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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Opus Prize 2014

Each year, the Opus Prize Foundation awards $1 million to a worthy charity somewhere in the world. The foundation teams with universities to accomplish the vetting and selection of nominees. This year, Gonzaga University performed this task. Thursday, the three nominees, from India, Queens, New York, and Bangkok, were introduced in videos and each made remarks to the assembled crowd at the Fox Theater. Sister Tesa Fitzgerald of Queens, New York received the 2014 prize, with the others receiving $100,000 for their charities.

Mike Herzog, Chief of Staff to Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh, welcomes the crowd to the Opus Prize event. Herzog headed up the university’s involvement with the Opus Prize Foundation.

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Nominees Gollapalli Israel, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald and Father Joe Maier sit on the stage and view a video about poverty in Chennai, India during the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize. Israel works with low caste workers in Chennai.

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The Gonzaga University community gives one of many standing ovations at the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize.

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Sister Tesa Fitzgerald makes her remarks before it is announced that she will receive the $1 million Opus Prize Thursday.

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Gonzaga University dance students perform at the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize.

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Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh listens to remarks from the nominees for the Opus Prize.

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Father Joe Maier, a nominee for the Opus Prize, makes his remarks before the announcement of the award.

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The Gonzaga University Concert Choir performs during an interlude at the ceremony.

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Sister Tesa Fitzgerald wipes a tear away and walks to the podium to receive the $1 million Opus Prize Thursday at the Fox Theater in Spokane. She was chosen from three nominees, including Father Joe Maier, right, and Gollapalli Israel (behind her).

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Sister Tesa Fitzgerald walks to the podium to receive the $1 million Opus Prize Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014 at the Fox Theater in Spokane.

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Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, right, receives the $1 million Opus Prize from Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh, left, at the Fox Theater in Spokane. She was chosen from three nominees, which included Father Joe Maier and Gollapalli Israel.

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Fellow nominees Gollapalli Israel, left, and Father Joe Maier, right, congratulate Sister Tesa Fitzgerald after she received the $1 million Opus Prize.

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Nominees Gollapalli Israel, left, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, center, and Father Joe Maier, right, acknowledge the crowd’s applause at the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize.

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The Gonzaga University Concert Choir performs a Kenyan song before the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014 at the Fox Theater in Spokane.

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The Gonzaga University Concert Choir leaves the stage while singing a reprise of a Kenyan song after the ceremony to award the $1 million Opus Prize.

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