What is a Cardoner?

A Cardoner is the distant cousin to the Honors Student-the campus leader, the city innovator, the potential worldwide mogul. Still, the Cardoner is unknown, kept secret as the freshman clique housed on the tenth floor above the more recognized 11th floor Honors Hall. A Cardoner is mispronounced by the incoming program's freshman class as a Car-donor or Card-ner even though it is really pronounced Card-o-nair.

Cardoner is a unique name that few recognize, but if you looked into the history of our school's patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, you would realize that it does indeed have a very important meaning. Cardoner is a river in a town called Manresa, where Saint Ignatius stopped at on his way to Barcelona. In itself, the river is not important, but I think the river is symbolic of the changes and potential building up inside of Saint Ignatius. Our patron came from a life of gambling, swordplay, and flirtations with the ladies, but found spirituality by reading about the life of Christ and the Saints, when attempting to find romance novels. From this point forward, Ignatius dedicated his life to Christ through prayer and service.

It was at the river Cardoner, that Ignatius had a vision from God, where he was able to see creation in a different light, and focus his attention on searching for God in all things. This is the basis of Jesuit principles-to see God in the financially struggling Loyola student, God in the Hurricane Katrina booted resident, God in the starving children around the world. A Cardoner is
essentially a helper, a community activist, a student that wants to make a difference.

Dr. Burns' freshman introductory class to the program, Rebuilding New Orleans, helps to establish a knowledge of the city Cardoners live in, the city policies that are in the process of being implemented, the history of Hurricane Katrina, and the corruption and injustices going on. In the class, a group of three students write a 10-20 page policy report about a specific issue in New Orleans. Last year, I wrote about New Orleans Co2 levels and how a green initiative featuring a composting sytem, Green LEED buildings, recycling and solid waste diversion program, and local food and agriculture plan, would lower the city's carbon footprint. Besides a policy report, students tour the Lower Ninth Ward and see the new green homes being built. Also, they take a tour of New Orleans and visit places mentioned in required readings. The tour to the Lower Ninth Ward especially impacted me because I realized the devastation of Hurricane Katrina upfront. The freshman seminar really gave me a sense of what it means to be a leader representing Loyola University.

A Cardoner should be recognized. We are unknown, often mentioned as the students residing on the tenth floor right wing of Buddig Residence Hall. Cardoners not only make an academic contribution like the Honors students, but also make a community difference. Most of my Cardoner Program Class of 2014 participate in organizations like Lucap, SGA and The Maroon. We want a voice on not only the campus, but also in New Orleans. So what is a Cardoner? A Cardoner is a person following the principles of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and looking for a platform to voice their opinions and reach out to the ones who need it the most.