Xavier builds for future as Centennial approaches

October 30, 2023

By Jasmine Christopher, Staff Writer

Limited parking spots. Remote classroom locations. Trailers-turned-offices.

Extensive renovations are taking place on campus, bringing with it construction-related disruptions for Xavier students, faculty, staff, and Gert Town community members.

Among the campus renovations include the completion of updates made to the Administration Building, a new parking garage, renovations to St. Martin dePorres Residence Hall, and the construction of a new residence hall.

According to Xavier’s President Reynold Verret, groundbreaking on the 963-space garage and approximately 800-bed dorm will happen within the next five to six months.

“It will actually make life much better for our students in many ways, there will even be dining facilities in the new building as well,” said Verret during a town hall meeting on Sept. 7.

Renovations began in Spring 2023 with the refurbishing of the Blanche M. Francis Music Building. Once completed, the Administration Building was closed, and construction began to revamp the 91-year-old building. Classes held there were relocated to other buildings, including the Library Resource Center, Xavier South, the Norman C. Francis Academic Science Annex, and the Convocation Annex.

The shortage of available classroom spaces resulted in a number of classes being listed as “TBD” at the start of the fall semester. Some Physics classes were housed in Xavier South and Theology classes in the NCF Annex. Students said the building swaps took some getting used to, especially upper-class students who said they have built schedules around specific buildings and classrooms.

“While registering for classes for this upcoming fall semester, I was under the impression that physics would be held in NCF as well since it is a STEM course. For this reason, I scheduled my physics class at 9 and my biochemistry class for 10,” said Karleigh Landry, a junior, biology/ pre-medicine major from Bossier City, La. “The swapping of class locations has been very interesting, as I have to scramble from Xavier South to NCF in under 10 minutes, not to mention the traffic in the hallways of Xavier South.”

Along with classes, professors’ offices were temporarily relocated. Some professors were placed in smaller offices in the NCF Complex while others were housed in temporary trailers parked on the field adjacent to the Library Resource Center. The relocations posed challenges for students trying to locate faculty for office hours and advising in both the Spring and Fall 2023 semesters.

“The goal is, by the end of [September] we’re going to, hopefully, move everyone back into their office spaces so then those trailers will be gone, and faculty will go back into the Administration Building,” said Curtis Wright, the vice president of Student Affairs.

The closing of St. Martin DePorres Residence Hall impacted available housing allocations for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. Work to replace the hall’s HVAC system caused students assigned to the dorm to relocate to The Residences at LSU Health, an off-campus apartment complex. These apartments come with private bathrooms, a full kitchen, a gym, and a pool. While students said they enjoyed the additional amenities, many were not prepared to pay more for housing at this location.

“I expected to live on campus. I pay for some of my housing by myself, and I wasn’t aware of the increase of housing by a couple thousand,” said Madisyn Grice, a junior, biology/pre-medicine major from Memphis, Tenn.

Once Xavier’s new dorm is completed, its dining facilities which will be located on the first floor of the new dorm will include a Pizza Hut, a Wild Blue Sushi, a self-service convenience store, and a space called Auditions. Auditions will feature a new menu every three months for students to choose from.

On the second floor, the dorm will feature a multipurpose room with divider walls for conversations and classes, classrooms, and meeting spaces for students and faculty. Located on Lot F, the new residence hall’s first two floors will be open to all students, while its dorm rooms on the other floors will only be accessible using an ID card.

In addition to the changes in scheduling and housing, Xavier’s next major upgrade is to address parking on campus, with the closure of Lot E, the site of a future, new parking garage. In the meantime, students who do not park on campus can use the newly expanded shuttle service. Buses shuttle students from both The Residences at LSU Health and Privateer Place at the University of New Orleans.

The demand on shuttle services has caused delays in its arrival times during peak rider hours, students said. According to Wright, students should factor in extra time in case a shuttle reaches maximum capacity.

“I do believe the shuttles were a solution to a lot of a people’s concerns about not having a car and being forced to commute to campus, myself included,” said Abia Walker, a junior, political science major from Jackson, Miss. “However, the shuttles can be unreliable at times with its scheduling.”

For updates on construction, visit https:// www.xula.edu/facility/ facility-dorm-construction.html.