Reverend Vincent Murnaghan Memorial Scholarship

The Reverend Vincent Murnaghan Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a qualified refugee or foreign student who displays commitment to working for social justice and to improving the living conditions in the community and on the planet, and who demonstrates high academic achievement or evidence of academic potential. The scholarship was established by the Cooper Institute in conjunction with the University of Prince Edward Island in honor of Father Murnaghan, who was a Professor of Commerce at St. Dunstan's University and served as an administrator within the Commerce faculty until his resignation in 1969. Father Murnaghan was a founding member of Cooper Institute and firmly believed in the power of oppressed and marginalized people to create social change. He had a special interest in Third World development, having spent five years as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, where he developed a compassion for disadvantaged people that extended to other developing countries and disadvantaged sectors in Canada. Shortly before his death in November 2001, he was honored by UPEI as a Founder at the University's second Founder's Day celebration, where he shared his dream for UPEI to become the first university in Canada to offer free tuition.