Loyola University Maryland’s Evergreen campus was founded in 1921, when Loyola bought the property and moved the college from Calvert Street to its current residence in the heart of Baltimore. Women were not allowed to receive a Loyola education until 1971, which means that for more than 100 years, Loyola education was exclusive to men.
Loyola officially became a coeducational university after an all-women’s Catholic College-Mount Saint Agnes College– was set to merge with them. This merger was the result of a vision to have a Catholic College of Baltimore, which succeeded after making Loyola co-ed.
It’s a good thing the merge happened, because the women of Loyola have had a huge impact on the success of others and the university itself. Loyola’s STEM leadership is predominantly female- something that speaks to the education levels of the women on campus. Most faculty that oversees chemistry, computer science, engineering, and pre-health programs are females, which is extraordinary to see.
Loyola is also proud to have an active McAuley Women’s Center, which is dedicated to empowering women by educating the community and the university on the issues of gender. The Center has many fun events throughout the year such as affirmation jar making, vision board night, and movie nights.
Loyola’s Fitness and Aquatic Center, better known as the FAC, hosts a ladies-only night during the semester to encourage all female students to enjoy a night free of men, even denying those that showed up. During ladies’ night, there are multiple fitness classes and rock-wall activities to take part in. It’s not something you’d want to miss.
Loyola also has clubs and meetings specified to women, one of them being Her Campus. Her Campus is a national online website that is entirely run by women. Loyola has their own chapter of the website that always has new stories. The Her Campus team at Loyola hosts events for the women of the campus, such as tote bag painting or sleepover parties. The team also posts Wednesday “Woman of the Week” slides that emphasizes a woman who has proven her success.
I am extremely glad that Loyola started having women, because I have the pleasure of seeing all the girls on campus leave an impact on this school and on others. Many other schools were originally male-only, including Colombia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Notably, there were a lot of ivy league schools that had this in place. Luckily, they all began accepting women in the 1970s, which ended up leading to many women getting degrees and PhDs.