Faith in the Future: Loyola University New Orleans Wraps Up $100 Million Fundraising Campaign

(New Orleans, La. – October 8, 2019) With deep gratitude and great joy, Loyola University New Orleans announces completion of its $100 million Faith in the Future fundraising campaign. Nearly 20,000 donors have contributed more than 70,000 gifts totaling $101 million, making the campaign the most ambitious and successful in the university’s 108-year history.

“With incredible generosity, supporters from all over the world have come together to position Loyola as a leader in higher education for our next hundred years,” said President Tania Tetlow. “The Faith in the Future campaign will provide opportunity for generations of students to come and will invest in the academic excellence that transforms their lives.  That is our mission.”

“From the smallest gift to the greatest gift, donor contributions have secured Loyola’s excellence and mission and made a powerful difference to both academics and everyday life on campus,” said S. Derby Gisclair ‘73 and Anne Gauthier, Loyola trustees and campaign chairs.  “Because of these gifts, Loyola has more than 114 new endowments, more scholarship dollars than ever before, (more than $36 million in new scholarship gifts), and $22 million in renovations. Upgrades include extensive renovations to Monroe Hall — a state-of-the-art facility where 40 percent of undergraduate classes take place — and improvements to the Recreational Sports Complex enjoyed by students, alumni and members of the New Orleans community.”

“Approximately 87 percent of undergraduate students at Loyola receive some sort of financial aid, and so, new scholarships have a profound impact on the student body, a large percentage of which comes from in-state,” Gauthier said. “New resources at Loyola, like the Pan-American Student Success Center, Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development and Law Advocacy Center, are also training tomorrow’s workforce. As a large number of our alumni choose to stay in Louisiana, we are making a difference on campus and in our community.”
 
“A win for Loyola is a win for our community,” Gisclair said, noting Loyola as a center of academic excellence and major contributor to the city and state economies. “By investing in Loyola, our donors are investing in the future of our city.”

Gifts have included a $10.5 million gift from the estate of Maedell Braud, a former Loyola employee, the largest single gift in Loyola history, as well as large gifts from generous philanthropists, including the Gayle and Tom Benson Foundation (the Tom Benson Jesuit Center and Benson scholarships) and the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation (Taylor scholarships). It has garnered more seven- and eight-figure gifts in 8 years than in Loyola’s previous 100 years.

Since its founding in 1912, Loyola has enjoyed a reputation for educating students who are the first in their families to attend college and for providing access to a values-based liberal arts education in the Jesuit tradition. 

“This campaign has changed Loyola forever,” said Chris Wiseman, Vice President of University Advancement. “Students at Loyola now and in the future will benefit from the vision and generosity of the alumni and donors who care deeply about this university and the work we do.”

Successful completion of the campaign comes at a pivotal time for Loyola, as the university celebrates one of its largest first-year classes – and most diverse – in a decade, a new president, a new leadership cabinet, and a balanced budget. This fall, Loyola moved from a regional to national category in U.S. News and World Report and The Wall Street Journal/ THE annual rankings. The Princeton Review ranked Loyola New Orleans No. 15 in the nation for its levels of diversity and inclusiveness.