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Loyola University Chicago

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Loyola University Chicago

Shield of Loyola University Chicago

Motto Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Slogan Chicago's Jesuit University
Preparing People to Lead Extraordinary Lives
Established June 30, 1870
Type Private Jesuit Catholic
President Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
Location Chicago, Illinois
United States
Enrollment 7,500 undergraduate
5,500 graduate
Faculty 1,100 full time
Campus 45 acre (182,000 m²) Lake Shore Campus
70 acre (283,000 m²) Maywood Campus
5 acre (20,234 m²) Rome Center
Athletics 11 NCAA Division I teams
Mascot Lou Wolf
Colors Black, Gold and Maroon
Homepage www.luc.edu

Loyola University Chicago is a private co-educational religious-affiliated university established in Chicago, Illinois in 1869 as Saint Ignatius College. It was founded by the Roman Catholic religious order of the Society of Jesus and bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The school is one of twenty-eight member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

Beginnings and expansions

Founded in 1870 as the St Ignatius College on Chicago's West Side. In 1908 the School of Law was established as the first of the professional programs. St Ignatius College changed its name to Loyola University in 1909, while also adding the Stritch School of Medicine. 1923 saw the affiliation of the Chicago College of Dental Surgery with Loyola University, later to be known as Loyola University School of Dentistry. In 1934 West Baden College affiliates itself with Loyola University, later to be known as the Bellarmine School of Theology then the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago. Loyola University established the School of Nursing in 1935, the first fully accredited collegiate school of nursing in the state of Illinois. Loyola then opened the Rome Center for Liberal Arts in 1962, the first American university sponsored program in Rome. 1969 saw the establishment of the School of Education and the opening of the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. In 1979 the School of Nursing is renamed the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. The most recent expansion was the 1991 acquisition of neighboring Mundelein College from the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Main campuses

Loyola University is anchored at the Lake Shore Campus (on the shore of Lake Michigan) in Rogers Park, the northernmost neighborhood of metropolitan Chicago. Loyola has developed a ten year master plan that is designed to revitalize the community by adding an updated arts center as well as a retail district called "Loyola Station" near the Loyola el stop of the CTA. Among many others, the science departments are located on this campus. Loyola also has a Water Tower Campus in downtown Chicago on the Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue, steps away from such landmarks as the Water Tower (one of the only structures to survive the Great Chicago Fire) and the John Hancock Center (one of the tallest buildings in the United States). The School of Business Administration and the Law School are located at the Water Tower Campus (previously Lewis Towers), and many other classes are held at this campus.

Chicago's Jesuit university also boasts a campus in Rome, Italy. Loyola University Chicago Rome Center was established in 1962 on the site of the 1960 Summer Olympics grounds. It moved to several locations in Rome until finally settling in Monte Mario on the Via Massimi, one of the most affluent districts of the Italian capital. The campus offers a full academic year for Chicago-based Loyola University students wishing to study abroad.

Loyola University of Chicago has a medical school, the Stritch School of Medicine, and a hospital and medical center associated with them, all located on a campus in Maywood, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The former Mundelein College is located just south of the Lake Shore Campus. The former Niles campus no longer exists.

Religious education

Religious education is still one of Loyola University's hallmarks as home to Saint Joseph College Seminary as well as the Jesuit First Studies program. First Studies is one of the nine-year phases towards the Jesuit priesthood and is administered by the Jesuit Chicago Province. Saint Joseph College Seminary serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and provides vocational training to candidates of diocesan priesthood. Loyola University also provides rigorous religious education for those seeking careers in lay ministry with the Loyola University Pastoral Institute as well as degree opportunities in interdisciplinary Catholic studies.

Loyola Ramblers

Shield of the Loyola Ramblers
Shield of the Loyola Ramblers

The Loyola Ramblers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Horizon League, (formerly the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) and the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association for Men's Volleyball. Loyola University boasts men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, track, golf, soccer, softball and volleyball. The Loyola Ramblers title is originated in the late 1800s as a nickname given to the school's football team. Today, Loyola University no longer has a football team. The standing joke is that the team is undefeated since 1930 (year might be incorrect.). Outside of the NCAA regulated athletics programs, Loyola Ramblers also compete in non-traditional intercollegiate sports such as cricket and rugby.

Additionally, in recent years Loyola students have become integral in the resurrection of Hurling, still a major collegiate sport in Ireland and England, in the United States.

The Loyola Ramblers mascot is Lou Wolf. Lou Wolf was inspired by the Basque coat-of-arms of Saint Ignatius of Loyola depicting two wolves over a kettle. The popular mascot, which had become a Chicago institution through several generations, received a facelift over the summer of 2000.

They also have a heated rivalry with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Civil rights movement and the 1963 NCAA Basketball Championship

File:1963loyolaramblers.jpg
On March 24, 1963 the Chicago Tribune headline read, "Loyola Rules U.S." in reference to the blow the Loyola Ramblers made against two-time defending NCAA Division I champs, Cincinnati. The 1963 Loyola Ramblers is the only Illinois team with an NCAA Basketball Championship title.

The 1963 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and the obstacles faced on the team's road to victory in a racially segregated country put Loyola in the national spotlight. Before the championship, there was a gentlemen's agreement among college teams limiting how many black players could play during a game. In 1961, Loyola head coach George Ireland broke the gentleman's agreement by fielding four black players at every game. He made history that year at a game against Wyoming, with Loyola being the first Division I team ever to field five black players in competition.

After winning Round 1 of the national championship tournament on March 11, 1963 against Tennessee Tech, Loyola Ramblers were scheduled to play Round 2 against Mississippi State, which practiced racial segregation. Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett banned the Mississippi school from traveling to the tournament to play against Loyola's black players. Sending a decoy team to divert state police, the Mississippi team successfully sneaked out of the state to play the Ramblers. Loyola won and went on to beat Illinois in its regional final and Duke in the national semifinals. At the NCAA Final, newspapers reported that the Ramblers didn't have a chance against Cincinnati, the two-time defending national champions. In one of the closest games in the season, Loyola became the first and only team in Chicago, and in the state of Illinois, to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Landmarks

Landmark sites are found throughout Loyola University: Alumni Gymnasium, Cudahy Observatory, Dumbach Hall (formerly Saint Ignatius College), Granada Center (formerly Granada Theater), George Halas, Jr. Sports Center, Madonna Della Strada Chapel, Martin D'Arcy Museum of Art, Skyscraper Building (formerly the tallest building in Chicago), Water Tower (one of the only surviving civic buildings of the Great Chicago Fire).

Notable alumni

Prominent professors

See also

Loyola University campuses

Loyola University athletics

Loyola University media

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