Student stopped from promoting abortion rally
Norman C. Francis documentary premieres
New Orleans celebrates Beignet Fest
Anna Hummel/The Maroon
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On Sept. 6, Elena Voisin, a Loyola prehealth senior, was handing out flyers to fellow students for a march in favor of reproductive rights in front of the Danna Center.
The march itself was organized by the Louisiana Abortion Rights Action Committee, according to the flyer. Voisin said that many students were interested in finding out more about the cause and joining the movement, which they said, is especially relevant due to the over turning of Roe v. Wade this past summer.
But Voisin was told to stop handing out these fliers by Ken Weber, Loyola’s associate director of student life and ministry because the fliers were not in line with the school’s Jesuit values by fea turing the word “abortion,” Voison said.
They obliged and stopped handing out these flyers but continued to talk to other students about the upcoming march and encouraged them to attend, Voisin said.
Voisin said that they were then ap proached by two members of the Loyola University Campus Police who also told them to stop. Voisin said that the police didn’t file an incident report about this.
“I guess it was an intimidation tactic,” Voisin said.
According to Patricia Murret, Loyola’s associate director of public affairs, LUPD was called in response to Voisin raising their voice and causing a disturbance on campus.
Voisin said that they were not doing anything that could be considered dis ruptive.
They further said that they feel that recent issues surrounding bodily auton omy are incredibly important and align well with Jesuit values.
“One of (the Jesuit values) is pursuit of justice and equality, and that's fun damental to reproductive rights,” Voisin said.
They further said that many of the laws which limit abortion access pose serious health risks, as not all pregnan cies can be be safely caried to term.
“A doctor shouldn’t have to consult with a lawyer before giving potentially life-saving treatment,” Voisin said. “Peo ple will die. Pregnancy is dangerous.”
University Vice President of Market ing and Communications, Rachel Hoor mann, said that Voisin could not pass out the fliers because they were not given approval by Student Life and Ministry.
The Student Organization Handbook defines passing out fliers on campus from an outside organization as solici tation, which is restricted to only pre-ap proved content.
Murret responded similarly and said that Loyola has a long-standing policy which prevents anyone from distribut ing materials without pre-approval.
Ken Weber declined comment be yond the school’s initial statement.
Voison has continued to advocate for the protest by wearing an enlarged flier on the front and back of their body.
“I can’t hand out stuff, but I can be the flier. It’s essentially a large necklace,” they said.
Devin Cruice contributed to this storyStarting this past summer, multiple school personnel noticed mold and mil dew in Loyola’s Communications and Music Complex.
This caused the university to shut down a student service beloved by many, Wolf Pack Wardrobe, which pro vided students with free clothing and was open daily, according to Caleigh Flynn, executive director and founder of Wolf Pack Wardrobe. Flynn added that the service was staffed almost entirely by students.
But because of issues with mold, Wolf Pack Wardrobe has been almost wholly absent to students, including first-year students or transfer students to Loyola this year, who may not even know its presence on campus. Flynn said that, as of Sept. 16, members of the service are just now able to wash the damaged clothing because of health concerns re garding the mold.
“We didn’t want any (student staff) touching anything potentially harmful,” she said.
Charles Marshall, Loyola’s director of physical plant administration, said that the central plant experienced an equip ment failure several weeks ago which required his team to temporarily raise average temperatures slightly across campus, and that doing so may have caused existing mold issues to become worse.
“We live in a low-lying … extremely humid climate...incidents appear even in the cleanest of environments,” Marshall said.
Loyola has been made aware of Wolf Pack Wardrobe’s issue, and active mea sures are happening, according to Flynn.
But Flynn added that regardless, some of the damaged clothing was beyond saving.
This cleaning has made a huge dent in Wolf Pack Wardrobe’s involvement with new students, Flynn said, because it has forced Wolf Pack Wardrobe to miss student events that previously informed students of the service.
“We were hoping to start off …with those early events,” Flynn said.
But Wolf Pack Wardrobe is not the only area of the building that has expe rienced issues with mold and mildew.
Katherine Duncan, an associate director for the school of music and theater pro fessions, said that mold and mildew are present in the vocal studios, and even in her office.
The mold and mildew present a health problem for Duncan, who said she has severe allergies and asthma.
“As a singer (who) is required to breathe deeply, it is a challenge,” she said.
Nick Volz, an associate professor of music, noted that the mold posed an un expected issue which has taken a lot of time to clean up right at the beginning of a new semester.
Both Volz and Duncan said that the music and communications building generally has a particular problem with mold due to temperature regulations and the daily rain New Orleans experi enced this summer.
Additionally, Flynn said that her of fice can be incredibly cold, while Dun can said that some classrooms on the fourth floor of the building feel hot and humid.
Marshall added that all areas affected have been documented but that it is still important to remain aware of these is sues. Students should tell faculty or staff
immediately if they notice any further issues, he added.
Flynn said that the Loyola adminis tration has provided resources for Wolf Pack Wardrobe to get back on its feet by paying for carpet cleaning and help ing Wolf Pack Wardrobe hire workers to clean the clothes that were affected by mold.
