Bulletin Spring 2023

ST. GEORGE’S

THE BULLETIN OF ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL // SPRING 2023

Dragon Pride on Full Display

RECAPPING OUR YEARLONG 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

ST. GEORGE’S

FEATURES

12 Greetings from Hollywood

Students on a weeklong trip learn about the inner workings of the entertainment industry

18 Fostering Community, Forging Connections, Finding Talent

Event forms partnership between boarding schools and HBCUs

24 Surf's Up Costa Rica

Students from the Surfing, Service, and Leadership Program went on a 14-day expedition sponsored by the Connected Learning Department

30 Strength in Numbers

Not since the Centennial Celebration in May 1996 had a crowd so large — and so elated — gathered on the Hilltop

40 Head of Her Class

Success continues for elite rower whose crewing days started at SG

42 A Gift of Art

Generous donor hopes to inspire creativity and conversation

DEPARTMENTS

02 Letter from the Head of School

03 Campus News

39 Alumni News

44 Class Notes

80 Student Essay

81 From the Archives

ON THE COVER

3,520 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests gathered on the Hilltop to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of St. George's School.

VIDEO STILL FROM "A HISTORIC CELEBRATION FOR ST. GEORGE'S SCHOOL" BY SKY SABIN. FULL VIDEO MAY BE VIEWED AT STGEORGES.EDU/125TH.

The Bulletin of ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL

Alixe Callen

Head of School

Jedd Whitlock

© 2023 St. George's School

OUR MISSION The specific objectives of St. George’s are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the fullest extent possible the particular gifts that are theirs and to encourage in them the desire to do so. Their immediate job after leaving school is to handle successfully the demands of college; later it is hoped that their lives will be ones of constructive service to the world and to God.

Today, we continue to teach our students the value of learning and achievement, service to others and respect for the individual. We believe that these goals can best be accomplished by exposing students to a wide range of ideas and choices in the context of a rigorous curriculum and a supportive residential community. Therefore, we welcome students and teachers of various talents and backgrounds, and we encourage their dedication to a multiplicity of pursuits — intellectual, spiritual and physical — that will enable them to succeed in and contribute to a complex, changing world.

stgeorges.edu

Director of Advancement

Suzanne McGrady

Director of Communications

Tia Rogers

Associate Director of Constituent Relations

Jeremy Moreau

Web Manager

Alexander Silva

Digital Communications Specialist

Ian Vescera

Digital Communications Specialist

Adam Bastien Designer

From the Hilltop

We don’t know a lot about the Rev. John Diman’s decision to open St. George’s, which was actually originally called Mr. Diman’s School for Boys. What we do know is that Diman, 33, with a grand total of three years of teaching experience under his belt, borrowed $5,000 from his mom, rented some houses in Newport, and advertised his new school in local newspapers. He somehow scrounged up a dozen students and convinced his sister to come along and be the “housemother.” By all accounts, it was a terrible business decision. The economy was in awful shape, and there was already a prep school, called Cloyne House, here on Aquidneck Island. But Diman had a vision, and he turned that vision into a reality, moving from those tiny little rental houses to a mansion over on the Cliff Walk, and then here to the Hilltop in 1901.

A tireless cheerleader for the school, Diman spoke often of the importance of school spirit, once calling on students to, “show our school spirit in as many ways as possible and pass it on each year to succeeding forms ...” Through his personal charisma and sheer dedication, he made this school into one of the preeminent boarding schools in the United States. In fact, Diman was such a skilled leader that at some point in the school’s early years, St. Paul’s tried to steal him away. To no avail.

The Rev. Diman’s vision was also remarkably prescient. In his early writings, he called for “respect for all members of the human family.” Late in his life, he also wrote, “the greatest disappointment of my school career has been that

the schools with which I have been most closely connected have always been classed as ‘expensive schools.’” I am confident that he is smiling down, delighted by the fact that this school strives to be as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as possible.

So, why did Diman do all this? Borrow money from his mom, stalk students to get them here, and then build this school up from a couple of rental houses to this grand campus, all with the unerring hope and vision that it would become a school like the one it is today? It appears that he did it because he felt a calling. He believed in something bigger than himself. He was cheerfully adamant that this little school here on this Hilltop could prepare students to go out into the world and do great things. There is evidence of this throughout his sermons, many of which are preserved in the St. George’s Archives. He repeatedly called for “the highest standards of honor.” In one sermon to the students, he said: “I trust that in many a heart the desire is born here to live worthily, and to strive for truth and honor ...” He wanted a school that stood for something, that called on students to be honorable, and that prepared students for lives of service. I find the timelessness of his vision humbling.

Today’s school stands as a testament to John Diman’s vision. Our yearlong 125th anniversary celebration gave us the opportunity to celebrate that timelessness. Indeed, every St. George’s student — from those 12 boys sitting in a rental house to today’s thriving community of 380 students — has benefited from his vision. How lucky we are.

Campus Plan Unveiled

Earlier this year, we published our new Campus Plan, “Strengthening Community, Celebrating Heritage,” a comprehensive road map for building and landscape projects we believe will preserve and extend the beauty and functionality of our Hilltop home. The plan marks the start of a landmark period in St. George’s history, one in which the campus will see transformational upgrades meant primarily to enhance the student experience and steward our environment.

Working closely with the Pennsylvania-based architecture firm Voith and Mactavish and sustainability consulting service The Stone House Group, Head of School Alixe Callen and members of the Leadership Team, along with the Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees, devised a series of infrastructure initiatives that we hope our community will invest in this year — and in the years ahead. Ideally, these initiatives will be undertaken with the full support and engagement of our entire Dragon family. Alumni, we hope, will be heartened by the fact that their school only keeps getting better. Dragon Pride, after all, fuels much of our ambition.

In terms of infrastructure improvements, the historic preservation and renovation of the Arden/Diman/Eccles dormitory complex is St. George’s top priority for the immediate future. With our academic buildings — the Academic Center, Memorial Schoolhouse, and the Hill Library — recently renovated and now in top shape, we can look forward to the careful and meaningful upgrade of our residential spaces.

As a first step, construction began last year on a two-unit housing complex in the southwest corner of campus. These units will eventually serve solely as faculty housing but when completed this spring will serve as “swing space,” temporarily housing students while older dormitories across campus are renovated.

Construction also began last year on the Schmaltz Family Wellness Center, made possible by using a portion of the landmark gift of $15 million from longtime generous supporters

of the school, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dana Schmaltz, a member of St. George’s Class of 1985, and his wife, Kate Enroth.

Sited on the eastern side of the Dorrance Field House overlooking Crocker Field, the new 6,500-square-foot, glass-fronted wellness center will become a key component of St. George’s approach to wellness — caring for the physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual development of our students.

