Xavier High School is an independent Jesuit university-preparatory high school for young men located at 30 West 16th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1847, as the College of St. Francis Xavier (also known as St. Francis Xavier College) by Father John Larkin, S.J.
The school draws students from all five boroughs of New York City, as well as New Jersey, Connecticut, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County, Rockland County, and Orange County.
Xavier is joined by Regis High School, Fordham Preparatory School, Loyola School, and St. Peter's Preparatory School as the five Jesuit high schools in the New York City metropolitan area; a sixth, Brooklyn Preparatory School, closed in 1972.
Xavier has maintained its Jesuit and academic traditions despite significant changes during its history. Xavier challenges students to think critically and to become "men for others." Though tuition has risen in recent years, a substantial percentage of the cost for each student's education is covered by donations from alumni.
History
The school was founded in 1847 by Father John Larkin, S.J., a professor at St. John's College in Rosehill Manor, then in Westchester County, now a part of the Borough of the Bronx, and which later became Fordham University. It taught boys from the age of eight to twenty-one. The Regents of the University of the State of New York chartered Xavier in 1861.
A military training unit began at the school in 1886 under the direction of the National Guard, and membership became mandatory in 1892. Five years later, collegiate and secondary studies were separated into different departments, and the college level department was closed in 1912. The Regiment became a Junior ROTC unit in 1935, and the school was declared a military institute in 1968, offering four years of military science and training which would be recognized upon enrollment in any branches of the United States Military. Participation in military studies was declared optional in 1971.
In 2004, Xavier announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Gerics as the first lay headmaster in the school's history, following former headmaster Fr. David S. Ciancimino's appointment as Socius (Councilor) to the Provincial Superior for the Jesuit Province of New York. In 2006 Michael LiVigni replaced Gerics as the school's second lay headmaster.
The Ignatian identity of the school has been affected by the declining number of Jesuits at the school. Xavier's lay faculty have consistently renewed themselves to the mission of Ignatian Spirituality, contributing to an increase in the number of students able to intelligently articulate the school's mission.
On June 25, 2007, Father Daniel J. Gatti, S.J. '59, announced the end of his unprecedented 12-year term as Xavier's 32nd President. On Friday, January 4, 2008, the Board of Trustees announced that Francis J. Morison '58 was elected as interim president. He was to assume office on August 1, 2008, but, due to health concerns, was unable to assume the presidency. Morison died in February 2010. With the permission of his superiors, Gatti was allowed to remain in the office of president. On June 17, 2009, the Board of Trustees announced that John R. Raslowsky II would succeed Gatti. Raslowsky assumed office on July 2 of that year.
Academics
The school has reinforced its commitment to social justice by refocusing its fourth year religion curriculum to include a half year required course on social justice and by instituting a freshman service program to First Fruits Farm [1]. Xavier offers numerous honors classes and thirteen Advanced Placement classes, some of which are available as early as sophomore year, including Biology, Calculus AB, English Language and Composition, English Literature, European History, Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, Latin, Physics, Comparative Government and Politics, U.S. History, and World History. In senior year, the school also offers a course devoted to the study of film history called "Elements of Cinema".
Admissions
Admission to Xavier is based on the admission exam results (TACHS, CHSEE, COOP, ISEE), the Xavier application, a teacher recommendation, and the academic records of the student from grades 7 and 8. Xavier offers a spend-a-day program for prospective eighth graders called Knight For A Day.
Admission for transfer students is handled on a case-to-case basis.
Financial aid
Over 1.8 million dollars in financial aid is administered to approximately 30% of the student body at Xavier High School. In addition, Xavier offers Merit Scholarships to students who demonstrate a strong academic background.
Campus ministry
Xavier an active Campus Ministry department, which organizes liturgies, retreats and community service programs. Campus Ministry has recently revised its retreat program, renewing the freshman retreat, instituting a sophomore overnight retreat and moving the Kairos retreat to the junior year. The Magis retreat, available to seniors, offers seniors the opportunity to experience an adult retreat in the Ignatian tradition.
The "Companions of St. Francis Xavier", or "CFX", another Campus Ministry program, organizes service trips that send groups of student volunteers for a few weeks during the summer to help build homes for people in need in Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mexico. The program also raises money each year to assist the sponsor organizations at the places of service. The group in Maryland works with First Fruits Farm [2], Tennessee works with Habitat for Humanity, while the group in Tijuana, Mexico, works with Esperanza International. There are also community service opportunities for all sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Athletics
Xavier, a CHSAA member, provides its students the opportunity to pursue a wide variety of sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country, football, golf, hockey, indoor/outdoor track and field, rugby, soccer, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, and wrestling. Other extracurricular activities include boxing club, choir, speech and debate, chess team, anime, film, science fiction, and skiing /snowboard clubs, school newspaper, The Review, drama productions, and the Blue Night Jazz Band. The Blue Night Band won best trombone section at the 2010 Villanova University Big Band Festival.
