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Just days after moving into de Nobili Hall, Sam Harrington (BA ’30), a first-year political science and philosophy major from Des Moines, Iowa, was already feeling at home—and it wasn’t just the familiar Midwest vibes.
“Loyola makes it really easy to find your people and make connections,” he said. “It’s hard to feel alone right now.”
That’s the idea. Over the past two weeks, Loyola University Chicago hosted more than 40 Welcome Week events designed to help ground and energize students for the year ahead. Students flocked to movie and karaoke nights, double-decker Chicago bus tours, ice cream socials, career workshops, service trips, and religious ceremonies such as the Mass of the Holy Spirit, a 500-year-old Jesuit, Catholic liturgical tradition observed at many Jesuit high schools and colleges at the start of the academic year.
“Welcome Week is a celebration of and for our incoming and returning students to settle into life on campus, connect with their Rambler community, and explore the formative experiences undergirded by Ignatian values, resources, and opportunities that will lay the essential groundwork for a successful journey at Loyola,” said Keith Champagne, vice president of student development.
On Friday, August 21, on what would have been her 107th birthday, Loyola President Mark C. Reed unveiled a cast bronze statue of the late Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, a beloved Rambler and international icon known for her ministry of presence. Hours later, the vast majority of the 3,166 new students poured through the pale green doors of Cudahy Hall Library, which open just twice a year, once in the fall to welcome new students and again in the spring to send off graduates.
“As you walk through those doors this afternoon, I want you to look at the people walking with you,” said Father Michael Rossman, S.J., a chaplain who spoke to students moments before the traditional rite of passage. “You come from different places and different traditions, and every one of you belongs here. And the people beside you may become the friends who help you discover what your life is for.”
As parents, faculty, students, and staff gathered in a cheer tunnel, shaking pom poms and rattling hand-shaped clappers, students dressed in maroon and gold traveled briskly from the library to Gentile Arena, cheering and pumping their fists as they prepared for New Student Convocation.
Speaking before the new class of students, more than 92 percent of whom have taken advanced placement courses and 30 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college, Reed’s message was clear.
“Ultimately, what distinguishes Loyola as a Jesuit, Catholic university is formative education that integrates the academic, social, ethical, spiritual, and physical dimensions of your experience to help you become the best version of yourselves,” Reed said. “This is what we desire to give you. Now, as of today, Loyola is yours. You may not believe that. You may not feel that yet; it may take a few weeks. But, ultimately, embrace it.”
In the first weeks of the new academic year, that message was on vivid display in a campus bursting with life and rich with a sense of newness and discovery.
Classes full of energy
Early Monday morning, in a Microbiology for Health Professionals class in Dumbach Hall, Clinical Assistant Professor Matias Morales enlivened nursing students by passing around enlarged 3D models of the Zika virus, lipid cells, and HIV molecules as he discussed the role of microbes in treating disease.
“A lot of what we know about modern medicine is rooted in microbiology,” he told the class. “There are a lot of areas in microbiology where we can contextualize and overthink the heck out of it. I invite you to do that in this class. Be the overthinker. Be the questioner. Be the wonderer.”
After introducing students to the course’s learning objectives, Morales offered an engaging lecture covering everything from the role of microorganisms in inflammation, to cancer therapy, Cesarean birth interventions, and modern nursing founder’s Florence Nightingale’s emphasis on hand washing and general sanitation to prevent disease.
Ibrahim Abbas (BSN ’29), a sophomore nursing student, said Morales’s teaching style put him immediately at ease. “I expected the course to be quite challenging, but once he went over the syllabus and class schedule, it felt a lot more manageable.”
Abbas enrolled at the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, in part, because of its strong reputation—U.S. News & World Report ranked the undergraduate nursing program #13 in the country in 2025, placing it among the top 2 percent of undergraduate nursing programs. He is eager to join the ranks of a growing number of male nurses, who made up just 4 percent of the U.S. nursing workforce in the 1990s, but whose numbers have swelled to more than 12 percent today as gender stereotypes have evolved and national demand for nurses has surged.
“I want to become a nurse because it’s the best way I know I can help people and make a difference in their lives,” Abbas said.
The following day, on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus, Quinlan School of Business students got their first taste of professor Jami Eddington’s interactive approach to Business Statistics.
The engaged learning course introduces students to descriptive statistics, probability, and inferential statistics and includes a small group project in partnership with the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, in which students analyze field trip registration data to evaluate demographic trends and make strategic recommendations to the organization.
“It’s very similar to working with a client,” said Eddington, a former health care consultant who earned her BBA in Information Systems and Analytics at Loyola. “If you work in a consultancy in the future, you might have a client that says, ‘Here’s all of this data. Tell me what I need to know.’”
Reeve Bennett (BBA ’29), a finance major from Los Angeles who aspires to be a restaurateur, commended Eddington’s “community-led teaching style” and Quinlan’s educational partnerships with area businesses. Applied learning is a cornerstone of an undergraduate business program ranked #1 in Chicago and among the top 25 in the nation in the 2026 issue of U.S. News and World Report.
