Bethlehem University: The Challenges of a Catholic University in the West Bank

Brother Peter Bray, FSC, EdD is the 8th President of Bethlehem University. Bethlehem University of the Holy Land is a Catholic Christian co-educational institution of higher learning founded in 1973 in the Lasallian tradition, open to students of all faith traditions, many of whom are Muslim.

Bethlehem University, the first university established in the West Bank, and can trace its roots to 1893 when the De La Salle Christian Brothers opened schools in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nazareth, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt.

Brother Peter's work as a teacher and education consultant has brought him around the world, to Australia, the United States, Turkey, England, Ireland and the Philippines. He has facilitated an international workshop on leadership in religious life and presented at a conference for the Australian William Glasser Institute.

Brother Peter has served as a member of the Wellington Archdiocesan Synod organizing committee and as a member of the Board of Trustees for De La Salle College, Auckland in his native New Zealand. He was also a member of the Australian Council for Educational Administration and was elected to the Provincial Council of the De La Salle Brothers in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Besides his doctoral work, Brother Peter earned a master's in Educational Administration as well as diplomas in Adult Education and Religious Studies. His publications include materials on "Lasallian spirituality", "Collaborative leadership in the new millennium" and "The evolution of a quality school: A case study of leadership".

Brother Peter's dedication to educational leadership is a commitment to realizing people's full potential. "In being involved in education," Brother Peter proclaims, "I see myself called to work in whatever way I can against anything that is preventing us from living a full life."

The challenges and opportunities in education around the globe are certainly great - and in Bethlehem likewise. A land steeped in spirituality and made holy by the very birth and life of Jesus Christ, it is all too often ravaged by injustice, war, violence and political instability.