University's Adela Guerra Endowed Scholarship Gets Additional Gift, Match

The Adela Guerra Endowed Scholarship at Texas A&M International University will benefit from an additional gift of $25,000 and a matching Title V gift that will expand the Scholarship.

Michelle A. Alexander, TAMIU vice president for institutional advancement, said the expanded and matched gift encourages students majoring in Education while honoring the memory of Mrs. Guerra, a longtime Laredo educator.

"In 1997 we were honored to establish The Adela Guerra Endowed Scholarship made possible by Mrs. Guerra's husband, Manuel Guerra, former American Consul at Nuevo Laredo, and his daughters Lisa Stevens, Kathy Guerra and Christina Gutierrez. The additional gift donation and the match provided by our Title V Grant will further help to insure that other students can realize their dream to become educators," Alexander explained.

The first recipient of the Scholarship was 1999 United High School graduate Vanessa Hinojosa. Hinojosa has just completed her junior year and is majoring in Early Childhood Education.

Guerra, who died in 1995 after a tragic automobile accident, was born in New York City. Adela Lleverino spent her childhood in Mexico City and demonstrated an early talent for dance, studying at the School of Ballet at Mexico's Bellas Artes.

She later attended Laredo's Martin High School, earned a degree in elementary education at San Antonio's Our Lady of Lake College and began a life-long fascination with teaching.

She married Guerra in 1963 and accompanied him over the next 25 years to foreign service posts in Spain, Liberia, Italy, Colombia and Ireland. She often taught at local elementary schools.

The couple returned to Laredo upon Guerra's retirement in 1993 and Guerra dedicated her time to the family home on Lane Street and their historic ranch, Las Albercas.

Individuals interested in joining the family in cherishing the memory of Adela Guerra can do so by providing donations to the Adela Guerra Endowed Scholarship at Texas A&M International University.

Donations can be mailed to Texas A&M International University's Office of Institutional Advancement, 5201 University Boulevard, Laredo, Texas, 78041-1990.

For additional information, please call the office at 326.2175.

University office hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu