Rating Summary
“nice little campus with lofty visions- and room for improvement”
- pc-user, alumni, a college grad
Saint Xavier University —
SXU (or St Xav's as it's commonly known) is quite a good school, I give it a 3.5 rating, but round it up to four because of the whole number scale. Overall, the academics and intramural sports are great, the campus scene is a bit quiet as the campus is a bit small. Yet, the overall learning experience is excellent, as it accomodates to students' diverse backgrounds with interdisciplinary courses and extracurricular activities in an array of fields of inquiry (sports, philosophy, religion, music, politics, and my field, literature). Though I was a bit too much of a 'worrier' concerning my studies (and to a lesser extent, part-time work study experiences), so that I wasn't socially involved, I still felt the impact of the core values of the institution (hospitality, excellence, mercy, to mention a few) in simple everyday situations while I resided on campus and attended mass, for example General Colin Powell's speech in 2007 on the political state of the nation, the campus' effort to go green in many of its daily operations, and its local and national contributions to the community.
Academically, it's quite an excellent school, at least in my experience. As a liberal arts (English) major, I looked to continue building my analytical, writing, communication and critical thinking skills- and I've come along under the instruction of fine professors like Dr Ambrose and Dr Rossetti (in the English/Foreign language dep't. I believe that the broad liberal arts education has given me a framework for developing competency in the workplace and 'real life' situations. In my last semester (Spring 09), I received an Excellence in Writing Award, in hopes that this will be the first of many awards of obtaining an education at SXU.
My suggestions for improvement concern mainly the quality of the dining options provided by Dining Services. While we all realize that cafeteria food can never equal homecooked meals, it's a disappointment that for having quite a high tuition rate and for being a private school, that SXU does not offer premiere dining options to its students. Whether students live, study and work part or full time, on or off campus, all students should be able to enjoy healthy and tasty food; although a variety of foods are served, the problem is that they are not equal in freshness, preparation, or taste to the foods to which some students are accustomed (like me, of Hispanic Central American roots). I'm sure my hopes are a bit unrealistic for a caf, but on the other hand, more ethnic cuisine should be made available to future students, especially dorming students who must use their meal plan dollars . Even then, some students will want to buy their own groceries, eat out occasionally (SXU's Gilhooley's on 103rd and Pulaski is decent), and/or eat at home (as I did).
Overall, I recommend this school if you're academically and athletically centered, and want to be part of a close knit community that strives to be innovative in its approach to learning and creating the leaders of the 21st century.
Last edited on Jul 19, 2010
Saint Xavier University
