UNIVERSITY NEWS | In “Loyola Marymount University, 1911-2011: A Centennial History,” noted historian Kevin Starr wrote: “The women of Marymount, so their student body president Lane Bove later recalled, arrived on campus somewhat edgy about the welcome they would receive.” The distance between the uneasiness of 1968 and this week’s profound sense of gratitude and admiration following the announcement of Senior Vice President Bove’s pending retirement can only be measured in light years.
After a career dedicated to the well-being of LMU students, including 33 years at the head of Student Affairs, Bove has decided to retire in January 2022. She has been, as President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., and Provost Thomas Poon, Ph.D., wrote, “a pillar of the LMU community as a bold leader, thoughtful educator, brilliant administrator, tireless free speech champion, generous alumna and donor, dedicated fundraiser, and passionate community member with an enduring commitment to — and care for — Lions and the LMU mission. The LMU of today reflects SVP Bove’s transformative contributions and dedication to student success.”
Looking back on her LMU career, Bove said, “The people I have met, and the experiences I have had, have been extraordinary, and some of the student stories are simply jaw dropping. I often tell new staff that LMU is truly a special place, and if you allow yourself to be open to all that she has to offer, to her ethos and way of proceeding, you cannot help but be affected for the better.”
Bove worked closely with six LMU presidents over the course of her four-decade career. She has mentored, elevated, and invested herself in generations of students, colleagues, and alumni who credit her with shaping who they have become. As senior vice president, she has founded, developed, or overseen essential student development areas, including Student Employment Services, Student Health Services, Student Housing, Student Psychological Services, the Center for Service and Action, Student Life, Campus Recreation, Student Conduct and Community Responsibility, Ethnic and Intercultural Services, the Office for International Students and Scholars, Student Media, Career Development, and Division I Athletics.
“One of the great joys, beyond my work with students, has been working over the many years with a great team of Student Affairs professionals,” Bove said. “If you are an administrator worth your salt, you realize early on that nothing gets done alone. Any achievement over my tenure has happened because of the Student Affairs team.”
Embodying the Jesuit principle cura personalis, Bove’s career is a master class in leadership, and she has infused every aspect of her vocation with integrity and love, inspiring those who meet her. As a student body president, she led Marymount College and Loyola University while those institutions prepared to merge. As a student development professional, she helped the community heal amid the national spotlight of Hank Gathers’ tragic death; she supported our students through the L.A. civil unrest in 1992; and she helped navigate the university through crises and tumultuous times, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic and a national reckoning on racial justice.
“We are indebted to her for her unwavering loyalty to our students and mission,” wrote Snyder and Poon and in their joint announcement. “We have been blessed to know Lane as our colleague and, though we will miss her wise counsel, friendship, and candor, her historic contributions render her forever an LMU legend.”
Bove’s legacy is also reflected by the generations of students and alumni – ASLMU and GSLMU presidents, Loyolan editors, and the many Lions who worked in some capacity in Student Affairs – who affirm the transformational influence she has had in their lives. Whether advising students or colleagues, she has consistently placed the needs of the person and the university first.
She has been at the forefront of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Recognizing a responsibility to LMU’s mission, she has fought for underrepresented students, the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, Jewish and Muslim students, Black, Latino/a and Latinx, and AAPI communities, and many others who benefited from her advocacy. Co-founding and developing The Learning Community (TLC), a yearlong program dedicated to fostering success among first-year African American students, is one of her proudest accomplishments.
Throughout her career, Bove has been a strong advocate for expanded student mental health services in higher education. When sexual and interpersonal misconduct cases continued rising on campuses across the nation, Bove innovated and gained national recognition for LMU Cares, which has set the standard for student safety, responsibility, and prevention. Her abiding support for women’s athletics enabled the program’s growth and success.
Bove has been an engaged member in several student development professional organizations, including the West Coast Conference (president, 1992-2002), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Academic and Competition cabinets), California Women in Higher Education, the Center for Excellence in Education, NASPA, and JASPA. She has received the Rev. Victor R. Yanitelli S.J. Award, the Lisa Leslie Inspiring Woman Award, and the Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award.
Bove began her work in education as a reading specialist from 1972-81 in the Palos Verdes Unified School District, returning to LMU as director of the Learning Resource Center. Bove earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Marymount College, a master’s degree in education with a specialization in reading from Loyola University, and a doctorate in institutional management from Pepperdine University.
Since she arrived on the bluff in 1968 as student body president of Marymount College up to the present day, she has made LMU better in every way with her energy, intelligence, and talents.
