Xavier University

Xavier University is the fourth oldest Jesuit University and the sixth oldest Catholic university in the United States. The school was founded in 1831 as a men's college in downtown Cincinnati next to St. Francis Xavier Church on Sycamore Street. The Athenaeum, as it was then called, was dedicated to the patronage of Saint Francis Xavier by Bishop Edward Fenwick on October 17, 1831. Upon Bishop John Baptist Purcell's request, the Society of Jesus took control of The Athenaeum in 1840, and the name was changed to St. Xavier College in honor of the 16th century Spanish Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier who, like the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola, was a Spanish Navarrese.

St. Xavier College moved in 1912 to its current Evanston location, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Cincinnati, after the purchase of 26 acres (0.11 km2) from the Avondale Athletic Club. The "original" Athenaeum is now the seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. St. Xavier College and St. Xavier High School officially split in 1919, though they did not become financially independent until 1934. The school's name was changed a second time to its current name, Xavier University, in 1930.

Xavier fully admitted women starting in 1969, but women began attending the college in 1914 in the evening, weekend, and summer school divisions. Edgecliff College, another Catholic college in Cincinnati, merged with Xavier University in 1980.

The Dorothy Day Center for Faith and Justice is an important part of Xavier University's mission to form men and women for others.

Student programs

At the beginning of freshman year, the center gives students opportunities to form community among themselves, with an effort at inclusiveness across all lines of faith and culture. They are then encouraged to join the other students in choosing from a variety of service opportunities.

Students can pursue community service through the following programs: work in the Nexus community garden, weekly service with organizations in the Cincinnati area through the X-CHANGE program, Community Action Day when the whole XU community and alumni are encouraged to give a day of service to the larger community, a monthly service opportunity at St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen, and Alternative Breaks offering opportunities to serve in the United States and abroad during fall and spring breaks. A total of 25 immersion trips are offered. It is estimated that students perform more than 60,000 service hours in a year.

Most programs include reflection components and the following programs facilitated by the center are also staged to provoke reflection: Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, Stories of Solidarity, Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador commemoration, and Contemplatives in Action.