Last month, members of the Saint Mary’s community presented at the International Lasallian Center in Rome as a part of the “Women in the Lasallian Family: Moving Forward Together as a Source of Transformation” training session, hosted by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
During the two-week training session, Elizabeth Seebach, Ph.D. (professor of psychology), Sue Hines, Ed.D. (core professor in the Ed.D. program), and Mary Catherine Fox, AFSC B’75, Ph.D. (professor emerita) all took part in leading workshops. Drs. Seebach and Hines ran an interactive workshop, presenting the findings of their year-and-a-half study of women’s needs in all five regions of the Lasallian world and encouraging participants to explore the needs of women in their own regions and districts. Dr. Fox also took a full day to present on the history of women in the Lasallian world.
“The two-week program brought in women and men from all five regions, numerous language groups, and diverse positions and populations. I am so excited to see where the work goes from here,” Seebach said.
Saint Mary’s alumna Sarah (Bellingham) Laitinen B’07, director of education and formation for the Christian Brothers Conference, was also in attendance.
Representatives from RELAN and around the world gathered at the Generalate to deepen their context of women in the Institute through wider conversation with one another. The program included group discussions, reflections, retreat days, project proposals and presentations on the role of women in the life of the Founder as well as the greater Church, findings from the 2022 Needs Assessment of Women in the Lasallian family, the modern realities of women, what women bring to synodal leadership and more.
