Committed to the Charism

The Marianists are a worldwide family of Catholic brothers, priests, sisters and committed lay people. The Society of Mary (S.M. – Marianists) is the male religious order of brothers and priests. The Daughters of Mary Immaculate (F.M.I. – Marianist Sisters) is the female religious order of sisters in the Marianist Family.

The Marianists are distinguished by their particular charism — the particular gift or collection of gifts given by God to a congregation for the benefit of the Christian community.

As men dedicated to Mary as a model of faith, members of the Society of Mary seek to witness to the Gospel by living in and building communities of faith wherever they are.

A unique feature of the Marianist charism is its embodiment of a discipleship of equals: brothers and priests share equal status within the congregation, and more broadly, they play their part in the wider Marianist Family, which includes sisters and lay men and women who share in the same charism and work collaboratively. Like Mary, Marianist brothers and sisters strive to bring Christ to the world and work for the coming of His kingdom.

What is a Marianist School?

Members of the faculty and staff of all three Marianist universities (Chaminade University, St. Mary’s University and the University of Dayton) developed a resource paper to describe how these characteristics are lived out at the university level. The paper was published in 1999 and serves as a guide for all people involved in higher education in the Marianist tradition.

VIEW THE MARIANIST UNIVERSITIES FLIPBOOK

  • 3 O’clock Prayer

    The 3 O’clock Prayer is a Marianist tradition encouraging the Marianist family to reflect on Jesus’ passion, the role of Mary, and the ongoing mission of the Church.

Marianist Liturgical Calendar

Because we are a Marianist and Catholic University, we are invited by the liturgical year to deepen our prayer and our spiritual life. May our careful celebration of our many special Marianist feasts and Blesseds assist us in our following of Jesus Christ, Son of God become Son of Mary.

  • Jan. 22: Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
  • May 12: Mary, Mother of Graces and Mediatrix
  • May 25: Mary, Help of Christians
  • July 11: Feast of Saint Benedict
  • Aug. 13: Memorial of Blessed Jakob Gapp, Martyr
  • Sept. 5: Mary, Queen of Apostles
  • Sept. 12: Holy Name of Mary
  • Sept. 18: Memorial of Blesseds Carlos Eraña, Fidel Fuidio, and Jesús Hita, Martyrs
  • Oct. 12: Our Lady of the Pillar
  • Nov. 6: Memorial of Blesseds Miguel Léibar, Florencio Arnáiz, Sabino Ayastuy, and Joaquín Ochoa, Martyrs

Marianist Heritage Award

The Marianist Heritage Award, given each year since 1981, recognizes faithfulness to the Marianist heritage. It is expressed by an interest in the development of the Marianist charism through efforts at increasing knowledge and working for its transformation into practice in the University community.

The Marianist Heritage Award is also an award for faithfulness to our Catholic heritage, shown by an active participation in liturgical celebrations, in the development of the local Christian community, and in service to the broader Christian community. It is an award for faithfulness in supporting and promoting the Catholic and Marianist educational mission and tradition at St. Mary’s University.

Any member of the University community — Board of Trustees, Administration, Faculty, Professional and Support Staff, including professed members of the Society of Mary and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate from those categories — may be nominated.

When selecting a candidate for this award, candidates are considered as someone who is faithful to the development of the Marianist charism at St. Mary’s University and lives responsively to the characteristics that make St. Mary’s a Marianist University. Through her or his work within the University community, the nominee should model, by thought, word and action, the Characteristics of a Marianist University.

