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XAVIER UNIVERSITY 11 OF LAST 12 NCAA TOURNAMENTS • GOXAVIER.COM 173 GRAHAM/KUCIA FATHER MICHAEL J. DR. JOHN F. GRAHAM, S.J. KUCIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT | 17TH YEAR ADMINISTRATIVE VICE PRESIDENT CORNELL COLLEGE ‘75 34TH YEAR CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA XAVIER ‘69 CINCINNATI, OHIO In 2017 Michael J. Graham, S.J. was asked to chair the Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Graham entered the Society Dr. John F. Kucia is administrative vice president and the principal assis- Cincinnati Preschool Promise Board of Directors, a voter of Jesus in 1978 and was ordained a priest in 1988. He tant to Xavier President Michael J. Graham, S.J. Kucia oversees Xavier’s approved initiative to insure that quality preschool is avail- earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University Intercollegiate Athletic Program, the Cintas Center, Property Acquisition, able and affordable to all children living within the Cincin- of Michigan in 1983 and also holds degrees in philosophy Human Resources, Community Building Institute, Government Relations nati school district. and psychology. Graham came to Xavier in 1984 when he and University Marketing and Communications. joined the Xavier faculty as an Assistant Professor of His- The impact of Graham’s academic and community-based tory. He left Xavier to pursue his Master of Divinity from Kucia has spent nearly 40 years as a practitioner of collaborative leader- vision is far reaching. Xavier has been listed among the na- the Weston School of Theology, which he earned in 1988. ship in the fields of health care and higher education, specifically in the tion’s top 10 Midwest Universities by U.S. News & World areas of strategic planning, leadership development and training, organi- Report, since Graham began his presidency. Academic pro- In 1989, Graham returned to Xavier and in 1994, was ap- zational change, intercollegiate athletics, property acquisition and urban grams established under Graham’s leadership include mas- pointed Vice President for University Relations. In 1999, redevelopment. He has drawn upon his extensive experience to research ter’s programs in Coaching Education and Athlete Devel- he became the Executive Assistant to the President. Dur- the unique and unstudied topic of “the way leaders think, developing the opment, Health Economic and Clinical Outcomes Research ing these tenures, he oversaw a broad range of University premise that leaders are built from the inside out.” Dr. Kucia and co-author and Customer Analytics. activities including a $125 million capital campaign, at that Dr. Linda Gravett, wrote the book Leadership in Balance: New Habits of time the most successful fundraising campaign in Xavier’s the Mind which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in April 2014. Their His passion to connect and collaborate with local and re- history. website is www.leadershipinbalance.com. gional communities inspired him to establish the Commu- nity Building Institute as well as the Eigel Center for Com- As a parish priest active at both Good Shepherd Catholic Kucia earned a bachelor’s degree in political science (1969) and a master’s munity Engagement at Xavier. The Edward B. Brueggeman Church in suburban Cincinnati and with Xavier student degree in guidance and counseling (1972) from Xavier and a doctorate in Center for Dialogue was also established during Graham’s groups, Graham carries out his Jesuit pastoral activities as higher education management (2004) from the University of Pennsylvania. tenure and positions Xavier as a pre-eminent place for in- a celebrant for weddings, baptisms and retreats as well as terreligious discourse, thought and action. Xavier’s part- weekly Sunday worship. Kucia was named director for alumni relations in 1984, assistant to the nership with the cities of Norwood and Cincinnati resulted president in 1986 and a University vice president in 1990. Kucia and his in University Station, a mixed-use development with a goal In addition to Cincinnati Preschool Promise, Graham cur- wife Mary (M.Ed. ’76) have five children: Kristin (’91), John (’93), Peter (’95) to revitalize the surrounding community. Likewise, Xavier’s rently serves on the Center for the Holocaust and Humani- and twins Emily (’02) and Ellen (Loyola, Chicago ’02) and 12 grandchildren. current affiliation with TriHealth will bring a multi-use- aca ty Education, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universi- demic and recreation facility to campus in the near future. ties, Gonzaga University in Spokane, St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and is Chair of the Association of Jesuit Col- Graham’s initiative to strengthen Xavier’s Jesuit heritage leges and Universities (AJCU) Board of Directors. and spirituality can be found in the Ruth J. and Robert A. Conway Institute for Jesuit Education, which assists fac- ulty in transforming students, and in numerous programs based in the Center for Mission and Identity that engage faculty and staff in Jesuit heritage and values. Graham’s passion for Xavier is 24/7. He lives on campus in a residence hall where he frequently invites his ‘hall-mates’ to dinner and presides over the 10 p.m. Sunday Mass, one of the most popular student gatherings on campus. 