A Mass, tours, dinner and an evening of music outdoors under a canopy of twinkling lights on Nicollet Island were part of a May 3 on-campus celebration of the 125th anniversary of DeLaSalle High School, founded in 1900 as the first Catholic high school in Minneapolis.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Bishop Kevin Kenney (class of 1978), Bishop Emeritus John LeVoir of New Ulm (class of 1964) concelebrated the Mass, along with clergy who have ties to the school.
“One of the areas where DeLaSalle has excelled is helping people to give witness to Jesus in their lives,” said Archbishop Hebda, who graduated from a LaSallian high school in Pittsburgh. In his homily, the archbishop acknowledged the clergy present who were DeLaSalle alumni and who had given their lives to the Gospel — but he also recognized the dedication and credible witness of others.
“So many of the graduates of this institution in their married lives, in their work as fathers and mothers, have also given their lives to the Gospel,” Archbishop Hebda said. “All of us are called to do that.”
Bishop Kenney, whose father (class of 1948) and grandfather (class of 1910) also graduated from DeLaSalle, said after the Mass that his experience at the school inspired him to live a Christian life in the community.
“One of my favorite aspects of DeLaSalle was when they put us to work out in the community,” said Bishop Kenney, referring to his opportunity to assist children at a grade school in Minneapolis. “The diversity DeLaSalle brings is a wonderful gift.”
DeLaSalle President Patrick Felicetta also announced a new effort to raise $30 million to upgrade facilities, increase student access through tuition assistance and academic support and increase the school’s endowment fund.
A lead gift of $10 million has been received, Felicetta said, from Dave Thies, a 1955 graduate of the school, and his wife, Marlys. Thies played major league baseball briefly for the then-Kansas City Athletics and went on to found a Midwest property management company.
Justin Kaster, a 1995 graduate, said an advanced placement English teacher at DeLaSalle was instrumental in encouraging his academic development. And the school’s spiritual focus and opportunities to meet good people from many backgrounds helped him find common ground for friendships.
“It was a great experience in terms of meeting a lot of different people from different walks of life,” Kaster said.
In helping to found DeLaSalle as a school run by the LaSallian Christian Brothers, Archbishop John Ireland hoped to educate the children of working-class immigrants who were moving into Minneapolis from many European countries.
“The first two years, the name of the school was the Minneapolis Vocational School, and then in 1902, it became DeLaSalle Institute, not a high school, because it wasn’t a four-year school,” said De La Salle Christian Brother Michael Kadow, who works with faculty and staff in LaSallian formation. “(The school) was emphasizing vocational arts because part of the LaSallian tradition was that students are not only spiritually formed, but are prepared to go out in the world and make a difference — a wholistic salvation.”
“Our motto is one island, one family,” said DeLaSalle sophomore Zaven Christianson, “and when I walk in these doors, I do feel that. I feel connected as one family, whether with alumni like Bishop Kenney or with current students. It’s nice being here.”
“The kids that are coming through here are completely self-assured and confident and equipped to take on college or whatever they’re doing next,” said Leah Kaiser, a 1987 graduate and parent of three current students.
Kaiser also noted that the school has a foreign exchange program, the international Global Advantage Program, which uses the network of LaSallian communities across the globe to help students experience different cultures and still feel at home.
Alumni support has been a key factor in sustaining the school and its LaSallian premise — commitment to a quality faith-based education, inclusive of all communities, supporters said.
“Faces change, personalities come and go, but the mission endures,” said Felicetta, urging those in attendance to continue to share the DeLaSalle story.
