On behalf of the Board of Directors Loyola High School of Los Angeles, I share with you the news that Fr. Gregory M. Goethals, SJ will complete his final year as the President of Loyola High School at the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year. Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, Provincial of the Jesuits West Province of the Society of Jesus, in his care for his men, is always in dialogue with them about their duties and the lengths of their tenure in those duties.

Therefore, at Fr. Greg’s 20-year mark here at Loyola he has decided that now is a good time for a change for him. The Provincial has stated how he is proud of the work that Fr. Goethals has done at Loyola and will grant him a sabbatical during which time they both will discern where and what Fr. Greg’s new position will be in the Province after the sabbatical.

For many of us, it is hard to imagine Loyola without Fr. Goethals at the helm. He is currently the longest serving president in the entire Province. By June 2025, he will have been a member of the Loyola High School community for 55 years, arriving as a freshman in 1969. On behalf of the entire Loyola Board of Directors, I can only begin to express our deep gratitude to Fr. Goethals for his remarkable service to our school and our community. Loyola has had many legendary presidents over its long history, and he is certainly one of the greats!

Working with Fr. Goethals as a director and board chair, I have experienced firsthand his extraordinary leadership and his ability to bring our community together to accomplish so much during his time as president. He has fervently animated Loyola’s mission while simultaneously overseeing countless improvements to our campus, including many capital projects and adjacent land purchases to advance our Master Plan for an ever more comprehensive campus. As an example, the beautiful new Caruso Hall was conceived and built on his watch, all while growing our endowment to an all-time record level.

Looking forward, as a nationally recognized Jesuit high school, we believe Loyola is a very attractive and unique opportunity for presidential candidates, and we expect to select a new president from an impressive and highly qualified pool. To that end, the Board of Directors has retained a highly experienced and respected professional search firm, Educational Directions, to partner with us on this search. The firm, and, in fact, our specific consultants, has facilitated many successful searches for Catholic schools around the country, including, most recently, Jesuit schools in the West. We have formed a President’s Search Committee led by Board Directors Mollie Baumer and Will Smith, as committee co-chairs. Our Board is committed to a transparent and open process that seeks input from the entire Loyola community. We will share more information in the coming weeks as the formal search process begins.

For now, and throughout the next year, under Fr. Goethals’ leadership, there is much work that we must continue to do. Each day our outstanding faculty and staff will open Loyola’s doors and challenge its students with an exceptional academic curriculum, premier athletic programs, profound religious experiences, and challenging co-curricular activities, all in advancement of Loyola’s mission to develop young men who will put their beliefs and faith into practice throughout their lives as “Men for and With Others.”

Sincerely,
Robert Foster
Chair, Loyola High School Board of Directors

A Letter From the Board of Directors

With the recent announcement that Fr. Gregory M. Goethals, SJ ’73 will conclude his service at Loyola High School of Los Angeles at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the Board of Directors has begun the search process to identify his successor. Succession planning and selection of a new president is the most important responsibility of the Board of Directors. We understand the importance of identifying a remarkable individual who aligns with our mission and passion for our students who will continue the outstanding work at Loyola.

After careful consideration, the Executive Committee of the Board engaged Educational Directions of Portsmouth, Rhode Island (www.edu-directions.com) as our partner to assist us in this very important search. Founded in 1987, Educational Directions is a highly respected national education search consulting firm with a very strong record of successful head of school placements. Educational Directions’ search team will be led by Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche. Mathew and Risa bring deep experience both as educational leaders in Catholic education and search professionals, as well as expertise and enthusiasm to our search. Importantly, Mathew and Risa have successfully partnered with a number of Jesuit schools throughout the country in searches for new leadership, including Fordham Preparatory School (NY), Loyola Academy (IL), Seattle Preparatory School (WA) and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (IN).

The Board has established a search committee to oversee the search process. The committee will work closely with our search professionals, gather data and feedback from the Loyola community, interview candidates and offer recommendations to the Board of Directors who, along with the Provincial, will ultimately make the final decision for the appointment of Loyola’s next president. The Board has endeavored to create a search committee that includes broad and well-rounded representation from the larger Loyola community, including alumni, administration, faculty and parents. The members are:

One of the fundamental tenets of the search committee is that the search process will be open and inclusive. Risa and Mathew have already met with the search committee to begin the process. An important next step is for Risa and Mathew to visit Loyola, which is scheduled for May 16^th and 17^th. The purpose of their visit is to learn as much as possible about our community as well as identify opportunities for the new president and the leadership and individual qualities we seek in this individual. Mathew and Risa will spend time with members of various groups within the Loyola community to gain input about what we seek in our next leader. Among the key questions they will ask of all of us are:

–   What are the unique characteristics of Loyola (i.e., what differentiates it from
other schools);

–   What are the perceived challenges and opportunities for Loyola at this time; and

–   What experience/leadership styles/personality traits will best meet those needs
within Loyola’s culture.

