Midwest Modern Language Association to Relocate from Loyola

The Midwest Modern Language Association, a regional affiliate of the professional language and literature organization Modern Language Association, is set to relocate from Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus in 2026, where it’s been housed since 2009. 

MMLA, currently located in Loyola Hall, primarily handles the bi-yearly publication of the MLA journal, according to Executive Director and Loyola English professor Jack Kerkering.

“Its mission is to promote the teaching and research in modern literatures and languages,” Kerkering said of the MMLA. “It convenes at an annual convention for that purpose — bringing people together to share research and modern language pedagogy.”

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs David Chinitz, who formerly served as Chair for the English Department from 2018 until June 30, said the organization’s time at Loyola has come to an expected end, as the MLA’s regional affiliates rarely stay at one host institution for an extended time.

“They’re not permanent fiefdoms of any one university, so they tend to move around,” Chinitz said.

The tendency of MLA affiliates to move institutions is why MMLA’s tenure at Loyola is ending, according to Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Peter Schraeder. The organization hasn’t announced where they’ll relocate to. 

“We very much value the organization,” Schraeder said. “The decision was not economic, it’s the natural rotation.”

Since MMLA serves 7-year terms, the organization was up for renewal in 2016, but the document was tabled in the Provost’s Office and never addressed further, according to Chinitz.

Chinitz said no reason was given as to why the continuation agreement wasn’t addressed. 

The Provost’s Office didn’t respond to request for comment. 

Since then, MMLA has survived on year-to-year contracts, according to Gangopadhyaya. However, Jung said the year-by-year agreements didn’t provide the financial security the organization needed regarding conference planning, journal production and staffing.

Compared to MMLA’s 16 years at Loyola, the Northeast Modern Language Association moved its administrative home to Gannon University in 2024 after a 10-year residency at SUNY University at Buffalo, according to the NEMLA website. 

“It’s extraordinary the MMLA’s been here for so long,” Schraeder said. 

Kerkering said MMLA was brought to Loyola because of interest on part of faculty, who made the proposal to the upper administration to house the organization.

In an internal communication, Kerkering, who’s been MMLA’s executive director since 2020, said he received verbal confirmation Jan. 7 from the English Department Chair Suzanne Bost he would continue to serve for a second term. MMLA’s bylaws state an executive director’s term lasts for five years, according to Kerkering. 

However, once the MMLA relocates, Kerkering said he’ll no longer serve as executive director, since the position is selected from within the host institution. 

The College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office informed MMLA of the decision to not renew the organization’s residency Jan. 9, according to Bost.

Bost said a Jan. 16 message from the Dean’s Office said they’d prefer MMLA find a new host by June 25. Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Asim Gangopadhyaya said Loyola has offered the organization tenure until June 2026 to aid in their transition off campus.

Former President of MMLA and Loyola alum Nathan Jung said the additional year gives MMLA time to survey host options, make pitches to different institutions and hopefully resettle in an orderly fashion. 

In March 2023, Chinitz said he and Kerkering began to discuss a longer-term, formal continuation agreement for MMLA. The document was drafted in fall 2023, and in January, the university made the decision to no longer house the institution. 

Throughout the organization’s 16-year residence, Schraeder said Loyola has offered support to the MMLA in terms of space, staffing and the production of the MLA journal. 

Housing MMLA has also provided benefits to Loyola, mostly regarding prestige, recognition and branding, according to Jung. 

“It signals that Loyola is committed to scholarship, is committed to professional development, is committed to building opportunities for regional scholarship and for its own people,” Jung said. 

However, Bost said the decision to relocate MMLA doesn’t account for the “non-economic capital” of what the organization offers to Loyola and its students, which she said includes experience running budgets and writing, editing and publishing essays.

Jung also highlighted the academic opportunities MMLA offers Loyola graduate students in professionalizing — attending conferences, presenting scholarship, reviewing books for first publication credits and publishing pieces of peer-reviewed scholarship.

Schraeder said the move won’t prevent Loyola students and faculty from playing a role in the organization, as they can still participate in MMLA conferences. The 2025 convention will be hosted by Marquette University in Milwaukee Nov. 14-16, according to Loyola’s website.

Looking to the future, settling at a new host institution will depend heavily on faculty members at that institution making a case in the same way Loyola faculty did, according to Kerkering.

Currently, Jung said the executive board is strategizing — cataloging the myriad benefits of MMLA, finding interested parties and organizing pitches as to why the organization would be a benefit to their institution.

“We’re looking forward to seeing where we land and who wants to help us continue this work of supporting regional scholarship for all kinds of different academics at all different career stages,” Jung said.