Page 5 - 2017/2018 Salesanium Annual Report

From the President
If you look closely at the statue of St. Francis de Sales in the main lobby of Salesianum, you’ll see a honey bee resting on a sunflower at the base of the statue. It’s the kind of detail that if you don’t look closely enough you might miss it, but its inclusion is no accident.
Brad Vanneman — the artist — intentionally included such details and sought to showcase the brilliant simplicity of our patron by including the allegories and symbols that imbue Salesian spirituality with its potency and timelessness.
Saint Francis’ masterpiece, The Introduction to the Devout Life, is littered with references to bees, an insect he admired for its communal spirit and industriousness. Indeed, the hive provides an apt analogy for Salesianum. Alive with activity and purpose, everyone — in their different roles — is aligned by a common mission: working to build the Kingdom of God here in our corner of the world at 18th & Broom streets.
But what does it take to fulfill that mission? Saint Francis points out that bees leave the hive, eager to cull the best of nature’s bounty and return with it, where it benefits the entire community. Like the bees, so too must our students go forth into the world — near and far — to better understand their world and return with what they have learned, so that all might grow.
This reminder from Saint Francis applies to more than just students. In many ways, it
applies to the entire school. As an institution, are we looking outside our own walls? Are we connecting with our constituents? Are we serving the community we call home? In short, are we pulling together to serve the same mission?
This report is an accounting of that activity — a gauge of the vitality and efficacy of
the hive. Salesianum continues to do great work advancing our mission, but much work remains. This report is an assessment of our progress during the 2017–18 fiscal year.
Bees have an uncanny ability to always
find their way back home. As I consider the legions of parents, alumni, friends and family whose names fill this report, I am reminded that so many Salesians return to us year- after-year — even with great separations in time and distance — sharing their gifts freely for the benefit of the entire community. I’m grateful not only for their contributions, but for everyone’s interest in our work, and your willingness to read this report so you, too, might get a sense of the spirit of the hive.
Tenui Nec Dimittam,
Brendan P. Kennealey ‘94
President
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