Over the summer, the Division of Student Affairs at Loyola, under the leadership of its vice president and associate provost Cissy Petty, underwent an almost complete reorganization of all its departments.
Counseling and Career Services separated into two independent offices: the Career Development Center and the University Counseling Center.
The departments of Recreational Sports and Intercollegiate Athletics combined to form the new Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Wellness, now housed in what was formerly known as the Rec Plex and is now known as the University Sports Complex.
The Cardoner Academy of Leadership is being developed as a new initiative of the division, and Residential Life hired an almost entirely new staff, with the exception of retaining its director, Robert Reed, and administrative assistant, Anna Easterling.
Even Sodexho and Dining Services, though independently owned, received a new head Chef.
Finally, the Danna Center and Student Activities Office was dissolved and reinvented as the Office of Co-Curricular Programs, annexing the responsibilities of New Student Orientation.
Greek life was no longer going to be the sole responsibility of one person but three, each overseeing one governing body.
Coming back to Loyola in early July to begin an internship with the University Programming Board and seeing all these changes, I was quite skeptical and somewhat upset at the decisions being made.
Administrators and staff members who I had worked with over the past two years and who I had come to know and love had left or been let go.
Overall, however, looking back, my scope was rather limited and uninformed. Unfortunately, firing and changing staff is a part of reorganization, and while regrettable, it allows new and innovative people to come in and be part of the change.
Swamp Stomp, supposedly geared towards new students, did not fulfill its purpose and instead acted as a “pre-gaming” extravaganza to a night of going out on the town; Late Nite in the Danna Center, the event replacing Swamp Stomp, was well attended, acted as an alcohol-free environment and will hopefully become a new Loyola tradition in which students will take pride.
With Greek Life being overseen by three people, each administrator can concentrate on that one governing body and not be overwhelmed by all three at once.
Whatever the feelings of students, faculty and staff on the changes occurring in Student Affairs, particularly in the Office of Co-Curricular Programs, we may all rest assured that the aim is to enhance the student experience at Loyola.
The University Programming Board will seek to add a more educational aspect to many of its events this year.
New Orleans and Louisiana culture will be explored through a weekend programming initiative, Saturdays in the City. Finally, with a new collaborative approach in mind, the UPB wishes to reach out to campus organizations and faculty in the hope of establishing relationships and engaging the entire Loyola student body.
We cannot do this alone however; to borrow a song title from Disney’s “High School Musical,” “We’re All in This Together.” I’d like to use this opportunity to invite those of the Loyola community to come and let their voices be heard at the first meeting of the University Programming Board to be held Monday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. in the Underground. It promises to be a good time.
Braxton Bernard, president of the University Programming Board, is a marketing and English junior from
Lafayette, La.
