Every year, Loyola’s graduating seniors leave behind their class’ legacy by giving back to their university. In recent years, classes have donated a clock, raised money for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and restored the historical Cabra Fountain on the Broadway campus. In a break from tradition, however, this year’s senior gift is a little different from those of the past.

When it was announced in February that the 2008 senior class gift would be a fiberglass replica of a New Orleans streetcar, the decision elicited mixed emotions from departing seniors.

Anna Malley, English senior, informed Marcel McGee, the new associate director of Annual Fund, about her dissatisfaction through a series of e-mails. She was concerned that not only were the seniors left out of the decision process, but also that the majority didn’t even know how the procedure worked.

“Why does the senior class never have a say?” Malley said. “If we don’t, then who does?”

McGee said the senior class gift committee, comprised of 10 to 12 seniors representing various campus organizations, met with McGee in February to discuss the senior class gift. Initially the committee wanted to plant trees around campus, but extensive campus renovations and time constraints lead them to explore other options, McGee said.

McGee and the committee decided that Loyola’s senior class would participate in the community art project titled “A Streetcar Named Inspire”. Headed by the New Orleans-based Young Leadership Council, the civic initiative seeks to place 200-plus custom-created streetcar replicas developed by local artists throughout the New Orleans area.

The streetcar donated by Loyola’s senior class will be placed across from the horseshoe on the St. Charles streetcar line in mid-2008. It will be moved to a permanent location on campus, which is currently undecided due to campus renovations, in early 2009.

According to McGee, the decision to participate in the community project was largely inspired by the students themselves. “I want them to understand that this year’s senior class gift was a way to recognize their return to campus,” he said. “Just the idea that these guys came back to the university after such a tremendous event, when there were citizens who hadn’t even returned to the city … is very impressive.”

Jaclynn Maxwell, history senior, agrees with McGee’s sentiment behind this year’s class gift. “When you look at the previous gifts, each thing is timeless and elegant and represents something,” she said. “For us, it’s about coming back to finish what we started. We were all inspired to return to the city, the people and even the streetcars we all loved.”

Marcel was disappointed that some members of the senior class felt they were not fully aware of the decision-making process or the magnitude of the community art project.

“The streetcar replica is meant to symbolize the students’ time at Loyola and how important it is that they returned,” he said. “The streetcars are important to the New Orleans community, and the art project is a way for Loyola to be a part of that as well.”

McGee said it is not too late for the seniors to take an active role in designing the streetcar. He encouraged them to assist in decorating and in contributing ideas-particularly ideas related to why they returned after Katrina. McGee said seniors still have the opportunity to make this gift personal and representative of their time at Loyola.

Rachel Buhner can be reached at [email protected]