Los Angeles-based filmmaker Marcella Ochoa served as the fall commencement speaker and OLLU trustee emeritus Bruce Flohr received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at OLLU's Jan. 9 ceremony where more than 300 students received their degrees.  

A San Antonio native, Ochoa is using her success to help change the narrative of how the Latino community is portrayed in Hollywood. She has worked on the marketing campaigns for major studio films such as Da Vinci Code and Spider Man 3, 2012. She’s traveled the world working with filmmakers, such as Ron Howard, and A-list actors ranging from Tom Hanks to Will Smith.

Ochoa now has her own production company to develop film and TV projects. She co-wrote a supernatural thriller Discarnate that was released on Amazon and On Demand in 2019.  She wrote, directed, and produced a short film on the true story of Americanization of Mexican Americans in 1950’s Texas called My Name is Maria de Jesus. The award-winning short premiered on HBO Latino in 2019.

An OLLU trustee for 40 years, Flohr has distinguished himself as a businessman, civic leader and devoted board chairman of the Texas Water Mission (TWM). As TWM board chairman since 2011, Flohr has helped bring clean water to impoverished populations in Honduras and Guatemala. He also has led volunteer teams that have provided water hygiene instruction to those nations.

At OLLU, Flohr has served alongside six university presidents since joining the board of trustees in 1981. A generous and consistent donor, Flohr has provided strong leadership on numerous projects, including the construction of the Sister Elizabeth Anne Sueltenfuss Library and the rebuilding of Main after a four-alarm fire in 2008.

See OLLU's full schedule of commencement activities online .