Xavier Eyes New Future for St. Mike’s
By Ivanna Washington
Xavier University plans to continue campus renovations following the completion of the new Xavier South residence hall. St. Michael Residence Hall, known to students as St. Mike’s, is currently a male residence hall located near the University Center. With intentions of preserving its historic significance, the university plans to transform the building to accommodate the increasing number of students interested in the pre-health academic track.
“What we wanted to be able to do was kind of expand some of the services that we can offer our students, but in an environment that would be a little more comfortable,” said Dr. Marguerite Giguette, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. “The pre-med office, if you go to it currently, it’s not very large and the number of students interested in that track is expanding.
As of now, Xavier has a premedical office located in the Norman C. Francis (NCF) Science Building.
“I think our campus actually offers a lot of strong resources for pre-health students, but many of them aren’t advertised well, so it can be hard to know what’s available or how to access them early on,” said Camden Howe, a sophomore Biology pre-med major. “Even if the resources already exist, having them in one centralized, visible space would make them easier to find, better promoted and more accessible for students who are still exploring their interests.”
According to Xavier Vice President of Student Affairs Curtis Wright, the plans for the renovations would consolidate all current resources from the premedical center into one central location, increasing the number of resources available. Currently, students have access to a premedical advisor, weekly emails notifying them of events, programs, opportunities and scholarships, alongside visits from health professionals and representatives.
“I think the goal has always been to really support and build up the program and give it space so that the outcome matches what they’re producing,” Wright said. “Imagine the mountain of students that can get through toprofessional programs in the health field,” he added.
St. Michael Residence Hall was built in 1955 and holds significant historical importance for Xavier.
“We don’t want to forget in the building that the Freedom Riders were there because they are a part of Xavier’s history,” Giguette said.
The Freedom Riders were a group of civil rights activists who rode buses into the Southern United States, challenging the unconstitutional segregation of public buses. Following their arrival in New Orleans in 1961, the Freedom Riders were denied shelter and were requested to leave the city. In solidarity, Xavier University’s Dean of Men, Dr. Norman C. Francis, pushed for the Freedom Riders to shelter on campus, resulting in their stay at St. Michael Residence Hall.
“We’re here to create a more just and humane society, and that moment in history for us was one of those examples of our former president leading with courage,” Wright said.
“Even when St. Mike’s is no longer a residence hall, we’ll still have more housing than what we had before,” Giguette said.
As of now, there is no set date for when renovations will begin. They are planned to start only after construction of the new residence halls is complete to ensure students have adequate housing. There are also plans for Katharine Drexel Residence Hall, currently a female-only residence hall, to become co-ed following the renovations.
“So right now, the goal is to close that residence, and we won’t close it until the new residence hall is completely opened,” Wright said. “Those men would be redistributed either to LLC, Deporus, maybe the new residence hall or even having first-year students in KD.”
