Professor Shel @hery

With his term as St. John’s College Acting Principal at a close,
Professor Shel Cherry looked back fondly on his time spent with
students, staff and visitors over the past year. In his own words

he relives the highlights...

My term as Acting Principal
wrapped up at the end of June,
with Professor Tim Brook,
Department of History, UBC,
taking on the responsibilities

of Principal, effective July 1, 2004.
As my final act as the College’s
administrator, it was a great plea-
sure to warmly welcome Tim

and to wish him a very successful
and happy term. It was also
incumbent upon me to provide
my last Principal’s Message

for the newsletter, in which | have
chosen to focus mainly on the

St. John’s spirit.

| was a Senior Fellow at St. John’s
College before becoming the
Acting Principal, and so | knew
something about the College

and its activities when agreeing
to serve in this position. | must
tell you that | marvel at my

good sense in making that deci-
sion. The past year has been a
very enlightening and pleasurable
experience, and it has been a

lot of fun! It gave me the oppor-
tunity to witness closely the

life of the College, and to recog-
nize what a special place this is,
and to acknowledge the privileges
that its membership bestows.

| attribute a great deal of this
specialness to the wonderful mix
of its resident fellows, of which
one-half are international stu-
dents. Taken together they form a
community of graduate students
who come from diverse cultural
and academic backgrounds.

By living and interacting in the
St. John’s College academic
setting, they encourage discus-
sion, understanding and debate,
learn to communicate with and
respect one another, and form
lifelong friendships. They have
endowed this young College with
a special character and spirit
which bears witness to its global
demographics and to the mean-
ing of global citizenship.

| heard and read about

the “Johannean spirit” of the

St. John’s University (Shanghai)
alumni when | first took up

my appointment and | wanted to
understand what it really meant.
In my first few weeks in office,

| approached one of the distin-
guished senior statesmen of the
original Johanneans— now
residing in Vancouver—to seek
assistance and understanding.
After admitting that it was
difficult to describe, this gentle-

man explained that all

Professor Shel Cherry, Acting Principal,

August 2003—June 2004

Johanneans, no matter the year
of their graduation from

St. John’s University, “were like
one big family, and its members
would aid and assist one another,
without hesitation, in a time

of personal need. Further, their
St. John’s University education
imbues in them a confidence and
ability that permits them to

be comfortable and successful in

any culture and society.”

These are admirable qualities
and any University that can instill
such attributes in its alumni

is deserving of their respect, love
and loyalty. Although it no

longer exists physically, St. John’s
University remains the deserving
recipient of this kind of adoration
from its Johannean Alumni.

Continued on page 2