Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a co - educational Jesuit , Catholic university located in Cincinnati , Ohio , USA . The school is the sixth - oldest Catholic and fourth - oldest Jesuit university in the nation . Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4 , 485 students and graduate enrollment of 2 , 165 . Xavier is primarily an undergraduate , liberal arts institution . Graduate programs include occupational therapy , education , counseling , nursing , English , theology , psychology , and business . Campus . The campus covers approximately in the city of Cincinnati ( North Avondale and Evanston , OH ) and the City of Norwood , OH and features both residential and academic malls , flanked by the older west campus and by the expanding east campus . At the center of campus are the Gallagher Student Center and Bellarmine Chapel . Bellarmine Chapel ' s roof is in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid , also known as a saddle roof , that will not collapse , even if the Chapel walls were removed . The chapel is the home to the Bellarmine Catholic Parish . Academic Mall . Six buildings with castle architecture sit elevated overlooking Victory Parkway to the west and resemble a single fortress . Adjacent to the Gallagher Student Center ( north to south ) is Science Row : Lindner Hall ( Physics ) , Logan Hall ( Chemistry ) and Albers Hall ( Biology ) . Hinkle Hall , the oldest standing building on campus ( 1919 ) , sits in the middle of this impressive chain and is a three - story Tudor - Gothic structure whose turret s were modeled after the Xavier Family Castle in Navarre , Spain . It houses the departments of Math , English , History , Philosophy , and Theology . Schmidt Hall sits next as the University ’ s current Administration Building , followed by Edgecliff Hall . Originally Alumni Science Hall ( 1919 ) , it was renamed after the former Edgecliff College and is home to the Department of Music . On the opposite side of the mall to the east stands the tallest structure on campus , Schott Hall . It houses the Office of Admission and Office of Financial Aid in addition to the Departments of Modern Languages , Classics , Communication Arts , and Political Science / Sociology . Next ( south to north ) is McDonald Library followed by Alter Hall . Alter is the main classroom building and the home of the Office of the Registrar and the Bursar ' s Office . Finally , Hailstones Hall , which was the former home of the Williams College of Business , is adjoined behind Alter to the east , so is not truly on the mall . Alter and Hailstones are adjacent to Bellarmine Chapel . Residential Mall . To the north of the Academic Mall and on the opposite side of the Gallagher Student Center and Bellarmine Chapel is the Residential Mall . All four underclassmen residence halls are here . Brockman Hall is due north of Gallagher and is an all - freshmen community - style residence where about 300 students have one or two roommates and share a bathroom with their wing . Diagonally north across the mall is Buenger Hall . Buenger accommodates over 200 freshmen and sophomore athletes and honors students in suites . Diagonally south across the mall from Brockman and due east of Gallagher are Kuhlman Hall and Husman Hall . Kuhlman and Husman together house about 1 , 000 freshmen and sophomore students and feature suite style , where students have one or two roommates and share a bathroom with another room . Between Kuhlman , Husman , and Gallagher is what is commonly referred to as " The Greenspace , " a large open all - purpose area for students and events . West Campus . On the opposite side of Victory Parkway from the Academic and Residential malls is west campus . It is home to most of the athletics and recreational sports with facilities including J . Page Hayden Field , Corcoran Soccer Field , Schmidt Fieldhouse , Corbett Physical Education Building , and the O ' Connor Sports Center . St . Barbara Hall and the Armory are home to Xavier ' s ROTC . Joseph Hall and Elet Hall are home to the School of Education and Department of Psychology . East Campus . The Cintas Center , where the Musketeers host their basketball games , is adjacent to the Residential Mall . Besides the 10 , 250 - seat arena , Cintas also includes the Hoff Student Dining Center , the Schiff Conference Center and the James and Caroline Duff Banquet Center . Cintas is surrounded on all sides by several parking lots and , on the far east side , is the A . B . Cohen Center . Cohen is the home to the Art Department and Xavier Art Gallery , as well as the School of Nursing and departments of Criminal Justice , Social Work , Occupational Therapy , Health Services Administration , and some of the offices of the School of Education . South of Cohen is the McGrath Health and Counseling Center which marks the furthest east building on campus at Cleneay Avenue . Cleneay , which turns into Herald Avenue , heads west toward the center