Last fall, restoration of the Arden/Diman/ Eccles dormitory complex began with the removal and restoration of the cupola and spire atop the Diman Hall clock tower. Over the winter, it became clear that support for this project was substantial. Several loyal donors came forward to ensure that a majority of the construction costs could be secured in time to begin the project in earnest this summer, beginning with the restoration of the oldest section of the complex, Arden Hall, built in 1907.

Top: Faculty Housing rendering. Above: Wellness Center rendering.

SCAN HERE to visit stgeorges.edu/campusplan and learn more about the full Campus Plan.

Arden Hall circa 1913.

Teacher and football coach

John Mackay to retire

John Mackay, veteran faculty member and football coach who arrived at St. George’s in 1997 and who passionately mentored hundreds of students on the gridiron and in the classroom, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2022–2023 school year.

During his 26-year tenure at St. George’s, John has served in many roles. He was director of athletics from 1997 to 2016 and currently serves as associate dean, and humanities teacher. He holds the Prince Chair in History, established in 1981 with a gift from the Prince Charitable Trust, to recognize a senior member of the faculty for excellence in teaching and for unusual commitment to St. George’s.

Through and through, however, John Mackay since 1997 has been the leader and heart of the SG football program. Simply “Coach” to legions of players learning the game, John has shared his passion for football and instilled in them the merit of sacrifice and hard work, including in the classroom.

Prior to St. George’s, John was on the faculty at The Peddie School, Avon Old Farms, Albuquerque Academy, and The Winchendon School. He has taught advanced European history for the past 20 years, and has taught Western Civilizations and U.S. History, along with several history electives. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College.

Among Coach Mackay’s football career highlights was being named Boston Herald Indepen-

dent School League Football Coach of the Year in 2015 when the Dragons completed a historic 9-0 league record, clinched the New England Championship, and captured the Kevin Fleming Bowl. It was the first undefeated season for the SG football team since the 1950s, and close to 1,000 Dragon fans near and far tuned in to listen to a live audio broadcast of the victorious Bowl game on Nov. 20, 2015. The 2021 team, which ended the season with an impressive 6-2 record, competed in the New England Prep School Athletic Council Ken Hollingsworth Bowl game on Nov. 19, winning 21-20 in dramatic fashion by stopping a two-point conversion against Tilton. For many years, John served on the board of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and as president from 2013 to 2015. During that time, he was instrumental in codifying the NEPSAC tournament-seeding and site-selection policies, defining full-time and associate membership, creating

Coach Mackay hoists the NEPSAC Kevin Fleming Bowl trophy as he and Connor Fitzgerald ’16 celebrate an undefeated season.

a director of championships position, and further defining the tournament eligibility standards. For 20 years, he also served as the athletic director liaison and secretary-treasurer for the New England Preparatory School Football Coaches Association. Most recently, he initiated the NEPSFCA DEI Group, designed to raise issues regarding diversity and inclusion among the football coaches’ association. The group hosted a student-athletes of color symposium about the transition to prep school and prep school football, and has promoted increased hiring and retention of coaches of color.

With many fans and former players in attendance, St. George’s celebrated Coach Mackay’s career following the Middlesex game on Nov. 12, 2022, which the team won 42-6. Assistant football coach Mike Hansel, who has coached alongside John for 32 years, both at Pingree and St. George’s, praised his longtime colleague for his mentorship, care of his players, and strong work ethic. He said he calculated that he coached 226 games with Mackay. “It would have been 227, but I missed the bus once,” he quipped. Everyone knows that “when Coach Mackay is ready to go to the game, the bus is leaving.”

“I have so much appreciation for the dedication and time he put in, just preparing for games and practices,” Hansel added. “And John was conscious of what was going on in kids’ lives, well beyond the fields.”

Former Dragon standout and team captain Isaac McCray ’17 also addressed the crowd, saying he couldn’t thank Coach Mackay enough for the counsel and support Coach had given him. The team ended the season with a 2-7 record in

McCray’s third-form year and eventually staged an undefeated 9-0 season his senior year.

“I’ve had a long journey with Coach Mackay, a lot of highs and lows. We couldn’t have [been so successful] without your support and optimistic spirit.”

And the 2022 team captains — Diego McCray ’24, Jake Athanasoulas ’23, Louis-David Pouliot ’23, and Bryce Ferrell ’23 — presented Coach Mackay with a gift from the players and their families: a captain’s chair with the SG shield and motto.

Pouliot called Coach Mackay “the most dedicated man I know, devoted to making us better football players, but most importantly, better people.”

On Nov. 18, 2022, at NEPSAC’s annual meeting in Boxboro, Massachusetts, Coach Mackay was honored with the 2022 Distinguished Service Award, which annually recognizes “an individual who has contributed significantly to New England independent school athletics and physical education through enthusiasm, dedication, leadership, and vision.”

Pondering his retirement, Coach Mackay said he had been “blessed to work with many amazing colleagues” both at St. George’s and in the Independent School League and NEPSAC. “Mostly I’m grateful to my family.”

“It’s not about wins and losses,” he added. He is proud of the bonds he’s forged with legions of players and their families, fellow coaches, and teachers.

“And I am most grateful for my family: my wife, Marybeth; our three children, Craig, Lauren, and Chelsea; and three grandchildren, Jack, Marin, and George.”

The Dragons gather for a team photo following a 42-6 victory over Middlesex in Coach Mackay's last game.

Upon the retirement of John Mackay this June, Joe Lang, who completed his ninth season as assistant coach last fall, will become head football coach in the 2023–24 school year.

Lang takes over a program that he says Mackay has left “on very firm footing.”

“I’ve just been so pleased to be part of what has been a really successful almost decade of football at St. George’s,” Lang said. “Whether it’s ISL titles, New England titles, bowl game appearances. Those things are real, and they prove to our community at large that football can thrive here.”

He says he’ll never forget a Friday Night Lights game against Roxbury Latin in 2015 when the team went down 14 points quickly in the first quarter — and then went on to score 36 unanswered points and win the game. “That was the moment I witnessed belief occur,” he said. That team, which went on to an undefeated season and bowl game victory, “was just not going to be denied,” Lang said.

Lang has pretty much been around the game of football his whole life. Joe’s dad, Joe Sr., coached high school football for 51 years, retiring in 2021 from

Heir

Assistant coach primed to lead the football program this fall

whis longtime post at Middlesex School, where he served as athletic director and taught economics and math.

Joe Jr. trained to be a quarterback, so whether it was backyard football, youth football, watching from the sidelines of his dad’s games, or playing on his dad’s teams at Malden Catholic and Middlesex, the game was always a big part of his upbringing.

