MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Keeping Xavier Vibrant and Strong

Dear Parents, Friends and Sons of Xavier:

Greetings from 16th Street. I am writing this letter on Gaudete Sunday, the mid-point of Advent. It is a beautiful day. It is in so many ways a perfect day for me to write. The shining sun, the blue skies and the cool breeze all speak to the hope of the season.

The Advent readings today anchor us in hope, in the goodness of God among us. Zephaniah tells us with confidence, “The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty Savior…” Not only is he in our midst, he “rejoices over us with gladness, renews us in his love and sings joyfully because of us,” each and every one of us.

This is a message I am happy to hear today, and every day. (You are likely reading this in February, in the midst of winter. It is a welcome winter message, too.) It is a message that we have worked to make real at Xavier since Fr. John Larkin, S.J. began this good work on Walker and Elizabeth Streets nearly 175 years ago. The “we” who work to make real the message of God’s love at Xavier is us, and always has been: parents, teachers, students, alumni, friends, Jesuits, and other religious. This message has been made real by our work, our gifts, our prayers, and our holy desires through the years. I have the privilege once again, on behalf of all of us, of saying thank you to each and every one of you for your part in our collective work.

Gratitude has the power to transform people and institutions. Many— dare I say most or even all—of the gifts recognized in this Annual Report

are gifts of gratitude for the gift of Xavier. One gift begets another. In the gift and the gratitude for that gift there is always an invitation to respond to goodness in goodness.

Isn’t that the gospel message? God’s goodness brought us into being. God’s love sustains us, and we, as best we can, like John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, “exhort one another in many other ways” and hopefully, in word and deed, “preach good news to the people.”

The Colonel Donald G. Cook, USMC ’52 Library of the Sons of Xavier Center greets you on the cover of this report. It is a wonderfully apt cover. The spirit of the room (you can actually feel it when you are there) is the spirit of Xavier: a spirit of gratitude, love, fraternity, and memory. It speaks to our history—a history that invites you boldly into the future, a future of service, scholarship, generosity, and gratitude. As we thank you in this report and mark our 175th anniversary year, we invite you into that future of service, scholarship, generosity, and gratitude. We hope you can boldly accompany one another in preaching the good news to the people.

“Gratitude has the power to transform people and institutions. Many—dare I say most or even all—of the gifts recognized in this Annual Report are gifts of gratitude for the gift of Xavier.”

I’m grateful to Michael Flynn ’14, Jim ’62 and Penny Lii Haybyrne, Robert and Elizabeth Rohn Jeffe, Tom Lamberti ’48, Luke and Nancy La Valle P’98, Mike and Carolyn Nicholson P’14 ’16, and Tom ’80 and Nancy Maher for helping us to tell the story of Xavier in this Annual Report. Their goodness and generosity represent the goodness and generosity of the thousands listed in these pages.

As we continue through the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it presents, your financial support, your service as volunteers, your prayers, and your good wishes for Xavier strengthen and sustain the work. You are responsible for our success. Thank you.

One of our hopes for our 175th anniversary year is to continue strengthening support for Xavier. Your support makes excellence at Xavier, in the classroom and out, a reality. It opens the doors to students who need financial support. It gives us resources to respond to families in need and it allows us to actively engage the community at large.

If you have given to Xavier in the past year, thank you. Please continue to do so. Consistent yearly giving is the foundation of the Annual Fund. And if you have been giving, please invite your classmates, friends and family to join you in your support of Xavier. Your encouragement to them is but another gift to us.

If you did not give last year, please consider giving this year. Please visit xavierhs.org/give or find us on Venmo (@XavierHS) now and make a gift that makes sense for you. In this anniversary year, it may be a first gift of $17.50, or a gift of $175, or for some a gift of $1,750 or beyond.

Every gift from $5 to $5,000 and beyond is a sign of solidarity with Xavier, her work and her mission. If we can make giving easier for you in some way, please call Shane Lavin ’03, our Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Services, at 212-337-7611.

Finally, if there is a particular reason you are not giving, we really would like to speak about it. Please feel free to call me at any time; my direct line is 212-337-7538. Please feel free to reach out to any member of the advancement staff as well—Mark Mongelluzzo P’25, Fr. Dennis Baker, S.J., Maggie Murphy Stockson, Shane Lavin, or Zane Massey ’96 P’22. All can be reached through the switchboard at 212-924-7900. Press 0 to be connected to our switchboard operator and receptionist, Carmela Barbieri P’10. She will happily connect you to any member of the staff.

Let me close where I began, with our Advent readings of Gaudete Sunday: May our “strength and courage be the Lord.” May our strength and courage indeed be the Lord, so we together keep Xavier vibrant and strong.

I hope to see you during our 175th anniversary celebrations. Be assured of my prayers.

Sincerely, Jack Raslowsky President