Loyola Kicks Off Community Input Phase of Campus Planning

Loyola hosted the first of two virtual town hall meetings July 23 to kick off the Neighborhood Input phase of the university’s campus planning process. During the meeting a new website for community members to submit their input was released.

First begun in spring 2023, the campus planning process is an ongoing effort by the university to identify needs on Loyola’s campuses and outline the next decade of development. The next virtual town hall will be on Tuesday, August 6. Those interested in attending can register for the event online here.

The website includes details on the current phase of the campus plan, an interactive campus map and a community engagement survey. The interactive map was shared with the roughly 50 attendees at the town hall and again with the Loyola community in a July 25 email from Jennifer Clark, associate vice president of Neighborhood Initiatives.

The previous phase, called the Campus Needs Assessment, was completed in January, and the current phase is set to last until September.

University Architect and Vice President for Campus Planning Patrick Brawley has led the needs assessment over the previous year with Loyola students, faculty and alumni. Among other steps, he studied other similar sized universities to find possible standards for how Loyola should address its own needs with the needs assessment, according to Clark.

“We don’t have the, if you will, any set plan to say a project is going to be built here, we’re really looking at opportunities within our existing holdings,” Brawley said during the town hall.

The interactive map allows viewers to comment on specific parts of the map where other community members can then view, like or dislike.

As of Thursday afternoon, the majority of comments placed were in regards to the 1226-34 W Loyola Ave building which Loyola purchased last year and announced they will tear down once the current leases end, The Phoenix reported.

One comment linked to a letter written by Roman Susan Art Gallery owners Kristin and Nathan Abhalter-Smith with numerous co-signers urging Loyola to recognize the importance of 1234 W Loyola Ave, which houses the gallery.

Another commenter, who claimed to be an incoming masters student, said they were disappointed with Loyola’s perceived disinterest in the community.

“Their unilateral plan to evict the tenants and businesses here is undoing years of social and cultural recovery since the pandemic left its mark on our neighborhood,” the anonymous commenter wrote. “Please think collaboratively as you consider your area vision and please build bridges supporting RP at 1234.”

After opening the meeting with vintage photos of Loyola’s campus and surrounding neighborhoods from the early 20th century, Clark held a thought exercise where attendees submitted one word they thought best described their community. The words were collected through an online submission and formed into a word cloud visual.

The first word to appear was “archies” and among the most submitted were “diversity,” “lake” and “walkable.” Archie’s Cafe is another business currently located at 1226-1234 W. Loyola Ave alongside Roman Susan and Edge Art galleries.

Following the word cloud exercise, Clark described why Loyola has a need for development. She referred to the upcoming expected generational population decline alongside the effects of the pandemic and virtual learning on students’ academic, social and emotional health as reasons to adapt the way the university teaches, the way students live and to provide accommodations.

Clark said the purpose of the plan is to prepare the campus for this next generation of students without stopping university operations for an extended period of time.

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to remain at this level of enrollment for decades to come,” Clark said. “So this plan, like I said, is not about growing the university, but it is about changing the way we offer programming to students in order to set them up for future success.”

Part of maintaining current enrollment levels throughout the future is competing with other universities throughout the higher education market, according to Brawley. 

“This is a national game that we’re playing relative to attracting and retaining the students, the faculty and staff to the spaces,” Brawley said. “So as we go through this, there’s a lot of assessment, just understanding how can we be the best. Our goal is to be a Top 100 School, so we know we have work to do.”

Clark said though the university isn’t actively looking to acquire new properties, if new property becomes available the university will consider purchasing it.

Featured image by Daphne Kraushaar / The Phoenix