Trying to remain faithful to a loving God

The Newtown tragedy raises a series of questions, the least important of which (for me) is the question of gun control. Other questions that arise include the social impact of undiagnosed/untreated mental health issues; what constitutes public safety in public buildings and, of course, what is the obligation of the bystander to prevent mayhem? The most important question for me is also a deeply Catholic one - how to reconcile the problem of evil with a belief in a loving God? Philosophers and theologians since the time of Saint Thomas Aquinas have been grappling with this conundrum for generations. The Catholic answer rests in our understanding of the gift of free will, which God has bestowed upon us. The Church teaches that God created us to love Him and each other; but for love to exist, we have to be able to choose it. Choice implies that there is an opposing view: namely that we can choose to be evil as readily as we can choose to be good (and hence, loving).

When faced with the specific evil of Newtown, scholastic debates regarding the problem of evil, free will and choice can appear to be beside the point. Just ask the First Responders who entered those classrooms containing the bullet-riddled bodies of six and seven year old children. These tough, “seen-it-all” men and women collapsed into each other’s arms after they had completed their awful responsibility to determine if there were any survivors among these “Holy Innocents.” Already, some of them have begun treatment for PTSD. Or ask those noble teachers who either got in the way of the bullets or exercised yeoman effort to hide the children entrusted to their care. After the horror of a parent learning of the death of a child, I can think of no worse horror than that of the teacher who does not know how to keep students safe in the face of implacable and unexplainable evil. This is the challenge inherent in any effort to reconcile the problem of evil with a loving God - it is always intellectually credible and often emotionally unsustainable - especially in the face of tragedy. This is particularly frustrating in situations such as Newtown where the assailant commits suicide, robbing us of the now unanswerable question “Why?” We are left with our emotions to make sense of the matter. And, in the absence of answers, we seek solutions which arise out of our emotional reactions.

This is certainly true with respect to the debate around gun control. Both sides of the issue often adopt extreme positions out of fear that a compromise solution will erode into a “slippery slope” of accommodation. For example one left-of-center Blog asserted this claim:

The bottom line is that a gun is a lethal weapon and its only function is to kill; the fewer people have it, the better it is.

While this is an emotionally satisfying argument for those who support greater measures to control gun ownership, its assumption that legislation predicated upon an arbitrary goal of reducing the number of people who own guns runs afoul of the Second Amendment. To pass judicial muster, any limitation on the scope of the Bill of Rights must demonstrate a compelling argument in favor of the general welfare. The First Amendment right to free speech, for example, was famously constrained by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s opinion in Schenck v. US in which he argued that no one has the right to “yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” So gun control legislation must address the danger posed to the general welfare, for example, of an “assault weapon.” It is equally misleading - though no less emotionally satisfying - to argue as National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre has that:

The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Yet there were no less than two armed security personnel on the scene at Columbine in 1999. Both took shots at Harris, one of two assailants, and both missed. Parenthetically, including Newtown, there have been an additional 31 school shootings since Columbine.The point is this: emotional solutions to controversial issues are never easy and certainly never simple. As Professor Evan Getz, at Houston Baptist University, observed: “There is no way to make sure that nothing like the Sandy Hook murders ever happen again.” He is right; which brings us back to the problem of evil. If we cannot prevent evil from intruding into our lives in highly visible and dramatic ways, what can we do?
        An “unsung hero” of the Sandy Hook shootings is Msgr. Robert Weiss, Pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Church, where ten of the 26 victims were parishioners. When asked how the people of Newtown should deal with the celebration of Christmas, he had this to say: “I believe that we celebrate it in its truest sense, putting aside all the secularity and simply sitting in silence and praying that the hope, healing and peace promised to us by Christ will be given to us in abundance.” It is a little too easy to dismiss Msgr. Weiss’ words as more pious than realistic. But, at the end of the day, are not all believers called to trust in the loving God who (apparently) allows evil to enter into our world? For those of us who doubt this proposition (myself included), here is the evidence Msgr. Weiss used to support his take on the problem of evil and the existence of a loving God:

The moment the first responder broke through the doors we knew good always overcomes evil.

For now, that is good enough for this believer.

