“Off Press” — The Podcast of LMU Magazine

Asylum seekers, refugees, and others seeking safety and a home in America are facing new hurdles in the sweeping changes in the U.S. immigration system. Linda Dakin-Grimm, a lawyer who works with separated families, discusses the changes taking place.

Immigration raids in Los Angeles have kept migrants from work, food shopping, and even atttending Sunday Mass. Kevin Sarabia, with the LMU Loyola Law School Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic, talks about the impact on the city's local communities.

The January 2025 wildfires likely are the biggest natural disaster in the history of the Los Angeles area. Fernando Guerra, professor and director of LMU’s Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, talks about the immediate and future impacts of the fires on the L.A.’s people, services, and budget.

Freeways both connect and divide the Los Angeles region. Nathan Sessoms, professor in the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, describes the impact of building the 10 freeway through L.A.’s West Adams community.

Trent Kersten, LMU head volleyball coach, talks about the increased popularity of women’s sports, volleyball strategy and recruiting, and the impact of the transfer portal on building a D1 program.

Cheryl Grills, professor in the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, was appointed to the California state task force tasked with proposing reparations to the state’s Black descendants of enslaved people. She talks about the long-term harms of slavery and possible steps to repair the wrongs.

Donegal Fergus, LMU baseball head coach, talks about the impact on NCAA baseball of the transfer portal and NIL issues, as well as how he hopes to develop players for a major league future.

Homelessness has many causes, and Mary Agnes Erlandson ’82 directs a social services center in Lennox, near LMU and LAX, that offers programs addressing many of them. Erlandson describes how focusing on people’s needs, especially housing, can change people’s lives for the better. She has seen it happen.

Eileen Schoetzow ’98, MBA ’07, an urban and environmental planner for the City of Los Angeles, is part of a team that constructs homeless shelters for unhoused people in Los Angeles. She talks about helping people get off the streets and into homes and why making a difference matters to her.

School was one of the safest places he knew growing up, Kenneth Chancey says. For one thing, he knew he’d get a meal there. Today, he’s left life in a van and a homeless shelter behind, and he’s helping others do the same as a senior manger for special youth initiatives with the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority.