Loyola Marymount University Teams Up With NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
Credit: Image Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Contributor / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images- Loyola Marymount University and the Los Angeles Rams have joined together for the team’s first higher education partnership.
- Students and alumni will have exclusive access to the team.
- The partnership will also give Rams players, coaches, and staff the chance to continue their education through LMU courses.
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams are joining forces to create the team’s first higher education partnership.
The collaboration will generate learning opportunities for LMU students and alumni, as well as Rams players, coaches, and staff.
We are thrilled to welcome LMU to the Rams family and are proud to bring football back to campus,
Kevin Demoff, chief operating officer of the Rams, said in a press release.
With our stadium a few miles from campus, our deep roots in Los Angeles, and our shared commitment to Southern California, this is a perfect partnership. We are looking forward to building together impactful programs that will benefit both members of the LMU community as well as our players, coaches, and staff.
— Loyola Marymount University (@LoyolaMarymount) September 6, 2023Two iconic LA institutions. One unprecedented partnership.
Today, @RamsNFL & LMU announced a partnership that’ll open up an exchange of educational offerings, bringing LMU’s impact to the Rams organization and the Rams energy to LMU’s campuses: https://t.co/0x1cOf3e1S#LMUxRamspic.twitter.com/ZZEQZiKfrT
According to LMU, students will be able to have access to exclusive intern and mentorship opportunities with the Rams organization, as well as case studies through sports and entertainment classes, networking and career opportunities, and in-class appearances from Rams executives.
The partnership will also give Rams players, coaches, and staff a chance to continue their education through LMU, including specific scholarships for Rams employees seeking graduate and undergraduate education, certificate, and credential programs.
Additionally, the team will host “LMU Day at the Rams” for their game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 3, featuring the private Jesuit university throughout SoFi Stadium along with offering LMU alumni and students access to discounted tickets.
LMU doesn’t have a football team, but now the Rams are their team, Marianna Villa, LMU’s associate vice president of external relations and partnerships, told BestColleges. The partnership’s win-win potential is immense, and both the university and the NFL franchise are thinking creatively to find ways they could benefit each other.
“What was attractive about this partnership was every single one of our deans — when I spoke with them about this throughout the summer months — they all began to understand a pathway for their students and their curriculum to (the Rams), and that was really special,” she said. We’re talking about the liberal arts seeing benefit in this, the fine and creative arts benefiting, the sciences, film and television, school of [education], [and] our law school.”
The Rams are not the first NFL organization to have an official higher education partner. The Kansas City Chiefs have a five-year partnership with the University of Missouri-Kansas City focusing on student success and recruitment efforts, according to the university.
Additionally, in 2021, the NFL partnered with five research universities, with an additional three in 2022, to study on-field head impacts and help with the league’s injury reduction efforts.
The fact that LMU is partnering directly with a NFL franchise across so many areas makes this partnership unique, Saraa Kami, LMU’s senior director of public and media relations told BestColleges. And students stand to reap the benefits.
“I think the advantage for our students is just going to be endless,” she said. “It’s going to give them such an advantage in the global marketplace.”