Ten frequently asked questions
Campaign Q & A
1. Why is Loyola starting a campaign now?
In the last few years, Loyola has undergone tremendous growth and transformation. We are harnessing that momentum to take Loyola to the next level, continuing our mission of access to deserving students and excellence in education, research, and patient care. This $500 million campaign will provide the programs, scholarships, facilities, and endowment to prepare future leaders who will make a difference in the world. We have already reached the $270 million mark and are looking for partners to help us achieve our goal.
2. Why combine the hospital and the university?
We are one Loyola. Loyola University Chicago and Loyola University Health System share the same history, foundation, guiding principles. We work in an interdisciplinary way today and expect even more collaboration in the future as we search for solutions to global issues and prepare tomorrows' leaders. A united campaign makes us stronger and better able to serve our patients, students, and the world.
3. What is the significance behind the campaign theme, "Partner?"
Any institution is only as good as the people behind it. Our campaign theme, "Partner," expresses our belief in forging bonds between individuals, and in those bonds of fellowship, creating a stronger foundation. In connecting a student in need of a scholarship with a benefactor, a patient with a caring nurse, a faculty member with a community organizer, we will take Loyola to the next level, person by person.
4. How will the money be spent?
Loyola is seeking funds for both long-term investment and immediate use. Two major priorities for us are student scholarships and research, and we need both types of funding for these critical initiatives. But we have dozens of needs across four campuses, from community health care to athletic facilities. We want to provide students the best resources for learning, patients the best care and support, and faculty the greatest opportunity for successful, interdisciplinary research. You can view our highest priority needs here, and all of our giving opportunities here.
5. What is an endowment?
Endowments represent the financial security that brings freedom and opportunity and are Loyola's way of investing in the future. An endowment sets aside a specific minimum amount of funding, allowing Loyola to invest the assets and spend only the renewable portion. Our most prestigious professorships and scholarships are funded through endowments. One measure of a university's stature is often the size of its endowment.
6. What is programming?
Programming funds are spent on Loyolas everyday needs. If a laboratory requires a new microscope, a student needs a little extra money to pay for tuition, or a faculty member requires money to attend a conference, it comes from programming funds. Endowments are important to the sustainability of a university, but programming funds are critical.
7. What new facilities are planned?
As part of our pursuit of greatness, every one of our campuses is undergoing a major transformation. At the Lake Shore Campus, we are decommissioning Damen Hall and erecting a new building in the likeness of Dumbach Hall, adding more green space, enhanced athletics facilities, and more. At the Water Tower Campus, a new business school that will house undergraduate, graduate and executive educating programs will rise across the street from the school's current location. And 25 East Pearson will host expanded law school programs as well as three floors devoted to undergraduate classrooms. In Maywood plans are underway to construct a new School of Nursing building, and we are looking forward to constructing a world-class research facility to support the important work of our physician researchers. Finally, we are on the cusp of finding a new facility for the John Felice Rome Center, to bring our famed program closer to the heart of ancient Rome.
8. How will the campaign change Loyola?
Good fortune has a way of multiplying itself in unpredictable ways. We expect more of our students to graduate with less debt, more lives to be touched by our medical research and care, and more community outreach. One of our main goals is to boost our overall endowment, which will help in all areas. We're especially intent on increasing our scholarship endowment so that more deserving students from all walks of life can have access to a Loyola education.
9. What are the Centers of Excellence?
Loyola's eight Centers of Excellence share faculty across disciplines to tackle some of society's toughest problems. The centers' work embodies the Jesuit call to faith to promote justice. From training math and science teachers to solving the riddle of urban/environmental interaction, the Centers of Excellence are a unique Loyola institution and a major priority for our campaign.
10. What are the major needs for the Health System?
The Health System plans to continue expansion of its new Hospital Tower and completely renovate the emergency department, addressing the needs of Loyola patients and renewing its commitment to serving them. Other priorities include constructing a new School of Nursing building, allowing enhanced collaboration between nursing and medical students as well as shared learning opportunities within a new clinical simulation center. A new research center is planned to support scientific study in cardiovascular medicine, oncology, infectious disease and immunology, neurobiology, and burn and shock trauma. The Health System also plans to renew its commitment to people through the endowment of faculty and research positions and student scholarship support.
