All the work, none of the credit.

In 2021, Loyola dismantled the studio arts program and merged the fine arts degree with the design degree from the School of Communication and Design. This was just the beginning of a long term removal of the art program. 

I intended to double major in art history. When informed that Loyola doesn’t offer all the classes for the major, I remembered Loyola’s consortium agreement with Tulane. In this agreement, a Loyola student can take the classes required for their major which Loyola doesn’t offer at Tulane. Since Tulane offers an art history major, you can take all the classes Loyola requires. But there’s a catch: you still couldn’t receive the degree. 

An assistant dean explained this obstacle and said it would be against policy. But if a Loyola student has the ability to take all the courses required for a major, why wouldn’t Loyola have that major listed? When I asked around about why exactly the art history major was delisted in the first place, I received different answers, ranging from the movement of resources to the media program, and a lack of major interest. If they just needed more applicants, they shouldn’t have delisted the major from the university. 

Most of the Loyola faculty I’ve talked to expressed their dislike of Loyola’s movement towards only media based art. You can’t have a liberal arts school without the arts, one professor said. 

At this point, I am unsure if even the art history minor will continue to be offered for the next class of students. Loyola New Orleans is now just a liberal arts school where you can do all the work you want, but get none of the credit.