Tracing the origins of St. Francis Xavier University, James Cameron describes the early nineteenth-century migration of the Highland Catholic Scots, the settlement and development of their communities, and the founding of St. F. X. as a means of religious, economic, and social advancement in eastern Nova Scotia. Basing his research on documentary and oral sources, Cameron reveals how the college developed out of the need to create adequate opportunities in higher education and continues to play an integral role in the region's history and culture through its commitment to extension education. Among the developments in administration, faculty, students, curriculum, finances, and facilities which Cameron examines, the formation of the Extension Department, Xavier Junior College (now University College of Cape Breton), and the Coady International Institute stand out as pivotal events in the history of St. F. X. and demonstrate its attunement to the changing needs of its constituency. The move to broaden the curriculum by including extension education, and the promotion of various forms of economic cooperation to stimulate development in regional and international communities exemplify the unifying theme "for the people" at St. F. X.'s foundational core.