What would you do with a million dollars?
For the students of the Ignation Residential College (IRC), this is not a dream. It is a reality.
The IRC has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Lily Endowment, an offshoot of the pharmaceutical company, the Lily Foundation, and an additional $500,000 from Fairfield University.
“It’s great to hear the program is going to be continued and future classes will be able to enjoy it,” said Brennan Clark ’06, who was in the college his sophomore year. “It has so much to offer.”
“There are so many free trips, tickets to plays and speakers and dinners with scholars, writers and professionals,” he added. “But the most important part of the college is being part of its community.”
The grant is called the “Theological Exploration of Vocation.” According to father Jim Mayzik, a director of the IRC and associate professor of visual and performing arts, the university was awarded a grant of two million dollars in December of 2001 from the Lily Foundation to start a program that would incorporate the questions “Who am I?” “Whose am I?” and “Who am I called to be?” into the lives of its students.
The program was started by Mayzik and Reverand Tom Regan. Now, the college’s two associate directors are Joe DeFeo and his wife, Therese Lederer.
“We were very excited about the first grant,” said Mayzik. “We also knew that it would give us a pretty good chance of being given a second grant.”
Mayzik said that one of the initial problems the program faced was finding an appropriate location. At the time, Loyola was occupied by Human Resources.
“I remember looking at Loyola from Jogues and saying, ‘We’re never going to get that,'” Mayzik said.
But Human Resources relocated to Dolan, which allowed the IRC to set up camp.
The next problem the program faced was recruiting students. According to Mayzik, a press release had influenced an article in The Mirror which “made the college sound like a seminary, when in fact, it is the exact opposite.”
But he successfully visited each residence hall and educated students about the program’s true purpose.
He said that the college is not based on religion, but rather on deeper topics that students often feel uncomfortable talking about outside the classroom.
“We wanted to mix what goes on in the classroom with students’ lives,” said Mayzik.
During the college’s first year in the fall of 2002, half of Loyola was filled. But a year later, the whole building was filled with eager students. Now, the college receives more applications than it has rooms to place students. The new grant will allow this trend to continue.
Mayzik said the first grant will last another two years and after that, it will use the money awarded from the second grant and the university. Then the program will use its endowment to fund its programs.
“Every year we build the program up,” Mayzik said. “There are always changes.”
Ignatian students attend a special orientation during the first month of school. They are required to take two core classes within the IRC and attend two overnight trips, one in both the fall and spring. Students are also required to meet with a group and mentor weekly.
During mentor meetings, students discuss issues that they would not normally speak about outside of the classroom. This allows students to incorporate what they learn in classes into their lives.
The college offers tickets to speakers, dinners with alumni, Wednesday night “happy hour” (without alcohol) and trips to New York City to immerse its students in culture.
Mayzik said that with University President Jeffrey von Arx’s strategic planning, the university is looking to make all dorms on campus similar to Loyola.
“We want to mix more classes in with students’ lives and create a sense of community in each dorm,” said Mayzik.
“I had an amazing experience with IRC,” said Gregg Surette ’06. “This grant is the start of something permanent.”
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