Name, image and likeness deals are injecting a new infusion of money into college athletics, with some athletes at top D 1 institutions looking at income streams of $25,000 to $30,000. How will the NIL years shape mid-majors like LMU?
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LMU Volleyball Faces No. 1 Texas
Trent Kersten, LMU’s new volleyball coach, starts his tenure with one of the biggest matches in program history: a face-off against the University of Texas, the No. 1 team in the country and reigning national champion. He’d have it no other way
Martin Sheen’s Five Minutes of Fame
Actor Martin Sheen describes how his Catholic faith has shaped some of his best-known roles and his commitment to social justice.
AI’s Impact on Artists
AI technology now allows any user to generate an image of almost anything they like that copies the work of almost any artist, putting the livelihoods of painters, illustrators and photographers at risk.
Hollywood Standstill
No one knows how this story will end, least of all the Hollywood scribes whose fate hangs in the balance. On Tuesday July 18, the Writers Guild of America — representing 11,500 screenwriters — entered the 12th week of a historic strike. …
Tracking Fish With eDNA
Demian Willette, LMU biology professor, has patented a device to collect environmental DNA that helps detect fish fraud — the mislabeling of fish — as well as protect endangered species.
Ginni Rometty’s Path of Preparation
Ginni Rometty started working at IBM in 1981. When she retired in 2020, she did so as the company’s CEO — still a rare career path for a woman with executive abilities and aspirations. Here she talks about women’s leadership, economic anxiety and the economic imperative of diversity.
Mary Agnes Erlandson ’82 on Homelessness and What Works
Homelessness has many causes, and Mary Agnes Erlandson ’82 directs a social services center in Lennox that offers programs addressing many of them. She says focusing on people’s needs, especially housing, can change people’s lives for the better. She has seen it happen.
The Robin’s View
Richard Robin, S.J., stepped into his first job on campus in 1969. This year he is celebrating his retirement. Robin likes to say he always looks forward. But he has agreed to take this brief look back.
Eileen Schoetzow ’98, MBA ’07 On Planning Homeless Shelters
Eileen Schoetzow ’98, MBA ’07, an urban and environmental planner for the City of Los Angeles, is part of a team that constructs homeless shelters for unhoused people in Los Angeles. She talks about helping people get off the streets and into homes and why making a difference matters to her.
Kenneth Chancey ’15 on Youth Homelessness
School was one of the safest places he knew growing up, Kenneth Chancey says. For one thing, he knew, as a homeless youth, that he’d get a meal there. Today, he’s left behind life in a van, and he’s helping others do the same with the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority.
Beach Volleyball Moves to Campus
Coach John Mayer describes the advantages of LMU beach volleyball, which finished third in the 2022 NCAA championships, now having its own courts on campus.
Florida’s Battle With Black History
Florida’s rejection of the College Board’s new AP African American Studies course puts a spotlight on the U.S. struggle to deal with racism and Black America’s past and present.
The Outsider President
“Jimmy Who?” people asked in 1976 as the virtually unknown James Earl “Jimmy” Carter came out of nowhere to capture the Democratic nomination for president, eventually winning the presidential election. Carter was able to accomplish this unlikely victory for one…
Ben Bolch on NIL’s Impact on College Athletics
Name, image and likeness (NIL) payments represent a new, large cash flow into college athletics. Much will stream toward athletes through sponsorships and endorsements. But some scenarios are deeply troubling. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times staff writer, describes a new era that is changing college athletics.
Shelves of Selves
To Lynell George ’84, every book on her shelves is a window into who she was, is and will become. How to live when a treasured one goes missing?
A Conversation with Justin Levitt
Election deniers now chair crucial committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. Justin Levitt, an expert in election law who has worked in the White House and the Department of Justice, discusses the future of election integrity.
Electoral Tea Leaves
Prof. Richard Fox analyzes possible outcomes and impacts of the results, whenever we finally know them, of the 2022 midterm elections.
