Situation status

Given ongoing K-12 closures, public transportation issues, and extreme temperatures predicted for tomorrow, Loyola will continue to conduct classes virtually on Wednesday, January 17.

Essential employees are expected to report to campus, and most campus functions will be open, some with limited hours, including Central Receiving, the Post Office, bookstore, Student Health and Bursar’s office. Campus will be open and operational tomorrow for non-essential employees who would like to work on campus. Employees should contact their supervisor if they are adversely impacted by the weather and/or need to work remotely.

Faculty who need to cancel class should share their plan for make-up with their students via Canvas and inform the appropriate supervisor, if needed. Faculty are also advised to excuse students who are unable to attend class due to unsafe conditions or rescheduled travel.
 

A strong cold front is moving through our area on Monday night, bringing the possibility of icy roads on Tuesday morning. To ensure the safety of everyone traveling to campus, we are shifting classes online and will limit campus operations on Tuesday. Faculty are encouraged to review the academic affairs continuity of operations plan. Synchronous online courses should be scheduled if possible for in-person classes, but asynchronous activities may be scheduled as necessary. Faculty should share their plan with students via Canvas. Faculty with additional questions should consult with their Dean, if needed.

Non-essential employees are expected to work from home. Please consult with your manager should you have any questions or need clarification on work responsibilities.

Some students’ travel plans may have shifted due to the weather system moving across the country. Faculty are advised to excuse students who are unable to attend class online due to rescheduled travel.

Please be advised that a boil water advisory has been issued for the following area:

• S. Claiborne Ave from Calhoun St. to Robert St.
• Robert St. from S. Claiborne Ave. to River 
• Mississippi River from Robert St. to Exposition Blvd
• Exposition Blvd. from River to St. Charles Ave.

People on campus are advised to use bottled or boiled tap water to drink, cook, clean food, or brush teeth until further notice. Avoid drinking from campus water fountains until the advisory has been lifted. Residents with compromised immune systems should also use safe water to wash hands, shower or bathe. 

Fresh water will be available at dining services and at the residence hall front desks for resident students. Classes will continue as planned and everyone is urged to watch their email about any event cancellations.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOILING WATER
Boil water for one full minute in a clean container. The one-minute boil time begins after the water has been brought to a rolling boil. (If there is a flat taste, it can be eliminated by shaking the water in a bottle or pouring it from one container to another.)

We will notify you when the boil water advisory has been lifted.
 

We are anticipating severe weather tomorrow, including the possibility of tornadoes and hail, with the worst impacts expected in New Orleans at around 3 p.m. Out of an abundance of caution, we are making the following changes to our operations:

• Faculty from all colleges are asked to teach virtually on Tuesday, March 22, provided that they have power. Academic Affairs will be sending a separate email with some additional information.
• The Monroe Library, Student Health Services and University Sports Complex will close at noon.
• The Orleans Room will operate normally unless there is a power outage.
• Programming for students will be canceled after noon and student building managers in the Danna Center will go home at noon.
• Staff who can work from home are advised to do so. Managers will notify employees who need to be on campus and will discuss timing and logistics. Some staff working on campus may need to leave early to get home before the bad weather hits or to prepare their homes. We are asking that supervisors be flexible with these employees.

We will continue monitoring conditions and may adjust operations further if needed.

We have a few options available for you to help with your return to campus next week.

Gulf Coast Shuttle:

1. Buses will leave Spring Hill College in Mobile, Al., at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 13. We have limited seats available for students who were not staying at Spring Hill.
2. The bus from Spring Hill will stop at the Premium Outlets mall in Gulfport, Miss., in the parking lot near the Banana Republic and Tommy Hilfiger store. The bus will depart from the mall at 11:30 a.m.

Spaces on these shuttles are available on a first come, first served basis. Students who stayed at Spring Hill are automatically registered; other interested students can email ida@loyno.edu to request a seat.

Buses will depart promptly at the specified times. These are the only two times that the buses will be running. Masks are required, and you must show your Loyola ID to board. If you miss the bus, you are responsible for your own transportation back to New Orleans.

Shuttles from New Orleans Airport:

LUPD will offer limited shuttle service to campus next week from the Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY). Shuttles will leave the airport daily from the passenger pickup location at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. every weekday, from Monday, September 13 through Friday, September 17. Masks are required, and you must show your Loyola ID to board. Please use this form to register.