Xavier's current mascot is a knight, and all of its athletic teams are referred to as the Knights. However, for many years, the teams were called the Cadets, a reflection of Xavier's military program, while a terrier was used as a mascot. After a variety of replacements, including the 1980s Bruins, the nickname of the Knights was decided upon in the early 1990s and has been official since.
Football
The Xavier Football program began in the late 19th century. It has a continued rivalry with the Bronx's Fordham Preparatory School. The two schools compete in an annual "Turkey Bowl", the oldest high school football rivalry in New York City. Their very first game against one another took place in the late 19th century when the game was called due to darkness, ending in a tie. Many of these football matches were played at Manhattan's famed Polo Grounds, until its demolition.
Rugby
Rugby is a popular sport at Xavier. Rugby has varsity status, and fields four teams with over 125 players. Xavier has fielded one of the top rugby teams in the United States since the club's founding in 1976. The team achieved an undefeated season in 2007, winning the Tier B National Championship Tournament. The Xavier Rugby Team also won National Championship Tournaments in 1985 and 1993 and has won the East Coast/Northeast US Championship Tournament every year from 2000 to 2009. The team won their 4th National Championship on May 22, 2010. They defeated Gonzaga 32-10 to win the Boy's National High School Championship.
Track
The Freshman Track and Field team won the indoor and outdoor 2009 CHSAA Intersectional Championships, the first time in team history. In 2010, the team defended their outdoor victory as sophomores. The Track and Field team competed in the Nationals track meet in Greensboro, North Carolina and finished fifth in both the 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 meter relay, earning Emerging Elite Metals. In June 2012, Edward Wagner, a Xavier track and field athlete became the school's first to earn All-America honors during the outdoor season with a 4th place overall finish in the 400 meter hurdles at the National Championship. The team has had lots of recent success in both cross country and on the track. The cross country team has finished 4th at CHSAA Intersectional Championships in 2011, 5th in 2012, 3rd in 2013, 2nd in 2014, 2nd in 2015 and 1st in 2016 , the teams first cross country title in almost a century. The team also finished 2nd at the New York Federation cross country meet by 2 points in 2016. The team has carried the success with a CHSAA Intersectional Championship victory in 2015 and most recently in 2017, the 4X800 meter relay placed 3rd at the National track meet, capturing All American with a 7:50.84
Swimming
The Swim Team first moved up to the CHSAA'a 'A' Division in the early 1990s. It won the school's first City Championship in 1996 and followed that up by winning the 'A' Division title in 1997. Also in 1996, Xavier won the first 'All-City' Swimming Championship by beating New York City Public School swimming champion Stuyvesant High School. Like many schools in Manhattan, Xavier does not have many athletic resources on-site. As a result, the Xavier Swim Team has used various pools around the city, such as St. Francis College in Brooklyn, the Lower East Side Boys and Girls Club, and Humanities High School. For many years, Xavier had residence at Borough of Manhattan Community College, using their facilities for both practices and dual meets.
Other sports
In 1859 the College of St. Francis Xavier and St. John's College (now Fordham University) played the first collegiate level baseball game, featuring the new nine-man team style of play. Fordham won the game 33-11.
Xavier High School's JV Soccer team won the CHSAA Intersectional Championship in both 2008 and 2009.
Buildings
in 2016 the school acquired space inside a 25 story building, 35 West 15th Street, to house Fernandez-Duminuco Hall, occupying 45,000 square feet (4,200Â m2) of space in the basement and six floors. The other floors house condominiums, and both the school campus and the condominiums have separate entrances.
JROTC
Xavier High School offers an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit, known as "The Regiment", which is available to students in all grade levels. Before 1972, the Regiment was a mandatory piece of Xavier education, and thus helped to label Xavier as Manhattan's unofficial Military School. Many notable alumni have been former cadets in the Regiment, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who spoke to the Regiment at a recent award ceremony, recounting the important role that the Regiment played in kindling his growth as a student and cementing the ideals that Xavier instilled in him.
Colonel Anderson of the Eastern Region Command called the Xavier Regiment one of "the top five in the Northeast". Under the leadership of LTC Roy E. Campbell, US Army (ret.) until 2016, it achieved a school record overall score of 99.2 in the 2005 inspection. During its Army Formal Inspection on April 28, 2011, Xavier achieved a score of 99.1. The Regiment marches annually in the St. Patrick's and Columbus Day parades. Xavier's Regiment has five extracurricular teams: the Rifle Team, the Raider Unit, the Color Guard, the drill team, which consists of the X-squad and the Saber Guard. The X-Squad and Saber Guard are a part of Xavier's regimental drill team, the former being established in 1937. X-Squad being the armed portion and the Saber Guard being the unarmed portion. They compete in local competitions in New York and New Jersey, as well as the National High School Drill Team Championship and Army Nationals. The Color Guard carries the colors at parades, school functions, and other important events. Formerly known as the Black Jacks, the Raiders are the Regiment's physical fitness team. They compete annually in the Raider Challenge and the Commander's Cup. The Rifle Team, one of the three oldest sports teams at Xavier, competes nationally in postal matches, as well as regional tournaments. During parades, the Rifle Team, Raiders, Saber Guard, X-squad and the Blue Night Band, Xavier's jazz band, march separately from the Regiment. As a unit, it has twice has been named best high school marching unit in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Notable people
- Alumni
- Dave Anderson, 1947, New York Times writer and author
- Vincent M. Battle, 1958, former United States ambassador to Lebanon
- PJ Brennan, 2003, actor
- Jerry Capeci, former organized crime reporter for the New York Daily News, writer, and author
- Donald Cook, 1952, Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, Medal of Honor recipient
- Vincent Cooke, President of Canisius College (1993â€"2010)
- William H. Crain, Congressman from Texas
- Brigadier General Ruben Cubero, 1957, first Hispanic Dean of the Faculty of the United States Air Force Academy
- Major General Anthony Cucolo, 1975, 49th Commandant of the United States Army War College
- John M. Culkin, 1950, media scholar and critic, educator, writer, and consultant.
