More About Gert Town.
Not every dream that hatches in Gert Town is destined to soar in league the pelicans. This part of Howard Avenue is innominate, undefined, full of potential, sublime. The campus has modern art installed where appropriate. They are sculptures, if you can call them that. For whatever reason, there are no placards accompanying the work. The viewer is destined to remain ignorant of what he is looking at.
These are some sculptures that just speak and interact with their environment in terms of "planes," "forms," and "contours." If only to give the work the respect it deserves, if not to show off one's sensitivity, when saying these words, the whole body is used to convey their full meaning.
Xavier University of Louisiana isn't known for its art school. If this isn't already apparent by the public sculpture on display, go to the sixth floor of the library. That is where the school's art collection is kept. There are no windows. There is no seventh floor.
If you notice a Middle Eastern influence in the architecture, that is because much of the school's post-Katrina construction has been financed by the State of Qatar. No one knows why, on record, the Qataris are interested in the only Catholic Historically Black College and University (HBCU). What black scheme may the Inscrutable Emirate be up to? XULA is run by a secular board of trustees. Something is afoot.
Xavier University was founded by St. Katherine Drexel. It was originally run by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the order of nuns she founded. The sisters remain a religious presence but the last sister stopped teaching in 2024. R.I.P. Imagine a world without nuns. Something's not right.
The campus had long needed a place of religious respite in the world represented by I-10 in the background. Ask and you shall receive. Since 2012 Xavier University has a building designed by Cesar Pelli. He is a world-famous architect. Everyone who knows anything about architecture has heard of him.
The chapel is what you would expect from modern architecture. It seats 400. If you sit in the chapel on new student orientation day, you will learn that few of the students know anything about religion. Every docent knows the choir practices on Thursdays. They do not know what else goes on inside the chapel.
As an HBCU, 75% of XULA's student body is black. As a Catholic university, 18% of the student body is Catholic.
The Washington Avenue Canal runs along the side opposite campus of Howard Avenue. There is nothing romantic about it. Gert Town is a part of New Orleans in love with concrete. The canal is function over form, one slab of gray concrete after another. There is nothing picturesque about the matter. Weeds grow between the cracks.
Traditionally, XULA was staffed by nuns belonging to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and Josephite priests and brothers. Josephites belong to the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. They dedicate their lives to serving African Americans. The nuns are officially called Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. It is rare to see a sister at XULA.
Xavier University of New Orleans was established in 1915. The backatown land was cheap. Such has always been Gert Town's appeal. Katherine Drexel died at the age of 96, in 1955. She saw a lot of changes in her earthly life. The Blue Plate Building is no longer a mayonnaise factory.
Those in Heaven gaze down with the benign indifference that comes with accepting God's Providence.
Qatar is a Salafi Muslim monarchy. What possible interest could the Qataris have in a small liberal arts and pharmaceutical school in Louisiana? Something doesn't add up. They are Salafi Muslims. Let it sink in.
New Orleans, rightly or not, is known as a party town. Tulane University, rightly or not, has a reputation for being a party school. The other Catholic university in New Orleans, Loyola University, is tainted by association, being located next door to Tulane. Compared to Loyola, XULA is not a party school. XULA is known for its College of Pharmacy.
XULA is not the easiest pharmacy school to get into. That is the University of Kentucky. XULA also started a medical school program. Imagine a doctor from Xavier University.