Boasting a 92 percent student return rate and a minimally damaged campus, Loyola seems to have healed in the aftermath of Katrina. But behind this recovery lies a somber reality: Some members of the Loyola community are still in need.

Loyola has created the Magis Fellowship Fund to reach out to those in its community who have suffered great loss due to Katrina. By rebuilding from the inside out, the university can be more inclusive in its outreach efforts, said the Rev. Si Hendry, S.J., director of the Jesuit Center.

“Loyola has already done a good job helping people in the wider community,” Hendry said. “Helping people within the Loyola community is part of being whole.”

Hendry and eight other members of the Loyola community compose a committee that is facilitating the project.

“The idea of the project is for Loyola people to help other people at Loyola,” Hendry said.

“These are the people we see every day that we need to pay attention to.”

This fund gives students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to help these people. Members of the Loyola community are asked to contribute to the fund so that financial gifts can be distributed to those most in need; specifically Sodexho, WFF, physical plant and campus security workers. The project will also aid Loyola students, faculty, staff and their families.

The fund’s title embodies its mission in rebuilding the Loyola community.

“Magis is Latin for ‘more’,” said Hendry. “We hope to be more of a community because of this.”

While the project promises to do “more” in the wake of Katrina, others believe that people should already expect this kind of undertaking from Loyola.

“If you know anything about Loyola or the Jesuits, you would expect us to do this,” said committee member and communications professor Lisa Martin. “People don’t come to a Jesuit university expecting mediocrity.”

Martin hopes that students will gain from participating in this project, both literally and spiritually.

“I hope students get the things they need, but also realize that things aren’t what matters,” she said. “What matters is what people do for each other.”

Participants also have the opportunity to nominate people who deserve to receive aid from the fund. This will determine the specifics of the monetary aid that is awarded. Today is the deadline for nominations.

Cash and check donations can be made at the Bursar’s Office in Marquette Hall 270. Participants also have the option of donating online (noah.loyno.edu/magis_donations.php) or donating express cards in the SGA office. People with specific items to donate should contact the Center for Intercultural Understanding in the Danna Center Those interested in nominating someone for a gift also may do so in the CIU.

Lauren LaBorde can be reached at [email protected].