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Xavier University

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Xavier University
Latin: Universitas Xaveriana Cincinnatenis
MottoVidit Mirabilia Magna
(He has seen great wonders)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
(For the greater glory of God)
TypePrivate Jesuit Catholic
Established1831
Endowment$100.3 million [1]
PresidentRev. Michael J. Graham, S.J.
Academic staff
294 full time
Undergraduates4,000
Postgraduates2,500
Location
Cincinnati
,
Ohio
,
United States
Campus125 acres
Athletics15 NCAA Division I teams
ColorsBlue and White
MascotD'Artagnan the Musketeer
The Blue Blob
Websitehttp://www.xavier.edu/


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 20th 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.

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 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 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

File:Xavier University (Cincinnati) sports logo.png

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

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).

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.

Notable alumni

Xavier is the alma mater to several notable politicians, public servants and corporate executives.

See also

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