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| Jim Shelley, senior vice president of AT&T services’ executive operations, and John Stankey, president and CEO of AT&T operations, present President Pollack with a $1 million check for OLLU’s higher education initiatives.
Carol Baass Sowa | Today's Catholic |
By Carol Baass Sowa
Today's Catholic
SAN ANTONIO • A year to the day that searing flames roared through the roof of Our Lady of the Lake University’s Main Building, 24th Street in front of the 114-year-old university was again cordoned off from traffic. This time, however, it was to celebrate OLLU’s emerging from its “trial by fire” with renewed spirit and resources, along with the promise of a first-class make-over for the campus’ central and oldest structure, which will preserve and repair its historic grandeur while installing a 21st century infrastructure.
On May 6, 2008, the same street had been jammed with fire trucks and hoses, as students, faculty and staff, along with friends and neighbors of the university, watched the fire rage from behind police lines. It now held elegantly appointed tables where invited guests sipped champagne and dined on festive fare while costumed samba dancers swayed to the beat of a Latin band.
OLLU President Tessa Martinez Pollack, a serene counterpoint to the unbridled gaiety spilling over the 24th Street curb on either side, was quick to point out the real significance of the celebration. “We all have our own special memories and reactions to the fire,” she said, “but I don’t think any reaction is told quite as well as by our students — and that’s what we’re here for tonight.”
Beaming students in crisp white shirts emblazoned with the evening’s theme, “Building Dreams — from Fire to the Future,” stood by to greet and assist.
Eliana Rodriguez, coeditor of the student newspaper, The Lakefront, and a senior communication arts major, had as much to smile about as any of them. The night the fire broke out, she had been studying in the Grossman computer lab in Main Building and afterwards had almost gone up to the newspaper’s third floor office — a favorite hang-out. It had been a new office for the paper, its third move in Rodriguez’s time there, and she recalled how thrilled they were to have it. “But with the fire, we lost everything and then had to relocate again,” she said ruefully. “It was just really heartbreaking.”
Still, they managed to put out a special “fire edition” of the paper using borrowed facilities and continued publishing for the remainder of the year in a succession of temporary offices, turning the catastrophe into a unique learning experience for a journalist. On May 6, 2009, preparing to graduate on Sunday, Rodriguez was all smiles.
Giant stars loomed over the stage where mistress of ceremonies Gypsy Pantoja, a drama instructor, made introductions following the presentation of colors by the South San Antonio High School JROTC Color Guard and leading of the national anthem by Larissa Britton, communication and learning disorders major.
In his invocation, Msgr. Lawrence J. Stuebben noted, “A year later, we are witnesses of and part of a brand new beginning. ... From every side, we have heard one and the same cry, O Lord: ‘Rebuild Our Lady of the Lake!’”
President Pollack described those gathered as symbolizing the power of community and expressed her thanks to all who had come to OLLU’s rescue that fateful night and afterwards. “All of us at the university remain the eternally grateful recipients of heroic and generous service by others,” she said, announcing that faculty, staff, students and alumni had pledged 13,000 service hours to the city of San Antonio by year’s end.
“Out of ashes, triumph; out of defeat, victory,” summed up Mayor Phil Hardberger, who announced the city’s approval of a $1.5 million project to bury overhead lines “that mar the beauty of this beautiful university.” He acknowledged the help of Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan in this effort. Linda Hardberger, the mayor’s wife and an OLLU graduate, then offered personal words of praise for the university as “a very special place” where dreams come true.
John Stankey, president and CEO of AT&T operations, and Jim Shelley, senior vice president of AT&T services’ executive operations and member of the OLLU Board of Trustees, presented Pollack with a check for 1 million dollars from AT&T in support of the university’s higher education initiatives.
Following this, Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade, an OLLU alumna, presented a proclamation to Fire Chief Charles Hood and Chief of Police William McManus from Governor Rick Perry, acknowledging the heroic efforts of the first responders, whose representatives formed a half circle beneath the stage. The assistance of security departments from Edgewood Independent School District, St. Mary’s University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and OLLU was also acknowledged.
Sister Dianne Heinrich, CDP, of the sisters’ general council spoke on behalf of Superior General Sister Jane Ann Slater, CDP, noting, “In this rebuilding, the mission of Providence has been tried by fire and is emerging stronger.”
Antoinette Winstead, communication arts chair, spoke of fire, though destructive, clearing a path for new growth, and Student Government President Carlos Gonzalez remarked on the unifying image of Our Lady’s statue, which remained standing atop the building during the raging fire.
In closing, President Pollack asked all to join her in a toast to the students of OLLU “for the inspiration that they give us to overcome challenge, for their success as students and, most importantly, for all that they are yet to accomplish.” As glasses were raised in unison, an explosion of confetti butterflies filled the air over 24th Street, gently settling on the cheering throng, all under the watchful gaze of Our Lady’s statue.