Dear LMU Colleagues,
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, Loyola Marymount University will inaugurate its 17th president, Thomas Poon, Ph.D. This joyful and historic milestone marks both continuity and renewal in the life of our university.
As President Poon shared in a recent video briefing, inauguration is “a celebration of our mission in action — a time when LMU shows what it means to be a university of hope and consequence.” Our theme, “Hope, Made Here,” reminds us that hope is not a sentiment but something we make together — in our classrooms and labs, through scholarship and service, and in partnership with the world beyond the bluff.
Drawing upon 500 years of Jesuit inspiration and more than a century of LMU’s own history, the inauguration will blend academic tradition, spiritual reflection, and community celebration as we formally install President Poon and look ahead to LMU’s next era of impact.
This Inauguration Season showcases LMU’s creativity, intellectual rigor, and commitment to the common good through a series of events that bring our mission to life. Highlights include the recent Business and Education Innovation Summit, which the university co-hosted with the L.A. Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 18, engaging university presidents, chancellors, business, and healthcare leaders from across the region. When we return from Thanksgiving, upcoming events include:
Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 | RSVP
Inauguration Academic Symposium: AI — Discernment, Made Here
5:30 – 8:30 p.m. | Life Sciences Building 120
- Featuring Keynote Speaker Safiya U. Noble, Ph.D., UCLA director of the Center for Resilience and Digital Justice and co-director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech and Power
- Moderated panel discussion with LMU faculty: Mairead Sullivan, Ph.D., moderator; Jordan Freitas, Ph.D., panelist; Colin Doyle, J.D., panelist; Justin Trevor Winters, M.F.A., panelist.
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025
Inauguration Afternoon of Service with President Poon and First Spouse Irwin
Sponsored by the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action
2:30 p.m. | Mar Vista Family Center
Student participants for this event have been finalized.
Friday, Dec. 5, 2025
ASLMU Christmas Tree Lighting, Inauguration Edition
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Regents Terrace
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 | Inauguration Day
10:15 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. | Westchester Campus
- Additional Inauguration Day Volunteers Needed: Please Sign-Up Here
- Inauguration Day Events Require: Registration and OneCard; Security Checkpoints in Place
- Missioning Mass and Installation Ceremony will be Livestreamed Here
- Registration for the Missioning Mass, Installation Ceremony, and Spirit of the Season Reception has been extended to Dec. 1 at 5 p.m.
Inauguration Day Schedule:
- Missioning Mass (Doors open at 9:30 a.m.)
10:15 a.m. | Sacred Heart Chapel
Presider: The Most Reverend José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles - Community Lunch
12:00 p.m.| Regents Terrace - Installation Ceremony
2:00 p.m. | Gersten Pavilion (Doors open at 1:15 p.m.) - Spirit of the Season Reception
4:00 p.m. | Alumni Mall - CramJam for Students, Inauguration Edition
DJs, Photo Booth, Raffles, and Free Food to Support Finals Week
9:00 p.m. | The Lair
Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025
LMU Day at the Rams: Special Inauguration Celebration
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.| SoFi Stadium
We recognize that Dec. 9 falls during Final Exams Week, and we appreciate the extraordinary efforts of faculty and staff during this time. Inauguration dates are coordinated around board meetings, peer university inauguration ceremonies, venue availability (which was limited due to campus construction this year), and the schedules of key civic and ecclesial partners — including our archbishop — whose presence we honor. While we would have preferred different timing, the university is committed to minimizing disruption and upholding the academic integrity of final exams while maximizing participation. Faculty are encouraged to join as many of the events as possible.
Staff are encouraged to attend, working with supervisors and knowing that the university fully supports their presence and volunteer participation. We kindly request that meetings, gatherings, and other work priorities be paused on Dec. 9 so that our community can come together to celebrate.
LMU inaugurations are about more than one individual — they are celebrations of all of us — our work, creativity, values, and impact that inspire hope every day. They are historic moments in the life of the university and typically a once-in-a-decade occasion — a time when we welcome students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, trustees, regents, former presidents, community partners, and delegates from universities across the nation to celebrate LMU’s mission and momentum.
We look forward to joining you as we continue, together, to embody Hope, Made Here.
With gratitude,
John Kiralla
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Chair, Inauguration Committee
Kat Weaver
Interim Executive Vice President and Provost
