Dear Members of the Loyola University Community,

Before the holiday I want to take a moment to update you on different aspects of the life of the University.

Last Thursday night (15 December) we received approval from the Kenner City Council to use the land owned by the University in Kenner for temporary housing for members of our faculty and staff. On Monday of this week the Shaw Group began the necessary preparation and construction on the site. This has been a long process involving local, state, and federal agencies and I want to thank Tommy Screen for his tireless efforts in getting this project done. It will provide a home for almost 50 members of our faculty and staff and their families.

While I am saying thank you I want to acknowledge the hard work of many people in Finance and Administration throughout the fall. They have dealt with countless issues, from meeting payroll to housing, to facilities care and repair, to public safety, that have supported the life of the University. I am most grateful for all that they have done and continue to do.

I also want to thank all those in Academic and Student Affairs who have worked so hard so that we might get started again in January. The Provost, Deans, department chairs and faculty members have worked tirelessly to develop a schedule and courses for the spring as well as contact and advise students. And, I am grateful to Tom Smith, and Robbie Reed for their work in addressing student housing needs as well as questions about the quality of life for our students in the spring.

Finally, I want to thank all those who have worked so hard in Institutional Advancement this fall. In the midst of their own losses they helped us reach out to our alums and donors and the broader Loyola community.

On Sunday the US House passed a supplemental appropriation for the Gulf Coast States. That bill now awaits action by the US Senate. The bill contains money for higher education institutions. Some money is allocated for institutions who took in students from Mississippi and Louisiana. Much of the money is allocated for colleges and universities in Mississippi and Louisiana. If the legislation passes each state will receive $95 million. I want to thank Tommy Screen for his efforts with the coalition of government relations staff members from different universities and associations who worked together on this legislation. I also want to thank Ms. Cyndy Littlefield, a Loyola alum, who is the government relations staffer for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Cyndy’s work has given great time and effort to this legislation and we are most grateful.

While we have a very high percentage of our students returning in January, we know that we face significant challenges in the years ahead. I have mentioned in the past that the Board has asked for a strategy to address the problems that we will face in the next few years.

A committee of the Board will take responsibility for developing the plan and recommending it to the Board. The Board members on the committee will be Mr. Ted Frois, Chair of the Board, Suzanne Mestayer, Fr. Michael Graham, S.J., Fr. Michael Garanzini, S.J., Ms. Pam Ryan and Mr. Alton Doody. The goal is to build on all of the work that has been done in recent years on planning and it will also set directions in light of our situation post-Katrina. Now we need to adapt our planning to the new realities confronting the University.

I will chair an internal task force that will make recommendations to the Board Planning committee. The task force will be made up of the vice presidents, the deans, a representative from the Staff Senate, the SGA, and two representatives from the University Senate.

Some people may ask why we should not use on our normal planning procedures. The reality is we are in extraordinary times. The Board of Trustees is exercising its appropriate fiduciary responsibility in the planning process. And, I think, for the internal task force, we need people with budgetary responsibility. The events of Katrina remind us that we live in a world of finite resources. Loyola cannot be everything to everyone. We will need to make choices. We have had extensive discussions about the content of a plan. Now we need to make a plan that responds to the reality of a university, a city, and a region that have been profoundly changed, and will continue to be, by the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

I know that we have serious challenges ahead of us. But, I continue to believe that we, like the city and the region, have real opportunities as well.

With prayers and best wishes,

Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D. 21 February 2005

President