While at Middlesex, where Joe Jr. played from 1996 to1999, he won three letters each in football, basketball, and tennis, and was named All-League twice in football and tennis. He served as captain for the football team as a senior, when the team won the ISL and New England Championship. Later, at the University of Connecticut, Joe played NCAA Division I tennis, serving as a captain his senior year.

Now, as he takes the helm of the Dragons, Lang is eager to assume a role he’s been well prepped for.

“It’s bittersweet for me because John Mackay has taught me everything there is to know about coaching football,” Lang said. “He’s been a leader, not just of the boys, but of my fellow coaches.”

Along with his coaching responsibilities at St. George’s, Lang has served as the head of instructional services and is now director of the Horton Center for Learning, which provides academic support and skill building to students. He has also been head coach of the boys’ varsity tennis team since his arrival at SG with his wife, Julie, in 2014.

“One of the promises I made to myself when I graduated college was that I would find a job where I was able to work with kids and adults,” he said. For a time, he was a full-time tennis coach and worked for a high-performance youth program in Philadelphia that combined education and sports. Taking the job as an educator and coach at St. George’s, he said, was a great decision for his family — and ascending to the head football coaching position now is an incredible opportunity.

“There is no job in the ISL I would rather have than at St. George’s, never mind the country,” he said. “This is a prideful place, a prideful program, and I am thrilled and honored to be tasked with this great role.”

Long-serving football head coach John Mackay (left), who retires this June, poses with nine-year assistant coach Joe Lang (right), who will lead the program beginning in 2023–2024.

GERONIMO CROSSES THE ATLANTIC

Delayed due to the pandemic, Geronimo’s latest transatlantic voyage — from Bermuda to the Azores and Spain — took place last summer and the boat has been cruising off the coast of Europe since its arrival last July. In the fall, student crews explored sites in Spain, Italy, and Greece. This winter and spring, voyages will focus primarily on exploring Greece. A summer trip will take students to Greece, Montenegro and Croatia.

Community values at core of “Mission SG”

Our newly revamped weekly, co-curricular, life-skills program puts SG’s mission — to give students the opportunity to develop “the particular gifts that are theirs,” to prepare them “to handle successfully the demands of college,” and to lead lives “of constructive service to the world and to God” — front and center.

The program, in which all students participate, is now called Mission SG and is divided into four content areas tied closely with community values: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Health and Wellness; Episcopal Identity and Service; and Leadership and Impact. All faculty members lead sessions throughout the year, with groups meeting by form each Monday morning for an hour.

A committee of faculty members from various departments redesigned the curriculum last spring and summer, making student engagement a high priority, according to School Chaplain Jackie Kirby, who helmed the initiative. For instance, fourth-formers taking part in the Episcopal Identity and Service unit this fall organized and participated in the Annual Feed-a-Friend Food Drive to benefit the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport.

“Our commitment to service is rooted in our identity as an Episcopal school,” said the Rev. Kirby, who now leads the Episcopal Identity and Service pillar along with Associate Head of School for Student Life Mervan

Osborne. Teachers started by engaging students in discussions about what it means to be a faith-based and values-based institution. Activities were planned around the meaning of service. “We’re also giving seniors a chance to share their experiences with younger students and to plan service events and activities on campus,” she added.

When students engage in the DEI sessions during Mission SG, their experiences are grounded in one of four overarching topics: identity, diversity, justice, and action.

“Each topic corresponds to a form, with a progression that aligns with their lived experiences at SG and beyond,” said Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion Emmanuel Daring, who co-leads the pillar with

Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Kim Bullock. “Our intention is that the students’ understanding of identity and diversity lays the foundation for their work with justice and action in their upperform years. As they progress through this pillar, students will gain the skills to navigate, collaborate, and lead in a diverse world.”

The Health and Wellness pillar of Mission SG encompasses general, mental, and sexual health. Students are learning about fostering and maintaining healthy relationships; managing stress; anxiety, and other mental illnesses; substance use and abuse; and sexual health, according to Associate Dean of Student Life Rachel Horn, who leads the pillar along with Director of Counseling Caryn Manning.

Dozens of students gathered nonperishable food items and household goods for local families in need during the 38th Annual Feed-a-Friend Food Drive. Students collected donations throughout Middletown neighborhoods and at local grocery stores. All told, the drive brought in more than 3,000 pounds of food as well as more than $1,100 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center's food pantry in Newport.

What’s special about the Mission SG program is that while the content of each session was determined before the start of the school year, faculty members are bringing their own expertise and creativity to how they present the material, according to Director of College Counseling Kelly Richards, who is helping to oversee the Leadership and Impact pillar with Dean of Students Xander Jones.

The working group that reimagined the Mission SG curriculum developed a plan for the Leadership pillar that is focused on community building, personal responsibility, and citizenship, according to Mr. Jones. For fifth-formers, that has meant identifying their particular gifts and understanding their roles as future leaders of the community. Sixth-formers are being encouraged to be impactful during their final year on the Hilltop.

“In doing so, through the lessons learned, it is our hope that they will depart St. George’s and lead lives of constructive service to the world,” Mr. Jones said.

Board gains five new members, bids two farewell

Five new members recently joined the St. George’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Colleen Burns Jermain; Katherine Michel ’89; Christopher O’Connor P’21, ’22, ’25; Sun Tao Hung Stanley ’96; and Patrick Wood-Prince ’88 (right, top to bottom) participated in their inaugural board meeting in December.

Dr. Jermain is the superintendent of the Newport Public Schools since 2014. Mr. Sun is the deputy chairman and CEO of China-Hongkong Photo Products Holdings Limited. Mr. O’Connor is a partner and head of the health care industry advisory business at Perella Weinberg Partners. Ms. Michel is a graphic designer, printer, and print publisher. And Mr. WoodPrince is a principal at Annandale LLC.

The board also bid farewell to two trustees — Joe Hoopes ’62 and Tim Burns P’13, ’16, ’18 — who rotated off the board, thanking them for their years of dedicated service. A celebration was held in their honor on Friday, June 3, 2022.

A note of special appreciation to Mr. Hoopes for his ongoing and extraordinary support of the school: Joe was first appointed to the Board of Trustees in 1981 and served loyally and wholeheartedly, a close confidante of numerous board chairs, for 40 years.

Trustee Joe Hoopes ’62, (above, in the center) and trustee Tim Burns P’13, ’16, ’18 (below, on the right) shown here with Head of School Alixe Callen and Board Chair Dana Schmaltz ’85, P’17, ’20, were honored for their years of service.

