Groton School Quarterly, Fall 2016 by Groton School

Groton School The Quarterly • Fall 2016

FLG OUR

E LE CT I O N H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

C O N N E C T I O N

A REPORTER’S VIEW FROM THE INSIDE (IT’S NOT PRETTY) JEB AND TED’S POLICY ADVISERS A KASICH IDEALIST PLUS: THE MONEY CONTROLLING OUR ELECTIONS, AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

Groton School Fall 2016 • Volume LXXVIII, No. 3

The Quarterly

Our Election Connection For decades, Groton alumni have felt the pull of politics. They still do. page 14 A Reporter’s View from the Inside by Christina Wilkie ’97 Jeb’s World, One Issue at a Time: Justin Muzinich ’96 Cruz’s Artful Security Advisor: Victoria Gardner Coates ‘86 A Washington Idealist: Betsy Wright Hawkings ‘81, P’17 The Money Controlling Our Elections, and What We Can Do About It by Malcolm “Mike” Peabody ’46

Prize Day

page 30

Reunion 2016

page 48

D E P A R T M

Message from the Headmaster

3 Letters 3

Circiter / Around the Circle

10 Personae / Profiles 67 Voces / Chapel Talks 76 De Libris / Book Review 77 Grotoniana / Arts 80 Grotoniana / Athletics 88 In Memoriam 89 Form Notes Monika Andersson

Annie Card

Message from the Headmaster IN JUNE, when addressing parents, guardians, and relatives

of graduating Sixth Formers, I acknowledged that, by sending their children to Groton, they had invested time away from family time. I urged them to measure the return on their investment through metrics that gauge whether our graduates are well prepared for agency. Assuming that agency is the capacity to act for the greater good, I posited that, as a result of their incomparable Groton education, our graduates were poised to make a high, positive impact upon leaving the Circle. As a chemist, I measure and observe, and often use instruments to do so. Whenever we say that we prepare our students well, it seems a leap of faith but is a statement that must be measured to be believed. Our instruments of measurement can be the very pillars that have undergirded Groton for more than a century—the pillars of scholarship, globalism, spirituality, and service. If the pillar of globalism is reflected by the fact that Groton has a dual language requirement—a classical and a world language—then we are on our way to preparing students to have a global perspective. If scholarship-infused service is another metric, one need look no further than our graduates who have made a prodigious impact serving others—such as our latest Cui Servire Est Regnare Award recipient did at the height of the Ebola crisis (see page 56), dropping everything and flying across an ocean to treat patients in Liberia; or our most recent Distinguished Grotonian, who has worked for the underserved from Botswana to Baltimore (see page 57). In many realms, our graduates continue to make the type of impact that

Editor Gail Friedman Design Irene Chu

Contributing Editors Kimberly A. Gerighty Elizabeth Z. Ginsberg P’16 Jessica Hart Elizabeth Wray Lawrence ‘82 Allison S. MacBride John D. MacEachern P’10, ‘14, ’16 Kathleen M. Machan Amily Dunlap Moore

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

endorses the scholarship-infused service for which our school is renowned. The Rector and all of my other six predecessors stressed service as a uniquely Grotonian ethos. On the spiritual realm, in the Chapel, one need only listen to the prayer, the chapel talks, and the collective silence that ensues. Daily chapel readings—mainly Christian, but representing multiple faiths—instill a sense of belonging to a communion of five hundred people. One who steps into the Chapel will be convinced that our students are receiving an education steeped in spirituality. The capacity and the reminder to act for the greater good are part and parcel of a Groton diploma. This is the agency to which I referred when addressing the Form of 2016 on Prize Day. In the homily I delivered at baccalaureate two days before Prize Day, I stressed the importance of humility upon receiving the Groton diploma. The elite—not elitist—education that our students receive on our beloved Circle is a privilege, not a right. With it comes the responsibility to couple our aforementioned pillars with kindness and a dose of humility. Not knowing whether anyone was actually paying attention, I was impressed when some of the Sixth Formers, in their final handshaking line, repeated through tears how fortunate and privileged they felt to have received this unique education. Two comments in particular stick in my mind. One girl from the southern part of the country said, “Headmaster, this is going to sound cheesy, however I have to express how much I respect Groton, and how, toward the end, out of that respect and the awe it represents, I was hanging onto every word that was uttered at Chapel.” One boy, who is from New England, had never shown emotion to me before, but—in a quivering voice—shared the following three words as he shook my hand: “I bought in.” As Vuyelwa and I begin our fourth year on the Circle, it is such comments that make our love affair with Groton grow stronger with every passing day. We, too, have “bought in.”

Temba Maqubela Headmaster

Photography/Editorial Assistant Christopher Temerson Editorial Offices The Schoolhouse Groton School Groton, MA 01450 978 - 448 -7506 quarterly@groton.org

Other School Offices Alumni Office: 978 - 448 -7520 Admission Office: 978 - 448 -7510 Groton School publishes the Groton School Quarterly three times a year, in late summer, winter, and spring, and the Annual Report once a year, in the fall.

our Groton students immersed themselves in intensive projects around the world this summer, thanks to generous grants from established Groton School funds — the John Endicott Lawrence 1927 Global Issues Scholars Fund, the Eleanor C. and George H.P. Dwight 1945 Internship Fund, and the Groton Opportunity for Leadership Development (G.O.L.D.) Fund. Blair Donohue ’18 received a grant from the John Endicott Lawrence 1927 Global Issues Scholars Fund to support work at the Rwinkwavu Hospital in eastern Rwanda. Peter Zhang ’17 used a G.O.L.D. Fund grant to provide education and training in information technology for disabled students in the Zhejiang Province in China, where individuals with disabilities suffer significant social stigma. Lily Cratsley ’19, also a G.O.L.D. recipient, learned about the intersection of disability, poverty, and gender inequality while helping with music and yoga programs at the Sabita and Saradindu Basu Centre for Blind Women in New Delhi. Becky Zhang ’18 used her grant from the Dwight fund to create an online ethnography project, styled after “Humans of New York,” that focused on the sizable community of Filipino domestic workers living in Hong Kong.

LETTERS

Brian Bixby ’76 In the piece on William Amory Gardner’s library in the spring issue, I noted on page 30 the autograph of Archie Roosevelt. The donor of Mopsa the Fairy was his mother Edith, two months before the Theodore Roose velts left the White House in 1909 to make room for William Howard Taft. As a Groton parent four times over, and given her lifelong devotion to

the world of letters, it would seem inevitable that Edith Roosevelt develop a relationship with Mr. Gardner. Archie (Form of 1914, though he ended up graduating elsewhere) wrote letters home (now at Harvard) recounting the exploits of younger brother Quentin. After Quentin’s death in World War I, Mrs. Roosevelt gave his private library to the school. In my time it was kept in a display cabinet in a secluded corner of the Lower Library at the back of Hundred House. Wallace Dailey ’58 Curator, Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard College Library (retired) I very much enjoyed the piece in the Spring 2016 issue on the Gardner Room. The very charming poem reproduced on page 29, though, would appear to have been written by Mr. Gardner’s older brother, Augustus Peabody Gardner. (The notation “APG. 1876” appears at the end of the poem.) Had “our” Mr. Gardner’s passion for book collecting manifested itself as early as age twelve, prompting this warning from his senior sibling? “Gussy” Gardner for many years represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked closely with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge on a number of important issues. Keep up the good work.

— Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge, Director of Community Engagement, English teacher

Filipino workers, the subject of Becky Zhang ’18’s research

Becky Zhang ’18

The book described as Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions (“Inside the Gardner Room,” Spring 2016 Quarterly) is missing the top part of its title page. Its more complete title is Saducismus Triumphatus, Or full and plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions. The author, Joseph Glanvil (or Glanvill) was an Oxford graduate who wrote the book to combat what he saw as a rising tide of skepticism about witchcraft. His work is said to have influenced the Reverend Cotton Mather, who played a prominent role supporting the Salem witchcraft trials. I had to laugh seeing this book crop up in Mr. Gardner’s collection. The horror writer H. P. Lovecraft was prone to mix the titles of real books on supernatural subjects with ones he made up himself (or borrowed from other writers) to give them an air of verisimilitude, and in one of his early stories, “The Festival,” he used Glanvil’s Saducismus Triumphatus in precisely that way. Almost certainly not the reason Mr. Gardner had the book in his collection, of course.

circiter

Summer Grants, Global Experiences

John Thorndike P’01, ’03

circiter

22 Participate in GRACE Pilot Twenty-two students helped launch the pilot GRACE (GRoton Accelerate Challenge Enrich) program this July, immersing themselves in academic work that helped them enter tenth grade well prepared and, in some cases, ready to skip ahead to higher-level courses.

he first group of GRACE Scholars, eleven boys and eleven girls — all rising Fourth Formers — followed academic programs customized to their needs, with each intended to propel the student forward in one or two subject areas. All students attended GRACE voluntarily; it is not a required program. One GRACE Scholar, determined to have an easier time in math and Latin in Fourth Form, said after the program, “I feel dramatically more comfortable in both subjects.” An ambitious math student appreciated the extra push: “The fact that I could catch up in math — one of my favorite subjects — was great,” she said, “because I love math and originally I was afraid that

I’d never be able to reach the level of math I wanted to.” “Students were able to make great progress by spending lots of time each day immersed in just one or two courses,” said GRACE program director and Groton science teacher Dave Prockop. Classes were small — from two to eleven students — which meant plenty of individual attention. Students selected among chemistry, math, Latin, and English. In one case, a student completed Greek I and was able to move directly into Greek II this fall. The program also included summer fun, such as swimming and other afternoon activities. Weeknight activities — for those

who finished their homework — included bowling and visits to a trampoline park and nearby Kimball Farm. Weekend outings — for everyone — included trips to a beach, a concert, an improvisational theater workshop and show, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, whitewater rafting, and the Six Flags theme park. In a survey, GRACE scholars praised “the fun atmosphere,” “the pace of the work and activities,” “being on campus with friends,” and the “pleasant overall atmosphere for learning.” All twenty-two GRACE Scholars reported that they would recommend the program to other interested students.

Photos by Christopher Temerson

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Allison Macbride

CIRCLEFEST They bounced and jousted and bungeed. They threw their bodies onto Velcro walls and climbed, military-style, through an inflatable boot camp. Groton students took a break from homework, AP tests, and weekend routines on May 7 to celebrate Groton’s second annual Circlefest. After climbing on seven inflatables, playing lawn games, and chomping on pizza and burgers, students concluded Circlefest with a charity dodgeball tournament and a screening of Inside Out, a movie they had chosen. Circlefest’s goals for the community are simple: to relax, to enjoy, to play.

An Exemplary “New American”

eadmaster Temba Maqubela shared his story of exile, equity, and education at Worth magazine’s New America Summit on September 15, joining a lineup of esteemed speakers, from Harvard professors to successful entrepreneurs, who tackled the topic of immigration from various angles. Mr. Maqubela’s session was called “A New American Story.” He is among twenty-five representatives of “New America” featured in the current issue of Worth magazine. “Our public debate often frames immigration as a threat…” the article begins. The immigrants featured and their successes “are shaping the future of the country — and reminding us that the American Dream shouldn’t be a national nightmare.” At the New America Summit, held at a hotel off Harvard Square, Worth editor Richard Bradley ’82 interviewed the headmaster. The conversation began with Mr. Maqubela’s reminiscences of family

members, including his mother, who was teaching his high school biology class when police stormed in to arrest him, and his grandfather, who taught Nelson Mandela and helped write the Freedom Charter, which influenced South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution. Mr. Bradley led the headmaster through his journey; Mr. Maqubela recounted his escape to Botswana, carefully watching the habits of border guards so he could cross when they were inattentive, and his close brush with death when South African police hunted him down but went to the wrong house — the boarding school where he worked had just changed his housing because he was newly married. Finally, came the arrival in New York City in 1986 and freedom — which meant living in a welfare hotel, eating at soup kitchens, and using food stamps — and eventually the chance to build a career in education. After working at

the American Museum of Natural History as coat checker and cashier, he was hired to teach bookkeeping and computer literacy in a New York City school (despite his science degree), then accepted a job at Phillips Andover, partly drawn there because the school offered the opportunity to teach chemistry. (Mr. Maqubela teaches organic chemistry at Groton today.) After twenty-six years at Andover, he was asked to apply for the headmaster job at Groton. When Mr. Bradley asked how it felt to join a school that was once considered “an establishment institution,” Mr. Maqubela explained how diverse today’s Groton is and how welcomed he felt during his job interview. “They were not saying, ‘you’re welcome to be in our space.’ They were saying, ‘you belong in our space.’” Mr. Bradley also asked about South Africa today. What has changed since he left? “It is vibrant as a democracy.” What is the

The Maqubelas and Richard Bradley ’82

same? “The poorest of the poor are still the same color,” he replied. “They still live in the same areas.” When asked about becoming an American citizen, Mr. Maqubela recalled the first time he voted in the United States, walking to the polls with the head of Phillips Andover. “I became a U.S. citizen,” he said, “because my story — our story — would not have been possible in any other country.”

