Mission and Goals

Loyola Marymount University Mission and Goals Statement

Founded in 1911 and located in Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is the only Jesuit/Marymount university in the southwestern United States. It is institutionally committed to Roman Catholicism and takes its fundamental inspiration from the traditions of its sponsoring religious orders. Loyola Marymount has always been, above all, a student-centered university.

Loyola Marymount understands and declares its purpose to be:

The encouragement of learning
The education of the whole person
The service of faith and the promotion of justice

Therefore the University pursues quality in:

Curricula of all academic programs

Instruction in all disciplines and courses is to be challenging, intellectually stimulating, and current. It is to be conducted in an atmosphere of academic freedom and is to include discussion of the important moral and other value questions of contemporary society. Students are to acquire skills, knowledge, and the ability to use their skills and knowledge creatively now and in the future.
The undergraduate core curriculum is to be structured, integrated, and centered on the humanities, especially philosophy and Catholic theology. Students are to acquire the arts of precise and elegant expression, a sound and critical grasp of ideas, a familiarity
with the modern world’s ways of knowing itself, a personal understanding of this nation’s history and multicultural heritage, and an appreciation of other cultures and societies around the globe.
Concentrations in the liberal arts and sciences as well as in carefully selected pre-professional programs are to give students not only technical knowledge and expertise, but also awareness of the larger human context that calls them to use their competencies for personal growth and service to others. Similarly, the University’s commitment to graduate and professional education is aimed at the formation of men and women of competence and compassion.

Co-Curricular Programs and Support Services

Other campus activities—resident life, clubs and organizations, recreational and sports programs, social events, and health services—are to complement academic pursuits. Students are to have opportunities, experiences, and responsibilities that will assist and guide their struggle to become fully human.
University life as a whole is to be open to the subtle presence and activity of God, God’s Word, and Spirit. Students are to find a campus environment, reinforced by specific programs, that nourishes faith and contemplation, seeks the integration of reason and faith, the religious and the secular, and also recognizes the implications of faith for right conduct and service.
All offices of the University—academic, student life, business, university relations, facilities management, and campus ministry—are to be supportive of the
University’s efforts to graduate intelligent, faith-filled men and women for others.

Faculty, Administration, and Staff

The University is to recruit faculty who are supportive of its mission and goals, well educated, well trained in their fields, diverse, and committed to excellence in the classroom, significant scholarship, and contributions to their disciplines. The University is to assist individual faculty members with the challenge of combining in one life dedicated teaching, close relationships with students, collegiality, and scholarly activity and achievement.
The University is to recruit and develop administrators and staff, of diverse backgrounds, who are supportive of its mission and goals, skilled, dedicated to their work, and collegial.
Students are to find in all who labor on behalf of the University examples of generosity, service, and personal integrity.

Students

The University is to recruit and attract literate, capable students, as academically prepared as possible, who are comfortable with its mission and goals, eager to study and to participate in campus life, searching to discover and follow a worthwhile direction for their own lives. The mix of the student body—interests, special talents, geographic origin, socioeconomic class, and, particularly, ethnicity—is to be as varied as reasonable and possible, manifesting always the biblical option for the poor.
From admission to commencement, inside and outside the classroom, the University is to encourage and challenge students as individuals to liberate their own minds and hearts and to develop their God-given abilities for service to others and God’s greater glory.
The University is always to measure and judge its success with students by their lives as alumni—the quality of their personal lives, of their careers, of their influence and leadership, and of their accomplishments.

Campus Life, Hospitality, and Service

All on campus—faculty, administration and staff, students—are to collaborate and share responsibility for the formation of an academic community based on mutual respect, friendship, and a shared commitment to the University’s mission and goals. All are to expect from one another good work, disciplined behavior, and courtesy.
The University community is to be open and welcoming to others from off campus who visit for intellectual stimulation and reflection, artistic events and programs, worship, or relaxation and recreation. Those invited are to include, especially, alumni, parents and families, benefactors and friends, professional colleagues, neighbors, and church members, but also others whom the University can appropriately serve with its facilities, buildings, and grounds.
The University is to be known not only as an intellectual and cultural center that others can visit but also one that sends its members—faculty, administration and staff, students—into the community to learn, to teach, to minister, to labor, to participate in and lead efforts to create a more rational, faith-filled, just society.

