For other educational institutions using the name Xavier, see
Xavier.
Xavier University is a private, Jesuit, co-educational Catholic university in the United States located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, Xavier University is one of 28
member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and
Universities. It educates over 4,000 undergraduate and 2,500 graduate students annually. Xavier is primarily an
undergraduate, liberal arts institution.
Graduate programs include education, counseling,
English, theology, psychology, and business. Xavier's large part-time MBA program is a
nationally ranked, AACSB accredited program. [citation needed]
History
The first Catholic institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory,
Xavier was founded in 1831 as a men's college called the Athenaeum. Bishop John Purcell asked the Jesuits to take control of the school in
1840, and the name was changed to Xavier, after the 16th century Spanish Jesuit Saint
Francis Xavier. Xavier is the fourth oldest Jesuit University and sixth oldest
Catholic university in the United States. Initially located in downtown Cincinnati,
Xavier moved to a location about 5 miles from downtown in 1919. Xavier initially included both a high school and a college.
Saint Xavier High School and the college separated over a period of
time in the early 19th century, with final financial separation coming in 1934. Xavier first
admitted women in 1969. In recent years, a number of building projects have been completed on
campus, including the Cintas Center, Schiff Family Conference Center, the Gallagher Student Center, and the restoration of a number of buildings. The current University President is
Fr. Michael J. Graham, S.J. who was appointed by the Board of Trustees as the 34th President of
the University in January, 2001. In 2006 Xavier began its year long
175th anniversary celebration.
Xavier Newswire
The Xavier Newswire is arguably the most powerful student organization at Xavier.
Core curriculum
Undergraduate students attending Xavier must complete a significant number of distribution requirements that are more commonly
known as the Core Curriculum. More than half the classes a student takes at Xavier are not in their major field. There are
required courses in: Theology, Philosophy, Mathematics, Fine Arts, History,
Physical Science, Literature, Foreign Language, and
the Social Sciences. It provides students with the foundation necessary for academic
success, a lifetime of continuous learning and career advancement. The Core Curriculum is a confluence of Jesuit ideals, and Great Books rigors. All Xavier students, upon
completion of a bachelor degree, have read the Republic (Plato), Discourse on Method, and selections from the Bible among other
original texts.
Majors
Accountancy - Art - Athletic Training - Biology - Chemistry - Classics - Communication Arts - Computer Science - Criminal
Justice - Economics - Education - English - Entrepreneurial Studies - Finance - French - German - History - Honors Bachelor of
Arts - Honors Programs - Human Resources - Information Systems - International Affairs - International Business - Liberal Arts -
Management - Marketing - Mathematics - Medical Technology - Montessori Education - Music - Natural Sciences - Nursing -
Philosophy - Philosophy, Politics & the Public - Physics - Political Science - Pre-Law - Pre-Medical - Psychology -
Radiologic Technology - Social Work - Sociology - Spanish - Special Education - Sport Management - Sport Marketing - Theology -
Teaching Licensure Information - Undecided - University Scholars
Major requirements
All undergraduate students are required to complete the Core Curriculum (see above) and comply with departmental requirements.
Business majors (from the Williams College of Business) are also required to complete the Business Core, which consists of
courses in Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Management, Marketing, and
Statistics (the Business Core occupies 35 credit hours). Business majors, therefore, are only required to take 18-21 hours in
their chosen field (providing many students with an incentive to declare second major within the Williams College of Business).
Students in the other colleges (the College of Social Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences) generally have to complete
at least 60 credit hours of courses within the major and electives within the College. 120 credit hours must be obtained to
graduate with a B.A. or B.S. degree, and all students must achieve a 2.0 GPA minimum in their major course of study.
Certain majors; such as Politics Philosophy and the Public (PPP), Honors Arts Bachelor (HAB), and Philosophy require a written
thesis and defense before a selected committee. Philosophy also requires a written comprehensive exam.
Grading scale
In 2005 Xavier switched to the plus minus grading system, after using the simpler A, B,C,D,F scale since the university's
inception. However, in addition to the standard letter grades, Xavier offers professors the option to assign various
non-traditional grades, such as VF (Vanished Failure) for students who do not attend class regularly. The university also offers
students the option to "Audit" courses; that is, to take the class, but have any passing grade not computed into the student's
Grade Point Average.
