School Named in Honor of St. Mary's Alumnus

San Antonio's Northside Independent School District (NISD) recently dedicated a new elementary named in memory of the late Judge Paul A. "Andy" Mireles (B.A. '72, J.D. '75). The Judge Andy Mireles Elementary School makes the fifth NISD campus named for a St. Mary's alumnus. Other district schools named in honor of alumni are Gregory Luna Middle School, Robert L. Vale Middle School, Eduardo Villarreal Elementary School, and Carl Wanke Elementary School.

Mireles, one of six children from a working class family, learned early that education would be his ticket to success. After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology from St. Mary's, he continued his education, earning a J.D. from the St. Mary's School of Law. After practicing law for several years, in 1989, Mireles was elected judge of the 73rd District Court. After joining the Bexar County Juvenile Board, he quickly realized a separate juvenile justice system was need to better serve young offenders.

Mireles served on the San Antonio ISD Board of Trustees and also as a board member for the Texas Association of School Boards. He was chair of the Bexar County Juvenile Board from 1998 until his death in 2009. He was honored posthumously with the St. Mary's University 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award.

310 New Grads Join Alumni Rolls in December

St. Mary's University celebrated the accomplishments of 310 new graduates during fall commencement exercises Dec. 10, 2011, in the Bill Greehey Arena of the Alumni Athletics & Convocation Center on the University campus.

The number of total graduates included 168 receiving bachelors degrees, 140 earning masters degrees and two who were awarded doctoral degrees. The Commencement speaker was U.S. Foreign Service Officer and Alumnus Greg Pardo (B.A. '05).

Almost 40 percent of the new graduates reported that they had found employment, including almost half of those earning masters degrees. Forty one percent planned to attend graduate school. Among the graduates, many had completed multiple internships and/or research activities.

Giardino to Lead AMU

Brother Tom Giardino, S.M., has been named executive director of the Association of Marianist Universities (AMU). The organization is a collaborative effort between Chaminade University of Honolulu, the University of Dayton and St. Mary's, to promote information sharing, mutual enrichment and development, and shared learning on the Marianist tradition of higher education. Board members include the presidents and vice presidents of Mission and Identity at all three universities.

In his new position, Giardino' responsibilities will include assisting in the formulation of the association's strategic plan and budget; working with committees; supporting board meetings; developing relationships with related groups; and sharing resources. He also will work with the Marianist Educational Associates, a shared program that helps develop lay leaders for the three universities in the Marianist tradition.

Giardino has served as executive director of the International Center for Marianist Formation for the past 10 years and as a University of Dayton Trustee. He replaces former St. Mary's Trustee, the Rev. Jack McGrath, S.M., Ph.D., who most recently filled the executive director position.

Generosity Abounds at Year's End

The University's end-of-the-year reminder to alumni to make a gift to the University yielded very good results. In the last week of December, St. Mary's received more than $500,000 in contributions from nearly 250 donors; among them, two of the gifts were annual contributions from the Marianist Trust and the Alkek Foundation that make up more than half of the overall amount received during that week.

Of note is that the number of donors giving on line through the University's secure website increased 40 percent over December 2010. Similarly, online gift amounts increased by more than 20 percent.

Volleyball Team Returns to Winning Ways

The St. Mary's volleyball team enjoyed a 2011 season that saw the Rattlers jump out to the best start in program history (10-0) en route to securing their first winning season since 2006 at 17-13. Not surprisingly, the awards came flowing in afterward.

Senior middle blocker Stephanie Proske and freshman libero Victorria Martinez each drew recognition from the Heartland Conference, with Proske being named to the All-Heartland Conference Team and Martinez being named the league's Co-Freshman of the Year. Proske set the school's single-season mark for hitting percentage at .323, while Martinez led the squad with 4.94 digs per set.