Celebrating the Bicentennial of Marianist Education Robert S. Webb P ’18 ’20 President This past November 2019 marked the bicentennial or the 200th anniversary of Marianist education. In the 19th century, our founder Blessed William Joseph Chaminade was called to bring back the Catholic faith to France during the French Revolution by emulating our Blessed Mother and nurturing Christ in others. Marianist education began modestly on the Rue des Menuts in Bordeaux, France, in 1819. There were 15 students and a core group of teachers composed almost exclusively of Marianist religious. Marianist educators offer Mary as a model of integrity and emulate Mary’s spirit to promote balance in academics and extracurricular activities with prayer, reflection, and service. Today, Marianist education spans five continents and 24 countries with 97 educational institutions, including three universities. Marianist institutions, through 7,833
religious and lay educators, serve and guide more than 112,155 young people across the world. This educational legacy continues into a new decade as Chaminade’s 212 faculty and staff are currently educating over 1,900 students at our middle and high school campuses. Chaminade has inspired and prepared over 11,000 students to love, learn, and lead through our Catholic, Marianist traditions of a living faith, academic excellence, and moral responsibility. In this issue of Chaminade Now, Fr. Ted Ley, SM ’58, provides us with the historical background on our Marianist educational tradition and our founder Fr. Joseph Chaminade. We celebrated this tradition by hosting the 2019 Marianist Basketball Classic, which brought Marianist schools to our campus from around the country, including St. Anthony High School in Hawaii, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Ohio, Central Catholic High School in Texas, and Chaminade High School in Missouri. This issue also highlights our committed donors and alumni, such as the White Family and our Gala supporters who, through their philanthropic support, help ensure that our Marianist tradition continues for the benefit of the students we serve now and in the future. In this new decade and beyond, Chaminade will continue to deepen and expand the charism of our founder Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, to assist Mary’s mission of bringing Christ to the world.
WINTER/SPRING 2020
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