Ball Gowns, Birthdays, Bocelli! Italian-Chic Soiree Raises Nearly $2M for UST Scholarships

Ball Gowns, Birthdays, Bocelli! Italian-Chic Soiree Raises Nearly $2M for UST Scholarships

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, Annie Graham, Rev. Dempsey Rosales-Acosta, Bob Graham

THE UNIVERSITY OF St. Thomas welcomed more than 900 black-tie-clad revelers to its annual Scholarship Gala, held in the ballroom of the Hilton Americas hotel Downtown. The event simultaneously toasted the 75th birthday of Cardinal DiNardo, the metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston.

In attendance were a number of current and former UST students, who took time to share their experience at the university and how much scholarships have meant to them. It was revealed that proceeds from the live auction as well as the paddles-up segment would be put towards establishing an annual scholarship in the name of Cardinal DiNardo.

The celebratory affair took on an Italian theme, from the delicious dinner to the evening's entertainment, Matteo Bocelli, who wandered throughout the ballroom dancing with lucky partygoers. Live-auction packages tipped their hat to the theme, too, as in a private dinner with His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and Dr. Richard and Melynda Ludwick in the private Positano Room at Amalfi restaurant.

The festive fete concluded with a dessert parade, which featured a sparkler-topped cake for the birthday boy and mini cakes for all the guests.

Cynthia and Tony Petrello

Denise Castillo-Rhodes, Robert Sergesketter, Paula Hanson

Dr. Richard Ludwick, Melynda Ludwick

UST student Christel Vallagomesa

Honorary Chairs Bishop Italo Dell'Oro, CRS and Raye G. White, Honoree His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Event Chairs Ginger and John Niemann

Isabel and Ignacio "Nacho" Torras

Matteo Bocelli

Megan Jarchow, Craig Jarchow, Angela Jarchow

Lois Davis, Father Charles Hough

Lois and Richard Folger

Parties

'Technicolor Tombstone'

THERE IS A pivotal scene in The Matrix where Morpheus (played by a thoroughly in-shape Laurence Fishburne) prepares the film’s hapless hero (played by a pre-John Wick Keanu Reeves) for his jump into the proverbial rabbit hole by asking him, “Have you ever had a dream . . . that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Apollo Chamber Players and, right, DJ Spooky

CAN MUSIC EXPRESS the sound of a melting ice cap? It’s a question Houston’s Apollo Chamber Players and New York-based composer, author, and multi-media artist Paul Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky, will explore Nov. 18 at the Burke Baker Planetarium in “Canceled,” a concert of works for string quartet, digital electronics, and A.I. generated visuals.

Keep Reading Show less