In a return to an on-campus, outdoor event, TMI Episcopal held its 123rd graduation ceremony Thursday, May 20, on the school’s Howell Field — the first time it was held there since 2010. Under sunset skies, 81 seniors were welcomed as TMI’s newest alumni.
The student speaker, chosen by the faculty, was Dylan Pegg ‘21, shown below, who was editor-in-chief of The Muse literary magazine and will be attending Rochester Institute in the fall to study Game Design and Development.
“Even though we are, and always will be, bonded together as Panthers,” Dylan said, “we cannot forget that above all else, this school has prepared us to be servant-leaders. We can continue to see the light in everyone around us, whether it’s a new professor, a friend or a food-service worker. Likewise, we must continue loving our neighbors, regardless of if that love is reciprocated. The class of 2021 has had no trouble doing these things before, so I’m confident we’ll continue to bring love and continue to serve no matter where we are.”
Their diplomas were presented by the Rev. Scott Brown, head of school (and father of Parker ‘21), and senior awards were presented by Dean of Students Sherry Brown (wife of Ernest L. Brown IV ‘80 and mother of Tyler ‘10, Ernest V ‘12 and Conor ‘13).
Father Scott also presented awards. Yu “Nikki” Fang ‘21, below, was the recipient of the Bishop’s Cup, presented to the student who has demonstrated the finest qualities of Christian citizenship and has shown due regard to the rights and needs of others. She was a company officer in the Texas Military Institute Corps of Cadets, communications officer in TMI’s chapter of the National Honor Society and leader of the Spanish Club’s fundraiser for the Border Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, who will be attending Carnegie Mellon University. The Bishop’s Cup is presented as a memorial to Charles F. Turbiville, given by his family, including Richard Turbiville ‘63 and Tom Turbiville ‘66.
Joshua Thayil ‘21, below, was the recipient of the Founder’s Award, which honors the Rt. Rev. James S. Johnston, who founded the school in 1893, and is presented to the student who best embodies the mission of TMI — a student who is dedicated to excellence, cares deeply for others and is motivated to be a servant leader. He was battalion commander of the Corps, a National Merit Commended Scholar, Honor Council member and an Academic All-State swimmer, who will be going to Baylor University.
Chloe Harthan ‘21 (sister of Chad ‘17 and Claire ‘24) was the recipient of the Burleson Award for the best senior chapel talk. She is the winner of multiple Scholastic Gold Key art awards and a member of the National Latin Honor Society, who will be attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Members of the TMI class of 2021 were offered a total of $10,120,235 in scholarship funds for all four years of their college education. In state, they will attend colleges and universities including Baylor, Southern Methodist University, Southwestern, Texas A&M University at College Station, Trinity and the University of Texas at Austin. Out of state, TMI graduates will matriculate at colleges and universities including Arizona State at Tempe, Boston University, Brandeis, California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Harvard, Howard, Louisiana State University, Purdue University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California; and internationally at Tecnológico de Monterrey and the University of Chester (UK).
Of this year’s graduates, 22 were designated Alpha Omegas (shown below) for having attended TMI from sixth through 12th grade. Another 32 qualified as members of the National Honor Society.
Class of 2021 graduates Jonathan Adams, Rachel Davis, Anthony Fletcher, Charles “Teddy” Lopez, Erik Peterson and Josh Thayil also were represented as National Merit Commended Scholars, Advanced Placement Scholars and in the National African American and National Hispanic recognition programs (some of whom are shown here as they were honored during daily chapel).
Five TMI alumni have committed to play college sports as follows: Christian Cuellar plans to play tennis for the University of the Incarnate Word; Patricio Parra, soccer at Cornell; Sydney Serratos, soccer, Cal Tech; Tristan Smith, soccer, University of Chester (UK); and Pato Wray, baseball at Hardin-Simmons.
Congratulations to all our new alumni as they begin the next chapter of their lives!
Photo by Allan Rupe ‘80 (father of Simon Rupe ‘21)
Gifts that keep on giving
Class gifts still enhance life at TMI
For at least the past 50 years, TMI students have raised funds and made contributions to their school as a parting gift, usually announced at graduation.
For the class of 2021, it’s a life-size statue of a panther for the planned Panther Park outdoor recreation area. Many other gifts have been art pieces that still grace the campus, such as the metal wall sculpture commissioned for the class of 2014 that adorns the Ayres Hall arcade with symbols of the school’s spiritual and historic roots. The design was determined by class officers with the help of TMI Art Teacher Allan Rupe ’80 and was fabricated by metal sculptor Casey Tennison of CT Metalworks Inc., whose family includes several TMI alumni — father-in-law Charles Jerome Kerr ’66, aunt Dana Gardner Wilson ’76 and stepfather Marrs McLean Bowman ’61.
