New Jesuit Center at Loyola University New Orleans Aims to Enhance Jesuit Values

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has pledged $8 million to Loyola University New Orleans to create a new home for the university’s Jesuit Center.

Loyola’s former library building, shuttered since 1999, will be resurrected as the Tom Benson Jesuit Center. Benson’s pledge will go toward the renovation of the 36,000-square-foot building, originally constructed in 1950.

The Tom Benson Jesuit Center will be a living symbol of the university’s mission and identity. “One of the principal goals in our strategic plan, Loyola 2012, is to enhance Jesuit values of the university. Nothing is more important than ensuring that our Jesuit identity remains strong as we move forward,” said Jesuit Father Kevin Wildes, president of Loyola.

Loyola’s Jesuit Center seeks to share Jesuit values and traditions with the larger Loyola community by promoting teaching and research integrated with Ignatian spirituality in the Jesuit philosophy of educating the whole person. The center invites the Loyola community to deepen its faith commitment through its work and service. [Loyola University New Orleans]