Xavier University News November 30, 2021 Xavierite, Kirsten McGowan, Selected as Top 10 2021 Olay x Ebony HBCU STEM Queen Ebony Magazine's longest-running editorial franchise, the HBCU campus queens competition, commemorates Black collegiate women around the world poised to make positive changes in the African American community. The competition highlights brilliant students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs in collaboration with cosmetics company Olay. Xavierite Kirsten McGowan was selected as a Top 10 2021 Olay x Ebony HBCU STEM Queen. One thousand miles away from her native home of Chicago, Illinois, McGowan chose Xavier because she felt the university's environment, faculty, and students would provide her with a supportive foundation, similar to her family back home. She also valued that Xavier is rooted in faith and known nationwide for producing the most Black doctors in the country. As a first-year pharmacy student, McGowan found great comfort in the Xavier community as she transitioned into pharmacy school. "I switched from Pre-med to Pharmacy, a change that should have delayed me 1-2 years. Xavier's support allowed me to successfully pivot and that is how I knew God etched Xavier into my path," said McGowan. "After seeing the products of Xavier, it was never a question in my eyes that Xavier would blossom me into the young woman that God destined for me to be." Sandra M. Phoenix, Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance 678-210-5801 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Seek justice, honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/