8. Xavier University
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan is a private, Catholic university run by the Society of Jesus in Cagayan de Oro, Northern Mindanao, Philippines. Founded in 1933 as the Ateneo de Cagayan, it became a university in 1958, when it was given its present name in honor of the Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier.
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan was founded on June 7, 1933, as the Ateneo de Cagayan by an American Jesuit missionary, Fr. James T. G. Hayes, S.J., who later became the first Bishop and Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro. It was first located at Burgos Street by the former St. Augustine Parochial School, and began with 17 first-year high school students. Cagayan de Oro, then Cagayan de Misamis with a population of around 50,000, was a principal port and fast-growing town. The school grew with the community and opened college courses in June 1938 and grades 5 to 7 in June 1940, accommodating students from Mindanao and Visayas.
Rector Fr. Francisco Z. Araneta, S.J., placed his efforts to achieve university status under the patronage of Francis Xavier, and when he succeeded he added this saint’s name to the university. In 1958 it became the first university in Mindanao to receive university status, a year before its sister school Ateneo de Manila. At the inauguration banquet Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia received the first honorary degree conferred by the university.