Other Transportation:

Uber, Lyft and taxis are available from the airport.

We hope that you and your family remain safe and that things are beginning to return to normal. We know that for some of you, the disruptions brought about by hurricane Ida have been more severe. We are doing everything we can to ensure that you can complete your semester with minimal disruptions. We are also looking forward to seeing you soon.

Here is some information about your schedules if you are enrolled in the full-semester courses. We are happy to report that our systems are up and running. If you want to add a class, you can do so through your LORA portal on the Single Sign On site (sso.loyno.edu). If you want to change/modify your schedule, please contact Kathy Gros at kgros@loyno.edu. If you are on a waiting list to get into a class, we will be reviewing those lists by September 10th and will let you know the availability of those classes.

As you know, the hurricane also forced us to cancel several classes, and we must take steps to make up for those missing days of instruction. We have determined that this can be achieved without major disruption to the Academic Calendar with only one change – cancellation of the fall break originally scheduled for October 11th and 12th. We have also decided that there will be no changes to the Thanksgiving break or the Final Exam week.

To make up lost time, your professors will work with you to ensure that your course materials are fully covered. They will allow maximum flexibility to enable you to complete the semester as intended. Please contact your professors directly to get additional information.

And as the Jewish members of our community begin the High Holy Days tonight by celebrating Rosh Hashanah, we all take stock of our blessings and reflect on how we can be of service to one another as we pray to get through the days of recovery ahead.

Power is back on the entire campus! And Entergy is now projecting that repairs will be largely completed for the greater New Orleans area by September 8th.

For any of you sweating it out nearby and eager for power and air conditioning, please go to the Broadway campus, but not yet to the main campus. We have repair work and cleaning to do before we can reopen the main campus. For faculty who need to gather their teaching materials from their offices before then, please reach out to LUPD at police@loyno.edu to make arrangements.

We will reopen the entire campus, including the residence halls, September 13th. We are doing some minor repairs in the residence halls and a deep cleaning while we gather staff back together, but we will be ready.

On September 13th, as planned, we will teach virtually for a week. This will give many of you more time to travel back, and to know that you can continue to teach and learn virtually from afar or on campus. (For those of you whose homes are now uninhabitable, we are working on ways we might be of help as you face the daunting challenges ahead.)

• Faculty – many students left without their course materials, so we are asking you to make copies where you can (even if that just means taking pictures with your phone), or being creative with other materials if you didn’t evacuate with them either.

• Students – we will make sure to get you access to course materials, and you will be welcome to come to campus for internet and use of library computers if that helps. We are sending you a poll to find out who has more specific emergency needs.   

On September 20, we will begin teaching on campus, with maximum flexibility, because we know that the hardest hit students may not be able to make it by then. Using hyflex mode and recorded lectures when we can, and lots of creativity, we will find a way to help you get through.

You can start making plans around the September 13-20th return dates now, though airline schedules are still a little wonky, so it may be worth waiting a bit.

We also are finalizing the academic calendar now, so that we can make up the two weeks of cancelled classes during the fall semester, and in person. We will be sending that to you early next week. Also, the deadline for dropping classes normally occurs at the end of the second week, so we will push that out until September 17th so you can continue to adjust your schedule.

As we find the way forward, it is very important for us to know your situation and what we might do to help. Students, please fill out this survey.

Faculty and staff, if you haven’t already, check in and let us know how you’re doing. It’s critical that we know.

• Faculty survey
• Staff survey

Our alumni and parents are eager to help, and have begun stepping up to support the Student Hardship Fund. We’ve raised over $9,000 just in the past few days. Students can apply for these funds at any time. We are also creating an employee hardship fund.

In the meantime, we cheer on our facilities team, maintenance workers and LUPD, who are tirelessly working to restore and secure the campus.

With the return of power on our Broadway Campus and the remarkable job our Facilities team has done with all the necessary inspections and repairs in the past 24 hours, we are pleased to announce the opening of the following facilities (providing air conditioned space with internet access, power outlets and restrooms) from 10am until 4pm daily starting tomorrow, September 3, to our students, faculty and staff still in the area:

All LOYNO faculty/staff may access the Law School Library with their ID card via the rear entrance to the Law School building (accessed via the Lowerline parking lot) next to the law library.  (Please note that no
food is allowed in the library.) 

