Conversations

Elie Miller discusses her work helping people with the collateral consequences of felony convictions.

Adrien Perez ’16, who terrorized WCC opponents as an LMU attacker for men’s soccer, scored his first MLS goal for LAFC in this first start for the team earlier this season. He talks about life as a pro and what he’s learning on one of the best teams in Major League Soccer.

Mayor Eric Garcetti says that for Los Angeles homelessness is the “the moral and humanitarian crisis of our time.”

A professor of design talks about design in one of the world’s creative capitals, Los Angeles.

Solving homelessness will require good design as well as more housing stock. This designer is working on it.

A long-distance runner describes how her competitiveness helped her not care about pain.

In 1976, prospects for the El Segundo blue butterfly were so dire that the insect was placed on the endangered species list. Since then, community organizations and individuals have worked on restoring the butterfly’s habitat in coastal dunes. But although preservation efforts have produced results, the blue butterfly’s survival remains a concern.

Tom Chabolla’s roots in Catholic social justice and Ignatian spirituality go back to his days on the LMU campus and his exploration of life in the Society of Jesus.

Professional athletes are beginning to openly discuss a long-hidden secret: their mental health struggles and the stigma that comes with them. William D. Parham, SOE professor and director of the National Basketball Players Association Mental Health and Wellness Program, describes the pressures that accompany the glory of life as an elite professional athlete.

Eric Erlandson ’86 discusses “Letters to Kurt,” his book of letters to his friend Kurt Cobain written 20 years after Cobain’s suicide, and the influence of music on his own life.