Loyola U. of New Orleans remembers Catholic Mayor Moon Landrieu

 

Moon Landrieu: A dedicated public servant for social justice, equality

Dear Loyola community,

I am writing to share with you the passing of the Honorable Maurice “Moon” Landrieu, who died peacefully at home on Labor Day at 92 following an extraordinary life. 

Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and friends, especially his wife of 68 years, Verna Satterlee Landrieu, whom he met right here on campus as a young man, his nine children, including College of Law Dean Madeleine Landrieu, and his 37 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, many of whom continue to grace our campus in various ways. 

As many of you know, Moon Landrieu has long been publicly celebrated as one of the university’s most prominent and decorated alumni, having served two terms as Mayor of New Orleans during the 1970s, and served as U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development under U.S. President Jimmy Carter. This, in addition to his service as a New Orleans City Councilman, Louisiana State legislator and Louisiana state appellate judge. 

His leadership goes down in history. He stood up to anti-integrationists as a young man, led the city at a pivotal time of desegregation, and—together with his family—helped with the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, among myriad achievements. Even in his 90s, he provided valuable counsel to all manner of public servants, from local city staff to university and U.S. presidents. 

But to hear him and the Landrieus tell it, everything that mattered to him most, starting with his large and loving family, is somehow tied to Loyola. He often shared that his time here as a student working with the Jesuits especially opened his eyes to injustice—and called him to a life of service and doing for others. 

At Loyola, he formed remarkable and lifelong friendships, including best friends Dr. Norman Francis (for whom we will name the Francis Family Hall in October) and the late Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Pascal Calogero. These men, each in their own way, drew on their God-given talents and legal skills gleaned on our campus to help drive incredible and important change for Loyola, our city, state, and nation. 

A bench outside Marquette Hall celebrates the most important friendship of all. Dedicated to “where it all began,” it’s a permanent marker of an incredible love story. Moon Landrieu—who famously pitched for the Jesuit High School varsity baseball team, then joined the Wolf Pack on a baseball scholarship in 1948—liked to joke that he started hanging around the Student Government Association, (and later became its President), so he could get to know Verna, a student leader and scholar devoted to her faith. They married in 1954, following Moon’s law school graduation, and had nine children in 11 years. 

All of the Landrieu children are called to some form of service, whether privately or in the public eye— including former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu; former Lieutenant Governor and New Orleans Mayor Mitchell “Mitch” Landrieu, who now serves as a special adviser to President Joe Biden; Madeleine, our law dean and a former state court appellate judge, and Maurice, Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney for Orleans Parish. Many of them are also members of the Wolf Pack.

Four Landrieu children—Mitch, J.D. ‘85, and his wife Cheryl Quirk ‘85, Madeleine, J.D. ‘87 and husband Paige Sensenbrenner J.D. ‘87, Martin J.D. ‘88 and Maurice, J.D. ‘92— are graduates of the College of Law. Michelle “Shelley” Landrieu ‘81 majored in communications as an undergraduate.

Among the grandchildren, Erica Sensenbrenner Bergeron J.D. ‘18, and her husband Nick Bergeron J.D. ‘17, Tyler Landrieu J.D. ‘18, and Kristen Landrieu, J.D. ‘20 recently graduated from the College of Law, where Adam Landrieu is now a student. Mary Frances Seiter received her MBA from Loyola last spring and now works at the law school. Her brother Charlie Seiter, who graduated in 2019 and received the Ignatian Award for Outstanding Senior, played Varsity Baseball for the Wolf Pack. Sisters Jennifer Barkley Youngberg ‘11 and Victoria Barkley ‘14 also graduated from Loyola. 

Over the years, Loyola has honored Moon Landrieu many times and in many ways, bestowing on him our highest honors, including two honorary degrees and the Integritas Vitae, Adjutor Hominum and St. Ives Awards. And he honored us, teaching and speaking at the law school, mentoring students, leading projects and calling us to service.

On the day of the funeral, we will honor him one more time by lowering the flag to half mast and ringing the bells of Holy Name of Jesus Church of Jesus Church, where he will be celebrated with a funeral Mass for a life well lived. 