Xavier has also switched to a "Quality-Point" conversion scale to compute Grade Point Averages. The Quality Points are
assigned such that each 1/3 of a grade is the equivalent to 1/3 Quality Point per credit hour. For example, a grade of B would
rate 3 Quality Points per credit hour (thus, for a 3-hr course, the student would gain 9 Quality points), while a score of B+
would rate 3 and 1/3 Quality Points per credit hour (so that same 3-hr class would yield 10 Quality Points). The total number of
Quality Points earned is divided by the total number of credit hours attempted (excepting those officially Withdrawn from
consideration -- where a grade of W was assigned) to compute the student's Grade Point Average.
Notable faculty
Campus
The Gallagher Student Center
The campus covers approximately 125 acres and features both residential and academic malls. The Gallagher Student Center, a
general gathering place for students and visitors, is located in the center of the main residential mall. The Cintas Center,
where the Musketeers host their basketball games, and the home of the Hoff Student Dining Center, is located adjacent to that
same main residential mall. Dormitories on the main residential mall include Brockman Hall (solely for freshmen), Buenger Hall
(the main Honors housing), and Husman and Kuhlman Halls, which mainly house general freshmen and sophomore students. The majority
of upper-class and graduate students choosing to live on-campus are housed in University-owned apartments, either adjacent to the
main academic mall, or across campus on the other side of the academic mall. Most upper-class students, though, seek off-campus
housing due to the uncertainty of obtaining a University-owned apartment in the housing lottery.
The Academic Mall features Hailstones Hall (which houses the Williams College of Business, along with Professor offices and
classrooms for both graduate and undergraduate classes), Alter Hall (a general use building which features Kelly Auditorium, the
largest instruction room on the campus; computer labs open for general student use; a language lab; classrooms; and the Offices
of the Bursar, the Registrar, Student Success and Retention, and the CAPS program), the Lindner Family Physics Building (home to
science labs, classrooms, and Professor Offices); Logan Hall, Hinkle Hall, Albers Hall, Schmidt Hall, and Schott Hall (the
tallest building on campus), which house both Professor offices and some classrooms; Edgecliff Hall (home to the Music
Department); and the McDonald Library.
Between the Academic Mall and the main Residential Mall lies Bellarmine Chapel, home to the Bellarmine (Catholic) Parish in
Cincinnati. This serves as the campus chapel and holds daily masses which, though open to the public, are frequented mainly by
students. While Sunday morning and early afternoon masses are attended almost exclusively non-students, the Sunday Night Mass:
the 10 p.m. Mass, is heavily attended by students, and finding a non-student or faculty member in attendance is rare. The 10 p.m.
Mass is a popular gathering for students, and often leads to long conversations following the mass, and late-night meals between
professors, students, and Jesuits-in-Residence (including Fr. Graham, the University's current President). It is even rumored
that some local eateries extend their Sunday-night hours past even their Saturday-night hours during the academic year.
On the Opposite side of Victory Parkway from both the Academic and Residential Malls is the Athletic Mall. This is where the
Armory, Hayden (Baseball) Field, Corcoran (Soccer) Field, Schmidt Fieldhouse, Elet Hall, Joseph Hall and the O'Connor Sports
Center are located.
Mission statement
Xavier's mission statement can be found at http://www.xu.edu/mission/. The President's Message summarizes the mission of the school by saying, "Xavier
University is dedicated to engaging and forming students intellectually, morally and spiritually, with rigor and compassion,
toward lives of solidarity, service, and success."
Athletics
Xavier competes at the NCAA Division I level in the
Atlantic Ten Conference, and their mascot is D'Artagnan the Musketeer. Xavier sponsors eight intercollegiate sports for
men, and eight sports for women. The Xavier University Athletic Department also boasts the second highest graduation rate for
athletes in the nation behind Duke University and Bucknell University. Xavier sports teams have several traditional rivalries with local universities,
including Cincinnati.
Men's basketball
The Xavier men's basketball team is perhaps the best known of the sports sponsored at Xavier. The team has enjoyed
considerable recent success, reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament in 2004. The school has also graduated every men's basketball player since
1985. Several Xavier alumni have gone on to play in the NBA, among
which:
The annual basketball competition between Xavier and Cincinnati is called the Crosstown
Shootout, while Xavier and Dayton play for the Blackburn/McCafferty
Trophy, named for former coaches at the respective universities.
Colors - Navy Blue,Gray, and White
Official Mascot - D'Artagnan
Unofficial Mascot - The Blue Blob
Rivalry Games - The Skyline Chili Crosstown
Shootout with Cincinnati; Dayton, and Miami, OH. Xavier has won 7 out of the last 10 Crosstown Shootouts, 12 of the last
15 meetings with Dayton, and hasn't lost a home game to the Flyers since 1982.
