View from the Porch: Loyola's Evergreen campus provides both a place for new experiences and a sense of home
President Sawyer shares why, even with physical changes and the passing of time, visiting Evergreen will still give you a sense of coming home
President Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D., speaks with a group of students in the Refectory in the Humanities Center. Photo by Kristen Kelly.
Even for alumni who spent years at Loyola, there’s always something new to discover on the Evergreen campus. Today, you’ll find our Fernandez Center for Innovation and Collaborative Learning, which opened in 2021, and next year we plan to start major renovations of Donnelly Science Center.
Even with physical changes and the passing of time, however, visiting Evergreen will still give you a sense of coming home. Because the truth is that no matter how many years pass and how our Jesuit liberal arts university evolves, there are many aspects of Loyola that remain constant: the strong sense of a warm community, our commitment to our Jesuit values, and our promise to deliver a world-class education to our students.
At Loyola, we take seriously our mission to educate students for a diverse and changing world—a mission we embrace and work to strengthen every day. Today, as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly significant part of our daily lives, we recognize—more than ever—the importance of educating individuals who can think critically, communicate effectively, and be prepared to learn and adapt throughout their lifetimes. We are indebted to the Society of Jesus for creating an education that is transformational and timeless, one that has created ethical learners and leaders for 500 years—and will do so for 500 more.
Every fall, we begin anew with a group of incoming students who are eager to embark on their next phase of their lives. And we work to make sure they know that the Evergreen campus is their home—and that they connect with the people who help them find their place here. I’m so grateful to the talented, dedicated faculty, staff, and administrators across our community who are so invested in our students—and proud to see several of them included in this issue.
This fall, we were excited to welcome another exceptional class of incoming first-year students to the Loyola family. They’re an academically outstanding group—and a diverse one. You would be in awe of the creative and generous ways these students are sharing their time and talents to make the world a better place. And that’s before they even begin their Loyola education. They’re in for the experience of a lifetime.
I hope you’ll visit the Evergreen campus again soon to make a few more Loyola memories. We would love to see you.
God Bless and Go Hounds!
Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D.
President