LMU BELLARMINE COLLE OF LIBERAL ARTS | There are several exceptional members of our university community, from students to faculty to staff to alumni, who often go without recognition. Hidden Heroes is an event that annually honors and celebrates those who are sources of hope or agents of justice and reconciliation within our LMU family.
Hidden Heroes is an incredibly special and unique event, and I have had the honor of being a part of it for three years in a row, this year as both stage manager and actor. The event exemplifies the transformative power of dramatized narratives, using performance to honor incredible people.
The event begins with a dramatized performance written by playwrights who have interviewed the recipients about their work, followed by the recipients receiving their Hidden Hero awards. This year includes seven extraordinary members of the LMU community and a community partner, who have dedicated their lives to service and justice, speaking truth to power, in turn inspiring many.
The honorees include:
- Stacy Barnes, director of development at LMU’s School of Film and Television, who has raised major gifts, directed alumni programming and continues to create partnerships for the university;
- Mimi Hoang, staff psychologist at LMU, a grassroots activist with the LGBTQ+ and Asian Pacific Islander (API) community;
- Anna Harrison, an associate professor of theological studies specializing in the history of medieval western Christianity and 12th and 13th century monasticism, who advocates for the underrepresented within the LMU community and beyond;
- Chris North ’85 and Julianne North ’88 who founded the De Colores program while at LMU and in 1999 founded Build a Miracle, a home building, educational and community development organization;
- Their daughter, Katie ’17, has been building homes in Tijuana, Mexico, since she was 4 years old, and is now working as an registered nurse on the Trauma Unit at Sharp Memorial Hospital;
- Teresa Groth, D.M.J., is the executive director of The Francisco Homes, a transitional living community for parolees who were sentenced to life in prison. Sister Teresa has welcomed over 500 men back into society after incarceration over the past 10 years.
Being a part of such an inspiring event each year, I have had the opportunity to meet with and learn about people in our community whom I would not have known about otherwise. From those doing incredible work in our community, to the playwrights and actors who are also a part of this process, Hidden Heroes unites us as we share powerful and thought-provoking stories of those being honored.
Members of the Hidden Heroes Selection Committee seek candidates throughout the academic year, including students, faculty, staff, and alums from LMU and Loyola Law School as well as community partners who are leaders of social change. Hidden Heroes provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what we can do to give back to the people and communities who empower us in our everyday lives.
Writer Kayan Tara,’20 is a senior theatre and English double major who works in the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice.
