Ordinarily, I, a Jesuit-educated Atenean would have not known Brother Andrew Gonzales, a De La Salle Christian Brother and President of De La Salle University. But our common friendship with Anthony C. Aguirre brought us together.
Upon the untimely death of Anthony, the Aguirre family established the Anthony C. Aguirre Foundation. (Mission Statement: To do the good that Anthony would have done if God had granted him a longer life).
Brother Andrew was elected Chairman and I a member of the board of trustees. Being a trustee in a foundation is not fi nancially rewarding as the trustees are not even allowed to receive per diems. Brother Andrew, a well-known food connoisseur compensated for this lack by holding our dinner-time board meetings at five-star restaurants with their delicious dishes.
It was during these sumptuous dinners, where Brother Andrew explained the delicacies before us while we discussed the projects we would fund in honor of Anthony, that Brother Andrew and I grew closer. For a start, we discovered our Capampangan (Pampanga) roots (he from Apalit and me from Guagua) and our academic credentials (he a doctorate in linguistics and I a doctorate in business education). Most importantly we both held the firm determination that the academic rigor we acquired through our doctoral degrees would not dull our practical sensibilities.
It is this combination of academic rigor and practical sensibility that underlined the educational innovations introduced by Brother Andr.
