Last month, readers of this space will recall that I focused my comments
on the exciting “brand refresh” initiative that we launched over the course of
this recently concluded summer break[1].
As I mentioned last month, it was time
we took our marvelous 60-year story into the 21st century in ways
that will enable La Salle to rise above the “noise” of an intensely competitive
educational marketplace. I think it is equally important to note that this
initiative is not intended to tell a new story, but, rather, our
story. I am pleased to report that the reaction from teachers, students,
parents and alums has been positive (it helped that we gave every student a tee
shirt with the updated logo on the first day of school!). I am particularly
grateful to JR Ossman and Leigh Olivar, P ‘12, ‘21 for their leadership of the
Marketing Committee, which was tasked by the Board of Regents to manage this
initiative.
Coincidentally,
this refreshed approach to making our voice heard over and above the messages
from other private and Catholic high schools is taking place at the same time as
the Christian Brothers launch the celebration of the 300th anniversary of their
Founder, Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s passing into eternal life. The
international center of the Christian Brothers in Rome is promoting this
significant milestone as a way to celebrate the centuries of educational
innovation and service by Lasallian schools in 80 countries. At the same time,
here in the West, the Christian Brothers are celebrating 100 years of service
to the Catholic Church in Louisiana and 150 years since their arrival in the
San Francisco Bay Area (which eventually led them to Pasadena). I can’t think
of a better way to launch this refreshed approach to La Salle’s future than by linking
it to a marvelous past.
Readers of this
space know that I recently had the privilege of visiting Lasallian schools in
Hong Kong and Singapore (there are 16 between the two cities!). That opportunity
made a huge impact on me with respect to the educational influence of the
Christian Brothers worldwide. To know that La Salle College Preparatory, here
in Pasadena, shares the same educational mission as schools in Singapore, Italy,
Ireland, Great Britain, Ethiopia, Sudan (!), the Philippines, Mexico and Columbia
(to name just a few of the 80 countries) not only humbles me but also inspires
me to “shout from the rooftops” regarding the unique contribution we make to
secondary education here in Southern California. Many people, for example, do
not know that the Christian Brothers are the largest religious order of men in
the Catholic Church who are exclusively devoted to a mission of providing
educational opportunities for and with young people. Here in the United States,
for example, no other religious order (male or female) operates as many
secondary schools (middle & high) than the Christian Brothers. While the
Jesuits can rightly lay claim to operating the largest, and most prestigious,
system of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, that honor
belongs to the Christian Brothers in Mexico and the Philippines. In short, here
in Pasadena, we stand on the shoulders of educational giants who crossed the
globe, over the course of more than 300 years, in order to “provide a Human and
Christian education to the young, especially the poor[2].”
It is because of
the hundreds of years in which the Christian Brothers transformed the
educational experience of young people across the globe that Pope Francis has
bestowed a singular honor on them in this, the tercentenary of De La Salle’s
death. The Holy Father has declared 2018-2019 to be a jubilee year in honor of
the three hundredth anniversary of the Founder’s passage into eternal life. This
is an extremely rare moment in the life of the Church. The concept of a jubilee
year - in which the Church pays special attention to the community of the
faithful and marks the time with once-in-a-lifetime celebrations – was
established by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. At that time, the jubilee was
intended to be celebrated every 100 years.
Gradually, over time, the space between jubilees was reduced to 50 and
then to 25 years (where it continues to occur up until the present moment).
From time-to-time, Popes will declare special jubilee years for specific
reasons. For example, Saint John Paul II declared a special jubilee to coincide
with the turn of the millennium in 2000 and Pope Francis declared an
extraordinary jubilee year in 2016 to focus on his commitment to the Gospel
value of Mercy. So, it is particularly gratifying to Lasallians, world-wide,
that the Holy Father is singling out the Christian Brothers for their unique
contribution to the Church’s ministry of education.
Here at La Salle
we are proud to stand with the Brothers and their partners across the globe in
delivering an exceptional educational experience to the students entrusted to
our care. We know that the cutting-edge innovations that De La Salle crafted
for his schools in 1680 (whole-group instruction, teaching in the vernacular,
as opposed to Latin, establishing what was arguably the first teacher education
institution) have laid the foundation for our own efforts to embrace the
challenges of the 21st century school. The timing of these
anniversaries – 300th of De La Salle’s “transitus,” 150th
year since the Christian Brothers arrived in San Francisco and the 100th
year since the first permanent Lasallian foundation was established in
Louisiana – with our own effort to more deliberately articulate our unique
contribution to secondary education here in Los Angeles, couldn’t have been
more fortuitous. We know that, at La Salle, what went before us has enabled us
to move with confidence into the future. We also know that generations of our
graduates will be able to look back with pride on our commitment to honor our
past and to embrace the future.
For those who are “social media-friendly,” check
out our Twitter and Facebook pages, where we explain each element of the
updated crest. One of my favorite elements is the right-facing slanted
lines:
The intent of
the graphic is to emphasize our commitment to “leaning in” to the future. What
is particularly delightful for me is the fact that the graphic designer set
their angle at 56o – a subtle nod to the School’s foundation in
1956. La Salle’s wonderful story is to be found in the past, the present moment
and the future!
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