The Busiest Season of Them All
Reading Time: 10 minutesLMU can look deceptively quiet in summer. It isn’t. Here’s what happened during our busiest season, and a little of what’s coming next.
Academic & Intellectual Life, Athletics & School Spirit, Beyond the Bluff, Community & Culture, University News
Preparing for Joy
Reading Time: 7 minutesCommencement Weekend transforms LMU into something extraordinary: part family celebration, part spiritual ritual, part large-scale logistical ballet. This year marks the first time all three commencement ceremonies on the Westchester campus will take place in a single weekend, bringing thousands of graduates, families, volunteers, faculty, and staff together on the bluff. Behind the scenes are 18,770 chairs, 16,000 cookies, countless moving parts, and months of preparation, all in service of one thing: joy.
Point by Point
Reading Time: 8 minutesLMU Beach Volleyball’s remarkable season became something larger than a sports story. As commencement weekend approaches, this spring’s success across women’s athletics offers a reminder that excellence is rarely built all at once. It is built point by point, through discipline, trust, leadership, and the unseen work behind every visible achievement.
When Noise Becomes Signal.
Reading Time: 8 minutesTo most of us, AI right now is just a string of beeps — too much news, too much hype, too much noise to tune in. But one of those beeps is worth listening to. Anthropic’s new Project Glasswing is a real-world signal that AI is reshaping cybersecurity for defenders and attackers alike, and universities sit squarely in the middle of that shift. Here is what I think it means for LMU, and a few simple habits that matter more than ever.
Beyond the Bluff, Civic Engagement & Partnerships, Community & Culture
How LMU’s Story Travels
Reading Time: 6 minutesAt the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, LMU meets people long before they ever apply—often in small moments that quietly shape what comes next. Storytelling, at its best, isn’t promotion; it’s how a university’s mission becomes real through the lives of its students, faculty, and alumni. When it’s done well, it doesn’t just inform—it stays with you, and eventually, it gets carried forward.
Academic & Intellectual Life, Beyond the Bluff, Community & Culture
Keep the Signal Human: Why KXLU and Fundrazor Matter More Than Ever
Reading Time: 13 minutesKXLU is more than a radio station—it’s a student-run cultural institution, a tastemaker with global reach, and one of LMU’s most human forms of learning, where people—not algorithms—still shape what we hear and how we connect.
Holy Season Reflections
Reading Time: 7 minutesAt LMU, Holy Week offers more than a moment of observance—it reveals something essential about how we form students, lead with purpose, and live out our mission together. In this reflection, I connect the lessons of Holy Thursday and Farmworkers Day to the daily work of service, formation, and community-building across our campus. From Sacred Heart Chapel to our interfaith community, this piece highlights the often unseen work of our Division of Mission and the ways in which students—when they choose—can engage deeply with questions of meaning, faith, and responsibility.
Facilities & Infrastructure, Facilities Management, University News
Up, Down, and Stuck in Between
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe University Hall escalator project is entering its most visible phase, with demolition beginning March 29 and running through Commencement. This update explains what to expect during construction, why progress will look different over the summer, and how similar infrastructure challenges are playing out at LMU Loyola Law School. It’s a look at how complex systems get fixed—and a reminder that how we use them matters, too.
Facilities & Infrastructure, Facilities Management, University News
The New Lair: Worth the Wait
Reading Time: 6 minutesRenovating the Lair means a temporary shift to outdoor dining—but also a major step toward a brighter, more flexible, and more social campus hub. Serving up to 3,000 meals a day, the Lair sits at the heart of student life, and this reimagining is designed to better reflect how students gather, connect, and dine today. The transition may be a little inconvenient, but what’s coming next will be well worth the wait.
Academic & Intellectual Life, Beyond the Bluff, University News
The Academy Has Lions
Reading Time: 7 minutesOscar weekend celebrates the power of storytelling — and this year, as in many years past, the LMU community has reason to watch closely. From alumni nominated for Academy Awards to faculty and mentors helping shape the industry, the Lion network has long been part of Hollywood’s creative ecosystem, a connection that reaches back nearly a century to the building of Loyola’s campus on the Bluff.
