Concurrent with the move to lay leadership, the Society of Mary empowered Marist School’s Board of Trustees, shifting the Board’s purview to governance where they previously had served as advisors. These two fundamental shifts, underpinned by years of forethought and planning, exemplify a vital and sustained collaboration among the Marist School President, the Board of Trustees, and the Society of Mary.

Bill Roche ’76, who served as chair of the Board of Trustees for 11 years, says Board members are ready and eager to protect and propel the mission of Marist School ever forward. “With the transition to lay leadership, we have discovered a renewed sense of joy in dedicating ourselves to broadening and advancing the Marist mission”.

New Board of Trustees chair Mike Cote concurs. “Our purpose as a Board is clear. Together with our fiduciary responsibilities, our work to ensure the Marist mission does not drift will be unceasing,” he said.

One essential way the Board is focusing on mission is through a Mission Committee, which has devised strategies and tactical means to boost awareness of the Marist mission. A key example is a series of reflections called My Marist. My Mission in which members of the Mission Committee share reflections that illustrate how they have been personally influenced and positively impacted by the Marist mission. Faculty and staff, too, have begun to author similar reflections about how the Marist mission resonates in their personal and professional lives.

Taking to heart the charge to ensure the Marist mission is sustained, the Mission Committee has developed a means to measure the soundness of the school’s mission alignment, creating a mission effectiveness tracking tool to ensure Marist School remains true in terms of its Catholicity and Marist values. The tool will be used as part of an accreditation of sorts, providing a means to evaluate Marist mission initiatives and identify opportunities for those to be improved and leveraged. Marist School’s mission effectiveness tracking tool will serve as a model that the Society of Mary will use at other Marist and Marist-sponsored schools across the United States.

Marist School Trustee Cathy Belatti, who chairs the Mission Committee, is confident these are steps in the right direction. “The Marist mission and the unique spirit of the Marists are .,so essential and so deeply engrained into the outstanding education Marist School provides. It is imperative that those of us entrusted with its care today do everything we can to preserve it for the future.”

Read the "My Marist. My Mission." reflection from Bill Roche '76.

Loyal Supporters Honored as Emeritus Trustees

As the Board of Trustees shoulders its new governance responsibilities, it honors a group of former trustees whose enduring devotion and generosity helped build the vibrant and beloved Marist School of today. Marist School recently named 31 individuals as Emeritus Trustees.

At a recent luncheon in their honor, Emeritus Trustees Chair Bill Young expressed appreciation for the time and commitment this esteemed group has dedicated to Marist School. He confirmed that they will continue to enjoy an important connection with the school and hoped the reverse would be the same as well. “Emeritus trustees can continue to contribute in many ways for generations to come.”

Bishop Joel Konzen, S.M., who was Marist School principal for 28 years before being called to serve as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, reminisced at the luncheon about the many ways the newly named emeritus trustees have served and guided the school. Acknowledging the importance of their service and abiding faith in Marist, he remarked, “I hope you can be proud of what Marist is doing today and the kind of thriving place it’s become…It’s a known entity, a trusted brand. You’ve made that happen.”

Emeritus Trustees

Mr. William D. Young, Jr. ’75, Chairman

Mrs. Maysie Spalding Beeson '85

Mr. William R. Buehler

Mrs. Patricia G. Butler

Mr. Reginald J. Clark

Dr. Victor E. Corrigan II ’75

Mr. Arnold A. Dill

Mr. Leroy W. Fails

Mr. David P. Fitzgerald

Mr. J. Robert “Bob” Fitzgerald

Mrs. Mary Ellen Garrett

Mr. James F. Geiger

Mr. Robert J. Gibson

Mr. Clifford E. Hardwick IV

Mr. Mark W. Hennessey ’72

Mr. Walter M. Hoff

Mrs. Mary Humann Judson ’84

Mr. Thomas W. Kitchin

Mrs. Barbara MacGinnitie

Mr. Jerry P. Malec

Mr. Edward C. Mitchell, Jr.

Dr. Alfred Msezane

Mr. R. W. Murray III ’65

Mr. Bertil D. Nordin

Mr. R. Lee Shaw

Mr. Clarence H. Smith '68

Mrs. Anne D. Sumpter

Dr. James E. Tally

Mr. Michael W. Trapp

Mr. Alfred Trujillo

Mr. James E. Winchester, Jr.