Brotherhood and Memories
The 2018-19 Alumni Tour kicked off on September 8 in Chicago, IL and included stops in South Bend, IN and Ann Arbor, MI. School President Jesuit Father Guillermo M. García-Tuñón '87, Executive Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations Phil Fernández '94 and I travelled to these locations and met with alumni.
The Alumni Tour is an opportunity to strengthen the Belen brotherhood, by bringing a bit of “home” to its graduates, while getting together to network, reminisce and get updated on the latest happenings at our school. By offering mentorship and advice to our graduates, we also hope to encourage more involvement with future fundraising events that help further our values for other generations. With this in mind, the Chicago event held at Ditka’s restaurant was a big success and served as a great opportunity for our current college students to connect with alumni who live in the area, while receiving, valuable career advice. For example, two classmates from 1959, Alfredo Gonzalez-Rodriguez and Osvaldo López-Sierra, provided valuable insight regarding the medical field to those gathered.
“I love seeing our established alumni connecting with our younger alumni and helping them move forward,” said Father Willie ‘87. “It’s funny, no matter the difference in age, we always seem to laugh at the same stories. As much as Belen has grown over the years it still has the same ‘magic’ that unites our brotherhood.”
In South Bend, alumni gathered at Sorin’s on the Notre Dame campus for an all you can eat brunch, a tour of the campus and to to watch the Dolphins football game. While visiting Ann Arbor, the guests were hosted by McKinley CEO Albert Berriz ‘74 and his wife at a wonderful dinner at the Chophouse. This event also offered unique networking opportunities for alumni, as they got to mingle with Patrick Doyle, former CEO of Domino’s Pizza and Luis González-Prendes ’65 and his brother Angel ’66 who provided perspective of what Belen was like in Cuba and Miami.
“Between the González-Prendes brothers, Berriz and Doyle, the alumni received great contacts, got solid career advice and heard some fantastic stories,” said Phil Fernández '94, Executive Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations.
The next stops on the Alumni Tour are Atlanta, GA on October 26, various Florida cities in February 21-24 and New York City on March 9, where all alumni around the country are invited to attend. For more information on any of these stops please visit, www.belenjesuit.org/alumnitour or call the Alumni Office 786-621-4667.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.