Joan Landeros, EdD, AFSC, Honored by Saint Mary’s Community at Annual Academic Convocation Event

Kicking off the College’s 12-day Lasallian Heritage Days, the event occurred inside the Saint Mary’s Chapel and was attended by dozens of faculty and staff members, students, Christian Brothers, and other College supporters.

Landeros is a long-time educator at Universidad La Salle, México. In presenting the award, Vice President for Mission Frances Sweeney ’86, PhD, noted her exemplary leadership and service in promoting the Lasallian Catholic charism and building collaboration across the international association of Lasallian colleges and universities. 

“It was an absolute delight to welcome Dr. Landeros as our Distinguished Lasallian Educator for this year’s Lasallian Heritage Days,” said Sweeney. “Given our Heritage Days theme of ‘One LaSalle ~ Global Inspirations,’ and as we launch the Transformation 2028 strategic plan and the College's commitment to strengthening its position in our global network, having Joan here was a critical gift for our planning efforts.” 

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Among her many achievements, Landeros helped launch the International Association of La Salle Universities (IALU) by hosting conferences for presidents, mission officers, and academic leaders in Cuernavaca over twenty years ago. A visionary and can-do collaborator, she has served in numerous roles, including:

• External Moderator for Cambridge University
• Delegate to the North American Higher Education Integration Conferences
• Founding member of the Mexican Association for International Education (AMPEI)
• Founding member of the Consortium of North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC)
• Delegate to the UNESCO World Congress on Higher Education in Paris
• Member of the IAUP-United Nations Commission for Disarmament Education, Peace and Conflict Resolution 

Sweeney called Dr. Landeros’s keynote address “most inspiring, grounding our international work in our Lasallian, Catholic heritage and reminding us of our mission to transform lives, and also communities, through education. We’re grateful for such a heartening speech and congratulate her on this honor.”

Read the full text of Dr. Landeros’s remarks:

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Dr. Richard Plumb, Dr. Frances Sweeney, and dear members of Saint Mary’s College Community,

Thank you for this honor. I share this distinction with my extended Lasallian family around the world, with whom I have collaborated for over 50 years, and with my colleagues in the global network of Lasallian higher education, IALU.

Saint Mary’s College has accompanied me on my international Lasallian journey. It has been instrumental in forming me, as some refer to me as “the Lasallian Avon Lady.” In 1966, as a Junior from Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, I attended a Catholic student leadership conference at Saint Mary’s. My first international Lasallian collaboration was with Saint Mary’s in the late eighties. I met Nushi Safinya and Gaetano at a TESOL convention. Bro. Mel Anderson agreed to send them to Mexico City to give an in-service workshop for our English teachers. Reciprocally I came to Moraga to speak to your ESL teachers.

Of all the IALU member institutions I have visited, I have spent the most time here at Saint Mary’s, Moraga. I attended the Buttimer Institute for three summers. Saint Mary’s hospitality brought me in contact with Lasallian leaders like Mimi McCall and inspirational luminaries like Brothers Luke Salm, Gerard Rummery, Jeff Callahan, Bill Mann, and Don Mouton. What a treasure for Saint Mary’s!

On behalf of the IALU Board present here today, I recognize the historic role Saint Mary’s College of California has played in bringing together the Lasallian University family. In the early eighty´s, a decade after the first Encuentro in Mexico, Saint Mary’s hosted the second Encuentro of Lasallian Presidents and Rectors. The international response was outstanding for the era. The change of mindset of the Institute toward higher education and of the Lasallian Higher Education institutions themselves began during these first Encuentros. I am sure our great pioneer internationalists like Brother Andrew Gonzalez of the Philippines, Brother José Cervantes from Mexico, and former Brother Superior John Johnston sowed the seeds of our future IALU global network here on your campus.

Saint Mary’s College incubated the first years of the formal IALU organization. IALU’s first President, Brother Craig Franz was an inspired innovator. Brother Ron Gallagher brought steady continuity and resilience. Both saw the potential of a united global Lasallian network.

