La Salle University - Explorer Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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Christian Brothers hke what they see Social scientists have made us aware of cultural relativism. The forms and institutions of one time or place often seem immutable, eternal, part of the very nature of things to those near them, while they appear arbitrary, pointless, droll and quaint to outside observers. Yesterday ' s pas- sions are today ' s nostalgia. And the more clearly we perceive relativism, the more of it there is; all dogmas, axioms, truths, laws come under reva- luation, scrutiny, question. But how relative is relative? Is Rheims, France too far away to mean anything for Philadelphians? Is 1680 too long ago to help shape 1980? Is John Baptist de la Salle, a priest, an aristocrat, a humanist intellectual, too remote to cross our paths at all? What does liberal arts education mean today? Why religious community? Why Catholic schools? We asked several of the Christian Brothers to comment about the way in which the La Salle College of 1980 is still fulfilling the historic mission of St. La Salle — and what a variety of 20

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A salute to the Brothers Gregory Claude Demitras Gene Graham F. Patrick Ellis Emery C. MoJlenhauer Edward John AJJgeier Joseph Bender Daniel W. Burke F. Christopher Businsky CarJ Clayton jomes Conaghan Charles F. Echelmeier E. Louis Fernandez Gerald Fitzgerald D. Thomas Gimborn F. Vincent Grimes Richard Hawley Daniel Bernion Kelly Francis McCormick James J. JVIuldoon Lewis JVIullin G. John Owens David C. Pendergast William J. Quinn Jude Sapone Paul Scheiter Gregory Paul Sprissler Anthony W. Wallace Thomas W. Warner Hugh V. Wilson Lawrence J. Colhocker Alfred W. Grunenwald Hugh N. Albright J. Edward Davis William J. Martin Joseph J. Keenan Gerard F. Molyneaux Joseph F. Burke John P. Dondero Gerard G. Vernot Cosmos Van Tran Richard D. Herlihy John Kane Brian Henderson Joseph McGinty The 1980 Explorer and the entire College com- munity thank the Christian Brothers for their work, dedication and enthusiasm for the benefit of La Salle. 19

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Brothers we asked! Ranging from 18 to 80, from undergraduate to full profes- sor, from mere instructor to college president, there was agreement. Yes, there has been change, plenty of it, more than any visionary of 1680 could have conceived. Yet this change, the Brothers thought, has been — well, let ' s say relative. In a back to basics age, some basics don ' t have to be gone back to, because they were always there. Brother Patrick Ellis, President of La Salle College, thinks that we are, in the main, bringing St. La Salle ' s visi into our century and our cultur seeing to the real needs of persons who otherwise wouldn ' t be served fully, if at all. To paraphrase him, Si La Salle said that parents and studeni shouldn ' t have to trade off any educa- tional quality in order to have a reli- gious atmosphere. The place with his name on it must be first-rate in all ways. As to academic change, about which we also asked. Brother Patrick would like to see a more effective thrust for intellectual formation: cohe- rence in the structure of all majors, cumulative impact in areas like phi- losophy and theology along with the existing brilliance of the separate courses, much more study of long- range subjects like history and foreign languages. Brother Patrick thinks all of this is coming, but slowly. Brother Gregory Paul Sprissler came to La Salle in 1933 and has been something of everything: faculty mem- ber, dean of the college, president of the college, and dean of the evening division. The trend today, Brother Gregory Paul notes, is toward fewer and fewer Christian Brothers. During the 30 ' s and early 40 ' s, the faculty, though small, was composed mostly of Brothers. Every student in each of his years at the College came into in- timate contact with the Brothers. It follows that the traditions of St. La Salle were maximized. Today it is possible for a student to spend four years here without coming under the influence of a Brother in the class- room. Yet, of course, we are here, which very fact is a striking if indirect tribute to the traditions of the Broth- ers. Brother William Quinn, who has also served La Salle College and the Christian Brothers with panache, dis- tinction, and longevity, also feels that the college today is still in step with the founder ' s ideals. Who am I to speak for St. John Baptist de la Salle? 21