As part of the American Psychological Association’s Engaging Psychology’s Future initiative and the National Association of School Psychologists’ Exposure Project, OLLU faculty and students recently connected with high school students across the region to spark interest in careers in psychology.
Drs. Wes Wyble, Marlo Mitchell-Gonzalez, Catalina Roads and Kathryn Anderson, along with students Elena Braunstein, Rachelle Stevens, Kimberly Hawthorne and Susana Cisneros, visited Davenport, Canyon and Jefferson High Schools. During their visits, the team engaged students in meaningful dialogue about the diverse fields within psychology, from clinical and counseling psychology to school psychology and research.
The Visual & New Media Arts program is collaborating with the Sueltenfuss Library to host the Women’s Caucus for Art’s group exhibition, “Becoming & Belonging.” Curator, Paola Nunez Solorio, will announce artist awards and moderate a panel talk with artists. Join us in celebrating Women’s History Month with this art exhibition on March 5th from 6:00:8:00pm.
Becoming & Belonging is a visual arts exhibition exploring the evolving identities of individuals and communities within society and across history. It reflects on the tensions and harmonies between selfhood and society, migration and rootedness, memory and transformation.
In a world shaped by movement and change, identity is never fixed. It unfolds through relationships, environments, and lived experience. This exhibition invites viewers to consider how we shape ourselves—and how we are shaped by others. How does identity evolve over time? Where, and how, do we find spaces of belonging? Do we inhabit existing structures, or do we create new ones?
Through diverse artistic perspectives, Becoming & Belonging speaks to personal journeys of growth, migration, and self-discovery while also engaging collective narratives of heritage, displacement, resilience, and the longing for home. The works on view celebrate multiplicity and transformation, embracing identity as an ongoing act of becoming.
Together, these artists offer a powerful meditation on what it means to belong—reminding us that belonging is not simply a place, but a process.
Amber Ortega, MFA, Coordinator for the International Folk Culture Center has received The Texas Folklife, Community Folklife Fellowship in oral history, audio storytelling, and archiving.
Ortega joins a cohort of 12 culturalists across Texas who will receive training and guidance from Texas Folklife’s digital storytelling initiative, “Stories from Deep in the Heart” which includes mentorship from lead digital archivists in Texas.
Since 2023, Ortega has been conducting interviews with choreographers from Cayey, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida, and San Antonio, utilizing her experience with curating transdisciplinary discussions and bridging dance practice to deeper insights into culture, human behavior, and research methodologies. During her fellowship, Ortega will be meeting and interviewing dance culture bearers in San Antonio to thread a cohesive narrative line between dance, history, and culture.
As Coordinator for the International Folk Culture Center, archiving the center’s history and preserving the greater story of dance in San Antonio particularly with how that story intersects with the IFCC and OLLU, is tantamount to the work of curating and coordinating dance, folk way, and culture at the center, on campus, and in our Westside neighborhood.
Ortega’s final work along with her cohorts will be released this May.
As part of OLLU’s continued commitment to Operational Excellence and maintaining a safe university campus, all faculty and staff will be required to visibly wear their employee ID at chest level while on campus.
This requirement will become mandatory on Tuesday, March 17.
Please note:
Name tags may still be worn at campus or external events; however, they will not serve as a substitute for the official employee ID.
Staff who wear OLLU uniforms that already display their names will not be required to wear their employee ID.
If you currently have an outdated ID, you may contact ITS to update your information and receive a new card.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued commitment to campus safety.
Leadership will receive additional details and will be responsible for sharing this information with their respective teams.
Mark your calendars! Campanas de América 2027 will take place on February 6, 2027 — and we can’t wait to celebrate with you.
As we look ahead, we also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended the Campanas de América concert earlier this month. With your incredible enthusiasm and the widespread sharing of our Scholarship QR code, this year’s concert became the most profitable Campanas in the past 24 years.
Your support continues to elevate this cherished OLLU tradition and the mission it advances. The energy in the room, the generosity of our community and the shared spirit of celebration made this year truly unforgettable.
Tickets for Campanas 2027 will go on sale this fall!
This national recognition highlights the program’s academic excellence, hands-on training and outstanding value for students preparing for careers in cybersecurity and information systems security.
For OLLU students, this recognition simply affirms what they already know.
We are proud of our faculty, students, and alumni who continue to elevate the program’s reputation and impact.
Our Lady of the Lake University delivered an efficient and well-balanced performance in its 84–71 victory over Texas A&M University–Texarkana, showcasing offensive consistency and disciplined execution on both ends of the floor.
The Saints shot 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55) and were particularly effective from three-point range, connecting on 11-of-27 attempts (40.7 percent). Jaydin Morin-Bishop led the team with 21 points, including three three-pointers, and converted 8-of-9 free throws to anchor the offense. Barack Holland added 19 points with three three-pointers of his own, while contributing five rebounds and two steals.
Jermey Irwin provided 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and Isaiah Moore added 12 points and six rebounds. Santiago Ochoa contributed across multiple categories, finishing with six rebounds and a team-high five assists, helping guide an offense that recorded 14 assists on 26 made field goals.
The Saints also received key contributions from their bench. Matthew Gonzalez was efficient from beyond the arc, hitting both of his three-point attempts for six points. Caleb Richardson added four points and four rebounds in limited minutes, while Davonte Durst provided three assists off the bench to maintain offensive flow.