The artwork depicts a merging of the Episcopal and TMI shields, the latter based on the inverted cross of St. Peter and the school’s classic crest, with an excerpt from the beloved school hymn, “For the Splendor of Creation,” by Carl P. Daw Jr.
Other art gifts include a miniature sculpture of “The Thinker,” by Auguste Rodin, given by the class of 2002 and kept in Jones Library; a watercolor painting of “Old Main” at the Alamo Heights campus, commissioned from award-winning local artist Hal Sims by the class of 1985 and displayed in the Alumni Welcome Center on the second floor of Ayres Hall; and spirit murals painted for the class of 2001 in the gyms of Frost Athletic Center.
By consulting publications, files and alumni, the Alumni Relations Office has begun to compile a list of class gifts. So far, the following have been documented:
1971 — Gate on natatorium at Alamo Heights campus
1979 — Restoration of a World War II-era artillery piece (an Army-surplus 37 mm antitank gun acquired by the school during the late 1940s. Until the mid-1970s, TMI cadets were given tactical training not only with individual but crew-served weapons.)
1985 — Hal Sims painting of “Old Main” (above)
1993 — Centennial marker (celebrating the school’s 100th anniversary and incorpating the cornice from “Old Main” into a part of the current campus)
1998 — Cross at top of Johnston Amphitheater
2001 — Spirit murals for gyms in Frost Athletic Center
2005 — Contribution toward gym sound system and student scholarships
2010 — Contribution toward Roger Kramer Observatory and Virgil Espino Telescope, honoring two longtime TMI science teachers, to which alumni Patrick Garcia ‘72 and the Vaughan brothers Curtis ‘69, George ‘75, Richard ‘79 and Robert ‘72 also made generous donations
2012 — Contributions toward campus WiFi installation and Senior Lounge furnishings in Jones Library
2013 — Four water-bottle refilling stations in Coates Hall and Frost Athletic Center to reduce use of disposable plastic bottles
2017 — Contribution toward future construction, since applied to the Walker Innovation Center
2018 — Contribution toward the Cafe 18 student snack bar, named in honor of the class of 2018
2019 — Contribution toward production of The Muse student literary magazine
2020 — Contribution toward an expansion of Cafe 18 (outdoor seating area)
2021 — Panther sculpture for future Panther Park outdoor recreation area
We know there are more class gifts unrecorded here and would like to know when the tradition began and to compile a full list. Every class gift adds something special to the campus and to our community’s experience of it…but many weren’t documented in school publications because they were announced after yearbooks and student newspapers had gone to press. And while some have plaques that establish them as class gifts, other contributions didn’t lend themselves to marking in this way. Some were used at the Alamo Heights campus and couldn’t be moved in 1989 to the present campus, and some were part of TMI until the end of their useful life. All were appreciated and should be remembered with thanks.
If your class gift is not on the list above, please let us know what it was at advancement@tmi-sa.org so we can create a complete list to be linked to the alumni webpage.
Events
Alumni Day 2021
On the way from Final Pass in Review to the campus tours portion of Alumni Day 2021, alumni and guests take April showers in their stride.
Uncertain weather didn’t dampen Panther spirits at TMI Alumni Day on April 30! From mist to rain to sunshowers and ending with a spectacular rainbow, it was the first on-campus alumni event since March 2020 — and it was a beautiful day, no matter what was happening in the changeable skies over TMI Episcopal.
Around 90 alumni and their guests attended at least one of the afternoon’s events, representing members of the classes of 1959 through 2020. Thanks to all who attended; in case you missed it, you can still participate through this recap and the links below!
At Final Pass in Review, Army Maj. Azizi Van Delden Wesmiller ’01, center, was welcomed back to TMI by Texas Military Institute Corps of Cadets Commandant retired Army Maj. Joseph Claburn, Battalion Commander Joshua Thayil ’21, Claire Rollwitz ’22 and JROTC instructor retired Master Sgt. Chad Gooding. Azizi came all the way from Fort Knox, Kentucky, to serve as reviewing official for Final Pass in Review, where alumni were offered reserved seating on Howell Field and were recognized in the commentary.
Members of the class of 2020, including Brandon Collins, JJ Gonzalez, Boyd Meltzer, Stow Neilson, Nicholas Proffitt, Nicholas Tawil and Nick Van Steenberg attended to congratulate the senior cadets to whom they handed off during the previous year’s end-of-year ceremony.
Dean of Innovation Justin Kutscherousky talks to alumni and their guests about the innovation and design program at TMI in the school’s new Walker Innovation Center.
