Xavier University of Louisiana

Xavier University of Louisiana
Seal of Xavier University of Louisiana
Motto	Deo Adjuvenate Non Timendum
Motto in English	"If God is with us, Nothing is to be feared"
Established	1915
Type	Private, HBCU
Religious affiliation	Catholic Church (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament)
Endowment	$133 million
President	Norman Francis
Students	3,200
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Campus	Urban
Colors	Gold and White
Athletics	National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
Sports	Basketball, Cross Country, Tennis, Volleyball
Nickname	Gold Rush (men) and Gold Nuggets (women)
Affiliations	Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Website	www.xula.edu

Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), located in 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. From its founding Xavier has embraced a special mission to serve the African American Catholic community; however its doors have always been open to qualified students of every race and creed. Today 25.1 percent of its enrollment is not African American and 74.3 percent are not Catholic.

More than one-half of Xavier students are from Louisiana (58.2%), primarily from the New Orleans area. Non-local enrollment continues to increase with students coming from 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.

A premier university for educating African-American students in the sciences, Xavier is a national leader in placing African American students into medical school as well as first in awarding African Americans baccalaureate degrees in the physical sciences, the biological/life sciences, and physics. The College of Pharmacy is one of just two pharmacy schools in Louisiana. XULA ranks among the top three colleges in the nation in graduating African Americans with Pharm.D. degrees.

History

Located in New Orleans, the small liberal arts college dates back to 1925, when St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament founded the coeducational secondary school from which it evolved. St. Katharine, supported by the interest of a substantial inheritance from her father, banker-financier Francis Drexel, founded and staffed many institution throughout the U.S. in an effort to help educate Native Americans and Blacks.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II addressed the presidents of all U.S. Catholic colleges at Xavier.

Aware of the serious lack of Catholic-oriented education available to young Blacks in the South, St. Katharine came to New Orleans and established a high school on the site previously occupied by Southern University. The High School continues on today as Xavier University Preparatory School, known as Xavier Prep. A Normal School, offering one of the few career fields (teaching) open to Blacks at the time, was added two years later. In 1925 Xavier University became a reality when the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was established. The first degrees were awarded three years later. In 1927, a College of Pharmacy was opened.

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 administration building (now a city landmark) was completed in 1933.

In January 2006, former U.S. president Bill Clinton visited the post-Katrina campus. In August 2010, standing U.S. President Barack Obama made an historic visit to the campus for a speech marking the five-year anniversary of Katrina. Back in 2006 the University bestowed an Honorary Degree on then-Senator Obama.

Through the years, as needs dictated, the campus gradually filled out, with the addition of a library—which now houses music—in 1937, the gymnasium (1937), St. Michael's men's dormitory (1955), the Student Center (1962), women's dormitories: St. Joseph's (1965) and Katharine Drexel (1969), the House of Studies (1967); the College of Pharmacy (1970), the Norman C. Francis Academic/Science Complex (1988), the new Library/Resource Center and College of Pharmacy addition (1993), and Peter Claver women's dormitory (1994). Xavier South, a multi-story office building, was purchased in 1990. The Living Learning Center, a co-ed residence hall for upperclassmen and the Norman C. Francis science complex addition were completed in 1998. A new student center called the University Center was opened in 2003. It replaces the previous Student Center built in 1962, and now houses the bookstore (previously housed at Xavier South) & the post office (previously housed in the Administration building). An additional dormitory for upperclassmen, the Saint Martin Deporres hall was also opened in 2003. The previous Student Center was recently knocked down to make way for the new Qatar Pharmacy Pavilion, which opened in the Fall of 2010. Construction has begun on the St. Katharine Drexel Chapel. The Chapel will replace the Chapel, now housed in the Administration Building, and will fulfill St. Katharine's vision for a freestanding house of worship and meditation on the campus.

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 Deporres hall and the Katherine Drexel hall.

In April 2006, the Middle Eastern country Qatar donated $17.5 million to assist the university in Hurricane recovery and expanding the school's College of Pharmacy.

The Sisters remain a vital presence on campus today, providing much-needed staffing and some financial assistance, but today Xavier is governed by a multicultural Board of Trustees. Xavier's president, Dr. Norman C. Francis, himself a Xavier graduate, is a nationally-recognized leader in higher education.

Student activities

Athletics

Xavier is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Its men's teams participate in basketball, cross-country and tennis. Its women's teams participate in basketball, cross-country, tennis and volleyball.

Notable alumni

Name	Class year	Notability	References
Nathaniel Clifton	1946	First African American to sign a contract with an NBA team. Attended but did not graduate; left to join the Army during World War II.
Alvin J. Boutte	1951	The founder and CEO of Indecorp, the largest Black-owned financial institution in the U.S. Also serves as chair and CEO of the Independence Bank and the Drexel National Bank in Chicago.
Emmitt Douglas		President of the Louisiana NAACP from 1966 until his death in 1981
Marino Casem	1956	Former Head Football Coach at Alabama State University, Alcorn State University, and Southern University. He is a member of College Football Hall of Fame.
Louis Castenell	1968	Dean of the University of Cincinnati's College of Education. Has been heralded in such national publications as the New York Times and the Washington Post for his innovative teacher education programs.
Charles Champion	1955	A community pharmacist in Memphis, Tenn., and a specialist in the use of herbal medicines. Named as one of America's 50 most influential pharmacists by American Druggist magazine.
Annabelle Bernard	1956	The first Black to perform as a principal player with the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Germany. Thirty-four years later she is still performing in Europe, and has been awarded the highly coveted title of Kammersaengerin by the German government. A soprano, she has performed on five continents.
George McKenna III	1961	Currently serving as superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District in Los Angeles, Calif. While serving as principal at Washington High in Los Angeles, he turned a "bad" urban school in an educational model of excellence, the basis for the TV movie "The George McKenna Story," starring Denzel Washington.
Marie Valentine McDemmond	1968	First female president at Norfolk State University (enrollment 8,400). A 25-year veteran in higher education, she previously served as vice president for finance and chief operating officer at Florida Atlantic University.
Alexis Herman	1969	First African American U.S. Secretary of Labor; former director of the White House office of Public Liaison.
Ivan L. R. Lemelle	1971	Judge; Currently serving his second consecutive, eight-year term as U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court in New Orleans.
Regina Benjamin	1979	Current United States Surgeon General; First physician under the age of 40 and First AA woman named to the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees; Former president - Alabama State Medical Association; Recipient of MacArthur Genius Award.
Sherrie Brown Littlejohn	1979	Vice President and chief information officer for SBC Messaging in Ramon, Calif., a telecommunications subsidiary of voice mail service provider SBC Communications.
Ernest Nathan Morial	1951	First African-American mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. (deceased) He was the father of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial.
Bernard P. Randolph	1954	retired, USAF General; Only the third African-American to reach the rank of four-star general in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, serving as head of the USAF Space and Defense Systems Command. Now an executive with the defense contractor TRW Corporation.
Todd Stroger	1985	Elected Cook County Board President in 2006, succeeding his father.
John Stroger	1955	Former Cook County Board President (deceased)
Dr. Gilbert Rochon	1968	6th President of Tuskegee University
Rear Admiral Stephen Rochon (U.S. Coast Guard)	1984	Director of the Executive Residence and Chief Usher at the White House [Washington DC]

References

Notable alum: U Dwayne Shaw class of 1998. United States Secret Service

External links

• Xula.edu official web site
• Gcaconf.com Gulf Coast Athletic Conference