History

The Jesuits were among the earliest settlers of New Orleans and Louisiana, and are credited with introducing the growing of sugar cane to Louisiana.

In 1837, the Jesuits opened a boarding college at Grand Coteau in St. Landry Parish.

In 1849, the Jesuits opened the College of the Immaculate Conception at the corner of Baronne and Common Streets in downtown New Orleans.

In 1904, a second Jesuit college opened in uptown New Orleans on its present site fronting St. Charles Avenue on land purchased in 1886 following the Cotton Centennial Exposition.

In 1911, the Jesuits reorganized the two colleges in New Orleans, transferring the entire college section to the St. Charles Avenue campus and limiting Immaculate Conception to preparatory work. In 1912, the Louisiana State Legislature granted the charter to Loyola University.

The College of Arts and Sciences, the oldest of Loyola's present five colleges, dates back to the charter date of 1912.

The School of Law began its first session in 1914.

A School of Dentistry opened in 1914 and operated until 1970 when it was discontinued. A College of Pharmacy, which began in 1919, was discontinued in 1965.

The College of Music began in 1932 after the New Orleans Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts, founded in 1919, affiliated with the university.

The College of Business Administration was organized in 1947.

Loyola conducted an Evening Division as early as 1924 when extension courses were established for those students who were unable to attend classes on a full-time basis. The division was elevated to full college status and given the title City College in 1970 and is one of the few evening colleges in the country that has a full-time faculty dedicated to the needs of non-traditional students .

Intercollegiate athletics have been important throughout most of Loyola's history. Temporarily discontinued in 1972, athletics experienced a rebirth in 1991 when Loyola became a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA); men's and women's basketball, men's baseball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's tennis, and women's soccer and volleyball are offered.

In 1984, the university purchased the 4.2-acre Broadway campus, formerly the campus of St. Mary’s Dominican College. The Broadway campus, located on St. Charles Avenue at Broadway, is a few blocks from Loyola’s main campus. Major renovations were completed to two existing buildings in 1986, creating modernized housing for the School of Law and Law Library.

In 1986, a 115,000-square-foot Communications/Music Building was dedicated. The building, constructed on the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Calhoun Street, houses the Department of Communications and the College of Music. The building boasts, in addition to the latest technology for broadcasting and music studios, the 600-seat Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall.

The six-level Recreational Sports Complex was dedicated in February 1988. The RecPlex includes two floors of racquetball, tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts; a natatorium with diving pool, whirlpool, sauna, and steam room; an elevated jogging track and weight room. The building also houses a four-story parking garage.

In 1989, historic Greenville Hall on the Broadway campus was renovated to provide office space for the Division of Institutional Advancement (alumni/parent relations, development, and public affairs/publications/marketing communications). This outstanding Italianate structure was built in 1892 for St. Mary’s Academy, a girls’ school established in 1861 by Dominican nuns from Cabra, Ireland. In 1864 when the nuns acquired the property on which the building sits, the area was known as the village of Greenville, a community which was annexed by the City of New Orleans in 1870. In 1910, the academy became St. Mary’s Dominican College. In 1984, the same year Loyola bought the Broadway campus, Greenville was designated a historic landmark by the Orleans Parish Landmark Commission.

Loyola’s Broadway campus today also includes the School of Law, Cabra Residence Hall, and the Department of Visual Arts in St. Mary’s Hall.

In 1993, Loyola purchased the old Mercy Academy at the corner of Calhoun and Freret streets. The facility was renovated in 1994 – 95 and a number of departments moved in including the Office of Human Resources, the Office of International Student Affairs, and the Department of Education. The Women’s Resource Center is also housed there.

During the 1994 - 95 academic year, the School of Law celebrated its 80th anniversary; City College celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 1995 - 96 academic year; and the College of Business Administration celebrated its 50th anniversary during the 1997 - 98 academic year.

In 1996, Loyola officially changed its name to Loyola University New Orleans to distinguish itself from other Jesuit institutions with similar names.

Loyola continues to grow and expand physically. A new 500-car parking garage was completed on West Road in 1996. The 150,000-square-foot, 550,000-volume-capacity J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library opened its doors in January 1999 and was dedicated in February 1999. Thresholds: The Campaign for Loyola University New Orleans supported the library project and provided funding endowment for faculty and staff support and endowment for student financial aid. The $50 million capital campaign, the largest in Loyola’s history, exceeded its goal within its established five-year framework (1993 - 1998) with a total of over $51 million raised. A new residence hall was also completed in 1999.

Loyola University New Orleans is one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States and the largest Catholic university south of St. Louis in an area extending from Arizona to Florida. It is open to students of all faiths