Loyola's Commitments & Recognitions

Loyola tracks our greenhouse gas emissions as a part of the Climate Commitment, a program of Second Nature. In 2012, Loyola completed baseline Greenhouse Gas Inventories for 2008 and 2011 (Fiscal Year), and has updated inventories each year since in alignment with the University's Climate Action Plan. A full history of Loyola's emissions inventories can be found on SIMAP, and a summary of the most recent, externally verified inventory can be found here: FY22 LUC Carbon Footprint

The Loyola University Chicago Transportation Committee administers a Transportation Survey every three years to understand how students and employees are commuting to campus and identify barriers to sustainable transportation modes like public transportation, walking, and biking. 

The 2023 LUC Transportation Survey received responses from nearly 3,200 students, staff, and faculty from the Lake Shore, Water Tower, and Health Sciences Campuses. The pie charts below show the modes used by students and employees to commute to each campus in number of trips. 

For information and resources on sustainable transportation to Loyola's campuses, please visit the Campus Transportation Alternative Transportation page or the BikeToLoyola website. 

The following charts display the waste generation and diversion for the Lake Shore, Water Tower, and Health Sciences Campuses (top chart is all three campuses combined). These charts do not include reuse and donation programs, e-waste recycling and disposal, lab and medical waste disposal, an organic waste digester at HSC, or construction and demolition debris. For these three general streams (landfill, recycling, compost), Loyola's overall diversion rate is between 40% and 50%.

Aramark's Loyola Dining, which provides residential, retail, and catering services at the Lake Shore and Water Tower Campuses has set ambitious goals for increasing sustainable food procurement in categories including local, third-party certified (e.g. Organic, Fair Trade, MSC or Monterey Bay seafood certifications, etc.), plant-based, and supplier diversity. See below for the baseline spend in these categories and goals through FY2026.

For the most recent data on sustainable spend, please visit the 2023 AASHE STARS report credit OP-7: Food & Beverage Purchasing

For more information on sustainability in Loyola Dining, visit https://luc.campusdish.com/Sustainability 

 At Loyola, addressing climate change is driven by our Jesuit tradition of social justice. Please learn more about our plans to lessen our impact through raising awareness, education, thoughtful action, and reflection. We are committed to making Loyola University carbon neutral for directly controlled emissions by 2025 through Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment program.

Climate Action Plan

Climate Action at Loyola

One of the six Enduring Values in Loyola's Strategic Plan is Care for our World. Learn more about the university's committment to addressing the interconnected issues of social, health, economic, and environmental justice. 

The call to address climate change and sustainability is a moral imperative in the face of the environmental catastrophe that impacts everyone but also disproportionately affects the poorest inhabitants of the world. This imperative drives Loyola University Chicago’s strategic direction. Work has intensified in recent years in the era of Laudato Si’, the 2015 encyclical letter from Pope Francis on the care of the earth, our common home. In November 2021, Loyola signed a commitment to the Vatican’s Seven-Year Journey to Integral Ecology. The Journey is an exciting global collaboration that puts the principles of Laudato Si’ into action and calls us to answer the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth with bold, coordinated, and measurable action. Learn more about our commitment message and the Laudato Si.

Loyola University Chicago confirmed our commitment to a sustainable campus and student experience by signing the following widely-accepted sustainability "compacts." These agreements outline our pledge to expanding our sustainability program, engage the campus community, green our operations and monitor our performance. We affirmed our leadership at the international, national, state and faith-based fronts by signing all four commitments.

On the 150^th anniversary of the University, Loyola officially adopted a Land Acknowledgement Statement to “deepen awareness of our connection to history and our current understanding of our place, roles, and responsibilities given that history.”

Loyola University Chicago’s Sustainable Investment Policy was approved by the Board of Trustees and Loyola senior leadership, furthering the University’s commitment to sustainability and addressing the ongoing global climate crisis. The strategy framework outlines plans to divest from companies that derive a majority of their revenue from fossil fuels and are not transitioning to clean energy sources. Additionally, the framework establishes a strategy of proactively seeking investments in companies working to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change and calls for integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into Loyola’s investment mandates. 

Travel & Business Expense Policy – All faculty and staff at Loyola University Chicago are highly encouraged to use Egencia to book University travel due to the enhanced benefits, customer support, and overall travel assistance provided. LUC covers the cost of coach or economy class tickets for all domestic flights.  Unless it is impossible to do so, advanced-purchase-discount tickets should be purchased. In each case, every effort must be made to obtain the lowest economy fare possible.

The potential benefits of the trip justify its time and expense after considering more cost effective alternatives (such as teleconferencing).

LUC participates in a national car rental agreement through the Educational and Institutional Cooperative (E&I).  The providers participating in this agreement are Enterprise and National Car Rental. A single corporate code can be accessed with a valid Loyola ID at the Purchasing Rental Cars page.

Additional details including sustainability resources on travel may be found here.

Purchasing Policy – Loyola University Chicago is committed and continually strengthens its sustainability efforts with our campus partners. Buyers and users should utilize suppliers and service providers that make use of, to practicable extent, materials and services that support the University’s sustainability mission. This should include efforts to conserve energy and water resources, support efficient delivery and supplier programs and reduce waste through reducing, reusing and recycling. The Purchasing Department leverages current supplier relationships to raise awareness of the need to reduce our environmental impact and maximize resource efficiency. Learn more about vendor sustainability programs here. 

There are also specific guidance around Small Business Utilization, Diverse and Minority Owned Businesses, and Restricted Items including Energy Drinks and Bottled Water. Please contact Department of Procurement for any specific requests.

Religious Diversity

Preferred Name Policy

Nondiscrimination Policy

Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action & Non-Discrimination

Recruitment & Employment - "If the open position is identified, by the Campus Human Resource Office, as underutilized in the University's Affirmative Action Plan, additional recruitment efforts designed to attract qualified minorities may be employed. Search firms will be monitored by the campus Human Resource office and search committees will attempt to include a professional Human Resource representative as a member and/or resource to the committee."

Smoke and Tobacco-Free Campus Policy - Loyola became a smoke-free, tobacco-free, and vape-free university August 1, 2021.

Bicycle Policy

Learn more about Campus Transportation policies here.

Purchasing Policy - Whenever possible, Loyola purchases only Energy Star certified equipment and makes every attempt to choose EPEAT silver or gold-certified desktops, laptops, printers and monitors. ITS encourages all Loyola students, staff and faculty to consider sustainable information technology equipment. See the ITS Departmental Technology Purchases page for more information.

Digital Media Services – As a critical connection for students with ITS, Digital Media Services has committed to a number of sustainability policies.

LEED Silver+ New Construction – All Loyola buildings will meet USGBC Leed Silver certification or better PLUS a priority on all energy-related credits. For a full list of certified buildings.

Indoor Air Quality – Loyola University Chicago is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff, with a work environment free of recognized hazards. Reports of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) are investigated by Facilities Management on a case-by-case basis. Departments within Facilities Management work together to address indoor air quality concerns across the campus. The university's building automation system monitors buildings' HVAC systems to ensure general comfort levels as well as adequate fresh air exchanges per City of Chicago ventilation code requirements.

Clean Energy – Loyola sources all electricity from non-fossil sources and retires Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to meet the goals of the University’s Climate Action Plan.