ABOUT XAVIER  

2009 Year in Review

Academics

  • The Williams College of Business created a Graduate School of Business and named Raghu Tadepalli as dean.
  • The University's Board of Trustees approved the expansion of the Department of Nursing to the School of Nursing, reflecting the increased reach and stature of the highly popular program.
  • The newly formed School of Nursing received an $809,090 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its newest concentration, Clinical Nurse Leader, in its Master of Science in Nursing program. The Clinical Nurse Leader is a national initiative developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2004 to improve health care delivery systems and increase nurse's job satisfaction and long-term retention.
  • The School of Nursing also introduced its human patient simulator, intended to enrich and improve the care and attention students give to patients.
  • Thirteen occupational therapy students, eight practitioners and four faculty members traveled to Guatemala to provide occupational therapy and care to children at the Anini orphanage. Their journey of service and community was captured in a photo gallery.
  • Rachel Chrastil, assistant professor in the Department of History, received a Fulbright-Alsace Regional Council Award for research in France for the spring 2009 semester. Chrastil worked in Strasbourg to develop a book manuscript dealing with that city and European civilization during the Franco-Prussian War. She is affiliated with the faculty of arts at the Université Marc Bloch.
  • Xavier and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion created a Jewish and Interfaith Studies Program at both institutions. This was the first partnership of its kind between a Jesuit, Catholic university and a reform Jewish rabbinic seminary, and is consistent with and furthers the missions of both institutions, giving Xavier the largest and most comprehensive undergraduate Jewish Studies program in any Catholic institution of higher learning in the world.
  • Xavier was one of 24 Ohio schools offering its students Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grants for 2008-2009. The TEACH grant program provide federal grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who pledge to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school serving students from low-income families.
  • James T. Morris, president of Indianapolis-based Pacers Sports and entertainment and executive director for the United Nations World Food Programme, was the featured speaker and honorary degree recipient for the undergraduate commencement ceremony in May 2008. Rabbi Abie Ingber, director for Xavier's Office of Interfaith Community Engagement, also spoke at the graduate ceremony. Others honored include professor emeritus of biology Stanley Hedeen, who received the Paul L. O'Connor Leadership Award; former University trustee Robert Conway, a 1949 graduate, who received the Distinguished Alumnus Award; and 2001 graduate Angela Staubach, who received the Magis Award.
  • Kathleen R. Smythe, assistant professor of history at Xavier University, was named the Bishop Fenwick Teacher of the Year by the Xavier chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society. (http://www.xavier.edu/news/Kathleen-Smythe-named-Teacher-of-the-Year.cfm)

What's New

  • Xavier created the Office of Interfaith Community Engagement to create community through interfaith dialogue at Xavier, in Cincinnati and on the national level. Rabbi Abie Ingber was named its founding director.
  • Construction on the Hoff Academic Quad began with an official groundbreaking and the demolition of homes on Dana and Ledgewood avenues. The Brockman Residence Hall also got a renovation.
  • Xavier introduced its first electric vehicle on campus as a part of its movement to be a more environmentally sustainable campus. It also signed on to participate in a national recycling effort.
  • The graduate program in Health Services Administration celebrated its 50th anniversary with a panel discussion, reception, dinner and keynote address by Jeff Goldsmith, president of Health Futures and associate professor of public health sciences at the University of Virginia.
  • The University announced the development of the James and Delrose Eigel Center for Community-Engaged Learning. Community engagement is an integral part of Xavier’s mission and the Eigel Center coordinates various ways Xavier students and faculty work with local and regional communities.
  • Xavier created the Institute for Politics and Public Life and named 1970 graduate Michael Ford as its founding director. Ford has spent 37 years in politics, government and business at all levels of American public life and held senior staff and senior advisory positions in nine presidential campaigns. The institute’s mission is to produce informed, engaged citizens and to research crucial matters of public policy and governance, and disseminate those findings to the public.
  • John DeFoor, director for jazz studies, directed the National Jazz Band for the inauguration ceremonies for President Barack Obama. DeFoor chose the music and included some of his original compositions.
  • On their feet for 14 hours, Xavier University students danced the night away to benefit the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center at the third annual Dance Marathon.
  • During Spring Break, about 270 students participated in the Peace and Justice Alternative Breaks program, which includes 20 spring break trips at such varied locales as Ukraine and Biloxi, Miss.
  • The University’s new Learning Commons was named after Michael Conaton, a 1955 graduate, current trustee, former board chairman and former interim president, thanks to a gift from 1960 graduate Charles Gallagher. The Conaton Learning Commons is scheduled to open in 2010. Along with a new home for the Williams College of Business, it is part of the Hoff Academic Quad.
  • The Xavier Leadership Center teamed up with ABX Air representatives to offer retraining to employees affected by overnight delivery company DHL’s decision to shut down its operations in Wilmington, Ohio.

