Love in Action Symposium Inspires a Week of Dialogue, Justice, and Encounter

Throughout the week, the symposium featured a dual structure that animated both intellectual inquiry and lived experience. Guest speakers and panels in the Leemputte Family Theater of the McGrath Family Performing Arts Center addressed urgent social issues, while students in Ignatian Service Learning courses presented projects and led discussions in the Marillac Room. Nearly every period offered opportunities for engagement, from presentations on immigration, restorative justice, and community organizing to student-led gallery walks and interdisciplinary panels that highlighted research, advocacy, and creative expression.

"We want our students to adopt the women and men for others ideal as a lifestyle, and the Love in Action Symposium Week helps us do this," said Theology Teacher Dr. Grant Gholson. "Our outside speakers show what it looks like to live the mission as an adult. And the student panels and presentations allow Ramblers in our service learning class to display the field work and advocacy they're already doing. We want our students to recognize that, fundamentally, a Loyola Academy education is not about what it does for you, but what it allows you to do for others."

This year's program welcomed a diverse group of voices, including educators, nonprofit leaders, faith leaders, and alumni working on the front lines of justice. Highlights included reflections on dignity and education from Rev. David Mastrangelo, SJ, conversations on migration and accompaniment with Jesuit and community partners, and a virtual address from Sr. Helen Prejean on the moral imperative to abolish the death penalty. Additional sessions explored belonging and access, care for the elderly, support for veterans, and interfaith responses to hunger and homelessness, underscoring the breadth of issues that call for informed compassion and courageous response.

"Before this week, I understood service as something you do. Now I see it as something you live—something that requires listening, humility, and a willingness to walk with others," shared first-time attendee Beatrix "Trixie" Hammerle '29. "The symposium challenged me to think differently about justice. Hearing directly from people doing this work made it feel real and showed me that there are ways I can make an impact now."

Equally central to the symposium were the voices of Loyola students. Through class panels, Justice Seminar film projects, and artistic contributions, students demonstrated a deep commitment to becoming women and men for and with others. Their work reflected not only academic rigor but also a growing awareness of their responsibility to engage the world with empathy, critical thinking, and a commitment to justice.

"Presenting my final project, Corporal, (a new app he designed to connect people with nearby food pantries, shelters, and donation bins.) after months of dedicated work, was the purest form of transformational relationship I have experienced at Loyola besides the interior knowledge I have gained through ISL/Arrupe’s charity-based service," said Alexander Manet-Bleu Strnad '26. "Seeing my peers' projects and related service vocations further inspired me—most notably Sydney Norman's '26 immense short film surrounding the current state of infringed human dignity in migration. As this is my last Love in Action Symposium, I encourage everyone—especially younger students—to serve through an ISL class early and frequently, thus surpassing the service requirement and striving toward the magis in pure self-gift."

As the symposium concluded, the Loyola community was reminded that the work of justice does not end within a single week. Rather, it is an ongoing invitation to live out faith through action—an enduring commitment to walk with others, especially those on the margins, in pursuit of a more just and hopeful world. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

We extend our gratitude to the many speakers and partners who contributed to this year's symposium, whose insights invited students to examine issues ranging from migration and the dignity of the human person to community belonging, care for the vulnerable, and interfaith solidarity. View the 2026 Ignatian Service Learning & Engagement Symposium schedule for a full list of speakers and partners.