Academic & Intellectual Life, Beyond the Bluff, Community & Culture, University Leadership
New York, New Doors for Lions
Reading Time: 7 minutesNYC Career Trek and CBA Centennial: Three days across New York where students stepped into boardrooms, newsrooms, and rehearsal halls—and where Lions open doors for the next Lion walking through.
Hoops Made Here
Reading Time: 7 minutesLMU Women’s Basketball heads to Las Vegas as the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament. A historic season, a championship opportunity, and a moment for the LMU community to rally.
Facilities & Infrastructure, Facilities Management
Spring Break: The Campus Doesn’t Take One.
Reading Time: 9 minutesWhen campus gets quiet, everything happens. A look at the behind-the-scenes work keeping LMU running—trees, doors, letters, and all.
Built for Care. Ready for the Future.
Reading Time: 6 minutesLMU’s Children’s Center has cared for our youngest Lions for more than 20 years. Now it’s time to reinvest—so this special place can keep serving families well for years to come.
Academic & Intellectual Life, Beyond the Bluff, Civic Engagement & Partnerships, University Leadership
Know the Power of You
Reading Time: 5 minutesEarlier this week, we had the privilege of welcoming Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi P ’92 to LMU for a conversation with our students, an event hosted by the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts and centered on the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States and the importance of civic engagement.
Beyond the Bluff, Civic Engagement & Partnerships
LMU Lions at the 2026 L.A. Area Chamber Inaugural Dinner
Reading Time: 6 minutesAt the L.A. Area Chamber Inaugural Dinner, LMU joined regional leaders to celebrate civic impact, business leadership, and partnership. Hosting our table with students underscored why we show up: to connect education to the city we serve and give LMU Lions access to moments that shape their futures.
Beyond the Bluff, University News
LMU + LA28: Where Olympic Excellence Happens
Reading Time: 6 minutesLMU will be home to Team USA’s High Performance Center for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. And we’re cooking up opportunities for engaged, hands-on opportunities for students, faculty, and staff as we play an essential role in Olympics. Again.
LMU Magazine: Winter 2026— A Lot of Hope and a Little Flex
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs we were celebrating President Thomas Poon’s inauguration and the theme “Hope, Made Here,” I kept thinking about where that hope actually shows up in …
Commencement: Three Ceremonies. One Bluff. Once and For All.
Reading Time: 3 minutesFor the foreseeable future, LMU’s Commencement Weekend will be hosted right here on our Westchester campus—on the bluff—where this milestone belongs.
Facilities Management, University News
Lion’s-Eye View: LA’s New Roar
Reading Time: 3 minutesIn the short time it’s been up, the Spirit Mark has become an instant gathering point—one of those places that naturally pulls people together. The photo with this post is a perfect example. We were out there taking pictures for an LMU This Week piece when a group of students wandered over to see what was going on. We invited them in, and suddenly it turned into one of those very LMU moments.
CBA at 100
Reading Time: 5 minutesBecause in a world that desperately needs value-aligned leaders—leaders with competence and conscience—LMU CBA has been (and will continue to be) part of the solution. For 100 years, the college has built a reputation for developing leaders who combine academic rigor with ethical grounding, who are ambitious and accountable, and who understand that business can be a force for good in Los Angeles and beyond.
Momentum Blog: Less Guesswork. More Clarity.
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’ve ever thought, “I wonder who’s working on this—and why it’s taking so long,” you’re not alone.
Welcome to the COO Blog. I’m John Kiralla, and I’m grateful and excited to serve as LMU’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. I’ve wanted to create a simple channel where I can share what we’re working on—on our campuses and across Los Angeles—in a way that I hope you find clear and helpful.
What do COOs do? (And Why It Matters at LMU)
Reading Time: 3 minutesLet’s start with a fair question.
Most people have a general sense of what a university president does. Many people can describe the duties of a chief financial officer. But the COO role is newer in higher education than it is in the business world—until something breaks, a process stalls, or a big moment comes up, and suddenly everyone wants to know who’s responsible.
Facilities Management, University News
The Escalators
Reading Time: 4 minutesYes—we’re fixing them.
None of us like those stairwells in the back of University Hall. And the delays aren’t due to a lack of effort. Context is key to understanding this issue.