Dear LMU Community:
Welcome to the fall 2022 academic year. Whether this is your first year or you are returning to LMU, whether you are an undergrad, graduate, professional student, faculty, or staff, we are over the moon that LMU is the place to which you bring your creativity, your intellect, and your compassion.
This season’s start has filled me with joy and gratitude. We are doing lustrous work, my friends! Our entering classes enliven me with their boundless curiosity and their sense of purpose. They are among the most diverse and accomplished in LMU’s history:
- We enrolled over 1700 first-years (with an average weighted GPA of 3.96), 450 new transfers (representing colleges and universities from around the globe, including 50 community colleges), and 750 new graduate students;
- Our first-years hail from 45 states and 46 nations (overall, our students represent all 50 states, D.C., and 90 nations);
- International students comprise 12 percent of first-years and 10 percent of our transfer and graduate populations.
- Our J.D. entering class is likewise outstanding: of the 265 day students attending our downtown LA campus and another 49 evening students participating in the inaugural year of our hybrid J.D. program, the median LSAT is 161, and the median GPA is 3.7. LMU Loyola Law School students come from 27 states, three countries and more than 100 undergraduate institutions.
Of course, we all know what brings such talented students to LMU: our world-class faculty and student development professionals. I do not want to scoop Provost Poon’s letter (coming soon), but we are thrilled to welcome our most diverse faculty cohort to LMU this semester, along with our new senior vice president for Student Affairs, Dr. Kawanna Leggett. Each of these colleagues challenges and inspires our students in ways that expand their hearts and minds for the benefit of all.
We also have milestones to honor:
- Over the summer, the Sisters of Saint Joseph celebrated the 100th anniversary of their arrival in Orange, and beginning in September the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary will mark the centennial of their presence in California. These two milestones anticipate the 50th anniversary of the merger of Loyola University and Marymount College next year. Vice President John Sebastian is gathering ideas for how we can mark this occasion with the brilliance that it continues to bring us.
- Seaver College of Science and Engineering is also the “big 5-0,” celebrating five glorious decades of STEM education and LMU’s investment in science as a key contributor to our human future. Throughout the academic year we’ll be fêting Seaver College’s impact and interdisciplinary collaborations, which exemplify how we seek to improve society by nurturing nimble beings who create the world we want to live in through engaging in science that is purposeful. The LMU community is invited to the cornerstone event on Sept. 16.
- LMU Radio’s iconic KXLU 88.9FM rocks in 65 years of raising the collective vibe over our LMU airwaves with free-form college radio.
- We are also delighted to celebrate the centennial of The Los Angeles Loyolan, LMU’s award-winning, student-run news organization.
Some upcoming annual traditions are at the ready:
- Support LMU’s student leaders at the Student Service and Leadership Convocation on Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. (this afternoon!) in Sacred Heart Chapel.
- The Mass of the Holy Spirit will be celebrated on Sept. 6 at 4 p.m. in Sacred Heart Chapel. This annual tradition in Jesuit education inaugurates our academic year.
- Faculty Pub Night, hosted by the William H. Hannon Library (recently voted No. 9 Best College Library by Princeton Review), showcases our world-class faculty’s scholarship.
- On Nov. 15, I will share my annual convocation address; please stay tuned for more info.
- For a full list of traditions, celebrations, and intellectual offerings, check out our LMU community calendar.
Please go forth this semester with an openness for the wonder in our midst. Speaking of wonder (infinite, I might add), I am excited to share this fun new video, which highlights a few of our LMU favorite things. May the joy of discovering your own favorite courses, ideas, activities, people, and places invigorate your inner being while forming lasting memories. I look forward to engaging in more conversations with our community, sharing more of my favorite things, and hearing about your latest creations, aspirations, and dreams.
With abundant gratitude and love,
Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D.
President