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Product Description: Introduction from the Author

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: For the Greater Glory of God. As I sat in my freshman orientation group, listening as every word of this Latin phrase was picked apart and thrown repeatedly against my eardrums, I began to wonder why I had chosen to make Loyola University my home for the next four years. It certainly wasnÂ’t for the greater glory of God. Maybe for the greater glory of me, but thatÂ’s a different story. As it turns out, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam is the Jesuit motto. What I know now, four years later, is that this motto enters into every facet of life at Loyola.

My university is an extremely religious one, at least by modern standards. Sure, there are plenty of the atheists youÂ’ll find at other institutions, but they are not as prevalent here as those who believe. The fervor of the believers is thick in the air, weighing on everything years of public school had led me to believe was not a religious matter. ItÂ’s not just the Catholics who run Loyola who believe, however. Faiths from all over the world are represented on campus. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Taoists, and probably even a couple Scientologists make Loyola hum with a burning faith and conviction.

I am not talking about the “no meat on Fridays during Lent” type of faith, although the dining halls are strangely heavy on fish during that holiest part of the Catholic year. The faith I speak of is the sort of feeling that emanates from a large body of people intent on success. Loyola breeds confidence, and the confidence sparks a sort of excitement evident in even the most sleep-deprived undergraduates. For Loyolans, God is not just a concept; God exists. He is not a sort of vague, spiritual entity. God is in the books. God is in the classroom. God is in the very chalk on the board. God is learning, and students gather daily to worship at his altar.

Now, I would hate to give the impression that Loyola is rife with religious fanatics. It is not. The point I am driving at here is quite different from that. The Jesuit credo, originally meant to reference works done in the name of the Almighty, lends itself to a different cause here. One might say “For the Greater Glory of Scholarship!” has become Loyola’s new battle cry. Chicago’s Jesuit institution is a bastion of knowledge in the middle of an urban jungle. Students and faculty alike work hard to promote learning in everything they do. Loyola may not have the reputation of schools like Harvard or Yale, but it offers the youth it aims to teach a chance to enter into an environment where mental and personal growth reign supreme.

Undergraduates often wander into LoyolaÂ’s fold confused. Many had hoped to go to another school but settled for Loyola in the end. Some just did not know what else to do with their post-high-school lives. Whatever their backgrounds may be, students leave Loyola as men and women, well prepared to face the challenges of the world before them. Not sure if youÂ’re ready to go through the good and the bad of Loyola? Maybe a quick look at some of the pages here enclosed will help you decide.

Nathan Ramin, Author

Loyola University Chicago