www.groton.org

circiter

Media, Politics, and the Next President

ast May, on the night of New York state’s pivotal primary, Groton School welcomed a panel of accomplished journalists to discuss campaign coverage and the media. Speaking at the spring Circle Talk were CBS News Washington Bureau Chief Christopher Isham ’71, BBC international correspondent Kim Ghattas, and Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi. Moderating the panel were the student heads of Groton’s Young Republicans and Young Democrats clubs, Adam Hauke ’16 and JP Neenan ’16. “What makes this campaign unusual is the high energy of two insurgent candidates,” said Isham, referring to Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. “Two candidates opposed to the establishment — both have tapped into a great deal of frustration in America.” Vennochi said that economic insecurity, general uncertainty, and the Obama years of Congressional gridlock have helped drive Trump and Sanders’ popularity. Wars haven’t curtailed terrorism or improved American prosperity, and Congress has been ineffective, she pointed out, making voters uneasy. “Instead of feeling secure, they feel less secure than ever,” Vennochi said. The unease buoying two non-mainstream candidates stemmed from a global phenomenon, Ghattas observed. “The world in general is going through a period of great tumult, of great uncertainty,” she said. A Beirut native, Ghattas was reporting on a U.S. presidential campaign for the first time, although she covered Hillary Clinton

as Secretary of State and wrote a book about her — The Secretary: A roton School faculty members Monika Andersson Journey with Hillary Clinton and Tom Lamont spoke at a May conference from Beirut to the Heart of focused on India at Harvard University’s South Asia American Power. Institute. Some campaign tactics Ms. Andersson, a photography teacher, was on a have taken her aback. “It panel that discussed the challenges and benefits of has struck me to see the taking American students on experiential and service demagogic language,” said learning trips to India. She has led three Groton Global Ghattas, who also was surEducation trips to India over the past seven years and prised to hear candidates has been to the country several other times. speak about God, which Mr. Lamont, a history teacher, co-presented a she said she would expect workshop on regionalism in India, which focused on more in Middle East politics. the cultural, economic, and political differences that Ghattas also criticized characterize different regions of India and South Asia. the media for succumbMr. Lamont teaches a course on modern India at ing to the entertainment Groton and has visited India several times, including a value of this campaign. “I five-month stay during his sabbatical. do feel that we haven’t all The conference was organized by Educators done the right things when for Teaching India and South Asia (EFTISA), an it comes to covering this organization that promotes the teaching of India and election and covering the South Asia at the high school and middle school levels issues,” she said, noting in the United States. Groton School is a co-sponsor that there has been a lot of of EFTISA, along with Phillips Academy (Andover) and punditry, but not a lot of Winsor School. substance. While the campaign has been uniquely entertaining, Isham said the lack of substance has been frustrating. Despite intense citizen interest in this camsaid he fell into the field “by luck,” while paign, he said, “on policy levels there are a Vennochi said she was “fixated on becoming lot of details missing.” a journalist” but isn’t sure why, then specu The speakers agreed that of the many lated that career options for women at the stabs against Clinton, the most serious time centered on teaching and nursing. “I involves her use of a private email server didn’t really like kids that much, and I didn’t for official (and potentially like blood,” deadpanned the Pulitzer Prize classified) work. “Clinton winner, who started at the Boston Globe as does best when she’s out of a researcher for the famed Spotlight team. politics,” Ghattas observed. The event was Groton School’s Ron “When she’s outside the fray Ridenhour Lecture, established in 2000 by of politics, she seems to perthe Fertel Family Foundation and Mr. and form quite well. She left the Mrs. David Halberstam P’98, in honor of State Department with a 70 investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour, who percent approval rating.” helped expose the My Lai Massacre. The The evening began endowed lecture series is intended to honor with the journalists explainand highlight the critical role of the news ing why they entered the media in a free society. The income from the field. Ghattas, who grew fund is used to foster additional educational up during Beirut’s civil war, opportunities for students, thereby broadensaid she always wondered ing their scope of knowledge. why Lebanon didn’t receive After the panel, about fifty students more help from the outside gathered at the Headmaster’s House for the world. “I wanted to make chance to speak informally to the journalists sense of what was going on and learn more about media, politics, and around me,” she said. Isham the unconventional 2016 election.

Christopher Temerson

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Groton Faculty Share Insights into Modern India at Harvard Conference

A San Francisco beach clean-up, gardening in Groton, and work at a Chicago bird sanctuary were among the Day of Service activities.

Day of Service from Coast to Coast

roton’s May Community Day of Service might have been called a national service day, as alumni groups around the country joined students on May 14 in meaningful projects of service and engagement. As Groton students spread throughout the area, alumni groups worked in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as right in Groton. Students tended crops, sorted furniture for the needy, mulched, pulled weeds, picked up garbage, entertained the elderly, played with sick children, and planted thousands of potatoes. Students joined alumni to clear trails with teacher David Black ’80 and to build raised gardens at Boston’s Epiphany School, founded by Groton alumnus John Finley ’88. Meanwhile, in Chicago,

Groton alumni helped clean up the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary. In New York, they helped with the AIDS Walk; in San Francisco, they cleaned beaches at Golden Gate National Park; and in Washington, D.C., they gardened at a public housing community and organized linens, housewares, and toys for families needing assistance. “The images I found most moving were those of adults — parents, alumni, trustees — who took time away from their busy schedules to rekindle the mission and heart of Groton School in their own lives,” says Director of Community Engagement Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge. “What a powerful testimony to the legacy of the school as it spills into communities all over the nation. And what examples for our students to emulate.”

circiter

The Writer’s Room

embers of English teacher John Capen’s Writing Short Fiction class traveled to Boston in May to work with students in the Writer’s Room program at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science. The Writer’s Room, part of 826 Boston (a nonprofit that provides support for young writers in the Roxbury area of Boston), is an actual room in the high school where students write. The Groton students worked as tutors and collaborated with the welcoming group of O’Bryant students. The field trip concluded with a visit to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

John Capen with Sixth Formers Luke Holey, George Klein, Anwar Mapp, Edis Levent, and Will Robbins

A Fallen Hero Remembered

he bench has been outside the School house since the Form of 1904 dedicated it to their friend and formmate, Dillwyn Parrish Starr, after his death in World War I. Members of the Groton community walk past it every day, but on September 15 several of them stopped to honor the one hundredth anniversary of Starr’s death fighting in World War I. In a short ceremony, History Department Head Tom Lamont and other members of the community gathered to remember Starr, who volunteered to serve in the British armed forces after the outbreak of the First World War and who died on September 15, 1916, in the Battle of the Somme. Mr. Lamont spoke briefly, acknowledging Starr’s sacrifice and the service of many other Grotonians in the United States armed forces and those of allied nations. In particular, Mr. Lamont mentioned two Groton alumni presently serving in the Marine Corps, Virginia “Ginger” Cutler ’07 and Ward “Bubba” Scott ’11. Mr. Lamont’s tribute to

Allison Macbride

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Starr on the centennial of his death highlighted just one of the many Grotonians to pay the ultimate price to preserve liberty. Though St. John’s Chapel contains the names of dozens of members of the Groton family lost in combat, commanding particular attention is the stained-glass window that faces the Circle, below which is inscribed: “This window is dedicated to the Groton boys who gave their lives for their country in the World War.” That window does not tell the whole story of the school’s deep and costly connection to the First World War. Like Starr, several Grotonians who died in the conflict did so while fighting for a country other than the United States. In fact, one of the co-founders of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, Norman Prince ’05, was a Groton graduate. Far less is known about Starr, despite the school’s access to wide range of electronic archives. Nevertheless, Mr. Lamont and others have gathered what information they can, and Starr’s father wrote a book about his son’s war exploits, drawing extensively on his son’s own diaries. Dillwyn P. Starr was born in 1884, the same year Groton was founded. The parallels between his life and the spirit of Groton do not stop there, however. While at Groton, Starr was well-known for his athletic abilities, particularly in football, and for his social skills. A 2000 article by Jonathan Perlman ’00 for the Circle Voice student newspaper notes that “Starr’s most noticeable trait was his amicable nature, which subsequently led to a variety of friendships, which, though formed quickly, always endured.” This friendliness was to become clear in letters home from the front.

By late summer 1916, Starr — who had previously been an ambulance driver on the front and a volunteer reserve officer in the Royal Navy — was a member of the revered Coldstream Guards of the British Army, serving on the front in France. In the Guards, Starr held the rank of second lieutenant and led the 12th Platoon of the 2nd Battalion, once again demonstrating Groton’s ethos of service. Just as he served the imperiled French Third Republic, Starr served the very men he led, writing home on August 19, 1916 with a request for “cigarettes for the men ... The soldiers get paid very seldom and can’t buy them. I have fifty men. Don’t worry about me. At least I hope you will not because I shall be all right.” Less than a month later, Starr was shot in the heart while leading an assault on a German trench armed with machine guns. His men went on to capture the trench later that day. Starr’s family received many letters from those who heard the tragic news. One such letter came from the Reverend Endicott Peabody, who wrote, “This thought — that Dill was fighting a great battle for freedom and righteousness in the world — must bring great comfort to your sad hearts.” Dillwyn Parrish Starr died tragically young and in terrible circumstances, but he fulfilled the mandate of the school’s motto many times over, serving his team, his platoon, and the cause of human freedom. Groton’s ceremony was a well-deserved homage to a man who carried out the school motto of cui servire est regnare through life and death. Mr. Lamont’s tribute was a welcome reminder of just how central service is to Groton’s culture and identity. — Rand Hough ‘17, Communications Prefect

In the Spring Quarterly, Jill Yannetti Buck ’93 asked for the recipe for monkey bread, a favorite dorm feed. Thanks to Groton’s chef, Ed Wetterwald, for providing it.

Our Señor: App Store Entrepreneur

ean of Faculty and Spanish teacher John Conner was a summer star of the App Store! Señor Conner’s Spanish vocabulary app broke its own barrier — it was downloaded 32,300 times in forty-eight hours. Among more than two million apps, Señor’s landed on the App Store’s featured page, just below the new NBA and MLB apps. The app — Essential Spanish Vocabulary Flashcards — offers 2,000 vocabulary terms that can be learned in a variety of different formats (English/ Spanish, Spanish/English, Image/Spanish). Directed by a moving cartoon avatar (which you may recognize as Señor himself!), the app moves users through four increasingly difficult levels of vocabulary. According to Señor, who has spun off iBooks and now the app from his Breaking the Barrier textbook series, the app’s most advanced feature is its innovative voice recognition, which allows students to see a word in English (or a picture), then attempt to say the Spanish word aloud. If correct, the app recognizes the answer with a green checkmark and an encouraging sound. Señor Conner credited collaboration between Groton School language students and teachers who are eager to embrace the latest technology. “My first vocabulary flashcards in the iBooks textbooks were black and white. It only went in one direction, from Spanish to English, and contained neither pictures nor audio. My students let me know, in the nicest way, that I needed to do better!” Groton, he says, has been a “wonderful laboratory for great ideas.” Check out Fast Company magazine’s article: “How a Groton Geek Won the Education App Sweepstakes.”

Monkey Bread

Makes ~16 portions in a 9 x13-inch pan

2 cups warm water 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1/4 cup oil cinnamon-sugar mix (1 tablespoon cinnamon plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar) 1/4 pound (one stick) butter 1 cup brown sugar 1. Mix first three ingredients plus two cups of the flour; cover and let sit for 45 minutes or until bubbly. 2. Put above starter mixture in bowl with the salt, oil, and three remaining cups of flour. Mix on low with a dough hook to just blend. 3. Add dough to a well-oiled bowl and let sit 1 hour. 4. Mix cinnamon and sugar. 5. Oil a 9 x 13-inch pan. Roll the dough into small balls and toss them in the cinnamonsugar mix. Place in pan and let the dough rest there for 20 minutes. 6. Bake in a 375° oven for 25–35 minutes. 7. Melt butter with brown sugar and bring to a boil; set aside. 8. When bread comes out of the oven, pour butter/sugar mixture over the top. Let cool for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Perfect Scores for Five Young Classicists

exceptionally well on the National Latin Exam, and 2016 was no exception: sixty-one earned summa cum laude recognition, and fifty earned maxima cum laude for their efforts. Also receiving recognition for their performance on the National Greek Exam were Hadley Callaway ‘17, Jack Fanikos ‘17, Hanna Kim ‘17, George Klein ‘16, Lauren Kochis ‘17, and Claudia Oei ‘18. Congratulations to these students and to Groton’s Latin and Greek teachers, who make classical learning engaging and relevant.

Gail Friedman

our Groton students received a perfect score on the 2016 National Latin Exam, and a fifth achieved a flawless performance on the National Greek Exam. Earning a perfect score on the Latin exam were Christian Carson ‘18, An Nguyen ‘18, Cal Wilson ‘19, and Brian Xiao ‘19. Drew Bassilakis ’16 earned a perfect score on the Greek exam. Drew, as well as Cynthia Cheng ’16, were also recognized for achieving summa cum laude on the National Latin Exam for four consecutive years. Typically, Groton students score

An Nguyen ’18, Christian Carson ’18, Cal Wilson ’19, Brian Xiao ’19, and Drew Bassilakis ’16

www.groton.org

Alex Karwoski ’08

From Groton to Ri Alex Karwoski ’08 joined a very exclusive club in August:

he became the thirteenth Grotonian to row in the Olympics. Alex and the U.S. men’s 8 boat made it to the finals but placed fourth, finishing in 05:34.23, behind Great Britain’s gold-medal time of 05:29.63. Germany and the Netherlands won silver and bronze, respectively. Alex’s boat had secured its place in the finals after a first-place finish in the repechage. Alex began rowing in 2005 at Groton School. After graduating, he went on to row with Trinity College, then

When did you first learn you had made the Olympic team? Since the 8+ had not qualified for the Olympic Games at the 2015 World Rowing Championships (we were seventh and needed to be in the top five), we had to travel to Lucerne, Switzerland, for the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in May. There were five boats competing — Poland, Italy, Australia, Spain, and the USA — for the final two spots in Rio. We won the race for lanes on Sunday, May 22, 2016, and the final race was on May 24 at 6:10 p.m. We won that race by a few tenths of a second, and that was the first time we all knew that we were headed to the Olympics. It was a wild moment — I was incredibly exhausted but happy and relieved all at the same time. What did it feel like to race in the final in Rio? Unfortunately, we did not have our best race in the final in Rio,

transferred to Cornell University, where he continued the sport and where he now coaches. He had trained with the U.S. National Team for four years before the Olympics. The other Groton alumni who have rowed in the Olympic Games are Lawrence Terry ’18, Frederick Sheffield ’20, Howard “Ox” Kingsbury ’22, James Lawrence ’25, Donald Beer ’53, Charlie Grimes ’53, Emory Clark ’56, Seymour “Sy” Cromwell ’52, Ted Patton ’84, John Parker ’85, Henry Nuzum ’95, and Liane Malcos ’96. The 2016 Olympian answered questions for the Quarterly:

but sitting on the starting line, waiting for the light to turn green, was an unbelievable few seconds of waiting.

rowers in the world, and, also, at the village, just being around some of the most amazing athletes in the world.

