2008 Woodie Awards
Forget the name change -- Loyola's character is gone
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Opinion
To the Editor: I'm a class of 1995 and won the James D. Rozics Computer Science Medal, since I was first in my class in the major. Like many alumni who are my age and older, I often repeat the now classic saying: "I wouldn't have good enough test scores to get into Loyola today."
I agree that the stature of the college has grown immensely since I left, and that earns all alumni a certain amount of (unwarranted) credentials retroactively.
But, I didn't choose to attend Loyola to get high credentials. I picked Loyola because it was a small college -- a community -- that had values beyond merely high academic credentials and notoriety as a famous university.
Indeed, I visited the campus two semesters ago as an invited speaker and was somewhat saddened to see that the sciences and humanities have begun to shrink and now the campus has become focused around the business school.
The small liberal arts institution, where faculty knew students well and the small community allowed for cross-pollination of many disciplines, seems to be disappearing.
I see the name change as an indicator of change that may already be complete: Loyola no longer wishes to be a small, liberal arts institution focused on values over notoriety. The business school controls the campus, and fame for it hails above all else.
Now that I'm closer to 40 than 30 years old, I have become cynical and jaded about the purity of institutions. I realize now that my memories of Loyola are radically different from what it has become.
Name changes don't cause the character of places to change. Rather, they reflect a character change that has already occurred. The small liberal arts institution I attended may already be gone. I had started this missive to argue against the name change, but it quickly became obvious that the disappearing character of the campus is the greater concern.
Loyola University of Maryland would surely rise forth as a famous institution graduating the best business people in the world. But will it still have the character of "strong truths, well lived" and "men and women for others?" I spent some time in the business world before dedicating my career to not-for-profit causes, and discovered that rarely can one find a commitment to those principles in the corporate world on which business schools thrive.
I still naively hope that Loyola can go through as many changes as it likes and nevertheless hold steadfast to these principles.
Surely, a name change alone can't corrupt them, but perhaps they are already gone anyway, and the name change is only their harbinger?
These are the fundamental questions that the alumni, faculty, staff, and students should ask themselves.
Let the name change be only a barometer to explore these broader questions of principle and belief.
Bradley M. Kuhn '95
Computer Science
I agree that the stature of the college has grown immensely since I left, and that earns all alumni a certain amount of (unwarranted) credentials retroactively.
But, I didn't choose to attend Loyola to get high credentials. I picked Loyola because it was a small college -- a community -- that had values beyond merely high academic credentials and notoriety as a famous university.
Indeed, I visited the campus two semesters ago as an invited speaker and was somewhat saddened to see that the sciences and humanities have begun to shrink and now the campus has become focused around the business school.
The small liberal arts institution, where faculty knew students well and the small community allowed for cross-pollination of many disciplines, seems to be disappearing.
I see the name change as an indicator of change that may already be complete: Loyola no longer wishes to be a small, liberal arts institution focused on values over notoriety. The business school controls the campus, and fame for it hails above all else.
Now that I'm closer to 40 than 30 years old, I have become cynical and jaded about the purity of institutions. I realize now that my memories of Loyola are radically different from what it has become.
Name changes don't cause the character of places to change. Rather, they reflect a character change that has already occurred. The small liberal arts institution I attended may already be gone. I had started this missive to argue against the name change, but it quickly became obvious that the disappearing character of the campus is the greater concern.
Loyola University of Maryland would surely rise forth as a famous institution graduating the best business people in the world. But will it still have the character of "strong truths, well lived" and "men and women for others?" I spent some time in the business world before dedicating my career to not-for-profit causes, and discovered that rarely can one find a commitment to those principles in the corporate world on which business schools thrive.
I still naively hope that Loyola can go through as many changes as it likes and nevertheless hold steadfast to these principles.
Surely, a name change alone can't corrupt them, but perhaps they are already gone anyway, and the name change is only their harbinger?
These are the fundamental questions that the alumni, faculty, staff, and students should ask themselves.
Let the name change be only a barometer to explore these broader questions of principle and belief.
Bradley M. Kuhn '95
Computer Science
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