As a member of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota community, you are part of the great international Lasallian network. This group of educational institutions distributed around the world is dedicated to quality student-centered education and learning in the Catholic tradition. Here people are compassionate in their dealings with others, dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, and appreciative of art and culture.

Saint Mary's University, as a Lasallian Catholic institution, traces its origins to a priest and educational innovator of 17th century France, Saint John Baptist de La Salle. Born in 1651, De La Salle began a new system of Christian schools in which the teachers assist parents in the educational, ethical and religious formation of their children. To continue his vision, John Baptist de La Salle founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (known today as the De La Salle Christian Brothers). In Latin, the group's name is Fratres Scholarum Christianarum, the familiar "FSC" after a Brother's name. The spiritual and pedagogical insights of Saint John Baptist de La Salle are the foundations of the modern Lasallian community.

Today, the Lasallian Community, the ongoing home of De La Salle's tradition and spirit, is alive and functioning in 81 countries of the world and in more than 1,000 educational institutions. Over 4,000 De La Salle Christian Brothers, along with 56,000 Lasallian lay colleagues, serve over three quarters of a million students and their families worldwide. Here in the United States there are more than 100 Lasallian educational institutions. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota is one of the seven Lasallian colleges and universities in the United States.

De La Salle Christian Brothers website