How Loyola helps students find a sense of belonging on campus

A first-generation college student, Jose Aguilera (BS ’29) arrived at Loyola for his freshman year with some anxiety, compounded by his discomfort in the unfamiliar campus environment.  “At first it felt like I didn’t belong here, especially after seeing how everyone seemed to know what they were doing, but not me,” he recalls. “I felt lost and anxious because this experience was all new to me, and no one in my family has done anything like this.”

Feeling like you are welcome, that you are a part of a community, and that you belong in the classroom are game changers for the well-being of university students. When students feel that they belong, it doesn’t just improve their quality of life. It translates into greater academic achievement.

A 2020 study found that at four-year colleges, a sense of belonging was associated with improved student persistence and mental health. In addition, a recent Student Experience Project survey reported that in classrooms where faculty foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity, student outcomes improved.

Aguilera had initially learned about Loyola’s Students Together Are Reaching Success (STARS) mentoring program via an email from the Center for Student Inclusion and Belonging (CSIB), which hosts the program, before coming to campus from his home in Texas. One of many mentorship programs at Loyola, STARS matches first-year students who wish to participate with a student peer who can help them successfully navigate the transition to college.

After a stressful first month on campus, Aguilera decided to sign up for STARS. “I found a sense of belonging, mainly because of the connections I made right away. My friends, mentors, and staff were all extremely helpful and supportive,” he says. “Being surrounded with people with similar backgrounds made me feel like I was at home, and my mentor was a business major like me, so that helped me academically.”

Loyola’s STARS program is one of the university’s great success stories. The program retained 89% of the first-year students who participated last year, and 97% of students who took part in CSIB mentorships last fall said they wanted to continue their mentoring relationships. “STARS is one of our marquee programs within CSIB,” says Cory Barnes, director of unity and belonging at CSIB. “The support isn’t just, ‘Hey, how you’re doing?’ It’s, what’s going on academically? How can I connect you with tutors? If a student is dealing with food insecurity or housing insecurity, the mentors won’t just point them to an office, they’ll take them there. We believe in warm handoffs and holistic support.”

Loyola’s CSIB has a specific mandate to ensure students feel that they are a part of the Loyola community and have the support they need to thrive. “The sense of belonging is particularly important to us as a Jesuit, Catholic university, where our work is undergirded by Ignatian values and Jesuit ideals,” says Keith Champagne, vice president for student development. “Here at Loyola, we have a strong, demonstrated commitment from everybody in leadership and everybody who is a part of the university community to ensure that our students have this sense of belonging 24/7.”

Joan Holden, assistant vice president for student health and wellness, directs the Division of Student Development’s Wellness Center, which is devoted to the mental and physical health of Loyola students. “Everything that we do impacts belonging. We’re helping students navigate academics and making sure that our students are healthy enough to engage in activities beyond the classroom,” she says. “This feeling of loneliness and searching for belonging is very apparent in our students nowadays. They need connection.”

To keep apprised of the lives and needs of Loyola students, Astrid Beltrán, assistant vice president for diversity and student engagement, and her colleagues meet regularly with student organizations and at university events. “We want to hear how they’re doing and just share that we care and we’re with them. We’re all Ramblers,” she says. “We listen to their needs and what they are going through, and we want to make sure that they are aware of all of our resources.”

Beltrán emphasizes that fostering a feeling of belonging for all students starts with empathy. “Belonging means someone going into a space, an environment, and feeling, ‘Wow, you thought of me. You’ve thought of who I am and what I need to thrive here,’” she says. “That is different for every person, so when we develop our programs and our learning outcomes we ask if we’ve given thought to all of our students, not just the majority.”