How did rowing in the Olympics compare to competing elsewhere? Being in Rio to compete was amazing. In high school, you usually line up against one or two other schools during the season, and then at NEIRAs there are sixteen or so. In college, it is similar as far as numbers go, but it is all big boats (the 8). Internationally, you are looking across the boats at the fastest rowers in each of their respective countries — it’s humbling but exciting to be lined up next to them on the start line.

We heard a lot about contaminated water in Rio. Did that concern you? I am not a medical or water expert so I’m not sure how much my opinion counts, but the water seemed clean. It was similar to rowing in any part of the world — you wouldn’t reach into it to refill your water bottle, but that doesn’t mean it is dirty water. I was not concerned in the slightest to head down there to row.

What was the best thing about going to the Olympics? While the disappointment of coming up short of our goal is still fresh, one of the best things about going to the Olympics was competing against the best

Groton School Quarterly • Spring 2016

Will you keep training next year, or are you done with elite rowing? Being on the national team for the past four years has made me appreciate all of the work that goes into training on a yearly basis. For now, I am working up in Ithaca, New York, back at Cornell University as an assistant

coach on the men’s heavyweight team. The team here has some phenomenal guys, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with them. What do you love about rowing? The best part about rowing is sitting mere inches away from other guys in the boat who are just as driven as you are to attain a goal. That singular focus and purpose are still the main reasons I wanted to row in the first place, and why I love it. Is it true that you chose rowing at Groton because there was no track team at the time? I came to Groton with my “main sport” being cross country in the fall. I played basketball in the winter, and by the time the spring term rolled around, I knew I wanted to be back outside. Rowing seemed like the closest cross training available for cross country.

U.S. Rowing

personae

What was your first practice like? In my very first practice for rowing, I was put into the bow seat of an 8 (during March break) and took some horrible strokes before the coach put me back on land. Can you share a few of your best Groton memories? There are a lot of memories from Groton that I would love to share.

For people: Mr. Commons [former headmaster Richard Commons] was instrumental in making sure I made it through my Sixth Form year. Mrs. Libby Petroskey would let me hang out in the Deans’ Office and was always there to listen to my nonsense. As mentioned above, both Fire Maguire and Nishad Das are two of my favorite people to this day. Coaches Topher Row and Bob Madden (now at Episcopal and St. Joe’s Prep respectively) are the reasons why I started rowing and continued to row.

How did Groton’s coaches influence you? The coaches at Groton who helped shape not only my athletic life but my life in general were Topher Row, Bill Maguire, Nishad Das, and Bob Madden. I ran cross country for Mr. Maguire and Mr. Das all four years, and they put up with a lot of my antics and nudged me in the right direction as far as training was concerned. Mr. Row taught me how to row in the 6th boat my Third Form year and sold Mr. Madden on the idea of bumping me up from 5th to 3rd boat during Fourth Form year. Mr. Madden is still one of my favorite human beings. There is not enough space here to write all of the things that Mr. Madden has done for me over the years (both at Groton and in the eight years since graduating!), but I am incredibly happy that he has been willing to stay in touch. I know I was not always the easiest kid to deal with in high school.

Any advice for Groton’s rowers today who dream of going to the Olympics? Appreciate the opportunities that are given to you every day on the water or on the erg/tank/ etc. Rowing really is the ultimate team sport, and there are few students who get to experience that type of camaraderie and friendship. Will you be racing at the Head of the Charles? Yes. I’ll be in a Champ 4+ with the U.S. Rowing Training Center!

Anne Colloredo-Mansfeld P’09, ’13, ’15, ’18

For sports: Being moved from the 5th boat to the 3rd boat and coming in 2nd at the NEIRA my Fourth Form year. Being a part of the cross country team with “Fire Maguire” leading the way— especially the 2005 team that won the ISL Championship for the first time in school history with my brother [Nick Karwoski], Chris Graham, Rees SweeneyTaylor, and Sam Allen [all ’06] leading the way.

For school: Creamer’s Dorm 2006, in my opinion one of the most fun group of guys ever assembled under one roof. Algebra II (H) class with Mr. Das in my Fourth Form year (the entire class was a great group of guys and such a fun group, and we learned a lot because Mr. Das is a legend).

www.groton.org

Mary Ann Lanier, Arts Department Head

personae

Fine Tuning IMPROVISATION AND OPERA aren’t words

that many people associate. But when Groton’s Arts Department Head Mary Ann Lanier was a postgrad, that was precisely her first job: taking opera on the fly to make it accessible to others. “In my group Opera to Go, we’d perform for students, and at the end of our ‘Intro to Opera,’ we would put together a short story they knew, improvise the scene, and have children fill in the holes,” she says. “It was a way to show kids, ‘Hey, opera can be a fun thing—take the story and sing it.’” Improvisation comes in handy for a multi-tasking administrator with a full course load. As department head, Mary Ann oversees not just the music department, but all visual and performing arts. She teaches music theory, musicianship, and instrumental chamber music; mentors up to six students a year in private lessons; and oversees the school’s private music lesson program —140 weekly lessons and more than twenty student recitals a year. Mary Ann first joined Groton in 1999 as a one-day-a-week adjunct instructor, work she juggled with an active career as a freelance vocalist. Through years of performing and improvisation, she learned that you must be quick on your feet and develop your own style—a lesson she now teaches students. “Since the early days of the Baroque era, it was expected that any instrumentalist or singer would be able to take a piece and embellish it. In a way, this represents music students’ journeys—from rigid beginner to comfortable master of their instrument or voice,” she says. “Improvisation can help keep students of opera from getting stiff—they can get stiff, because there’s so much to be conscious of and master.” As a child, Mary Ann grew up in an environment 12

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

supportive of music, but not professionally steeped in it. Her father was in the Air Force, and they moved frequently throughout the South and Midwest, as well as to Massachusetts and England. They were dedicated churchgoers, and choir became an early musical backbone of Mary Ann’s life. When her father gave her her first opera recording, of Maria Callas singing Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, she was hooked, moved by both the singing and the singers—“especially the amazing voices the singers of opera can call upon to tell larger-than-life, yet very human, stories.” Mary Ann auditioned for the conservatory at Oberlin College, where she was accepted to study with Richard Miller, a renowned vocalist, scholar, and author of books on singing technique and vocal pedagogy. “He was a very influential teacher. He liked to combine the physiology of singing—the actual science of it, what the anatomy does—with the art,” she says. Miller was also known for his exacting standards, and Mary Ann recalls his imprimatur at one of her earlier lessons: that his students always come to class with their work memorized. “When he studied at Michigan his teacher would tell him to leave if he didn’t have his music memorized. He wasn’t harsh, but we learned to be thinking musicians, and to be well prepared.” After Oberlin, Mary Ann attended Boston University’s master’s program in vocal performance and joined Opera to Go, an independent opera outreach organization associated with Young Audiences of Massachusetts. There, she fine-tuned her love of vocal improvisation and got her first taste of teaching. In 1995, she formed American Classics with three other musicians to reconstruct a wide range of

Christopher Temerson

American music—from the Colonial era (“songs about how great George Washington was”) to folk music to Ragtime, from World War II to Broadway. The group became known for innovative revivals of old musicals, especially lesser-known Irving Berlin and Rodgers & Hart. Mary Ann thrived in weekly musical and theatrical improvisation sessions with the avant garde performance group NOTE (New Opera Theatre Ensemble). In 2002, they clinched an invitation to perform at South by Southwest, a prestigious festival in Austin, Texas that celebrates the film, media, and music industries. “That was really great,” she recalls. “I think we were kind of a funny fit for South by Southwest, but they invited us, so we went.” They performed some set pieces, but also asked the audience to give them five words and two musical styles, and would use the prompts to improvise pieces. “It was so different than being a classical singer in a theater,” she says. “You’re in this fun atmosphere where people aren’t all sitting in chairs; they’re milling and feeling comfortable and being more rowdy.” involved”), which she sees as a natural Some of her most whimsical and healthy reaction to the more performances were with Goody Goody, formal elements of music at the school. a women’s trio that spun off from “As an Episcopal school, the school choir American Classics and focused on does the church service every week, and harmony and historical hits in the style I wonder if they need that outlet to of the Andrews Sisters. “We’d have do something completely different on a great time—the audience was fun, their own.” the style of music was such fun. You’d One of the most unique musical get to be a soloist and also sing close outlets is the international music trip harmony. We had such great chemistry.” offered every year. This summer, the Mary Ann sees echoes of those orchestra performed in Budapest, experiences in the a cappella groups Prague, and Vienna. Before that, the at Groton. By and large, the student jazz ensemble went to Cuba, where a cappella groups coach and run students took salsa dancing lessons and themselves (“we try to get in there learned Afro-Cuban percussion. enough to see they’re preparing Experiences like these provide and performing, but they’re pretty Mary Ann with different rewards adamant about not having a grown-up than performing, which she plans to

continue when her workload changes. Her dream is to perform jazz in an environment like Rockport’s Shalin Liu Performance Center, where she recently saw jazz vocalist Diane Reeves. “As a performer, the wall behind you is all glass, so the audience sees you against the water and boats and sunset,” she says, describing the modern, soaring space. “It’s small and beautiful and just perfect.” For now, the Gammons Recital Hall, looking over the Schoolhouse’s new Sackett Forum, is the perfect venue. —Nichole Bernier

www.groton.org

FLG OUR

E LE CT I O N H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

C O N N E C T I O N

SINCE GROTON SCHOOL’S EARLIEST YEARS, ALUMNI HAVE PURSUED PUBLIC SERVICE. WHETHER LOCAL, REGIONAL, OR NATIONAL, THE LURE OF POLITICS REMAINS STRONG — NOT ONLY FOR THE THREE GROTONIANS WHO SERVE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS*, BUT FOR THE MANY WHO SUPPORT CANDIDATES BEHIND THE SCENES AND FIGHT FOR POLICIES THEY BELIEVE IN. IN HONOR OF THIS UNPARALLELED ELECTION SEASON, WE INTRODUCE OBSERVERS OF AND ADVISORS TO THE CANDIDATES, EACH DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE 2016 ELECTION AND HELPING TO GUIDE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

*CONGRESSMEN JIM COOPER (D-TN), GEORGE HOLDING (R-NC), AND BOBBY SCOTT (D-VA)

Opinions expressed in this section reﬂect the viewpoints of the individuals profiled and not those of Groton School. 14

A REPORTER’S VIEW FROM THE INSIDE (IT’S NOT PRETTY)

by Christina Wilkie ’97

y beloved uncle, the late Don Edwards, represented San Jose, California, in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than thirty years. He championed civil rights, voting rights, and civil liberties. An avowed liberal, Don was a pragmatist when it came to politics and elections. “You can have all the best policy ideas, and you can do great work for your constituents,” he would remind me. “But none of that matters if you’re not in office anymore.”

It’s true: on your average day of the week, American politics isn’t about luck or personality or policy or trustworthiness or principles or tradition or the greater good. It’s about getting elected and reelected. And by Don’s logic, the qualities that make people great legislators are not always the same qualities that help them get elected. As we enter a heated campaign season, with both the White House and control of the Senate up for grabs, I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned in ten years of covering campaigns and elections in Washington.

To be elected to Congress, it is not required that you be nice, well-meaning, or even very smart. All sorts of people seek and win elections to Congress, to state legislatures, and even to the White House: smart people and dumb people, nice people and mean people, faithful spouses and shameless cheaters, addicts and compulsive gamblers, Little League coaches and beloved teachers, great leaders and rotten bosses.

It goes without saying, therefore, that the U.S. Congress currently contains some members who might not qualify as role models. There’s a Democrat who hits on young women by asking them to guess how many millions he has in his checking account. And there’s a Republican who seems happily married, but who regularly invites potential lady friends to his townhouse. With 435 members and thousands of staff, the House sustains a notorious rumor mill. Over on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol, the “open” secrets are typically kept under wraps. The loyalty, tenure, and ambitions of Senate staffers all help ensure that senators’ private lives stay very, very private.

Once the TV cameras are turned off, most members of Congress transform back into real people, with families and hobbies and a tough, tiring day job. For every lawmaker, there’s a political persona—a sort of stage character—and then there’s an actual person. After a decade of covering national politics, I know that every www.groton.org

in Washington boardrooms the 2016 presidential election is a foregone conclusion. On the ground, business interests, lobbyists, and campaign consultants have already drawn up their plans: a Democratic White House, a somewhat more narrow Republican House majority, and a very narrow Senate majority for one party or the other.

member of Congress has to reconcile his or her public, political persona— the one the voters expect to see—with the actual person underneath. Here’s an example: a Tea Party congressman has been banging his fist on the lectern for the last fifteen minutes, railing against the perceived evils of adoption by same-sex couples. When he finishes his remarks, he walks off the House floor into the ornate Speaker’s Lobby, where House members and reporters mingle during votes and debates. All of a sudden, the truculent purist I just saw waving his arms on C-SPAN morphs into a calm, smalltown lawyer, a guy who sleeps on his office sofa and who is bored and lonely from Tuesday to Friday, when he’s stuck in D.C. because Congress is in session. “Hey guys, heard anything new about the Iran deal?” the congressman asks me and another reporter as he walks off the House floor. “I don’t know anything about that part of the world.” If you’re like me, you find it hard to treat this guy like he’s your buddy when his face is still pink from a conniption fit he threw a few minutes ago on the House floor over what he called “the gay threat to America’s kids.” But this man, who was imposing and scary and holier than thou, has just morphed back into himself. Not surprisingly, I 16

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

prefer the actual people in Congress to the characters they play on TV. It’s no accident that we don’t really know the people clamoring for our votes. Thousands of professionals are paid millions of dollars to influence the minds of American voters, and they are good at it. Some of these well-paid operatives package and sell specific candidates, branding and marketing them like reality TV stars. Others package and sell issues, courting champions in Congress and drumming up coverage in the press.

