New Signs Installed as Part of Jesuit Heritage Signage Project

Loyola installed 14 signs around statues and buildings on the Lake Shore Campus as part of a Jesuit heritage project completed Sept. 2.

The project began in August 2024 and the last pending additions to LSC are signs for Madonna della Strada and Mertz Residence Hall. The original location for the Madonna della Strada sign has concrete under it, so a new location has to be determined. The Mertz sign is expected to be installed once the area is no longer under construction.

Director of the Jesuit Heritage Signage Fr. Stephen Schloesser said he noticed other Jesuit universities like Boston College and Fordham made their histories well-known. He said he felt the Loyola community was comparatively lacking knowledge of their history.

Schloesser, Chair of the History Department Brad Hunt and History professor Tim Gilfoyle stressed the importance of making Loyola students more aware of Loyola’s history, both of St. Ignatius of Loyola himself and the university’s story.

“We are a Jesuit institution,” Hunt said. “There’s 500 years of Jesuit educational tradition that has informed our past, has informed Loyola’s University’s growth over the years. And if we don’t talk about that, then we are just another UIC. We need to inform people. We need to connect people, and I think that builds connections to the campus, and connections to our story.”

The Jesuit Heritage website has a map of sign locations. Each sign and further ongoing historical research will be added, according to Schloesser.

Project Manager Andy Quathamer said he helped manage the schedule and budget for the project and was responsible for bringing the completed designs to the fabricator.

“It’s nice to be able to have a project where it is really a mission driven project in the university,” Quathamer said. “Working with these groups on campus was really a nice opportunity to meet them and get to know different groups here.”

Five signs were installed Aug. 28, but the remaining sign installations were delayed until Sept. 2 due to heavy rains, according to Quathamer.

Logistical concerns had to be addressed during the installation process, including calling Chicago Digger to avoid hitting utility lines, according to Quathamer.

The original location for the Madonna della Strada sign had foundation in the way and the new location is in the construction zone, said Quathamer.

Schloesser made a point to acknowledge former Loyola President Father Henry J. Dumbach, S.J., who was responsible for relocating St. Ignatius College to the site that is now Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus.

“I really wanted to kind of highlight him because that took a lot of vision,” Schloesser said.

Photos for the signs used were partly from Loyola Archives and Special Collections and Women and Leadership Archives.

“I hope when people look at it, they say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know we had all that stuff in there,’” Schloesser said.

Director of Loyola’s Women and Leadership Archives Emily Reiher and Loyola’s University Archivist and Curator of Rare Books Kathy Young gave permission for the reproduction of images in Loyola’s archives.

Reiher and Young said part of their job is making archives accessible to people and supporting university projects.

“We document the history of the university,” Young said.
“So any project that uses some of the university history or is about the university history or is about the Jesuit community at the university — we’re always willing to support those types of projects. Again, that’s our mission.”

One sign dedicated to the Mundelein College — now Mundelein Center for Fine and Performing Arts — is located on the east side of Mundelein.

“So using the Mundelein collections in this way really helps tell that story of Mundelein College, lets folks know about the former usage of these buildings and learn a little bit about that history,” Reiher said.

Reiher said she thinks a lot of people who visit the campus are curious about its history, and she is grateful they were able to use the archival collections to help tell that story. 

Schloesser said he wants people to recognize the history behind the campus and the people who built it.

“I feel everybody lives in the present, and they’re just kind of glorying in it,” Schloesser said. “It is beautiful. But what I want them to see is a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into building this place.”

Global Community Director of Educate Magis Dave Smith and his team gave permission for use of their map, which shows Jesuit universities and schools around the world.

“I think it’s really great how the history about Jesuit education has kind of been woven into the whole campus,” Smith said.

Gilfoyle had a previous connection doing archive work with the Crown family, who were the namesakes for the Edward A. Crown Center for the Humanities.

“I think many of the students at Loyola are unfamiliar with the history of the institution,” Gilfoyle said. “The signage is designed to stimulate interest in the history of the institution, particularly the history of the Jesuits and the role they played, not only in founding Loyola, but also in sustaining it and allowing it to grow over the course of 150 years.”

Professor Emeritus of history Ted Karamanski said he helped with the project.

“The signs are splendid,” Karamanski wrote in an email to the history department. “In my half-century of engagement with Lakeshore Campus this is the most impactful cultural change in campus life. 

He said he loves the signs and hopes they will help people to reflect on the relationship between time and place for generations to come. 

Karamanski has a background in public history, working with signage for the National Park Service, and has a Jesuit historical knowledge.

“Those lives that came before, we’re picking up on something that they started and it’s useful to know that we have a place in there,” Karamanski said. “With that comes a responsibility to acknowledge that which came before, and perhaps for some people, to carry it forward.” 

Michael Gawlik, who worked on the The Creative and Design Team, aimed to help with visual communication and helping institute brand standards for university projects, such as adhering to the University’s brand standards and capturing the efforts of the Jesuit faith, Abbott said in an email to The Phoenix.

Assistant Vice President of Digital Strategy Jill Grech led the digital team’s development of the website. UMC Digital works with university websites, according to their website.

“Our team used this opportunity to develop a new interactive, responsive and fully accessible map,” Grech wrote in an email. “This proof of concept is a preview of a UX initiative to scale interactive campus maps across our entire website over the next 18-24 months.”

Vice President for Mission Integration Claire Noonan said she works to help the university community understand and live out the Jesuit mission. Noonan said she helped coordinate, connect people and assist the project.

“It’s a great feeling of accomplishment because the project in its fruition really mirrors very closely what we were imagining and beginning at the beginning,” Noonan said. “So it feels great and I hope it is, you know, a positive addition to the campus atmosphere and culture that our community really enjoys and learns from.”

Fifth-year public history and U.S. history Ph.D. student Shannon Honl worked on the project last spring semester.

Honl has experience working as digital arts director and project manager for the National Eisenhower Memorial.

“Not every single group of stakeholders has the expertise,” Honl said. “But when you get everybody at the table, and all of the constraints sort of laid out, and you can make decisions that are best fit for all considerations, you end up with a really beautiful project.”

Information on the locations for the new signage is available at the university’s website.