FRONTLINES DID YOU KNOW?
Loyola’s School of Social Work, founded in 1914 by Frederic Siedenburg, S.J., as the University’s School of Sociology, was the first department of its kind in a Catholic univer- sity in the United States.
Father Siedenburg was a passionate defender of immigrants’ rights, denounc- ing attempts by the United States Congress to exclude newcomers from Southern and Eastern Europe.
Loyola’s commitment to service is lived out every day through the School of Social Work, which celebrates its centennial this year. Pictured: A social work student works with residents of a Chicago nursing home.
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK A century of social
work in Chicago The School of Social Work’s foundation is deeply anchored to issues of social and economic justice for the oppressed and marginalized. Now in its 100th year, the School of Social Work is the oldest university social work program in Chicago. From its inception, founder Frederic Siedenburg, S.J., made it a priority to work directly with and for those who were being excluded from opportunities to fully engage as US citizens. Whether it was assuring access to advanced training in applied sociology or defending immigrants’ rights, Fr. Siedenburg did not turn his face from the social injustices of his day. That spirit prevails today in the School of Social Work in many ways.
With more than 600 master’s-level students, social
work is the second-largest graduate program at Loyola. A significant portion of the graduate education
is conducted in supervised field education/intern- ships in more than 400 field internship locations across the Chicagoland area. Students in the two- year program must complete 1,200 hours of intern- ship before degree completion. These placements embody the school’s commitment to being front and center in efforts to combat social injustices, work with marginalized populations, and produce a more socially just and equitable society. Our stu- dents and alumni work in diverse settings, including schools, prisons and jails, family and child welfare agencies, health and mental health care settings, substance and addiction treatment, international services, disaster planning and preparedness, and many governmental settings. The work begun by Fr. Siedenburg is being nurtured and advanced by a cadre of outstanding academic faculty, staff, and our community partners.
In 2014, Dean Darrell Wheeler, PhD, of the School of Social Work was named one of the 30 most influential social workers alive today by the Social Work Degree Guide, citing his work on identification and exploration of individual and communal resiliency in HIV prevention and intervention, with particular emphasis on African American and Black gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
LOYOLA PREPARES FOR ACCREDITATION • Loyola University Chicago is seeking comments from the pub- lic about the University in preparation for its periodic evaluation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, its regional accrediting agency. The University will host a visit February 23-24, 2015, by a team representing the Commission. Loyola has been accredited by the Commission since 1921. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet the Commission’s criteria for accreditation. The public is invited to share its thoughts about Loyola prior to the accreditation site visit by submitting comments directly to the Commission. Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Written, signed comments must be received by January 25, 2015. The Commission can- not guarantee that comments received after the due date will be considered.
Father Siedenburg was the only Catholic priest to accompany Chicago reformers to Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in February 1915, riding in a special Pullman train provided by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald.
Loyola’s first female students—Ella Rose Connell, Celia M. Gilmore, and Catherine Meade—who graduated from the School of Sociology in 1915, were well-known teachers in Chicago’s public schools.
Father Siedenburg was an early member of Chicago’s Motion Picture Commission in 1918, who believed that film “has come to stay” and “has a great educational future.”
The founder of Loyola’s School of Sociol- ogy crossed religious, racial, and class lines, working closely on labor issues with Progres- sive reformers such as Ellen Gates Starr, co- founder of Chicago’s Hull-House Settlement, and Agnes Nestor, president of the Chicago Women’s Trade Union League.
— ELLEN SKERRETT
A Chicago historian, Skerrett is the author of Born in Chicago: A History of Chicago’s Jesuit University (2008). In October she delivered a talk on Father Siedenburg as part of the 100th anniversary of Loyola’s School of Social Work.
SUBMIT COMMENTS Online
ncahlc.org/ HLC-Institutions/ third-party-
comment.html
By mail
Third-Party Comment on Loyola University Chicago The Higher Learning Commission 230 S. LaSalle St., Suite 7-500 Chicago, IL 60604-1411
8 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
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