Above: Fr. McShane with President Jack Raslowsky, members of the Xavier
Jesuit Community, and members of the Class of 2016 heading to Fordham this fall.

Fordham President Joseph McShane, S.J. Visits Xavier

Fordham University President Joseph McShane, S.J. journeyed to 16th Street on May 5 to concelebrate Xavier’s Ascension Thursday Mass and to hand over a piece of history—his own, and Xavier’s.

The son of Owen McShane ’29, he grew up with a great fondness for Xavier and its mission. “My father kept his Xavier saber and the tunic he wore when he was a member of the corps of cadets,” he told students. “Xavier never left him.”

Although McShane’s brothers went to Fordham Prep and he attended Regis High School (or, as he called it, a school “whose name cannot be mentioned in polite society”), “we received a Xavier education from my father.”

After Communion, McShane presented the saber and tunic to Student Leadership Council President Justin Westbrook-Lowery ’16, who proudly accepted the items on behalf of Xavier. (Westbrook-Lowery, a Bronx native, will attend Fordham this fall.)

McShane exhorted students to heed the words (emblazoned in Latin) that are visible as one exits the Church of St. Francis Xavier: “This is nothing other than the house of God and the gate to heaven.” Normally, McShane said, those words would be visible as one enters a church. “But for Sons of Xavier, that’s not the case,” he said. “The house of God and the gate to heaven are in the world—a world you are called to serve and set on fire.”

Xavier extends its warmest thanks to Fr. McShane for visiting with us on 16th Street.