St. Aug opened its doors on August 26, 1951 with the purpose of motivating young black men to excel academically, spiritually and socially. Started by the Society of St. Joseph, or the Josephites, the school was named for St. Augustine of Hippo. The Archdiocesan Superintendent of Education, Monsignor Henry Bezou, chose the name to reflect the heritage of St. Augustine, an African. As St. Augustine is known as "the Doctor (educator) of Grace", the Josephites chose to make the school's motto, "Gratia Est Vita" or "Grace Is Life". The school's first principal was Fr. Matthew O'Rourke, who later became the school's first president and who also wrote the book about St. Aug, "Between Law and Hope".
From the beginning, the Josephites' intensions were to motivate the young men by showing them respect. Former mayor of New Orleans, Sidney Barthelemy reflects on this in "Between Law and Hope". He said, "'The priests called you 'Mister.' Think of that. At the young age of thirteen, we were being given the title, 'Mister,' when in the general society you called 'boy.'"
This bred the winning attitude that the Josephites hoped it would breed. St. Aug showed excellence in education by producing 6 Presidential Scholars, 13 National Merit Scholars and 131 National Achievement Scholars over the years. St. Aug has also shown extracurricular excellence through a highly successful athletics program, an award-winning nationally recognized music program (including the "Marching 100", the jazz ensemble and the concert band), a consistent winning speech and debate team; and other activities.
Indeed extracurricular activities have been a successful outlet for Purple Knights. Outside of the athletics program, organizations such as the Speech & Debate Team, The Singing Knights, the Chess Club, the Academic Games Team, Varsity Quiz Bowl and others have helped St. Aug students display their leadership outside of the classroom.
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