Flynn said of the students working on the project.
Flynn said she hopes that Wolf Pack Wardrobe will be operational within the next few weeks.
“Once we’re operational again, we want to be out there for students and networking opportunities,” Flynn said.
This year, the University Counseling Center is introducing new services to focus on more specific issues students may face in modern society, according to Asia Wong, the director of counseling and student health at Loyola’s.
Mental health care is important and often overlooked, especially for students, Wong said, and with new additions to the program, featuring case manage ment, group counseling and drop-in anxiety work, the counseling center hopes to make mental health a priority on campus.
Loyola’s counseling center has al ways provided free, confidential mental health services to all enrolled students, according to the school’s website. But new additions, available mainly in the form of group processing, hope to con tinue the center’s mission. The center in troduced the Gender Spectrum Support Group and the Substance Use Harm Reduction Group in the fall of 2022, ac cording to Wong. The Everyday Mindful ness group was added last spring. Other group counseling options include the Sexual Assault Survivor Support Group, the BIPOC Identity Processing Group, and the Grief Processing Group.
Wong said that these new groups are in response to student needs. And, the counseling center added an addition al counselor in order to meet student needs as well, Wong said.
“We will continue to respond to stu dent needs and requests for additional specialized offerings or increased ser vices,” she said.
DK Kucher, a counseling intern at Loyola, will be the facilitator for the Substance Use Harm Reduction Group. Kutcher said that this group is a space for students who wish to improve their relationships with substances, including drugs and alcohol. The group is entirely confidential, Kucher added.
“This is a group for students who use substances to choose what healthier use means to them through psychoed ucation, mindfulness, introspection, and self-directed goal-setting,” they said.
Paolo Roy, a staff counselor at Loyola, leads the Gender Spectrum Support Group. This support group is designed to be a safe and confidential space for stu dents who are transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, gender-fluid, or are otherwise gender non-conforming, Roy said in an email sent to the student body. Roy also said that specific discus sion topics are based on what members of the group are interested in talking about, such as exploring gender identity, navigating family issues, and neurodi
Alysse Fuchs, a staff counselor at Loyola, leads the Everyday Mindfulness Group. The group focuses on teaching ongoing mindfulness through medita tion, games, movement, visualization, sensory experiences, and awareness building exercises, Fuchs said in an email sent to Loyola’s student body. The group lasts for seven weeks and holds weekly meetings, Fuchs said.
Wong shared that there are four main reasons for one to seek counseling: if someone is feeling, thinking or behaving in a way that they would like to change, if someone wants to improve or change a relationship or relational patterns, if someone is going through a big transi tion or needs to make a big decision, or if someone is experiencing grief or trauma.
Wong added that the counseling center plans on expanding the services available to students even more than they have in the past couple semesters
Elena Voisin wears a sign they made, which advertises an abortion rights rally. Voisin wore this sign because they were told that they could not distribute flyers with the same information on campus. Ava Acharya/ The Maroon. Mold is drawn as it might appear on clothing. Loyola's Communications and Music complex has had issues with mold, specifically in the Wolf Pack Wardrobe, which provides free clothing to students. Emmory Bridges/ The MaroonAcross 1 Blood relative?
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WYES-TV is kicking off their 65 years of service celebration with a one-hour documentary honoring Norman C. Francis, Loyola’s first Black graduate, and his remarkable life, according to WYES Executive Producer Dominic Massa.
The documentary premiered on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. on WYESTV, and will be available for free on the WYES and PBS apps, Massa said.
With almost two years in the making, the documentary, "Dr. Norman C. Fran cis: A Legacy of Leadership" highlights Francis’ lifetime of service, including one-on-one interviews with Francis and his friends, family, and colleagues.
Rooted in Catholic faith and with the importance of education instilled at an early age, Francis, for whom Francis Family Residence Hall has been recently renamed on campus, spent his near 70year career serving his community in a variety of ways. Francis made history by becoming Loyola Law School's first Black graduate, and in becoming the first lay president of Xavier University, a position he held for 47 years.
During this time, Francis advised eight United States presidents and played a significant role in the universi ty's decision to house the Freedom Rid ers, a group of civil rights activists pro testing against segregated bus terminals in the 1960s. Francis was also the exec utive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was in charge of plan ning the city's reconstruction following Hurricane Katrina's devastation.
In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to his community at this time.
Dominic Massa and the documenta ry’s writer and producer Thanh Truong both felt there was a need for people to grasp how important Francis is to New Orleans, the Black community in the city, and the city's university community while he is still living.
Truong said that the significance of Francis' career was not lost on any of
those who produced the documentary. He added that the team was inspired to make the piece in response to renam ing Jefferson Davis Parkway in Mid-City New Orleans to Norman C. Francis Parkway and Loyola's renaming of the former Carrollton Hall to Blanche and Norman C. Francis Family Hall.
“I don’t think I fully grasped what the entirety of Norman Francis’ life (has been), and what it was like for people to be around him,” he said, “For me, it was a great opportunity to learn about a fasci nating city, and at that, a fascinating man who has been at many critical junctures in New Orleans history.”
