To See Great Wonders: A History of Xavier University, 1831-2006 (review)

Roger Fortin leaves no stone unturned in his extremely well documented account of the history of Xavier University in Cincinnati. The institution began as the Athenaeum, a boarding and day college founded by Bishop Edward Fenwick in 1831 on Sycamore Street in Cincinnati In 1840 Bishop Purcell offered it to the Jesuits, who took it over and renamed it St. Xavier.

It was one of several hundred such small, religious colleges that were founded in the period prior to the Civil War. The mortality rate of these small colleges was high, and Xavier barely survived during the pre-Civil War period. When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, total enrollment was 133 students. Having weathered the crisis of a near collapse and the stress of the Civil War, it began to make its mark on the community. Its alumni could soon be found in the various professions, in the business community, and in the ranks of the clergy.

Fortin covers the major milestones in the next century. The most important was its move in 1919 to the suburb of Avondale, where it had acquired 26,747 sylvan acres. The added buildings climaxed in the year 2000 with the opening of the Cintas Center. It provides spacious rooms for academic convocations and civic functions and includes a handsome arena for its remarkably successful basketball teams.

Jesuit flexibility is manifest in its continual adaptations to emerging social trends. In fact, thanks to the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council, it had to adapt to a whole new model of authority in place of the authoritarian and clerical one. The changes accelerated as it became coeducational, and lay men and women generally assumed greater control of Catholic institutions including Xavier. At the same time Xavier has continued its efforts to encourage the students "to find God in all things" as it provides a host of opportunities for spiritual growth, including Masses on campus, retreats, and the ministry of two resident chaplains.

The decade (1991 to 2000) of the presidency of James Hoff, S.J. has been described as "phenomenal" as Xavier attained national recognition for scholastic and athletic excellence. The North Central Association's report in 1999 noted the "substantial quality improvements in virtually every facet." The successor he groomed, Michael Graham, S.J., has been able to build on Hoff's achievement. By the fall of 2004, U.S. News & World Report ranked Xavier number 2 among the best of 142 master's–level colleges and universities in the Midwest. And in 2006 it ranked its MBA program 24th nationally. The enrollment at the same time increased from 6,253 to 6,665.

A noteworthy aspect of this period was the University's increasing effort to foster Ignatian identity by encouraging students to become leaders in building a more just and humane world. Its peace and justice programs, located in the Dorothy Day House, emphasized social action, encouraged critical thinking, and a vision of hopeful new structures. The students lobbied against capital punishment, brought communion to elderly nursing home patients, and tutored at elementary schools. They also addressed peace and justice issues, especially in Latin America.

Xavier celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2006. The third largest private university in Ohio could take pride in its remarkable history and its secure reputation as one of Cincinnati's oldest and most distinguished institutions.