This is a dynamic and inspirational time in the life of Loyola Marymount University. Students are back and the new academic year brings renewal. On a broader plane, LMU is on the threshold of a second century, when our still young university will focus on the promise of its future, while strengthening the Jesuit and Marymount traditions of academic excellence, service to others and educating the whole person.

We believe LMU is the Jesuit university best-positioned to thrive in the 21^st century. It is the major

Catholic university in the thriving metropolitan region of Los Angeles with a Catholic population and resources unparalleled elsewhere. We have a unique opportunity for growth and influence on society and people of faith. Through wise stewardship, we will realize this promise.

On campus, classes have begun. It is here you can see that the academic core of LMU is sound, grounded in the teaching and research of our professors. We have more than 500 full-time faculty and our students benefit from a student-to-faculty ratio of 11 to 1, and an average undergraduate class size of 21. We leverage this to offer an intimate education, where each student can interact and be mentored by faculty, as he or she pursues educational and personal goals in a nurturing atmosphere.

Our reputation is growing and the results are clear. More students than ever applied for the Class of 2015 and those accepted have a record-setting GPA exceeding 3.7, with SATs again averaging above 1200. We rank number three in the U.S. News & World Report's listing of “Best Colleges in the Western Region.” The Princeton Review – “The Best 373 Colleges” – praises LMU with high marks for the accessibility of our professors and the quality of life on our campus. It ranks us sixth on the happiest students list, trailing a top five that includes Stanford, Brown and Rice universities.

Loyola Law School jumped 17 spots in two years and now ranks 54th out of nearly 200 accredited law schools in U.S. News' “Best Graduate Schools.”  The 2011 Princeton Review places the law school number three in the country in “Best Classroom Experience,” number six in “Best Environment for Students of Color” and number seven for “Best Professors.” 

We combine this academic excellence with purposeful efforts to maintain the rich diversity on our campus. We are justly proud that LMU was again recognized this year for its outstanding record in enrolling and graduating minority students. The prestigious magazine Hispanic Outlook named LMU as the top-ranked California private university in the number and percentage of Hispanic students earning bachelor’s degrees, and second in those earning a master’s or doctoral degree. Diversity stimulates debate and a rich intercultural, interreligious and interracial dialogue is the essence of a sound education.

We want to maintain these essential elements of the university and we do not want economics to cause us to change our character. The rising cost of education is a significant challenge. A key principle for me is to provide this top-notch educational experience while valuing parents’ tuition dollars.  This year, tuition rose just 3.28 percent compared to 4.6 percent as the average increase for private, non-profit universities nationwide. 

Looking ahead, we are putting in place the key pieces for our continued success. Kathleen Aikenhead, the new chair of the Board of Trustees, is a superb partner and leader, and she and her family have been LMU stalwarts for decades. The Los Angeles City Council this April approved our Master Plan, which is the blueprint for modernization on our Westchester campus for the next 20 years.  We are increasing our $380.5 million endowment through our very successful Right Place. Right Time. The Campaign for LMU, which has raised $363 million on its way to our goal of $380 million by Commencement next May.

This past March, we began a university-wide initiative to create a new strategic plan. The effort is comprehensive, transparent and inclusive. While I am involved at every step, I assigned the oversight to a Strategic Plan Steering Committee with 14 members, including 10 faculty and deans. They, in turn, formed 11 working groups, each to examine and write a 10-page white paper on a key aspect of LMU life, ranging broadly from academic excellence to globalization. Participating in the working groups are 45 faculty members, 12 deans and associate deans and 28 staff. The Steering Committee will use the white papers to compose a draft plan, which will be circulated university-wide for comment this September, then revised and re-circulated again before it comes to me in February. The strategic plan goes to the Trustees for review in March.

The faculty this spring gave overwhelming approval to the framework for a new Core Curriculum. It will embody Jesuit intellectual principles and LMU’s mission, which rest on the premise that the best education – the one that sustains you for a lifetime – combines academic, social and spiritual pursuits. The new core will consist of a set of courses that focus on key competencies and foundational subject matters to provide students with critical thinking skills and a shared lens with which to view, understand and interpret the world in its spiritual, ethical and scholarly essence. The new curriculum, which will take two years to fully implement, will reinforce the values that make an LMU education stand apart from the many colleges and universities with which we compete.

Catholic. Jesuit. Marymount. It is who we are. It is in everything that we do. In all of our efforts, we will remain committed to the ideals that have characterized Ignatian education for 450 years. That means each of us has a greater responsibility in our individual work at the university to perpetuate and strengthen the Ignatian mission. This duty doesn’t reside in a particular office or person but with everyone who works at the university.

I look forward to meeting many of you during the coming year. LMU has never been stronger than it is today, we have much to offer and our prospects are bright. Visit the campus. See the newly renovated Von Der Ahe Building. Join in our many and varied Centennial events, including a 100^th Birthday Party/BBQ and decorating LMU’s float for the 2012 Rose Parade. We are serving Centennial wines made by our own alumni, so we will be able to raise a glass together and share our blessings.