National Honors

Xavier was ranked among the top 10 Midwest master’s-level colleges and universities for the 14th straight year, according to U.S. News & World Report. Xavier ranked No. 2 among 146 Midwest colleges and universities. As part of the rankings, Xavier was:

  • Ranked No. 1 in student retention for the sixth straight year;
  • Ranked No. 1 in average graduation rates;
  • Ranked No. 2 in average alumni giving percent;
  • Ranked No. 2 in “Up-and-Coming Schools”;
  • Ranked No. 6 in best undergraduate teaching;
  • Rated as a “good school for first year experiences and service learning”;
  • Forbes.com ranked Xavier No. 225 among America's Best Colleges for 2008.
  • Kiplinger’s Personal Finance listed Xavier University as one of the “Top 50 Best Values” in private universities across the country. Xavier was ranked 42 in 2008 and improved to 41 for delivering an “affordable, high-quality education” despite economic trouble.
  • Results of the National Survey of Student Engagement found a majority of Xavier freshmen have a favorable image of the University and most seniors would select Xavier again if they were just starting their college careers. The survey included 380,000 randomly selected first-year and senior students this year at 722 four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. including 904 students at Xavier.
  • Xavier's select vocal Schola Cantorum, Harmonia Sacra, along with a professional ensemble of area liturgical musicians and a professional chamber orchestra, presented the first-ever American performance of a composition by Venetian composer Baldassare Galuppi. The presentation was part of the regular evening prayer service in Bellarmine Chapel.
  • For the fourth year in a row, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Williams College of Business’ part-time MBA program one of the best in the nationin "America’s Best Graduate Schools 2010." It was ranked 14th overall.
  • For the sixth straight year, the Williams College of Business was named an outstanding business school by The Princeton Review in its “Best 301 Business Schools” magazine.
  • For the sixth straight year, Xavier was named one of the nation’s top schools for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. Xavier ranked 19th.
  • Xavier was named a “Military Friendly School” by GI Jobs magazine.

Visitors and Speakers

  • Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain held a town hall meeting for an invitation-only crowd of undecided voters in the Conaton Board Room. Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama held a “Countdown to Change Get-Out-The-Vote” rally on the soccer field featuring hip-hop artists Mary J. Blige, Shaw “Jay-Z” Carter, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Kevin Liles.
  • Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, visited campus as part of the Ethics/Religion and Society lecture series, discussing "The Lord God Took the Man and Put Him in the Garden of Eden to Till It and Keep It (Gen 2:15)" with associate professor of theology at Marquette University James Schaefer.
  • Xavier hosted a special presidential election panel with four nationally known political experts discussing the status and historic nature of this year’s campaign. Panelists included: Donna Brazile, chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute; Mike Murphy, senior strategist for Senator John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign; Joe Trippi, who pioneered the use of online technology in grassroots presidential politics as Howard Dean's campaign manager in 2004; and former Congressman John Kasich, an investment banker on Wall Street and host of "Heartland with John Kasich" on the Fox News Channel.
  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke on "Our Environmental Destiny" as part of the Ethics/Religion and Society lecture series. Kennedy, a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law's Environmental Litigation Clinic, was named one of Time magazine's "Heroes of the Planet" for his work in restoring the Hudson River.
  • Michael Palascak, comedian and 2004 graduate, made his inaugural Xavier performance. Palascak has received considerable recognition, including Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago ’08 Stand-Up Critic’s Pick, HBO’s Comedy Festival Lucky 21 Winner and Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight: Chicago Winner.
  • James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of A.K. Steel Corp., spoke on “Competing to Win in Today’s Global Steel Business” as part of the Williams College of Business’ Distinguished Speaker Series.

Athletics