Avila Now

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 10, 2023) – Avila University today announced the appointment of Tonya Mourning, MBA, as the institution’s Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Mourning will oversee all aspects of the financial life of the university, providing management and direction for Avila’s financial activities. She will start on March 27, 2023. Mourning brings...

Avila Alumna, Atenas Mena is the Co-Executive Director/Environmental Health Director of CleanAirNow (CAN). She is a proud first-generation college student, Mexican American, the daughter of immigrants, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. Mena graduated from Avila University with a Bachelor’s in Nursing in 2014 and a Master’s in Nursing Leadership from Missouri Western State...

Homecoming weekend is September 29 – October 2, and you won’t want to miss this year! Everyone is invited to a special Meet the President Reception to kick off the weekend on Thursday, September 29! We’ll also be celebrating with Dinner Theatre, Awards Ceremonies, 50-Year Reunion Dinner for the class of 1972 and the football...

Add your experiences to this Avila history project Avila archivist Amy Moorman, Carol Coburn, Ph.D., professor emerita and director of the CSJ Center for Heritage, and Dave Armstrong, director of university mission & ministry, have received a CIC NetVue grant, “Reframing the Institutional Saga,”  to research, preserve and compile a history of Avila University. “Our...

’51 Helen (Bessenbacher) Colwell of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on May 24, 2022. Colwell earned her bachelor’s in sociology from the College of St. Teresa.  ’61 Anne (Wilkins) Billings of Dayton, Ohio, passed away on April 25, 2022. Billings earned her bachelor’s in education from the College of St. Teresa.  ’63 Suzanne (Becker) Chelesnik...

A Tale of a Serial Educator Growing up in South Kansas City, Tracy Henrichson Carlson ’76 always considered herself a homebody. She never ventured far from home and enrolled at Avila primarily because it was in the neighborhood. She knew she wanted to be a teacher and that Avila had a strong education program. Little...

Avila Celebrates 105th Graduating Class During commencement exercises on May 14 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, 286 undergraduate and 105 master’s degrees were conferred to Avila’s 105th graduating class. David Kerr ’76 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and President Ronald Slepitza, Ph.D., CSJA, was awarded President Emeritus status during the celebration....

Avila Nursing Expanding Program and Footprint Avila University’s  BSN program was the first accredited in Kansas City and boasts nearly 2,500 active nursing alumni, clinical partnerships with 20 sites in the metro, and an exemplary NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) pass rate. But the demand for nurses in the Kansas City region and the country continues...

Head Basketball Coach Remy Wolfe Why is Avila special to you? Avila is a hidden gem in Kansas City. I love that I’ll get the chance to get more people involved in the Avila community. It’s a great place to set students up for success academically and athletically. What’s your background? I grew up in...

Meet Avila President Jim Burkee and Hanen First, please tell us a little about each of you! Jim: We all discover at one point, later in life, that we are the culmination of diverse experiences, often shaped by those who have most impacted our lives.  This is certainly the case with both me and Hanen....