Loyola Week, the annual event to celebrate Jesuit tradition, is getting a facelift to try and increase campus spirit among all students.

Edwin Madera, the coordinator for university events and a new addition to Loyola this year, is the head chairman of Loyola Week.

Madera has brought a new spin to the old traditions.

“It’s going to be different this year with the excitement we create around Loyola Week. I want Loyola Week to create a sense of pride, a connection with others and be a big party,” Madera said.

The focus of Loyola Week has always been to highlight the university’s Jesuit ideals and to celebrate how it is a community of people who are “with and for others,” Madera said.

This year, Madera created a Loyola Week committee made up of Mission and Ministry staff and student representatives from different areas on campus, said Janece Bell, mass communication senior and Jesuit fellow.

Together they decided on the theme of “Ignite the Spirit.”

The Loyola Week committee chose the theme in hopes that the festivities would ignite a sense of joyful, celebratory, school spirit across campus, Bell said.

“We are trying to light a flame in Loyola University,” Madera said.

Each day had a theme as well. Sunday was Ignite the Spirit of the Holy Spirit. Monday was Ignite the Spirit of Creativity. Other themes included Ignite the Spirit of Community, Justice and Action and Service, Bell said.

Each day featured activities such as lectures, themed masses, sporting events, the musical “Godspell,” a Wolves on the Prowl day of service, a carnival, and other recreational events.

Loyola Week started with the traditional outdoor mass in the Horseshoe. To maintain the theme of igniting the spirit and fire, people met in the Peace Quad before and walked to the Horseshoe on a path lined with luminary bags and tiki torches.

This year the Ignatian Olympics, the Iggy 5 Race, The Ignatian Carnival and the Jesuit Saint Halloween Costume Contest were added this year to get students more excited and involved.

The Loyola Week committee wanted to incorporate competition in the events this year, Madera said.

“There is something about making it competitive, because people here seem to be competitive, and it will get more people to come to the events,” Madera said. The Iggy 5 Race on Thursday was a race around the Ignatius Loyola statue in the Peace Quad. The race involved tricycle riding and a three-legged race with many other “twists and turns” around the statue, Madera said. The Ignatian Carnival was in the Peace Quad on Tuesday during the Window. The carnival was filled with music, food and a piñata.

“We’re trying to be innovative. Think New York street party type of mentality,” Madera said.

Overall, the committee was trying to make this Loyola Week memorable and make people proud to be a part of the Loyola Community, Madera said.

Kristen Himmelberg can be reached at [email protected]