Angela Martinez Camacho
The Lumen Christi Award
May 20, 2023
Lumen Christi is Latin for Light of Christ. The Lumen Christi Award is the highest award that Saint Mary’s College confers upon an undergraduate student. It is presented each year to a member of the senior class who is an outstanding person of faith, someone who has excelled in leadership, and who has had a deep and good effect on the Saint Mary’s community.
Our recipient is rooted in faith, leadership, and service. Her witness of faith began early in her time at Saint Mary’s, as she went through the preparation and process of being fully initiated into the Catholic Church. Every day, she witnesses the love of God in the world and her life in a way that is not simplistic or clichéd. She talks openly and honestly about the twists and turns in her sense of self and her experience of God in the world. Her faith is mature and maturing. She received the gift of faith and let it grow in her, recognizing that an evolving faith takes time, challenge, and openness.
Not only a witness in faith, she is a witness in leadership, serving the College on President Conboy’s inauguration committee in 2021 and as the president of the Student Government Association this year, as well as being an Embody Theology Institute intern. Our recipient is also passionate about service on campus and the local community. As SGA president, she reinstated the community service requirement for SGA Board Members. Off campus, you could find our recipient volunteering at Our Lady of the Road, feeding breakfast to the homeless in the South Bend community. Throughout her service to the College, she carefully integrated determination for the work as well as a commitment to joy in all experiences. One nominator said of our recipient: “As I see it, she has done what the Lumen Christi Award looks for–she has been a transformative force for good on our campus.”
This year, our recipient was featured in one of the Donor Challenge videos for our annual day of giving. In this video, she manifested (as she put it), that one day she aspires to return to Saint Mary’s. . . as its president. We hope that each of our graduates leaves here with both the ability and capacity to dream that big!
It is an honor and pleasure to acknowledge Angela Martinez Camacho to be a Light of Christ and to bestow on her the 2023 Lumen Christi Award.