SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA

Citation Honoring

Brother Vincent Malham, FSC, D. Music

“Music is the language of the spirit.
It opens the secret of life bringing peace,
abolishing strife.”

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

These words written by another great man and scholar of Lebanese descent, Kahlil Gibran, express a simple truth epitomized in your gentle, calm and joyful nature as well as in your life’s work and teaching as a Christian Brother, especially in the face of extraordinary challenges and conflict.

You have been an innovator, mentor and visionary in your wide range of administrative and teaching experiences, including twenty-one years at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, six as Dean of the School of Arts; two terms as Provincial of the St. Louis Province; and the last eight years at Bethlehem University where you have held the position of Vice Chancellor. As an accomplished pianist, who not only has performed concerts throughout the world but also plays the piano daily before prayer with the Brothers, you infuse your being and work with the harmony and integrity engendered by a life immersed in music.

You have served as Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in an especially violent and volatile time of military occupation when, on any given day, the quiet of a classroom could be jolted by gunfire, mortar blasts and terror. Upon your arrival at the University, you immediately recognized the need to make bold efforts to secure the future of the University. In addition to building additional classrooms for students and adequate offices for the faculty, you raised support to endow important programs, fund scholarships for students and create new programs in direct response to the needs of an impoverished and turbulent society. Inspired by prayer and your conviction of the importance of the only Catholic university in the Holy Land, you used your personal charm, as well as your talent as a pianist, to play in benefit concerts, to convince supporters around the world of the significance of Bethlehem University and thereby raised the necessary funds that resulted in the construction of Millennium Hall, the endowment of the new religious studies program and responses to other urgent needs of the University.

We have often observed with deep concern the physical dangers of occupation and siege to which the Brothers and all at the University have been subjected in recent years. Under your courageous and inspirational leadership, the University prevailed in staying true to its Lasallian mission and ideals and in remaining a safe haven for its students, staff and faculty. Even in the face of the most difficult economic and political situation, last year Bethlehem University celebrated its 30 th anniversary of service to the Palestinian people, and today more than 2,240 students, regardless of race, creed, or religion, form part of its Catholic and Lasallian educational tradition.

With an extraordinary equanimity of spirit and dedication to the Lasallian mission, you have been a bridge between peoples, religions, cultures and governments. Your ability to communicate not only in English but French, Spanish and, most recently, Arabic, has endeared you to people worldwide, especially local Christians and Muslims of the Bethlehem region.

Brother Vincent, your experience as a teacher, administrator and musician and your dedicated service to making a difference in the lives of students who face danger and strife but who hope for a better future mark you as a person we are proud to call “Brother,” “colleague” and “friend.” In recognition of your outstanding record of educational accomplishments as a De La Salle Christian Brother and your unflagging leadership in the face of many daunting challenges, it is my pleasure to honor you, on behalf of the entire community of students, staff, faculty, alumni and Brothers of Saint Mary’s College of California, by conferring upon you the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Honoris Causa.

Done this sixteenth day of February in the Year of Our Lord 2005.

Brother Ronald Gallagher, FSC
President
Saint Mary’s College of California