From all the information gathered through this process, Risa and Mathew, in concert with the search committee, will develop a position profile which will be used as a marketing tool for this outstanding opportunity. Once completed, the position profile will be shared with the larger school community through a new “President Search” section on the Loyola website.

Our consultants will be reaching out locally and nationally to individual Catholic educational leaders, executive directors of educational and other organizations, a variety of Catholic educational leadership programs and regional school associations to notify them of our opening. Over the next few months, they will identify and evaluate top prospects. Our goal is to identify a group of top-level candidates from which we will select a subset whom the search committee will interview. From that group will come the finalists. There will be opportunities for school community members to meet each finalist. Because Loyola is a Jesuit institution within the Jesuits West Province, the Provincial must also approve the finalists. After the search committee has evaluated the candidates and reviewed the data (including rigorous reference checks) and completed its deliberations, it will present its recommendation to the Board for review and approval. Once this process is complete, the Board will announce Loyola’s new president.

We look forward to executing a thorough and professional search. We will launch a “President Search” section on the Loyola website where information pertaining to the search will be made available to the larger Loyola community. We will provide regular updates and keep all members of our school community informed as our search progresses.

Sincerely,

Mollie Baumer
Search Co-Chair

Will Smith
Search Co-Chair

June 14, 2024

Dear Members of the Loyola High School Community:

We are writing to update you on the progress of our search to identify Loyola’s next President.

Our search professionals from Educational Directions, Risa Oganesoff Heersche and Mathew Heersche, were on campus in May to experience and learn about the Loyola High School community, our culture, the key areas of focus for the next President, as well as the qualities sought in our next President. Risa and Mathew very much appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Loyola and noted the unflagging commitment to our mission, Jesuit values, and, most importantly, our students.

If you did not have the chance to meet with them or would like to share additional thoughts, please complete our online survey. The survey can be accessed at the following link: Loyola High School President Search Survey. The survey will remain open until Friday, July 5, 2024.

We will use the information gathered through this process and, in collaboration with Risa and Mathew, develop a position profile which will be used to market this unique opportunity. Once completed, the position profile will be posted on the President Search section on the Loyola website.

Candidate recruitment will be taking place over the next several months. Our search professionals will be reaching out both nationally and locally to individual Catholic educational leaders, executive directors of educational and other leadership organizations, a variety of Catholic educational leadership programs, and regional school associations to notify them of our opening.

We have received many inquiries whether Loyola’s next President will be a Jesuit. The Board will work with Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, the Jesuit West Provincial, to identify qualified Jesuit candidates to be considered for the role. It is important to the note, however, that the Provincial has instructed the Board to conduct a broad national search to find the most qualified candidate to advance Loyola’s mission and work. We appreciate the strong appeal of identifying another Jesuit President for Loyola, but we also recognize various practical factors that may result in a lay leader, including the overall reduced number of active Jesuits as well as timing of current missioning. We also note that 14 of the 19 schools in the Jesuit West Province are currently led by lay leaders.

Over the next few months, we will work with our consultants to identify and evaluate compelling prospects. Our goal is to identify a group of experienced, professional candidates and invite a select group for in-person interviews. After these interviews, the search committee will select a small group of finalists. Since Loyola is a Jesuit institution within the Jesuits West Province, the Provincial must also approve the finalists and consent to mission each of them as President of Loyola if they are the successful candidate. The finalists will be invited back to Loyola for additional interviews and discussions. After these visits, the search committee will complete its evaluation of all the data (including reference and background checks), deliberate, and present its recommendation to the Board for review and approval. The Board will then announce
Loyola’s new President.

Our calendar calls for identification and engagement of the next President for Loyola High School to be completed in the fall of 2024. There will be an organized transition process culminating in the new President commencing work in July 2025.

We remain committed to an open and transparent process and will continue to share information and provide updates throughout the search process. All information pertaining to the search will be posted on this page.

Thank you for your continued support of Loyola High School.

Sincerely,
Mollie Baumer – Search Co-Chair
Will Smith – Search Co-Chair