Tara Pixley on Life By the Oil Fields
Oil drills and storage facilities are scattered across communities in the Los Angeles region. Tara Pixley, who teaches photojournalism in the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, has produced photo essays of many of those communities. She describes the dangers experienced by people who live and work in proximity to L.A.’s oil industry.
Big City Oil
Oil used to be big in Los Angeles. In fact, it still is, and the industry’s impact on the region’s populations is far from equitable.
A Conversation With Misty Copeland
Misty Copeland was the first Black female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. She talks about her experience and struggles while breaking new ground.
Disconnected
When the COVID-19 epidemic came to Yolo County, the disconnection between farmworkers and local government became its own health threat. Antonio De Loera-Brust ’17 describes what he witnessed.
A Conversation With Abby Wambach
Abby Wambach, who delivered the Commencement address at the 2022 Commencement Exercises, talks about Title IX, equal pay for women and misogyny.
A Well-Aimed Rock
Blake Pickens MBA ’19, a Chickasaw film producer and stand-up comedian, uses film and jokes to change people’s minds about Native Americans and people in poverty.
Title IX at 50
Title IX changed the landscape of university athletics. LMU women who have played, coached or worked in sports administration tell us how a federal civil rights law has shaped their lives.
Rebecca Delfino on the Opioid Crisis
The opioid crisis, which has killed as many as 700,000 Americans in the past 20 years, has fallen off the nation’s radar. Rebecca Delfino, clinical law professor at the LMU Loyola Law School, describes the overprescription practices and misleading marketing that fuel the epidemic.
Gates and Soyinka On Mentors and Ancestors
Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka — student and mentor —came to campus to share stories about the ancestors shaped them and their decades-long friendship that binds them.
Kara Allen, Ed.D. ’14, CIO, on the Spurs’ Role in San Antonio
Kara Allen Ed.D. ’14, chief impact officer, is the San Antonio Spurs’ face in their community. Putting seats at the table where decisions are made — putting a Spurs voice at community tables but also adding community voices at the Spurs’ table.
Alvarado and 3rd
The United States meets Central America at L.A.’s Westlake intersection. Rubén Martínez finds that survival is one of the many stories found at this hemispheric meeting place.
Driving Ambition
Louis Foster is a first-year student with a reputation for fast driving. He’s been seen topping 160 mph. Not on Loyola Blvd. — this British speedster drives race cars.
Climate Chaos
Extreme California weather may bring chaos, but do we resist, mitigate or adapt to preserve the climate, our common good? David L. Ulin explores the path head and our responsibilities.
LMU Magazine Podcast Wins Top Media Award
“Off Press” took first place for Sports—Any News or Feature in the Los Angeles Press Club’s 63rd annual Southern California Journalism Awards.
Trellises
How does a Filipino family gradually transplanted in new American soil grow? For Oliver de la Paz ’94, ’95, carefully, surely, like a vine that rises along its trellis.
A Conversation With Holly Mitchell
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who was elected chair of the Board of Supervisors in December 2021, talks about her goals as supervisor
Behind the Scenes of a Race Driver’s Photo Shoot
Louis Foster, an 18-year-old first-year LMU student, has quickly made a name for himself in professional racing just three years since his initial full season. It’s not so surprising: He comes from a well-known British racing family. We interviewed Foster in the new issue of LMU Magazine. Take at our behind-the-scenes video of the magazine photo shoot.
A Conversation With Vin Scully
Former Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully P ’95, P ’99, talks about what he misses about his job and the influence of his Jesuit education on his life.
The Dogs That Save Us
The human-dog lovefest may be 15,000 years old, and the pandemic has given it a shot in the arm. Are they our most faithful friends, or are we theirs?
Eric Strauss on Climate Change
The impact of climate change on Southern California — in heat, ocean temperatures and coastal damage — is now evident, with more on the way, says Eric Strauss of the LMU Center for Urban Resilience. The worst effects will likely be distributed unequally. Our goal, he says, is not climate change reversal but adaptation.
The Pandemic Lessons
Evelyn McDonnell says she never again wants to teach in ‘Zoom university.’ But, she learned how to make her future in-person courses even better than before.