Everyone in Congress has thought about how they might become president someday. To run successfully for national office, one needs a particular type of personality, and that personality, sooner or later, fantasizes about being president of the United States. To better understand your representatives in Congress and what informs their decisions, try to imagine each person’s path to the White House, because that’s almost certainly what they themselves are imagining. At least now you’re all on the same page. Keep in mind that only one person (James A. Garfield) has ever been elected to the White House directly from the House of Representatives. In the modern era, the road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue requires either a governorship or a Senate seat.

A well-liked Midwestern governor recently exited the presidential race earlier than many people thought he should. His surprise drop-out wasn’t the result of the usual suspects, such as skeletons in his closet or low support in the polls. He simply decided that his chances of being president would be better in 2020 than they were in 2016, so he decided not to waste time and money. The same logic was applied this year by a beloved Democratic senator from the Northeast and a bold Republican governor from the deep South.

Unfortunately, serving in Congress is a pretty rotten job. It took me a while to realize this, because it’s hard not to be starstruck by the influence and prestige that members of Congress wield and command around Washington. On a more personal level, however, being a junior member of Congress is a lot like being the personal assistant to a big celebrity: all your friends from high school think it’s awesome, but in reality, it’s just a never-ending cycle of thankless tasks. Let’s start with the value proposition: why don’t you give up your professional and financial security to run for office and, in the meantime, subject your whole family to a potentially painful level of scrutiny for at least a year? If you’re “lucky” enough to be elected to Congress, you’ll spend four days a week in D.C. while your family carries on without you. You’ll be arriving in Washington at the bottom of the totem pole, so no one in Congress will listen to you. But you’ll still be expected to make fundraising phone calls for your party for a few hours every week, which often means asking people you’ve never met for money.

H OUR ELECTION

Nestled snugly in one of the nation’s most expensive cities, you’ll be lucky to get a room in a shared house with a few of your fellow members of Congress, the kind of deal where nobody is ever really in charge of cleaning or buying groceries. On top of your rent, you’ll also pay for roundtrip flights home, where each week you’ll learn what your spouse and your children have accomplished in your absence. Your friends at home won’t see you much, and your friends in D.C. will rarely, if ever, get to meet your family or see your house. Your kids won’t be friends with their kids, and you won’t have them over for barbeques. Being in Congress can be like living between two worlds.

To understand how an elected official is going to behave in office, consider what he or she did before running for Congress. This may sound simple, but most of us learned the lion’s share of our professional skills and values on the job. Members of Congress are no exception. Yet when a candidate abandons his or her career to run for public office, it’s easy to see the would-be lawmaker as a politician first and foremost, and it’s easy to forget about his or her first career. But the career that he or she pursued before politics can tell you a lot more about the person than most politicians would care to admit. For example, consider two candidates, one with a career as a teacher and later a superintendent, and another with a twenty-year career as a prosecutor. Both could campaign on solid principles and be elected to Congress. Yet each would bring a very different mentality and set of experiences to the legislature.

CONNECTION H

The presidency will be decided in a handful of places across the country. To win the presidency, a candidate needs to win a handful of very specific counties and districts in specific states. Some of these areas are home to swing voters with long records of successfully predicting the next president: places like Bowling Green, Ohio; Tampa, Florida; and Terre Haute, Indiana. This year, the race for the White House will also be decided in counties that serve as the dividing lines between wealthy suburbs and rural parts of America. Known as exurbs, these communities contain blue-collar voters who have traditionally backed Republicans. In 2016, however, these voters are up for grabs.

But really, the 2016 presidential election is basically over. Despite what you might hear on cable news, in Washington boardrooms the 2016 presidential election is a foregone conclusion. On the ground, business interests, lobbyists, and campaign consultants have already drawn up their plans: a Democratic White House, a somewhat more narrow Republican House majority, and a very narrow Senate majority for one party or the other. At this stage in the campaign, the only races still in play are those that will determine control of the Senate. This year, Republican incumbents are defending more Senate seats in swing states than are Democratic incumbents. In 2018, it’ll be the reverse, with the Democrats on defense. For political pros, now is the time to begin laying the groundwork for presidential campaigns in 2020 and 2024. Demographics are changing in the Southwest and the Mid-Atlantic, making it harder than ever for a typical

Republican to win states like North Carolina and Arizona. At the same time, judicial rulings on voter ID laws, early voting restrictions, and felons’ voting rights have the potential to reshape the political landscape four years from now.

If all of this is a little depressing, here are two things you can do to better understand what’s really going on. First, bypass “the news” and get to the story.

Don’t just consume news in the serving sizes they sell on TV—watch political rallies on livestream to see how the crowd reacts and how the candidate interacts with people. Also pay attention to how reporters describe different politicians’ personalities, and do your best to read between the lines. It’s a safe bet that anyone described in print as “combative” is almost certainly a jerk. On the flip side, “genial,” “wellliked,” and “respected” are formal ways of saying someone is really nice, friendly, and a stand-up person. Be a citizen journalist.

Even if you’re not a reporter, try to report what you see around you every day. Are there Trump signs on your neighbors’ lawns, or protesters picketing outside your office? Photograph, film, and share these moments. You don’t have to be a professional journalist anymore to contribute to America’s political dialogue. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection. And if you see anything good, let me know about it first, at @christinawilkie.

Christina Wilkie ’97 is a national political reporter for the Huffington Post.

www.groton.org

H OUR ELECTION

CONNECTION H

Q&A

W ITH C HRI S T I N A WI L KI E ’9 7

Why political reporting? What’s the appeal? My job, as I see it, is the “servire” part of Groton’s motto. I’ve been given the responsibility of serving as the eyes and ears of all those Americans who will never be granted access to the smoke-filled rooms and the shrimp-cocktail fundraisers — to go wherever I can, and to report back on how things really work. This work is the highest honor, every day, that I could imagine. To serve the public by holding those in power accountable for how they wield their influence gives me a great sense of purpose.

What campaigns have you covered? I didn’t get my first real writing job until 2007, so I guess you could say I’ve covered the glorious revolution of 2008, the Tea Party counter-revolution of 2010, the pitchfork rebellion against rich people that was 2012, the GOP triumph over idealistic lefties that marked much of 2014, and the psychedelic tea party, which so far describes 2016.

The Huffington Post is forthright about its opposition to Trump. You wrote a story headlined, “HuffPost Will Cover Donald Trump As ‘A Buffoon and Dangerous,’ Even If He’s the Nominee.” When reporting generally strives to be unbiased, how have you reconciled the ability (or need) to be biased? In a word? Easily. Not to be a jerk, but the word “bias” means an unreasonable preference for one idea over another, or an unfair prejudice. After covering Trump for almost a year, I think the assessment of his campaign as both dangerous and ridiculous is fair and reasonable. During the GOP primary, Trump made a mockery of distinguished public servants who’d spent years developing plans for how to govern the country. And now, with Trump as the nominee, reporters are under pressure to give equal weight to proposals from Trump and Clinton. If I were to pretend that Donald Trump’s proposed “Muslim ban” and his “wall”

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

were carefully considered policy plans, on par with those from John Kasich and Hillary Clinton, I would be doing a grave disservice to my readers.

What’s been most challenging about covering the 2016 presidential election? Trying to nail down what Donald Trump really believes and what he’d actually do in office. One of my professional goals this year has been to let candidates speak for them selves as much as possible in my stories, and avoid the urge to paraphrase or explain what they say. Writing exactly what he says is the most honest thing I can think of to do for our readers.

What has been most frightening about covering this election (in terms of the nation)? Perhaps I’m whistling on the Titanic, but I don’t have a lot of fears for the nation, with or without Trump. I still believe that, on balance, voters elect more good presidents than bad. And the fact that we live in a digital age, where Twitter and Facebook play a big role in our civil discourse — I think that’s a good thing. Millions of Americans today have front-row seats to political rallies via livestream, to investigative reporting on free sites like HuffPost and Buzzfeed, and to interactive candidate forums on sites like Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube.

“ DonkeyHotey/Flickr

From where I’m sitting, the more people participate in democracy, the better it gets. You’ve said you received death threats and antiSemitic remarks (even though you’re not Jewish). What did you write that triggered these messages? I wrote true, fair stories that were unflattering to Trump. They’re the same kinds of stories I’ve been writing about politicians for almost ten years. The difference is that, in 2016, racists and anti-Semites feel a lot more comfortable threatening journalists because the man at the top of the Republican ticket constantly calls us liars and scum. Covering Trump’s events can sometimes feel like wearing

a target on your back. But so, too, can simply reporting what Trump says. A lot of his supporters have rejected traditional fact-checking, insisting that anyone who challenges Trump’s falsehoods is part of a vast leftwing conspiracy. To be clear, most professional journalists have been asked to defend their reporting before, including me. And it’s usually a pretty straightforward process. But there really wasn’t anything that could have prepared us for the 2016 Trump campaign and its online army. In the past six months, Trump supporters have threatened me and my family, attacked my work, maligned my character, and targeted my friends and siblings for abuse.

TODAY, WHAT MAKES ME ABLE TO SUSTAIN THE WAVES OF HATRED IS THINKING ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE I SERVE, THE PEOPLE WHO READ HUFFPOST ON THE BUS HOME FROM WORK LATE AT NIGHT, OR WHO CLICK ON OUR STORIES WHEN THEIR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK RECOMMEND THEM.

How do you handle that vitriol, professionally and emotionally? A few times this winter, when it got particularly bad, I tried to pretend that I was immune to the ugliness. But this tactic failed spectacularly, especially after a group of high-profile Trump supporters made a YouTube video in March, encouraging Trump fans to attack me. Over a three-day period, I received more than 3,000 hate messages, threats, and cyber attacks. After what felt like weeks of pretending to be strong and stoic, I was asked by a colleague in April what advice I had for younger reporters about how to deal with abuse online. In front of our entire newsroom, I burst into tears. So much for my steel-toed coping skills. Today, what makes me able to sustain the waves of hatred is thinking about all the people whom I serve — the people who read HuffPost on the bus heading home from work late at night, or who click on my stories when their friends share them on Facebook. As for what gets me out of

bed every morning, it isn’t my personal ambition. I jump out of bed so that I can say: “Today, I’ll be the eyes and ears of millions of people who can’t follow politics all day long, but whose lives will be impacted by what happens, and who trust that I can help them make sense of it all.” Yes, sometimes people are cruel to me, and sometimes I get scared that I’ve done something wrong to deserve it. Sometimes it’s really lonely to stand at a rally while a stranger screams at me. But I can deal with it. After all, the people I’m working for often hold down three jobs, raise families, and still make it to the polls before work on chilly November mornings to vote. In light of all they do, the least I can do is make sure they’ll always have a reporter in Washington who’s got their back.

www.groton.org

Jeb’s world, One Issue at a time Justin Muzinich ’96 IT’S NOT REALLY hyperbole to say that Justin Muzinich ’96 was asked to take on all the prob-

In most elections, the political and communications strategies dominate a campaign, but policy is important because it gives you a mandate from which to govern.

lems of the world. As policy director for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, he led a team responsible for all of the candidate’s public policy positions. This resulted in seventeen policy papers outlining how Bush planned to tackle everything from health care to national security, from ISIS to education. Imagine a major world problem—it’s in Justin’s policy book. Though Bush’s campaign ended early, no one accused the candidate of lacking substance on the issues. Far from it. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Mr. Bush has by far the most thoughtful policy proposals” of any candidate. And the Washington Post said it was “hard to find any single candidate who has as complete a portfolio of detailed conservative ideas as Bush.” That portfolio is covered with Justin’s fingerprints. But why would a business executive choose to walk across the Washington coals? Justin says his interest in public service took root at Groton—on the debate team, in classes, and especially with a group of friends who talked a lot about the country and its policies.

Committed to the notion that every citizen should be involved in public debate, Justin eventually decided that if he had an idea about public policy, he would write about it, rather than simply talking with friends. “When I wrote my first op-ed, I had no idea how people got published. I just found an address for New York Times submissions online, thinking it was a onein-a-thousand shot. I was thrilled to get an email saying they were accepting it.” Once the op-ed was published, Justin and his co-author turned it into a longer piece and were asked to testify in front of a congressional committee—rather explicit encouragement to keep on writing, which he did—for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Hoover Institution, and a number of other outlets. While Justin knew Jeb Bush, he was not planning on getting directly involved in a campaign. He was president of Muzinich & Co, a global investment firm, when he was asked if he would take on the policy director position.“I think Jeb was looking for someone from outside D.C.,” Justin said, adding that George W. Bush’s policy director also had business and policy experience. “There’s a logic to that approach since

Jeb Bush with Justin Muzinich ’96

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

H OUR ELECTION

the role is part managing a team and a process and part hard policy thinking. I think what Jeb understood, even better than I did, was that someone with management experience that also knows policy might be a good fit for the role.” As one might expect given the stakes, it was an intense experience. “Campaigns are brutal existences. You work hard. You travel a lot,” he says, also noting how grateful he was for the challenge. “It is such a stimulating job because you get to think so broadly about big, complicated issues.” Already knowledgeable on many areas of policy,

CONNECTION H

Justin found it enormously satisfying to gain new depth of understanding. “Jeb believes in ideas, and he wanted to develop policy for every key area that would be important to the country. He took the idea of governing very seriously, and wanted to be ready,” Justin says. “In most elections, the political and communications strategies dominate a campaign, but policy is important because it gives you a mandate from which to govern.” An important part of the job was finding outside advisors who could help. Justin dealt regularly with senators, governors, think tanks, business

executives, and other contributors who helped develop the policy statements in their particular areas of expertise. Bush launched his campaign in June 2015; between August 2015 and January 2016, Justin’s office released seventeen in-depth policy papers. Another big part of his role was running briefing sessions for the candidate on key policy issues. Despite Bush’s early withdrawal from the race, Justin savored the opportunity. “It was an honor to work for someone who really cared about substance to try to move the country in the right direction,” he says.