The Art Project

            I am back in my office after having spent a delightful hour in the Duffy Lewis Gymnasium enjoying a magnificent Student Christmas Assembly put on by the Visual and Performing Arts Department. There was something for everyone…the 48 voice Choir sang, the elite Jazz Ensemble performed, as did the Advanced Band, the newly formed String Ensemble wowed the students with their technique, the Dance program was showcased, including two students who compete in Irish Step Dancing.  There were soloists and a video (produced by the students in the Film and Digital Media Program) entitled The Art Project that featured interviews of student members of the Visual and Performing Arts Department talking about the impact Art (in all of its manifestations) had on their individual development.

            As I returned to my office, I was struck by two different impressions; the first focused on the obvious - the amazing depth and breadth of student artistic talent which is drawn to La Salle’s VPA program - and, the less obvious but no less important, phenomenal reaction of their student colleagues who cheered and, at one point, initiated a standing ovation, in appreciation of the accomplishments of the student artists performing on the gym floor.  As I watched the performance, I realized how much the community of La Salle takes for granted the unique elements - one of which is our four-year Arts Program - that distinguish us from other private high schools in the greater Pasadena area. As an Academic Advisor to freshmen, I regularly work with students who need to schedule certain courses during the School’s Summer Academic Institute in order to ensure that they will be able to pursue their passion in the Arts each semester for the next four years. I’ve been in the school business for over 30 years and I don’t know of another school (certainly none that I’ve worked in) where teenagers willingly take a summer school class in order to clear a space in their schedule so that they could concentrate on one particular academic discipline (this also happens in the Mathematics Department for students who want to take the two-semester Advanced Placement Calculus program in their Senior year).  And yet, we have over 100 students doing exactly that.

            As I reflected on these taken-for-granted elements of the La Salle Difference, it occurred to me that I’m probably not the only Lancer who assumes that the day-to-day experience of the teenagers entrusted to our care is normative for all high school students. Sadly, in fact, for most California teenagers, this is not the case. There is irony in our “take-it-for-granted” attitude to this unique approach to Arts Education at La Salle. While more than one research study highlights the value of exposure to the Arts for all educational disciplines; the Arts are among the first programs to fall prey to the budget axe in the public sector. Budget cuts and the Great Recession have reduced these opportunities for most high school students in the Golden State. Like Counseling, Arts Education is often the first to feel the impact of the deficit-cutting axe when there are too few dollars to support all of the worthwhile educational programs that ought to be available to every student in California.

In his forward to the 2011 report of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities: Re-Investing in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools, US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan made this observation:

The opportunity to learn about the arts and to perform as artists is an essential part of a well-rounded curriculum and complete education. The study of drama, dance, music, and the visual arts helps students explore realities, relationships, and ideas that cannot be conveyed simply in words or numbers. The ability to perform and create in the fine arts engenders innovative problem-solving skills that students can apply to other academic disciplines and provides experiences working as a team.

            This is not a screed against the tortured financial politics of the Golden State. What I want to share in this reflection is the deep gratitude I have for the generous donors - alumni, current parents, grandparents and parents of alumni - who recognize that the La Salle Difference is not only worthy of their philanthropic support but dependent upon their generosity - if we are to successfully implement our Mission to “nurture, inspire, challenge and motivate” the students entrusted to our care. Secretary Duncan uses the term “the magic of the Arts” to describe the impact these disciplines can - and must - have on elementary and secondary students. I am especially grateful for the essential role the “magic of the arts” plays here at La Salle.

           

           

To Abstain or Not to Abstain...

The Catholic Bishops in the United States assemble each autumn to discuss issues of common concern, address social challenges and debate proposed changes in Catholic life and worship. As I write this, the Bishops are finishing up this year’s assembly in Baltimore. Their annual gathering begins with an address by the Conference President, Cardinal Timothy Dolan. One of the points he made to his brother Bishops was the suggestion that they reconsider the forty-year old policy regarding abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent. Bear with me - this only sounds like a Catholic version of “inside baseball.” Catholics of a certain age (i.e. my age and older) remember Catholic life before Vatican II. It was rich in the use of signs and symbols which were distinctly Catholic (although, I must admit, our Anglican/Episcopalian brethren shared many of the same customs). Any Catholic who experienced the “Baltimore Catechism” will recognize the distinction between “internal” and “external” signs of faith. Abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent, for example, is an “external” sign of faith.