Recently appointed to the SG Board of Trustees were (top to bottom): Dr. Colleen Burns Jermain; Katherine Michel ’89; Christopher O’Connor P’21, ’22, ’25; Sun Tao Hung Stanley ’96; and Patrick Wood-Prince ’88.

Students show their thanks to all those who donated to the annual Feed-A-Friend Food Drive.

Greetings from

Even after 125 years of school on the Hilltop, new educational opportunities are still being created for SG students. One of the latest? A weeklong trip across the country to learn about the inner workings of the entertainment industry. 

THE FIRST ANNUAL “Dragons in Hollywood” trip took place last spring, April 17–22. Ten students and three faculty/ staff members went to Los Angeles to meet with St. George’s alumni and learn about various aspects of show business, such as writing, pitch and negotiation, production, commercialization, distribution, and consumption.

The trip was open to all students on campus, not just those who actively participate in theater or music. Interested students were invited to submit an application consisting of general entertainment-based questions. Director of Theater and Dance Kaitlin Lawrence said this questionnaire helped her and Associate Head of School for Student Life Mervan Osborne get a sense of what students were passionate about, how they could benefit from going on the trip now vs. in the future, and what they hoped to gain from the experience. On the trip, students were also joined by Associate Director of Constituent Engagement Tia Rogers, who works closely with alumni in the Advancement Office.

Students selected for the trip met with 11 Dragon alumni who hold a variety of roles in the industry, including Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios Chief Operating Officer Keyes Hill-Edgar ’87, P’19, ’21, ’24, radio and television host Billy Bush ’90, Insurrection Media CEO Kiliaen Van Rensselaer ’88, and more.

“Basically, any part of the industry we wanted to find someone in, we were able to. We found a writer, directors; we got to tour the Paramount Studios lot, we got to go to Castle Studios … We met with line producers,” Lawrence said. “There’s just someone from SG who has done everything, and they’re just really excited to help our students.”

Marina Duff ’23, a member of the Snapdragons a cappella group who played several roles in SG’s fall production of “Radium Girls” and who starred in the musical “Mama Mia!” this spring, said the program is incredibly beneficial. “You get to see what people are doing big picture and on a day-to-day basis in their jobs,” she said. “Sometimes, when you’re thinking about careers, you have an idea of it, but it may not actually be the reality. With this experience, you got to see the reality.”

The Dragons gather for a group shot during their VIP tour of Paramount Studios.

And being able to connect with SG alumni in the field made it even more relatable for the students, she added.

“I think it’s really nice having the shared experience of being at a boarding school, being at St. George’s. The alumni know what the experience is like and what our lives are like.”

Each alumnus the students met related their experiences at SG and their journey into their current jobs.

“I think that was really nice to see that arc, that timeline,” Marina said. “There’s such a difference between ‘what’s my job’ and ‘here’s what I did at St. George’s that helped me to get to this place.’”

Andrew Selian ’23, who also participates in theater at SG and is a member of the Hilltoppers a cappella group said, “We all know King Hall, we all know the MCR [Main Common Room], so there wasn’t this nervousness.”

There was a sense of nervousness for Andrew, however, when he met one SG alumna — Julie Bowen ’87, a successful actress from “Modern Family” and “Happy Gilmore.”

“I was kind of flipping out when I met her,” Andrew admitted. “I’ve watched every episode of ‘Modern Family’ and you’re standing right here and we’re about to take a picture!”

A highlight of the trip for Andrew was getting to do a table read of a “Modern Family” episode — and receiving coaching you could only get from a professional.

“[We got to hear] from a professional: OK, so this is how I need to selfanalyze and self-criticize to really do well and deliver these lines meaningfully and with passion and belief for the audience member,” he said.

While these tips are sure to help Andrew onstage, he said some of these acting tips are applicable to numerous other situations at school, like giving a chapel talk or giving a presentation in class, and are lessons he can take with him beyond SG.

For this reason, Andrew believes anyone at SG should want to go on this trip — whether they’re interested in the entertainment industry long-term or not.

“Even if you are a varsity athlete and you do this club and this club, pursue this. It might be something you’re never going to do again, but it’s an experience you will hold for a lifetime and you might meet some really cool people,” he said. “I know I did.”

Lawrence mentioned some of the other key takeaways and memories students had from the trip: the importance of technology and how much is done through it, how many different job types and roles there are to create just one movie, and the importance of networking. And of course — the hike to the Hollywood sign.

This year, the second annual Dragons in Hollywood trip will take place April 9–14 and is sure to deliver many more memories that will last a lifetime.

“The biggest takeaway for me from that trip was just how diverse and expansive the SG community really is outside of the Hilltop,” Andrew said.

“I never thought that I would ever do anything like Dragons in Hollywood,” Marina said. “It’s such a unique opportunity.” 

Kaitlin Lawrence, Kane Phelps ’59 and Brianna Boucher ’23 pose for a photo at the alumni reception in LA.

A day in the life...

One day in Hollywood for the Dragons went like this:

7:45 a.m. Breakfast at hotel

8:45 a.m. Meet in hotel lobby

9 a.m. Depart for Paramount Studio

9:30 a.m. Executive VIP Tour - Paramount with Keyes Hill-Edgar ’87, P’19, ’21, ’24

12 p.m. Lunch at Paramount

1 p.m. Depart Paramount for Hotel Hollywood

1:50 p.m. Meet in Hotel Hollywood lobby

2 p.m. Live discussion on media packages for airlines, pitching, and what to see on airplanes with Travis Peterson ’94

3:30 p.m. Introduction to the industry with Diane Nelson ’85 and Jason Cassidy P ’26

5:30 p.m. Depart for hotel

7/7:10 pm. Meet in lobby/depart for dinner

8 p.m. Dinner at Javier’s Mexican restaurant hosted by Keyes Hill-Edgar

10 p.m. Return to hotel for sleep

Faculty and staff, current students and alumni all got to meet at a reception in LA.

FOSTERING COMMUNITY, FORGING CONNECTIONS,

FINDING TALENT

Event forms partnership between boarding schools and HBCUs

ADYNAMIC new program called Building Bridges brought together representatives from boarding schools and historically Black colleges and universities at St. George’s on Sept. 21–24, 2022.

The brainchild of Admission Associate and Director of Multicultural Recruitment Dwayne Pina (pictured left), the event welcomed students and administrators from Howard University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College for three days of class visits, special presentations, and candid conversations, all with the goal of encouraging the college students to consider teaching at an independent school. Dr. Vanessa Cohen Gibbons, chief equity and inclusion officer at Milton Academy; Anika Walker-Johnson, director of residential life at Milton; Tyrone Black, associate head of school at Tabor Academy; and Derek Krein, dean of faculty at Tabor, also participated in the program.

