Canizaro Center for Catholic Studies

With gratitude, Loyola announced a generous new gift that established the new Canizaro Center for Catholic Studies at Loyola. The $5 million in support comes from real estate developer and founder of First Bank and Trust, Joseph C. Canizaro, who is dedicated to growing and supporting the Catholic community in the city of New Orleans and beyond. The Canizaro Center will allow Loyola to grow its Catholic Studies Program and promote the Catholic intellectual tradition and Jesuit spirituality. This exciting new endeavor will advance the Roman Catholic Church in our region. New pilgrimages, retreats, and scholarships will help provide the formative experiences to develop leaders in service to others.

The $5 million gift – one of the largest gifts from a single donor in university history – positions Loyola to become the leader in Catholic studies in the United States and on an international level. An endowed fund will support the hiring of new faculty, grow resources for students, educate K-12 Catholic elementary teachers, and provide scholarships for Loyola students to study abroad in Rome.

The Rev. Nathan O’Halloran, S.J., who joined Loyola in 2020, will serve as center director. Since arriving at Loyola, O’Halloran has brought new excitement to the university’s Catholic Studies Program, with inspiring speakers, retreats, conference and travel opportunities, and a pilgrimage to Mexico City this summer.

This fall, Loyola University New Orleans celebrated its great diversity by renaming a residence hall in honor of the university’s first Black graduate,

Francis is a civil rights leader and one of the longestserving and most successful university presidents in the history of higher education.

The newly renamed Blanche and Norman C. Francis Family Hall recognizes the Francis family’s many contributions to Loyola and Xavier universities, the city, state, country, and Catholic Church. The symbolic move also signifies the university’s spirit of welcome and inclusion, values shared and lived by the Francis family.

“Norman C. Francis embodies everything we strive for here at Loyola,” said the Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J., Loyola's interim president. “He and his late wife, Blanche, have set an example for us all, showing us how to live and love in the way the Gospels have taught us, with compassion, kindness, hope, courage, and service to others.”