Norman Francis is a name that peo ple may know for multiple different rea sons, due to his political and social activ ism in the city and the country. Massa said that creating the documentary was challenging because they wanted to en sure that they told enough of his stories and included individuals from his life to share the story. He also noted that it was an honor to have Francis himself re count some of the stories.
“We joked that we were sorry we only had one hour because we could really do a mini-series on his life,” he said.
Truong said that he didn't think he and Norman Francis would have much in common when they started working on the documentary, but he said he dis covered several connections between them.
“I hope that when people watch the documentary that they, too, can draw some parallels to their own lives,” he said, “That’s the power of documentary.”
Miles Doleac, Loyola’s interim chair of digital filmmaking, said he believes there’s not enough focus on documen tary literacy and the importance of doc umentaries in film, and that it is heart ening to see a film being made about Norman Francis.
“This is something that all of our stu dents and community should be paying attention to,” he said, “I hope this docu mentary serves as an example for film makers to capture more stories about the people in our community who have
really made a difference.”
Massa quoted one of Francis' col leagues, Walter Isaac, who said that Francis is not only one of the nicest peo ple he knows, but he also has this qual ity of ‘making other people around him nice.’ “He is someone who unites peo ple,” Massa said.
According to Massa, Francis’s discern
ment grew during his time on Loyola's campus, which helped kindle his interest in social justice and civil rights. “He has the ability to bring people from across racial, educational and economic lines.”
“Hopefully, Loyola students who watch the program will be inspired by the experiences of this true leader, who once walked in their shoes,” Massa said,
“He had a bold vision, a strong Catholic faith and determination to affect posi tive change in our community and our world. Those are lessons I think we can all learn from.”
In response to community concerns, District C Councilman Freddie King III proposed an ordinance to remove bike lane infrastructure, such as flex posts and concrete barriers, from parts of Al giers.
The unanimous council vote will re move bike infrastructure from 2.2 miles of the total area of Algiers. The infra structure will be removed from Newton Street and MacArthur Boulevard, King said. The area is less than half of the bike infrastructure in Algiers and about one percent of the bike lane infrastructure throughout the entire city, according to King.
This decision came with mixed re action from the Greater New Orleans community. Some cycling activists said this move makes biking dangerous in the Algiers area whereas other community members supporting the decision cited that the barriers prohibited their way of life.
Algiers resident and Loyola nursing sophomore Zoe Nisse is glad that the in frastructure is being removed. “We were fine with the bike lanes of course, but the only thing that really upset the neighbor hood was them putting up the barriers,”
Nisse said. “They did that without any input from the community.”
Nisse added that the impact the infra structure has on parking is dangerous for personal safety. “This could go for males but for mostly females, we don't want to park blocks away from our house and walk alone at night. The crime rates be ing super high definitely affects it.”
The Department of Public Works will now have 60 days to return the streets to their previous configuration, without the additional bike lane infrastructure, though the bike lanes in Algiers will re main in place.
King held a meeting at Alice Harte Charter School for everyone to come and share their feelings about this topic.
According to King, the overwhelming majority of the constituents of Algiers asked the infrastructure be removed with 230 people signing in support of removal and 25 asking for the infrastruc ture to stay. Out of those 25 people who wanted to keep the bike infrastructure in the area, only 15 of those individuals were from Algiers, King said.
However, the president of the orga nization Crescent City Cyclists Thomas Rogers, said the removal of bike infra structure endangers the safety of cyclists.
“Concrete barriers and posts are the safest method to protect bicyclists from traffic. I've cycled on St. Charles Avenue
which just has a line, and people block it,” he said.
Roger’s concerns about the safety of biking without these barriers are not unwarranted as at least 18 people have been arrested for hit and run driving so far this year - not including other crimes such as driving under the influence, ve hicular homicide, vehicular negligent in juring or first degree vehicular negligent injuring.
The concrete barriers and flex posts serve as a reminder to drivers to watch out for cyclists on the road. Rogers agrees that these barriers are one of the only things keeping cars from interacting with cyclists.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 932 bicy clists were killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes in 2020, an 8.9% increase from 856 in 2019. Louisiana was one of the five states with the highest bicyclist fatal ity rates 2014 through 2016, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Several New Orleans cyclists have died in vehicle-related incidents, as seen by the white “ghost” bikes around the city that honor those who have died.
Norman C. Francis is pictured through phases of his life. This documentary takes the viewer through his legacy. Courtesy of WYESTV, Collage by Sophia Maxim.Under the blazing New Orleans sun, people from all around the city gathered at the City Park Festival Grounds for some delicious, sweet, or savory treats on Sept. 24 to attend the city’s annual Beignet Fest.
The festival was decorated by hun dreds of people all hungry for a good beignet. There were 16 vendors at the festival, all local businesses like Afrodisi ac, The Vintage, Loretta’s Authentic Pra lines, Any O’ Cajun, Stuph’d Beignets and Burgers, The Howlin’ Wolf, Old School Eats, and more.