174 SIX SWEET 16s IN LAST 10 YEARS • @XAVIERMBB GREG CHRISTOPHER GREG CHRISTOPHER DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS | FIFTH YEAR MIAMI UNIVERSITY ‘88 WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. Greg Christopher began as Xavier’s new Direc- Christopher, who spent the previous six-and-a-half Miami University in 1988 and earned his MBA from tor of Athletics in May of 2013, taking over just as years as the Director of Athletics at Bowling Green Miami in 1991. A former linebacker, he played foot- Xavier was preparing for its first season in the BIG State University, is the 11th athletic director in Xavi- ball for one season before his career was cut short EAST Conference. Christopher oversees Xavier’s 18 er history. Christopher oversaw 18 sports at BGSU, due to injury. While at Miami, Christopher was also intercollegiate athletic programs and 300 student- which is a member of the Mid-American Confer- involved as a television and radio color commentator athletes. ence (MAC) and Western College Hockey Association for football and play-by-play voice for hockey. (WCHA). Christopher, who took over this year as the chair of Christopher went to Bowling Green the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, also served as from Purdue University, where he chair of the BIG EAST’s Long-Range Planning Com- worked from 1997-2006 as Associate mittee, the working group that put together the A.D. for External Relations and John league’s first strategic plan. While at Bowling Green, Purdue Club Director. He was account- Christopher completed a four-year term on the able for external and revenue-related NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship areas at Purdue. Committee in 2012, and served as chairman of the committee in his final year. Christopher served as Executive Direc- tor for the Society of Professional Jour- A native of West Lafayette, Ind., Christopher is mar- nalists in Greencastle, Ind., from 1994 ried to the former Tina Smith of Leetonia, Ohio. Tina to 1997 after joining the organization taught high school English at St. Ursula Academy in in 1991 as its Marketing and Develop- Toledo. Also a 1988 graduate of Miami, Tina received ment Director. Prior to working with her bachelor’s degree in Education and earned her SPJ, Christopher worked with Eure Master’s in Guidance and Counseling in 1995 from Communications and WCHV/WWWV Butler University. Greg and Tina have a son, Zachary in Charlottesville, Va., from 1988-90. In and two daughters, Megan and Allison. Megan is a that capacity, he managed and sold sta- sophomore on the Xavier women’s basketball team. tion promotions, including partnerships with the athletics program at the Uni- versity of Virginia. He also worked with the page program at NBC in New York in 1988 where he served as a research analyst. Christopher earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from nearby 11 OF LAST 12 NCAA TOURNAMENTS • GOXAVIER.COM 175 MUSKETEER TRADITION AND MASCOTS Why Musketeers? The Tradition Among the first students at Xavier in the decade of the 1830’s were French-speaking young men from Louisiana The Musketeer concept was based on the suggestion of who were forbidden by the college regulations to use the late Reverend Francis J. Finn, S.J., a member of the their family tongue during recreation lest they fail to Xavier University Board of Trustees for many years until learn the English language. his death in 1928. In response to a directive from the Trustees, Father Finn proposed the name Musketeers in 1925. It was adopted and has been a Xavier designation The first Jesuit Priest of Xavier, in 1840, was Father John ever since. Anthony Elet, a native of the French-speaking provinces of Belgium. In naming the Musketeers, Father Finn was not only giving rebirth to a concept of chivalry that is among The great patron of the University, St. Francis Xavier, a France’s most treasured traditions, but he was also native of Spain, received his university education at the providing permanent recognition to Xavier’s strong ties College of St. Barbe at the University of Paris and he with French origins and culture. helped found the Jesuit Order in Paris in 1540. The first priest, and one of the first Europeans to navi- So, as Father Finn reasoned, the Musketeer, a dedicated gate the Ohio River past the site that was to become Cin- guard of the King of France, was a fine symbol of the cinnati, was a Jesuit from French Canada named the Rev. qualities that should inspire the students and particu- Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps. He was a scientist and larly the athletic teams at Xavier University.

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