The Student Government Association will host the first phase of the Go Blue Beautification Paint Project in the Mall Area on Friday from 1:30-7 p.m.
Student organizations have selected Mall Area wooden benches to adopt and paint adding special OLLU branding and color to the Mall Area. If you are interested in joining the fun please consider signing up to help paint the Sister Jane Ann Slater light post, the inside of the water fountain, and provide other general clean up.
Hot dogs and drinks will be served for volunteers from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
OLLU’s 2023 Fiesta medal is now available in the Bookstore and online for $12 each.
The medal proceeds benefit scholarships for OLLU students.
Featuring a beautiful, colorful depiction of the Sacred Heart Chapel stained glass window of Mary being crowned the Queen of Heaven. Designed by Cathy Maule, director of Marketing and Communications, the 2023 medal is the 14th she has created for OLLU.
A limited number of medals from previous years are also available if you need to complete your collection.
Students, faculty and staff can register for the Seventh Annual Confetti 5K Run/Walk for only $20 with promo code. Email elongoria@ollusa.edu for code.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services is conducting deferment activities in Lake Elmendorf Park associated with the egret population. Activities include using small pyrotechnics that sound like fireworks. These activities will take place in the morning from approximately 6-8 a.m. and again later in the day from approximately 5-8 p.m. This will be daily for at least the next two months.
This is part of an effort that began in 2019 to thin the population of egrets in the park because of the threat of bird strikes to aircraft from nearby Kelly Field.
Richard Ramos will present his junior tuba recital on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Annunciation Chapel, located in the Sisters of Divine Providence’s Regan Hall. A reception will follow the performance.
The OLLU Music Program will host a series of concerts in April as part of its Community Music Hour Recitals. All recitals are free and open to the public.
Recital #1 Who: Holgen Gjoni on cello and John Noel Roberts on piano What: “An Easter Meditation” When: Wednesday, April 5, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Where: Annunciation Chapel (located in Regan Hall)
About the Artists: Holgen Gjoni, cello (guest artist) Hailed for his “seriousness and depth of an authentic concert soloist,” Holgen Gjoni has been steadily gaining a reputation as one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation and has performed as a soloist and recitalist throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has been praised internationally by critics for his “technique, beauty of sound and emotional projection,” “tempestuous musical sensibility, marked by an ineffable luminosity of expression,” “an elite musician,” while the legendary Yo-Yo Ma writes of him as “a cellist of great talent.” Holgen Gjoni holds degrees from New England Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory and National University of Music in Bucharest, having studied with Paul Katz (cellist of the Cleveland String Quartet), Bonnie Hampton (disciple of Pablo Casals and Zara Nelsova), Andrew Mark and Marin Cazacu.
John Noel Roberts, piano (OLLU faculty) A committed pianist and teacher, John Noel Roberts has been appointed to music faculties both nationally and internationally. Formerly Artist in Residence and Head of music at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music of the Edith Cowan University, Roberts has also served on the music faculties at Furman University, South Carolina; the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mercer University, Georgia; Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas; and Concordia College, Minnesota. Roberts presently serves on the adjunct piano faculty at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. Roberts has appeared as guest soloist with ensembles as the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Penang Festival Orchestra, Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Philharmonia Orchestra, Lima Ohio Symphony Orchestra, and the Macon Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he has performed on Friends of Alec Wilder Society concerts in New York City and has presented solo and collaborative recitals in Minnesota and Texas.
Recital #2 Who: The Graeme Francis Trio What: “Pop Gets Jazzed” When: Wednesday, April 12, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Where: Thiry Auditorium
About the Performance: Graeme Francis, drums (guest artist) Chris Villanueva, piano (guest artist) Utah Hamrick, bass (guest artist)
We all experience pop music in some form or another on a daily basis – it is ubiquitous, and it often gets stuck in our heads, for better or for worse. Over the past century “popular” music has come to mean a lot of different things to different people, but it is worth noting that in the early 20th century, pop music often meant jazz. And from jazz, we get the dominant popular music formula of “singer plus a band”, the infectious pulse that makes us dance, and it even forms the basis for those face-melting guitar solos we so enjoy! This lecture-recital is a welcoming multimedia experience, featuring interactive discussions and exciting live performances of music from across the popular music spectrum. Featuring music that reflects pop music’s gradual shift from early jazz, to rock and roll, to 80’s synth-pop, to current hip hop and R&B, audience members will enjoy a fun, relaxed learning atmosphere that encourages participants of all ages to explore the many similarities between these musical genres.
