Rozlyn Bermea, BA ’20, MA ’23
UIW is home to many, including generations of families who have proudly made UIW their alma mater. Rozlyn Bermea, BA in Education ’20 and MA in Education ’23, carries that legacy forward; honoring the relatives who came before her, and celebrating the new generation starting their own UIW chapter.
Bermea represents the third generation of her family to graduate from UIW, following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Jennie Gonzalez Owens ’70, and her mother, Lena Owens Bermea ’86. Although Lena hoped her daughter would carry the UIW legacy forward, she never pressured her. Instead, she simply asked that Bermea visit the Broadway campus, giving her the freedom to choose her own university while still opening the door to UIW.
Their visit was enough for Bermea to know she wanted to continue her family’s legacy. Lena can still picture the exact parking spot where her daughter looked at her and said, “This is where I want to go.” Bermea had long dreamed of becoming an elementary special education teacher, but it was her time with Mission and Ministry that opened her eyes to a new calling and shifted the path ahead of her.
During her volunteer work at The Village, Bermea developed a deep connection with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Yet as she began discerning sisterhood, she realized the sisters had been woven into her life long before she ever met them. Her grandmother and mother learned from CCVI sisters at IWC and in their early schooling. And as a child, Bermea spent significant time at what is now Christus Children’s Hospital, a place founded by the very sisters she would later grow so close to.
Building on eight years in Mission and Ministry at UIW, Bermea now serves as office coordinator at Assumption Seminary, where she supports the Catholic Church and its future priests. Her passion for service also led her to co‑found Agapao Ministries, a ministry devoted to strengthening ties between the UIW community and the CCVI sisters, especially those at The Village at the Incarnate Word.