All LOYNO students, faculty, and staff may access the Broadway Activity Center (BAC) located at the corner of Pine and Dominican Streets using  their ID cards. 

See your email for a map to the entrances.

Feel free to park in any of the parking lots, even if you do not have a current permit.

We hope to maintain this schedule as needed until power becomes more broadly available. We will notify you when we plan to discontinue this service. 

Please be advised that all COVID-19 protocols remain in effect. Masks are required at all times indoors. 

Spring Hill College has graciously offered to provide housing in one of their residence halls to Loyola faculty and staff who are in need.  Toolen Hall has double-occupancy rooms with community style restrooms with space for 94.  Photos are available here.  Housing placement is on a first-come, first-served basis.  To sign up, please complete this form.  Check-in will be on Friday, September 3 at noon to 3 p.m.; Saturday, September 4 at noon to 3 p.m.; and Sunday, September 5 at noon to 3 p.m.   Once you have completed the sign up form, please register for a date and time to check-in.  There is no cost associated with these accommodations.  See a suggested list of items to bring with you, if possible.  For more information, please visit our FAQ page or send an email to ida@loyno.edu.

Transportation will not be provided to Spring Hill. Please ensure that you are able to travel safely from your current location to Spring Hill. GasBuddy has up-to-date information regarding locations of open gas stations.  Parking is located behind Toolen with larger lots near the hall (see the Campus Map).  Chris Rice, director of Residential Life, will be on-site to assist with check-in. He can be reached via email at crice@loyno.edu or via phone at 504-330-3037.  Spring Hill is conveniently located near several shopping centers where you may secure food and other household essentials. Pets will be accommodated on site.

Already, our students on the Spring Hill campus are settling in quite nicely. We are grateful to our Spring Hill colleagues to be able to offer this opportunity at this challenging time.

Last night, our Broadway Campus got power! (And I did the epic “we’ve got electricity dance” that I invented after Katrina.) This is one step on a long road, but it is the hope we very much needed. If you are tempted to come back, please be patient. We need time to fix any minor damage we’ve found and ensure that we have proper security and staffing before we can reopen any buildings.

Students, some of you may now be anxious to get going as quickly as possible. But remember that others reading this (including students, staff and faculty) will be very worried that we will start before they have a home to live in and electricity. And so we clean and prepare the campus, wait for more progress, and think about ways that members of our extraordinary community will help each other. We will be polling all of you to determine Ida’s full impact, but I know that some of you have lost everything you own and will need help getting clothes and books. (And also know that we are actively fundraising from our out-of-town alumni for the Student Hardship Fund.

Right now, we stick to our plan of classes beginning September 13th, and hopefully on-campus instruction (with a great deal of flexibility) on September 20th. And we will open campus housing as soon as we safely can. But again, don’t buy plane tickets yet – we promise to give you at least seven days’ notice to make those more affordable. I am gaining more confidence in our progress, but we will know more every day.

A few more updates. We had technical difficulties with our internet access and servers, but we now have the website back up and running so you can access our systems.

For students who live in the residence halls on the Broadway campus, we will be in touch with you directly about how quickly we can take you back, but anyone safely away from town should stay there. The city itself has serious constraints on resources, including gas shortages. But we will work hard to take in some residential students who stayed nearby and need power.

For all of you who are sweating it out nearby, we will work to quickly get you access to air conditioning and power at Broadway, and meantime there are also increasing numbers of emergency services around the city. NOLA.com is maintaining a list of what’s open, including locations of cooling centers and places to get free meals and water.

We also pray for those hit by this terrible storm long after it left Louisiana, particularly New York and New Jersey last night.

Dear Loyola Students,

Power has begun to return to New Orleans, and we are hearing far more optimistic estimates from the utility about when it will return to our campus and the neighborhoods many of you live in.  

As soon as there is power (at which point you will receive a jubilant email from me) we will be able to start returning to campus, but we will not require you to be back right away. Power will come on at different moments in different neighborhoods – a function of individual snapped poles and enormous damage to the grid. To function, we need power for the vast majority of our off-campus students, and faculty and staff, too. The hopeful news is that the utility is now describing that in terms of many days, not endless weeks.

• As power returns, you can begin coming back to off-campus apartments. We will let campus residents as soon as we have the necessary staff to welcome you back to the residence halls.
   
