Gregory Goethals will step down as president of Loyola High School of Los Angeles at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, the school announced Tuesday.
Goethals was named president of Loyola in 2006. It is the oldest continually operated educational institution in Southern California, founded in 1865.
“I make this announcement with a certain sadness, but with even more — and infinite — gratitude,” Goethals wrote in a message on the school’s website. “I also know that the time is right — next January I will turn 70, and I will have completed 19 years in this role, and 20 years since coming back in 2005 (my first year I started the adult spirituality program before I was named president). In all of that time, I think Loyola has become a better, more modern Jesuit School, yet all the while preserving and enhancing our unique Catholic/Ignatian charism. We have grown as an institution as we have grown as human beings, and that is a wonderful accomplishment.
“And I have been the luckiest man in the world to have had a job at an institution that I care about so deeply, that has been such an important part of my and my family’s life, and that is such an essential part of our great and good Los Angeles community.”
School officials cited the following accomplishments during Goethals’ tenure:
— The increase of faculty and staff from 149 to nearly 200, “while maintaining a strong Jesuit presence with 12 resident priests, six of whom work at Loyola, more than any other Jesuit high school in the country”;
— The Campaign for Loyola, which shepherded the completion of the William H. Hannon Science Hall and the Frank J. Ardolf & Frances R. Ardolf Academic Hall;
— The 2014-15 Sesquicentennial that celebrated Loyola’s rich history with Los Angeles and the nation;
— The building of Caruso Hall, a state-of-the-art liturgical, educational and special events space;
— Modernization of the historic Ruppert and Loyola Halls;
— The acquisition of 11 land parcels, expanding the footprint of the campus to 22 acres; and
— The near tripling of the endowment to more than $80 million.
No information was provided about who might take Goethals’ place leading the campus, which is located at 1901 Venice Blvd.
“As long as there’s a Los Angeles to serve, Loyola will be here to serve it. But, the only way we can achieve that is by maintaining the long-term sustainability of our 160-year-old institution,” Goethals said. “That is why it’s crucial to grow our endowment to $100 million, during this, my final year, so as to ensure the affordability of Loyola for our students and fulfill our Jesuit mission.”