John Perron has been to Canada, Mexico, Ireland, England, and much of the United States in his life as a Holy Cross Brother. Yet he also has been called to bring hope to people on the margins of society.

“What I’m trying to do is enable people to move from the outside to the inside in our society,” he tells a visitor to his office in the English department at Saint Edward’s University. Hispanic students at Saint Edward’s include the sons and daughters of migrant workers, whose education is made possible through the University’s College Assistance Migrant Program.

“Groups of people are systematically excluded [from our society],” Brother John reflects, “and one way to bring hope is to equip them to function within the dominant culture.”

His experiences in several “hot spots” honed his awareness of social injustice. After earning his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and teaching in San Antonio for seven years, he spent two years on the Gulf shore of Mississippi. From 1966 to 1968, Brother John served as director of studies and taught junior English at a diocesan school in the town of Biloxi.

“The country was still in the turmoil of the civil rights movement,” he recalls. “In the little town across the bay from us, for example, they burnt the high school down so they wouldn’t have to integrate. Our school was integrated, so when we went to play football with other schools, it was always touch and go. One time the team stopped at a restaurant, and our black and white students went in together. The local police took the Brothers chaperoning the group into the kitchen and said, ‘Trouble’s brewing,’ so we all took our meals out on the bus.”

After that, Brother John took up a two-year position as head of the English Department at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California. Antiwar demonstrations in nearby Berkeley filled the news, and to a person reared in rural Washington, he says, “It felt like I was posted to another country.”

Meanwhile, he had developed an interest in teaching college English, and Brother John began that career at St. Edward’s University in 1970. He had earned a master’s in English at University of Portland and enrolled in the Doctor of Arts program at Carnegie Mellon University. After completing his doctoral studies, he returned to St. Edward’s and became involved in the University’s freshman studies program.

“In 1979, when I became director of the program,” Brother John recalls, “we revamped it, and that format remained in use until 2002. In 1985 I also became director of the writing program.”

Brother John reduced his teaching load to half-time in fall 2002 when he became Assistant Director of the Holy Cross Collegiate Program in Moreau House. Together with the program’s Director, Brother Robert LeGros, he leads the community of four students, one temporary professed Brother from Ghana, and a candidate for the Congregation.

This small community, known as Moreau House, resides upstairs at St. Joseph’s Hall; the living quarters for a larger community of Brothers are downstairs, which enables both groups to mingle informally.
What does Brother John enjoy most about his work at Moreau House?

“I enjoy working with young people,” he says, “and it’s a shot in the arm to live with such good young men.”

One of the students is trying to decide whether he has a vocation, and Brother John believes the Collegiate Program offers a great advantage to men who feel they might want to become a Brother.

“You can experience community living and communal prayer and community service,” he points out, “all of which would help you discern your vocation. We interact with the Brothers downstairs, too, so it gives students a chance to meet the whole spectrum of people and learn about their experience.”