the SMU Forensic Society, the SMU Geography Society, the SMU Graduate Society, the SMU Journal, the SMU Pride Society, the SMU Sobey MBA Society, the SMU Muslim Society, the SMU Psychology Society and the SMU Unicef Society.

Each of these societies made outstanding contributions in an attempt to revert to what societies were like before COVID. So, let’s recap what these incredible societies did this year!

The SMU African Student Society:

Held an open discussion about racial stress, a series geared towards black women and black fem-identifying folk that focused on healing through healthy relationships, and a talk focused on eating disorders within the black community. They also held a game night, a futsal match against Dalhousie and Mount Saint Vincent University, and an African drumming workshop. Their biggest event of the year had to be their African night (Afrofusion): a formal event they partnered with Dalhousie to present; it involved talks, dances and food.

The SMU Ancient Studies Society:

Hosted a toga party: Dining with Dionysus, as well as trivia and game nights over Discord. They organized a Cupid-themed craft night in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and handed out Valentine’s Day treat bags.

SMU Anthropology Society:

Hosted a spooky ghost tour at the Citadel National Historic Site, weekly study sessions, a PowerPoint night, and an Anthropology Honours information session. They also planned two art fairs, one around Christmas time and one around Valentine’s Day. Some other fun events included art gallery nights and a movie and board game night.

SMU Bangladeshi Students Society:

Hosted a meet and greet, board game night and a prestigious Iftar Dawat and Fuchka Night; yummy food and great people!

The Biology Society:

Presented a candy jar guess game, study sessions, and an arts and crafts tote bag paint party. They organized a Valentine’s Day bake sale and medical school webinars partnered with Ross Medical School.

The SMU Chinese Student Association:

Continued working with Chinese students creating safe and collaborative spaces for these students to meet people with their same culture, language and experiences.

The SMU Commerce Society:

Hosted a meet and greet with coffee and snacks, a 2022 trivia night, karaoke night, an entrepreneurship game night, and a Purple Cow case competition. Their professional events included a Linkedin workshop,, a financial literacy workshop, and a wine and cheese night. Their annual business dinner (in person!) saw a keynote speech from Joyce F. Carter. During their banking industry night, attendees heard from five guest speakers about commercial, personal, capital markets, and wealth management and what a career in banking can entail. Their panelists consisted of Louis Westergard (SMU BComm ‘11), Troy Bagot (SMU BComm ‘19), Tim Robbins (SMU MBA ‘04) and Brooke Robinson (Scotiabank Branch Manager). Superb year!

The SMU Debate Society:

Held show debates, debate practices, two bake sales and tropical paint and sip (tropical music, painting and drinks). They also hosted the east novices debate torment and the Canadian Parliamentary National Debate tournament.

The Drama Society:

Presented two plays – Midsummer.com and Romeo and Juliet. They held a hootenanny (a dance with baked goods), a Shakespeare workshop, and an “If I Were A Blackbird” workshop.

I advise you to read these articles that focus closely on the Drama Societies contributions; “The Drama Society’s Open Arms,” and “The Return of the Performing Arts”

The SMU Environmental Society:

Hosted their environmental gala – a black tie event with food and drinks, and a Jeopardy event in collaboration with the SMU Geography society.

The SMU Forensics Society:

Hosted pumpkin decoration and costume contests, trivia night, movie night (Suburban Nightmare: The Menendez Brothers), and a game night at the Board Room Cafe. Their academic events included a study night and a forensic science certification application program workshop and the society even released merch!

The SMU Geography Society:

Hosted a Jeopardy event in collaboration with the SMU Environmental society and a movie night (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind),.

The SMU Graduate Society:

Hosted the East Coast International Development Summit and a Latin fiesta at the Gorsebrook.

The SMU Journal:

Launched a podcast and kept producing articles for every aspect of the Saint Mary’s University community. Some articles published this year include the Arts and Culture’s piece “DalKing’s Swing: Breathing Life into Dance,” the Lifestyle column’s “Mastering the Art of Thrift Shopping,” and the University column article, “The Commuter Life.”

The SMU Pride Society:

Hosted a meet and greet with games, bracelet making with music, and a study night. They also presented a drag show, and created a peer support group.

The SMU Sobey MBA Society:

Held an Innovator speaker series, hosted curling, a museum tour, blood donations, graduate career services corporate engagement sessions, a student leadership conference, a Bob Shaw case competition, Women in STEM summit, soccer matches and bowling nights.

The SMU Muslim Society:

Hosted Weekly Halaqa, a hijab day, Fifa 23 tournament, a blood drive, and soccer MSA tournament against Dalhousie. Other events include their Road to Ramadan discussion, Ramadan in Unity (speakers, educational booths and delicious food), Iftar distributions, and collaboration with MSA’s and masjid’s across Halifax to have EID prayer.

The SMU Psychology Society:

Hosted many academic events like study sessions, a career vision boarding workshop with guest alumni speakers, a professor meet and greet, and an honours and grad school info session for psychology students. Their social events included a Halloween game night, a movie night (Perks of Being a Wallflower), a hiking trip, and bake sales. Other events included a Christmas and standard paint night, a board game night, and a yoga class. Finally, they hosted a case file murder mystery night with the help of six other societies, including; the SMU Georgahpy society, the SMU Criminology society, the SMU Forensics society, the SMU Biology society, the SMU Anthropology society and the SMU Ancient Studies society

The SMU Unicef Society:

Hosted a Disney trivia night, a clothing drive and a pop-up thrift shop — all proceeds from these events went to Unicef.

What a great way to bring back normality to Saint Mary’s University. These societies have all worked to create an inclusive and fun environment for students, we can’t wait to see what this next academic year brings!

The Past Year — Society Event Recap