From For You Page to the Quad: TikTok Star Adamn Killa Takes Over Loyola

The incense hadn’t yet settled from Sister Dolores Jean Schmidt, BVM’s, funeral as hundreds of students swarmed North Kenmore Avenue — not for prayer, but to meet internet sensation Adam Kelly, better known as Adamn Killa. The Oct. 16 visit sparked a campus-wide frenzy as students crowded the street for a chance to be part of the viral moment.

Kelly built a name for himself through his “This is for you” videos, in which he does a signature dance to his 2025 single “Fall On” and dedicates it to a hyper-specific audience, like Kazakhs, or baddies who play basketball at Harvard.

Loyola wasn’t the first Chicago university Kelly visited. He stopped by the University of Illinois-Chicago Aug. 27 and DePaul University Sept. 10.

The Loyola meetup mania began Oct. 14 on TikTok when Kelly asked his audience whether he should visit Loyola or Columbia College. Ramblers quickly flooded the comments, promising to show out if Kelly made the trip to Rogers Park.

The TikTok phenom confirmed his plans shortly thereafter, stating he planned to arrive on the West Quad at 3 p.m.. The announcement caused an immediate uproar on social media apps such as Fizz and Snapchat, spreading the word quickly around campus.

As the clock ticked closer to 3 p.m., students began to materialize on the West Quad.  

Just before his advertised arrival time, a black van turned onto North Kenmore Avenue, sparking a wave of excitement as students assumed Kelly had arrived right on time. In an instant, the crowd surged toward the street, phones raised high in anticipation.

It quickly became apparent Kelly wasn’t in the van, but the mass of students remained in place. The crowd continued to grow, lining both sides of the street in front of the Father Arnold J. Damen, S.J., statue.

With the sidewalk already overflowing, spectators began perching on trash cans, climbing trees and watching from building windows to catch a glance of the action. 

Around 3:15 p.m., Kelly posted on his Instagram story that he was 20 minutes away.

As they eagerly waited for Kelly, students began cheering at passing delivery trucks and campus shuttles, turning the prolonged wait into a spontaneous celebration.

Second-year Ryan Wolsfeld decided to leave the crowd around 3:45 p.m. to head to class. As he walked up North Kenmore Avenue, he saw Kelly’s SUV turning the corner off of North Sheridan Road.

“As I left, I noticed him pull up,” Wolsfeld said. “I started taking selfies, and then people saw me taking selfies and everyone ran over, and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by, like, 500 people.”

As the crowd swarmed his SUV like a 2009 Black Friday tech sale, Kelly was trapped inside, barely visible amid a sea of phones, backpacks and general hysteria.

As Kelly and his cameraman stuck themselves out of the car’s window to record the spectacle, students began cheering and asking Kelly to record a TikTok. 

After carving out enough space to open his door, Kelly filmed a TikTok, instructing the crowd to shout his notorious catchphrase with a Loyola twist.

 “If you’re Sister Jean, this is for you,” Kelly said.

He then performed his signature dance, raising his hands and rotating his chest in a circular motion — a daring feat given the wall of students pressing in from all directions. Students joined in, raising hands and rotating chests as they screamed. 

After signing autographs and taking pictures with audience members, Kelly was asked to leave the premises by Campus Safety.

Campus Safety didn’t respond to The Phoenix’s requests for a comment.

As the crowd made way for the vehicle, the crush forward intensified, with students craning for a final glimpse of the influencer. 

As Kelly made his departure, students continued to chase the car until it made its final getaway down North Kenmore Avenue.

Only a few minutes after the ordeal, Kelly had already posted about the incident on TikTok, stating, “Loyola the police made me leave, I’m sorry,” and three other videos flaunting his massive crowd.

When the dust settled and campus resumed its usual tempo, students were left with a memory equal parts chaos, selfies, dancing and smiles. 

With closed streets, overwhelmed security and a celebrity exit that felt more like a getaway, many students agreed — Oct. 16 wasn’t just another Thursday. As one anonymous Fizz poster put it, Adamn Killa’s visit might have been “unironically the most historic day in Loyola history.”