The vendors competed for the Beig net Fest judges’ award, and Loretta’s Au thentic Pralines took the prize for their delectable praline beignet – fresh fried dough, straight out of the sizzling oil, topped with praline cream and enough powdered sugar to see stars. It was deli cious.
While festival-goers waited in line for some blackberry beignets topped with whipped goat cheese, musical artists like funk fusion group Water Seed, trumpet player Shamar Allen, Connie Collins Morgan, the Imagination Movers, Katy Ray, Dave Jordan, and the NIA, Gray hawk Perkins, Johnette Downing, and
the Dirty Dozen Brass Band performed on the main and kids’ stages.
In addition to the musical perfor mances, there was an artist market with over 15 vendors such as Passion Lillie selling handmade clothing, Shae Shea selling shea butter based skin and hair products, and Yasworm Jewels, which featured handmade jewelry, among oth ers.
After eating more beignets than any one could count, people went vendor to vendor until reaching the anticipated Sweet Legacy beignet. Oh, Sweet Legacy. The maple pecan fried chicken beignet was more than just a beignet. It was an experience, attendees reported. Stand ing in line, festival-goers could clearly see the vendors behind the stand pre paring the dish as racks of flour shook with freshly battered chicken and were finished off with a generous pour of maple pecan sauce for each portion. At tendees seemed to feel and taste the love it was made with.
Over at the Howlin Wolf, they had their award-winning cheddar bacon beignets with a Chipotle crema. More like hush puppies than beignets, these were a crunchier, savory alternative many people raved about at the festival.
The delicious Geki-Ka ra “Too Spicy” ramen from Nomiya Ramen on Magazine Street. This super spicy dish is married together with sweet braised pork, ginger, and a soy-marinated soft-boiled egg.
The hot Cheetos elote at La Michoacana will definite ly have you driving back andforth to Kenner each week to enjoy this delectable treat. It's creamy, spicy, and delicious.
The jalapeño margarita at Mr. Tequila right on Freret Street is the perfect drink to pair with some street-style ta cos. If you're not a big drinker the spiciness of the jalapeñocuts the taste of the mezcal.
The Tokyo Record at Bar Marilou at 544 Carondelet St. This sweet and citrusy drink isdecorated with an elderflower making it the perfect drink forfairies.
Set de Flo is back at the HiHo Lounge, showcasing someof New Orleans most influ ential DJ’s like Lil Jodeci, C’est Funk, Atlanta-based DJ Wifi Daddy, and more.
Street Legends Brass Bandat the Blue Nile on Frenchment Street on October 3rd.
Fried Chicken Festival is back in New Orleans this week end from October 1-2 at the Woldenberg Park.
The International Arts Fes tival at the Orpheum Theaterfrom October 1-2. Headliners include Jazz Master Donald Harrison Jr. and artist Julian Vaughn.
Pictured left to right, Tulane students Annabelle Falconer, Nicole Smith-Vaniz and Juliette Maasland share an order of Low Down Dirty beignets from Sweet Legacy.Beignet Fest took place on Sept. 24 on the New Orleans City Park Festival Grounds. Anna Hummel/The Maroon A Beignet Fest attendee walks past a group of people standing at the Cafe Beignet booth with an order of beignets. Beignet Fest took place on Sept. 24 on the New Orleans City Park Festival Grounds. Anna Hummel/The Maroon A Beignet Fest attendee holds out an order of Honey Pecan Beignets from Sweet Legacy. at Beignet Fest on Sept. 24. The festival was at the New Orleans City Park Festival Grounds Anna Hummel /The Maroon Mugs and shot are pictured glasses for sale at Beignet Fest. Beignet Fest took place on Sept. 24 on the New Orleans City Park Festival Grounds. Anna Hummel/The MaroonLoyola’s e-sports team took home a win in a Super Smash Bros tournament Thursday, Sept. 22 against the University of Missouri, one of the first competitions for the varsity team.
With the most recent statistics of a 2-1 record so far this season, the team is al ready off to a successful start.
Players Anthony Nodolski, Owen Sa linas, Nathan Long, and Ameer Joseph are those who compete in tournaments playing Super Smash Bros, including the most recent one in which they faced gamers from the University of Missouri.
In these tournaments, all players team up to play four vs. four against oth er teams, according to the team’s coach, Lumen Vera.
Within these tournaments, gamers all play at least twice and therefore have the opportunity to put their adaptability to the test.
The players are expected to practice eight to 10 hours a week, and many spend the majority of their downtime testing their strategies.
On top of two wins so far, hours of practice, and long tournaments, one of the players, Salinas, holds the title as fourth in the state.
But winning isn’t the team’s only fo cus. Vera emphasized the importance of team building and community within his group as they work toward winning more tournaments.
He said he “wants a successful com munity over good players.”
The e-sports team welcomes anyone who is interested in the sport to come in and check it out, Vera added.
SEPT. 30 - ALL DAY
Tennis at ITA Gulf Regional
SEPT. 30 AT 1 P.M.
Cross Country at Loyola Chi cago Lakefront Invitational
OCT. 1 AT 1 P.M.