Our Lady of the Lake controlled the game through perimeter shooting, free throw efficiency (21-of-28, 75 percent), and ball security. The Saints committed just 13 turnovers compared to Texarkana’s 15 and generated nine steals defensively.
The Saints will be back in action Saturday against LSU-Shreveport at 3:00 PM CDT. It will be Senior day.
The Our Lady of the Lake University softball team delivered a commanding two-game sweep over the St. Mary’s University Rattlers, combining timely hitting and steady pitching to secure 7-2 and 9-6 victories.
In the opener, the Saints set the tone early and never relinquished control behind a balanced offensive attack that produced 12 hits. Arianna Alejandro sparked the lineup with two runs scored, while Boston Tijernia powered the middle of the order, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Marisa Rosales turned in one of the game’s standout performances, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and an RBI as part of a two-run effort.
Yezenia Perez added a triple and drove in a run, and Novalee Gloria contributed a pair of hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Reanna Aguirre and Alyssa Guzman each brought in a run as the Saints capitalized on scoring opportunities throughout the contest.
Inside the circle, Annika Litterio delivered a complete-game performance to earn the win and improve to 4-1 on the season. She scattered seven hits, allowed two earned runs, and struck out seven across seven innings, throwing 128 pitches with 76 strikes.
The Saints carried that offensive rhythm into game two, erupting for nine runs on 12 hits to complete the sweep. Alejandro once again ignited the lineup, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Tijernia delivered the biggest blow of the afternoon, going 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs to anchor the offense.
Yezenia Perez continued her strong series with two hits and three RBIs, while Alyssa Guzman went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and scored once. Reanna Aguirre added two runs, and the Saints drew four walks to keep pressure on the Rattlers’ pitching staff.
Valeria Vielma earned the win in the circle for the Saints, moving to 2-0 after working four innings with five strikeouts. Litterio returned in relief to secure her first save of the season, allowing one run over three innings while striking out two to close out the 9-6 victory.
Across both games, Our Lady of the Lake combined disciplined at-bats with consistent pitching to outscore the Rattlers 16-8. The Saints will be back in action this weekend against Xavier (LA) in a series at New Orleans starting on Friday.
As I walked early this morning, I reflected on the week that was, the conversations I was invited into, the decisions we made, the processes that led to those decisions, the alignment of my actions with the stewardship of this calling, and the smiles I was blessed to give and receive. That memory alone gave me hundreds of reasons to smile once more.
A few steps ahead of me, I noticed a rectangular object on the ground. At the same time, my attention turned to the beautiful serenading duo of what I believe to be the Purple Martin and the Northern Cardinal. Their arrival some fifteen days ago has signaled the onset of spring, and though they are unaware of it, their song, like clockwork just before 6:00 a.m., lifts my soul each morning.
The rectangular object was a one-dollar bill.
I picked it up and continued my walk, admiring its texture. The almost denim-like weave of the paper was especially notable this morning. As I studied it, I could see the cross-threading of the pulp while George Washington stared back at me. It was as if, in that quiet moment, our nation’s first president spoke to me about his motto of integrity, duty, courtesy, and honesty.
When I turned the bill over, my eyes were drawn to two simple but powerful inscriptions: In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum.
I smiled again.
E Pluribus Unum: “out of many, one.” From the founding of our nation in 1776, this phrase captured the bold aspiration of uniting diverse colonies, peoples, and perspectives into one shared purpose. Diversity held together by shared values. Many, moving together as one.
As a Catholic university, our congregational founders remind us that we are “rooted in profound confidence in God’s providential love and care for all.” We are all called to further the mission of Jesus. We are all called to unity without uniformity. To conviction without division. To purpose without pride.
At the moment, higher education stands at a crossroads. National enrollments continue to decline. Questions about the value of higher education surface weekly. The pace of change is accelerating. And yet, education remains one of the most powerful equalizers. Education transforms generations. It expands opportunity. It forms citizens. It dignifies lives, service, and work. It lifts families.
I am hard-pressed to think of another institution with the opportunity that stands before us at Our Lady of the Lake University. We have the opportunity, and obligation, to sharpen our mission with focus, to respond boldly to the needs of our time, and to credential learners so they may build livelihoods based on their values. All through a distinctive OLLU way.
E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one.
We come from different neighborhoods, disciplines, backgrounds, experiences, aspirations, perspectives—and we are united by something deeper. We trust in God. We believe in human dignity. We commit ourselves to excellence. And we move forward, together, as one.
May we model, at our very core, what it means to be children of God who serve, who care, and who lift one another, who lift our students, toward a higher calling.
Mark your calendars! Homecoming 2026 is set for February 27 – March 1, and Our Lady of the Lake University is excited to welcome back Saints alumni, friends, and family for a special celebration of 131 years of community and tradition.
This year’s Homecoming promises a full weekend of festivities, beginning Friday, February 27, and continuing through Sunday, March 1. From beloved traditions to opportunities to reconnect with classmates, faculty and fellow Saints, the weekend will showcase the spirit and legacy that make OLLU so special.
To view the schedule of events, sponsorship opportunities, OLLU’s online silent fundraising auction, and donations, visit our Homecoming 2026 Webpage below!