of campus . South of Cintas is Flynn Hall which houses the Xavier Post Office and Campus Police . Across from Flynn Hall is The Commons , which is an upper - class apartment building . As part of the latest construction on campus , a new residential complex called Fenwick Place is opened in fall 2011 to the west of The Commons and south of the Residential Mall . It features 4 residential towers with 535 beds in a suite - style setup , similar to Buenger Hall , for sophomores and juniors . It is the home to a new dining center for all of campus . Fenwick Place opened for the 2011 – 2012 academic year . The Hoff Academic Quadrangle ] , located to the south of Fenwick Place and east of the Academic Mall , opened in 2010 . Smith Hall , is home to the Williams College of Business and features a Wall Street - style trading room with Bloomberg Terminal s and a stock ticker . Smith is also home to Xavier ' s MBA programs and Xavier ' s Entrepreneurial Center . Xavier ' s Entrepreneurship is ranked 11th nationally according to The Princeton Review . The Conaton Learning Commons is west of Smith Hall and adjacent to the Academic Mall . The Learning Commons is home to all of Xavier ' s academic support services . Academics and demographics . Xavier University offers 81 majors within the colleges of " Arts and Sciences " , " Social Sciences , Health and Education " , and the " Williams College of Business " . Several minors and pre - professional programs are also offered . All students must complete the core curriculum . Undergraduate students attending Xavier must complete a significant number of distribution requirements that are more commonly known as the Core Curriculum . There are required courses in : Theology , Philosophy , Mathematics , Fine Arts , History , Physical Science , Literature , Foreign Language , and the Social Sciences . The Core Curriculum is a confluence of Jesuit ideals , and Great Books rigors , known as Ratio Studiorum . All graduates , upon completion of a Bachelor degree have read The Republic , Discourse on Method , and selections from the Bible among other original texts . Major requirements . All undergraduate students are required to complete the Core Curriculum ( see above ) and comply with departmental requirements . Business majors ( from the Williams College of Business ) are also required to complete the Business Core , which consists of courses in Accounting , Business Law , Economics , Finance , Human Resources , Information Systems , Management , Marketing , and Statistics ( the Business Core occupies 35 credit hours ) . Business majors , therefore , are only required to take 18 – 21 hours in their chosen field ( providing many students with an incentive to declare second major within the Williams College of Business ) . Students in the other colleges ( the College of Social Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences ) generally have to complete at least 60 credit hours of courses within the major and electives within the College . 120 credit hours must be obtained to graduate with a B . A . or B . S . degree , and all students must achieve a 2 . 0 GPA minimum in their major course of study . Most scholarships require a GPA of 3 . 0 or higher . Transfer scholarships are awarded based on GPA from previous university attended . Certain majors ; such as Politics Philosophy and the Public ( PPP ) , Honors Bachelor of Arts ( HAB ) , and Philosophy require a written thesis and defense before a selected committee . Philosophy also requires a written comprehensive exam . Grading scale . In 2005 Xavier switched to the plus / minus grading system , after using the simpler A , B , C , D , F scale since the University ' s inception . However , in addition to the standard letter grades , Xavier offers professors the option to assign various non - traditional grades , such as VF ( Vanished Failure ) for students who do not attend class regularly . The university also offers students the option to " Audit " courses ; that is , to take the class , but have any passing grade not computed into the student ' s Grade Point Average . Xavier has also switched to a " Quality - Point " conversion scale to compute Grade Point Averages . The Quality Points are assigned such that each 1 / 3 of a grade is the equivalent to 1 / 3 Quality Point per credit hour . For example , a grade of B would rate 3 Quality Points per credit hour ( thus , for a 3 - hr course , the student would gain 9 Quality points ) , while a score of B + would rate 3 and 1 / 3 Quality Points per credit hour ( so that same 3 - hr class would yield 10 Quality Points ) . The total number of Quality Points earned is divided by the total number of credit hours attempted ( excepting those officially Withdrawn from consideration – where a grade of W was assigned ) to compute the student ' s Grade Point Average . Honorary Societies ' Chapters . Xavier is home to several honorary societies chapters , including : History . Xavier