- Albert del Rosario, 1957, former Philippine Ambassador to the USA and currently the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary
- Hugh Aloysius Drum, Lieutenant-General in the United States Army
- George Dzundza, 1963, movie and television actor (Law and Order)
- Brad Ferguson, 1970, author
- Joseph F. Finnegan, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
- Bobby Flay, American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality
- Douglas Fowley, an American movie and television actor
- Michael Gargiulo, 1977, Emmy Award-Winning Television Personality (Host of Today In New York)
- Sonny Grosso, film and television producer
- Jerramiah Healy, 1968, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey
- George Kaftan, 1945, basketball player in the NBA and NCAA; recipient of 1947 MOP award
- Michael Keane, 1979, Nuffield Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
- Seamus Kelly, 2009, outside center for the United States national rugby union team
- Thomas A. Ledwith, 1856, American lawyer and politician New York City, New York
- Joseph O. Mauborgne, 1901, U.S. Army major general, portrait artist, cryptanalyst, and head of the Signal Corps
- Cornelius Augustine McGlennon, Representative for New Jersey's 8th congressional district; mayor of East Newark, New Jersey
- Frank McGuire, 1932, Hall of Fame basketball coach
- Charles Messina, 1989, playwright, director
- Neil Olshey, 1983, General Manager for the Portland Trail Blazers
- Mario Pei, 1918, linguist
- Edmund D. Pellegrino, Former Chair of the President's Council on Bioethics
- Michael Petri, 2002, United States National Rugby Team
- Eugene A. Philbin, New York County District Attorney
- John Paul Pitoc, 1992, actor
- Robert J. Reiley, AIA, (1878â€"1961), prominent architect of churches, schools, and hospitals in the Northeast
- Al Roker, 1972, NBC Television Personality and Entrepreneur.
- Wilbur Ross, 1955, investor known for restructuring failed companies
- Thomas A. Russo, AIG executive, former Lehman Brothers executive
- Antonin Scalia, 1953, United States Supreme Court Justice.
- Brian Schulz, 1992, Emmy Award-winning producer and cinematographer for Major League Baseball Productions
- Stephen Spiro, 1957, Vietnam War opponent and conscientious objector
- Patrick Stokes, 1960, president of Anheuser-Busch
- Steven Strait, 2004, actor, fashion model, and singer
- Augustus Vincent Tack, 1890, painter of portraits, landscapes and abstractions
- Mike Tolkin, 1985, head coach of the USA Rugby men's national team
- Lieutenant General John A. Toolan, 1972, commander Fleet Marine Force Pacific
- Robert Trehy, 1939, opera singer
- Jimmy Walker, mayor of New York City
- F. Paul Wilson, author of the Repairman Jack science fiction series
- Faculty
- Leo Paquin, athletic director, football coach, and English and Latin teacher. Played end for Fordham University as part of the 1936 line known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite".
- Mike Petri, Rugby coach, Physics and Biology teacher and graduate of the class of 2002. Currently on the faculty.
- Mike Tolkin, Varsity Rugby coach, English teacher and graduate of the class of 1985. Left in 2012, after being asked to become the head coach of the USA Rugby team.
In popular culture
Xavier High School has been used in several television shows and movies, including:
- Scenes of The Peacemaker were filmed at Xavier.
- New Kids On The Block filmed the music video for their song "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" at Xavier.
- Scenes of an early episode of The Cosby Show were filmed at Xavier.
- Xavier was used as a police precinct for the film Premium Rush.
- A scene from The Winning Season was filmed in the main gymnasium.
- Martha Stewart has spoken about her attendance at many Xavier dances while she was in high school.
- A scene from Delivery Man (film) was filmed in the Commons.
- Parts of the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt were filmed in the school.
- At the beginning of Season 2 episode 2 of the Netflix Daredevil series, the exterior of Xavier was used to represent the exterior of the hospital.
See also
- St. Francis Xavier Church (Manhattan)
References
- Notes
External links
- Xavier High School Website