The boarding house is an integral and very important part of the Xavier College student community and has been since the school opened in 1878. Xavier College has a proud history of boarding and many boarders have gone on to make their mark in the wider community in a very wide range of careers including the law, accountancy, political life, medicine, teaching and farming. The Xavier College Boarding House prides itself on creating a community based on Catholic values where students and staff forge lasting bonds and where every student experiences a broad and challenging program. The boarders have a Jesuit chaplain and weekly celebrations of Mass are a feature of boarding life. The boarding staff is led by two members of the Xavier College teaching faculty who reside with their families on the campus. Their assistants are young men who are currently pursuing their own professional careers or tertiary studies, many of them past students of Xavier College. A resident nurse, supported by a team of health professionals, runs a well-equipped infirmary, which is available to boarders.