XAVIER COLLEGE PREP

Palm Desert, California (August 18, 2008) - A dozen Xavier students spent last week working alongside ex-gang members and community leaders during a week-long immersion trip at Dolores Mission, a Catholic parish in Boyle Heights, just east of downtown Los Angeles.

Directed by Xavier faculty member and coordinator of Xavier's Ignatian Center for Faith and Kinship, Colin Gilbert, the students had a chance to dialog with former gang members at Homeboy Industries, spend time with homeless immigrants at the Guadalupe Homeless Project, and assist with tutoring and mentoring though Proyecto Pastoral. "Gang violence is about a lethal absence of hope," states Fr. Greg Boyle S.J., Director of Homeboy Industries, an organization which provides jobs for ex-gang members using the slogan "Nothing stops a bullet like a job". Boyle, the recipient of the 2008 Leadership Award of the James Irvine Foundation, claims that "we are a whole lot more than the worst we've ever done" as he consistently offers gang members a second chance at life through concrete opportunities for rehabilitation and jobs. Adrienne Tiedeman, one of the Xavier students who participated on the trip stated, "My whole understanding of community service has changed. I thought we were coming to East LA to help "poor people" however they have given so much more to us".

As the Junior class enters Xavier they will begin their Junior Praxis Project which integrates an academic religious studies curriculum with first-hand experience with marginalized peoples. The students will be volunteering at sites such as Our Lady of Soledad Parish in Coachella and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Mecca collaborating with community members in projects ranging from tutor/mentor programs to food pantries.

The immersion to East LA and the Junior Praxis Project are just two of the programs born out of the recently founded Ignatian Center for Faith and Kinship. Named after the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius, this department will combine community outreach, faith and spirituality, and the religious studies curriculum as Xavier seeks to build relationships with underserved communities of the greater Coachella Valley.

About Xavier College Preparatory

Xavier College Preparatory is the culmination of several years of vision and planning for a Jesuit Catholic High School in the Coachella Valley. Currently offering Freshmen-Junior classes during the school year, the incredible campus offers lots of opportunity for growth and encompasses 96-acres, located off the I-10 freeway and Cook Street. The first phase included a 45,000 sf classroom building, a 45,000 sf Gymnasium, Hemstreet Baseball field and several practice fields. Future phases will include two additional classroom buildings, a Performing Arts Center, an Administration Building, a Religious Center with Chapel, an Aquatics Center and competition facilities for Football, Softball, Tennis and Track & Field. Go Saints!

# # #