  • 1981: Paul Daily
  • 1982: Robert B. O’Connor, Ph.D.
  • 1983: Professor Kenneth J. Carey and Melba Fisher
  • 1984: Patricia Egan
  • 1985: Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D.
  • 1986: Nancy Roth-Roffy
  • 1987: Homer Fetzer, Ph.D.
  • 1988: Peggy Huntzinger
  • 1989: Angelina Cortez
  • 1990: Al J. Notzon, III and Ann Semel, S.S.N.D., Ph.D.
  • 1991: Lee Brown, Ph.D. and Geri Telepak, D.Min.
  • 1992: Gloria Hanna and Aloysius A. Leopold, J.D.
  • 1993: Rita Castanon and Roy E. Robbins
  • 1994: Teacher Education Dept.
  • 1995: Olivia Cameron and Ruben Candia, Ph.D.
  • 1996: Charles Jenkins and Ruth R. Rodgers
  • 1997: José Juarez, J.D. and Karen Narvarte, Ph.D. cand.
  • 1998: Ana C. Alicea and Daniel J. White
  • 1999: Janet Belew Dizinno, Ph.D. and Hector H. Gonzalez
  • 2000: Andrew J. Hill, J.D. and Mary Lynne Gasaway Hill, Ph.D.
  • 2001: Karen D. Johnson and David E. Ramirez
  • 2002: Deacon Ernest Roy Amo and Judy M. Geelhoed
  • 2003: Candace J. Kuebker and Ileana C. Velazquez
  • 2004: Pamela De Roche and Ana M. Novoa, J.D.
  • 2005: Larry Hufford, Ph.D. and Kurt Webber, Ph.D.
  • 2006: Rafael Moras, Ph.D and Kathy Sisoian
  • 2007: Rey Gustamente and Paul Uhlig, Ph.D.
  • 2008: Patricia J. Helton and Steve Neiheisel, Ph.D.
  • 2009: Dan Higgins, Ph.D., Mike Pankey and Gary Thompson
  • 2010: Zaida Martinez, Ph.D. and Ruben Escobedo
  • 2011: Rev. John A. Leies, SM, Bahman Rezaie, Ph.D. and Liza Sanchez
  • 2012: Robert Elizondo, Charles Cantu, J.D., Thomas Madison, Ph.D., Jacqueline Dansby, Ph.D. and Rev. Kip Stander, SM
  • 2013: Peggy Curet, Guillermo Martinez, Palmer Hall, Ph.D. and Ann Karam
  • 2014: Michael Losiewicz, Ph.D., Kathe Lehman-Meyer, Carlos Sanchez and Sr. Grace Walle, FMI
  • 2015: Patricia Garcia, Lucien Manchester, Ph.D. and President Thomas Mengler
  • 2016: Diedra Coleman, Aaron Tyler, Ph.D. and Rosemarie Wahl, Ph.D.
  • 2017: Rosalind Alderman, Ph.D., Stephanie Ward, Ph.D. and Winston Erevelles, Ph.D.
  • 2018: Eva Bueno, Ph.D., Irwin Goldberg, Ph.D. and Denise Delgado
  • 2019: Diane Duesterhoeft and Maria A. Smith
  • 2020: Elvia Quijano and Rosalinda Helbig
  • 2021: David Sommer, Jeff Schomberg and Steve Hemphill
  • 2022: Clare Acosta, Angel Tazzer Rodriguez, Kimberly Thornton, and Gregory Zlotnick
  • 2023: Ajaya Swain, Ph.D., Prasad Padmanabhan, Ph.D., and Magdalena Salazar
  • 2024: Jeffrey Johnson, Ph.D., Leticia Morales-Bissaro, Linda Muller, Dianne Pipes, and Betsy L. Smith, Ph.D.,
MARIANIST HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENTS
  • 1984: Nicki Beaudoin and Christopher Metress
  • 1985: Patrick Morrissey and Marcia Nelson
  • 1986: Mark Kokotajlo and Nina Ryan
  • 1987: R. J. Muraski and Julie Van Haute
  • 1988: Marlon Anderson, Laura Besze and Paul Combest
  • 1989: Margaret Janecek and Glen Mitchell
  • 1990: Gerardo B. Flores and Cheryl Van Leeuwen
  • 1991: Robb Garcia, Jennifer Hugger and Roderick Wright Jr.
  • 1992: Michael Boatner, Ruth Cano and Jody Thesing
  • 1993: Kathy Cochran, Rick Ott and Sally Ramirez
  • 1994 James B. Everitt and Mary Schrader
  • 1995: Christine Frank, Kathleen McCullough and George Nuñez
  • 1996: Mónica M. González and Donald R. Walker Jr.
  • 1997: Terri Barfield, Thomas Forehand and Catherine L. White
  • 1998: Sister Germaine Ocansey, H.H.C.J. and Eduardo Vega
  • 1999: Yvette Delgado and John Braxton Wright
  • 2000: Rick Benavidez and Beatriz “Betty” Lastra
  • 2001: Marida I. Carmona, Matthew D. Mangum and Rudy Reyes Jr.
  • 2002: Lucien R. Costley and Cristina M. Dominguez
  • 2003: John L. Gill and Lynette M. Valdez
  • 2004: Shane P. Keyser and Gustavo Segura
  • 2005: Luis R. Guerra and Fred Esteban Hemphill
  • 2006: John J. Fogarty and Gregorio Pardo III
  • 2007: Jennifer Buchmeyer and Henry Van de Putte III
  • 2008: Andria Brannon, Sarah Ingram and Rachel Keller
  • 2009: Meagan Freasier and Dan McCarthy
  • 2010: Anahi Covarrubias, David W. Duarte and Francesanne Willis
  • 2011: Alfonso de la Torre-Narvarte
  • 2012: Francesca Garcia and Livia Spilotro
  • 2013: Anietie Akpan, Selena Rangel and Daniel Vasquez
  • 2014: Eric Uriegas
  • 2015: Ryan Munoz, Karl Wacker and Lindsay Johnson
  • 2016: Pablo Medina, Chantelle Ruidant and Julieta Sanchez
  • 2017: Micahel Maciel and Geovanie Ordonez
  • 2018: Ana M. Mahomar and Stephanie Harlien
  • 2019: Illiana Mallett and Pilar Martinez
  • 2020: Josemaria Soriano, Leslie Alvarez and Paul Pruski
  • 2021: Alyssa Sarmiento
  • 2022: Sarah Uhlig
  • 2023: Deni Cresto, Kristi Heerdegen and Jose Francisco Chaman
Marianist Student Leadership Award Recipients
Kai Solonka, a senior Philosophy major, plans to go to graduate school to become a licensed professional counselor and then get a Ph.D. in Philosophy.

The Marianist ideal in education is about perseverance and a duty that education — and knowing what to do and what not to do in certain situations — is the most important thing as opposed to just memorizing facts.”

Kai Solonka
Philosophy major

Marianist Educational Associates

In 2005, representatives from the three Marianist universities responded to an invitation from the Association of Marianist Universities (AMU) to build a partnership between the Marianist religious and lay collaborators on each campus.

That partnership would work to renew and strengthen the Catholic and Marianist mission and identity at the three universities.

The inspiration for the MEAs came from the Marianist Founder, Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, who had encouraged members and communities in the Marianist Family to enter into “dialogues of faith and culture.” 

He believed that there was a need for conversation and action in the new social and cultural setting created by the French Revolution.

Using the lens of a critically informed faith to probe that new world would enable people to understand the deep needs of the human heart and strengthen their personal commitment to the Christian faith. The Marianist Educational Associates takes its inspiration from that centerpiece of our early tradition.

Marianist Resources

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