“I think it’s super cool that we get to have real-world experience in a college course like this,” Bennett said.
Saturday of Service
On Saturday at 10 a.m., in preparation for a day of service, Lily Santillan (BA ’27), a student leader involved with Loyola’s Community Service and Action (CSA) program, offered a hopeful message to more than 150 student volunteers gathered in the Damen Student Center.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard plenty about the Jesuit value of cura personalis, or care for the whole person,” Santillan said. “I urge each and every one of you to engage with this value today while you’re volunteering, throughout the rest of your time at Loyola, and beyond. Listen to people’s stories, understand perspectives, even if they’re different from yours, and work to care for every aspect of a person, whether that be their mind, their body, or their spirit.”
After the introduction, small student groups led by 33 CSA student leaders, headed to 18 community sites across Chicago’s north side, including Chicago Friends School, ChitownBio & Alliance for the Great Lakes, Immanuel Lutheran Church, and the Middle Eastern Immigrant & Refugee Alliance, for several hours of onsite service.
At the Vedgewater Community Garden, a volunteer-run garden just west of the Lake Shore Campus with more than 190 raised ornamental and edible plant beds, students assisted with watering and weed removal. Each year, roughly 800 pounds of produce harvested from the site are donated to support a free food distribution program run by the Edgewater Mutual Aid Network.
Tristan Kujwa (BS ’30), a first-year student from St. Louis, Missouri, who went to a Jesuit college-preparatory high school, said the opportunity to serve the community—a big part of why he chose to attend Loyola—was deeply meaningful.
“There are lot of people, who, on the weekends, use their spare time to help others, and I think that’s a great thing,” he said. “Think of what grows here. Yes, we’re watering the plants, and think of how far that will go. It’ll turn into food to feed people who need it, to feed unhoused people, and go to food banks, and there’s just a whole cycle of good in it.”
Mass of the Holy Spirit
On Sunday evening at Madonna della Strada Chapel, it was standing room only as the Loyola community gathered for the Mass of the Holy Spirit, which began in 1548 at the first Jesuit school, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in Messina, Sicily.
“It was such a joy to see the chapel packed with so many students, faculty, staff, and administrators for the Mass of the Holy Spirit,” said Derrick Witherington, assistant director of sacramental life. “Father Michael Rozier’s homily was a powerful reminder of the importance of our University’s Jesuit, Catholic mission, and he invited us to continue enabling this mission to be a lodestar for our work, study, and scholarship.”
Careerpalooza
Whether it was the free Ann Sather cinnamon rolls or the urge to begin plotting their post-college career plans, the second year of Careerpalooza was a hit, drawing more than 800 students to the Damen Atrium, up from 300 students in its first year. At interactive booths, students learned about student employment and career resources, posed for professional headshots, and enrolled in online services like Handshake, the University’s career management tool.
“Even during their first year of studies, we want students involved in career exploration,” said Brigette Peterson, senior associate director of employer operations and communications. “We want them to have an open mind, and then we connect them to resources, alumni, and employers. So we’re going to make sure that you are career-ready by the time you’re a senior, and that it’s no big shake to get that first job.”
With Career Services advisors available to field questions, the event also allowed students to gain insight into resume building in an age of AI and sign up for 11 discipline-specific undergraduate career communities. The advisor-led peer groups link students to Loyola peers and alumni in their fields, while exposing them to relevant programs, job and internship fairs, and work opportunities.
Rachel Harms (BA ’30), a first-year marketing student from southern Illinois who signed up for the Marketing, Advertising & PR career community, welcomed the opportunity to get a jump on career planning.
“I’ve been taught that I need to start as soon as I can, and I think this is like a good place to start,” she said. “Speaking to people formally in a business setting was very helpful. Seeing how they were dressed, getting a headshot, I feel like it helped me understand what it’s going to be like later on when I’m looking for a job.”
A feeling of belonging
For many first-year students, Welcome Week and the first week of classes brought with it, above all, a feeling of belonging. That’s certainly true for Aliya Kahn (BBA ’30), a first-year HR management student who moved into Frances Hall with Anisha Kanji (BBA ’30). The two have known each other since childhood through their fathers, who were roommates at Northwestern University.
At a First Day of Classes Celebration on Monday in the first-floor atrium of Baumhart Hall, Kahn grabbed a Loyola postcard from a black-clothed table to write a note to her future self. “I’m going to just be, like, ‘How’s it going? Are you okay? Mentally, socially, are you making new friends? I’m definitely hoping to make a new social circle, whether that’s through my classes or through the Muslim Student Association.”
Later in her academic career, Khan will look back on what she wrote as a reminder of where her college journey began. For now, she is more interested in looking ahead.
“I’m definitely excited for a lot of the other Welcome Week activities,” she said. “I feel like I’m on the right track here. Getting involved, joining things. Yeah, I think so far it’s been really good.”