Cruz’s Artful Security Advisor Victoria Gardner Coates ’86 EVERY FEW WEEKS or so, a member of the

For Victoria, flipping from politics to art history is like taking a breath. “I actually find it relaxing,” she says.

media or foreign policy establishment discovers that Senator Ted Cruz’s national security advisor is an art historian—a PhD, in fact, and an expert in art of the Italian Renaissance. What is she doing advising on terrorism and other sensitive matters, they ask (generally on Twitter)? In mock alarm, the senator forwards these tweets to Victoria Gardner Coates ’86. It’s true that Victoria’s expertise runs from Michelangelo to ISIS; she balances two very different lives: as an academic and expert in Renaissance art, and as an adrenaline-driven policy wonk. Victoria joined Cruz’s Senate staff in 2013, then split her time between Capitol Hill and the campaign after Cruz entered the presidential race. Before that, she had advised the presidential campaign of former Texas Governor Rick Perry and worked for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had noticed her incisive writing on RedState.com.

Able to switch gears nimbly, Victoria was trusted in a wide range of roles for Cruz’s campaign. She was behind the scenes at “all those debates,” and sometimes played New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in practice sessions. In the New Hampshire debate, Cruz’s well-informed answer about a North Korean missile launch rested on a last-minute briefing by Victoria. “We found out about it literally ten minutes before he went on stage,” she says. To help Cruz hone positions on world affairs, Victoria helped assemble an advisory group of about thirty “foreign-policy gurus,” many of whom she knew through her job with Rumsfeld. She frequently dealt with the media—both quietly, providing background to reporters, and more publicly, appearing as a surrogate to draw attention to Cruz’s ideas. She also proposed ideas for op-eds and speeches. In one of her most gratifying projects—an op-ed titled “A Tale of Two Hospitals,” published in the Washington Times—Cruz drew a stark

www.groton.org

achievements.” daughter of Eugene Gardner ’54, niece contrast between an Israeli hospital For Victoria, flipping from politics of Paul Gardner ’55, sister of Eugene caring for Palestinian bombing victims to art history is like taking a breath. Gardner ’85, and cousin of Thomas and another hospital in which Hamas “I actually find it relaxing,” she says. Gardner ’86—she says that she has no had planted its headquarters so that “When working on very intractable, hard feelings and that she even took it could use patients as human shields. violent, dangerous problems, having valuable lessons about recognizing the Victoria had seen that Israeli hospital an intellectual space to focus on these consequences of your actions from the with her boss firsthand; her travels great things from the past gives me experience. with him have taken her throughout perspective.” Infinitely more disappointing was the Middle East, as well as to Ukraine, Occasionally, the two worlds overCruz’s failure to stop Donald Trump. Poland, Estonia, and Canada. “I’m disappointed for the country,” she Right as Cruz’s campaign was gainlap. Cruz recently co-sponsored a bill says. ing traction, Victoria was anticipating to facilitate the return of Nazi-con She found it frustrating, though not publication of an entirely different fiscated works of art to their original sort of writing. David’s Sling: A History of owners. Besides its moral rectitude, the surprising, that Trump did not debate Democracy in Ten Works of Art came out in bill is notable for its bipartisan support. during the last forty-five days of Cruz’s campaign. Noting Cruz’s superlative January, a few weeks before Cruz won Cooperation in this divided Congress, debating skills, she acknowledges, “Why the Iowa caucus. David’s Sling chronicles Victoria says, is “hard but not impossible. Reasonable people, even with sig- would you put him on stage with a ten works of art that were all deliberately created to commemorate free nificant political differences, can come Supreme Court litigator?” When Cruz, political systems. together.” who was considered the last remaining She is working on a second book, One likeminded colleague and threat to Trump, pulled out in early Seeing the Light: The History of Christianclose friend is formmate and fellow May, it left many voters reeling. ity in Twelve Works of Art, and already is conservative George Holding ’86, a Through it all, Victoria maintained looking toward a third. “I would love to congressman from North Carolina. perspective. “I try to keep some degree do one on the history of the individual,” However, Victoria did not join George of distance,” she says. “In any election, she says. “Western civilization itself is and the rest of the form on Prize Day: it’s extremely unlikely that you’re going sort of under attack right now. We need she left Groton after refusing to abanto succeed. You need to be prepared to be very clear about what we in the don or temper an underground newsfor that. But the good news is that, West have achieved. It may not be perpaper called the Daily Bastard. Despite in America, there’s always another fect, but there have been extraordinary her deep Groton lineage—she is the election.”

Ted Cruz with Victoria Gardner Coates ’86

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

H OUR ELECTION

CONNECTION H

Betsy Wright Hawkings ’81, P’17

Gail Friedman

A Washington Idealist Betsy Wright Hawkings ’81, P’17 IT’S HARD TO believe that Betsy Wright Hawkings ’81, P’17 could still be an idealist after

One of her major initiatives for the Democracy Fund has resulted in a detailed map of the dysfunction— a woeful flow chart of why Congress doesn’t work.

working with Congress for nearly three decades. But she sure sounds like one. She’ll tell you that, in her experience, most of our representatives in the U.S. Congress are motivated to serve because they have “the servant’s heart,” a term often used in religious contexts. “They want to make the world a better place.” Betsy means it—even though she has been scrutinizing and analyzing the deep dysfunction in Congress since early 2015, when she became program director for the Democracy Fund’s Governance Initiative. With her extensive knowledge, she has every right to be cynical. Her idealism—in the face of unprecedented Congressional gridlock—is understandable: Betsy spent twenty years working for Congressman Christopher Shays of Connecticut, a Republican who sponsored several bills with liberal Democrat partners. One of Congress’ early female chiefs of staff, Betsy cut her political teeth working for a nonpartisan dealmaker.

Shays had worked on the House Budget Committee with Ohio Governor John Kasich, who was then a Congressman. Betsy got to know Kasich and kept in touch, this year volunteering for his presidential campaign. In her life outside of work, she was elected a Kasich delegate to the 2016 Republican Convention from Washington, D.C. (Her son, Charlie, who graduates from Groton this year, designed her campaign brochure while they were looking at colleges together in California.) Representing Kasich at the Republican National Convention was challenging: contradictory D.C. party rules and the RNC’s interpretation of them resulted in all nineteen D.C. delegate votes—none earned by the party’s nominee—being counted for him anyway, with the convention secretary refusing to hear the delegates’ objections from the convention floor. But Betsy is a veteran of politics’ idiosyncrasies and is mostly undeterred by them. “My job,” she says, “is to find the hope. One good thing about having been around awhile is I’ve seen

www.groton.org

Part of the extensive diagram Betsy helped create for the Democracy Fund, outlining how Congress works (and why it fails to)

that most heavy things eventually fall of their own weight. You can’t repeal the law of gravity.” To find that hope, Betsy first had to fully understand how Congress had gotten so far off course. One of her major initiatives for the Democracy Fund has resulted in a detailed map of the dysfunction—a woeful flow chart of why Congress doesn’t work. For the project, Betsy’s team consulted with Congressional experts and former Congressmen and concluded that several pertinent factors were at play. For example, the Internet had made communication easy and therefore abundant—more than many offices could handle—while 24

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

special-interest money had created pressures that Congressmen didn’t know how to manage. The resulting inactivity and dissatisfaction within Congress led to fed-up and disengaged citizens, with only the loudest, and often most extreme, voices speaking up and wielding disproportionate power. As Betsy wrote in a Democracy Fund blog post, “… the public is increasingly ‘opting out’ and disengaging from the system—leaving only the loudest, shrillest, and most polarizing voices to feed the hyper-partisanship characterizing our current politics.” It gets worse: “Some members (and many challengers) have responded to decreased public satisfaction by

running against Washington, demonizing the institution, and reducing the institution’s resources to the breaking point.” Betsy and her colleagues have identified “leverage opportunities—places where smaller levels of effort lead to disproportionate impact.” Among them: playing to that “servant’s heart,” better preparing Congressional offices to handle the gush of communication, providing more incentive to be nonpartisan, and encouraging cheaper media solutions so Congressmen spend less time on fundraising. It’s a work in progress, one that reflects the ethos of public service instilled by Betsy’s family and by Groton, where cui servire came naturally to a girl already involved in politics. She had climbed aboard George H.W. Bush’s early presidential campaign while a Fifth Former, primarily because Bush was from Connecticut too, and because her father was involved in Republican politics. When Bush became Reagan’s vice president, she raced from the Circle to Washington to attend the inauguration. Early work on Wall Street and a stint at Amnesty International notwithstanding, Betsy has spent most of her career on Capitol Hill. Besides working for Rep. Shays, she also served as chief of staff for former Congressman Bobby Schilling of Illinois and Congressmen Mike Turner of Ohio and Andy Barr of Kentucky—all Republicans in “swing” districts. A political insider, Betsy is now on the outside peering in. Her greatest hope, reflected in her work for the Democracy Fund, doesn’t sound so complicated: she wants public servants to answer to their constituents again. It wasn’t so long ago that she worked in a Congress where that was the norm.

H OUR ELECTION

CONNECTION H

THE MONEY CONTROLLING OUR ELECTIONS, AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

by Malcolm “Mike” Peabody ’46

THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER , Malcolm “Mike” Peabody ’46 has been unafraid to tackle intractable public

policy problems. He took on failing public schools in the District of Columbia by becoming an early advocate for charter schools, spearheading an organization in 1996 that propelled the charter movement, which now serves 39,000 students—44 percent of those in D.C. public schools. While working for President Nixon in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Mike developed the enduring model for the Section 8 housing allowance program, now HUD’s largest program, which aims to give the poor some power over where they live, while trimming bureaucracy. At age eighty-eight, Mike is still crusading. His latest cause: campaign finance reform. Disgusted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which eliminated restrictions that helped keep donations to candidates—and influence peddling—in check, Mike joined the board of Issue One. Issue One is distinguished by its bipartisanship—a word rarely heard in our division-crippled Congress—and by its focus on measures that may prove easier than a repeal of the Supreme Court’s decision or a Constitutional amendment, which some other organizations are urging. Mike Peabody explains how we got to this Money Politics point, and how Issue One’s “ReFormers Caucus” could help America’s leaders disentangle from the mire of money that distracts them from their mission: to lead our country forward and protect America’s democracy. 25

“

I ran for Congress in 1968, as a Republican. It cost me $75,000—a sum I raised from small donations inside my district. Today the average congressional campaign costs $1.5 million for the House and $10 million for the Senate—and some elections cost three to four times that.

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

H OUR ELECTION

CONNECTION H

DonkeyHotey/Flickr

ur democracy is crumbling. I am disgusted at the corruption Money Politics has imposed on our government, and I want to do what I can so that my children and grandchildren live in a democracy, as I did, not under the oligarchy that rules us today. My family has been here for ten generations, starting in 1635. In 1765, when George III of England imposed the Stamp Act to help pay for the FrenchIndian War—without asking the colonists—he eliminated in one fell swoop the Lockean ideal of the “consent of the governed,” which Thomas Jefferson would later cite in the Declaration of Independence. To regain “consent of the governed,” we had to fight a revolution. My great-great-great grandfather, Joseph Peabody, served in that war. Are we still citizens governed by a Congress with our consent? So says our Constitution, but today our Congressmen are unable to represent their constituents because their first loyalties must go to those who are financing their elections. Our elected officials are not guided by their constituents’ needs for a clean environment, affordable health care, improved education, or an equitable tax system. Instead, they respond to lobbyists who represent the several hundred special interest groups that fund their elections. Five generations after our ancestors fought for our “consent to govern,” we have lost it once more, this time to Money Politics, which forces our Congressmen and governors to spend more than half their time raising funds instead of working for “We the People.” Increasingly, they cannot vote against what the special interests want, or for what the people want, if the special interests object. This time it didn’t happen suddenly, as it did in 1765. It happened oh-so-gradually, over forty to fifty years, starting in the 1970s. As baby boomers reached voting age, costly television advertising became essential to reaching them. Campaign costs rose exponentially, to the point that candidates who could no longer raise sufficient funds inside their districts extended their hands outside—to special interests and lobbyists—and became increasingly entrapped. I ran for Congress in 1968, as a Republican. It cost me $75,000—a sum I raised from small donations inside my district. Today the average congressional campaign costs $1.5 million for the House and $10 million for the Senate—and some elections cost three to four times that. According to the Campaign Finance Institute, the average a congressman spent to win the 1976 election was $90,000. By 1990, it was $407,000, and by 2014, $1.5 million. In the Senate races, it grew from $595,000 in 1976 to $6 million in 1990 and $9.8 million in 2014. These sums are

www.groton.org

“

already being exceeded in the current election, particularly in the Senate races, where a shift of four GOP-held seats to Democrats would install a Democratic majority and allow a liberal to replace former Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. The lobbying organizations proliferating by the seventies hardly existed in the sixties, and most that did represented unions, which were successfully expanding their influence by funding Democratic campaigns. In the early seventies, business groups woke up to the threat when Lewis Powell, later a Supreme Court Justice, addressed his famous “Powell Memorandum” to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, explaining what the unions were doing, and urging the Chamber to respond. In the ensuing years, Chamber members began hiring their own lobbyists and providing larger and larger amounts for them to fund elections. In 1975, there were fewer than six hundred such lobbyists in D.C., while today there are more than 12,000. So far in the 2016 election, the top thirteen industry lobbying groups have pumped $1.2 billion to parties and House and Senate candidates—up from $194 million in the 1990 election. Congress tried to control the influence of the growing special interests by passing the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA). As amended in 1974, FECA limited how much individuals could give to candidates to finance elections (“hard money”). However, in 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo that it was unconstitutional to limit what a Congressional candidate could spend on his or her election, 28

Groton School Quarterly

•

and that money spent independently of the candidate (“soft money”) would not be considered election-related unless it expressly advocated the election or defeat of a candidate. The Court held that individuals could spend as much as they wanted on elections, as long as they did so independently of the candidate. After Buckley, groups began to use “soft money” to attack candidates in so-called “issue ads,” which avoided endorsing a vote for or against a specific candidate but grew to become thinly disguised campaign ads. In 2002, Congress renewed attempts to control the avalanche of “soft money” through the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA, commonly referred to as “McCainFeingold”), which prohibited national party committees and federal candidates from raising “soft money” and from using it for certain activities that would affect federal elections. The political parties and special interest groups fought back, both at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and in court. While the Supreme Court initially upheld most of the law in 2003 in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, eventually a series of FEC actions, as well as a change in the Supreme Court (in the Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life decision), reverted the law to the old standard that “soft money” ads were not prohibited unless they expressly advocated the election or defeat of a candidate. Because lobbyists’ influence was increasing gradually, the public did not become enraged—until the Citizens

Fall 2016

United decision of 2010, which defined money as free speech and allowed billions of dollars of “soft money” from corporations and rich ideologues into our elections. Through Citizens United, the Supreme Court permitted corporations and other groups to fund independent election ads that directly call for the election or defeat of a candidate. This allowed special interest groups to dominate the legislative process. Today, elected officials start fundraising on their first day in office, telephoning lobbyists and attending several events a week sponsored by special interests.

