Magis Moment: July 2023

A Message from the Vice President of University Advancement 

I’ve worked in education for a long time. Until today, I don't recall the end of an academic year feeling so much like the beginning of something at the same time.

Construction has begun on the Chapel of St. Ignatius and Gayle & Tom Benson Jesuit Center, with completion expected in mid-2024. We can already see the round footprint of the building as the workers prepare the foundation and lower elements of the outer walls. It’s already easy to visualize future Masses and other gatherings on the site, even at this early date.

Offices, such as our Counseling Center and Human Resources, are moving into new spaces in order to vacate Mercy Hall (the former Mercy High School) at Calhoun and Freret Streets. That building will be demolished this month to make way for a new residence hall.

Enough about buildings. The new beginning that is already having great effects on campus (and in my life at work) is Loyola’s new president, Dr. Xavier Cole. Many presidents start their tenures in July or August. I have so much respect for Dr. Cole’s decision to start June 1, because he saw how much he wanted to do and learn before new Loyola students arrive in mid-August. I’m grateful he and his wife, Susanne, made the brave move from cool Milwaukee to blazing hot New Orleans this early in the year. Great things are on the horizon.

So the end of 2022-23 at Loyola is perhaps more about beginnings. I’m comfortable with that.

If you’d like to help us in this time of new beginnings even as we close out 2022-23, please consider making a gift to the Loyola Fund. Nothing makes a new president happier than content and accomplished graduates. In the top five, however, is a strong bottom line on the operating budget. Any gift to the Loyola Fund before July 31, 2023, finishes one year strong and puts President Cole in a position of strength in his new endeavor.

AMDG, 

Chris Wiseman '88