University Choir Spring Concert Who: University Choir What: Spring Concert When: Friday, April 21, 7 p.m. Where: Annunciation Chapel (in Regan Hall)
Music Student and Faculty Recital Who: Music Students and Faculty What: Recital When: Friday, April 28, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Where: Griffith Center for the Arts, Room 200
It wasn’t your typical Spring Break visit to the beach for OLLU students participating in a $250,959 grant funded project sponsored by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
While visiting the Texas coast, Torrence Campos, Julianna Collins, Aaliyah (Alex) Delgado and Sierra Jaramillo took part in marine field research on the gulf, explored the Oso Bay Wetlands, attended a talk on counterstory and toured research facilities at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and visited the local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office to learn about job opportunities and internships. They were accompanied by Dr. Briana Hauff Salas, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, and Dr. Jamie Crosswhite, Instructor of Professional Writing and Communication.
OLLU secured the grant from NIFA to develop career opportunities and access for underrepresented STEM students.
The federal money from NIFA, a subordinate of the USDA, is part of a $1 million, four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Education grant shared with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Northeast Lakeview College (NLC).
This Ecological-JEDI approach aims to increase self-efficacy in STEM through a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) perspective.
“I am thrilled to provide this incredible opportunity to our students, especially for the brand-new Environmental Science program at OLLU,” said Dr. Salas, a Co-Principal Investigator of the grant. “Our goal is to give our EcoJEDI scholars life-changing outdoor experiences and science communication skills, while getting them ready for graduate school and/or career opportunities at the USDA post-graduation.”
The grant aims to build a city-wide collaboration to facilitate career readiness in food and agriculture sciences (FAS) through science literacy and counter-storytelling.
“Counter-storytelling encourages students and their audience to include perspectives that are often considered marginal, subjective, and non-disciplinary, thus embracing explicit principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI),” said Dr. Crosswhite, a Co-Principal Investigator on the grant.
EcoJEDI will bolster recruitment and graduation and establish a career pipeline with USDA by prioritizing the inclusion of historically marginalized and underserved populations through the collaboration of OLLU, UTSA and NLC, all of them HSIs.
At OLLU, the grant funding is dedicated to driving student success initiatives, such as selecting student fellows, who will receive funding to attend regional and national conferences and engage in environmental science and natural resource learning opportunities such as the Spring Break visit to the coast.
These students are also honing their communication and leadership skills, crucial for career readiness. Students have the unique opportunity of collaborating with their peers from across San Antonio. This city-wide network of access and support aims to make visible the community stories and marginalized perspectives that are seldom visible.
Along with Dr. Salas and Dr. Crosswhite, the other Co-Principal Investigators of the grant are: Jeffrey Hutchinson, UTSA Associate Professor of Integrative Biology; Sue Hum, UTSA Professor of English; Vikram Kapoor, UTSA Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Gwen Young, UTSA Associate Professor of Integrative Biology; and Laura Perry, Northeast Lakeview College Professor of Biology.
OLLU’s Center for Women in Church and Society will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a panel presentation and reception on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Main Building, Room 311.
Panelists who will share insights of the center’s history include Sister Margit Nagy, CDP, co-founder of the center and OLLU professor emerita of History; Virginia Valenzuela, program coordinator from 2001-2006 and associate director from 2007-2008; and Jacqueline Walter, program coordinator from 2011-2013 and director 2014-present.
Please let the organizer know if you plan to attend. RSVP at CWCS@ollusa.edu.
Driven by feedback from the OLLU community, President’s Council has approved expanding the Compliance and Title IX Office to become the Office for Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC). With this intentional focus on equity, the position of Equity and Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator has replaced the Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator position, currently held by Nicole Monsibais, MPA, JD. As the Equity and Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator, Monsibais is also responsible for chairing the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility (IDEA) Council, a body officially established in 2022 as part of Strategic Plan Initiative 2.9 Cultural Inclusiveness and Equity.
The transformation of this office and position reflects the institution’s commitment to:
• Advancing the work of the IDEA Council in cultivating a sense of belonging by promoting a sustainable framework of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility excellence,
• Continuous improvement, transparency, and accountability, and
• Maintaining a culture of compliance through strategic collaborations advancing the university’s mission and core values.
Future opportunities to learn more and get involved with this essential work will be announced in the coming weeks.
For questions, please email nlmonsibais@ollusa.edu.
OLLU’s Spanish Program is hosting a Spanish Poetry Exhibit. Students, faculty and staff are invited to submit poetry in Spanish to be considered for the exhibit which will take place in April in Mail Building.
The deadline to submit poetry is April 9, 2023. Submissions should be emailed with the word “Poem” in the subject line to Dr. Maribel Lárraga at mlarraga@ollusa.edu or to Dr. Angela Guzman at amguzman10@ollusa.edu.
