Xavier University of Louisiana
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| Xavier University of Louisiana | |
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| Motto | |
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| Established | 1925 |
| School type | Private, Roman Catholic |
| President | Dr. Norman Francis |
| Location | New Orleans, LA USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Enrollment | 3,251 undergraduate 589 pharmacy 242 graduate 4,121 total enrollment |
| Faculty | 241 |
| Athletic teams | Gold Rush (men's) Gold Nuggets (women's) |
| Colors | Gold and white |
| Homepage | www.xula.edu |
Xavier University of Louisiana is a private, coed, liberal arts college that is also a historically African-American (HBCU) Roman Catholic University located in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. Of the 102 historically black colleges and universities and 253 Catholic colleges in the United States, it is the only one noted for being both black and Catholic. Although founded to develop African-American Christian leadership, today more than half of its population is non-Catholic and 10 percent is non-black.
The school was founded by St. Katherine Drexel in 1925. The College of Pharmacy was added in 1927, and in 1932 the Graduate School was established. Through the years, Xavier added residence halls for men and women, a student center and a modern library — growing into a 27-acre campus. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Xavier ranks first in the United States for the quantity of doctor of pharmacy degrees awarded to African Americans. It is estimated that 25 percent of the more than 6,000 African-American pharmacists practicing in the United States attended Xavier. The university is also number one in placement of African American students into medical schools, and has the largest number of African American undergraduates receiving degrees in biology or life sciences.
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 compete in basketball, cross-country, volleyball and tennis.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Regina Benjamin (1979), private physician in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Winner of the 1997 Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. First African American woman named to the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees.
- Annabelle Bernard (1956), soprano, first African American to perform as a principal player with the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Germany, awarded the coveted title of Kammersangerin by the German government.
- Alvin Boutte (1951), founder and CEO of Indecorp, the largest African American-owned financial institution in the United States.
- Karim Camara - New York State Assemblyman.
- Louis Castenell (1968) dean of the University of Cincinnati's College of Education, heralded in such national publications as The New York Times and The Washington Post for his innovative teacher education programs.
- Charles Champion (1955) community pharmacist in Memphis, Tennessee, and a specialist in the use of herbal medicines. Named as one of America's 50 most influential pharmacists by American Druggist magazine.
- Nathaniel Clifton, first African American to sign a contract to play in the National Basketball Association.
- Annie Easley, computer scientist who worked for the NASA's Lewis Research Center, a leading member of the team which developed software for the Centaur and one of the first African-Americans in her field.
- Alexis Herman (1969) first African American U.S. Secretary of Labor; former director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.
- Robert "Scoop" Jackson, (1985), sports journalist for ESPN.
- Ivan L.R. Lemelle (1971) U.S. magistrate judge, district court in New Orleans.
- Sam A. Labinjo (2006) Chemist, founder of the Black Chemical Organazation of Chicago.
- Marie McDemmond (1968), first female president at Norfolk State University.
- George McKenna III (1961), 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.
- Ernest Nathan Morial (known as Dutch), first African American mayor of New Orleans.
- Bernard Randolph, (1954), retired general who served as head of the USAF Space and Defense Systems Command, only the third African American to reach the rank of four-star general in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
- Candice Stewart, Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2002 and Miss Louisiana USA 2005
- John Stroger, (1953), former president of the Cook County, IL Board of Commissioners.
- Todd Stroger, (1985), president of the Cook County, IL Board of Commissioners.
[edit] Miscellanea
- In 1987, Pope John Paul II addressed the presidents of all U.S. Catholic colleges at Xavier.
- In January 2006, former U.S. president Bill Clinton visited the post-Katrina campus.
- 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.
[edit] External links
| Private colleges and universities in Louisiana |
|---|
| Baptist • Centenary • Dillard • Holy Cross • Lady of the Lake • Louisiana College • Loyola • Notre Dame • Saint Joseph • Tulane • Xavier |