Two years ago I was introduced to Chief Justice John Roberts at a party, and shortly after found myself in a lunch line with him. “Mr. Justice, I wanted to congratulate you on the Citizens United decision,” I told him. “Oh really?” “Yes, it’s ticked off so many in the country that I think we’ll really solve this problem.” He did not respond. But the explosion of public anger since 2010 has persuaded me that, years from now, we’ll characterize Roberts’ decision as the second Stamp Act, igniting the action we need to regain our consent. Today, the nation is in a hard fix. The voting public has lost its power to govern Congress. Money Politics has taken over, and our consent no longer matters. The major attempts to address this issue have not worked. So what are our options?

H OUR ELECTION

Congress could pass laws that would go far toward fixing the problems, and which would survive a Supreme Court test. But how can we move a Congress whose members are trapped by the very special interests against whom they need to act? The answer is: “We the People” have to unite and force them. And “We the People” can do this. We did it in the sixties to get civil rights legislation; I headed a national church group, the Episcopal Society of Cultural and Racial Unity (ESCRU), many of whose members joined Dr. Martin Luther King’s demonstrations and one of whom, the Reverend James Reeb, was assassinated in Selma, Alabama. “We the People” did it in the seventies, gaining equal rights for women, and, very recently, we gained equal rights to marriage for gays. Despite the fact that the Citizens United ruling invoked the freedom of speech clause of the Constitution, a Constitutional amendment is not the only remedy. Effective legislation is possible. Adequate public financing of elections is one valid, tested way to return our Congress to the “consent of the governed”—at least regarding “hard money” spent by the candidates themselves—and several states have adopted this concept. But what about the “soft money” that groups and individuals can legally spend to promote “issues”? In Citizens United, the court clearly agreed that using “soft money” to directly influence elections was illegal. However, only the FEC can enforce such laws. Sadly, its power is undermined by a governing group hopelessly split

CONNECTION H

between Republican and Democratic hardliners. Consequently, “soft money” groups cheerfully evade the law with electioneering messages that pass muster of the weakened FEC. The IRS is also a problem. It is clearly against the law to use taxexempt funds for “electioneering” expenses, but hundreds of organizations do so. Stiffer disclosure rules would help; individuals and corporations would be reluctant to fund negative ads if their names were revealed. In the majority opinion in the Citizens United case, eight of the nine justices agreed that “the public has an interest in knowing who is speaking about a candidate before an election.” If Congress enacted these changes, it would not stop the use of “soft funds” for election spending, but it would substantially reduce their impact and allow publicly financed candidates sufficient freedom to campaign independently. But Congress in its present makeup cannot effect these changes. Even if the two parties were not deadlocked, any legislators who joined an effort to correct the problem undoubtedly would be attacked in the next election by rich ideologues and special interests. Effecting change will require a massive public effort. A united public can support candidates who are ready to commit to the changes needed, and once such candidates are elected, they can begin the process of change. Issue One has a plan. It speaks to both liberals and conservatives—whose unity is essential to fix the problem. Since starting in 2013, Issue One has learned that some of the most

passionate reformers are former members of the House and Senate and former governors: they know the problem firsthand and are unafraid to fix it since they are no longer entrapped. We now have enlisted one hundred fifty members from forty-two states in a “ReFormers Caucus” (www.issueone. org/reformers). They include esteemed leaders such as former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and former Senator and Chairman of the GOP Bill Brock, a Republican. The ReFormers Caucus includes twentyone governors, ten ambassadors, and nine Cabinet secretaries—from both political parties. I hope this caucus will convene soon and—calling upon their own experiences—create a document that clearly defines our Money Politics problem and sets forth solutions to restore our “consent to govern.” They should sign the document and deliver it to our nation, perhaps as a second Declaration of Independence to unite the public and force change. The Declaration of Independence first stated to the world that governments “[derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed [and] that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.” We need not abolish our government, but clearly we must alter it; Issue One’s “ReFormers Caucus” can well be the group to start the process.

www.groton.org

PR I Z E Photographs by Mike Sperling

DAY

Opposite page, Anwar Mapp and Malcolm Akinje; above, Allie Banks, Ali Lamson, Sunny Chai, Jessica Saunders, and Logan Deming

PR IZ

2016

ON SUNDAY, June 5, eighty-three members of the Form of 2016 emerged from the

Chapel into sprinkling rain and filed, two by two, into the sprawling white tent on the Circle. There began Groton’s 131st Prize Day, a ceremony filled with inspiring messages about conviction, equity, and social justice. ¶ “If each of you stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, you will make a difference. . . . ¶ “Go forth Form of 2016 and make a difference We need you.” ¶

Vuyelwa and Temba Maqubela with the Honorable Margaret Marshall, the Prize Day keynote speaker

The words of the Honorable Margaret Marshall, Groton’s keynote Prize Day speaker and former chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, carried unique gravitas because they followed a powerful retelling of her own personal story of courage. This was not just another commencement speech about making a difference. Chief Justice Marshall began making a real difference when not much older than the graduates she was addressing. After a childhood in South Africa that she described as “secure, comfortable, stable, with no hint of

threat or fear,” she became keenly aware of the injustices of apartheid. “It made no difference under apartheid that Temba was the grandson of a most distinguished South African scholar and educator, or Vuyelwa the daughter of an important South African author,” she said, referring to the Groton headmaster and his wife. “In the eyes of apartheid, their race, their blackness, defined them completely as inferior human beings.” As a white university student, Marshall might have ignored what appalled her, but instead she spoke out

Above, Varsha Harish, Angus Warren; below, Assistant Head Andy Anderson pinning a rosette on Parker Banks (Charlie Patton behind), Allie Banks and Ali Lamson

against apartheid and eventually “came to fear a knock on the door in the middle of the night. . . to know that if the government arrested or banned me, as it had so many other student leaders, no court could or would protect me.” With government power growing, she sometimes wondered if student protests were futile. Then a group at the University of Cape Town invited Senator Robert F. Kennedy (who was assassinated in 1968) to visit. He would come to the university not on just any day, but on the day the government was shutting blacks out of attending university. The young man who extended the invitation to RFK was “banned”— essentially put on house arrest. Marshall, for whom doing the right thing outweighed fear, stepped into the student leader’s position and traveled with Kennedy. Marshall’s Prize Day address came a day before the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy’s

speech at the University of Cape Town. watching and recording,” she recalled. “I confess, I was afraid. . . . I knew the Marshall said that RFK’s speech speakers could be, would be, arrested. inspired her, and continues to, One, a student I knew well, Stephen particularly his message about the Biko, was later tortured to death in a impact of individual gestures. She says prison cell. she has never forgotten this quote “At Luthuli’s funeral, I came from that day: “It is from numberless diverse face-to-face with true courage. And acts of courage and belief that human I understood with searing clarity history is shaped. Each time a [person] the harvest of bitterness reaped by stands up for an ideal, or acts to a government that denies its people improve the lot of others, or strikes equality and justice.” out against injustice, he sends forth a Listeners may have found it tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each unfathomable when the speaker other from a million different centers referred to herself as “a nobody,” but of energy and daring, those ripples they understood clearly her point that build a current which can sweep down anyone who stands up for ideals and the mightiest walls of oppression and justice can have enormous influence. resistance.” The influence Marshall had on Marshall also told of speaking her listeners was palpable. At the end at the funeral of Nobel Peace Prize of Prize Day, when Mr. Maqubela winner Albert Luthuli, who headed shouted “Go Well” to the graduates, the African National Congress in one couldn’t help but wonder what South Africa. “The feared security differences the Form of 2016 might police were everywhere, listening and make to better our world.

Above, Claudette Ramos and William Sun, Nancy Xue and Yanni Cho; below, Sophie DiCara, Alex Taber and Anna Reilly

2016

PR IZ

Defining the Form of 2016 Board of Trustees President Jonathan Klein P’08, ’11, ’18

Also speaking at Prize Day were Headmaster Maqubela, Board of Trustees President Jonathan Klein p’08, ’11, ’18, and student speaker Zahin Das. First, Mr. Maqubela introduced Board President Klein, who delivered the following Prize Day address:

ood morning everyone, and thank you, Temba, for that introduction. I am delighted to be here for another Groton School Prize Day, first as a parent of two graduates, in 2008 and 2011; as president of the Board of Trustees in the last couple of years; and, hopefully, as both for Prize Day in 2018. It has always been one of my favorite events, and to participate in the graduation of the Form of 2016 is an enormous honor and pleasure for me. Prize Day is very special and something you will all carry with you for the rest of your lives. Reading my notes from last year’s Prize Day, I was reminded of a commencement address at Yale where Vice President Joe Biden stressed something that was quintessentially Grotonian when he observed that most successful people understand, and I quote, “that a good life, at its core, is about being personal, being engaged. It’s about being

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

there for a friend or colleague. It’s about loving someone more than yourself.” Today, people who love you more than they love themselves surround you. Today is one of those rare moments when the most precious people in your life have gathered just to celebrate you. They all want only the best for you and are bursting with pride. So, your most important duty today is not what you think. It is not to receive your diploma—that is very straightforward, if you are careful on the stairs when you come up here. It is not to plan some crazy behavior for tonight and for the rest of senior week—be creative but with care and responsibility. It’s not even to have your last handshake at Groton later this afternoon. Your most crucial duty today is to show gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in getting you to this important milestone in your lives. There are many scarce resources on earth, but gratitude is not one of them—there is an inexhaustible supply, and it means a great deal to the recipient. I am following the lead of my predecessor, Jamie Higgins, in asking all of you, the Form of 2016, to please now stand, turn, face your parents, your families, and your faculty, and give them a huge and heartfelt round of applause. They’ve certainly earned that applause and you know it more than anyone. You may now be seated. When you reflect on your Groton experience over the coming decades, you will grow ever more fond of this

place and appreciate so many aspects of it that are sometimes forgotten in the busy days and nights you have spent on this magical Circle. I believe that certain attributes of this place will stay with you forever: the special relationships, the connection and engagement with one another and the broader community, and the enjoyment of being part of an intimate environment where high standards of both character and learning coexist. The school, faculty, and administration have given much to you—not least a stunning new Schoolhouse. Not a bad senior-year gift from the school! Yet, we have also asked much of you during your time at Groton. You have been challenged—inside the classroom, on the Circle, and beyond—and we have had high expectations; we believe that it is important to have lofty goals and to work hard in an attempt to meet them. There have also been challenges, disappointments, and setbacks. Yet, you have come through with flying colors and are here today. So, huge congratulations to the Form of 2016! My other thoughts on this Prize Day were inspired by Adam Foss, who is an assistant district attorney in the juvenile division of Suffolk County in Boston. At the beginning of his talk at the annual TED Conference, Adam asked the audience a simple series of questions. I will now ask you to consider these questions—yes, all of you, not only the members of the Form of 2016.

First, how many of you have ever told a lie or been “economical with the truth”? No doubt, if you are being truthful with yourself, you have answered that question in the affirmative. Second, how many of you, by the age of twenty-five, either acted up in school, or went somewhere you were specifically told not to go, or broke a rule? I certainly have to answer this question with a yes to all three parts— acting up in school, going where I was not meant to go, and, yes, breaking a rule or two. I am certain that even those of you without a single demerit did at least one of these things. Another question, and you might need to think briefly before answering—how many of you did something illegal or had a physical altercation? Yes, even with a sibling? Finally, how many of you sitting here today think that you should be defined by those actions of youthful (or not so youthful) indiscretion? Or that your life, your prospects, or your reputation should have been adversely impacted by any of these actions? Adam Foss was making a point, through these questions, about the problems and inequities of the criminal justice system and the curse of mass incarceration in our country. He and

others are also making an argument for people to understand that we are all human, we all make mistakes, and nobody should be defined by the worst thing they have ever done, whilst also stressing that we should show compassion and tolerance for others. To quote the Dalai Lama, “Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” We need to be tolerant and understanding of others, especially those with different backgrounds, interests, and opinions. We need to forgive people’s mistakes and indiscretions, and enthusiastically accept the approach that our headmaster, Temba Maqubela, has brought to Groton when he speaks of and practices restorative justice. Temba, as an educator for more than three decades, understands that young people will make mistakes, will exercise poor judgment on occasions, and will sometimes make poor choices. To quote Temba in a recent email exchange with me: “Nature teaches us to learn—not from our successes, but from our mistakes. With restorative justice as a guide, we learn about justice and forgiveness, which help us evolve and grow as an institution. Punitive action without restorative justice is anathema to the educational values we uphold.” As a school, our main objective is to

educate not just your minds, but your character as well. This means that we must be understanding and tolerant. We hope that at Groton we have not only educated your minds but your spirits, too, and that you will go out into the world as empathetic and compassionate human beings. Never forget, it is an honor and a privilege to attend our school. It is granted to very few—Groton School has one of the lowest acceptance rates of any high school in the country, and the challenges continue after admission, due to our very high expectations. You have been given the privilege of attending, and now graduating from, our school. Now that you are heading out of our small community of Groton School, into the wider world, you have the responsibility to be tolerant, be compassionate, try to walk in the shoes of others, and treat them as you would hope to be treated. If you do this, you will be a credit to yourselves, your family, and our school. The Groton School community is proud of you and your myriad accomplishments. We have complete confidence that you will continue to make us all proud in the years ahead. So, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the entire Groton community, I salute you, the Form of 2016.