• The week of Monday, September 13th, we will teach virtually to give you more flexibility. If you are enrolled in online 8-week courses, your classes will begin September 7th and a separate message has been sent to you.         
   
• And, while we are not in any situation to provide guarantees, our plan now is to allow return to classroom teaching (with flexibility for all who need it) on September 20th.  

But please – don’t lock in plans yet. I want to keep giving you all of the information I have, but it’s still beyond my power to give you any certainty. Every day we will have more information and will keep communicating constantly.  

For students reading this whose lives have been totally upended, who lost their homes and laptops, books and clothes, know that we will come together as a community to be there for you. I have already heard from Loyola students (and parents and alums) eager to be of help. We will be reaching out to you to help you navigate the days ahead, and we will be incredibly flexible to get you through this semester. You have our empathy, prayers and support.

Dear Faculty,

We are getting more encouraging news from Entergy. Some power transmission has begun to the city and now the work of repairing actual lines begins. It’s still impossible to know the exact timeframe, but my hope is that it is more like a week or two rather than months.

We also know that reopening requires more than just power on campus, and we will wait until most of our area is functioning. But once power does return to campus, we should be able to quickly open it up to you.

Our plan may therefore actually work (knocking on wood). Hopefully campus and much of the city will have power before the September 13th end of our two-week class cancellation, and we will have started coming home as we are able to. On September 13th, we will still begin teaching virtually, to give ourselves more of a cushion and the chance for students and all of you to get back without losing more weeks of the semester. I want to send a special thank you to the faculty who will resume instruction for 8-week online courses next week. We are so grateful that you are able to help our online students avoid a challenging complication in the progress towards their degrees.

As always, we will remain flexible – with those of you who need it and with our students who cannot get back right away. Even when we begin teaching in person, hopefully on September 20th, we can help the worst-hit students with flexibility and hyflex options.

I am beyond relieved at the initial results of our faculty survey. Thus far, the vast majority who have answered report being physically safe and comparatively lucky, though utterly exhausted. Some of us are crowded into hotel rooms or imposing on the generosity of friends and family. Some of you are sweating it out at home, waiting in line for hours for food or gas.

We are polling the staff now, but we know that far more of them live in the worst-affected areas, where they have lost their homes and everything they own or have the crushing anxiety of not knowing yet.

When power returns, I am hoping that those of us who have room might take in a colleague. I hope that we think creatively about how best to help them, from donations to assistance filling out those infuriating FEMA forms. For all of us who lived through Katrina, we remember exactly how bad it will be. This is our moment to return the generosity that so many of us received then.

We also are thinking through the logistics of how best to check on our students, whose experiences will range from massive disruption to serious trauma.

For faculty who are able next week, it would help to engage with students, particularly first years who had little time to bond with us and each other. Here is advice from Erin Dupuis:

Faculty, if you are able, please reach out to students in ways that are reassuring and optimistic about our ability to come back together as a community and to complete their classes. Canvas is an efficient tool to reach all students, especially if you send an email to the class and also post your message as an announcement. The SSO is working, but anybody having problems accessing Canvas can reach out to edupuis@loyno.edu or jdugan@loyno.edu. Some faculty have set up discussion boards specifically for students to discuss their current situations or to reach out to each other. After a disaster, having a sense of community and belonging is critically important to well-being. Having a space and keeping in touch may provide students with a much-needed sense of normalcy. Please also remind students of our coaching resources: emergencycoachingnetwork.org. They offer support for stress, health, school, finances, online learning, food, and shelter, something our students may need at this time of upheaval.

My hope is that the end is in sight for most of us, and then we can focus on helping those for whom this will be a long and terrible journey.

I can’t thank you enough,

Dear Loyola Staff,

We are getting more encouraging news from Entergy.  Some power transmission has begun to the city and now the work of repairing actual lines begins. It’s still impossible to know the exact timeframe, but my hope is that it is more like a week or two rather than months.  

But that’s campus and the city itself, and I know that many of you live in areas where it will be far longer. Some of you have lost your homes and everything you own (or have the crushing anxiety of not knowing yet). My cousins in LaPlace have given me a sense of how absolute the devastation is in their neighborhood and in communities like Lafitte and Houma. Ida wasn’t a Katrina event for the city itself, but it was for many of you. And we remember how brutal that is, and will be, for so long.

