Celebrating Our Sesquicentennial

July 19, 2019

Dear Loyola Community,

We are writing to update you on some of the plans we have for the celebration of our first 150 years as Loyola University Chicago. Starting this fall and extending through December 2020, Loyola will mark our sesquicentennial with events, festivities, and symposia. During this next year, we will gather to share stories about the way the University has educated generations of students; transformed communities; shaped the practice of law, research, medicine, nursing, and education; and deepened our cultural expression of the humanities, sciences, and the performing arts. We will celebrate our past, and we will envision our future.

While our 150th observances will begin in the fall of 2019, more robust programming is planned for the entire calendar year of 2020. The official foundation of Loyola is September 5, 1870, the first day of classes at the original St. Ignatius College; a number of events will occur around that historic date. In addition, Loyola is honored to host the 2020 Opus Foundation Prize, a prestigious faith-based humanitarian award recognizing leaders and organizations producing creative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. Our 150th celebration will culminate with events around the presentation of this award in November of 2020.

Plans are also underway in a number of departments and units throughout the University to customize celebrations that will commemorate unique ways in which each has contributed to a better world. To provide support and coordination, faculty, staff, and students from every corner of the University are being invited to serve on the 150th Celebration Committee.

We encourage you to give your input, ideas, memories, and memorabilia to help mark the anniversary in ways that are deep, meaningful, fun, and festive. We encourage you to reach out to your department, unit, or to the Committee via luc150@LUC.edu.

We look forward to collaborating with many of you as we continue to advance our mission in the world.

 

Sincerely,

Jim Prehn, SJ

Vice President, Chief of Staff, Rector of the Jesuit Community

 

Janet Sisler

Vice President for Mission Integration