About
Loyola's Unique First Year Experience
Mission Statement
The mission of the Messina program is to provide support for all first-year Loyola students through an experience grounded in reflection, discernment, and the Jesuit value of cura personalis – care for the whole person. The Messina program focuses on fostering interdisciplinary learning, purposeful mentorship, and immersive experiences, both in and out of the classroom. The ultimate goal of Messina is to empower students to build a foundation for academic achievement and lifelong success, characterized by intellectual curiosity, personal growth, and a connection to the Loyola community and beyond.Messina is a year-long program for all first-year students at Loyola that fosters connections with faculty, administrators, peer leaders, and Loyola’s rich Jesuit tradition of innovation, academic excellence, and community engagement. Students are enrolled in a course pairing, one course in the fall and another in the spring, alongside a cohort of 16 peers. Each course includes a weekly enrichment hour, where students are joined by their faculty, a mentor, and an Evergreen peer leader who provide ongoing support throughout the year. These sessions focus on topics relevant to the college transition and help lay a strong foundation for personal, academic, and social growth, preparing students to thrive at Loyola and beyond.
Messina is named for the city in Sicily, Italy, where the Jesuits established their first college to welcome lay students. The college at Messina set the tone for how Jesuit education has endured and evolved throughout its nearly 500-year history—through a commitment to academic excellence attained across a range of disciplines, and to the development of the whole person.
Messina Features
- Two linked, first-year seminar courses—one in the fall and one in the spring—connected by one of four themes. One of the faculty members of these courses will serve as your core advisor, who will work with you until you are able to declare your major at the end of your first year and are assigned a major advisor
- Out-of-class experiences, events, performances, and excursions designed to extend classroom learning, build stronger communities around learning, and establish deeper relationships with faculty, administrators, and fellow students
- A chance to live in proximity to—but not necessarily in the same room or on the same floor with—other students in your Messina courses. Commuting students will also have access to the residence halls so they can spend more time with their Messina classmates
- Learn more about Messina themes and course pairings
More Information:
- Learn more about Messina's Learning Outcomes
- Explore the structure of the Messina experience on our Program Design page
- Living Learning Implementation Timeline
- Advisory Board and Implementation Committee Members
