THE THOMAS AND SELBY PRINCE BUILDING The Thomas and Selby Prince Building brings much needed space for the arts, sciences, teaching and administrative offices to the campus of Our Lady’s University. The 38,000 square foot facility includes the 400-seat O’Bryan Performance Hall, 125-seat Donahue Family Blackbox Theatre, the nursing program, the Mother Teresa Museum, the Enrollment Office, classrooms and faculty offices. The building was launched in dedication to Mother Teresa and is crowned with a sacred mosaic of St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta on its exterior, an image celebrating the inspiration both of these modern saints provide to the University. The building is a vibrant place for Ave Maria University students and the community to gather, allowing the University to host activities and events in ways previously not possible on campus. The investment of the Princes and many others in this incredible new facility that enlivens so many dimensions of the life of the University will pay dividends for Ave Maria students for generations to come.
MOTHER TERESA PROJECT The Mother Teresa Project (MTP) is producing graduates who convey her compassion and teachings to the next generation and spread peace in the same manner as she did—one person at a time. Through the MTP, students immerse themselves in the spirituality and life of Mother Teresa through her writings and participating in service work locally and internationally alongside the Missionaries of Charity (MCs). Ave Maria students perform thousands of hours of volunteer service and mission work annually, both locally in the neighboring farm town of Immokalee and across the globe in countries such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Mexico, as a part of the Mother Teresa Project. Bernadette Hartney, a biochemistry major from Ave Maria, had the opportunity to participate in a 5-day mission trip to Haiti led by Mary Towey, wife of President Towey. “Going to Haiti opened my eyes in many different ways,” says Bernadette, “I had never seen such poverty and state of living in my life as we experienced in Haiti.” During this mission trip, students worked alongside MCs at their compound in Port-au-Prince, served in the Children’s Home, and accompanied the sisters as they traveled to other cities, tending to men, women and children in need. “The joy emanating from the MCs was contagious,” Bernadette continues, “and it was truly a gift to be able to share in their joy by serving others.”