With prayers,

Father Justin Daffron, S.J.
Interim President
Loyola University New Orleans 

Great news for Loyola University in New Orleans for Catholic studies

 

New Orleans businessman Joseph Canizaro donates $5 million to Loyola for Catholic studies center

• BY MARIE FAZIO | STAFF WRITER
 
• JUN 14, 2022 - 2:30 PM

New Orleans businessman Joseph Canizaro, a well-known real estate developer and founder of First Bank and Trust, has donated $5 million to Loyola University to be used for a Catholic studies center, the university said on Tuesday. 

"This is great news for the school and great news for the future of the local church here in New Orleans," said the Rev. Justin Daffron, SJ, the interim president of Loyola.

The $5 million endowed fund will establish the Canizaro Center for Catholic Studies and will be used to hire new faculty, and expand student resources such as retreats, international pilgrimages and programs for high school students. It will also be used to educate Catholic elementary school teachers and pay for Loyola students to study abroad in Rome who may not have otherwise been able to do so, the university said in a news release. 

Canizaro did not attend Loyola but has contributed to the school in the past. In the 1980s, he paid for students to make pilgrimages to Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, after there were reported sightings of the Virgin Mary. More recently he donated funds for the Catholic studies program, which offers an interdisciplinary minor and faith-based programming for students, and for the Chapel of St. Ignatius and Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center.

"Sue Ellen and I are blessed to be able to give this gift to Loyola, a historic Catholic university," Canizaro said in a statement. "We are guided by God in our dedication to growing the Catholic faith, and it is our hope that this endowment will allow Loyola University to become a leader in Catholic studies both in New Orleans and around the world."

Canizaro's gift is among the largest in recent years. In 2017, Maedell Hoover Braud, a longtime Loyola employee, bequeathed $5 million for a scholarship endowment for undergraduates and $5 million for a scholarship endowment for law students. A donation from Canizaro also created the Joseph Canizaro and James Livingston Center for Environmental Informatics at the University of New Orleans.

"This is a transformational gift," Daffron said. "These funds will continue for generations to allow students to have access to this kind of programming ... The students that will participate in this program will be guided by a vision of serving the common good and building up areas of New Orleans according to the gospel message."

Daffron said the gift will elevate Loyola to among the top of institutions with a Catholic studies program.

The Center will be directed by the Rev. Nathan O'Halloran, who joined Loyola in 2020 to lead the Catholic studies program and helped establish a popular Tuesday lecture series featuring Catholic New Orleanians and a pilgrimage to Mexico City. O'Halloran said he hopes the center will be "fully integrated" in the New Orleans Catholic community.

"With a gift like this that endows a Center, that's a budget for perpetuity," O'Halloran said. "This is huge."

Loyola of New Orleans names 1st lay president and it's a woman

Latest News 

05/22/2018

Loyola names Tania Tetlow as first woman president

Posted By: Christine L. Bordelon Catholic, first female president, Harvard Law School, Jesuits, Loyola University New Orleans, Tania Tetlow, Tulane University

The Loyola University New Orleans Board of Trustees has selected its first layperson and first female president with the selection of Tania Tetlow, J.D., as its 17th president since its founding in 1912, succeeding Jesuit Father Kevin Wildes. 
She is the fourth woman president to lead one of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, according to Patricia Murret, associate director of public affairs at Loyola University New Orleans.
“The Jesuits are thrilled that our first lay president has such a strong Catholic faith and Jesuit background,” said Jesuit Father Billy Huete, a board trustee. “Though we were definitely looking for these attributes in all the possible candidates, it would be hard to find a qualified layperson who has a greater understanding and appreciation of what the Society of Jesus tries to be and do in our contemporary world.”

