CSF and the International Lasallian University Community
By Ron Ortiz Dinkel (‘66/’04)
Director of Human Resources
I was deeply honored to be invited by the New Orleans/Santa Fe District of the Christian Brothers to represent College of Santa Fe at the second international Lasallian University Leadership Program held at the Casa La Salle Generalate in Rome during the first two weeks of June, 2008. The program is planned for university faculty and is specifically designed to assist universities in their ongoing programs of faculty formation and enrichment. The theme of the 2008 conference was “Partners in Catholic Lasallian Higher Education: Enhancing Understanding and Eliciting Commitment.”
I went to Rome with a blind historical fidelity of what it means to be a Lasallian partner, based on my education by the Brothers from first grade through my early undergraduate years at St. Michael’s, and having lived in community with the Brothers as a junior novice for my four years of high school. I returned home with a new creative fidelity. Indeed, our origins are Catholic, but there is no contradiction in linking Lasallian with Catholic, Christian or ecumenical.
Forty-nine multinational participants represented Lasallian institutions from Columbia, the United States, Mexico, France, Spain, the Phillipines, Palestine, Kenya and Brazil. We had ample opportunity to share our mission, our Lasallian characteristics, our culture, and the opportunities and challenges we face, and learn from each other what we could bring home to increase the awareness of our Lasallian heritage and identity. Presenters included Brother Alvaro Echeverria, Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; Vicar General Brother Tom Johnson; American Dominican theologian Fr. Alejando Crosthwaite of the Angelicum; theologian Dr. Isabel Gomez-Acebo; and the leaders of the conference. We reviewed the history and current reality of the Lasallian world, and gained a greater understanding of St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Institute from its origins to the present day. We explored Lasallian spirituality in the life of De La Salle, the community of Brothers he founded, and its relevance to the lay partners who, together and by association, continue the mission.
“Lasallian” is an umbrella that extends beyond the spirit of the Catholic Church. “Lasallian” sounds good in different languages. The reality is that there are thousands of Lasallians who are Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim. There are many Lasallian colleges and universities that foster the charism of St. John Baptist de La Salle and have never had a Brother president or Brothers on their faculties. There are only 40 Brothers in the Phillipines, yet 12 Lasallian universities educate 70,000 students. The University of Bethlehem in Jerusalem has a Brother president, a faculty comprised of Christians and Muslims, and a student body that is almost entirely Muslim. The Lasallian University of Benilde in the Phillipines emphasizes the fine and performing arts including dance, photography and digital design.
Our investor and possible partner is not just bringing to CSF opportunities to increase its enrollment in the programs of the fine and performing arts, its online offerings to adult learners, and its international network of colleges and universities; our partnering will be with a college that is part of an international Lasallian institute. Our partner will gain an opportunity to share in the Lasallian brand that is known world-wide for providing an interfaith educational experience grounded in the highest ideals of private and public virtue that form a foundation for professional success and ethical living.
I returned to CSF with a renewed desire to be a resource person, mentor and animator of the Lasallian mission. Many institutions share the core values of student-centeredness and educating the whole person, but to say that they promulgate the Lasallian tradition shows a lack of understanding of what it means to be Lasallian. It is not a label to be used selectively in marketing materials or speeches. It is an identity inexorably linked to an international network of institutions based on the innovation and dedication of St. John Baptist de La Salle who was both an innovative man and one who was fiercely dedicated to the best interests of those entrusted to his care.
Many are unaware that all modern pedagogy owes its foundation to De La Salle: teaching in the vernacular, teaching group classes rather than a single individual, developing textbooks to facilitate learning. Because CSF was actually founded by Lasallians, our senior administrators, trustees, faculty and staff should become familiar with the history and mission of the Institute that De La Salle founded.
A diminishment of focus on our Lasallian mission at CSF has occurred gradually over a period of changing administrations, retirement of our Christian Brothers, and new hires that lack understanding and commitment to a Lasallian perspective on education. Our lay faculty and staff are essential to the continuing development of robust colleges and universities that are distinctively Lasallian throughout the world.
Though we tend to think of faculty and staff as the principal source for continuing the Lasallian mission of the Brothers, we also need to include our alumni, parents and friends in our considerations. Students who have graduated from CSF become some of the strongest supporters of Lasallian education. Parents, similarly, see the transition in their children and have great appreciation for the Lasallian environment that caused such positive and transformational change. It is also important that we hire for mission. Faculty and administrators must be brought in who not only demonstrate competence in their specific area of expertise, but also bond with us emotionally and intellectually in De La Salle. Similarly, staff should be recruited who are engaged on numerous levels with the Lasallian mission of the college.
I hope to be a catalyst in developing a larger cadre of lay faculty and staff at CSF who understand and commit themselves to a Lasallian perspective on higher education. I will continue to work collaboratively with my new partners and colleagues in the International Lasallian University Leadership Program to enhance the lives of the hundreds of individuals who are part of CSF’s Lasallian heritage and mission; empowering them to use our creative niche in the arts to better themselves and humankind.
(800) 456-2673 or (505) 473-6133 * Fax: (505) 473-6127 * admissions@csf.edu