On October 14, 1999, President Yanikoski delivered a major address to students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees in commemoration of his five-year anniversary as president of Saint Xavier University. In this address, entitled "Countering a Culture of Impermanence: Reflections on Five Years as University President," President Yanikoski promised to "carry [SXU s] curriculum and co-curriculum into the community in ways that give students and professors meaningful opportunities to integrate theory with practice" and to "find more occasions to use the campus . . . as a site for discourse with the larger community of scholars, practitioners, and neighbors regarding ethical and civic matters."
In a powerful expression of this commitment, students from 50 high schools throughout Illinois gathered at Saint Xavier on October 17, 1999 to identify ways to resolve conflict without violence in the wake of the tragedy at Columbine High School. At Saint Xavier s High School Leadership Conference, students were addressed by the Attorney General of Illinois and the Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Sun Times, attended breakout sessions, and participated in a lively dialogue with a panel of experts in the field of youth violence. Breakout sessions focused upon such crucial topics as conflict resolution skills, violence in the media, gang issues, violence between the sexes, ethnic differences and violence, and substance abuse.
As President Yanikoski indicated in his address to the University community, Saint Xavier has a responsibility to "address ethical concerns, social responsibility, and other virtues and values that are of most worth in shaping individual character and the human community." The first annual Saint Xavier University High School Leadership Conference reflects this commitment to civic responsibility. But it is just one of many. Indeed, Saint Xavier operates or oversees more than 50 community-based programs and services throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, with a special emphasis upon meeting the needs of under-served communities.