GLBTQA community
Caddie Nath
Issue date: 4/4/07 Section: News
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One of Loyola's lures to many students is the promise of diversity. Rogers Park constitutes the second most diverse neighborhood in the country, and Loyola, with students and staff making up a variety of religions, races, ethnicities and sexual orientations, reflects that diversity. But as a Jesuit institution, accepting and celebrating all aspects of diversity is not always simple.
Loyola's Jesuit tradition is an important aspect of the campus atmosphere and the school, in many ways, adheres closely to Catholic doctrine. Contraception is not available on campus (an issue of debate in itself), and religious holidays are officially observed. However, on the issue of homosexuality on campus, the school administration seems ready to bend the rules of catechism. Loyola has a large, well-established and, for the most part, accepted gay community. Accomplished gay faculty work in almost every department; there are gay student organizations for undergrad and grad students and events such as the upcoming "Queer Eye for the Loyola Guy/Girl."
Explaining this difference in the school's attitude Rev. Michael Garanzini, S.J., the president of Loyola University, said, "Sexual orientation, like gender, is another fact of our human existence and human nature. A Jesuit Catholic university should not shy away from that exploration."
In the 1950s and '60s, college campuses became the home and battlegrounds of the fight for social justice and equality in race issues, however it may be that a new fight for equal rights, now based on sexual orientation and very often gender, will be fought largely by students as well. At Loyola, that fight has taken several forms.
Besides having student groups like Advocate, Loyola's official Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Queer and Allied (GLBTQA) organization on campus, Loyola has also supported the fight for equality all over Chicago. In 2002, Loyola, along with two other universities, helped sponsor Pride Fest, a nod to national celebrations of Pride Day. Last July people gathered at Loyola for a Catholic AIDS forum, which brought attention to an issue that is a common ground for discussion and cooperation between the gay and straight communities.
Loyola's Jesuit tradition is an important aspect of the campus atmosphere and the school, in many ways, adheres closely to Catholic doctrine. Contraception is not available on campus (an issue of debate in itself), and religious holidays are officially observed. However, on the issue of homosexuality on campus, the school administration seems ready to bend the rules of catechism. Loyola has a large, well-established and, for the most part, accepted gay community. Accomplished gay faculty work in almost every department; there are gay student organizations for undergrad and grad students and events such as the upcoming "Queer Eye for the Loyola Guy/Girl."
Explaining this difference in the school's attitude Rev. Michael Garanzini, S.J., the president of Loyola University, said, "Sexual orientation, like gender, is another fact of our human existence and human nature. A Jesuit Catholic university should not shy away from that exploration."
In the 1950s and '60s, college campuses became the home and battlegrounds of the fight for social justice and equality in race issues, however it may be that a new fight for equal rights, now based on sexual orientation and very often gender, will be fought largely by students as well. At Loyola, that fight has taken several forms.
Besides having student groups like Advocate, Loyola's official Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Queer and Allied (GLBTQA) organization on campus, Loyola has also supported the fight for equality all over Chicago. In 2002, Loyola, along with two other universities, helped sponsor Pride Fest, a nod to national celebrations of Pride Day. Last July people gathered at Loyola for a Catholic AIDS forum, which brought attention to an issue that is a common ground for discussion and cooperation between the gay and straight communities.