Growing Pains: Xavierites navigate campus construction

November 4, 2024

By: Tyana Jackson, Staff Writer

Xavier is experiencing significant changes in campus infrastructure as it approaches its centennial year. The institution currently manages multiple construction projects while addressing concerns about parking accessibility and increased fees. These developments come at a crucial time as the university prepares for its centennial year. At the start of this academic year, the student body voiced its particular concern about the recent increase in parking fees and construction delays, which have impacted daily campus operations.  

“The cost of parking, even as we raise the parking, is actually very much less than parking most places around the city,” said Xavier’s president Dr. Reynold Verret. “Parking Garage construction takes time. The city thinks that the parking garage is probably ready October 31st.” 

The parking garage project represents one of the most visible changes on campus, with completion now scheduled for late October after several weather-related delays. The student parking fee increase from $75 to $250 has emerged as a significant point of debate among the student body, particularly regarding the timing and communication of the change. The university maintains that these changes are necessary for campus development and overall safety improvements.  

“I wish we had communicated the increase before the spring semester, so people could kind of anticipate that,” said Ron Brade, Xavier’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of Administration. “But when we did our analysis, even with the incremental increase that we had, it was still in line with what students at Howard, Spelman, and Morehouse pay.” 

Xavier has also had to outsource shuttle services from the City of New Orleans this year. The decision came in response to ongoing issues with the current shuttle system, including consistent tardiness and overcrowding, particularly for students living off-campus, and some students say they have had to rely on shuttle services because of the limited parking availability on campus.  

Beyond parking concerns, Xavier faces broader infrastructure challenges that impact its historic campus with Hurricane Francine causing additional construction delays. The Living Learning Center residential facility renovation has revealed unknown maintenance issues, highlighting the struggle of maintaining older buildings in New Orleans’ climate. These discoveries have prompted an intensive review of campus infrastructure needs while weather conditions and structural complications continue to affect the project timelines across campus. 

“Short term is – we have major renovations in LLC, and some of them were unforeseen, because as we did the engineering analysis, we discovered things that had to be addressed,” Brade said. “Same way that we discovered things in other buildings that go back at least 25 years, that might cause some of the water leakage issues.” 

Students say they wish the construction projects could be better coordinated to minimize disruptions during the academic year. 

“I believe some of the projects they are working on could have been handled during the summer time and not during the fall semester because sometimes the only parking available is further than where my classes are and I either have to walk a long distance, be late to class or miss class in general because no parking was available,” said Breanna Bradley, a senior Biology, Pre-Medicine major, from Chalmette, La. “The recent parking increase is very inconsiderate and inconvenient for college students and faculty especially since the parking garage has yet to be completed,” Bradley said. 

As these infrastructure projects continue, Xavier’s administration emphasizes its commitment to long-term institutional development. The centennial campaign focuses on both physical improvements and academic accessibility, and the university has outlined a comprehensive plan for campus modernization while maintaining its historic values. These efforts align with Xavier’s mission to provide quality, affordable education while improving campus facilities for future generations of students. 

“So, affordability, making Xavier able to actually allow Xavier students to graduate – maybe not load free, but load light – is the first step. We’ll get there. It’s an important goal, that’s one of the important pieces of the capital campaign,” Verret said.