University was the first Catholic institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory and is the fourth oldest Jesuit University and the sixth oldest Catholic university in the United States . The school was founded in 1831 as a men ' s college in downtown Cincinnati , adjacent to St . Francis Xavier Church on Sycamore Street . The Athenaeum , as it was then called , was dedicated to the patronage of Saint Francis Xavier by Bishop Edward Fenwick . Upon Bishop John Baptist Purcell ' s request , the Society of Jesus took control of The Athenaeum in 1840 , and the name was changed to St . Xavier College in honor of the 16th century Spanish Catholic . St . Xavier College moved in 1912 to its current North Avondale location , about north of downtown , after the purchase of from the Avondale Athletic Club . St . Xavier College and St . Xavier High School officially split in 1919 , though did not become financially independent until 1934 . The name of the school was changed a second time to its current name , Xavier University , in 1930 . The Williams College of Business was established in 1961 and Xavier ' s first Doctoral Program in Psychology was initiated in 1997 . Xavier fully admitted women in 1969 , but women began attending the college in 1914 in the evening , weekend , and summer school divisions . Edgecliff College , another Catholic college in Cincinnati , merged with Xavier University in 1980 due to financial troubles . In 2000 , Xavier opened its doors to its new " living room " in the Cintas Center , an on - campus home for the Musketeers . Xavier also opened in 2002 the Gallagher Student Center . A new residential complex named Fenwick Place opened in the fall of 2011 as part of current campus expansion plans . Smith Hall and the Conaton Learning Commons opened in 2010 as part of the James E . Hoff , S . J , Academic Quadrangle . Fr . Hoff was the University ' s 33rd President , 1991 – 2000 . Fr . Michael J . Graham , S . J . , Hoff ' s successor and 34th President , still serves Xavier today . Athletics . Xavier competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Atlantic 10 Conference , and their mascot is D ' Artagnan the Musketeer . Xavier sponsors eight intercollegiate sports for men , and eight sports for women . The University ' s graduation rate of 94 % is the third highest graduation rate for athletes in the nation behind Duke University and Stanford University . Xavier sports teams have several traditional rivalries with local universities , including the University of Cincinnati and the University of Dayton . Xavier is currently a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference where it has enjoyed many successful basketball seasons . On March 20 , 2013 , the Xavier administration announced that the school will join the Big East in July . Men ' s basketball . The Xavier men ' s basketball team is perhaps the best known of the sports sponsored at Xavier . The team has enjoyed considerable recent success , reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament in 2004 and 2008 . Since 1985 , every men ' s basketball player who has played as a senior has graduated with a degree . Xavier is one of only two non - BCS schools to be listed among the top 20 most valuable programs in college basketball ( the other being UNLV ) according to Forbes . Football . Xavier fielded an NCAA Division I football team until the 1973 season . Club sports . The club sports program is designed to serve the interests of Xavier University students , faculty , and staff in different sports and recreational activities . These interests may be competitive , recreational and / or instructional in nature . Mascots . Xavier is one of a handful of universities with two mascots . D ' Artagnan , the Musketeer , is the university ' s official mascot and is the origin of the school ' s nickname , The Xavier Musketeers . The Musketeer concept was suggested in 1925 by the late Reverend Francis J . Finn , S . J . The Blue Blob is a furry creature that has made several television and magazine appearances over the years , including a controversial PlayBoy appearance . The Blue Blob has Bobble - Body dolls , Plush replicas , and T - shirts made in his likeness , and an annual Blue Blob Appreciation Night during the Musketeer ' s basketball season . He most recently appeared on two ESPN Sports Center commercials with Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jim Kelly and Sports Center anchors Scott Van Pelt and John Anderson . Media . Most Xavier games can be heard on WLW or WKRC - AM . Joe Sunderman does the play - by - play and Byron Larkin does color commentary . Fox Sports Net Ohio holds the local television rights to the Musketeers basketball games . Brad Johansen does play - by - play and Steve Wolf is the analyst . Over the air stations , WCPO - TV and WSTR - TV , have held the rights to Xavier games in the past . Notable alumni . Xavier has a number of notable alumni , including :