“

As a school, our main objective is to educate not just your minds, but your character as well.

Cynthia Cheng, Ibante Smallwood, and Sophie Song

2016

PR IZ

Free Agents The headmaster publicly congratulated then Assistant Head Katherine Bradley, who was leaving to head the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, praising all she has accomplished at Groton and wishing her well. He then addressed the Form of 2016.

If agency is the capacity to act in a given environment, I am convinced without a shadow of a doubt that the Form of 2016 is prepared for agency. Their diplomas carry a positive high-impact quotient (PHIQ). To you parents, guardians, and relations, by allowing them to spend their formative years on the Circle, your investment in treasured time away from home has borne fruit. Congratulations. Parents: Here are a few examples that might shine light on my conviction and hopes for the high positive-impact quotient I associate with this form. Two years ago, one of these graduating seniors came to my office with a message that went like this: “Headmaster, know that no matter what others outside our school say about inclusion, or if as students we make fun of the I-word, remember that we stand next to you shoulder-to-shoulder in your impatience for inclusion.” This Grotonian could teach a thing or two to some folks currently running for office in our land. Another senior, whose parents could not be here today, came to my office last month. She argued that American History should rightfully be referred to as U.S. History. I asked her to write this down, and she and her friend sent me a firm, yet respectful, email—and I want to quote an excerpt from it. “America consists of much more than the United States of America. It is not a country. While ‘America’ is used colloquially to reference the United States of America, the name ‘American History’ implies that the course covers the history of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. In the name of scholarship-infused inclusion, we hope you will consider changing the name of this course.” Wow! Just as beautiful was the swift, decisive, and unanimous action taken by members of the affected History Department. They were unanimous in saying, “We agree to this change,” with immediate effect. That is yet another example of agency! I have numerous other examples of the extraordinary readiness for agency of these graduating seniors. Graduates: How can you give back to others what you learned here? Remember that scholarship-infused service is the most authentic and universally recognizable form of leadership. Imagine how emotional I was when in New Haven, in the midst of the protests, one of our graduates declared to a panel moderated by James Bundy, a former Groton trustee: “Inclusion is unimpeachable.” I hope in the next phase of your lives, you, too, will be courageous to use your Groton education to educate and persuade others about the importance of inclusion. I shall repeat a quote from Mandela that I mentioned when I gave the homily in the Chapel yesterday afternoon: “I always knew that someday I would once again feel the grass under my feet and walk in the sunshine a free man.” Before you leave this Circle, take off your shoes and feel the grass of your Circle under your feet, and walk in the sunshine (or imagine it); because with a diploma in your hand, you will be free of major commitments, because your teachers have prepared you for agency. I know you will thank them during your final handshaking.

Headmaster Temba Maqubela

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

A Very Big Tent The graduating form chose Zahin Sen Das ’16 to deliver the student Prize Day speech.

To Mr. Maqubela, members of the Board of Trustees, and our guest speaker, the Honorable Ms. Marshall; to members of the faculty, and the family and friends who have come from near and far to be with us today, thank you. Supporting my form, the Form of 2016, there are a lot of people here from a lot of different places, but it might be safe to say that they all had the same reaction upon arrival at the Circle this morning: “That’s a big tent.” It is a big tent. That same thought occurred to me when someone said that I would be giving a speech in that tent. But I don’t remember exactly what my reaction was the first time I saw this tent. I don’t quite know when the first time I saw and processed this tent was. It could have been ten or fifteen years ago. Or perhaps my one-year-old self caught a glimpse of the sun shining on those white spires seventeen years ago during my first summer at Groton.

Whenever the first time I noticed it was, I have seen it rise, fill, and fall many times since then. Throughout the different stages of my life, it has arrived every June without fail. Once I was a small child walking under it and staring up at the wide expanse of canvas. Once I was a fifth grader scurrying around the edges of it with the other faculty children—before being told that the Prize Day ceremony was neither the time nor the place for a water-gun fight. Once I was a Third Former, sneaking up to the piano with Parker Banks the day before Prize Day to play some blues riffs on the loudspeaker system— before bolting when the organist, Mr. Hampson, turned and saw us. Once I was a Fifth Former playing tent ball, a game in which we skim a bright-green tennis ball over the peaks of the tent, almost as if trying to gauge the size and

nature of this great white apparition that comes every year and takes our prefects when it goes. Now I am a senior. Now we are seniors. As our story at Groton comes to a close, I wish I could tell it in completeness. I wish I could wrap it up with black and red ribbon and present it to you, perhaps with a piece of parting advice in a wax-sealed envelope. But our story cannot be captured like that; it’s large and colorful and murky and, in some places, deeper than I alone could understand or hope to speak of. Still, as I said in my chapel talk, I believe that every story is, in essence, made up of the ways in which people care about each other, and our time at Groton is no exception. So, the best I can do is to present some stories that show the different types

Parker Banks, John MacEachern, Jack Fitzpatrick, and William Zhang

www.groton.org

Mrs. Maqubela and Maddy Forbess

of connections we have made here. For younger formers, here are the types of people that have come into our lives and will come into yours—perhaps some of them already have. By telling their stories, I can, at the very least, provide glimpses of where we have been, and who we are. The first is the one who is as ridiculous as you are. Imagine the most insignificant and basic of pets. Imagine the one pet that a parent would buy just to stop their kids temporarily from begging for a dog. The key word is temporarily, because most varieties of the pet in question have an average lifespan of only a couple years. The pet I speak of is the fish. Not the exotic fish that comes in a large aquarium tank in a room with a dartboard and a pool table. I mean the small, freshwater fish that you might win in a fist-sized, 38

Groton School Quarterly • Fall 2016

plastic bag at a carnival. One day in Third Form, future Senior Prefect Jack Fitzpatrick made one of the crucial steps towards his public perception as a true leader when he brought a small fish into Viacava’s dormitory and declared it “our” fish. This was exciting. We had a mascot, a symbol, a mystical being to watch over us in the course of our turbulent freshman lives. Naturally, when presented with such a reverential being, we had to give it a suitable name. So we did: J’uhwah Shanaynay. Legend has it that the name was chosen from a combination of several smaller names that were placed in a hat. It’s amazing how they came together so beautifully. Anyhow, the fish had a glorious life. Each of us stopped by the bowl often to check up on our friend, and even if we were far apart, we could

keep up with his livelihood through the Twitter account Luke Holey made for him. Here is one of the more eloquent excerpts from the account: “Bubbles bubbles bubbles. #bubbles.” But you know what they say about all good things, and Shanaynay did perish, possibly a bit earlier than his expected lifespan would have predicted. Pet care was not one of our strongest collective traits. When that fateful day came, a tearful procession of Jack, George, Malcolm, Aron, and a couple others made a casket out of a brown paper bag and marched solemnly down to the boathouse. Each said a few words, and after a moment of silence, Aron, for whatever reason, began to sing the national anthem. All joined in, and at the end, J’uhwah Shanaynay was lowered into the waters of the Nashua

ZE D PRI AY 2

6 01

River. Only a certain type of goofy people could turn the life and death of a tiny fish into some of the most vivid memories of Third Form year. The second type of person is the one who never fails to make you laugh. It was the annual high school squash nationals, down in Philadelphia. I was devastated. We had just suffered a painful loss in the semifinals, and our team, which had been so jubilant and hyped up for most of the past couple days, now was strewn across a hallway near the exit of the sports complex, dejected and deflated. Amidst all the sadness, however, we did have two large platters of sushi, provided by Michael You’s parents. Will Bienstock and Luke Holey presided over them, snacking on and protecting our precious property. As I leaned against a pillar contemplating the futility of life and squash, a group of girls from the Miss Porter’s School squash team approached our two fearless guardians and sweetly asked if they could have some sushi. Luke and Will enthusiastically responded with “Sure!” and “Go ahead!” After the girls had left, Will’s brow furrowed and he turned to Luke. “We’ve been duped,” he said in a grave tone. “Yeah, this is ridiculous,” agreed Luke. “We should save this for the rest of the guys who are still getting their stuff. No more handouts.” A few moments after these noble conclusions were made, the nearby door opened, and two girls from the Miss Porter’s group poked their heads in asking for more sushi for the road. I’m not sure what happened to the plans of thirty seconds before, because Will and Luke piped up at the exact same time, “Absolutely!” and “Help yourself!” Hypocrisy at its finest. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised; after all, we’re talking about one guy whose chapel talk was about being a romantic and another who played Romeo in the school play in Fourth Form. Nevertheless, the situation was so comical that it was simply impossible for me to remain in my brooding state, even if I had wanted to. The third type of person is the one

“

Of course we meant to continue running to home plate, but unfortunately our teammate decided to take the long way.

www.groton.org

2016

“

PR IZ

When I was a middle schooler, practicing in the squash courts and silently idolizing the Groton squash team, that same teacher stopped in regularly to watch me and help with my game.

Top, Lizzie Tobeason, William Zhang, and Nancy Xue; bottom, Michael Brown

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

who will lose with you in style. You might often find this person in the wee hours of the morning not writing your research paper with you, but the scene I’ve chosen took place on one of those fresh spring evenings in the heart of the Groton Evening Softball League season. Our team was called the “One Hit Wonders” because, for one thing, it was a decent baseball pun, and, for another, we sincerely only wanted one win from that season. Despite our penchant for setting realistic goals, on this particular night our hopes were high. We were playing the Alaskan Bullworms, and the word on the street was that they could quite possibly be as bad as we were. So, we donned our green and mustard colors and raced out to the Circle in pursuit of our one, elusive, crucial “W.” Most of the game was uneventful; the score went back and forth until we arrived at the bottom of the last inning, down by a few runs. We put up a tremendous rally until we came within one run, with one out left to give. Zhamoyani “Z-money” MacMillan kept the hope alive when he got to first base. Sophie DiCara was next up to bat, and watched two pitches before absolutely jacking one into deep left field. When I say this ball was gone, I mean gone; she could have run two inside-the-park home runs before they threw it back. Our team was ecstatic: we jumped around whooping and cheering as Zhamoyani and Sophie rounded the bases. We were seconds away from improbable victory when one of the most infamous moments in GESL history happened. Just after rounding third base, Zhamoyani suddenly and inexplicably turned on his heels, put his head down, and charged in the opposite direction around the bases. A startled Sophie waved her hands frantically, but had to turn around as the base runner ahead of her came charging backward. Our celebratory shouts turned to cries of confusion and horror as the ball slowly but surely made its way back to the infield, where the two of them were stranded between bases

Clockwise from top left: Arthur Jelin with Steven Anton, Libby Llanso and Edis Levent, Laura Sodano, Albert Zhu, Will Bienstock, Anna Thorndike and Jack Fitzpatrick (senior prefects), Sashni-Cole Matthews, and Diva deLoayza (center)

and tagged out to end the game. To this day I have never laughed so hard; I collapsed to the ground gasping for air, and I think I saw the notoriously calm and collected Allie Banks down there, too. Later, when asked about “the run,” Zhamoyani explained that all he had heard were our excited cries of “Go home!” Of course we meant to continue running to home plate, but unfortunately our teammate decided to take the long way. To be completely honest, if we were going to go down, that was the best possible way to do it. The fourth type of person you will encounter here is the one who shows they care. When I was a toddler, a physics teacher at Groton gave me a tiny blue bench painted with my name

and yellow stars. When I was a middle schooler, practicing in the squash courts and silently idolizing the Groton squash team, that same teacher stopped in regularly to watch me and help with my game. When I was a senior in one of my last matches on that Groton team, at the height of physical exhaustion and on the brink of defeat, his hand was on my shoulder to guide me and spur me back into the fight. I can speak confidently for the Form of 2016 when I say that we have all had those figures. For students, it can be easy to think that adults on campus are removed from our lives. Looking back on five years, the opposite is true: they shape us. Whether by the advisor who gives you a book and a piece of soccer swag every year, the

band leader who shows you how to fall in love with jazz, the admission officer who takes you to one of his basketball games, or the Latin teacher that hugs you after you get dumped by a girl in her dorm, we have all been touched by faculty and staff who care about us. I have only mentioned a handful of the types of relationships created during my time here. For the younger students, the other kinds of connections are for you to find out. I wish you the best as you do so. As for us, the end of our chapter here has arrived. The last words of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick are as follows: “and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.” As I said before, I’ve seen this tent rise, fill, and fall many times, and

www.groton.org

Laura Choi, Rose Lovy, and Anna MacDonald

I have no doubt that it will continue to do so long after we are gone from here. It’s a scary thought—the notion that time will leave us behind. I think that each of us, to some extent, feels a need to make an impact, to be great. Every Second Former watching the Schoolhouse clock from their wooden desk at study hall, every Third Former pacing their half-walled space, every Fourth Former slinking back from the end of the “fifteen,” every Fifth Former gazing up from a stack of books at the moon over the Circle—we all at times feel constrained by where we are, and yearn to make our mark, and prove that we are greater than whatever anyone thinks or makes of us at this very moment. We like to look back at our time and think, “What have I done to be remembered by?” Standing here with my formmates, 42

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

I have no idea what life has in store for us after this. I do know that as far as the deeds we’ve done, we have won and lost at Groton, over and over again, and we will most likely win and lose over and over again wherever we go. But our time here has been defined by stories like the ones I shared today. Those stories only skim the surface of the ups and downs here; there are much harder losses than things like softball games and squash matches, and many of you, in my form or otherwise, have faced them here or will face them. But in the stories, there are people that will make something special out of something as mundane as a goldfish, or make you laugh when you need it, or lose with you in memorable fashion, or reach out to you because they care. Of course you’ll remember the wins and the losses—I can’t pretend you

won’t—but it’s those people who make you, who make your time here. As John Beatty said in his speech of conviction, the fraternity and sorority are strong at Groton: we all have people here who are like family to us. Even as everything changes around us, as it tends to do in this thing called life, the family we find will always be the most important thing. So, now as I look back, I don’t ask myself what I’ve done or accomplished here; I ask, “Who did I care about?” and I smile. In the end, that’s what matters. To each and every member of our community—the faculty; those in the forms below us; and, most of all, to my form, my brothers, my sisters— you have made me who I am. Wherever I go, I will carry you with me, and wherever you go, I will stand by your side.