Goals and Objectives

Guided by this mission, Loyola Marymount has become a comprehensive university with excellent undergraduate instruction, selected graduate programs, and a distinguished law school.
Loyola Marymount University

Promotes academic excellence by:

Enrolling an academically ambitious, multicultural, and socio-economically diverse student body
Recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse and multicultural faculty committed to excellence in teaching and active scholarship or artistic productivity
Sustaining an excellent staff and administration as partners with the faculty in promoting academic excellence
Engaging students in academic programs that explore the multicultural experience of American ethnic groups
Maintaining an academic community in which freedom of inquiry and expression enjoy the highest priority
Emphasizing the skills and knowledge necessary for a lifetime of intellectual growth and providing strong pre-professional and professional preparation in the undergraduate curriculum
Offering excellent graduate and legal education in a context which promotes the highest standards of personal integrity and professional responsibility
Developing and maintaining the physical facilities, equipment, and support systems that enable the University to carry out its academic mission
Providing library facilities and services for excellence in the University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs

Lives an institutional commitment to Catholicism and the Judeo-Christian tradition by:

Ensuring that Catholic faith and tradition continue to inform and inspire the Loyola Marymount educational experience
Encouraging collaboration between members of the founding religious communities and other members of the University to give a distinctive tone to campus life
Welcoming students, faculty, and staff from all faith traditions
Emphasizing the examination of the moral and ethical implications of all human actions
Fostering a just society through a commitment to social justice and service
Offering opportunities for religious practice and faith development for the entire Loyola Marymount community

Provides a liberal education by:

Offering a core curriculum that provides each undergraduate with a broad education in the liberal arts and sciences as the heart of the undergraduate experience
Emphasizing the study of philosophy and theology in the undergraduate curriculum
Challenging all students to think critically and reflect on basic values and issues and free themselves from prejudice
Supporting a faculty committed to excellent teaching and scholarship in a university based on the liberal arts tradition
Encouraging students to understand their fields of studies in a broad intellectual, ethical, and social context
Preparing students, undergraduate and graduate, to play active roles in addressing the problems and challenges of the larger society and world in which they live

Fosters a student-centered university by:

Maintaining the residential character and medium size of the Westchester campus to assure that each student receives personal attention
Encouraging staff, administration, and faculty to embrace the ideal of personal care and dedication to the well-being and development of each student
Offering co-curricular programs that complement the academic programs and produce a coherent educational experience
Supporting the full involvement of students in campus life by offering a wide variety of activities
Providing opportunities for students to develop their leadership skills by actively involving them in decision making
Challenging and encouraging students to lead and serve others

Creates a sense of community on campus by:

Introducing new members of the community to the shared values and history of the University and reinforcing a sense of belonging for all members
Assuring that the daily life of the campus reflects a vision of human dignity and fosters mutual understanding and caring
Celebrating the richness and diversity of an multicultural campus
Encouraging faculty, staff, administrators, and students to serve others, participate in the life of the University, and act as responsible and generous members of the academic community
Providing opportunities to participate in making significant decisions through well-defined and fair procedures

Participates actively in the life of the larger community by:

Using the resources of Los Angeles and Southern California to expand and deepen the student’s educational experience
Developing academic programs that address the dynamics and opportunities of the nations and cultures of Mexico, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim
Inspiring faculty, staff, students, and alumni to serve their communities and society by applying their skills and knowledge to critical problems
Contributing to the intellectual and cultural life of society through scholarship and the arts
Providing leadership in the examination and discussion of the ethical dimensions of social issues
Recognizing a particular responsibility to serve the global Church, and especially the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the local dioceses.

-Approved by Board of Trustees
December 3, 1990

Loyola Marymount University
One LMU Drive, Suite 4844
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659

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