Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic university founded by a saint. History Background Katharine Drexel, a Catholic nun possessing a substantial inheritance from her father, banker-financier Francis Drexel, founded and staffed many institutions throughout the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, in an effort to help educate and evangelize Native Americans and African Americans. Many of her chosen staff included sisters of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the religious order she founded and served in as the first Superior General. Aware of the lack of Catholic education for young black people in the South during Jim Crow, she planned to establish a high school in New Orleans. The chosen site had been previously occupied by Southern University on Magazine Street, a black institution which had moved to Baton Rouge after an influx of white neighbors petitioned for its relocation. Drexel sent the Josephite priest Pierre Oscar LeBeau to survey the property, to avoid public scrutiny and controversy, as her reputation for establishing black schools was well known. On April 13, 1915, Harry McEnerny, serving as Drexel's agent, purchased the property for US$18,000. She knew that the city and community would never approve a sale for a black institution, but by going through an agent, the sale was allowed; even so, vandals smashed all the windows after learning of Drexel's intent. High school era The high school opened on 27 September 1915 as Southern University of New Orleans, later re-named after Francis Xavier (the namesake of Katharine's father). In May 1916, it was incorporated under the title, "Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, of Louisiana," according to the laws of the state, and the new name, "Xavier University", was cut into the stone slab above the main entrance. (The high school, known as Xavier Prep, remained in operation until 2013; today, St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School operates from the same location.) In 1917, Xavier expanded to include a normal school to provide training for black teachers, as Archbishop James H. Blenk was eager for graduates to teach at six planned new black parishes. On September 9, 1921, the Louisiana Department of Education officially recognized "Xavier University" as a State Approved High School.