Swim vs. Ouachita Baptist University
OCT. 1 AT 2 P.M.
Volleyball at Stillman Uni versity
Swim starts in Florida
Freshmen Tate Bladon and Harvey Quiddington highlight ed with 50 and 100-yard first place wins, respectively.
The Wolf Pack hosted Xavier in a non-conference matchup and lost in straight sets, mov ing their record to 11-8.
The Loyola men’s and women’s ten nis teams have geared up for the start of their season all year, and the beginning of the season is marked by the Interna tional Tennis Association Gulf Regional Tournament beginning Sept. 30.
According to Head Coach Matt Llewellyn, the team was “young” last year, and he said he is looking forward to having his players grow as the team competes this season.
“Now that COVID is somewhat in the rearview, everyone was able to go home this offseason, both U.S. and internation ally, and practice more consistently,” Llewellyn said.
The winners of the tournament Sept. 30 will advance to the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia which will be held later this fall.
Llewellyn said the tournament Sept. 30 is unique because players represent their school as individuals instead of as a team.
But the overall goal of the team this year is to make the national champion ship tournament in the spring, according to Llewellyn.
“We got really close last year, and
that’s certainly the focus of this season,” he said.
He added that last season, two mem bers of the team, Lucy Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez, made it to the doubles final at Nicholls University. He said that he is hoping to duplicate that success this year.
Carpenter and Vasquez were ranked 19 in the National Association of Inter collegiate Athletics national tennis rank ings last season. Carpenter also had suc cess in the singles competition, landing at No. 23 in the rankings and claiming the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year Award last year.
“It was really cool to be named Con ference Player of the Year,” Carpenter said. “I felt like I finished last season real ly strong with a 10 game winning streak, and I’m looking to carry that momentum into this tournament.”
The tournament will run from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 at the City Park Tennis Center and the Xavier University of Lou isiana Tennis Center.
Graduate student Aubin Duchier works on his backhand at Xavier University Tennis Center. Wolf Pack tennis is starting their season Sept. 30. Courtesy of Wolf Pack Athletics Men's tennis stands ready for practice. The team begins their season Sept. 30. Courtesy of Wolf Pack Athletics.from page 1
By Gabriella Killett gekillet@my.loyno.edu @gekillettPat Jackson’s son asked them recently why they weren’t as happy at their job anymore. The tenured full professor, whose name has been changed in order to remain anonymous out of a fear of re prisal, said that they didn’t know how to answer him.
But Jackson did tell The Maroon last week that the main reason they are less happy than they used to be at Loyola comes from feeling “chronically undervalued” by the university. This feel ing manifests in one main way, they said: making a salary of under $65,000 as a member of the facul ty for close to 15 years with a doctorate degree. Jackson said the salary has them living month to month again for the first time since graduate school.
Jackson isn't alone in their frustration over pay. Beginning after a catastroph ic recruiting year nearly a decade ago, the university suffered through years of deep financial trouble, the result of which was that pay raises were frozen across the board. The financial troubles hit a crescendo in 2018 when the South ern Association for Colleges and Schools put Loyola on financial probation. The university has since balanced its budget and was removed from probation, but to the dismay of many faculty members, cost of living or merit-based pay raises have not yet returned.
“What do we have to do? Go into the dean's office and start sobbing? Would that make a difference?” they said.
Jackson argued that their struggle has stretched across all ends of campus, with faculty members in each college joining together in an attempt to be seen, and their decision to speak out about it has already had an impact.
But faculty got the first glimmer of good news when the university sent out an email to professors and staff Thurs day morning, Sept. 29, announcing that they had issued $1.4 million in one-time payments to 212 employees. The pay ments were in response to a compensa tion study, which examined faculty and staff salaries beginning last year.
Interim University President, The Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J. said that if faculty members hadn’t received a letter indi cating that they will personally be receiv ing a lump sum payment as of Thursday morning, that it was because their cur rent salaries were “within the range for (their positions).” Daffron encouraged faculty members asking for more spe cific information about the study and
their salaries to reach out to their depart ments’ deans.
Daffron said during the fall convo cation that while the budget is in better shape than in the past, it was not yet in sufficient shape to give across the board raises, which is why it was opting for a one-time payment for now. He added that raises would require further grow ing university revenue.
“Resource growth is a top priority in our goals for this year,” Daffron said, adding “This revenue growth will be used to reinvest back into the people of Loyola.”
The university froze salaries in 2013 in an attempt to pre vent Loyola going deeper into a mone tary deficit after be ing required to draw tens of millions of dollars from the university endowment just to balance the budget. And the need to do so proved necessary when the university didn’t meet their recruitment goal for freshman students in 2013. In 2016, faculty members voted “no confi dence,” for a former university president The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J. in response to the university financial management.
In an effort to quantify how bad things had gotten, last semester, faculty members met independently to create a document that would allow them to share their salaries anonymously, in an effort to incite change, Jackson said. The university wouldn’t immediately com ment on that either.
