Catholic university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university enrolls 3,749 students.
== History ==
Saint Xavier University was founded as a women's college by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846 at the request of William Quarter, Bishop of Chicago. With the City of Chicago less than 10 years old, the religious sisters, under the guidance of Mary Francis Xavier Warde, established Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy. The academy, which would later become Saint Xavier College, and finally Saint Xavier University, was the first Mercy College and is the oldest chartered college in the city of Chicago.
In the year 1846, five sisters of Mercy were sent to the city of Chicago from Pittsburgh to start Catholic work in the new city. The original campus (then referred to as an academy), soon gained, in 1847, a state charter which allowed for the granting of degrees from the academy. After this location on Wabash Avenue between Madison and Monroe in downtown Chicago) burned …
