Responding to the Call
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Dear Loyola Alumni and Friends,
At Loyola University Chicago, we are called. Called to learn. Called to serve. Called to heal and care for those on society’s margins. Called to bring hope. The enormous impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has called us together as one unified Loyola to overcome new obstacles and rise to meet extraordinary challenges.
At this very moment, many Loyola students and their families are facing job loss, income shortfalls, shrinking savings and health crises. There is a constant uncertainty when balance in their lives will return and the lasting impact that will emerge from this new, different normalcy. They are having to question if attaining the desired Loyola Chicago degree is still attainable under dire, unpredictable economic circumstances.
Since 1870, Loyola has provided a rigorous, impactful, affordable Jesuit education to students from all backgrounds. Over the decades, the light of our mission has always shined brightly—most especially in difficult times. In this, our 150th anniversary year, Loyola University Chicago again answers our call with the creation of The Loyola Commitment. With funding from our generous alumni, supporters, and friends, The Loyola Commitment will provide resources for additional financial aid to offset educational costs for students whose college progress and college degree dreams might be hindered, or even ended by diminished family finances.
Our most vulnerable students face immediate hardship and need previously unexpected support. However the scale of this crisis extends more broadly than imagined and is having a profound impact on students from many backgrounds who have not faced such a financial crisis before. This has direct implications for our enrollment and for the vibrant diversity of our community as a place of growth, experience, and opportunity. This pandemic may cause some student and families to opt out or drop out of college, a decision that can have lifelong consequences on the economic mobility of individuals, families, and communities. Our students cannot afford to lose the opportunity for this transformative Jesuit education when there can be an answer.
We have seen Loyola health care professionals serving others on the front line of the Coronavirus pandemic. Rambler faculty and alumni from disciplines ranging from public health, business, law, social work, sustainability, ministry and others have offered solutions, expertise, service, and comfort. Many of our staff have offered their talents and experience in unique and impactful ways. As Loyolans, they have offered the most direct evidence of what makes Loyola Chicago unique and how our mission is lived through action.
We are grateful to alumni and friends who have already stepped forward to support an initiative critical to the future of Loyola and its students. They are an inspiration and provide hope for our future, reminding us that our common values will see us through. Together we can ensure that our students continue the Loyola education that they have chosen, even during this unprecedented period.
Through 150 years that included wars, economic crises, pandemics, and social upheavals, Loyola has demonstrated its determination to provide access to education for talented students from all backgrounds. Time and again, alumni, friends, and supporters have stepped up to extend that extraordinary opportunity to new generations.
This is our time. We are called.
With Faith and Gratitude,
Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD
President
Learn more about the Loyola commitment by visiting http://www.luc.edu/calledtogether.
Dear Loyola Alumni and Friends,
At Loyola University Chicago, we are called. Called to learn. Called to serve. Called to heal and care for those on society’s margins. Called to bring hope. The enormous impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has called us together as one unified Loyola to overcome new obstacles and rise to meet extraordinary challenges.
At this very moment, many Loyola students and their families are facing job loss, income shortfalls, shrinking savings and health crises. There is a constant uncertainty when balance in their lives will return and the lasting impact that will emerge from this new, different normalcy. They are having to question if attaining the desired Loyola Chicago degree is still attainable under dire, unpredictable economic circumstances.
Since 1870, Loyola has provided a rigorous, impactful, affordable Jesuit education to students from all backgrounds. Over the decades, the light of our mission has always shined brightly—most especially in difficult times. In this, our 150th anniversary year, Loyola University Chicago again answers our call with the creation of The Loyola Commitment. With funding from our generous alumni, supporters, and friends, The Loyola Commitment will provide resources for additional financial aid to offset educational costs for students whose college progress and college degree dreams might be hindered, or even ended by diminished family finances.
Our most vulnerable students face immediate hardship and need previously unexpected support. However the scale of this crisis extends more broadly than imagined and is having a profound impact on students from many backgrounds who have not faced such a financial crisis before. This has direct implications for our enrollment and for the vibrant diversity of our community as a place of growth, experience, and opportunity. This pandemic may cause some student and families to opt out or drop out of college, a decision that can have lifelong consequences on the economic mobility of individuals, families, and communities. Our students cannot afford to lose the opportunity for this transformative Jesuit education when there can be an answer.
We have seen Loyola health care professionals serving others on the front line of the Coronavirus pandemic. Rambler faculty and alumni from disciplines ranging from public health, business, law, social work, sustainability, ministry and others have offered solutions, expertise, service, and comfort. Many of our staff have offered their talents and experience in unique and impactful ways. As Loyolans, they have offered the most direct evidence of what makes Loyola Chicago unique and how our mission is lived through action.
We are grateful to alumni and friends who have already stepped forward to support an initiative critical to the future of Loyola and its students. They are an inspiration and provide hope for our future, reminding us that our common values will see us through. Together we can ensure that our students continue the Loyola education that they have chosen, even during this unprecedented period.
Through 150 years that included wars, economic crises, pandemics, and social upheavals, Loyola has demonstrated its determination to provide access to education for talented students from all backgrounds. Time and again, alumni, friends, and supporters have stepped up to extend that extraordinary opportunity to new generations.
This is our time. We are called.
With Faith and Gratitude,
Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD
President
Learn more about the Loyola commitment by visiting http://www.luc.edu/calledtogether.