Alumni and their guests had the opportunity to tour updated areas of the campus including the O.S. Petty Rifle Range, refurbished last year; Walker Innovation Center, completed last fall; and Frost Athletic Center, with championship trophies form 2020-2021; and they heard a talk on new developments in TMI’s Residential Life program.
Head of School Father Scott Brown congratulates alumni inducted to the Hall of Fame 2020-2021, including (clockwise from left) Jeremy Bernard ‘81, Richard M. “Tres” Kleberg III ‘60, Vernon “Butch” Schimmel Jr. ‘60, Courtney Wiley Caldwell ‘97 and 1995-1997 championship swim team members Megan Clark ‘97, Nikolaus Newman ‘99, James Willmann ‘96 and Nicole Martinez De La Pena ‘96.
New members of the TMI Hall of Fame were inducted in an annual ceremony held during Alumni Day in All Saints Chapel. The honorary society, founded in 2015, recognizes outstanding alumni, with Distinguished Servant Leader awards for faculty, staff and friends of TMI. This year’s alumni inductees were author and former White House aide Jeremy Bernard ‘81, award-winning tech entrepreneur Courtney Wiley Caldwell, the championship swim teams of 1995-1997, longtime San Antonio Stock Show Chairman Richard M. “Tres” Kleberg III ‘60 and high-school and college All American swimmer Vernon “Butch” Schimmel Jr. ‘60.
At the request of the alumni swimmers, the late Betsy Carson Rupe, their assistant coach and former TMI science teacher, was made an honorary member of the team with a tribute read by James Willmann ’96 (above), and she received a posthumous Distinguished Servant Leader award, accepted by her husband, Allan Rupe ’80 (below), TMI art teacher and parent of Keith ’18, Simon ’21 and Isaac ’24.
Also honored posthumously was Master Sgt. J.W. Bohner, a longtime TMI dorm parent with his wife Evelyn “Pete” Bohner, father of Jay Bohner ‘69 and Jack Bohner ‘72, and survivor of the Bataan Death March. He was nominated by Bill Thompson ‘72, who accepted the award on behalf of the family.
In case you missed it: To see a recording of the ceremony, click here.To submit Hall of Fame nominations: Use this form to suggest future inductees.
Concluding the festivities, alumni and their guests got a chance to congratulate the honorees and catch up with classmates at an Alumni Welcome Back Reception catered by TMI’s own Sage Dining food service, featuring a buffet of savory snacks and bite-size desserts.
To view an album of photos from Alumni Day 2021, please click here.SAVE THE DATES:
September 10, TMI Alumni Association Modified Sporting Clay ShootOctober 8, Homecoming/class reunions Details to come; watch your inbox and the TMI Special Events webpage!
Alumni Archives
Mary Veal ‘89 and Ed Veal ‘87
Many thanks to Ed Veal, who donated cheer gear that belonged to his late sister Mary Veal. Ed and his wife Janet, who live in the Dallas area where he is a computer specialist, attended Alumni Day and made arrangements to drop off these items, which will be kept in the TMI Archives and displayed at alumni events. Mary (third from left, below) was on the cheer squad for three years and served as head cheerleader for her junior and senior years. The gift of her uniform, spirit stick and letter jacket will help future historians and researchers determine the years when photos were taken or other uniform pieces were used.
Another gift from a cheerleader made the same day was a megaphone used by Olive Anne Musgrave as a Saint Mary’s Hall student in the era before coeducation came to TMI. She is now the wife of Tres Kleberg ‘60, who brought it to Alumni Day, where it was added to a display of memorabilia related to the classes of Hall of Fame inductees, including himself.
Olive Anne, at far right, was partnered in this photo by Butch Schimmel ‘60, another Hall of Fame inductee who cheered during football season and set swimming records later in the year.
Mrs. Kleberg’s megaphone has joined a few others donated by former TMI cheerleaders and their families, currently on display in TMI’s Jones Library with photos and football memorabilia.
Alumni News
Graduation times two
At least two TMI families are known to have had two graduations this year — one for a member of the TMI class of 2021 and another for a TMI alum graduating from college.
Charles M. “Chad” Harthan IV ‘17 graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Data Science on May 22, and his sister Chloe graduated May 20 from TMI, where she received the Panther Citizenship Award for the Upper School student who best represents TMI as a leader throughout the campus, as well as the Burleson Award for the best senior chapel talk.
From left, Charles M. “Chuck” Harthan III, Chad ‘17, Chloe, Claire ‘24 and Lisa Harthan celebrate Chloe’s May 20 graduation from TMI. Chad graduated from UT-Austin two days later.
Ana Paula Velasco ‘17 graduated cum laude from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington D.C. in a virtual ceremony, and her brother Jorge “Georgie” graduated from TMI.
