Brother Raphael Conference Room
To honor the school’s first principal, Brother Raphael Bodin, FSC, school administrators approved naming Archbishop Rummel’s primary conference room after Brother Raphael.
Following a two year term as principal that began in 1962, Brother Raphael was named provincial by his peers. After he completed his term as Visitor among the Brothers, he was named principal at St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe, NM, before he returned to Metairie in 1977 as a mathematics teacher.
In 1981 he was elected provincial again by the Christian Brothers. At the conclusion of his term, he volunteered to work with the Brothers’ missionary work in Ondo, Nigeria. On June 13, 1997, he was murdered in Africa by bandits who broke into his room at night and suffocated him to death. Brother Raphael Bodin, FSC, is buried in Africa.
Chapel Doors
The doors of the Chapel of St. Joseph on campus were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Wilson in memory of their son, Darryl Joseph Wilson, ’82. After his untimely death in 1999, the Wilson family wanted to honor Darryl’s memory. When Ms. Lynda Grass, admissions secretary in 2003, told her cousin, Darryl’s mother, that students were having trouble identifying the location of the chapel, the Wilsons knew chapel doors would be a suitable memorial to their son.
The family contacted renowned artists Mr. Edward Goldman, Jr., who designed the doors, and Mr. Claude Lipps, who crafted the original glass windows in the chapel. The Wilson family dedicated the chapel doors in May, 2003, in memory of their son, Darryl, an honor student, drum major, and young man strong in his faith, with love and loyalty to his alma mater.
Raider Room Cross
By 1994 the Raider Room was used by students daily, so the school determined that a large cross was needed in the area to assist students in focusing on faith and purpose. A large crucifix was the goal and a plan was established by the Student Council to fund it through a collection from students during Spirit Week and presented on Rummel Day.
The large cross hangs in the Raider Room between pictures of Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel, the school’s founder, and St. John Baptist de La Salle, Christian Brother founder. Through the efforts of German teacher, Ms. Christine Struppeck, contact was made with Ms. Marge Ward, a local nationally renowned sculptor. There were several meetings with the artist to establish the type of cross envisioned.
The cross is cast bronze with a dark patina, hanging on a wooden cross. Jesus is cast in a pose of the Resurrection. The background wood of the cross is framed in narrow, decorative wood. Each of the four ends of the cross has one of the symbols from the school crest: the hunting horn from Archbishop Rummel’s crest, the book of knowledge, the star of the Christian Brothers, and the Louisiana pelican feeding its young. Each of the four symbols is cast bronze with a dark patina to match the Risen Christ.
Statue of St. LaSalle
In 1982 when Brother Louis Welker, FSC, was appointed the school’s Campus Minister by Principal Brother Brendan Hayden, FSC, Brother Louis approached the Brothers’ Retirement Community in Lafayette, LA, asking if they would lend a statue of St. La Salle to Archbishop Rummel High School. The community agreed, so Brother Louis and Chaplain Fr. Randy Roux drove to Lafayette in a school van and transported the statue back to campus.
Mr. Elward Whitfield, AFSC, maintenance craftsman, built the stand where the statue rests. The statue is located at the main entrance across from the receptionist desk.
