This academic year, Loyola University Maryland’s President Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D., is working on a series of plans for the Loyola community’s future.
In an interview for The Greyhound, President Sawyer spoke about the excitement he feels about the new academic year and the goals he has for it.
“I am generally optimistic and enthusiastic about all the opportunities that are available for our students over this next year. I feel like that every year, but each year is new, with new opportunities and challenges, and new students, and it’s a wonderful thing to be part of that cycle,” President Sawyer said.
The 2023-2024 academic year began with the welcoming of the Class of 2027 to Loyola, a class that has broken several of the University’s records.
“This class is the most diverse class in our history, the most academically successful we’ve ever admitted and it’s students from all over the country as well as an increase in international students. We’re very lucky and blessed to recruit and attract some of the brightest minds at the undergraduate level,” said Sawyer.
Apart from new undergraduate students, the university welcomed new faculty members and also welcomed current employees to new positions.
“We have a new Vice President for Mission and Identity, Milton Bravo. We have a new Chief Information Officer, who oversees all of our technology, named Robert Smith. We have an Interim Dean at Loyola College, Frank Golom, who I knew when he was an undergrad and is a really talented leader. I am very excited to partner with him and experience his leadership as well,” he said.
Besides the new students and faculty members, President Sawyer continues to work on bringing about a better future for Loyola through a strategic plan, as well as a new program for nursing that he hopes to have available for students by the fall of 2025.
“We are proposing right now a nursing program that is being considered by the state, and it would be a significant step in our health fields and will allow us to attract students who weren’t considering Loyola since we only held a pre-nursing program. I think this program aligns with something the world needs, and Loyola will produce healthcare professionals that will have a real understanding of the human condition, and the extreme importance of compassion, kindness, and warmth when caring for people that are sick.”
President Sawyer hopes that students will understand the strategic plan and how it will chart the way for the future of the University. Besides that, he also has high hopes for the new Loyola students welcomed this year during the new student convocation.
“Very few people become successful by just breezing through life. You are successful when you are tested and stretched through life, and when it gets too hard, there is a community that is here to help you, whether academically, socially, personally, or spiritually,” said Sawyer.
President Terrence M. Sawyer will explain his strategic plan further during the State of the University Address at the Alumni Memorial Chapel on Oct. 26.
