Coach Alfred Priestley (Standing, Far Left). Identified players include: Mr. Workman (Back Row, Far Right), and Mr. Despinasse (Middle Row, 4th From Right).

Photographer: Bedou, Arthur P.
Source: Xavier University of Louisiana Library Digital Archives and Collections
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Established in 1925, Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a private, historically Black (HBCU), Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic university founded by a saint.

Katharine Drexel, a Catholic nun possessing a substantial inheritance from her father, banker-financier Francis Drexel, founded and staffed many institutions throughout the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, in an effort to help educate and evangelize Native Americans and African Americans.
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Many of her chosen staff included sisters of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the religious order she founded and served in as the first Superior General.

Aware of the lack of Catholic education for young Black people in the South during Jim Crow, she planned to establish a high school in New Orleans. The chosen site had been previously occupied by Southern University on Magazine Street, a Black institution which had moved to Baton Rouge after an influx of angry ,racist white neighbors petitioned for its relocation.

Drexel sent the Josephite priest Pierre Oscar LeBeau to survey the property, to avoid public scrutiny and controversy, as her reputation for establishing Black schools was well known.

On April 13, 1915, Harry McEnerny, serving as Drexel's agent, purchased the property for US$18,000.

She knew that the city and community would never approve a sale for a Black institution, but by going through an agent, the sale was allowed; even so, vandals smashed all the windows after learning of Drexel's intent.

The high school opened on 27 September 1915 as Southern University of New Orleans, later re-named after Francis Xavier (the namesake of Katharine's father).

n May 1916, it was incorporated under the title, "Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, of Louisiana," according to the laws of the state, and the new name, "Xavier University", was cut into the stone slab above the main entrance.
(The high school, known as Xavier Prep, remained in operation until 2013; today, St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School operates from the same location.)

In 1917, Xavier expanded to include a normal school to provide training for Black teachers, as Archbishop James H. Blenk was eager for graduates to teach at six planned new black parishes.

On September 9, 1921, the Louisiana Department of Education officially recognized "Xavier University" as a State Approved High School.

By 1922, the school was described as the only Catholic institution in the United States that offered "a full four years' high school course to colored boys."

While this may not be true, Xavier University was by far the most prominent Catholic institution offering such educational opportunities at the time.

University founding
In 1925, Xavier University of Louisiana came into being when the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was established, with the Josephite priest Edward Brunner as the first president.

The Louisiana Department of Education officially recognized Xavier University as a four-year college on March 19, 1928, with the first degrees awarded that spring.

The College of Pharmacy was next to be opened, in 1927. Alongside Drexel's sisters, the Josephites served as some of the school's first male teachers, and as chaplains.

Recognizing the university's need for a separate identity and room to expand, Drexel bought a tract of undeveloped land for a campus on the corner of Palmetto and Pine Streets in 1929. To avoid blockage of the deal, Drexel again purchased the property through an agent.

Construction of the U-shaped, Gothic Revival-style Main Building, Convent and Library, made from Indiana limestone and now on the National Register of Historic Places, were completed between 1932 and 1937.

The Main Administration Building was dedicated by the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Dennis Joseph Dougherty, on Columbus Day, October 12, 1932.[8] The Administration building is a City of New Orleans landmark.

Modern history
In May 1961, a group of Freedom Riders, arrived in New Orleans by plane after bus drivers in Alabama refused to take them to Montgomery, Alabama.

Locals, aware of the fire bombings and other attacks against other Freedom Riders, refused to accommodate them with lodging out of fear of retaliatory violence. Norman C. Francis, the university's Dean of Men, secretly arranged for the group to stay several days in a dormitory on campus.

He had received permission from University President Sister Mary Josephina to allow the group to occupy space on the third floor of St. Michael's Hall under the condition that the press would not be alerted as to the move.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II addressed the presidents of all U.S. Catholic colleges from the courtyard of the Xavier administration building.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area in August 2005, Xavier, located in the lower-lying Gert Town section and adjacent to the Washington-Palmetto Canal, suffered damage to almost every structure on campus.

Many buildings sat partially submerged for extended periods of time following the hurricane. University president Francis organized boats and buses to transport stranded faculty, staff, and students from the campus to safe areas.
Students began returning to the university in January 2006.

In April 2006, the nation of Qatar donated $17.5 million to assist the university in hurricane recovery and in expanding the school's College of Pharmacy.

The groundbreaking in 2008 was attended by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, leader of Qatar, and on 15 October 2010 the school's Qatar Pharmacy Pavilion opened, adding 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) adjacent to the existing College of Pharmacy building.

Senator Barack Obama gave the commencement speech in August 2006.
New Orleans' archbishop, Alfred C. Hughes, declined to attend, citing that Obama was not opposed to abortion, and that he had not been consulted prior to the event.

Obama returned after becoming president, visiting New Orleans in August 2010 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He gave an address at Xavier complimenting the work of the leaders of the community and affirming the commitment to continue to aid in the rebuilding of the area.

The university received the "Katrina Compassion Award" from the United States government Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006, for the efforts of an estimated 60% of its students in rebuilding the neighborhoods damaged by the hurricane.

Xavier's campus was evacuated during Hurricane Ida in August 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina. Students who remained on campus were later evacuated to Dallas. The school resumed operations as normal on September 13.
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Source: wikipedia