Marmion Voices: A Full-Circle Moment

The fourth in a series highlighting voices from the Marmion community
Marmion Spanish teacher Luz-Maria Acosta-Knutson grew up in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood, just a short walk from St. Ignatius High School. Her older brother attended St. Ignatius, which was an all-boys school at the time.

Attending St. Ignatius was out of the question for me. It was sad. Here was this great school so close to us, yet it was out of reach for me,” she says. “I would have to take a bus to an all-girls school farther from home.”

Just in time, everything changed. St. Ignatius went co-ed. Luz-Maria was part of the second incoming class of young women in the fall of 1980. “I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe it.”

She loved her experience over the next four years and says she always felt welcome.

Today, at Marmion, Luz-Maria finds herself in a similar moment of transition.

“I have taught in co-educational settings,” she says. “There are different dynamics, but the fundamentals of teaching remain the same. I think it will be very positive.”

When her students expressed concern about Marmion’s change, she shared her own story and the story of her alma mater.

“Back then, people who loved St. Ignatius High School were very worried about what co-ed would mean,” she says. “But St. Ignatius is thriving today.”