What Cardinal Dolan encouraged the Nation’s Bishops to consider was a return to the pre-Vatican II custom of abstaining from meat on every Friday, not just the ones occurring during the 40 days of Lent. His argument was simple and pastoral: “We need to recapture the significance of Friday as a day of penance in union with Jesus on the cross.” This exhortation of the value of penance may sound odd to Californians who have grown up in the Golden State accepting as an article of secular faith that the “good life” is within easy reach; but it is very much in harmony with the challenges facing all people of faith on the West Coast. A variety of media outlets, for example, have described the “rise of the nones,” those who check “none” on surveys of religious affiliation. If the “nones” were a church, they would be the fastest growing sect in America. The LA Times, for example, recently reported that: “About 75% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 now consider themselves "spiritual but not religious." In other words, organized religion does not matter to them. This raises the obvious question: Should it matter? And, secondarily, what does this disturbing trend have to do with abstaining from meat on Fridays? The answer to the first question is to be found in the number one priority of Pope Benedict’s pontificate: the “New Evangelization.” One media definition of the concept works for me:

“The new evangelization aims to reach out to alienated Catholics who in many cases have become effectively secularized.”

It goes without saying that the survey data on declining American participation in organized religion highlights the importance of the Pope’s initiative to re-engage alienated Catholics. So, what does this have to do with eating (or not eating) meat on Fridays? Cardinal Dolan’s initiative to re-visit the limitation of Friday abstinence to the forty days of Lent is couched in substantive sociological research regarding the markers of success for organized religion. Cardinal Dolan puts it this way: “any faith community to remain coherent and vibrant has to have certain external signs;” which identify the religious organization as distinct and different from other religious organizations. Cardinal Dolan goes on to note that scholars of religion report that exterior marks of membership help make a religion cohesive and attractive.

“Cradle” Catholics understand this sociological imperative. Many of us grew up in a world where the Rosary was prayed daily, children were given the names of saints, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was preceded by a religious procession and the smell of incense was a familiar one. These external marks, along with a year-round abstinence from meat on Fridays “marked” Catholics as belonging to a distinct group of people. As our world has become more ecumenical and, obviously, more diverse; it is becoming increasingly more difficult to know where the boundary between organized religion and secularism is to be drawn. External signs of faith not only define that boundary but also reinforce the value of membership. Andrew Greeley in his book, The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins, and the Second Vatican Council, underscores the role abstinence from meat played in defining our Catholic identity:

“Fish on Friday had been a symbol that most visibly distinguished American Catholics from other Americans.”

These markers reinforce our conviction that to be Catholic (or a member of an organized religion) is to believe that one has been graced by God with a faith that offers comfort in this life and happiness in the next.

It may seem odd, therefore, to call for greater discipline by abstaining from meat once a week in order to reinforce the comfort in this life that our faith offers; indeed, I take issue with the penitential practices of Lent here ("Odd" Ash Wednesday). Nevertheless, if our faith is to mean anything, we must be reminded of the power of its promise to secure happiness with God in the next life. Perhaps a little less meat will not only improve the health of our body, but our soul as well.

Oh the places you'll go...

Each year, right around the time that the Royal Court of the Tournament of Roses is announced, I am reminded of the 80/20 rule (80% of the work is done by 20% of the workers). This certainly seems true of the seven impressive young women who survived the month-long winnowing out process which began with 900 supplicants to the throne. Our own Tracy Cresta ’13 is a case in point. Chosen to be one of the seven who will ride down Colorado Boulevard in royal splendor on January 1^st. At La Salle, Tracy is also a captain of the cross country and track and field teams and is a member of the National Honor Society, the California Scholarship Federation, Student Ambassadors and the Physical Activity Club. She will need to balance studying for tests, turning projects in on time, filling out college applications and maintaining a high degree of involvement in her chosen sports and activities while appearing at more than 150 events that is expected of a member of the Royal Court.  And, Tracy wasn’t the only Lancer ready to shoulder the burden of Tournament responsibilities. Jen Robi ‘13 and Alexandra Cross ‘13 made it to the final 25, from which the seven members of the Court were selected.

I find it fascinating that talented and involved young women like Tracy, Jen and Alex are willing to squeeze one more thing into their incredibly busy schedules. Even more remarkable is the fact that they confidently put themselves into an arena in which over 900 other teenagers were vying for the same seven slots on the Queen’s Float. While it may be true that many of the 900 contestants may not have been as serious about winning one of the seven slots which were awarded to Tracy and her companions, still, in an era in which adolescence is viewed by many as a self-centered world of drama, intrigue and wildly inaccurate gossip; these young women chose to lift themselves above the "sturm und drang" of adolescent social pressures to reach for a goal that, if achieved, meant more work, more self-discipline and less time to do the things that teenagers do.

