Fiesta is best known for its parades, but medals play an equally iconic role. These colorful, commemorative trinkets have helped build a bridge between Trinity and San Antonio.
Local organizations, businesses and community groups produce these collectible medals often as fundraisers for charities. For Trinity, the medals are more than just beautiful keepsakes; they’re part of an ongoing tradition, with current campus involvement ranging from CELCS to CAT. Jeanna Balreira, assistant vice president of Strategic Communications and Marketing, helps oversee the yearly process of creating a design for Trinity’s medal.
“Each year, we hope our Fiesta medal conveys a bit of Trinity’s personality while embedding our brand into the San Antonio community,” Balreira said.
The design of each year’s medal is just as significant as its symbolic meaning. The Strategic Communications and Marketing team leads the process, collaborating with graphic designers to capture timely themes and relevant institutional milestones.
“We begin planning the medal in mid-fall, collecting ideas and design inspiration while also thinking about upcoming initiatives … Designs are typically finished in early January, and orders arrive in March,” Balreira said.
Trinity’s 150th anniversary, and the 2021 medal, released during the COVID-19 pandemic, showed Trinity’s mascot, LeeRoy, wearing a mask. Students and alums interested in collecting official Trinity medals can find them in the campus bookstore or win them through social media giveaways.
“My favorite way to give away medals is through Facebook and Instagram, where we ask our community to share memories,” Balreira said. These interactive campaigns distribute medals and invite alumni to reminisce and reconnect with their Trinity experience.
Trinity started producing their own Fiesta medals in 2002, the same year the university formally began participating in Fiesta after a hiatus. Under former university President John Brazil, the medals represented a broader initiative to deepen Trinity’s engagement with the San Antonio community. Brazil’s administrative coordinator, Ivan Herman, was inspired by his partner, Susan Hord Herman, who was fascinated by the medal trading culture after attending her first Fiesta.
“Her enthusiasm prompted Ivan to raise the possibility of creating a unique Trinity medal,” R. Douglas Brackenridge, professor of religion, wrote in his 2015 Trinity Magazine article, “Viva Fiesta.” That original medal, intended only for trustees and dignitaries, featured the university seal for its historical significance. Still, its popularity quickly spread among students and alums, laying the foundation for medal production and collecting to become an annual tradition.
In addition to the official medals, students can find other collectible Trinity-themed Fiesta medals, including ones from the CAT Alliance, which honor past beloved campus cats — or even a dog. These unique collectible items, which CAT members have handmade, reflect the same spirit of creativity and community that defines Fiesta.
At Trinity, several staff members have built impressive collections over the years. One of the most dedicated collectors is Becca Bert Steinbach, who works in the Center for Experiential Learning and Career Success.
“I’ve been collecting since I was a student at Trinity,” Steinbach said. Her collection includes many medals, not just Trinity-produced ones, but also those from neighborhood groups, local businesses and volunteer events.
Steinbach reflected on the evolution of Trinity’s medal designs.
“It’s been fun to see … because there have been some years it’s closer to logos or kind of big events going on, and then some years it’s Leeroy, which is always a fun choice, but it’s always fun to see each year what they end up going for,” Steinbach said.
Brackenridge was another notable campus collector. He donated his complete set of Trinity Fiesta medals to the university archives, dating back to the university’s first medal in 2002. University Archivist Abra Schnur highlighted the collection’s importance.
“We have his range of 2002 through 2019,” Schnur said. “And we’ve had a pretty good relationship with strategic communications to get us one every year since then.”
The university’s collection doesn’t stop at official medals. The archives also include a variety of pins and medals from different campus organizations. These pieces represent the broader culture of Fiesta at Trinity, a blend of institutional and student creativity.
Trinity’s Fiesta medals reflect more than just annual events on the pin. They represent the university’s ongoing effort to connect with the San Antonio community, engage students and alums and showcase its evolving identity. Each medal tells a story of a year, of a student’s experience, of a shared campus.
“They’re really unique, and you don’t see them captured in that way again,” Schnur said.