Tania Tetlow, J.D.
Who is she?
Tetlow’s legacy at Loyola runs deep. She is Catholic and a New Orleanian who grew up on campus, attending Holy Name of Jesus School and visiting her parents – mother Elisabeth Tetlow, who was a Loyola Law graduate, and father Mulry Tetlow, who was a Loyola psychology teacher. 
Her grandfather also attended Loyola on a football scholarship in 1928, and her uncle, Jesuit Father Joseph Tetlow, was dean of arts and sciences. In addition, her aunt, Beth Gaudin, is an alumna, and Gaudin’s husband Felix chaired the alumni association.    
“The many Jesuits in my family may have secretly raised me for this role without telling me,” she joked. “Loyola means the world to me, and I believed that my combination of skills and experiences could help the university at this crucial moment. I also bring useful outside perspectives but deeply understand and value Loyola’s core mission.”
“With her deep roots in New Orleans and Jesuit values, she was born for this job,” affirmed Dennis Cuneo, trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee.
Tetlow, who graduated from Tulane University and Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, views Loyola as a tight-knit community of people committed to Jesuit values and excellent education.
“The passion and commitment the Loyola community brings to its work has always impressed me,” she said.
Strong background  
Tetlow brings to Loyola a wealth of experience, as well as strong community, donor and industry relationships.
At Tulane, she was most recently senior vice president and chief of staff, a key strategic adviser to the president, overseeing board relations and government and community affairs; and leading special policy efforts on issues including campus safety, race and diversity, and campus sexual misconduct reforms. She also was the Felder-Fayard Professor of Law at Tulane.
During her time at Tulane, enrollment increased, as did retention and fundraising, and the university experienced great cultural, community and financial transformation, Murret said.
Lead candidate
Tetlow emerged in a nationwide search as the top selection for Loyola’s president from a large, diverse pool of accomplished leaders. Her ties to the local Catholic and Jesuit communities and vision of national excellence for the university played a large factor in her being hired by Loyola. She received a majority recommendation from the search committee, composed of members of the Society of Jesus, the Loyola University New Orleans board of trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni, Murret said.
The university is confident that Tetlow will bring a new and vibrant energy to Loyola while preserving its Jesuit mission. 
“I am absolutely thrilled about the selection of Tania Tetlow as our next president,” said Robért LeBlanc ’00, former trustee, said. “She embodies the essence of Loyola University New Orleans in a way that is difficult to articulate but evokes our mission, and she is the perfect 21st-century leader for our university. This is a sensational choice for Loyola.”
Tetlow has served on a variety of nonprofit boards and city commissions. At the mayor’s request, she led a turnaround of the NOPD Sex Crimes Unit. After Hurricane Katrina, she chaired the New Orleans Public Library Board and raised $7 million to rebuild flooded branches. She was selected for the British American Project, a bilateral leadership organization, and later served as its U.S. chair.
 “I have known Tania for a long time,” President Emeritus Jesuit Father James C. Carter, Ph.D., said. “She is a regular attendee at the Ignatius Chapel community Mass on Sunday and sings in the choir. She has an outstanding professional and academic reputation. She has also strong connections to Loyola and the Jesuit order. I have complete confidence that she will promote our Jesuit identity as well as any Jesuit could.” 
Tetlow will begin as president of Loyola University New Orleans in September and immediately tackle the university’s plans to balance its budget and build resources.
“My mission will be to execute that plan well, to continue to contain costs and grow revenues, all while building on Loyola’s greatest strengths,” she said.

Positive Catholic news from Catholic Loyola of New Orleans

Loyola “will not recognize a pro-choice campus organization”

The Jesus statue outside of Marquette Hall. In a statement made to The Maroon, Loyola University New Orleans states that clubs and organizations that seek university and Student Government Association approval must maintain Jesuit and catholic values. Photo credit: Jacob Meyer

Rose WagnerMay 2, 2018

In response to a debate about political favoritism that was ignited by an April 23 anti-abortion display by the student-run organization Wolf Pack For Life, the university has issued a statement that it will not recognize nor financially support the creation or existence of a pro-abortion rights student organization.

A Change.org petition that got over 400 signatures was started in response to Wolf Pack For Life’s display by students who advocated that the university, “either allow a peaceful pro-choice rally on campus and pro-choice club in the same way that they allowed the pro-life group to form and present or issue a public apology to students who felt unwelcome,” according to the petition.

Although the Student Government Association is responsible for approving student organizations, the university stated that approved organizations must align with Jesuit Catholic values.

“While we do respect the rights of students to practice self-expression and we do provide opportunity for them to have safe spaces and voice diverging opinions, Loyola unequivocally upholds the teachings of the Catholic church regarding the sanctity of life from conception to natural death,” the university said in a statement to The Maroon.