The Musketeer Club began as a social gathering of Xavier fans that “tailgated” in conjunction with Xavier athletic games, meeting behind the screened area on the west side of Schmidt Fieldhouse in 1938. The earliest Constitution was dated 1962, and its purpose was to develop interest in Xavier University, to encourage enrollment of deserving young men in various courses of higher learning, and to
give active support to the total University athletic program. In 1979, the decision was made to raise the basketball program to national prominence, and the Club undertook the true meaning of a booster club by upgrading the basketball facilities, renovating the basketball coaches’ offices and locker rooms to give a more professional appearance to recruits, negotiating use of a large room in the Cincinnati Gardens when the decision was made to move Xavier’s home games there, and spending many hours and $30,000 to change that room into the Musketeer Club lounge. In 1989, the Club was formally brought under the University to preclude potential NCAA violations dealing with booster clubs on all college campuses. During the 1990s, the basketball program continued to grow, and the Musketeer Club grew with it. With basketball being self-sufficient, money raised by the Club’s fund raising efforts was able to support athletic programs other than basketball. The Club supplemented unfunded sports activities and upgraded athletic support groups, such as cheerleaders and band. It also initiated an annual awards program in which all Xavier athletes, from all sports were recognized in the same manner. It expanded its annual hosting of basketball banquets to include the women’s program. The Musketeer Club was most proud when the Cintas Center opened and provided the campus with a first-class athletic facility in November 2000, with the first men’s basketball game played in the Cintas Center, versus Miami University. At that inaugural game, the Musketeer Club presented to the Reverend James E. an oil painting showing him surrounded by his beloved athletes. The portrait currently hangs on the southwest wall of the facility. In 2003, the Musketeer Club reconstituted itself solely as an organization of fans that follow Xavier athletics. The Club currently hosts events and activities that along the original “tailgating” days in 1938.
