The author William Hazlitt once said that prejudice is the child of ignorance.

Knowledge of ignorance, however, is not ignorance.

The Rev. William Byron, S.J., and the current administration are to be commended for their recent efforts in response to student protest last semester.

Last semester, students called the administration on what they saw as ignorance. No longer content with the current course of action, students stood, literally, in the path of what they deemed the sort of administrative complacency that helped breed such cowardly acts as the racist note posted in Mercy Hall.

To ignore the effects that racism and prejudice have on Loyola’s campus is a slap in the face to everyone who espouses the fundamental beliefs of this university, yet, by faltering in its course of action, the previous administration seemed to have come to that very conclusion.

The previous administration’s failure to recognize this belied the fact that we are a social justice university. And as such, shouldn’t we be working hard towards creating a fair and egalitarian community where everyone matters?

The good news is that those in charge seem to have finally caught on to the fact that a socially just university means having everyone’s interests at heart. Although, Byron may not have fully realized everyone’s interests yet, this is one example where Byron has his finger on the pulse of the university.

Plans for a multi-cultural center, which has been discussed as far back as 1987, have finally come to the forefront of administrative planning. This is a giant step forward for students and faculty and a step in the right direction for the president.