Head Coach - Sean Miller is a former assistant coach at North Carolina State University. The 1992 Pittsburgh graduate is considered one of the better point guards in Big East history. He was
1988 Big East Freshman of the year and is Pitt's all time assist and free throw percentage leader.
History
Final Four Appearances - 0
National Championships - 1 (1958 NIT Tournament). This was the first National Championship by any Ohio Division 1
school.
Famous Alumni - Brian Grant, Tyrone Hill,
James Posey, David West, Aaron Williams, Hank Stein, Derek Strong, Steve Thomas,
Romain Sato, Lionel Chalmers, Lenny Brown, Gary
Lumpkin, Tommy Simms
Retired Jerseys - 23 Byron Larkin, 30 David West, 42 Tyrone Hill. Former university President Fr. James Hoff has also
had a "jersey" retired in memory of all that he contributed to the school and basketball program. This was unveiled before a 2004
meeting with Creighton (whom Hoff also served as President for). Fr. Hoff died from cancer in 2004.
A-10 Tournament Champs -5 (1997-98,
2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06) NCAA Tourney Appearances - 18 (1 Elite Eight appearance
(2003-04) and 2 Sweet 16 Appearances (1989-90 and 2003-04)
The school also has a history of producing quality coaches that move on to jobs at major schools. Among these include:
Thad Matta (Ohio State), Bob Staak (Wake Forest), Skip
Prosser (Wake Forest), Pete Gillen (formerly of
Providence College and The University of
Virginia).
Radio and Television
Most Xavier games can be heard on WLW or WKRC-AM. WLW is also
the flagship station of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball games. When
both teams play the same night, Xavier games are aired on WKRC. Joe Sunderman does the play-by-play and Byron Larkin does color
commentary. Fox Sports Net Ohio holds the local television rights to the Musketeers basketball
games. Brad Johansen does play-by-play and Steve Wolf is the analyst. Over the air
stations, WCPO-TV and WSTR-TV, have held the rights to Xavier
games in the past.
Other sports
Xavier also competes in:
- Women's Basketball
- Women's Volleyball
- Men's Baseball
- Cross Country (Men's and Women's Teams)
- Golf (Men's and Women's Teams)
- Soccer (Men's and Women's Teams)
- Swimming (Men's and Women's Teams)
- Tennis (Men's and Women's Teams)
- Track & Field, both Indoor and Outdoor (Men's and Women's Teams)
Xavier fielded an NCAA Division I football team
until the 1973 season. The absence of the team led to the creation of the popular t-shirt "Xavier Football: Undefeated since
1973." However, the sport has made a comeback at the university. In 2006, a club football team was formed and was an immediate success despite losing every game in its
inaugural season. On September 30, 2007 Xavier won their first football game in 34 years, defeating Miami's (OH) club team
13-7.
Notable alumni
Xavier is the alma mater to several notable politicians, public servants and corporate executives.
- J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of
State, 2006 GOP Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate
- John Boehner, U.S. House Of
Representatives Minority Leader
- Clement L. Buenger, former CEO, Fifth Third Bancorp.
- Jim Bunning, junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky, member
of Baseball Hall of Fame
- John A. Cade, former Maryland State Senator
- John Dreyer, Vice President, Walt Disney Co.
- Janet Smith Dickerson, Vice President Princeton University
- Ken Lucas, former U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
- Charles Geschke, President, and Co-Founder of Adobe
Systems
- Lloyd Ward, CEO, US Olympic Committee
- Kay Napier, Vice President, Procter and Gamble
- J. Barton Luedeke, Former President Rider University
- Joseph Viviano, Vice Chairman, Hershey Foods Corporation
- George A. Shaefer Jr., CEO and President, Fifth Third Bancorp
- Bill Kelly, Vice Chairman and Owner of Jelly Belly Co
- Dave Milam, co-founder of iMark, Inc.
- Paul Cashen, Co-Founder and former President of PC on Call
- Rich Owen, Co-Founder of Redox Brands
- Todd Wichmann, Co-Founder of Redox Brands
- Michael Lundy, Executive Director for the Huntsville, Alabama Housing
Authority
- Patricia Herbold, United States Ambassador to Singapore
- Melanie Bates, Vice-President Cincinnati Board of Education, Community activist
- David West (basketball), forward for the New Orleans Hornets
See also
References
External links
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