Loyola Marymount University Policy for Recognition of Unaffiliated Religious Representatives or Ministers
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Catholic university with a Jesuit and Marymount affiliation. As a Catholic university, we celebrate our religious heritage and identity through many diverse educational programs and opportunities for spiritual/religious expression and development. The living tradition of our founding religious communities calls us to educate the whole person and to develop leaders to fashion a more humane and just world. LMU affirms the foundation of faith to the pursuit of truth and encourages the personal and communal enrichment that is derived from the presence of many faith traditions within our university community.
In order to ensure a culture of respectful dialogue between religious groups and individuals on campus, and in order to provide our students, faculty and staff with diverse religious and spiritual activities in concert with our mission, LMU supports and funds an active Department of Campus Ministry. In situations where it seems advisable to accommodate off-campus support for our faith life, the university has developed procedures respecting the admittance, recognition and functioning of representatives of religious groups or organizations on the LMU campus. All representatives of unaffiliated religious organizations who seek access to university resources, campus facilities, students or other personnel must obtain recognition as an affiliated minister at LMU and, if recognition is granted, must agree to comply with the terms in the Recognition Agreement.
The Vice President for Mission and Ministry or at his or her direction the Director of Campus Ministry ("Director") shall in appropriate circumstances, in response to application and subject to agreement to and compliance with the Recognition Agreement, designate off campus religious representatives as affiliated ministers and thereby authorize them to function on campus. The Director will chair a committee with representation from Campus Ministry and Student Affairs who will oversee the application for recognition process and implementation of this policy. Representatives of affiliated religious organizations will be subject to an annual review of their compliance with the terms set forth in their Recognition Agreement and their continuing support of the University's Mission. The University reserves the right to immediately review and/or suspend the status of any affiliated minister who fails to comply with the terms set forth in his/her Recognition Agreement.
In our "Procedures for the Recognition of Affiliated Religious Representatives or Ministers" we state that:
To be recognized as an affiliated minister or religious representative at LMU, applicants must represent an Ecclesiastical body or Para-church organization and must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the University:
- The presence of an identifiable group at LMU who would be appropriately served by the proposed ministry.
- Their ability to enrich the LMU community in ways that do not duplicate the work of LMU Campus Ministry or other religious representatives already functioning on campus;
For further information about the procedures for recognition, please contact the Director of Campus Ministry, Marissa Papula (marissa.papula@lmu.edu).