Once the power comes on in the city, I will be asking those of us whose houses are functional if they might have room to take in a colleague and their family. Our community, all of us, will be doing everything we can think of to help, from immediate physical needs to help with the infuriating FEMA and insurance forms.  

And as critical as all of you are to the functioning of Loyola, know that those of us who are able to will carry the load of those who need vastly more time.

I also know that every single one of us is exhausted right now, crowded into hotel rooms or imposing on the generosity of friends and family. Some of you are sweating it out at home, waiting in line for hours for food or gas.

I wish it were possible for us to simply shut down indefinitely so we could all have a more blanket break, but my worry is that would cause lasting damage to the University and our collective security. And so we are asking those who can work to help us get through, and those who cannot please just tell us you need more time.

And again, we are all grateful for those of you on the front lines who haven’t stopped working, caring for the immediate critical needs of the campus and our students.

Thus far, we have been flying blind, without being able to know the full impact the storm had on each of you. We are asking you to take a moment to fill out this survey to help us assess your needs and how we move forward together. I know that some of you won’t even receive this email because you have no communications – so if a supervisor has been in touch with an employee who does not have internet access to fill out the form, please do so for them, and don’t worry about potential duplication.  

I also want to tell you that I have received an emotionally overwhelming number of emails from parents, thanking all of us profusely and sending prayers and offers to help. They asked that I tell all of you how grateful they are, and how much they love and trust Loyola.

I, too, can't thank you enough.

As you know, Southern Louisiana experienced a major hurricane which resulted in infrastructure damage. While our campus suffered minimal structural damage, electricity remains out for all of New Orleans. Many of our faculty and staff have had to evacuate and may or may not have power. Based upon the most recent updates from the city, they will begin restoring power soon, but it may take some time to restore the entire city.

We know that while many of you do not live in the affected areas, we have many students, faculty and staff who were affected. As such, we cancelled all online classes this week to better allow our community to evacuate, take care of personal priorities, and address immediate challenges. If you could, please let us know your current situation on this survey.

In an earlier email, we had indicated that all online and on the ground classes were canceled until 9/13. However, we have since heard from many faculty who have indicated that they are prepared to teach online 8-week courses beginning September 7, and that they much prefer to make up the time lost within the original time-frame.   To ensure the most successful completion of this academic term, online asynchronous 8-week courses will restart on Tuesday, September 7th. Your instructors will be in touch regarding assignments and extended deadlines. Please note, some faculty may not currently have access to the internet so we ask for your patience until you hear from your instructor. If you are unable to access courses or your instructor does not have access, we will be as flexible as possible in ensuring that you complete your coursework as intended.

Please stay in touch with your professors  – let them know your circumstances and your plans. Some may have “coffee shops” or discussion boards where you can discuss the current situation. You can also reach out to the Student Success Center with any questions or concerns. Dr. Corina Todoran, Director of Online Student Success, can be reached at 985-605-0038 for text messages or ctodoran@loyno.edu.

If you have trouble accessing Canvas via the SSO, additional login instructions can be found here.

To ensure no adverse impacts to students, we have delayed administrative withdrawals from courses; however, please be assured that financial aid will be distributed as soon as possible. Please be on the lookout for further updates about financial aid. If you have additional questions, please contact onlineFA@loyno.edu.

We remain committed to our online students during this difficult period of time. If you are a student looking for support, reach out to our on-demand coach partners here: emergencycoachingnetwork.org. They offer support for stress, health, school, finances, online learning, food, and shelter.

If you need to come to campus to retrieve some of your belongings, please use this form to sign up for a timeslot on Thursday or Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you are unable to come for one of those times, please email police@loyno.edu to make other arrangements. We are asking students who evacuated to remain where they are today and Wednesday while we help those who stayed leave the city.

We are cancelling class this week and next, and we will make up those classes in person during the fall semester (including using the fall break and pushing back exams a few days). We will maximize the time we spend together in the classroom.  

On September 13th, we will begin teaching virtually, hopefully just for a week. If campus has power by then, it will give us time to get back and get situated. If not, we won’t lose any more time.

We should begin to get some clarity from Entergy today, and a prediction for the restoration of power both for campus and the surrounding neighborhoods where many of you live. We can then pick a date in advance so you can make plans and get plane tickets to come back. (But we will continue to be flexible and helpful to those whose power may lag behind. I know that some of you commute from homes in harder-hit areas.)

