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The past year brought dramatic changes to Loyola University Chicago as campus faith and celebratory traditions took on growing significance, cutting-edge research placed Loyola alongside the nation’s premier research institutions as an Research 1 (R1) institution, and Loyola mourned the loss of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, a beloved part of the Loyola community, who passed away on October 9, at 106 years of age.
From the late winter thrill of residency matches during the Stritch School of Medicine’s Match Day to a celebratory spring marked by spirited relgious gatherings and Class of 2025 commencement ceremonies; summer research studies at the Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus, and a busy fall that saw the arrival of 3,156 new students from 47 states and 67 countries and exciting developments in artificial intelligence at the Quinlan School of Business, it was an extraordinary year for the Loyola community.
Here’s a glimpse of the moments that captured our hearts.
Winter
Across Loyola's Lake Shore, Water Tower and Health Sciences Campuses, students began a new semester with purpose and passion, pursuing their studies in classrooms, laboratories, and medical facilities, while finding time to enjoy Chicago's winter splendor.
While students formed new friendships and study groups at Loyola, they also engaged in applied learning in state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Searle Biodiesel Lab, where School of Environmental Sustainability students converted used cooking oil into low-carbon fuel to power campus shuttle buses.
Loyola physicians-in-training shouted, jumped, wept with joy, and hugged one another on receiving their residency matches during Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine's Match Day celebration in Maywood in March.
Spring
Spring at Loyola is a time of hope as tulips and magnolias bloom, students gather to study and relax on the East and West Quads, and dusk casts penumbral light over the silhouettes of domed buildings along the lakeshore.
At Loyola, students of all faith groups have access to prayer spaces, worship groups, and campus chaplains to guide their moral and spiritual formation. On the second level of the Damen Student Center, a Hall of Faith includes a Manressa room, Hillel room, musalla, and puja room, providing spaces for affiliate groups to pray and host events.
In early May, the Lake Shore campus welcomed families and friends of graduates for a commencement season of celebration and reflection. The festive week included 12 graduation ceremonies featuring inspiring speakers as well as Senior Toast, Graduate Toast, and Baccalaureate Mass events.
Summer
Summer brought opportunities for students, staff, faculty, and alumni to connect with nature, conduct field research, and grow and procure food. Loyola alumnus Abdullah Motiwala (B.A. '16) spent time caring for one of his bee colonies in Skokie, which supplies honey for his business; Loyola University Chicago School of Environmental Sustainability students participated in ecologist training and certification programs at the Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus (LUREC) and harvested produce from Winthrop Garden as part of the Urban Agriculture program.
Orientation Leaders from Student Academic Services led small groups of incoming students around the Lake Shore Campus and introduced them to the city and its amenities to prepare them for their academic career at Loyola.
Before the start of the Fall 2025 semester, Welcome Week offered events like city bus tours, a Silent Disco in Gentile Arena, and the Hustle to the Hoyne event before a Loyola men's soccer match to help new students get acclimated to college and connect with their peers.
Fall
Ramblers made their return to Lake Shore, Water Tower and Health Sciences campuses for the first week of classes.
In it's first year as an Research 1 (R1) institution, Loyola offered opportunities for students to interrogate complex questions in the Applied AI Lab in the Schreiber Center, develop capstone engineering projects at 1871 Studios in the Merchandise Mart, shadow chaplains at the Loyola University Medical Center, and conduct cutting-edge marketing analytics research in a UX and Biometrics Lab.
Campus landmarks like the Madonna della Strada chapel and a large bronze rendition of “Los Lobos de Loyola,” or "The Wolves of Loyola," ground students in a rich Ignatian tradition.
In a stirring funeral Mass, hundreds of members of the Loyola University Chicago and Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary communities gathered at Madonna della Strada chapel to honor the life and memory of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM.
Fall colors on Loyola's Lake Shore Campus showed their brilliance in late October and early November.
Winter
The Loyola community celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with a tree lighting ceremony and carols sung by University Chorale at St. Ignatius Plaza on November 9, 2025.
