Weekly Update from the President

Dear Members of the University Community,

This week I want to bring you up to date on the Law School and its extraordinary odyssey this semester.

Shortly after Katrina struck law schools from around the United States accepted our second and third year students. The American Association of Law Schools and the American Bar Association designated our students as “transient” which means that they retain their Loyola status while they attend other schools.

At the same time we received an offer from the University of Houston to hold classes there. Under the leadership of Dean Bromberger the Law School has offered a full first year program as well as some upper level classes. Faculty and staff members have responded with generosity, and there are almost 200 first year students and 150 upper class student taking courses in Houston. Overall the enterprise consists of 40 scheduled classes and the Law Clinic. Twenty-nine members of the faculty have been involved, and seven members of the staff have relocated to Houston while five others have visited intermittently.

All in all this has been quite an achievement. And this whole enterprise is really grounded on great generosity. First we are indebted to the other law schools around the nation who welcomed our second and third year students. Then I am most grateful to the great generosity of the University of Houston. U of H has given Loyola, both the Law School and the Provost’s office, space and support without which this would not have been possible. And, there is the obvious generosity of our faculty and staff who have moved, or traveled to teach and make this operation a reality. And, I am very grateful to Dean Bromberger for his leadership for imagining this whole enterprise and for his hard work in making it happen.

On other fronts we are still working on housing for students, faculty, and staff. We continue to list housing options on the web page and we continue to seek housing alternatives for students, faculty, and staff. On Thursday evening, 1 December, we will ask the Kenner City Council for permission to put trailers on undeveloped property, owned by the University, in Kenner.

This week we began the registration process for children of faculty and staff members who would like to attend the Lusher School.

It has now been three months since Katrina so changed our lives. While the challenges have been great, and there have been numerous frustrations, the opportunities for the University, the City, and the Region are great. I am confident that we will be good stewards of those opportunities as we help bring new life to the City.

With prayers and best wishes,

Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D.

President

30 November 2005

Posted on December 1, 2005