Sophia Renzi

When mass communication freshman Kennedy James saw that Loyola would have its first Black president, she was filled with hope and comfortability, as she believes that her voice will truly be heard now.
For her family, having a Black president means that they can know that there will be someone in her corner fighting for her, with her, and making sure she’s comfortable.
“I feel that now and in the future, having a president that’s Black will help us get further,” she said.
March 23, 2023, marks a turning point for Loyola, as the Board of Trustees named Xavier Cole the 18th president of the university. Cole is the first African-American president and second layperson.
Students and faculty shared a common delight upon hearing the news.
Computer science junior and president of the Omicron Upsilon Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated Torron Brown feels that President Cole is the foundation and that he gives the community something to strive for.
“The type of impact that he gives and puts out to the campus and to the university is going to be there for years to come,” Brown said.
When the university was in search of a new president, Brown was one of the students chosen to interview the candidates.
Brown believes in the importance of representation in academic spaces, so he kept this in mind when listening to the interviews. To Brown, Cole stood out amongst all of the other presidential candidates.
From that experience, he said he was able to learn about Cole and make a genuine connection with him.
Through interviewing Cole, Brown also learned that Cole is extremely committed to making sure that Loyola continues to thrive and is dedicated to learning and becoming a better person.
If Cole were sitting in front of Brown, he would ask him to play one of his jazz instruments and have a casual conversation with him.
“He feels like that family uncle you can count on,” Brown said.
Public relations junior and president of the Loyola chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Nyla Cunningham said that for her, having a Black university president means that there’s a level of influence that the Black community on campus has that it never had before.
“[It’s] an opportunity for us to take things to the next level,” she said.
Currently, she believes that there hasn’t been a great impact this year, but she’s hopeful that with time, his impact and influence will begin to take hold.
“Now, we have someone who can be in our corner and understand our perspective whenever we are trying for new initiatives or implement new programs that might have some pushback,” Cunningham said.
She hopes that Cole will connect with students on a personal level and show that he’s not out of reach as a university figurehead.
As a member of campus organizations such as the Student Government Association and the Black Student Union, James believes that having a president she’s close to and can relate to is beneficial for many reasons, especially those surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
For Brown, it means a lot to have a university president that looks like him and can share aspects of culture and experiences as a Black man.
“Him being a Black president, I feel like he can better understand us and better relate to us,” Brown said. “[He is] able to understand how to adjust his initiatives to be able to accommodate students and be able to properly prioritize students in a way that can satisfy us and the community,” Brown said.