Academic Convocation Honoree 2025

The Academic Convocation is a key moment in our academic year and a signature event of our annual De La Salle Heritage Days.

The event honors the rich variety of gifts and experiences that make our own community the special place that it is, strives to deepen the College's Lasallian and Catholic heritage, and strengthens our role as a key collaborator in our worldwide Lasallian community. Our 2025 Academic Convocation will take place on Wednesday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m. in the Saint Mary’s Chapel. A special reception will follow at the Soda Center.

This year’s Lasallian Heritage Days theme is Transform Today, Inspire Hope for Tomorrow." Our very special Academic Convocation honoree is a great contributor to our Lasallian mission: Dr. Carole Swain, Professor Emerita of Saint Mary’s College of California.

Carole Swain

Our Academic Convocation Honoree

Dr. Carole Swain, Professor Emerita of Saint Mary’s College, will be honored on April 30, 2025, at the Academic Convocation and recognized for her exemplary leadership and service.

Dr. Carole Swain

For more than three decades,  Dr. Carole Swain has been an inspiring, grounded, and visionary leader for Lasallian Catholic education in the United States and within the global Lasallian network. A professor in our Kalmanovitz School of Education, Carole also served as Director of Faculty Development and then the inaugural Vice President for Mission. She dedicated her professional career to advancing Lasallian education, believing in the Lasallian pipeline from early childhood to higher education; she helped start DeMarillac Academy in San Francisco, De La Salle Academy in Concord, and Cristo Rey De La Salle High School in Oakland. She has served on numerous boards and committees for schools throughout our district.  

In addition to her work in helping to establish Lasallian schools, Carole became one of the first lay partners in the shared mission with the Christian Brothers nationally and internationally, focusing on continued Lasallian development for all educators.  She initiated a January Term course, with students, faculty, and staff to the Philippines, helped launch short-term immersions for educators around the globe, and launched a Lasallian Educator Fellowship Program in collaboration with the Kalmanovitz School of Education to help defray graduate school costs for future Lasallian educators. Here at Saint Mary’s, Carole also launched the first Master of Arts in Lasallian Studies. 

Carole was an instrumental partner in developing programs for initial and continuing formation that included Christian Brothers and lay partners. She helped start the national three-year formation Buttimer Program here at Saint Mary’s College, participated in the creation of the Lasallian Leadership Institute and Lasallian Social Justice Institute, and the Rome Program for university educators. She also served on the Mission Council for the SFNO district and was chair of numerous national and international committees, including the Lasallian Education Council, and international assembly delegates, a member of CIAMEL, and a member of the planning committee that developed the International Association of Lasalle Universities. 

Carole’s work and life have been to live the mission of transformative education. Her address to the Saint Mary’s community at our Academic Convocation will offer a time for us all to pause, come together, reflect on our own calling as Lasallian educators, and celebrate our shared heritage and mission. Please join us!

Convocation is the centerpiece of a weeklong celebration of the life of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, patron saint of teachers, founder of the Christian Brothers and the College’s Lasallian heritage and mission. Past recipients include:

  • Brother William Mann, FSC, D.Min. (read his remarks from the 2024 Academic Convocation)
  • Joan Landeros, PhD, AFSC, Board member, International Association of Lasallian Universities (IALU) (see the 2023 Academic Convocation)
  • Brother Ernest Miller, FSC, DMin., Vice President of Mission, Diversity & Inclusion, La Salle University (read Brother Ernest's Convocation Address)
  • Brother James Gaffney, FSC, DMin,  President Emeritus, Lewis University
  • Kevin Michael Nagle, Chair, Board of Trustees, Saint Mary's College, Moraga
  • Brother Louis DeThomasis, President Emeritus, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
  • Dr. Carmelita I. Quebengco, Chancellor Emeritus and University Fellow at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Brother Peter Bray, FSC, Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem, University
  • Brother Thomas Johnson,FSC,  Director of the Novitiate for the Lasallian Region of North America.
  • Brother Robert Schieler, Superior General 
  • Brother Armin Altamirano Luistro, Secretary of Education Philippines 
  • Brother Alvaro Rodriquez Echeverria, Superior General
  • Brother Gustavo Ramirez Barba, Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, General Councilor
  • Brother Augustine (Gus) Boquer,  President of De La Salle University-Dasmarinas, Philippines
  • Brother Carlos Gabriel Gomez-Restrepo, President of Universidad of de La Salle, Bogota, Colombia
  • Gery Short, Director of Education for the De La Salle Christian Brothers for the Western Province
  • Brother Jose Cervantes, founder of four universities in Mexico 
  • Brother Gerard Rummery, International formator
  • Brother Ed Siderwitz, founder of San Miguel and Catalyst schools in Chicago
  • Brother Vincent Malham, former President of Bethlehem University

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