Messina Theme-Wide Events
Messina invites Loyola departments, offices, clubs and organizations to submit proposals for theme-wide event co-sponsorships. Messina aims to co-sponsor 7-10 programs each semester to encourage first-year students (and all members of the Loyola Community) to take advantage of a variety of campus events while fostering intentional connections to their Messina course pairings and themes. The events should include a diversity of thought, opinion and presentation styles. Additionally, events should promote active engagement with the material and opportunities for reflection – in and out of the classroom.
Spring 2025 Co-Sponsored Event Submission Deadline: November 1st, 2024
Events eligible for Messina co-sponsorships should meet at least one of the following
criteria:
- The event enhances intellectual conversation and understanding of at least one of the Messina themes – The Good Life, Stories We Tell, Self and Other or The Visionary.
- The event connects to the topics and themes associated with the Common Text
- The event assists our first-year students with their transition to Loyola and Baltimore.
- The event connects to the Messina Learning Outcomes.
- The event idea involves topics related to Ignatian Citizenship (service, peace and justice and/or civic engagement).
When Messina agrees to co-sponsor an event, the partner departments/offices/organizations can ordinarily expect the following support:
- A meeting with the Messina Assistant Director to establish event expectations, develop strategies, and learn what you or your department want out of this event.
- Support marketing the event to Loyola and community groups through Loyola Today, the Messina website, the main Loyola events calendar, Messina weekly newsletters, social media, digital signage, and flyers.
- Monetary support towards the costs associated with the event including (but not limited to) speaker/performance fees, Event Services set-up, food, travel, lodging, and activities connected to the event/program.
- Messina presence at the event to assist with the event/program.
When partnering with Messina, departments, offices and community organizations agree to:
- Consult Messina on the date, time, and location of the event. The event should not conflict with other scheduled Messina co-sponsored events or annual campus-wide events (MLK Convocation, Humanities Symposium, Hanway Lecture, etc.)
- Maintain ongoing communication with the Messina office to determine marketing needs and coordinate logistics for the event/program as well as communicate any changes to the event.
- Attend the event and assist with logistics before, during, and after the event.
- Follow-up with the Messina office to assess the program.
- Use The Bridge as a means of advertising and collecting attendance information.
Advanced notice of events is essential to Messina working groups’ planning for enrichment sessions. Students should know which events they are expected to attend when they receive their enrichment session syllabus/schedule during the first week of the semester. Our deadlines below allows us to maximize awareness and attendance when we sponsor events.
Deadlines
To facilitate the advanced planning of programs, Messina has set the following deadlines and co-sponsorship timeline for the upcoming academic year:
Co-Sponsorship Ideas
Event ideas for the fall semester are due to the Messina Office no later than July 1st. Event ideas for the spring semester are due to the Messina Office no later than November 1st.
Co-sponsored Event Confirmations
Fall events should be confirmed and shared with Messina faculty, mentors and Evergreens by early August. Spring events should be confirmed and shared with Messina faculty, mentors and Evergreens by early January.
Messina will reserve a modest budget to support events not selected as a Messina Theme-Wide event or for events proposed after the aforementioned deadlines. While they will not be listed as a theme-wide event, we will promote the event to Messina classes and students through our weekly newsletter to Messina working groups.
Please contact Messina at messina@loyola.edu or 410-617-2669 if you have questions about Messina co-sponsorship guidelines.
