A part of Xavier University of Louisiana’s rich story that has flourished for the past 100 years is that the university pushes its students and the faculty that trains them to go above and beyond. Faculty members at Xavier frequently are the blueprints for excellence for Xavier students, as they constantly pursue elevations in their careers and achieve their goals. Xavier professors Dr. Danielle St. Julien and Dr. Kim Vaz-Deville exemplify this pursuit of excellence in their most recent endeavor: being awarded the 2024 inaugural ALCS HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant. 

Formed in 1919, the nonprofit American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) was formed to support the creation and circulation of knowledge that advances understanding of humanity and human endeavors in the past, present, and future. The ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant Program was created to provide flexible support that attends to the research, teaching, and service commitments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This year, the program will support 20 HBCU faculty scholars pursuing exceptional research projects in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. 

“We are thrilled to award these outstanding scholars the inaugural ALCS HBCU Faculty Fellowships and Grants,” said ACLS president Joy Connolly. “Historically Black Colleges and Universities are a vital part of American higher education, with a long history of rich contributions to public knowledge and our nation’s social and political health. ALCS celebrates the commitment and brilliance of these awardees and applauds their institutions for fostering excellence in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.” 

Selected from a pool of more than 150 applications, Dr. St. Julien was recognized as one of eight fellows receiving up to $50,000 each to support long-term engagement with a significant research project. Likewise, Dr. Vaz-Deville was selected as one of 12 grantees who will receive $10,000 each to support early-stage project development and shorter-term projects. Each awardee will also get access to networking and scholarly programming that aligns with her academic goals and institutional contexts. An additional grant of $2,500 per awardee will also be awarded to Xavier University of Louisiana to support humanities programming or infrastructure. 

Dr. St. Julien is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Xavier. Her research explores the political uses of Black social mobility by national politicians and intellectuals to shape federal social welfare policy after 1968. Titled “Progress over Parity: America’s Battle to Define Racial Inequality after the Nineteen Sixties,” the book analyzes dozens of mid-1970s news articles on America’s growing Black middle class and traces their origins back to policy debates among Lyndon B. Johnson- and Richard Nixon-era politicians over the effectiveness of Great Society programs. 

“Thanks to this fellowship, I can visit several archival sites necessary to complete my research. I will use much-needed course releases to translate those archival findings into a couple of book chapters thanks to the support of both ACLS and my incredible department,” said Dr. St. Julien regarding the fellowship. “Most meaningfully, my work on the political uses of the black middle class will be informed by the experiences of our XULA students and our university's dedication to the social mobility of our Xavierites.” 

Dr. Kim Vaz-Deville is a professor in Xavier’s Division of Education and Counseling. Her project invites members of the New Orleans Baby Dolls, a significant Black Mardi Gras practice, to participate in performance-based workshops.  The workshops will connect those involved in this tradition to the Louisiana Creole language and culture at threat of being lost. The project aims to arm the participants with knowledge and skills. They can use this information to enhance and expand their performance repertoire and to gain a more equitable distribution of the cultural and economic wealth generated by their New Orleans’ heritage. Carnival in New Orleans simultaneously invokes leisure and displays the artistic craftsmanship of African-descended communities while serving as a platform for societal organization. This initiative is an intervention, addressing imbalances where the creators of this vibrant culture often do not reap the economic benefits generated by the influx of tourist and heritage dollars into the city.  

“With the recent death of one of the last Baby Doll maskers, 97-year-old Miriam Batiste Reed in June 2023, these traditions are at risk of being forgotten,” said Dr. Vaz-Deville. “Also, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared Louisiana Creole a critically endangered language. The funding will facilitate knowledge acquisition and transfer as the maskers will be able to use this education to inform the broader community about the city’s African American heritage.” 

Xavier’s faculty continues to push the boundaries of research and academia, and grants like the ALCS HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant expand their capacity for such while allowing their students more opportunities to be involved. ALCS developed the HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant program collaboratively with HBCU faculty and academic leaders through a series of on-campus workshops, discussions, and virtual focus groups. As Xavier prepares to enter the next 100 years of service, its faculty, like Drs. Vaz-Deville and St. Julien, look forward to developing the talented young minds yet to come to the nation’s only historically Black and Catholic university.