What they may not realize, in the midst of the excitement and publicity which surrounds their selection to the Court, is that they are absorbing magnificent life lessons that will serve them well on their journey to adulthood. These are lessons that high school teachers have been trying to share with their adolescent charges for as long as schools have existed: discipline in one’s personal and professional life; cooperation with individuals one probably never met before and who may (or may not) become life-long friends, being pleasant to complete strangers (over and over again), channeling one’s energies in support of situations completely out of one’s control and, especially, smiling even when you don’t feel like it.

Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby chose as her theme:

Oh the Places you’ll go

The great educational lesson for these young women is to be found in President Bixby’s observation that this year’s theme will have resonance in the lives of all the girls on the Royal Court.  In her words: "There is nothing you cannot do; nowhere you cannot be." I can’t think of a more important message to give young women who are about to enter the uncertain world of adulthood in which higher education and professional success are being challenged by economic turmoil. The Tournament’s world of possibility opened to these young women at the time of their 15 second interview in which they successfully distinguished themselves from the other 900 candidates.  But it didn’t stop there. This queen and her six princesses had to pass through four more rounds of interviews in which 250 candidates were reduced to 75, then 25 and finally, seven.  The stamina, commitment and drive needed to successfully negotiate this challenging process say a great deal about the Royal Court.  More importantly, it reflects their strength of character and sense of confidence so necessary later in life when they will be confronted with promoting themselves in job interviews, sustaining long hours as they build their career and balancing family and work, when the time comes.

            I asked Tracy Cresta what she has learned so far from her experience with the Tournament. Amazingly, she replied: “I’ve learned how to be more confident.”  This, from a young woman who has a full schedule of athletics and service activities at School on top of a grueling schedule with the Tournament. Oh, and by the way, she plans to attend either San Diego State University or Loyola Marymount University and hopes to become a lawyer and later, a judge.

“Oh the places you’ll go.”

You're Not Special...

I have become, of late, a reluctant devotee of YouTube. Increasingly I have found myself drawn to the Web-based video link as a result of friends and acquaintances who breathlessly urge me to view the “latest YouTube entry that has gone viral.” It took me more time than it should have to realize that the term “gone viral” was a metaphor for a rapidly expanding number of on-line viewers. The problem (for me) with YouTube is its use of an algorithm which predicts what similar types of videos might interest the viewer and then lines them up on the right side of the computer screen like obedient Londoners cueing up for the Piccadilly Circus bus. And, like a British bus cue steadily advancing to the moment of boarding, I find myself clicking on each successive link in the vain hope that I will get closer to the penultimate experience of knowing everything there is to know about the original video which brought me to the web site in the first place.


Which is why I was somewhat reluctant to access YouTube (once again, at the recommendation of a friend) to view a video entitled:”You’re Not Special,” a speech given by Wellesley High School teacher, David McCullough, Jr. to the Class of 2012. I imagined the thousands (if not millions) of graduation speeches videotaped and uploaded to YouTube, whose algorithm would park them to the right side of my computer screen. I feared that I would be unable to resist the temptation to click through these options and find myself hopelessly lost in cyberspace.

Fortunately, I was so captivated by McCullough’s talk that I successfully resisted the urge to make a long march through the cyber-world of commencement speeches. To understand why, you need to know that Wellesley High School was ranked 70th in the US News and World Report rating of public secondary schools, that 100% of its graduates go on to higher education; that it is situated within a community of 27,000 souls with no less than four colleges located within its city limits; and the median family income is north of $150,000.

So you can appreciate how intrigued I was by the concept of the “You’re not special” speech to a high school community which can be forgiven if they take for granted their privileged position within the Boston Metropolitan area. This is how McCullough frames Wellesley students’ lack of special-ness:

Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians…37,000 class presidents…92,000 harmonizing altos…340,000 swaggering jocks…

So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you.

Having set the stage for the commonality of high school graduates, he then delivers the punch line:

You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.

