 SAYING "YES!"
What follows is an essay written several years ago. It is included
in my book, Daddy
Stories published by Raven Graphix in 2000.
It is a Father's Day tribute to our Marianist Spirit.
PhDad
The
University of
Dayton is a special place. It is a wonderful institution founded
by Catholic Marianist Brothers to educate the mind and the spirit.
Its motto is "Learn, lead, and serve." On the occasion
of its one hundred fiftieth anniversary, a convocation was held
to reflect on the history of the University and plot its course
for the future. As part of that convocation university administrators,
faculty, community leaders, students, alumni, and friends came
together for an address by Raymond Fitz, S.M., the university's
President for twenty years.
As leader of his alma mater Brother Ray could speak to much of
its history. After all, he had awarded diplomas to more than half
of the university's living graduates. He had seen the campus expand
with the addition of the
Humanities
Building and the
Law
School. He had created a
"learning village" where every one of the campus's buildings,
classrooms, and hundreds of student residences were connected to
the world through technology. He had led the
Dayton community in developing better human services for its impoverished
children. He had compiled a visionary plan for the decade to come.
There was much he could say.
As he approached the podium, a respectful silence fell over the
gathering that awaited a spirited intellectual challenge. What
they heard was a story. A story about a boy who's hero was his
father. The father had attended the
University of
Dayton. Throughout his lifetime, when the son was in need of special
guidance, the father reached back to the stories and lessons he
had learned from the Marianist Brothers at U.D., then he passed
those lessons on to his son. In doing so, the father infused traditional
values and spirituality into his son, a son who attended the
University of
Dayton and eventually became its president.
Brother Ray's recollection of his father was more than a personal
or institutional history. It was the reality of how a person learns.
It was the reality of what a father's teaching means to a child
and his impact on what the child becomes.
In a crowd of community leaders, professors, doctors, lawyers,
educators, researchers, and intellectuals no better lesson could
be taught.
No wonder the
University of
Dayton has lasted so long and succeeded so well.
peace, love and Happy Father's Day,
aj
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