Loyola Marymount University’s Inclusive History and Images Project (IHIP) has gained momentum since its beginning in April 2021 with a major financial grant and photographic discoveries in the archives. A significant social media launch that further ignites the project will invite more contributions from our diverse LMU campus community and alumni.
IHIP addresses important gaps in our understanding of our own institutional history by gathering stories and images to tell the full and inclusive LMU story. Though the general history of Loyola University, Marymount College, Loyola Law School, and LMU is known, the community is keenly aware that there are stories that have not been documented, and experiences that have not been expressed. Too often these overlooked stories involve Black, Latino/a and Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and differently embodied members of the LMU family. IHIP will endeavor to accumulate, archive, and amplify these stories to elevate awareness and promote proactive diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Bryant Keith Alexander, Ph.D., dean of the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts, interim dean of the LMU School of Film and Television, and co-chair of the IHIP committee with Chancellor Michael Engh, S.J., states: “IHIP is a critical part of our university commitment to anti-racism, which was ignited not only by national reckoning, but the political activism of our LMU students towards acknowledgement and change.”
IHIP received a two-year, $40,000 grant from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, or NetVUE, to support the initiative. NetVUE provides Grants for Reframing Institutional Saga to support efforts such as IHIP that create an updated account of an institution’s history and mission in light of the current context.
“It has been a pleasure to work with colleagues from across the campus,” said Engh, “as we reach out to alumni to tell a fuller version of the LMU story.”
The IHIP website has been expanded and staff in the William H. Hannon Library have uncovered a trove of photographs that show LMU’s diverse history in a more complete way. Those photos are in the process of being digitized and made searchable.
Banners along Alumni Mall and Palm Walk highlight the launch of the IHIP archive. A series of social media videos will spread the word about IHIP and encourage alumni to share photos and stories about their time at LMU. Electronic signage around campus will also tell the IHIP story, which is the LMU story. In collaboration with MarComm, IHIP will kick off with a multi-dimensional public outreach campaign.