According to Mr. Pina, Building Bridges was largely inspired by the work of Dr. Chuck Herring, director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for the South Fayette Township School

Educators and students gathered in the Davenport Room for a variety of sessions including “Boarding School 101” and ”Fostering Equity & Inclusion One Conversation at a Time.”

District, outside Pittsburgh. There, Mr. Herring has developed an innovative program called OTIS: Operation Teacher (of Color) Irrigation System, which aims to bring more Black teachers into the classroom so that students of color see themselves reflected in their mentors. The program was launched in the fall of 2021, when four undergraduate students majoring in elementary education at Howard University visited Allegheny County, Pa., where 42 percent of schools don’t have a single teacher of color.

Mr. Herring, who came to the Hilltop for th Building Bridges event and offered his inspirational message about “Fostering Equity & Inclusion One Conversation at a Time,” said the opportunity to expand the scope of his

program at St. George’s was particularly rewarding.

“Now we can have the boarding school experience, the day school experience, the independent school experience, along with the public-school experience. They’re all part of this ecosystem,” Dr. Herring told the 10 college students who traveled to St. George’s — four from Howard, and three each from Spelman and Morehouse — all with various majors, including political science, music, biology, English, history, economics, and education.

“That’s why I’m buoyant right now. Just thinking about something that started in [my] brain —and then it winds up in this space.”

Dr. Herring said the experience reminded him of a quote about creativity from E.L.

Doctorow: “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

“You don’t know how things are going to happen,” Dr. Herring said. “We only have to see 200 feet in front of us, right? And I would’ve never seen this.”

The students arrived with various representatives from their schools: Dr. Katina January-Vance, the director of school and university partnerships at Howard University’s School of Education; Dr. Nina Gilbert, director for the Morehouse Center for Excellence in Education; Bria Toussaint, assistant director of academic programs and strategic initiatives at Morehouse College; and Samantha Stewart-Elmore, a consultant and senior

“Now we can have the boarding school experience, the day school experience, the independent school experience, along with the public school experience. They’re all part of this ecosystem.”

– CHUCK HERRING

advisor for outreach initiatives at Morehouse.

To welcome our guests to campus, a cookout was held at Vermillion House, where educators, college students, and St. George’s students of color mingled and ate, and even broke into a spontaneous group dance of the “Cupid Shuffle.”

The first full day of the program began with breakfast with members of St. George’s DEI Steering Committee and a tour of campus with SG student guides. Head of School Alixe Callen and Associate Head of School for Student Life Mervan Osborne then welcomed the group and outlined St. George’s DEI initiatives. Building Bridges, they said, came about as an opportunity to address Goal 1 of St. George’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan: “Amplify the academic excellence that comes from people of a diversity of experi-

ences and backgrounds sharing their perspectives within a vibrant residential academic community.”

A presentation to help the college students better understand life at boarding school was led by St. George’s Dean of Students Xander Jones, Ms. Walker-Johnson, and Mr. Krein. Other sessions led by SG faculty included topics such as faculty professional development, college counseling, and life at a predominantly white boarding school as a person of color. A number of St. George’s students of color met with the college students as well.

Day two of the program brought the students from Morehouse, Spelman, and Howard to the campuses of Milton and Tabor.

Following the Building Bridges event, Mr. Pina said he was overwhelmed by the amount of support he received while organizing the event. His first

conversations with Dr. Herring about the program, he said, began more than a year ago.

“I would like to thank everyone involved with the planning and execution of the inaugural Building Bridges Program,” Mr. Pina said. “The event exceeded all of my expectations, and I feel like it was a transformative experience for the program participants, the St. George’s community, and our partner institutions.”

Morehouse's Dr. Gilbert thanked thanked St. George’s for what she called “an amazing visit.”

“It was such a memorable experience for our team and students,” she said.

Dr. January-Vance, of Howard, told Mr. Pina she appreciated his vision. “We look forward to partnering with you in the future,” she wrote to him. “The Building Bridges Program is a true testament to the magnitude of work still to come.” 

SG students got to hear from current college students during "Student-to-Student Conversations" as they talked about life as Black students at various colleges and their experiences going through the apllication process

From left to right: Chrystopher Leonard Moultrie, Morehouse College Elementary Education major, Political Science minor; Calvin Bell III, Morehouse College Political Science & Philosophy majors; Zaria Jakira Gober, Spelman College Biology major; and Dr. Nina Gilbert, Morehouse College Director for Morehouse Center for Excellence in Education.

Surf's Up Costa Rica

FOURTEEN STUDENTS went on a 12-day expedition to Costa Rica in summer 2022 as part of a Surfing, Service, and Leadership Program trip sponsored by the Connected Learning Department.

Accompanied by humanities teacher Cory Cramer and chair of the Connected Learning Department Devon Ducharme, the purpose of the trip was to provide all students — no matter their skill at surfing – with an opportunity that combined surfing, travel, and service to the world.

“Connected Learning at St. George’s has an outward-facing look,” Ducharme said. “There’s so much incredible learning that comes within the classroom. One of the perks of having a Connected Learning Department is that we can bring that education outside of the walls of the classroom and put it into practice in real and profound ways.” 

Students tore up the waves at Playa Hermosa, Playa Domincal, and the Playitas at Manuel Antonio throughout the course of their trip.

Landing in Costa Rica to make a difference

Students traveled to Costa Rica and met up with partners from the nonprofit organization Outward Bound Costa Rica. Dragons had “beach school,” where they learned how to be safe in the surf zone, and enjoyed their first surf session at Playa Dominicalito. Summer is the good surf season in the South Pacific, according to Cramer, with 16- to 17-second swells and more powerful waves — almost double those around Second Beach.

“It was a fair number of students’ first time surfing at all,” said Cramer. The group was split in two based on experience and visited different beaches to match skill level throughout the trip, he added.

During their stay, students divided their time between surfing the waves and working on a community service project where they helped design and paint two 40-foot murals with themes of education and the environment at a community center for the children of Dominicalito, a small town on the west coast of Costa Rica. The project was part of a long partnership between Outward Bound and the community center, which will eventually provide access to computers, free day care for local toddlers, and a community meeting space.

While students painted, they practiced their Spanish-speaking skills with the local children as well as took to the field for some friendly games of soccer.

“They just formed a really fun bond with our students in their break times,” Cramer said of the local children. “That was a special moment.”

Cramer said the goals of the surf leadership program are for students to become better leaders and stewards of the shoreline, better surfers,

and to gain a greater understanding of individuals’ impact on a larger group or the larger world.

“This trip really delivered in spades on all of those,” said Cramer. “The waves were more challenging and more consistent than we are used to, allowing everyone to develop as surfers. Everyone there got to push themselves as a leader.”

