XULA

Xavier University of Louisiana is a small(2300 undergrads), traditionally black school in New Orleans started in 1925 by Katharine Drexel. Drexel, now honored as a saint by the Catholic church, was a Philadelphia heiress who became a nun and devoted her life and fortune to helping native and black Americans. 

We discovered Xavier through an article in the New York Times which described it as the school that had sent the most African Americans to medical school. Since then I've seen several other college evaluations rating Xavier as exceptional value for education received (tuition is $23,000 a year, less than half of most private schools.) Xavier is 70% African American students and over 70% women. Most students receive full or partial scholarships. A quarter of the students are pre-med and 90+% of those completing the pre-med program are admitted to medical school. Rochester University Medical School has a strong affiliation with 2-6 students a year offered early acceptance, summer school in Rochester and scholarships. A recent affiliation with UCSD sends Xavier students to San Diego to work in the biology department. Alumni are strong contributors, recognizing the valuable education they have received.

We decided to support Xavier because of the urgent need for black physicians. African American communities are poorly served medically and rates of chronic diseases are very high. Urban African Americans have four times the rate of severe kidney disease; twice the diabetes; an 80% greater risk of fatal stroke; and much more cancer. (Fuhrman, Fast Food Genocide, Harper One, 2017.) The major cause of this chronic disease is diet; fast and processed foods filled with sugar, fat, salt and chemicals are the dietary staples of this population.

Deb and I visited Xavier last week where I made a presentation on diet and nutrition to a group of public health and pre-med students. Students, faculty and staff are remarkable, many dedicated, intelligent, hard working people. The campus is filled with small study spaces each with a schedule of tutorial times from early morning until late in the evening. Faculty and upperclassmen help students as needed in every class. Xavier has fostered a strong spirit of cooperation rather than competition among the students. This is an institution where learning is taken seriously; even the dormitories are quiet to allow studying.