Ana Paula Velasco ‘17 designed the stole she wore, honoring her family, for her recent virtual graduation from George Washington University.
Jorge “Georgie” Velasco shows off his TMI diploma after the May 20 on-campus graduation ceremony. For their next moves, the four graduates will relocate to different parts of the country. Chad is working as a project managing engineer at Dallas-based Texas Instruments, and Chloe will start next fall at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, while Ana Paula is moving to Seattle in the fall and will work virtually from there for a year, and Georgie will attend George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Congratulations to the Harthan and Velasco families on celebrating these joyous dual milestones together!
Dario Davis ‘98, Aaron Cornelius ‘15
Two TMI alumni were participants in the “Living in My Skin” multimedia exhibit that depicts the lived experience of Black men in San Antonio. A book by that title — of which copies were donated to TMI’s Jones Library by the Cornelius family — collects portraits by advertising executive/artist Lionel Sosa with thoughtful quotes from the subjects, who also are featured in a KLRN-TV documentary that may be viewed here.
Recent Syracuse University graduate Aaron Cornelius ‘15 and solar energy consultant Dario Davis, who attended with the class of 1998, are among the 33 Black males ranging in age from 10 to 90 who are pictured and quoted. Other distinguished Black San Antonians depicted include San Antonio School District COO Willie T. Burroughs, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles N. Hood, Harmon Kelley, M.D., retired Air Force Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr. and State District Court Judge William “Cruz” Shaw.
Recent Syracuse University graduate Aaron Cornelius ‘15 and solar energy consultant Dario Davis, who attended with the class of 1998, are among the 33 Black males ranging in age from 10 to 90 who are pictured and quoted. Other distinguished Black San Antonians depicted include San Antonio School District COO Willie T. Burroughs, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles N. Hood, Harmon Kelley, M.D., retired Air Force Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr. and State District Court Judge William “Cruz” Shaw.
Exhibit sponsors include Bank of America, Frost Bank, Kiolbassa, the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and Valero. For more details, visit the website here.
Anthony Fletcher ‘21, Sydney Serratos ‘21
Once again, TMI Episcopal was honored with the choice of more than one of our seniors to be featured in the “Scholar-Athlete of the Week” segment of KSAT-TV’s sportscast.
Anthony Fletcher ’21, who will attend Harvard in the fall, was recognized by both the National Hispanic Scholar and National African American recognition programs, served as a company commander in the Texas Military Institute Corps of Cadets and was a member of TMI’s three-time championship varsity soccer team. His interview, which aired May 23, may be viewed here.
Sydney Serratos ‘21, who will attend Cal Tech, was noted as an AP Scholar and member of the National Spanish Honor Society and was co-captain and four year member of the varsity soccer team, named twice to district honor teams. Her interview, which aired May 17, may be viewed here. He plans to study government and economics, while she expects to major in chemical engineering. We thank them for representing TMI on TV so well!
Don’t forget to send us your news at advancement@tmi-sa.org or by using this form.
Class Notes
1997
Elizabeth and Mark Davis welcomed their third child, Luke Robert Davis, born Dec. 24, 2020.
Stephanie Lamprea, a singer who performs contemporary-classical and avant-garde vocal music, was accepted to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and will begin her doctoral studies next fall in Glasgow, Scotland.
Paula Skandis was named Volunteer of the Year at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Lakewood, Washington, at a volunteer recognition ceremony for civilian and service members held May 13 at The Club at McChord Field. As a military spouse, Paula was recognized for her work as vice president of Santa’s Castle’s, an annual program that provides gifts to children of military families experiencing financial difficulties. During the 2020 holiday season, she designed a process that streamlined appointment scheduling, so that Santa’s Castle was able to process and aid more families than any year prior. With the help of donors and volunteer “elves,” the program distributed $219,981 in toys, books, games, bikes and stocking stuffers to 2,633 children from 1,245 military families.
Paula also served as the coordinator for the McChord Family Scholarship Fund, where she transformed the process to an online format, making it accessible to more individuals. Skandis also served as the Soldier and Family Readiness Group leader for two companies and managed both unit’s social media platforms.
Don’t forget to send us your news at advancement@tmi-sa.org or by using this form.
In Memoriam
TMI remembers those members of our alumni community who have recently passed away. If you know of an alumnus/a who has passed, please email advancement@tmi-sa.org with the name, class year and a link to the obituary or call us at (210) 564-6155.
To stay current with all things TMI, follow TMI Alumni Facebook, join TMI Alumni Connections and share your news by using this form, also found by using this QR code with your phone’s camera or QR scanner app:
Or reach out to Alumni Relations at advancement@tmi-sa.org…we’re always happy to hear from you!
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