Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University is located in north Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Loyola University, formally Loyola University Chicago, is a private co-educational, religious-affiliated university established in Chicago, Illinois in 1869 as Saint Ignatius College. It was founded by the Roman Catholic religious order of the Society of Jesus and bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

Loyola University was entitled by the Illinois General Assembly on June 30, 1870 to confer degrees normally granted by universities. The institution was expanded to include Loyola University Medical School (established 1868) and Loyola University Chicago School of Law (established 1909). Loyola University was officially chartered on November 21, 1909 and Saint Ignatius College became the College of Arts and Sciences. The most recent expansion was the 1991 acquisition of Mundelein College from the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Main campuses

Loyola University's downtown campus is on the Magnificent Mile, fronting world-famous Chicago landmarks: Water Tower (only surviving building of the Great Chicago Fire) and the John Hancock Center (one of the tallest buildings in America).

Loyola University is anchored at the Lakeshore Campus in Rogers Park, the northernmost neighborhood of metropolitan Chicago. It also has a campus in downtown Chicago on the Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue, steps away from such landmarks as the Water Tower (one of the only structures to survive the Great Chicago Fire) and the John Hancock Center (one of the tallest buildings in the United States).

Chicago's Jesuit university also boasts a campus in Rome, Italy. Loyola University Chicago Rome Center was established in 1962 on the site of the 1960 Summer Olympics grounds. It moved to several locations in Rome until finally settling in Monte Mario on the Via Massimi, one of the most affluent districts of the Italian capital. The campus offers a full academic year for Chicago-based Loyola University students wishing to study abroad.

Religious education

Religious education is still one of Loyola University's hallmarks as home to Saint Joseph College Seminary as well as the Jesuit First Studies program. First Studies is one of the nine-year phases towards the Jesuit priesthood and is administered by the Jesuit Chicago Province. Saint Joseph College Seminary serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and provides vocational training to candidates of diocesan priesthood. Loyola University also provides rigorous religious education for those seeking careers in lay ministry with the Loyola University Pastoral Institute as well as degree opportunities in interdisciplinary Catholic studies.

Loyola Ramblers

Loyola University Chicago's mascot is Lou Wolf. Here, Lou is pumping up the crowds at Gentile Center during halftime.

The Loyola Ramblers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Horizon League, formerly the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Loyola University boasts men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, track, golf, soccer, softball and volleyball. The Loyola Ramblers title is originated in the late 1800s as a nickname given to the school's football team. As one of the winningest teams in the country, people spoke of Loyola's football team "rambling from town to town to victories." Today, Loyola University no longer has a football team. Outside of the NCAA regulated athletics programs, Loyola Ramblers also compete in non-traditional intercollegiate sports such as cricket, rugby and several extreme sports.

The Loyola Ramblers mascot is Lou Wolf. Lou Wolf was inspired by the Basque coat-of-arms of Saint Ignatius of Loyola depicting two wolves over a kettle. The popular mascot, which had become a Chicago institution through several generations, received a facelift over the summer of 2000.

Civil Rights Movement & 1963 NCAA Basketball Championship

On March 24, 1963 the Chicago Tribune headline read, "Loyola Rules U.S." in reference to the blow the Loyola Ramblers made against two-time defending NCAA Division I champs, Cincinnati. The Loyola Ramblers is the only Illinois team with an NCAA Basketball Championship title.

The 1963 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and the obstacles faced on the team's road to victory in a racially segregated country put Loyola in the national spotlight. Before the championship, there was a gentlemen's agreement among college teams limiting how many black players could play during a game. In 1961, Loyola head coach George Ireland broke the gentleman's agreement by fielding four black players at every game. He made history that year at a game against Wyoming, with Loyola being the first Division I team ever to field five black players in competition.

After winning Round 1 of the national championship tournament on March 11, 1963 against Tennessee Tech, Loyola Ramblers were scheduled to play Round 2 against Mississippi State, which practiced racial segregation. Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett banned the Mississippi school from traveling to the tournament to play against Loyola's black players. Sending a decoy team to divert state police, the Mississippi team successfully sneaked out of the state to play the Ramblers. Loyola won and went on to beat Illinois in its regional final and Duke in the national semifinals. At the NCAA Final, newspapers reported that the Ramblers didn't have a chance against Cincinnati, the two-time defending national champions. In one of the closest games in the season, Loyola became the first and only team in Chicago, and in the state of Illinois, to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Landmarks

Formerly independent of Loyola University Chicago, Mundelein College was the first college to be housed in a modern urban skyscraper. It also used to be the tallest building in Chicago.

Landmark sites are found throughout Loyola University: Alumni Gymnasium, Cudahy Observatory, Dumbach Hall (formerly Saint Ignatius College), Granada Center (formerly Granada Theater), George Halas, Jr. Sports Center, Madonna Della Strada Chapel, Martin D'Arcy Museum of Art, Skyscraper Building (formerly the tallest building in Chicago), Water Tower (only surviving building of the Great Chicago Fire).

Past students

Arbor, Patrick H., chairman of Chicago Board of Trade
Candiotti, Susan, CNN news correspondent
Chico, Gery J., president Chicago Board of Education
Cisneros, Sandra, poet, author
Conway, Edwin M., bishop of Chicago
Daley, William M., United States Secretary of Commerce
Devine, Richard A., State's Attorney of Cook County
Ferm, David, publisher of Business Week
Flanagan, Richard L., CEO of Borders Books and Music
Hartigan, Neil F., Attorney General of Illinois
Hyde, Henry, member of Congress
Jacobs, Jeffrey D., president of Harpo Entertainment Group
Iha, James, member of Smashing Pumpkins
McMorrow, Mary Ann G., justice of the Illinois Supreme Court
Morello, Mary, progressive political advocate
Newhart, Bob, actor, comedian, writer
Novello, Don, actor, comedian, writer, played Father Guido Sarducci
Plante, Bill, CBS news correspondent
Quinlan, Michael, chairman of McDonald's Corporation
Quinn, Daniel, author

Loyola University Chicago has the only campus directly on Chicago's Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue.

Rancic, Bill, businessman and first The Apprentice winner
Rostenkowski, Dan, member of Congress indicted and convicted of crimes
Stunard, E. Arthur, president of DeVry Institute of Technology
Yano, Sho, world's highest IQ, graduated at the age of 12

Prominent professors

External links

Loyola University campuses

Loyola University (http://www.luc.edu)
Loyola University Rome Center (http://www.luc.edu/romecenter)
Loyola University School of Business (http://www.gsb.luc.edu/)
Loyola University School of Education (http://www.luc.edu/schools/education)
Loyola University School of Law (http://www.luc.edu/law/index.html)
Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine (http://www.meddean.luc.edu/)
Loyola University Niehoff School of Nursing (http://www.meddean.luc.edu/)
Loyola University Medical Center (http://www.lumc.edu/)

Loyola University athletics

Loyola Ramblers (http://www.loyolaramblers.com/)
Horizon League (http://www.horizonleague.org/)
Rambler Mania (http://www.ramblermania.com/)

Loyola University media

Loyola Phoenix Newspaper (http://www.loyolaphoenix.com)
Loyola University Webcams (http://www.luc.edu/webcam/)

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