For some years, the president of Xavier University hosted a dinner for the members of the faculty at which distinguished faculty were honored. It is not known when this dinner was first introduced, but it existed in 1974, the first year for which materials are available in this collection. It occurred in the spring of the year.

Sometime in the early 1980s, the event was changed to a reception to which all administrators, faculty, and staff were invited and at which retiring employees and those celebrating 25 years of service at Xavier were honored. This continued to take place in the spring, although for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s there was also a Presidential Reception in the fall.

Beginning in 1995, it became the custom to honor all employees who were celebrating a 5 year service anniversary of employment at Xavier in addition to the retirees.

The invitations and programs were produced, mailed, and distributed first by Xavier's Office of University Relations, then by the Office of Special Events and Protocal (on behalf of the Office of the President), and then by the Office of the President with support from the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 reception was not held in person and individuals were honored with an online tribute.

The last President's Annual Reception was held in spring 2022. In a March 2023 Today at Xavier announcement, it was shared that "Beginning this year, Xavier will restructure end-of-year employee recognition ceremonies to more efficiently and effectively celebrate faculty and staff, their accomplishments and their contributions to the university. Xavier will host the Xavier Faculty and Staff Awards Recognition in May. Held in place of the President's Reception and other annual celebration events, the event will feature university awards and presentations from various offices and departments on campus. The event will also include recognition of employee service milestones, a celebration of retirees, celebration of the Xavier mission and identity and appreciation of faculty, adjunct faculty and staff.This singular, year-end celebration is designed to bring all Xavier employees together to recognize and celebrate excellence as a united campus community. The event comes as part of an administrative effort to make campus recognition and awards programming meaningful to employees - feedback Xavier faculty and staff provided through the 2021 Great Colleges to Work For survey."