Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), located in the Gert Town section of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education in the United States.
Video Xavier University of Louisiana
History
Located in New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana was established in 1925 when Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament founded the coeducational secondary school from which it evolved. Drexel, supported by the interest of a substantial inheritance from her father, banker-financier Francis Drexel, founded and staffed many institutions throughout the United States in an effort to help educate Native Americans and African Americans.
Aware of the serious lack of Catholic-oriented education available to young Blacks in the South, Katharine Drexel (now Saint Katharine Drexel) came to New Orleans and established a high school on the site previously occupied by Southern University. The high school was in operation until 2013 as Xavier University Preparatory School, also known as Xavier Prep. Today, St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School operates from the same location on Magazine Street in New Orleans.
In 1917 a Normal School offering teaching, one of the few career fields open to Blacks at the time. In 1925 Xavier University of Louisiana became a reality when the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was established. The first degrees were awarded three years later. The College of Pharmacy was opened two years later in 1927.
Recognizing the university's need for a separate identity and room to expand, St. Katharine bought a tract of undeveloped land for a campus on the corner of Palmetto and Pine Streets in 1929. Construction of the U-shaped, Gothic Revival Xavier University Main Building, Convent and Library (now a national landmark) were completed between 1932 and 1937. The Administration building is also a City of New Orleans landmark.
Campus construction
Through the years, as needs dictated, the campus gradually expanded:
In 2018, Xavier has an endowment of approximately $171 million, which is the fourth highest of Louisiana's colleges and universities.
The campus of Xavier University of Louisiana is often referred to as "Emerald City" due to the various buildings on campus that have green roofs. These include the Library/Resource center, the Norman C. Francis science addition, the University Center, the Living Learning Center, the Saint Martin De Porres hall and the Katharine Drexel hall.
The Blessed Sacrament Sisters remain a vital presence on campus, providing much-needed staffing and some financial assistance, but today Xavier is governed by a multicultural Board of Trustees. In 1987, Pope John Paul II addressed the presidents of all U.S. Catholic colleges from the courtyard of the Xavier administration building. Norman C. Francis retired in 2015, after 47 years as president of the university.
United States civil rights movement
In May 1961, the civil rights activist group known as the Freedom Riders arrived in New Orleans by plane after bus drivers in Alabama refused to take them to Montgomery, Alabama. Locals, aware of the fire bombings and other attacks that had befallen the group, refused to accommodate them with lodging out of fear of retaliatory violence. Xavier President Emeritus Norman C. Francis, at the time the university's Dean of Men, secretly arranged for the group to stay several days in a dormitory on campus. Francis received permission from University President Sister Mary Josephina to allow the group to occupy space on the third floor of St. Michael's Hall under the condition that the press would not be alerted as to the move. Historic St. Michael's Hall, on Pine Street on Xavier's campus, still accommodates male students in traditional dormitory style.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, striking the New Orleans area. Xavier, located in the lower-lying Gert Town section and adjacent to the Washington-Palmetto Canal, suffered damage to almost every structure on campus. Many buildings sat partially submerged for extended periods of time following the hurricane. Dr. Norman C. Francis, President of the University, organized boats and buses to transport stranded faculty, staff, and students from the campus to safe areas. Students began returning to the university in January 2006.
In April 2006, the nation of Qatar donated $17.5 million to assist the university in hurricane recovery and in expanding the school's College of Pharmacy. The groundbreaking ceremony in 2008 was attended by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, leader of Qatar, and on 15 October 2010 the school's Qatar Pharmacy Pavilion opened, adding 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) adjacent to the existing College of Pharmacy building.
President Barack Obama visited New Orleans in August 2010 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He gave his address from Xavier, complimenting the work of the leaders of the community and affirming the commitment to continue to aid in the re-building of the area. In 2006, the university had bestowed an Honorary Degree on then-Senator Obama.
Xavier University received the "Katrina Compassion Award" from the US government Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006, for the combined efforts of an estimated 60% of its students in rebuilding the neighborhoods damaged by the hurricane.
Maps Xavier University of Louisiana
Demographics
Xavier is Catholic and historically black. However, its doors have always been open to qualified students of every race and creed. Today 25.1 percent of its students are not African-American and 74.3 percent are not Catholic.
More than half (58.2%) of Xavier students are from Louisiana - primarily from the New Orleans area. Non-local enrollment continues to increase with students coming from at least 40 other states - most notably Texas (7.5%) and Georgia (4.9%). Five foreign countries are represented on campus. Student life is enriched by the social and cultural setting of New Orleans and by campus activities designed to enhance personal growth, interpersonal skills, and leadership in such areas as community service, the environment, cultural concerns, and social justice.
Administration
University President
Dr. C. Reynold Verret is Xavier University of Louisiana's sixth president. He assumed his position as the university's leader during the Summer of 2015 and was officially inaugurated in the university's Academic Convocation Center on 26 February 2016.
President Emeritus
At the time of his retirement, President Emeritus Dr. Norman C. Francis was the longest serving president of a university in the United States. Himself a Xavier graduate, he led the university for 47 years (1968-2015) and became a nationally-recognized leader in higher education. Among other honors and roles entrusted to him, he served as the head of several national educational groups and in 2006 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Academics
Notability for pre-med and science programs
A premier university for educating African-American students in the sciences, Xavier is consistently the national leader in placing African American students into medical school as well as first in awarding African-Americans baccalaureate degrees in the physical sciences and biological sciences. Xavier's College of Pharmacy is one of just two pharmacy schools in Louisiana. Xavier consistently ranks among the top three colleges in the nation in graduating African Americans with Pharm.D. degrees. In 2015, the New York Times Magazine praised the university for being the top producer of African-American medical doctors.
Dual degree engineering program
Xavier does not offer engineering degrees but belongs to partnerships with several engineering institutions that automatically admit qualified Xavier science students interested in pursuing a bachelor's in an engineering discipline. Students who successfully complete the program will receive a bachelor's degree from Xavier and the chosen engineering institution in approximately five years. Engineering institutions in partnership with Xavier are Tulane University, University of New Orleans, Southern University at Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University, University of Notre Dame, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of Detroit Mercy, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Campus life
Athletics
Xavier's athletics teams are nicknamed Gold Rush for men's teams and Gold Nuggets for women's teams. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include basketball, cross country, tennis, and track & field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, tennis, track & field, and volleyball.
Xavier's basketball and volleyball teams compete on campus in their new facility, the Xavier University Academic Convocation Center. The Convocation Center is a $25 million facility with a seating capacity of 4,500.
The website for the Xavier Athletics Department is www
Student organizations
Notable alumni
In addition to former president, Dr. Norman C. Francis, distinguished alumni include:
Notable faculty and staff
- Edward S. Bopp, adjunct professor of pharmacy, New Orleans lawyer, and state representative from 1977 to 1984
- Norman Francis, Xavier president from 1968 to 2015
- Harold Hunter, Xavier basketball coach from May 1974 to 1977; first African American to sign a contract with any National Basketball Association (NBA) team.
- Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, 18th Surgeon General of the United States.
See also
- Historically black colleges and universities
- St. Katharine Drexel
- Hurricane Katrina
- New Orleans
- Gert Town
References
External links
- Official website
- Official athletics website
- Official student newspaper - The Xavier Herald
Source of article : Wikipedia
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