But after years of no raises and having had retirement benefits cut down from 8% to nothing from summer of 2018 to the summer of 2021, Jackson said pro fessors are tired and have been ready for the administration to take action.
“Who’s even going to talk about this? Who even has the en ergy to talk about this or organize?” they said.
The university announced during faculty convocation in August that it will continue to contrib ute to faculty retire ment at 2% a year.
The conversation about faculty sal aries was prompted this year during faculty convocation, but one professor continued to draw attention to the issue earlier this month. Sept. 8, Mark Yakich, a tenured full English professor, wrote a message in chalk on the sidewalk out side of Bobet Hall for those on campus to see.
The message read “Dear God I would like a raise your humble servant Profes sor Yakich. P.S. it’s been 12 years.”
Yakich said the message was an effort to get Loyola to see that their professors are desperate for a university response. He additionally argued that the universi ty said that it is wait ing to act until it was more financially sta ble and said that the problem of financial instability is affecting all universities.
“I can understand both of these argu ments, but these arguments do not mitigate the actual struggles of faculty and staff. As a faculty member at a Jesuit university, one would expect a greater vi sion for our community – greater vision, and far more swift action,” he said.
And according to Loyola’s 2020 form 990 tax return, the numbers speak for themselves. Tania Tetlow, former univer sity president, reportedly made close to $600,000.
Other professors and administrators included on the form recorded salaries of more than $350,000 and for several others, just under $200,000.
According to the American Associa tion of University Professor's 2021 salary survey, Loyola's average salary for full professors is $108,300 — far below the national average of $143,823. But at the same time, Jackson and several other tenured full professors say they are only earning a fraction of the AAUP number. The discrepancy is large because as the university froze faculty for those who stayed, it had to pay market rates to those who came after salaries were frozen.
But many faculty members didn’t even realize the disparity, includ ing Jackson. That changed when they went to speak at an other Jesuit univer sity that was close to the same size as Loyola, where they overheard faculty members there speaking about salaries.
When Jackson heard that their col leagues made more than double what they did, Jackson was shocked – and felt undervalued.
Jackson said they knew that Loyola had been falling behind because of the ways in which the board froze faculty salaries during a previous presidential administration, but in the moment in which their peers were discussing sala ries, they realized how bad the gap had become.
“That’s when I started tuning in more
to the need for real change here,” they said, adding that they participated in that change by advocating for wages as a member of the university Senate.
Soon after, they said they were excited to hear the university was on its way to rectifying the conditions with a compen sation study, especially when they heard the university bud geted a pool of mon ey to make changes.
Jackson said the university ensured everyone made at least $15 an hour, which Daffron an nounced in an email sent to faculty and staff in May.
But Jackson said they felt that be cause they weren't a part of that group of people, they were left behind, regard less of a much higher industry standard salary. The same went for Jackson them selves,Yakich and Jonathan Peterson, an associate professor of philosophy at Loyola and the former chair of the facul ty Senate.
Peterson, who makes a base salary of under $61,000, told The Maroon that hav ing frozen salaries for about a decade now has been “traumatiz ing” for faculty.
“There’s been this deep uncertainty over the health of the university,” he said.
He added that it’s humiliating that fac ulty salaries have fallen off as much as they have, arguing that there’s only one thing that will fix tension between facul ty and administrators and that is being paid better.
“They’ve tried every kind of other, symbolic gesture, and I appreciate that, but at this point, they need to pay peo ple fairly. They need to contribute to our retirement in the way that other institu tions do,” he said.
He said that it is honorable to see Loyola being committed to Jesuit values as an institution, but he argued that the institution hasn’t shown that it is com mitted to those values internally.
“It’s time for Loyola to really take that commitment to those values seriously and to start living in accordance with them,” he said Thursday, Sept. 22.
On Wednesday, Sept. 28, Peterson re ceived a letter from the provost’s office, granting him a one-time payment of about $8,500, which the letter said was in response to the university’s compen sation study.
The effects of salary discrepancies have stretched farther than an emotion
al response. Jackson said their family’s lifestyle has had to change drastically in order to accommodate rising prices in New Orleans with a frozen salary.
This included moving homes much farther from campus to be able to af ford real estate and to be able to make sure their children have had everything they’ve needed.
“My employer seems out of touch with the realities of living in this city,” they said.
Peterson said that it also makes Loyola fall behind in ways they can’t af ford to, including the recruitment of fac ulty of color.
He said that by not having competi tive wages, the university risks not being able to recruit people in general, and that includes people of color, who he said are essential to the advancement of the uni versity.
“There’s certainly the issue that stu dents are not seeing faculty who repre sent them, and I think that’s a problem,” he said.
Jackson added that as faculty leave the university due to a lack of competitive wages, more work falls on the faculty members who stay. And the effects also include faculty members' ability to do their jobs on cam pus. One of the main ways this manifests is through advising, they said.
Because their de partment, like many other university departments, is shrink ing as professors retire or leave due to a lack of competitive salaries, professors like them are now responsible for doz ens more advisees than they have been in the past.
“The whole thing becomes unsustain able and exhausting,” Jackson said. “You just can’t replace the value of one-onone working with students.”
