The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) program began its first year at the Loyola Marymount University campus in fall 2004. The aim of the ACE program is to support the post baccalaureate educational and career aspirations of high achieving students of color. The ACE program was conceptualized by Mr. Marshall Sauceda, Associate Vice President, Intercultural Affairs, in collaboration with Sister Mary Beth Ingham, then Associate Academic Vice President, and Dr. Marcia Albert, Director for the Learning Resource Center.

The ACE program was initially one of three programs funded through the James Irvine Foundation over three years ago. The James Irvine Foundation was established in 1927 as a trustee of the charitable trust of James Irvine, a California agricultural pioneer, to promote the general welfare of the people of California. Its “Linking the Intercultural Campus,” grant was the third and largest grant the James Irvine Foundation had awarded LMU since 1994. The purpose of the grant was to support the University’s progressive “Linking the Intercultural Campus” diversity initiative, which included the creation of a program that was designed to improve underrepresented student retention, graduation, and preparation for graduate and professional programs.

“We are delighted to offer this support to Loyola Marymount University,” said Mary G. F. Bitterman, President and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Loyola Marymount to be one of handful of universities in the nation to productively address diversity issues in ways that produce tangible results,” said Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, assistant to the President for Intercultural Affairs at LMU. Robinson-Armstrong led the team that conducted the research and analysis, developed the new programs, and authored the grant proposal.