NCEA honors president of Minneapolis Catholic high school

Published: 2007-04-12

MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- Brother Michael Collins, president of DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, received the National Catholic Educational Association's 2007 Catherine T. McNamee, CSJ, Award for his leadership in promoting diversity in Catholic education. The award was presented April 11 during the NCEA convention in Baltimore. DeLaSalle is the most culturally diverse private high school in Minnesota, according to Brother Michael, who is a Brother of the Christian Schools. More than 35 percent of the student body is made up of students of color; 25 percent of the students come from faith traditions other than Catholic; and more than 50 percent receive financial aid. Brother Michael, a 1955 alumnus of DeLaSalle, has been president of the school for 16 years. The award is named for Sister McNamee, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who was NCEA president from 1986 to 1996. She also was president of the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. Diversity is "a natural connection" for DeLaSalle because it is a city school and the city itself is diverse, Brother Michael told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. But "the real challenge is what happens when students get there," he said, adding that diversity needs to be coupled with recruitment and retention.

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