They said that this is also relevant to senior capstone projects where tenured faculty are required to advise each proj ect carefully.
Also, as faculty go, majors start to decline as the quality of teaching falls behind and fewer students therefore choose to major in a subject, Jackson argued.
“How are we supposed to grow?” they said.
Jackson didn’t deny that there have been administrative conversations that have taken place about this. But until the one-time payments were announced there had never been any follow through, they said.
“It’s been too long of these hollow promises,” Jackson said.
Nisse and King argued that many people in Algiers don’t even bike on the two roads where infrastructure is being removed.
“I barely see anyone riding a bike in Algiers, and most residents of Algiers don't work in Algiers, so they have to drive,” Nisse said.
King agreed with Nisse that the bike infrastructure isn't highly trafficked in that area of Algiers.
“Myself and the Department of Public
Works have sat outside one morning in Algiers discussing this issue, and we col lectively counted one person riding a bike,” King said. “You can make an argument that maybe other parts of the city need it, but the main issue is that the city did not talk to us.”
King said District C residents want to hit the reset button and have a say in where the bike infra
structure is installed.
The City of New Orleans communica tions team declined to comment on this matter.
Rogers said it’s normal that the com munity may be resis tant to changes on the road. He added that when the Missis sippi River trail was being built, many community members at a River Ridge Civic Association meet
ing opposed the biking trail, citing that it would raise crime rates and disrupt the community.
“Now if you tried to take the Missis sippi River Trail away, I think there'd be a hue and cry saying leave this up here because this is a good exercise venue,” Rogers said.
Rogers said having protected bike lanes encourages more people in the community to get out and bike. “It im proves the health of the community be cause more people are out exercising.”
King said he will continue to work
with the community to see where this infrastructure is needed most.
“We are definitely willing to work with the New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition and the Department of Public Works again and with members of the community to figure out what's the best location and style for these protected bike lanes,” King said.
“What do we have to do? Go into the dean's office and start sobbing? Would that make a difference?”
— Pat Jackson Anonymous Loyola Professor
“Resource growth is a top priority in our goals for this year."
— Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J. Interim University President
“I barely see anyone rid ing a bike in Algiers..."
— Zoe Nisse Algiers resident and Loyola University Student
“That’s when I started tuning in more to the need for real change here.”
— Pat Jackson Anonymous Loyola Professor
“It’s time for Loyola to really take that com mitment to those values seriously and to start living in accordance with them.”
— Jonathan Peterson Associate Professor at Loyola
Just a few weeks ago, a woman in Ba ton Rouge was denied an abortion even though her fetus was missing a skull and would not be able to survive past birth. Her doctors could only recommend that she travel out of state for an abortion or go through with the pregnancy and en dure the trauma of watching her child die shortly after birth.
Recently, a doctor in Texas reported having to delay treatment for a patient who had developed a uterine infection as a result of a miscarriage. However, the doctors could still detect a fetal heart beat and were thus prohibited under Texas law from performing an abortion. Doctors could only watch their patient get worse until the fetus’s heartbeat stopped a day later and were able to pro ceed with treatment.
Currently in Louisiana there is a complete abortion ban with vague, lim ited exceptions. One such exception is “to prevent serious risk to the pregnant person’s physical health.” But how much risk is enough? How low does your rate of survival need to be before the gov ernment decides to gamble with your health?
Even without abortion bans, preg nancy is dangerous, especially in the United States. According to the CDC, in 2018 for every 100,000 live births, ap proximately 17 people died from preg nancy complications. In comparison, Canada reported only 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, the United Kingdom 6.5, and Norway reported 1.8 deaths. Ad ditionally, the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is even higher for Black women, who are 3 times more likely to die than white women.
Now, with abortion bans in multiple states, more people will die from preg nancy complications. People who didn’t want to be pregnant in the first place will now be forced to risk their lives to go through the trauma and irreparable physical change of giving birth. And those that had planned for pregnancy will not be given adequate care.
Nothing about these laws is “prolife.” These pro-birth laws serve only one purpose – control. For the groups that protest against abortion, the belief is that women’s only purpose is child rearing,and forced birth is meant to keep women in place. And their push for leg islation won’t stop at abortion. These
fascists also want to ban birth control, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, and civil rights.
And Loyola has taken their side. Ac cording to Student Life and Ministry,
abortion access goes against Jesuit val ues. And I suppose abortion rights don’t align with Jesuit principles, so long as you believe healthcare isn’t a “special concern for the poor and oppressed,” or
that “linking faith with justice” doesn’t include reproductive justice, or if you throw “critical thinking and effective communication” out the window. How else could you support laws that will in
crease the already high maternal death rate, that will keep people stuck in a cycle of poverty, and which value fetuses over the life and autonomy of a full person?
people couldn’t be bothered to toss their wrappers or plates into the trash cans that are probably only a couple feet away. Yes, it is true that a lot of these bins do fill up quickly during events. They can even start to overflow in a matter of min utes. But it still doesn’t take that much ef fort to carry your trash to the next closest trash can.
or JUGs for short. For every JUG a stu dent received, they would have to com plete one hour of service after school. I myself did not manage to avoid these
that the custodial staff would have to do every day in order to look after our school. From cleaning the common areas, to mopping up bathrooms, to re organizing classrooms, the work would seem endless during those days. And it was only an hour! Imagine the countless number of hours poured into keeping the school in order by the custodial staff.
and there had to be some kind of recom pense for what I had done. So, I ended up having to clean the stairwells of the middle school. That was what started me on this path of acknowledgement for the work done to keep schools and other lo cations in order.
