2006 fall magazine - Seton Hall University

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FROM PRESIDENTS HALL | M O N S I G N O R R O B E R T S H E E R A N ’ 6 7 , S . T . D .
encounter
and education
“Globalization ...
is part of the
destiny of Seton
Hall and more
central than ever
to our mission.”
The personal, educational and spiritual impact of world
travel cannot be overstated. From nomadic biblical times
through the great age of exploration and down to our own
day of high-speed transport between continents, men and
women have sought to travel and learn and to sit at the
feet of voyagers from distant lands.
The Lord’s commission to the Apostles, from which the Church and the University derive
their purpose, is direct: “Go and teach all nations.” The salvific mission of the Lord, in
faith, has naturally been supported, in Catholic tradition, by reason — the employment
of all of our God-given talents to the tasks of evangelization and education.
Many friends kid me about my own frequent travels overseas, which, since I was a
student and seminarian, have been a joy and a passion for me. I see traveling as something
geographical but also metaphysical, indeed, spiritual, soul- and heart-expanding.
Just this past summer, I traveled to Berlin and the surrounding areas of Saxony where
Martin Luther lived. I walked in the towns where he taught, including Wittenberg. There,
from an academic chair, Luther changed the history of the West, exerting, arguably, more
influence than any university professor before or since.
I also traveled to China with faculty colleagues. There we witnessed the energy and
intelligence with which the Chinese are pursuing their educational goals and economic
progress. For exactly a quarter century Seton Hall has had good institutional ties there,
which are now even stronger. But I came away with the certain realization that much
more needs to be done.
Having spent almost a decade abroad in the ’60s and ’70s, I have become increasingly
convinced that globalization — now permanent, pervasive and accelerating — is part of
the destiny of Seton Hall and more central than ever to our mission.
A huge step along the path to internationalization was the founding of the John C.
Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, 10 years ago. It has quickly