Br. Bob takes post at Bethlehem U.

By Lindsay Dickson
Editor-in-Chief

Brother Robert J. Smith, FSC, said goodbye to his friends and colleagues at Saint Mary’s University last month. Brother Bob has since assumed duties of vice president for academic affairs at Bethlehem University of the Holy Land, a Lasallian university in Palestine.

“As a Brother, I want to be open to needs that other Lasallian schools face. There’s a need and I was asked,” Brother Bob said.
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He considered this offer for a few months before announcing it to SMU. While at SMU, Brother Bob was a professor in the theology department and was also director of Christ the Teacher Institute of Education in Nairobi, Kenya. Most recently, he was the vice president for mission and the director of Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

Bethlehem University was co-founded by the Vatican and the Christian Brothers in 1973. With approximately 2,600 undergraduates, the university is 70 percent Muslim and 30 percent Catholic. Brother Bob explained that the university is in Palestine, an occupied territory. There are checkpoints manned by Israeli soldiers and the school was closed from 2000-2003 due to violence. “There are irresolvable issues there. Some parts of the world have it more difficult than others,” he explained. “Our campus shows effects of rockets, bullets and teargas.”

Before leaving SMU, Smith explained that he feels psychologically and mentally prepared for this new journey. “Being in Africa five years ago gave me good practice,” said Brother Bob. “But the preparation has been laid over the past 20 years.”

Brother Bob said, “Everything I am has been shaped by my experiences [at SMU]. I now have a keener sense of mission.” He described the awareness for and understanding of Lasallian and Catholic identity, education for justice, and respect for a diverse world he saw while at SMU. He plans to take that knowledge of mission and will continue to address what it means to say one is Catholic and Lasallian. Brother Bob explained that he will miss the people, mission and identity at SMU. He said that his time has been satisfying and rewarding and that “it’s not about buildings and programs. It’s about the people.”

“His leadership will surely be missed. He was a mentor to all of us in all things Lasallian. He embodied the spirit of the Christian Brothers,” said Bob Fisher, director of annual giving.

“In addition to thanking Brother Robert for his long-time commitment to this university, I know I speak for the entire community in offering our support and prayers to him as he begins a very challenging assignment in a turbulent area of the world,” said Jeffrey Highland, Ph.D., university provost and vice president for the college.