Yesterday I spent time with students in the residence halls and was blown away by their good spirits and how kind they were to each other. Your families – both at home and here at Loyola –wish that you didn’t have to be this strong.  We wish that life wasn’t quite so hard. But your joy and your resilience inspire us.

We are working diligently to help students on campus and others make individual arrangements to travel to a place where you will be both safe and comfortable while the city gets back up and running. For some of you, that will mean personally travelling home to be with your families. Others of you have indicated that you would like to evacuate with Loyola.

As of this evening, we have a few new options to share:

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we will be running shuttles and making stops in Gulfport and Mobile where you may catch a flight from the airport or be picked up by friends and family.  Those of you who need temporary housing  may also register to stay at Spring Hill College, a fellow AJCU school in Mobile, while continuing to study virtually at Loyola. If you simply need to spend a night or three at Spring Hill College, that is possible too. Parents may also make arrangements to pick up their students in Mobile or you can make flight plans when everything’s calmer.

We will be running three buses on each day, for a total of nine buses leaving Loyola. You must arrive at the first floor of West Road Garage at 9 a.m., central, to check-in for your bus.  If taking one of these buses, please schedule your flight AFTER 3 p.m. on the date you plan to travel from Gulfport, and AFTER 4 p.m. from Mobile, to leave time for check-in and departure.

Professional staff will travel with you to ensure your comfort and safety. Everyone will be required to show a Loyola ID and wear masks on the bus. We will plan to have prepared meals on bus travel days - with grab-and-go breakfast and lunch, and dinner served nightly at Spring Hill on travel days. If a student chooses to fly out the day after bus arrival, then Uber or Lyft is available for transportation to the airport (and if there is high demand, we may make arrangements for shuttles from Spring Hill).

Our plan is to close the residence halls by Friday evening.  If you stayed in the residence halls for the hurricane, we will be conducting floor meetings and will check in with each of you to determine your plans. Everyone will need to reconfirm or make adjustments to their evacuation plans at this time.   If you have not shared your plans by the end of this evening, please report to the Biever Hall desk at noon on Tuesday to provide your information.

In the meantime, we will also be taking names on a waitlist for commuter students and students who live off campus, in the event that we have additional openings on these buses.

Commuter students, if you would like to join the waitlist for evacuation with us to Mobile, please email ida@loyno.edu. Thank you.

I am relieved to tell you that our remaining on-campus students are all safe, and as far we know, so is every other member of our community. As it has for a century, our campus held up well, with only minor damage. 
 
Our hearts break for those more squarely in the path of this terrible storm, including many members of our Loyola community. Please pray for them, and better yet, donate to causes on the ground if you are able. Catholic Charities in Houma, for example, will be giving immediate support to the hardest hit. I know that when we come back together, Loyola students will rally to find creative ways to help our neighbors, as they always do.
 
We have cancelled classes this week so that our community can assess damage and recover. Right now, I see neighbors outside busily clearing the debris from trees from the streets, taping up broken windows and checking on each other. The city took a wallop, primarily from wind damage, and there is significant damage to the power grid.
 
This was a historic storm – one we will all tell our grandkids about. But for New Orleans, this was not a Katrina. (And I say that as a veteran of Katrina.) It may take several weeks to make repairs to ok infrastructure and get up and running again. But once we get through this grueling period, the city will be fine.
 
We have been making all sorts of plans in the alternative while we wait for word from the utility companies about how long it will take to restore power and internet to the city. They are quickly making those assessments now and we should know more tomorrow. In the meantime, we continue to shelter in place. Please, no visitors or returning to campus.  
 
If the interruption is short, less than two weeks, we can go on pause, get creative with the academic calendar and make up the time. If it stretches a bit longer, we have two choices – either to push the fall semester into the normal “January term,” or hopefully, to transition to virtual learning for a week or two. The tricky part is to get everyone to a place where they have internet in order to teach or learn. We will be in constant touch.  

Students who stayed with us on campus – residence life will be speaking to each of you individually to handle the logistics of getting you off campus to somewhere more comfortable (though no one is supposed to travel right now as emergency crews operate). We are renting buses, to go tomorrow and Wednesday, that will stop at the airports in Biloxi/Gulfport and Mobile, giving you maximum flexibility on flights. Don’t make flight arrangements yet, but you can start looking at availability. Spring Hill College, bless them, will be able to house at least a hundred students who cannot make it home, particularly our international students. Please let residence life know your plans so we can solve the logistics.  
 