Stage Rights
In 1963, James Baldwin masterminded a tense nighttime meeting with Robert F. Kennedy to break down the Kennedy administration’s reluctance to act on civil rights. Baldwin’s summit changed RFK forever after.
Cougar Town
Native mountain lions risk their lives to cross the U.S. 101 freeway. A wildlife crossing, in the form of a bridge, could save them.
Amped Up
An executive producer with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Audio amplifies voices and stories that are too rarely heard. An interview with Mukta Mohan ’14.
The Bones of St. Peter
James T. Keane ’96, an editor at America magazine, recalls a trip he led with a group of students to the catacombs of the Church of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome.
California’s Catholic Browns
Pat and Jerry Brown — father and son — together governed California for a span totaling nearly a quarter century with their Catholic culture’s influence never far from the foreground.
Click Here For Open Democracy
When he was confronted as a student with misinformation about proposed laws, Patrick Utz started thinking about an app to improve transparency in the legislative process. It’s now in use.
The Afterlife
With a coronavirus vaccine now being distributed, we may be able to see outlines of what life and work will look like when the COVID-19 pandemic passes. In The Afterlife, our new department, seven LMU experts look ahead.
Losing Touch
A cost of the pandemic is loss of touch — bodily, physical contact. Brian Treanor says he’s learned again about “the richness of the tactile world.”
The Magazine of the Year
LMU Magazine wins the 2020 Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year Award, the top honor in university magazine publishing, in the annual CASE Circle of Excellence Awards competition.
Ivan Ehlers ’04 on Drawing in The New Yorker
Ivan Ehlers has produced work for The New Yorker, MAD Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. But rejection is part of the job, he says, and studying psychology at LMU has come in handy.
Chaya Crowder on Black Voters and U.S. Elections
“The Republican Party has made little to no attempt to historically appeal to Black voters since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” says Prof. Chaya Crowder in describing why Black voters, especially Black women, are the backbone of the Democratic Party.
Troubling Calm
In the COVID-19 era, what was has changed, what is now seems uncertain, but will be may be ours to decide. L.A. writer Lynell George ’84 writes about life during a pandemic.
David Romero ’09 on Joining the Jesuits
David Romero, S.J., an LMU alumnus of 2009 and newly ordained Jesuit, talks about his image of God, the challenge of Jesuit formation and why he joined the Society of Jesus.
Fall in Love With LMU
This prayer, that has become synonymous with Pedro Arrupe, S.J., who was Father General of the Society of Jesus, describes the intimate connection of love to one’s truest identity.
Tragedy’s Ripple Effects
LMU’s William D. Parham talks about grief’s impact on professional athletes.
Kate Pickert
COVID-19 has created a global medical crisis and a U.S. health policy crisis. Kate Pickert, who covered the U.S. healthcare system as a reporter, talks about the impact of a lagging governmental response on the medical community and health agencies.
Dramatis Personae
If Washington politics were a Shakespearean play, would it be a history, comedy or tragedy?
Off Press Podcasts
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EPISODE 43 • MARCH 11, 2022
Kara Allen, Ed.D. ’14, CIO, on the Spurs’ Role in San Antonio
Kara Allen Ed.D. ’14, chief impact officer, is the San Antonio Spurs’ face in their community. Putting seats at the table where decisions are made — putting a Spurs voice at community tables but also adding community voices at the Spurs’ table.
EPISODE 42 • FEBRUARY 3, 2022
Eric Strauss on Climate Change
The impact of climate change on Southern California — in heat, ocean temperatures and coastal damage — is now evident, with more on the way, says Eric Strauss of the LMU Center for Urban Resilience. The worst effects will likely be distributed unequally. Our goal, he says, is not climate change reversal but adaptation.
EPISODE 40 • FEBRUARY 16, 2021
Ernesto Colín ’99, M.A. ’01
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted far more than the day-to-day operations of America’s schools. “What happened here is that the pandemic has revealed the fissures that we have in education settings and amplified all of them,” says Ernesto Colín, LMU professor of education. Colín talks about what we’ve confronted and what we’ve learned.
