President's Peace Commission

Wayne Romo, Director of University Ministry at St. Mary's University, welcomes the audience and introduces Father Bernard Lee, S.M., Vice President for Mission & Identity at St. Mary's. Father Lee prays an invocation. Next, Mr. Romo shares a slide show of the community neighboring the University. Mr. Romo introduces the panelists: Teresa and Felipe Barajas, members of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church; Eric Barrera, a St. Mary's freshman who grew up on the West Side of San Antonio; Stephanie Sloano, a St. Mary's student who grew up on the South Side of San Antonio; and Luis Alonzo, who also grew up on the West Side and is a Learning Instructor. Each presents his/her feelings about St. Mary's University and its outreach and concern for its neighbors. (73 minutes)

Melissa Shiplett, President's Peace Commissioner and VISTA Volunteer at the 21st Century Leadership Center, welcomes and introduces Dr. Charles Cotrell, President of St. Mary's University. Dr. Cotrell introduces Dick Ferguson, Executive Director of the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community at the University of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Ferguson shows a PowerPoint slideshow which highlights the success the Fitz Center and the University of Dayton have had with reaching out and connecting with their surrounding neighborhood. Dr. Cotrell then comments on the history of St. Mary's University and the neighboring community. A question and answer session concludes this panel presentation. (66 minutes)

Floyd Contreras, President's Peace Commissioner and St. Mary's student, moderates and introduces this panel. Mr. Contreras introduces Ramón Flores, the Director of Westside Development Corp., which was assigned by the San Antonio City Council to economically develop the West side of San Antonio. Mr. Contreras then introduces Chris R. Martínez, Vice President of Central Electric and President of Westside Development Corporation. Dr. Henry Flores, the Dean of the Graduate School at St. Mary's University, is introduced and he speaks about the history of the West side of San Antonio. A brief question and answer period concludes this session. (76 minutes)

Dr. Rudy Vela, S.M. welcomes the audience and introduces the panelists: Rita Velásquez is the Associate Director of the Lay Ministry Institute at Oblate School of Theology; Bonnie Lame Abadie is the Director of the Pastoral Lay Ministry Programs at Oblate School of Theology; and Don Arispe is from the 21st Century Leadership Center at St. Mary's University. Three student volunteers read a proclamation from the Gospel of Luke -- the story of the Good Samaritan. A clip from the movie Godspell is also shown depicting the story of the Good Samaritan. St. Mary's University's mission statement and vision statement are examined. (46 minutes)

Norma Gaier, Director of Career Services at St. Mary's University, moderates this session and introduces the panelists. Dr. Neva Davenport, professor of Education at St. Mary's University, talks about teaching teachers to be aware of socio-economic status of their students and about her successful summer camp program Camp Read-A-Lot. Mr. Steven Hemphill, St. Mary's University alum, speaks about his experience at Central Catholic High School and the Liberation through Education Conference, held on St. Mary's Campus and how later, as a StMU student, he would help continue that program. Dr. Doug Hall, professor of Computer Science, at St. Mary's challenges the audience to make a difference. A brief question and answer period concludes this session. (48 minutes)

Dr. Sandra Vásquez, M.D. of the St. Mary's University Student Health Center, moderates this session. Dr. Vásquez introduces Dr. Fernando Martínez of the Community Health Worker Program at Northwest Vista College. Dr. Martínez explains how the Program promotes a holistic approach to community interactions and uses the social work model as opposed to the medical model for those interactions. This Program has been quite successful in its outreach to the surrounding community. A brief question and answer period concludes the session. (46 minutes)

Wayne Romo, Director of University Ministry at St. Mary's University and President's Peace Commissioner, moderates this session. He introduces Diane Bertrand, reads a portion of one of her books about growing up on Texas Avenue in San Antonio. Rudy Arispe, musician, reads from an article he wrote about Fiesta's King for the Conexion supplement to the San Antonio Express-News. Sister Barbara Paleczny shows slides of some of her paintings. A brief question and answer session concludes this presentation. (50 minutes)

Roy Robbins, professor of Economics at St. Mary's University, moderates this panel discussion. Dr. Steven Nivin of the Economic Development Department of the City of San Antonio talks about urban economic revitalization and how colleges and universities impact the local economy; he estimates the St. Mary's University economic impact to be approximately $100.3 million. Ramiro Cavazos, Director of the Research and Economic Development at the University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio, speaks directly to the economic development and revitalization of San Antonio. (66 minutes)

Rebeckah Day, Vice President for Administration and Finance at St. Mary's University, moderates this panel discussion. Police Chief Paul Glowacki reports about the safety of the St. Mary's campus and surrounding neighborhood. Ms. Yolanda Segovia, from the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, provides crime rates and statistics. Father Jimmy Drennon, former San Antonio police officer and Pastor at St. Paul's Catholic Church, discusses university-community relationships. (70 minutes)

Patricia Mejia moderates this panel discussion, which includes Jo Cox, the first University Park Neighborhood Association president; Elena Guajardo, District 7 Councilwoman; and Rick Idar, current president of the University Park Neighborhood Association. The panelists discuss the need to have pride in the neighborhood and the need for improved infrastructure, including sidewalks. (65 minutes)

Note: This year's Art of Peace Award was awarded posthumously.
Abbie Cotrell welcomes the audience. Diane Bertrand reads a story of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. and shows a video of Mr. Sanchez reading his work in Karen Navarte's international literature class. An unidentified man then reads a few of Sanchez's poems. Fernando Esteban Flores reads two of Sanchez's poems. The Choral Santa Maria sings. Ramón [Vasquez?] reads two of Sanchez's poems. Jim Brandenburg [sp?] talks about Trinidad and reads the introduction to Poems of the Father. The St. Mary's orchestra plays a few numbers. Ms. Cotrell presents Trinidad Sanchez's widow with the Art of Peace Award.