When thinking about others, or others’ children, we nod in agreement about the unassailable truth of his claim that, “if everyone is special, then no one is”…unless, of course, when considering ourselves and our children.
On a related note, I consider a non-issue in the current presidential election campaign, “American Exceptionalism,” to be a terrific example of this dynamic, writ large. If we are exceptional - “special” in McCullough’s nomenclature, then, America must be exceptional (special). I can’t think of a better way to derail voters’ consideration of the pressing issues confronting the country at this point in time then to take McCullough’s sardonic commentary about teenagers and apply it to a nation of 300 million people on a planet of 6.8 billion. Yet we persist in accepting this myth about ourselves, our children, and our nation. Here’s how McCullough describes this myth:

…we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point - and we’re happy to compromise standards or ignore reality, if we suspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it…Now it’s “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and, building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans.

I’d like to claim that La Salle is immune to this dynamic of what I’ll call “teenage exceptionalism,” but the fact of the matter is we’re not. We’re human, riddled with all of the same temptations which afflict all of humanity. Parents’ hopes, dreams and fears are just as real here at La Salle as they are at Wellesley High School; and we all succumb to the desire to protect ourselves and our children from the all too frightening realities of the world which surrounds us.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t inject a note of hope and optimism which, I believe, characterizes the world of La Salle. Yes, like the parents, teachers and students of Wellesley High School, we aspire to be “special” here at La Salle. And, yes, as McCullough lays bare, we grasp - as any human would - onto whatever “brass ring” will give us, and our children, a “leg up” in this “dog-eat-dog” world. But I’d like to think that, at La Salle, parents, teachers and students recognize that we come together for all of the same humanity-inflected reasons that McCullough satirizes in his “You’re not special” speech; and because we believe that to be special means to be grateful; and to be grateful means to give back. This is the essence of the School’s motto:

Learn   Serve   Lead

And our motto compels us to recognize - and embrace - the fundamental point of McCullough’s “You’re not special speech”:

The sweetest joys of life come only with the recognition that you’re not special;

because everyone is.

In May we celebrated the accomplishments of La Salle’s recently graduated Class of 2012. They didn’t experience McCullough’s “You’re not special” commencement address. I’d like to think it’s because they didn’t need to.



The need to think when it's really hot...

It’s hot. I mean really hot…and not just in LA…everywhere in the continental US…even in Anchorage where it has reached historic highs for August. Every Sunday, for the past month, I’ve turned to the weather map in the Pasadena Star-News and all I saw was red (and a little bit of orange) from coast to coast. Here on the West Coast, for example, we had virtually no “June Gloom” to speak of and August temperatures in July and September temperatures in August. Now, relax, climate change enthusiasts (pro and con), this is not about global warming (though it could be about continental warming). This is about the things we take for granted - until some external condition forces us to re-examine our casual assumptions about how the world works.


During the three-year drought that recently ended in the LA Basin, homeowners in Pasadena, for example, recognized this dynamic every time they opened their PWP bill and found they were paying higher and higher rates to irrigate their lawn. We all painfully learned (myself, included) to irrigate our lawns once a week during the Fall and Winter and twice a week in Spring and Summer. Now that the drought is officially over; I am (and other homeowners are) tempted to return to our formerly profligate irrigation habits. I try to stick to the drought-based routines, but I miss my brilliantly green lawn and the Hostas in my back garden are parched and practically begging me to douse them with an extra round of irrigation (especially since termites destroyed the hackberry tree that protected them from the afternoon sun). For the better part of the last ten years I took for granted that, between the Colorado River and the State Water Project, I could happily douse my gardens with as much water as I liked. Then the drought hit and I had to learn new behaviors - which are now being put to the test by the unseasonable heat we have been experiencing for the lion’s share of the summer now ending.

All of which has caused me to reflect about how the arrival of a new school year and a new Principal (external conditions) will cause the members of the La Salle family (myself, included) to re-examine our casual assumptions about the way our School community works. As I write this, the Class of 2016 finished a day of orientation here on campus and their parents have arrived for their orientation this evening. I’ve asked a few parents how the morning session went for their son or daughter and the response has been remarkably consistent: “He/she loved the day and is excited about starting school tomorrow.” As far as I am concerned, that is about as good as it gets for a 13 year-old on the first day of school. For adults, however, the start of school produces hopes and fears (and not just among parents, by the way)…will the year be a good one…will (my) students/ (my)teachers like me? Will the new principal be like (or not) Pat Bonacci, AFSC? Will Dr. Gray ask me for more money? (That’s just to see if you read this far…if you did, let me know!)

