Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University is located in north Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Loyola University Chicago — known simply as Loyola University — 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.

Loyola University was entitled by the Illinois General Assembly on June 30, 1870 to confer degrees normally granted by universities. The institution was expanded to include Loyola University Medical School (established 1868) and Loyola University Chicago School of Law (established 1909). Loyola University was officially chartered on November 21, 1909 and Saint Ignatius College became the College of Arts and Sciences. The most recent expansion was the 1991 acquisition of 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. 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

The Loyola Ramblers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Horizon League, formerly the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. 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. As one of the winningest teams in the country, people spoke of Loyola's football team "rambling from town to town to victories." Today, Loyola University no longer has a football team. Outside of the NCAA regulated athletics programs, Loyola Ramblers also compete in non-traditional intercollegiate sports such as cricket, rugby and several extreme sports.

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.

Civil Rights Movement & 1963 NCAA Basketball Championship

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 (only surviving building of the Great Chicago Fire).

Past students

• Patrick H. Arbor, Chicago Board of Trade Chairman
• Susan Candiotti, CNN Correspondent
• Gery J. Chico, Chicago Board of Education President
• Sandra Cisneros, Author
• Edwin M. Conway, Bishop of Chicago
• William M. Daley, United States Secretary of Commerce
• Richard A. Devine, Cook County State's Attorney
• David Ferm, Business Week Publisher
• Richard L. Flanagan, Borders Group CEO
• Neil F. Hartigan, Attorney General of Illinois
• Henry Hyde, Congressman
• Jeffrey D. Jacobs, Harpo Entertainment Group President
• James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins Member
• Mary Ann G. McMorrow, Illinois Supreme Court Justice
• Mary Morello, Progressive Activist
• Bob Newhart, Actor
• Don Novello, Saturday Night Live Player
• Bill Plante, CBS Correspondent
• Michael Quinlan, McDonald's Corporation Chairman
• Daniel Quinn, Author
• Bill Rancic, The Apprentice Winner
• Dan Rostenkowski, Congressman
• John Roy, Comedian
• E. Arthur Stunard, DeVry Institute of Technology President
• Sho Yano, world's highest IQ, graduated at the age of 12

Prominent professors

• Franz Jozef Van Beeck
• T. Jerome Overbeck
• Louis W. Tordella

See also

• Loyola Phoenix Newspaper
• Loyola University Chicago Rome Center

External links

Loyola University campuses

• Loyola University (http://www.luc.edu)
• Loyola University Rome Center (http://www.luc.edu/romecenter)
• Loyola University School of Business (http://www.gsb.luc.edu/)
• Loyola University School of Education (http://www.luc.edu/schools/education)
• Loyola University School of Law (http://www.luc.edu/law/index.html)
• Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine (http://www.meddean.luc.edu/)
• Loyola University Niehoff School of Nursing (http://www.meddean.luc.edu/)
• Loyola University Medical Center (http://www.lumc.edu/)

Loyola University athletics

• Loyola Ramblers (http://www.loyolaramblers.com/)
• Horizon League (http://www.horizonleague.org/)
• Rambler Mania (http://www.ramblermania.com/)

Loyola University media

• Loyola Phoenix Newspaper (http://www.loyolaphoenix.com)
• Loyola University Webcams (http://www.luc.edu/webcam/)

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