Former professor recognized at Honors Convocation

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
October 11, 2006

At the Honors Convocation Oct. 8, former La Salle professor Bro. Miguel Campos was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Campos was born in Guantanamo, Cuba and joined the Christian Brothers in 1959. Throughout his career, Campos has traveled to many countries and filled many different roles. He taught theology at La Salle from 1975-1978 and then again from 1992-1998.

It was during his second period at La Salle that Campos co-founded the Bilingual Undergraduate Studies for Collegiate Advancement (BUSCA) program. The program caters to Spanish speaking people with high school degrees who want to continue in higher education and learn English. In its 14th year at La Salle, the program normally has about 110 student members who take four classes at night Monday through Thursday.

In his acceptance speech on Sunday, he spoke of the importance of such programs. “Our sense of identity and purpose becomes more focused as we open up to wider and wider horizons, encountering other peoples, accepting other cultures,” he said.

“It’s a very unique program,” Sr. Suzanne Neisser, the current director of BUSCA, said. Students in the program take four courses for five semesters and graduate with an associate’s degree, the only one La Salle offers. Although this course load makes BUSCA members full-time students, most of them also work full-time.

Three years ago, BUSCA underwent a major revision, completely immersing students in English language classes instead of starting out with classes spoken in Spanish with a gradual increase in English.

“Our graduates told us that it was too hard, that they weren’t getting enough English, so we revised the whole curriculum,” Neisser said.

Campos said that he was happy with the way the program was moving along. “It has expanded. They’ve been successful in not only retention but in connecting the students to the other departments,” he said.

Although he was pleased to accept the award, Campos said that he was really more impressed by the students who were being honored.

“I always find that [the Honors Convocation] is very meaningful because it celebrates the academic lives of the students,” he said.

Aside from expressing the need to reach out to understand different cultures, Campos said that he wished to deliver a message of hope to the people gathered at the convocation, especially the students. He emphasized the need for students [to find mentors in their professors to offer guidance].

“It made all the difference to me to find someone who believed in me more than I believed in myself,” Campos said. “I think it would be a shame to go through four years of college without ever finding a professor who touches your life in a significant way.”

Campos is currently one of six General Councilors of the Christian Brothers in Rome. During his stay, he will be meeting with students and teachers who participate in some of the programs that he has implemented over the years; he returns to Rome Oct. 12.

curleys1@lasalle.edu