For those of you who evacuated, it is a good idea to remain where there is power. I am hoping many of you are safely away, with an unexpected break. (Perhaps reading ahead in your assignments?) If you are able, this is a good time to invite a Loyola friend to come stay – someone whose family doesn’t have utilities right now. We are hurriedly exploring possibilities for housing for those who truly have no other options, but it won’t be within our power to solve that problem for all of the 5,000 people in our community.
 
The two things I hate most in the world are uncertainty and being away from New Orleans. But this will be brief, and we will get through it.
 
I want to thank all of you for your resilience and your courage this week. The hard part of going to college or graduate school used to center on anxiety over exams, not global pandemics, hurricanes, looming fires or apocalyptic times. I worry about all of you, but I am also so proud of how strong you have become.
 
Let’s take a moment to pray, remembering that God does not send the storms, nor spare us because we are any better than those less fortunate. God creates each of us with the capacity to rise to the occasion. We pray for the courage to bravely face whatever may come. We pray for the grace to help those in need. We pray for patience. And I personally also pray for a good night’s sleep in air conditioning very soon.
 
Loyola, let’s remind the world who we are.

We made it safely through the night but there is extensive damage in the city. We are relieved that the campus remains safe with no major damage, and our students are well taken care of. We are assessing conditions on campus and in the city and will share information with you as it becomes available.

At this time we have canceled all classes, including law and online, and are suspending work for non-essential personnel for the rest of the week. As soon as we have a better understanding of how soon we can get back up and running, we will let you know.

www.loyno.edu is down at the moment but we are providing updates on this website.

We are monitoring a tropical disturbance that is predicted to impact the New Orleans area this weekend. The main threat will be from heavy rain.

Now is a good time to gather supplies and review your hurricane plans. For a refresher on what to do before, during and after a weather emergency, read the information on this website.

Please stay weather aware over the coming days. We will advise if we anticipate any changes to university operations as a result of this system.

We are writing to share information regarding campus operations for Saturday, October 31 in the event that power remains out through tomorrow. Entergy reported that they are working diligently to restore power to campus and hope to have electricity to us by the end this evening. This is not a guarantee, but we remain optimistic!

Warmly,

Amy Boyle

• Dining
  • Saturday, October 31
    • The OR will open for brunch at 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner service at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Law Library on the Broadway Campus
  • Saturday, October 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Student Health Services
  • Resources for students
  • Ochsner on-call: 1-800-231-5257
  • Ochsner anywhere care app
  • COVID Ochsner line: 844.888.2772
• University Counseling Center
  • Counselor on-call can be reached 24/7 at 504.865.3854
• University Sports Complex
  • Saturday, October 31 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Emergency Contact 24/7
  • LUPD at 504.865.3434
• Campus Shuttle
  • Tonight until 11p.m.
  • Saturday, October 31 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Call 504-865-3100

Please note the following locations for service tomorrow, Friday, October 30. Operations for Saturday are TBD. 

Dining Services

• Continental breakfast service in the Orleans Room will begin at 7am
• Lunch will be served on the res quad (BBQ style) beginning at 11am
• Dinner will be served in the Orleans Room from 4pm-6pm

University Sports Complex

• Open 8am to 8pm

Monroe Library: Updated at 2 p.m. on Oct. 30

• Lighting conditions without power are not safe for the library to be open

As we learn more about restoration of power we will be in touch as soon as possible.

Once again we have a tropical system potentially heading our way. At this time, Hurricane Zeta is predicted to make landfall south of New Orleans Wednesday evening. We can expect to see rain beginning on Wednesday morning and strong winds beginning that afternoon. The worst of the storm will pass through our area Wednesday night. We will continue monitoring the forecast this evening into tomorrow morning and will make a determination about Wednesday’s operations tomorrow. Campus will operate normally for the rest of the day today and Tuesday.

We should all spend time preparing over the next few days and keep a close watch for email, social media and text messages communicating our plans.  Find resources on this website and on NOLA Ready.  

Delta’s track has shifted even further west and we are now expecting minimal impacts to the New Orleans area. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see that Lake Charles could be affected again. We pray to Our Lady of Prompt Succor that the storm diminishes as it gets closer to land and that all in Delta’s path weather it safely.