Leaders of tomorrow

Cramer was an Outward Bound instructor in his youth, so he knew the organization’s curriculum and based St. George’s Surfing, Service, and Leadership Program on it. The idea is to give students transferrable lessons and skills they can bring back to campus and home, such as better group cohesion and personal development.

“There are a million programs in the world that will take you surfing all sorts of places over the world,” Cramer said. “But knowing as we did that Outward Bound shared the philosophies that we wanted to teach our kids was great.”

Students talked about different styles of leadership, such as directive and consensus building, and put them to real use.

“That’s really the core of what we try to bring to our leadership curriculum here,” said Cramer.

“That as a leader, your first responsibility is to the rest of your group and that everyone always has a role to play in supporting leadership and displaying leadership.”

And St. George’s will see the impact of that leadership from the returning students, according to Ducharme.

“We’ll have a group of leaders on campus because they really grew a lot as leaders while they were on the trip,” Ducharme said. “Most students came to see Costa Rica or to surf big waves, and [for] every student at the end of the trip, the biggest moment for them happened when they were meeting kids in a town or connecting with a local community member. They loved the waves, but that was an aftereffect whereas it was a driving force for them to sign up. That connection to the greater world is the Connected Learning.” 

<< Teddy Orthwein ’24 kept a log of the wildlife they encountered throughout the duration of the trip. A sketch of the animal was on one page while the subsequent one was filled with a variety of fun facts. These facts logged by Teddy included a wide range of information such as migration patterns, diet and anything else he thought would be fascinating to share with the group.

HOW WE CELEBRATED

YEARS

Strength in numbers

CELEBRATING ST. GEORGE’S 125TH ANNIVERSARY on May 13–15, 2022, was a chance to reconnect our community, to celebrate the shared memories and school traditions that bind generations of Dragons, and to highlight how the school has evolved throughout the years into the thriving place it is today.

Surely many who returned for the weekend and its signature gala on Saturday night returned to a school that has transformed in many ways: Our community continues to grow more diverse, bringing together students and teachers of more-varied backgrounds and experiences, and adding strength and vibrancy to the academic program. Campus buildings have been renovated and new structures added in response to curriculum and cultural shifts that have greatly impacted the way students most productively study, collaborate, and socialize.

And yet, with all such changes, both current students and alumni often remark that there’s comfort in being around fellow Dragons, across generations. Dragons share many bonds, having once lived and learned in this special place. Indeed, the view to Second Beach has hardly changed, the majesty of the Chapel never fails to delight, the clamor of King Hall at lunchtime sounds much the same.

All Dragons have ascended the front steps and — with eagerness, apprehension, or both — entered Old School through the red doors.

When Board Chair Dana Schmaltz ’85, P’17, ’20 addressed the crowd of 1,400 under the tent at the gala on May 14, he began with a tribute to each of the eight decades of Dragons gathered before him, asking each to stand and be recognized. A group of dragons is called “a thunder,” he told them. And each group of alumni received thunderous applause from the others.

Throughout 125 years, St. George's has secured its place among the great New England boarding schools by maintaining its values, drawing on its traditions, and gaining collective support from alumni, he said. The sentiment was palpable among all: We will add to the greatness of our future legacy and stay strong for the next 125 years — together. 

Not since the Centennial Celebration in May 1996 had a crowd so large — and so elated — gathered on the Hilltop.

Eight shuttles ran all day, taking guests from the Second Beach parking lot up the Main Drive to Old School, where they returned to campus for the celebration.

Honored our traditions First we...

Middlesex Weekend

63 rd Annual Pie Race

St. George's has changed a lot over the years, but our beloved traditions remain the same. Our athletic teams participated in Middlesex Weekend, members of the community ran the 63rd Annual Pie Race, and we celebrated our 110th Christmas Festival.

Christmas Festival

Marked the moments history

Happy Founder's Day! The Rev. John B. Diman founded St. George’s back in 1896 with the first classes being held on Oct. 1. To mark this moment in school history, the day began with a ringing of the chapel bell. The day also included cupcakes, courtesy of our Sage staff.

Founders Day

Alumni Regatta

the year

I SG

Celebrating the Arts

Our talented alumni and their amazing musical performances were celebrated on our social media pages to represent the arts and artistic expression at SG. A series of playlists are available on our YouTube!

A simple question, "why do you love St. George's?", elicited many great answers and shoutouts to Dragons of the past including Dick Grosvenor, who taught art and architecture at SG for 40 years, and his wife Margot, who passed away Feb. 24, 2023.

Then we...

The Alumni Regatta brought generations of Dragon sailors together as they sailing around Newport, Rhode Island.

Fame

Hosted a engaging activites weekend full of Sports Hall of

<< The 2022 SG Sports Hall of Fame Class

Top: Julie Butler, Adam Choice ’06, John Harvey 97, Megan Leonard ’09, Rashad Randolph ’98, Matt Ryan ’91

Bottom: 2000 Girls' Squash team (L to R: Liz Hughes Cahill ’00, Sam Jerrigan, Alyssa Friis Maple-Brown ’00, Anna Vietor McLaughlin ’00, Allison Robin ’00

Not pictured: Sarah Phillips ’06

Rededication of Memorial Schoolhouse

Students and Alumni of Color

Picnic Lunch

Archives and Special Exhibits

Select items were curated in the archives for visitors to see in the Alumni Lounge. This exhibit is remembering Gardner Henry Fuller, class of 1909, who was a casualty of WWI.

SG Today Symposiums

Athletic Contests

Back to the 90s — The St. George's community got a blast from as past as we dug up our time capsule which was buried near the court area of Buell-Wheeler in May 1996. Assistant Head of School for External Affairs, Emeritus, Joe Gould (circle right) presided over the presentation of the artifacts, which included a copy of the Red & White, a computer, photos and more! >>

Unveiling of the Centennial Time Capsule

And finished with...

During St. George’s 125th anniversary celebration on May 13-15, 2022, the community learned the school had received the largest one-time donation in its history. The transformational gift of $15 million came from longtime, generous supporters of the school, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dana Schmaltz, a member of St. George's Class of 1985, and his wife, Kate Enroth.

Dana and Kate, parents of St. George’s graduates Isabelle Schmaltz, Class of 2017, and Bower Schmaltz, Class of 2020, and Phoebe Schmaltz, noted that their gift was a strong endorsement of the school’s leadership, current direction, and vision for the future.

“My family supports education in many ways, and with this gift we believe we can help build on the in-

credible things happening at the school right now,” Dana Schmaltz wrote to the community. “I have seen what a St. George’s education has done for my family, and I’m confident this commitment, along with others, will help take the school to the next level and provide future students with even more opportunities to develop their skills and talents, and to contribute to the world around them.”

