Loyola University Athletics Collection

Internal Transfer from the department of Athletics as well as personal donations from the following: Bill Gardiner, Victor Hughes, Glenn Nackoney, Charlie Meaux, Sewall Oertling During the earliest years of Loyola University into the 1930's, football, basketball, baseball, and boxing were the primary sports. The first time a program ended due to financial issues was in the late 1939. At this time, Loyola’s football program was running an annual deficit of approximately $20,000. This prompted the university to discontinued the program, downsize other sports, and put money into educational expansion. Six years later, after the 1945 basketball team won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championship, Loyola entered another flourishing “golden age” of university athletics, with track and field resuming in 1949 after a long hiatus and the expansion of basketball, baseball, and tennis programs during this period. The construction of the Field House in 1954 at a cost of $700, 000 provided seating for over 6,000 and facilitated higher attendance for Loyola events as well as a large enough venue to host national events such as Sugarbowl championships and professional games. In 1964 the Wolfpack Athletics Hall Of Fame was founded to honor those from Loyola's past who made history or contributed greatly to their sport. Loyola’s athletics programs again fell on hard times in January 28, 1972, when all of the university intercollegiate athletic programs were discontinued. Athletics was running at a loss of over $200,000 a year for over a decade. The cost of the intercollegiate programs was out of proportion to the number of students being served by them. Loyola continued with intramural sports during this period of its athletic history, but the Hall of Fame was discontinued and the Field House was demolished to make way for a residential quad. Nineteen years later, on May 17, 1991, intercollegiate athletics again returned to Loyola. The new program was approved by a student vote to be completely supported by student fees. The 1991 decision first allowed baseball to expand and opened the door for other sports to follow. The Hall of Fame also returned after the re-instatement of intercollegiate athletics at the University. Later, in January of 1993, the student fee was raised to $20 in order for women's soccer to go intercollegiate. This was the first opportunity women's teams had to play intercollegiate athletics at Loyola. As of 2014, the Loyola Wolf Pack intercollegiate athletic program competes in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), Division I, as a member of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). The university fields teams in men's and women's basketball, men's and women' cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track, men’s baseball, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball.

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