Raven Holmes: A Compelling Attraction to Public Health Sciences It is altogether fitting that Raven Holmes will be among the first graduates from Xavier’s new Public Health Sciences program when she walks across the stage next May. She’s been on the front lines for community health for quite some time. A senior from Washington DC (Walter Johnson High in Bethesda MD), Holmes arrived at Xavier in 2009 with the sole intention of getting into medical school. And where better than XU, which is first among the nation’s colleges in the number of African American graduates who go on to complete medical school.
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Volume 19
Development Foundation in Buea, Cameroon, and the group is currently raising the funds necessary to promote a good hygiene and safe sanitation project there.
Winter 2013
“Just as in many rural areas of the world, too many people in
But during those intervening years that singular ambition was taken on a detour. First there was a death in the family that compelled her to attend college in Maryland for a full year [she returned to New Orleans upon realizing that XU was where she really wanted to be], followed by an overseas summer internship that altered her career focus. Lastly there was Xavier’s decision to offer a new major in Public Health Sciences (PHS) in 2012. Not that she has forsaken her original goal – she still plans to go to medical school and specialize in obstetrics. It’s just that her passion has been redirected towards working in a community setting, amongst the poorest and neediest of the world’s populations. She envisions herself one day working for an organization like Doctors without Borders, an international medical humanitarian group which provides independent, impartial assistance in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by natural and man-induced phenomenon. As a transfer into the fledgling PHS program, Holmes is in a unique position with relationship to medical school. Prior to entering the program, she had already taken several science courses not specifically required for the PHS degree, but pretty much considered sine qua non for medical school admission. She also possesses a lot of other intangibles that would be considered highly desirable. Her real world, hand-on experiences include a malaria research program internship at prestigious Johns Hopkins University, research on the impact of Vitamin A on pregnancy and infant growth in Bangladesh as part of another Hopkins project, and teaching health education to high school students through the Louisiana Public Health Service. And, by the way, she is quite fluent in French. Here at Xavier, Holmes is the founder and co-president of GlobeMed, a group that seeks to educate and train student advocates for global health equity by partnering with a grassroots organization overseas and building strong long-term relationships. XU’s GlobeMed partner is the Food and Rural
Thomas Walker: The Lights Come on in Paris (L-R) XU President Dr. Norman C. Francis, senior public health sciences major Raven Holmes, and the 18th Surgeon General of the United States and the new Endowed Chair in Public Health Sciences Dr. Regina Benjamin
Cameroon are becoming ill unnecessarily because they do not have access to safe drinking water or a place to bathe free of contamination,” said Holmes, who expects to be part of student group that travels to work on-site next summer. “Our hope is to raise enough funds to construct a community latrine and to raise awareness in these communities about how important sanitation is to their health.” For more information or to submit an online application for admission, please visit the Xavier website at www.xula.edu.
Office of Admissions Phone: (504) 520-7388 | Toll Free: 1 (877)-XAVIERU Fax: (504) 520-7941 | Email: apply@xula.edu
Paris is often referred to as “the City of Lights”. That’s precisely the effect it had on junior political science major Thomas Walker, who had a “light bulb” inside his own head click on while studying abroad in the French capital last spring. Back in 2012, Walker, who hails from Los Angeles CA (Frederick Douglas High), was floundering around as some sophomores are prone to do – not really sure about what he wanted to do and looking for some catalyst to ignite his passion. Much to his surprise, he found it one day when he wandered into one of the XU Center for Intercultural and International Program’s (CIIP) Study Abroad Fairs. “I had given some thought to studying abroad before, but it wasn’t until I talked with the reps at the fair and to (CIIP director) Mr. (Torian) Lee, did
I realize that it was really a feasible option,” he said. “In fact I was shocked how easy the process was.” Not the least among the surprising facts he learned about studying abroad: the cost of the program, which included a place to stay and most of his meals, was pretty much the same as his regular Xavier tuition would have been. His only real additional costs were for travel and some incidental living expenses. And as a result of his four months attending the American Business School in Paris through the International Study Abroad (ISA) program, Walker is no longer a floundering soul. He is, in fact, excited about his future, which he now envisions including law school and a career in international relations. But he’s not idling away his time at Xavier either. Since returning
he has become very active on campus, among other things, serving as an Ambassador for the CIIP and the Career Advancement Center. He finds he is much more focused academically as well. While in France, Walker picked up academic credits in the areas of political science, psychology, art history, and, of course, French. He was surprised by two things: how easy it was to pick up the language, and how hard art history turned out to be.
he was forced to learn how to get around on the Metro, to learn the language, and to learn how to make his own decisions. “There’s a nine-hour time differential between Paris and Los Angeles,” he laughed. “There was no calling Mom for some quick advice.” Having taken stock of himself, Walker is ready to take on the world.
Jade Romain: Language is No Barrier Every once and while, life throws you a curve ball; but it’s not always a bad thing. Such was the case for an unsuspecting Jade Romain, whose experience overseas last summer turned out to be a whole lot different than she expected. A senior speech pathology major from Los Angeles CA (St. Mary’s Academy), Romain traveled to Africa expense-free at the invitation of close friend, Teresa Langness, director and founder of Full Circle Learning, an international non-profit which provides educational services to community schools in developing countries around the globe.
“Paris is a great city to study art history – I got to visit the Louvre and numerous other great galleries and museums,” he said. “But it was a really difficult course to get through.” Walker attributes his rebirth to the self-dependency he acquired abroad. Living with an older couple in the city several miles from the school,
Enthusiastic members of Xavier’s new freshman class, (L-R) Teneaka White and Erica Greenwood, proudly display the Class of 2017 baseball caps they received during New Student Orientation’s annual “capping” ceremony. Xavier was pleased to welcome a freshman class of 675 into the fold for Fall 2013.
XU junior political science major Thomas Walker in Paris, France.
Told she would be teaching “character development” to pre-K/ kindergarten students (ages 2-7) in
Affording a Quality Xavier Education
an area of Lusaka, Zambia known as Chibolya, she was shocked to find herself in a situation where none of the children spoke any English. Needless to say Romain had failed to brush up on her Bemba, Tonga, Nyanja, or any of the other scores of languages spoken by the locals. Introduced only as the “new teacher”, Romain struggled early on to teach 60 children the alphabet, shapes, colors, numbers, and other such rudimentary skills with no educational materials other than what she had brought along herself, in a community school classroom with no desks, no chairs, and no windows – just holes in the wall for ventilation. continued on page 2
A Xavier education is well worth the investment that families make. The University takes great pride in the quality of its academic programs. The value-oriented educational environment and the many positive influences provided through the campus life programs supplement the formal classroom experience. A Xavier diploma is one that is recognized nationally and, indeed, around the world. XU graduates are prepared to compete for positions in the work-force and slots in graduate, medical and other professional schools. Xavier administers a broad array of financial aid programs, including scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study to assist in meeting a student’s demonstrated financial need. In addition, programs are available for families who continued on page 2