Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU), is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic university in the United States. Located in Los Angeles, California, the university is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. LMU was created in 1973 by the merger of two Catholic colleges in Los Angeles.
The first predecessor to LMU was founded in 1911 as Los Angeles College by the Society of Jesus, and changed its name to Loyola College of California in 1918. Loyola opened a law school in 1920, moved to its present campus in the Westchester district of Los Angeles in 1929, and became Loyola University in 1930.
Loyola Law School did not move with the rest of the university, but remains to this day in a location just west of downtown Los Angeles. The current law school campus was designed by Frank Gehry and is a pleasant exception to its dreary surroundings in the Pico-Union neighborhood.
In 1933, the religious order of The Sacred Heart of Mary opened Marymount Junior College, an all-women's school in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. The school became Marymount College when it started awarding bachelor's degrees in 1948, and moved to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1960. In 1968, Marymount College moved its operations to Loyola's campus. At the same time, a third Catholic order, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange, joined the consortium that operated the two schools. The two colleges merged in 1973, creating today's Loyola Marymount University.
During the summer, the LMU campus plays host to a large number of precocious children. It is the primary West Coast site for the Center for Talented Youth summer program operated by Johns Hopkins University.
Now home to just over 5,000 students, the Westchester campus is a gathering ground for children of wealthy parents who can afford to pay over $40,000 a year to send their kids to school. Students walk the campus wearing $200 jeans and carrying $1500 purses. The student body is ranked by Playboy as #4 most attractive in the nation. LMU students bring a whole new meaning to the term "starving college student." Grey Goose Vodka is more common than low-class Vodkas such as Popov. Despite the fact that the students are wealthy and beautiful, a majority are service-centered and devote numerous hours to non-profit organizations. Students at LMU are welcoming, friendly, and well-rounded.
Loyola Marymount university is widely remembered for its 1989-1990 Paul Westhead-coached basketball team which made the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The team mourned the death of its star player Hank Gathers during the WCC Tournament game against the University of Portland. The cinderella team would go dancing all the way to the Elite Eight round defeating the likes of defending champion the University of Michigan until its defeat to the eventual champion UNLV. That team would never be forgotten with memories of Bo Kimble's left-handed free throw in honor of Hank and the fact that the team averaged well over 100 points a game throughout the season and tournament.
Notable alumni
- Rick Adelman, coach of the NBA's Sacramento Kings
- Rabbi Zvi Block, outreach Rabbi in California
- Linda Cardellini, actress in Scooby-Doo and ER
- Johnnie Cochran, attorney; defended O.J. Simpson (J.D. graduate of the law school)
- Tony Coelho, former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from California and Democratic Majority Whip.
- Bob Denver, actor (graduate of Loyola University)
- Bob Dornan, former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California.
- David Mickey Evans, director, writer, actor, producer. Films include The Sandlot (writer and director) and Radio Flyer (writer and director).
- Hank Gathers, star basketball player for Loyola from 1987 to 1990 (died before graduating).
- Brian Helgeland, screen writer and director, Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for L.A. Confidential (1997).
- Gregory "Bo" Kimble, NBA player from 1991 to 1993.
- David Mirkin, actor, television director, writer and producer, executive producer of the animated series, The Simpsons
- Pete Newell, hall of fame basketball coach
- Phil Woolpert, hall of fame basketball coach
- Gregory Boyle, Jesuit Priest and renown Father of Dolores Mission in east Los Angeles.
Service organizations
Loyola Marymount has a number of service organizations on campus. The seven service organizations work to help the university and surrounding community of Los Angeles.
The organizations and their respective dates of founding are Crimson Circle (1929), Belles (1960), Gryphon Circle (1968), Ignatians (1981), Sursum Corda (1992), Marians (2003), and Magis (2003).
Noted professors
- Reverend William Fulco