Mary Jo grew up around UD. In fact, her father was in UDs first graduating class in 1960, and her brothers went to Cistercian. As her family grew it was always covered by the protective shadow of the Tower, she said.

It was not until recently, however, that Mary Jo became a student at UD. After spending 25 years working in the for-profit realm with Neiman-Marcus and raising her family, she decided that she wanted to do something for the Catholic Church.

She started working for the Marrillac Social Center 10 years ago. Mary Jo sees her time in retail as part of Gods plan; her experiences and the skills she learned in the business world now help her to serve more people more effectively in her current position as Associate Director of Development and Communications at Catholic Charities of Dallas.

While Mary Jo was starting her career at Catholic Charities, she was beginning to think about returning to school to study theology. She took her first class at the Neuhoff Institute six years ago, and finished her coursework for a masters degree in theological studies in August 2010 during one of the SOMs Summer in Rome sessions. Each class was like another brick in the foundation.

Her classes on moral theology, church history, and Vatican II all answered the questions of what do I believe? and what am I going to do to keep it alive? she says.

Mary Jo intends to continue her legacy with UD. She is currently working with Dr. Marti Jewell, assistant professor in the Neuhoff Institute, to develop internship opportunities for the SOM at Catholic Charities of Dallas.