SGA Election
The highly contested Student Government Association election ended with Elliot Sanchez winning the presidency. Sanchez had been disqualified after SGA officials and opponent André Breaux called his campaign tactics into question. Sanchez appealed the disqualification and defended his position during an SGA court hearing, which resulted in an overturning of the original ruling and declared Sanchez the winner.
Gloryland
Loyola’s women’s basketball got a boost after winning the program’s first-ever Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The ‘Pack brought the tournament title home after a 73-68 win over Xavier in the final Mar. 6 at The Den. Coach Dobee Plaisance was named the GCAC’s Coach of the Year.
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance
The prestigious Thelonious Monk Insitute of Jazz Performance will call Loyola its home after considering offers from competing schools like Columbia and Harvard Universities. The institute plans to fulfill its “Commitment to New Orleans” initiative through intensive jazz education in local public schools.
Campus Crime
Higher education leaders met at Loyola last January amid growing fears
that New Orleans’ crime wave would turn away prospective students. Ten area universities sent a direct message to state and local crime fighting officials, by banding together to demand a safe environment for students. Recently, crime on and around campus has many students and faculty worried again.
Tornado rattles Uptown neighborhoods
A tornado ripped through the Carrollton area Tuesday, Feb. 13, damaging buildings, tearing off tree limbs and cutting off power on and around Loyola. Its erratic pattern left many people instantly homeless. Loyola cancelled classes for the day while the city worked to restore power to the area.
HNS casts vote of No Confidence
A significant majority of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences faculty voiced their lack of confidence in Loyola’s president and provost. The vote came after mounting frustrations over the administration’s handling of “Pathways,”, the university’s controversial restructuring plan passed last spring, which resulted in the elimination of 17 tenure or tenure-track positions and the elimination or suspension of 14 majors.
Committee votes wrongful termination
The University Rank and Tenure Committee voted that some of the 17 tenured and tenure-track faculty who lost their jobs because of the “Pathways” Plan should get the opportunity to teach at Loyola again. The committee alleged that Loyola’s administration didn’t follow procedure in firing those faculty.
Graduation Off Campus
After a wet, muggy graduation ceremony on the Horseshoe last May, administrators moved the location of Loyola’s spring commencement exercises. The administration announced that graduation ceremonies would be held off campus at the New Orleans Arena for the class of 2007, which sparked anger among many students.
LUCAP Die-In
Loyola University Community Action Program members lay with chalk outlines around their bodies in the Peace Quad, commemorating the Iraq War’s four-year anniversary. The demonstration led to a confrontation with Cade Cypriano, a political science sophomore and Maroon editorial columnist. Cypriano taped an “Ignorance in Action” sign to the ground in front of them and stood among them, holding an American flag.
Lizzie Ford-Madrid can be reached at [email protected].
