By 1922, the school was described as the only Catholic institution in the United States that offered "a full four years' high school course to colored boys." While this may not be true, Xavier University was by far the most prominent Catholic institution offering such educational opportunities at the time. University founding In 1925, Xavier University of Louisiana came into being when the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was established, with the Josephite priest Edward Brunner as the first president. The Louisiana Department of Education officially recognized Xavier University as a four-year college on March 19, 1928, with the first degrees awarded that spring. The College of Pharmacy was next to be opened, in 1927. Alongside Drexel's sisters, the Josephites served as some of the school's first male teachers, and as chaplains. Recognizing the university's need for a separate identity and room to expand, Drexel bought a tract of undeveloped land for a campus on the corner of Palmetto and Pine Streets in 1929. To avoid blockage of the deal, Drexel again purchased the property through an agent. Construction of the U-shaped, Gothic Revival-style Main Building, Convent and Library, made from Indiana limestone and now on the National Register of Historic Places, were completed between 1932 and 1937. The Main Administration Building was dedicated by the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Dennis Joseph Dougherty, on Columbus Day, October 12, 1932. The Administration building is a City of New Orleans landmark. Modern history In May 1961, a group of Freedom Riders, arrived in New Orleans by plane after bus drivers in Alabama refused to take them to Montgomery, Alabama. Locals, aware of the fire bombings and other attacks against other Freedom Riders, refused to accommodate them with lodging out of fear of retaliatory violence. Norman C. Francis, the university's Dean of Men, secretly arranged for the group to stay several days in a dormitory on campus. He had received permission from University President Sister Mary Josephina to allow the group to occupy space on the third floor of St. Michael's Hall under the condition that the press would not be alerted as to the move. In 1987, Pope John Paul II addressed the presidents of all U.S. Catholic colleges from the courtyard of the Xavier administration building. When Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area in October 2005, Xavier, located in the lower-lying Gert Town section and adjacent to the Washington-Palmetto