We are continuing with our plan to hold classes virtually on Friday, but all other campus services will function normally with their standard hours of operation. 

Please continue to be vigilant and keep your mobile devices charged and with you at all times in case of emergency alerts. However, unless the situation changes, this will be the last update about Hurricane Delta.
 

Tropical Depression 19 has strengthened and is now Tropical Storm Sally. The storm is expected to continue to intensify and may become a low-level hurricane before it makes landfall on Tuesday. There remains a great deal of uncertainty about the track the storm will take, but the New Orleans area is now under a hurricane watch, which means it is possible that we could be impacted by heavy rain and strong winds.  

It is always a good idea to be prepared when tropical weather threatens our area. Review our hurricane preparedness guide and NOLA Ready for helpful information and updates.

As we gain more certainty about the track, Loyola’s emergency management team will make a decision about whether we need to make any adjustments to our operations for early next week. We will provide an update in the late afternoon or evening Sunday./p>

As Hurricane Marco moves through and Hurricane Laura approaches, we are writing with an update on operations for Tuesday, August 25, for you to continue to stay safe and engaged.  Operations will continue to be evaluated for Thursday and a separate communication will be sent to address those days.  Please continue to monitor the university website and local weather outlets. 

Dining:  Hours of operation are updated regularly

• Monday, August 24, Orleans Room: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 25
  • Mobile ordering resumes
  • Orleans Room: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. continuous dining.
  • The Market: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. with sushi and other grab and go options
  • Starbucks: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Subway: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • OBC, Smoothie King: Closed
  • Be on the lookout for a surprise "Popsicle Pop-Up!"
• Wednesday, August 26: Normal operations

Accessible Education

• Tuesday, August 25, open for virtual walk-in appointments from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to provide instruction on the OAE registration process, sending accommodation letters, or service related questions.
  • Access the virtual waiting room when you are ready to meet with a staff member by clicking on one of the links below to join a Zoom meeting: https://loyno.zoom.us/j/9269497704 with Meeting ID: 926 949 7704  or Https://loyno.zoom.us/my/dariobayardo
  • Great movies to watch to increase awareness about access issues while sheltering in place are "Life, Animated" and "Gleason," available on Amazon Prime.

Bookstore

• Tuesday, August 25, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Library

• Tuesday, August 25, open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Student Success Center

• Tuesday, August 25 at 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The space will be open with a limited number of staff and in person visitors. Meetings with SSC staff will continue to take place through virtual channels. Visit success.loyno.edu or text 504-384-8071 for more information.

Shuttle

• Tuesday, August 25 from 3 p.m. -11pm on an on demand basis. Call 504-865-3100 or 504-865-3434

Student Life & Ministry

• Tuesday, August 25
  • Havoc's Helpdesk, located in the basement of the Danna Center, directly below the Bookstore, open 10:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
  • If you are a first-year student, be on the lookout for a message from your Krewe Leader about an outdoor meet-up and check-in
  • UPB will host a Vision Board Party from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Audubon Room. Link to event in HowlConnect: https://loyno.campuslabs.com/engage/event/6201233

Student Health Services

• Tuesday, August 25, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
• COVID-planning
  • If you are informed of a COVID + test or need to quarantine due to confirmed exposure, please start self-isolation and email covid@loyno.edu or call 504-865-3857; please call LUPD at 504-865-3434 for assistance to move to an isolation room
• Resources for students
• Ochsner on-call: 1-800-231-5257 
• Ochsner anywhere care app
• COVID Ochsner line: 844-888-2772 

University Counseling Center

• Tuesday, August 25, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
• Counselor on-call can be reached at 504-865-3854

University Sports Complex

• Tuesday, August 25, open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Emergency Contact 24/7

• LUPD at 504-865-3434

Loyola New Orleans is closely monitoring Cristobal, which is currently predicted to produce significant rainfall in the New Orleans area on Sunday and Monday. See the hurricane preparedness resources below to get ready for this and any future tropical weather systems.

We are continuing online operations through the summer to prepare for reopening safely for the fall semester. Visit our Coronavirus FAQ website for more information.

Loyola New Orleans continues online operations through the summer to prepare for reopening safely for the fall semester. Visit our Coronavirus FAQ website for more information.

The university is currently operating under a normal business schedule, however, we are closely monitoring developments related to the new coronavirus (COVID-19). Learn more