Begin your Loyola experience by making friends while backpacking in the Midwestern wilderness. You will spend your time hiking through lush forest, learning essential outdoor living skills, and cooking gourmet backcountry meals, all while living in a sustainable and responsible way. Led by upper class students and Loyola staff members, you will quickly make long lasting relationships and gain knowledge about Loyola that will greatly aid you as you begin your next adventure on campus. This trip is designed for the first time backpacker, yet still offers challenges for the seasoned wilderness explorer.

Begin your Loyola experience by making friends while going on a wilderness canoe trip of a lifetime. If you are an eager first time paddler ready for a challenge or a seasoned wilderness veteran hoping to hone your paddling skill, this trip is for you. Your time will be spent paddling through wilderness, learning essential outdoor living skills and cooking gourmet backcountry meals, all while living in a sustainable and responsible way. While the river is mostly slow moving and calm, expect short whitewater sections to challenge your new skills. Begin your time at Loyola with a CHALLENGE that will give you confidence to take on your next big adventure, college!

Being of service to others is essential to the Loyola experience. Working with those in need, we shape our learning and use our knowledge to care for others. What better place to serve than your new home, one of the most diverse communities in the country?! Explore the neighborhoods of Rogers Park, Edgewater, and Uptown and consider how you can contribute to the community through the Office for Community Service and Action Start the Fire experience. Join with other incoming students to serve, explore the diversity and social reality of the local community, reflect upon why you serve, and imagine how you will do so as a Loyola student. During the retreat, we will visit three community agencies. We’ll also take a tour of the neighborhood and sample some local restaurant fare, all while getting to know one another!

What’s trending? Connecting with new first-year commuter students, upper-class commuters, and Off-Campus Student Life staff members through the First-Year Commuter Students Retreat, a community building experience that begins with a four-day retreat and continues with programs throughout the academic year.

Explore Chicago through service, prayer, reflection and community building. This pre-welcome week immersion/retreat experience will introduce participants to different parts of Chicago through hands-on experiences with various urban ministries in the city (e.g., The Chicago Food Depository, Su Casa, The Port, San Miguel Schools, Chicago Youth Centers, St. Martin DePorres). The Urban Plunge provides an opportunity to get out into the city right away and make lasting friendships with some of your peers at Loyola while immersing yourself in the social realities and justice issues facing Chicago neighborhoods. Retreat participants are able to get to know people, to challenge stereotypes, to confront fears, to break down barriers that "protect" us from the unknown, the different. Come engage your faith - and the city of the Chicago to start your fire for justice!

The LEAD for Change program is designed for new students with a passion for working collaboratively with others to accomplish common goals focused on positive change. Through experiential activities, participation in a challenge course, discussions, intentional reflection, and networking opportunities, participants will deepen their learning about leadership while in community with peers. The program supports growth in the areas of self-awareness, teamwork, and leadership skills.  Staff and upper-class student mentors will provide information about campus and community leadership  opportunities, and will help students engage with the Loyola community. No previous leadership experience is necessary; we all have the potential to engage in the leadership process