The Ignatian Scholarship is no longer the top scholarship at Loyola, being eclipsed by the top athletic scholarships available to basketball players and creating some controversy among some faculty members.
Some faculty believe the top merit scholarship should be the Ignatian Scholarship since they say the university values academics above other talents. The problem arises because some of the faculty believe the administration is not moving fast enough or doing enough to address the issue which they think appears unfavorable for the university.
In January 2005, the Ignatian Scholarships Selection Committee Faculty Representatives sent a letter to the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, about their concerns over the difference in financial support awarded. “This difference might create the impression that we value athletic prowess more than we value academic ability,” the committee said in the letter. It was signed by committee members Lynn Koplitz, chemistry professor; William Barnett, business professor; Dean Angeles, music professor and Maurice Brungardt, history professor.
“We hope you will consider increasing the Ignatian awards to include board and fees, in addition to tuition and room, so that these merit scholarships are once again the highest merit award offered to incoming students. This change would make it clear that we value academic ability above all other talents in awarding merit-based scholarships,” the committee wrote.
Wildes turned the matter over to Walter Harris, university provost. In January 2006, Harris said in an e-mail to the committee that after discussing the matter with Wildes, “We want to leave the Ignatian Scholarship program as is for at least the next four months as we go through the intensive planning process before the university so that we can consider this program along with other programs in the university.”
Harris said in a phone interview Wednesday that the scholarships will be looked into at some point in the future and “will certainly give the matter full consideration.” Harris said the athletic scholarships were set up that way when the Rev. William Byron served as interim university president.
Annually, the university spends around $2 million on the Ignatian scholars while the athletic scholars receive “far less,” Harris said.
“I hope we are not creating a false dichotomy,” Harris said. “We recruit scholar-athletes.” Athletes who receive the scholarships are scholars first, which keeps with the university focus on academics, Harris said.
Michael Giorlando, athletic director, said that from an academic standpoint, the athletic scholars are doing great. “They are carrying their weight on and off the floor,” Giorlando said.
Tuition and room are provided by the top merit academic scholarship while tuition, room and board are provided by the basketball scholarship. Neither scholarship provides funds for books or fees.
According to Giorlando, the basketball scholarship covers tuition, a room in Cabra Hall and a meal plan. He said athletes must pay extra to live in other residence halls.
The Ignatian Scholarship covers a double room in Buddig Hall in addition to full tuition, though recipients must pay the difference in cost if they choose to live in another dorm.
The university selects an average of 10 incoming freshmen a year as Ignatian scholars, based on SAT and ACT scores and a 3.5 or above GPA on a 4-point scale, Harris said. Harris said that number has been exceeded in some cases. There is a cap of 18 athletic scholars in the university at one time according to Harris. Currently, there are eight men and nine women with the athletic scholarships, Giorlando said.
Tara Templeton can be reached at [email protected]