The announcement of dinner, Gala

The extraordinary gift kicked off the earliest phase of the school’s upcoming capital campaign, the funds from which will be used to increase the school’s financial aid budget; bolster the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; help fund a comprehensive renovation of the Arden/Diman/Eccles dormitory complex; and construct two faculty residential buildings on

the Lower Road — a project already near completion.

The gift is also completely supporting the construction of the Schmaltz Family Wellness Center, a project close to the Schmaltzes’ hearts, slated to open and a

Historic Gift a complete with dancing,...

DRAGON Pride! and

1. Dakota Hill ’16. 2. Kent and Nina Willever P’90, ’94.

3. Peter Carrellas ’14, Matthew Stallworth, Sloan Buhse ’15, and Ashley Dockery Stallworth ’07.

4. Amanda Hansel ’12, Alex Panindiris ’12, Gigi Flynn ’13, Katherine Adams ’12 and Alana McMahon ’13. 5. Gail, Sam ’14 and John Alofsin ’80. 6. Helena Marrin Grant ’99. 7. Sarah Dick and Lily Loeb ’07 (Reece).

To everyone who worked so hard... This is a very late thank you for an amazing weekend. Everything was so well-organized, informative and fun! The campus looked beautiful and bustling and the dinner/ dance was the icing on the cake! It was so much fun to be back on campus with classmates from our year, the years ahead and behind, current parents, teachers and students. I am still feeling the glow of all the conversations and connections. Thank you so much.

The weekend was incredible and looked almost effortless – though I know it was anything but! I think that every class was blown away by the weekend, and there is so much buzz all around. Congratulations on pulling it off!

It was an epic event and a very special experience for so many.... I believe the human bonds among alums are of paramount importance and these meetings of not just our classmates, but SG peers (often after decades), carry a great potential for deepening friendships and discoring new ones.

I was truly impressed by the current state of the school. The physical upgrades are amazing and the social changes equally so.

What a weekend. I had pretty high expectations, but I have to say that those expecations were exceeded – by a lot. The whole event was just terricic top to bottom. Friday night was great, and the gala on Saturday was even better.

Isabella Ridall ’ 01

Daniel Harrison ’ 72

Paul Kekalos ‘8 7

Alumni News

IN THIS SECTION

39 Alumni in the News

44 Class Notes

46 Memorial List

80 From the Archives

Tyler Kolek ’20 returned to play in Rhode Island when his Marquette Golden Eagles faced the Providence College Friars at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Dec. 20. Kolek scored a collegiate career-high 29 points to go along with 5 steals, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.

While at SG, Kolek was a two-time ISL Player of the Year, the 2019 Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year, and the 2020 NEPSAC Class B Player of the Year. He added "Big East Player of the Year" honors to his collegiate resume on March 8, 2023.

HEAD OF HER CLASS

Success continues for elite rower whose crewing days started at SG

EMILY KALLFELZ ’15

WON the Women’s Championship Singles at the Head of Charles Regatta this past October in Boston.

Emily, a soccer and swim captain while at SG, won the three-mile race with a time of 19:04. The Head of the Charles is the world’s largest two-day rowing event and features over 11,000 athletes in 55 different events.

“I was very excited, for sure,” Emily said about her win. “I raced in 2019 and did relatively well against the same cohort,so I [thought,] I think I can handle this, but I started really far back in the pack — that was going to be probably one of the bigger challenges.”

Kallfelz, a Cambridge resident who does her training on the Charles River where the race took place, started all the way back at bow 20 — meaning she had a lot of people to row through in order to secure the win.

One of the rowers Kallfelz was able to overtake? A 2020 Olympic gold medalist from New Zealand, Emma Twigg.

“The Head of the Charles is a really fun event and I don't think anyone peaks for it,” she said. “You show up and you do what you can. Everyone is at different levels of fitness and speed. I went into it like it will be a fun race and you do your best.”

This win for Emily adds to a laundry list of accomplishments in rowing since her time at St. George’s. After graduating from the Hilltop in 2015, Emily attended Princeton University, where she was a four-time Ivy League champion, a four-time First-Team All-Ivy member, and a 2019 First-Team All-American. In the classroom, she majored in operations research and finance engineering with a minor in computer science.

While her plate was very full during her collegiate years, Emily said her time at St. George’s helped prepare her for the challenges of the Ivy League, both as an athlete and as a student.

“[Playing multiple sports at SG] and the rigor of school prepares you for having to deal with a lot of work, hard course loads – a lot of different priorities that are pulling you in different directions, being able to deal with all that and still excel,” said the Jamestown, Rhode Island, native. “It prepares you well for all the challenges you’re going to face, especially as a student-athlete.”

Specifically, she said her time as a swimmer here has helped in her transition to the next phase of her athletic journey.

“I think the mental side translates a lot,” Emily said. “There’s the mental side of being able to push yourself,

being determined, and the daily grind of training. And there’s the physical side. It’s a pretty aerobic sport. Swimming and rowing are power-based, so it definitely helps, and also general athleticism, growing up playing a lot of sports.”

Looking ahead in her rowing career, Emily has big goals — Olympic-sized ones.

After missing some time due to injury, Emily earned herself a spot on the 2022 Senior National Team this past year, the team that represents the U.S. at the highest level of international competition. Kallfelz, who these days trains alongside her mostly remote work as a solutions architect at Flywheel Software, said the selection of the teams occurs each year, so she hopes to be selected again in 2023. She would then need to be selected in 2024 in order to compete in the Olympics that year.

“I was very excited to be selected this year. I was maybe six months into training, which is not very much,” she said. “So that was exciting to get back from injury and be able to compete with the best of the country. This year, I would like to do better, just keep improving and getting faster. And then the following year is the Olympic year — and that’s the real deal.”

“[Playing multiple sports at SG] and the rigor of school prepares you for having to deal with a lot of work, hard course loads — a lot of different priorities that are pulling you in different directions, being able to deal with all that and still excel.”

– EMILY KALLFELZ ’ 15

Photo courte s y U.S.Rowing.

Photo courtesy of Erik Dresser, row2k.com.

A Gift of Art

Generous donor hopes to inspire creativity and conversation

Thanks to a generous gift from Belinda Kielland ’77, seven works of modern art will now be on display throughout the Hilltop.

Ms. Kielland is president of the board of trustees at Independent Curators International, a nonprofit arts organization based in New York, and was previously the cofounder of OSL contemporary, an art gallery in Oslo, Norway.

A passionate follower of the contemporary art world, Ms. Kielland said she wished to donate the works of art to St. George’s to inspire students and faculty alike “to look at creative production through a different lens than the tradition of representational art that often surrounds us.”

