Category: Top Stories

Dr. Alicia Hawley-Bernardez, faculty member at OLLU’s Worden School of Social Service, was recently featured on the Breaking the Cycle podcast. In this episode, Dr. Hawley-Bernardez discusses critical topics related to social work, breaking generational cycles, and fostering positive change in communities.

We encourage our faculty, staff, and students to listen in and gain valuable insights from this important conversation!

To learn more about Dr. Hawley-Bernardez and her work, visit her faculty profile: Alicia Hawley-Bernardez.

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Event Details:

Kick-Off Press Conference
📍 Wednesday, February 26 | 10 AM | OLLU Sacred Heart Chapel Steps
Join us as we officially invite San Antonio to take part in this meaningful event.

César E. Chávez March for Justice
📍 Saturday, March 22 | 10 AM | Begins at Guadalupe & Brazos Street and marches to Hemisfair Park
March alongside students, civic leaders, and community members to honor Chávez’s legacy.

• Students are invited to participate in the March and receive volunteer service hours for the time spent marching.
• VIA Metropolitan Transit will provide FREE rides from the OLLU campus to/from the march.
  • RSVP here to be included in the VIA bus transportation plans & receive detailed information regarding pickup & drop-off.
• Check out the 2-mile march route below!

César E. Chávez Day Aguila Awards Celebration & Scholarship Fundraiser
📍 Saturday, March 29 | 6 PM | More details coming soon
Support the CECLEF Scholarship Fund, which has awarded over $400K to students in Bexar County pursuing higher education.

Additional Information:

• Free VIA Park & Ride Service will be available for participants from 8:00 – 10:00 AM and after the march. RSVP HERE
• Help CECLEF reach its goal of awarding $200K in scholarships for 2025 by attending and supporting these events.

As a key supporter of this event, OLLU encourages students, faculty, and staff to participate in the march and related events. Let’s come together to honor César E. Chávez and Dolores Huerta and continue advocating for justice and equality.

Due to unforeseen weather, the 30th Annual Basura Bash Cleanup has been rescheduled and will now take place on Saturday, March 8, 2025!

For more information, check out their instagram! 

We’re thrilled to announce that Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) is now live on The College Tour website, marking a significant milestone in our journey to share our unique story with prospective students, families, and the world!

Visit our Tour Page on The College Tour to see the highlights of OLLU’s culture, academic offerings, campus life, and more. We are incredibly proud of this collaboration with The College Tour and the official launch of our episode on Amazon Prime which aired on February 19, 2025, as part of Season 13. 

The OLLU International Folk Culture Center is honored to host Niurca Márquez, a renowned religious studies and dance scholar, for a series of engaging events exploring identity, ritual, and movement. Márquez, a Latinx artist and activist, is known for her work on cultural memory, resistance, and the intersection of religion and the body.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with Niurca Márquez and explore the powerful connections between movement, identity, and ritual!

Congratulations to Dr. Briana Hauff Salas, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, on her recent publication in the journal Water. Her manuscript, “Cellular Responses of Astrangia poculata and its Symbionts to Experimental Heat Stress,” explores coral responses to heat stress.

OLLU is launching Saints Assessment Insights, a quarterly newsletter dedicated to enhancing student learning through assessment. The February 2025 inaugural issue covers:

• What assessment is and why it matters
• Who participates in assessment at OLLU
• An overview of assessment cycles

Faculty and staff are encouraged to connect with Dr. Liliana Gutierrez for assessment planning.

Questions? Contact lgutierrez@ollusa.edu.

Read the full issue below.

Congratulations to Olivia Hinojosa Galvan, a doctoral student in OLLU’s Counseling Psychology program, for receiving the 2024 Frances Fowler Wallace Memorial Award from the Hogg Foundation. 

This award will support her research on how Latina psychology trainees and early career psychologists navigate gender and culture-based support networks in higher education and professional settings.