marist college and stella maris regional college were merged in 1972 to form marist regional college. from this time the college has offered co-educational schooling from year 7 to year 12. marist regional college opened with 555 students; 405 boys (an all-time high), and 150 girls. boarder numbers (boys only) were 130. at the end of 1975 the boarding house was closed. with the amalgamation came the new college crest. from stella maris regional college came the star; symbol of mary, the patroness. from marist college came the monogram a.m.; monogram of mary, from whose name was derived the name “marist”. the college motto is "love the truth”.