“These pieces are by international artists working in a variety of mediums, each engaging the viewer through abstraction,” she added. “I’ve always thought that abstraction is like a landscape of an artist’s mind — inviting contemplation and interpretation.

The works include:

 Two paintings by the Bulgarian-born artist Iva Gueorguieva, who now makes her home in Los Angeles:

• “Rider Entering the City” (acrylic, collage and oil on canvas) was completed in 2011 and is 8 feet tall and more than 6 feet wide.

• “Shipwrecker Muse” (acrylic, collage, dry pigment, and oil on canvas) was completed in 2012 and is nearly 6 feet square.

 “Volcano,” a framed work of ink on paper (30-9/10 x 421/10 inches) was completed in 2013 by the Norwegian artist Kristian Skylstad.

 A 2016 untitled work (49 x 50-1/2 x 2 inches) made with colored pencil, graphite, and paint on wood veneer by Cuban-born Ernesto García Sánchez.

 “Redactor XX” (enamel, pigment, cold wax, rubber, Mylar, tape, vinyl, aluminum, paper, canvas; 58 x 48 inches) by Ryan Wallace, who lives and works in Brooklyn and East Hampton, New York.

 “Life in Transition (picture of my room),” a 2010 work of acrylic on board (51-1/5 x 511/5 inches) by Turkish-born Haluk Akakçe, an artist now living and working in New York and Istanbul.

 “Heart (with Pearls),” a 1990–'91 etching (38 x 42 inches) by John Baldessari, a California artist who died in 2020. Mr. Baldessari was known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images.

“We are so delighted by Belinda’s amazing gift,” said Head

of School Alixe Callen. “The opportunity for our students to be surrounded by art of this caliber is truly remarkable.”

The artwork, from Ms. Kielland’s private collection, was donated specifically to the art program at St. George’s and will be hung throughout classrooms in Memorial Schoolhouse and in the Academic Center atrium this spring.

“The arts are critical to an enriching academic environment, and I hope these works of art spark imagination and creative conversations on campus,” Ms. Keilland said.

Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department Ted Sturtevant said the department is “thrilled and humbled” by Ms. Kielland’s gift. “The paintings will be a welcome reference for classes discussing abstraction,” he said, “but along with that, the entire community will be enriched by the exposure to a more diverse

“Life in Transition (picture of my room)”

“Untitled”

collection of art as we pass through the halls and spaces the paintings will occupy.”

The arts program at St. George’s is deeply rooted in our history, he noted. From its founding, the school has benefited from our stunning surroundings, which include Paradise Valley, where American landscape painters have flocked as passionately as surfers to Second Beach.

“With this generous gift of paintings from Belinda Kielland ’77, our students will now have exposure to another world-class resource of contemporary work by notable 20th-century artists,” Mr. Sturtevant said.

Ms. Callen added: “Not only does this new artwork enhance the beauty of our campus, but it further elevates the arts as a subject of study. Thanks to Belinda’s generosity, our students have a greater understanding of what’s possible.”

“Shipwrecker Muse”

“Heart (with Pearls)”

“Rider Entering the City”

“Redactor XX”

“Volcano”

The CLASS NOTES section has been removed from this digital copy of the Bulletin to respect our alums’ privacy.

Class notes are only available in the print edition.

A life transformed by literature

BY MIN LEE ’23

Ionly remember a few things about Kevin, my first English tutor: He was tall, he wore grey, and he was filled with joy.

He would pull a tattered volume out of his bag and begin to read aloud, and the room would well up with wonder. “Let us go then, you and I,” his voice echoes in my memory, reading from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” every syllable seeming to bring him sheer delight. Yes, when I think back to that smiling young man who changed my life, I remember pure joy, an almost biblical rapture as the words of long-dead poets built cities of song in that plain Korean apartment.

Kevin’s exultation in literature convinced me that there was something fantastic in the ordinary, something glimmering just under the dull fabric of our pedestrian lives. It shone through whenever he read aloud. The world came alive with words –Dostoevsky and Eliot and Lorca and Mann and Hesse painting the world I thought I knew so well in entirely different colors. I crammed my mouth full of syllables, letting them fill up behind my eyes and stain my sight like multicolored glass.

Literature was powerful because it was evocative. One could say, “T.S. Eliot’s poetry encapsulated the disillusionment of a postwar generation.” But this statement, however reasonable, could never transfigure one’s view of the world the way Eliot’s own words could: “‘I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street / ‘With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow? / ‘What shall we ever do?’”

Do you feel the wind lifting the hair from your neck? The endless days that stretch out before you, with nothing left to do but clasp your dressing-gown about you?

Do you feel the distance of the past, when one stepped out properly dressed and slipped into a car, fragrant with the promise of elegant nights to come?

I feel it. I feel each word I read, and so I am able to live a thousand lives in literature. When Kevin left, I read on – 20 books in a summer: Roth, Bulgakov, Anaïs Nin, Austen, Hinton, Koestler, and so many others. I found the entire canon of literature waiting to buoy me up, help me dive in, and gather great armfuls of the sublime disguised in the ordinary world and hidden in the past that gives substance to the present. Walt Whitman put it best: “The powerful play goes on, and [I] may contribute a verse.”

When I read, I feel that I am part of something greater than myself, and that the powerful play of the world is going on: word by word, from the song of the Homeric bard to the clumsy, earnest sonnets I write in school. I feel how someday, the verses of my time will color somebody else’s world – that someone will exult in the words written today and connect with me, just as I connected to T.S. Eliot’s disenchanted masses.

When I read, I wonder what my own line will be, and it fills me with excitement for my future. “I want to be in death with the poor who had no time to / study it,” wrote Neruda: His words kindle my aspiration for a career in medicine. “Love is the only rational act,” wrote Levine: I tell my friends I love them, rationally, out loud, on purpose. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” wrote Fitzgerald: I mutter his words like a mantra, and they give me hope through the hardest and busiest of days. I throw myself into life because the flame of transformative joy burns on inside me, lit when literature dawned in my life and undying as long as the powerful play continues.

c.1919

As we look forward to the opening of our new Schmaltz Family Wellness Center this spring, we delved into the St. George’s Archives for an image depicting physical fitness sessions of the past. Archivist Val Simpson shared this photograph, from the scrapbook collection of H. Gates Lloyd Jr., Class of 1919, of students performing morning exercise on the lawn in front of Arden Hall dormitory.

STARTING FROM THE TOP

A signature building on campus was the center of attention when a construction crew removed the spire from the Diman Hall clock tower for a full restoration. Once removed, the spire was reported to have weighed approximately 450 pounds.