Meet the Brothers

By Susanne Guerin
Collegian Editor
February 7, 2007

C: Where are you from?

RK: I was born in Pittsburgh, right by the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne, in an area a lot like University City.

C: Where did you go to college? What was your major?

RK: I started at the University of Pittsburgh. I transferred to La Salle College, when I decided to become a Christian Brother and where I earned my bachelor’s degree in biology education. Later, I got a master’s degree in education and became a certified reading teacher at West Chester College [now University]. In 1986, I completed my master’s in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. I am now trying to finish a PhD in urban education from Temple University. I just have to finish my dissertation.

C: What do you do on campus?

RK: I am the Director of University Ministry and Service (UMAS), which is really a fun job. I get to work with a lot of great people—staff and students—to do many great things. We work to help staff and students explore or deepen their own spiritual and religious identity. We also help members of the campus community make their spiritual journeys real through service on campus, in Philadelphia, nationally and internationally.”

C: What did you do before you came to La Salle

RK: For 16 years I worked with juvenile delinquents in a variety of positions—teacher, social worker, administrator—at St. Gabe’s, a school for juvenile delinquents that the Brothers run in the Philadelphia area. After that, I was privileged to be the founding director of the Archdiocesan Office of Community Development. The OCD works with grass roots faith-based community organizations to help them improve their own neighborhoods. One of the projects we started was buying sheriff’s sale houses, rehabbing them and selling them to new homeowners to help stabilize the neighborhoods. We also built the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center in Kensington.”

C: What do you do for fun/relaxation?

RK:I like the Lord of the Rings movies and books. I’ve read the books in Spanish, too.”

C:What’s your favorite country of the places you’ve visited?

RK: I really enjoyed being in Rome. I’ve spent a couple of months living there.RK:I was in St. Peter’s Square for a papal Mass with a friend who was visiting. After Mass was over, the doors of the Basilica were open so we walked in, and the entire place was empty, except for the cardinals, bishops and priests who were cleaning up from Mass. For 45 minutes we were in the Basilica alone; no one questioned what we were doing there and we were able to really appreciate the building because we got to see it at our own pace, without the crowds.

C: How many languages do you speak?

RK: I can get by in Polish and Spanish, and I’m teaching myself Swahili for the trip to Tanzania with Project Mapendo in the spring.

C: Can you teach us something in Swahili?

RK:“Kwa heri” — while we would translate it as “goodbye,” it means” to go with blessings.”

guerins1@lasalle.edu