Compared to the amount of work cus todial staff and other workers do around campus to keep the place looking good, not enough respect is shown for their efforts. After many events, you can find trash littered across the ground where
Over the course of nearly seven years of Jesuit education, I’ve been taught that custodial staff deserve utmost respect. For my high school education, I went to the Jesuit high school St. Louis Universi ty High. At SLUH, we had a type of pun ishment for truly unruly behavior that was referred to as Judgment Under God,
Judgments and probably completed an average of three JUGs every year. Through these punishments, we were given perspective on the kind of work
My experience with learning this lesson didn’t just start in high school, though. Back at my middle school, I was given a somewhat special punishment. It all started with me breaking a window. That I accidentally kicked in. I swear it was an accident.
Either way, the damage was done,
All of this is to say that, before I did any of this, I very much did not realize the work that custodial staff did for us, and it took me being forced into the work to recognize it. What I hope is that by sharing my experiences that I can of fer my own bit of perspective on why you should treat custodial staff with respect, not just at Loyola, but everywhere.
A pair of signs is held at a Pro-Life/Anti-Transgender protest on Tulane's campus on Sept. 2, 2022. Voisin argues that more harm than good will be caused by new abortion laws. Jacob L'Hommedieu/The Maroon. Elena Voisin Pre-Health Senior“We were given perspective on the kind of work that the custodial staff would have to do every day.”
If there is one thing that Loyola is clear about, it is the fact that it is a Jesuit institution that pro motes a Catholic way of life. What Loyola is not clear enough about, though, is how far that Catho lic way of life goes into influencing the university’s student code of conduct.
We students at Loyola are used to seeing fliers, pamphlet passers, and other advertisements for various organizations on campus. However, what you will not find on campus in any capacity is an organization that openly promotes pro-choice ideals, though, you’ll find plenty that are pro-life, like Wolf Pack for Life.
Now, as a private institution, Loyola’s admin istration does have the final say on what is and isn’t allowed on campus. For example, Loyola has banned the organization Turning Point USA from advertising on campus not only for its content, but also because they failed to follow the rules of getting permission to table on campus. Com panies like Red Bull do guerilla marketing cam paigns on campus where they pay students to run around and advertise their products without telling the administration. This is also not allowed.
But take for instance, the case of Elena Voisin. They were passing out fliers promoting a prochoice rally on behalf of an organization outside
of campus. This was done without prior permis sion and, based on Loyola’s code of conduct, was understandably ended. Whether LUPD had to be brought into the situation is up for wider interpre tation. We say probably not, but that’s beside the point.
With this one case, new questions are raised. What if Voison had been a sole operator, acting on their own behalf to inform their fellow students?
There is no rule against individuals passing out fliers in such a manner, and since it’s not an or ganization, there would be no need to apply the organizational code of conduct to an example such as this. If Voisin had been an individual, then there should have been no issues as the code says students are allowed to hand out fliers, regardless of content, as long as they do not scatter said ma terial across the campus.
However, there would still most likely be for mal opposition to such material being dispersed. Such opposition would have to stand on the in credibly shaky grounds of something called ‘Jesuit Catholic values,’ which Loyola cites as the reason it bars organizations from promoting any prochoice dialogue on campus. The thing is, though, that there is no specific definition of these values in Loyola’s written rules. That leaves the question,
who defines those Jesuit Catholic values?
While it is true that many people on campus do come from Catholic and Christian back grounds, that still does not account for every person on campus. Not everyone will be famil iar with what is considered passable under this vague statement, and even some Catholics may not know themselves, especially considering how haphazard the application of those rules are.
Going back to the idea that not everyone will know what Jesuit Catholic values means, what if someone assumes that, due to Catholicism hav ing its roots in Judaism, thinks that Jewish law applies when it comes to abortion? Would that pass? We don’t know because it is left up for in terpretation. All the rules seem to be is whatever makes the administration squirm.
Overall, relying on vague language and only a couple instances of precedent in order to uphold some kind of semblance of authority is ridiculous, to put it mildly. If the problem is abortion, then just say it, and don’t try and tip-toe around it. Yes, this is a private institution. And institutions have clear rules. For Loyola, that is its code of conduct. If you don’t want abortion advocacy or for it to even be talked about, put it in the code. Pony up, and write your rules, Loyola.
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A student is being handed a flier with the word 'Veto' on it. By not making a clear distinction in its rules, Loyola has made what is and isn't allowed to be promoted confusing and unclear. Photo Illustration by Gabrielle Korein/The Maroon.