After almost five years leading the OLLU Board of Trustees, Paul Olivier is moving into the immediate past chair role and Steve O’Donnell is taking on leadership of the Board as chair.

A transition ceremony was held May 29 at the Regan Community Room in the Congregation of Divine Providence Covent Center. Sister Rose Kruppa, CDP, Superior General, led the ceremony and offered prayers and a special blessing for both men.

Olivier, a former Frost Bank executive, has served OLLU on the Board for 17 years. He began his tenure as chair of the Board just shortly before the onset of the pandemic. He provided steady guidance and leadership through one of the most difficult times in OLLU history. 

O’Donnell first joined the Board in 2010 and has taken on various roles, including chair of the Finance Committee of the Board. Former Manager Partner of FGF Brands (Hill Country Bakery), O’Donnell brings his strong business and community background to serve the students of OLLU. He also brings his unique life experience growing up in the foster system.

“As a child who grew up in foster care, the experience provides you with a worldview that allows you to easily identify with all groups who are underserved and marginalized in society,” he said. “That perspective gave me the desire to help others with my time, talent and treasure.”

O’Donnell has helped many others. At OLLU, he created an On-Campus Residential Restricted Scholarship, which provides housing for OLLU students who emerge from the foster care system. Outside of OLLU, he serves on a number of boards and helped co-found the THRU Project, a nonprofit that supports foster youth as they age out of the foster care system.

“The knowledge that we are truly making a positive difference, not only in the youth we educate, but their children and grandchildren, is very fulfilling,” O’Donnell said. “Education has not only a lifetime effect but a generational impact as well. That understanding is both very motivating and fulfilling.”