However, I must recognize the faithful, generous efficiency of the incredible Dr. David Ford and the dedicated Saint Mary’s staff, who did the heavy lifting throughout the formative years of IALU:  They helped organize nine international Cuernavaca meetings for Lasallian university specialists. They aided in the coordination of Encuentro VI Philippines, Encuentro VII Barcelona, Encuentro VIII Brazil and Encuentro IX Philadelphia. They supported three IALU international poster campaigns.

Saint Mary’s can be proud of its contribution to the Lasallian higher education heritage.

One LaSalle – Global Inspirations

This is truly an appropriate theme for your Lasallian Heritage Days celebration this year. It reflects the energy, hope and courage emanating from the worldwide participation of the Lasallian Family, leading up to last year’s General Chapter, the III International Assembly and the IALU Encuentro XIII.  The signs of OUR times for the Lasallian Educational Mission point to the rise of our collective consciousness (our inspiration) of the power of the Global Lasallian Community and the necessity for international cooperation and collaboration.

There are two challenging themes integral to the proposed paths of transformation and renewal of the Global Lasallian Mission, which are of vital importance to our Lasallian higher education institutions: Internationalization and Sustainability.

Internationalization has had to transition from a one-person mobility office or a fragmented ad hoc structure to an integrated institutional, Mission-driven response. Internationalization is no longer optional; it is a moral imperative!

Internationalization is the means, and sustainability is the goal.

Environmental sustainability, integral ecology, governance policies and critical citizenship extend necessarily into areas such as diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and peace.

I love the posters around the campus, but one poster in the corridor next to the chapel particularly moved me:

We invite you to join Lasallians worldwide to consider this call:

Our task is to keep our feet on the ground, to be in direct contact with those who suffer, to be in communion with those who want to change the world, and in dialogue with those who think differently.

Join Lasallians in Celebrating / Great Things are Possible/ Deepening our Commitment to Justice

Saint Mary’s has the mindset! Saint Mary’s can contribute great things to the collective, international efforts of the Lasallian network.

Jane Knight and Hans de Wit’s much-cited definition of higher education internationalization align coherently with these Lasallian educational messages and values. It is: “The intentional process of integrating an international, intercultural and global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education for all students and staff and to make a meaningful contribution to society.” 

The internationalization of One LaSalle is not to create a standardized, one-size-fits-all formula but rather to integrate a diverse, organic system that embraces our global, international, intercultural existence. The process of internationalization fortifies and promotes the Educational Mission of the worldwide Lasallian Community. Our shared bond of Lasallian values gives us distinction, security of conviction, and the basis for trust to collaborate among our institutions. We Lasallians can embrace our asymmetries and differences as areas of complementarity, exploration, creativity, and innovation.

The Lasallian University network is facing the challenge of collectively giving qualitative, human dimensions to its internationalization processes involving the entire college/university community. This includes developing critical global citizenship, employability, integral ecology, improving the quality of research, education, service to society, especially the marginalized, and accountability through assessment of outcomes and impacts. These dimensions identify Lasallian institutions and characterize their staff and students.

Internationalization, to support our sustainability, must be a central strategic concept recognized and appreciated throughout all our institutions. I was pleased and not surprised when Frances Sweeney told me that internationalization and sustainability are part of Saint Mary’s Core Strategic Plan. I am confident that the response of the Lasallian Higher Education international network to the goals and calls to action of the recent General Chapter, International Assembly, and IALU Encuentro will surpass all expectations.

IALU plays an important supporting role in the internationalization and sustainability of its member institutions. We are discovering that IALU gives our One Lasalle global network important added value and a competitive edge: 

·       The INDIVISA Database

·       The One LaSalle mobility agreement

·       Teacher training for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)

·       The International Lasallian University Leadership Program in Rome

·       The Lasallian Student Leadership Program

·       Global Pact on Education

·       Laudato Si, Seven Year Journey

· Inter-congregational collaboration.

The future will bring:

·       Faculty and staff mobility

·       Specialized collaborative networks

·       Additional Formation Programs

·       Support for Lasallian Higher Education in Africa.

·       Leavening Project

·       Jesus Magister

All of us gathered here today are the guarantors of the legacy of St. John Baptist de La Salle. Together and by association, we are a global force of transformation.

Thank you, Saint Mary’s.

INDIVISA MANENT - What is joined will remain united.

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Learn more about Dr. Joan Landeros and past Convocation honorees.