In short, the arrival of a new principal and a new school year must result in the re-examination of casual assumptions about how La Salle works. And - quite frankly - that’s a good thing. The Class of 2016 brings its own opportunities and challenges to La Salle and Brother Christopher comes with more questions than answers as he attempts to make sense of the school culture we all take for granted. The one thing about schools that a climate change metaphor can’t explain is this simple proposition: when students, their parents, teachers and their administrators are brought together over a sustained period of time, anything can happen - and most of it will be good - especially if we let go of our casual assumptions about how our world ought to work.



Happy New Year!

On the ethic of care and service

Recently, I was asked to serve on a Dissertation Defense Committee at the Rossier School of Education at USC. A “Dissertation Defense Committee” is the final step before a graduate student is awarded a doctorate in her chosen field of study. Different universities have different requirements for the membership of a Dissertation Defense Committee. At USC’s Rossier School of Education, the Committee is composed of faculty directly involved with the graduate student’s research and a representative of the field of inquiry which is the focus of the dissertation. I was honored to be asked to serve on this particular committee because the focus of research was the “effective leadership practices of Catholic high school principals.” While it’s been a long time since I have had the opportunity to serve as a principal of a Catholic high school, I have been privileged to spend the last 12 years working along side one of the most caring and dedicated Catholic high school principals I have ever known. So, the opportunity to step back into the halls of the “academy” and to revisit the time-honored (and sweat-producing) journey from graduate student to doctoral candidate not only caused me to reflect on my own experience of this challenging reminder of my passage through this gateway (it involved a red-eye flight from California and spilled coffee on my pants moments before the Dissertation Defense Committee began its deliberations); but it also reminded me of the importance of studying schools, teachers, students and their parents with respect to how education brings “value-added” to the 12-year journey we call pre-collegiate education.

At schools like La Salle, it is all too easy to assign “value-added” (particularly given the outstanding college-prep options which exist here in the San Gabriel Valley) to the penultimate outcome of a student’s four-year journey to the college of his choice. I claim that this trajectory is “easy” (though most parents would argue that it is anything but) because that journey is only 50% of the goal which justifies La Salle’s existence. The other 50% is precisely linked to the focus of the dissertation that I was asked to evaluate - specifically how the leadership of Catholic High School principals impacts student achievement. A substantial portion of Chapter 2 of the dissertation (there are 5 chapters in the entire study) was devoted to the question: “how do the leadership strategies of successful Catholic high school principals impact teacher behavior and student learning?” Earlier I referenced the “penultimate” outcome of Catholic, college-prep high schools. College destination for schools like La Salle is the “penultimate” outcome because I have said in this space and elsewhere that the Mission of La Salle is to produce good students (college-prep) and good people (values-orientation).

Reading this dissertation reminded me of how critical the second aspect of a La Salle education is to the reason for our existence. Given the robust options for college-prep schools here in the San Gabriel Valley, it is understandable when families choose other highly-valued schools over La Salle. However, when that decision is made through the lens of moral, ethical and religious values, we expect parents to consider La Salle because of its substantial emphasis on the education of the whole person: academically, athletically, artistically and - most importantly - spiritually.

This reflection has been triggered by a wonderful component of the dissertation I have been asked to evaluate. The study makes the claim (with which I agree) that successful Catholic high school principals embrace the concept of “servant leadership” in their day-to-day behavior. In other words, the authority of Catholic high school principals is rooted in the “ethic of care and the ethic of service” which typifies their day-to-day practice.

As we transition from the leadership of one outstanding - and well known - “servant leader” (Pat Bonacci, AFSC) to another, less well-known, but well-regarded “servant leader” (Brother Chris Brady, FSC), I take comfort in this theory-based comment in the dissertation I have been asked to review:

“Having situational awareness entails being able to predict what might occur and being aware of issues that may not have arisen but could possibly create strife.”

We are all well-aware of Pat Bonacci’s outstanding ability to pay attention to “issues that may not have arisen but could possibly create strife. “ Having had the privilege of working with Brother Christopher for the better part of the last six weeks, I am reasonably confident that he will bring his particular skills to the world of La Salle which were described in the dissertation I have been asked to review.

On August 22nd, formally welcome the families of the Class of 2016. I am confident that they will be as comfortable with the leadership of Brother Christopher as the last fifteen years of graduates have been with Pat Bonacci. AFSC.

Happy New Year!