 "Photo: The Phoenix/Chandler West")
Even though he came from an all-guys high school, William Adams said he would have chosen Loyola regardless of the overwhelming female population.
“Coming here from an all-boys high school, anything would have been an upgrade for me,” Adams said.
Loyola is known for its high female-to-male ratio, which has remained steady around 65-to-35. In the State of the University address in September, the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., pointed out that the disparity is shrinking. The ratio of freshman enrollment has changed to 65-to-35 from last year’s 67-to-33,.
“More women go to college than men,” wrote Garanzini in an e-mail. “One discipline that attracts more men than women is engineering, [and] obviously we don’t have one of those, but we have nursing, social work, etc. [which] are dominated by women.”
“I think it’ll be interesting when they move the nursing school to Maywood,” Adams continued. “Obviously most of the nursing majors are females so the population will be a lot different on the main campuses when that happens.”
Loyola will has plans to construct a new building for the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing near the Stritch School of Medicine .
Sarah Young, a senior nursing major said that she sees the disparity. “Just walking around campus, I see more girls.”
Young only has seven men in her nursing program graduating class, she said.
“I chose Loyola for the program, not for the ratio. I guess the ratio is what makes Loyola unique,” Young said with a laugh. “There are no guys for anyone!”
Michael Javurek, a junior anthropology and psychology major thinks that it’s common knowledge that there are more girls than guys on campus. “It is slightly obvious,” Javurek said, “However I would not consider it blatantly obvious.”
Javurek didn’t know the ratio before choosing to attend Loyola, but said that it wouldn’t have deterred him.
“Chicago is a vast city with millions of people, male and female and many closely tied universities,” he said. “Friendships and intimate relationships should not be constricted to that of the university setting and one should expand out and experience the wonders of this city.”
Kaila McGarvey, a sophomore visual communication major noticed the girl-to-guy ratio but thought it was just because of the classes she was taking.
“At first I thought it was because I was in a lot of [women’s studies and gender studies] courses,” said McGarvey, “but then I realized it was that way in every course I took.”
McGarvey doesn’t see the skewed ratio as a problem though. “I don’t know that it is necessary for the school to do anything about it,” said McGarvey. “I do not see why [the ratio] would be seen in an unfavorable light.”
“Something I think might factor into it is that Loyola is not especially known for its men’s sport teams,” she said. “Loyola could emphasize sports when trying to appeal to a male audience, and really try to market towards that demographic.”
Bonnie Farrow, a senior nursing major, said that she definitely notices the disparity.
“As I’m walking to class, I notice that there are just not that many guys, but when I was giving shots for the school of nursing, I vaccinated way more guys than girls.”
Farrow is currently dating a Loyola senior. “I met him freshman year in the dorms when he helped one of his friends move in on my floor,” she said.
Farrow does not have a problem with the ratio now, but when she went on a tour it was something that “bothered me a little bit.”
“I don’t see why they should do something about it, it would be preferable to have an even ratio, but it’s not a big problem,” said Farrow. “Maybe a football team or something would help.”
Eric Smith, a junior history and political science major, knows there is a lack of males on campus, but he doesn’t think it is a problem.
“The ratio doesn’t negatively impact Loyola as far as I know, but if the university wanted to even it out, athletic programs would have to be built up and expanded,” Smith said. “That’s the quickest way to get more guys attending Loyola.”
A football team is something Garanzini has thought about adding, according to an e-mail.
“I would add football,” he wrote, “but only on the condition that I could have a stadium, two new practice fields and several million dollars in scholarships and coaches’ salaries.”
The overwhelming presence of women on campus may be shrinking, but to these Loyola students, it’s more about the academics than it is about the number of girls or guys that attend.
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