ZE D PRI AY 2

6 01

2016 Groton School Prizes The Charles Lanier Appleton Prize Awarded to members of the Sixth Form who have greatly served the school John Leonard Fitzpatrick and Anna Lockhart Thorndike

The Dennis Crowley Drama Prize Given by Todd C. Bartels â&#x20AC;&#x2122;01 to a member of the Sixth Form who has made the greatest contribution to the theater program Alice Taliaferro Flinn and Luke Allen Holey

The Bishop Julius Atwood Literature and History Prize Created by the late Right Reverend Julius Atwood for the best scholar in the combined fields of history and literature

The George Livingston Nichols Prize Awarded for the best essay on a historical subject

Nicholas Thacher Barry and Madeline Belle Forbess

The Isaac Jackson Memorial Prize Awarded to the best mathematics scholar in the Upper School

The Rogers V. Scudder Classics Prize Given in memory of Rogers Scudder, a distinguished teacher of Classics and a much loved member of this community George Murphy Klein The Perry History Prize Given by Mrs. Eliza Endicott Perry to the best scholar in the field of history Yang Hyun Cho and Sophia Concetta DiCara The Thorpe Science Prize Created by Mrs. Warren Thorpe for the member of the Sixth Form who has been the most successful in developing an appreciation of the spirit and meaning of science

Lizzie Tobeason and Ethan Woo

Parker James Banks

Yuqing Nancy Xue The World Languages Prize Yang Hyun Cho, Rosalie Louise Lovy, and Yuqing Xue The Hudson Music Prize Given by the friends of William Clarke Hudson â&#x20AC;&#x2122;56 to recognize effort and progress in music during the school year Steven Socrates Anton The Anita Andres Rogerson Dance Prize Xirui Song

Yang Hyun Cho

The Photography Prize Olivia Mary Llanso The Choir Cup Awarded to the Sixth Form chorister who has exhibited musical growth in sight reading and vocal technique Angus Cameron Bankston Warren The Franklin D. Roosevelt Debating Prize Given in memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1900 by W. Averell Harriman 1909 Parker James Banks The Endicott Peabody Memorial Prize Given in memory of the Reverend Endicott Peabody by the Sixth Form of 1945 for excellence in the field of religion and ethics Rosalie Louise Lovy

The Butler Prize for Excellence in English Given by Mrs. Gilbert Butler Logan Drysdale Deming and Ethan Woo

Will Robbins

The Reginald Fincke Jr. Medal Given by the Sixth Form of 1928 in memory of First Lt. Reginald Fincke Jr. and awarded to a member of the Sixth Form who has shown in athletics his qualities of perseverance, courage, and unselfish sportsmanship John Christopher Beatty Jr.

www.groton.org

The Cornelia Amory Frothingham Athletic Prize Given by her parents and awarded to a girl in the Sixth Form who has demonstrated all-round athletic ability and has shown exemplary qualities of leadership and sportsmanship Anna Lockhart Thorndike The Tronic Award Given in honor of Michael G. Tronic and awarded to a member of the Sixth Form who has made especially good use of the resources of the library and has shown strong interest in the life of the mind Sophia Concetta DiCara and Angus Cameron Bankston Warren The Elizabeth and Margery Peabody Award Given to a member of the Sixth Form, other than a school prefect, whose contributions to the community demonstrate sensitivity, strength of character, leadership, and integrity Rosalie Louise Lovy The Asma Gull Hasan 1993 C IRCLE V OICE Journalism Prize Acknowledges outstanding leadership in creating, editing, and producing the school’s newspaper

The Upper School Shop Prize Malcolm Akinje The Heard Poetry Prize Rafaella Claudette Ramos The Laura J. Coolidge ’85 Poetry Prize Given in her memory by her husband, Peter Touche, to a member of the Upper School who has shown a love for the power of poetic expression and a sustained interest in writing and reading poetry Ethan Woo The G ROTONIAN Creative Writing Prize Given by the Grotonian Board of 1946 to a member of the Upper School for the best example of prose fiction written in the past year Jessica Leigh Tauro Saunders The Bertrand B. Hopkins Environmental Sciences Prize Given by the Form of 1948 Alison Spencer Banks

Varsha Harish and Ethan Woo The Carroll and John King Hodges Prize Given in memory of Carroll Hodges, Form of 1905, and John King Hodges, Form of 1910, to a Sixth Former who has distinguished him- or herself in a capacity to be designated by the headmaster

The following awards were presented on the Saturday evening before Prize Day:

Brian Xiao

The William V. Larkin ’72 Award Given to the Groton student who best exemplifies uncommon courage and perseverance in meeting a challenge or overcoming adversity

The Lower School Studio Art Prize

Groton School Quarterly • Fall 2016

Alison Brown The Roscoe C. Thomas Mathematics Prize Given by the Form of 1923 and awarded to a member of the Fifth Form for excellence in mathematics Isabella Yang The Reverend Frederic R . Kellogg Upper School Art Prize Given in his memory in recognition of distinguished work in art Youheng Dong The Monte J. and Anne H. Wallace Scholar Given to a student who has completed the Fourth Form in recognition of scholastic excellence, as well as those qualities of character and commitment so important to the Groton community Charles Robert Vrattos The Richard K. Irons Public Speaking Prize Established in 1972 by McGeorge Bundy ’36 and Arthur T. Hadley ’42 in honor of their teacher Richard K. (Doc) Irons, presented to the student who most logically and effectively presents his or her ideas during the R.K. Irons Speaking Contest, held at Groton each spring Jack Fanikos

The John Jay Pierrepont Prize Given to the best mathematics scholar in the Lower School

Zahin Sen Das

Sashni-Cole Ajola Matthews

The Lower School Creative Writing Prize

Shirley Li and Kochoe Nikoi The Lower School Shop Prize Jaden Cheeks Logan Deming

ZE D PRI AY 2

Melissa Marie Lammons

Christopher Rim, JP Neenan, Michael Brown, and John MacEachern

University of Rochester Honorary Science Award Given to the member of the Fifth Form who demonstrates exceptional promise in the sciences Charles Townsend Hardy Hawkings The Rensselaer Medal Awarded to a Fifth Form student who has distinguished him- or herself in mathematics and science Christopher Ye The New England Science Teacher’s Award

The Harvard Book Prizes Awarded to two members of the Fifth Form who exemplify excellence in scholarship and high character combined with achievement in other fields The first Harvard Book Prize, given by Harry Eldridge ’20 in memory of his brother Francis H. Eldridge ’24 Charles Townsend Hardy Hawkings The second Harvard Book Prize, given by Mark A. Medlinsky ’76 in memory of his father Isabel Maria Kendall The Williams Book Prize Given to a member of the Fifth Form who has demonstrated intellectual leadership and has made a significant contribution to the extracurricular life of the school Hanna Kim

The Jefferson Book Award Given to a member of the Fifth Form the faculty considers to best represent the Jeffersonian ideals of scholarship, leadership, and citizenship Matthew Garnet Higgins Iati The Dartmouth Book Award Given to a member of the Fifth Form who is of strong character, has made a positive impact on the life of the school community, and has excelled in at least one non-academic area Piper Kelly Higgins The Wellesley Book Prize Given to young women who have been top scholars in high school as well as talented performers in extracurricular areas Ivana Cabrera Primero The University of Chicago Book Prize Given to a member of the Fifth Form the faculty considers most dedicated in deep intellectual inquiry in a range of academic disciplines William Norton The Frederick Greeley Crocker Memorial Award Baheya Malaty ’13

Isabel Maria Kendall The Fels Science Prize Given in honor of Stephen B. Fels, Form of ’58, awarded to a member of the Lower School who has demonstrated exceptional enthusiasm for and proficiency in the experimental aspects of scientific inquiry Sophie Park and Karla Sanford The O’Brien Prize Given by the Hoopes family to a member of the Lower School who has shown qualities of integrity, loyalty, enthusiasm, and concern for others Julien Gregoire Alam

6 01

The Gadsden Prize Given in memory of Jeremiah Gadsden of the Form of 1968 by his classmates and friends to a member of the Fifth Form who has demonstrated inspirational leadership, encouraging social and interracial understanding in the Groton community

The Form of 2016 Malcolm Malik Akinje

Emma Harper Cusano

Steven Socrates Anton Cum Laude

Zahin Sen Das Magna Cum Laude

Nena Wallace Atkinson Cum Laude

Diva Morgan deLoayza Cum Laude

Alison Spencer Banks Magna Cum Laude

Logan Drysdale Deming Magna Cum Laude

Parker James Banks Summa Cum Laude

Sophia Concetta DiCara Magna Cum Laude

Nicholas Thacher Barry Summa Cum Laude

Matthew Efros Deborah Ross Ewald Magna Cum Laude

Andrew Constantine Bassilakis Summa Cum Laude

John Leonard Fitzpatrick

John Christopher Beatty Jr.

Alice Taliaferro Flinn

James Edward Betts III

Madeline Belle Forbess Magna Cum Laude

William Cameron Bienstock Magna Cum Laude

Hayden Clarke Brannen Futch Cum Laude

Georgia Shanley Brainard Summa Cum Laude

Varsha Harish Magna Cum Laude

Jonathan Palmer Briggs Magna Cum Laude Michael Anthony Brown Jr.

Adam Cole Hauke Cum Laude

Wells Harris Burrell Cum Laude

Luke Allen Holey Cum Laude

Sunyoung Chai Cum Laude

Arthur Henry Jelin

Kristie Po Yim Chan

Samantha Eleonora Johnson Cum Laude

Cynthia Zhou Cheng Summa Cum Laude

George Murphy Klein Magna Cum Laude

Aron Cho

Suzanne Lange Kuczynski Summa Cum Laude

Yang Hyun Cho Summa Cum Laude

Alexandra Pierce Lamson Cum Laude

Yoonchung Choi Magna Cum Laude

Jae-Hee Lee Magna Cum Laude

Tanner Coffin

Edis-Alexander Levent Cum Laude

Alexandra Grace Conner Cum Laude

Olivia Mary LLanso

William Harvey Corman Cum Laude

Groton School Quarterly

Rosalie Louise Lovy Magna Cum Laude

â&#x20AC;˘

Fall 2016

Anna Elizabeth MacDonald Cum Laude John Walling MacEachern Magna Cum Laude Anwar Elon Mapp Melissa Mary Marquez Sashni-Cole Ajola Matthews Cum Laude Zhamoyani McMillan Cum Laude John Patrick Neenan Anna Perry Nicholson Magna Cum Laude Sydney Ann Pagliocco Cum Laude Alexandra Dean Patenaude Cum Laude Richard Charles Patton Cum Laude Claire Frances Peabody Cum Laude Rafaella Claudette Ramos Cum Laude Anna Maeve Reilly Cum Laude Hyung-Joon Rim Magna Cum Laude Emma Mary Ann Rimmer Magna Cum Laude William VanMeter Robbins Magna Cum Laude Jessica Leigh Tauro Saunders Cum Laude Ibante Myana Smallwood Cum Laude Laura Ginsberg Sodano Cum Laude Xirui Song Magna Cum Laude

ZE D PRI AY 2

6 01

Andrew Anthony Sudol Magna Cum Laude

Candace Tong-Li Magna Cum Laude

Yuqing Xue Summa Cum Laude

William Xu Sun Magna Cum Laude

Stefano Viacava Vera

Michael You Cum Laude

Alexander Brogan Taber Cum Laude Anna Lockhart Thorndike Magna Cum Laude Elizabeth Burwell Tobeason Cum Laude

College

Angus Cameron Bankston Warren Summa Cum Laude Sophia Lee Wilder

William Zhang Summa Cum Laude Fang Gang Zhu Magna Cum Laude

Matthew Craig Winter Ethan Woo Magna Cum Laude

Yiyang Zhuge Cum Laude

Number attending

Georgetown University

College of William and Mary

Harvard University

CUNY-Macaulay Honors College

New York University

Duke University

Columbia University

Elon University

Hamilton College

Haverford College

Barnard College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Boston University

Morehouse College

Brown University

Savannah College of Art and Design

Dartmouth College

Scripps College

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Simmons College

Indiana University at Bloomington

Skidmore College

Middlebury College

Swarthmore College

Northwestern University

Tufts University

Princeton University

University of California, Berkeley

Stanford University

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Trinity College

University of Pennsylvania

University of Chicago

University of Richmond

University of Michigan

University of St. Andrews

University of Virginia

University of Vermont

Vanderbilt University

Villanova University

Amherst College

Washington University in St. Louis

Boston College

Webb Institute

Bowdoin College

Wesleyan University

Bucknell University

Williams College

Colby College

Yale University

www.groton.org

Reunion Weekend 2016

Groton School Quarterly

â&#x20AC;¢

Fall 2016

Photographs by Adam Richins Dave Archer ’86 and Gat Caperton ’86 in their football jerseys for the Athletic Hall of Fame induction on Saturday afternoon

ORE THAN three hundred alumni and

their families converged on the Circle May 20–22 for Reunion Weekend 2016. The first priority, as always: reuniting with longlost friends. Graduates of forms ending in 1 and 6 reminisced with formmates during meals and parties; over Frisbee tosses, bell-ringing, and the Triangle run; and throughout the weekend’s many other scheduled— and spontaneous—activities. Alumni visited classes, in some cases reliving a course with a favorite teacher. They toured the newly renovated Schoolhouse, watched friends inducted into Groton’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and listened to provocative discussions at two panel discussions. The Groton Women’s Network (GWN) hosted a morning discussion, featuring panelists Suzette Bulley ’86, Jessica Huang ’06, Erin Kelly ’01, Hilary P. Maddox ’96, Maryam Mujica ’96, Virginia Powell ’06, Katie Smith Knuppel ’91, and moderated by Emma

Fuerst Frelinghuysen ’96. All shared personal and professional anecdotes, reporting challenges faced and overcome; panelists as well as audience members commented on the support provided by the GWN. In the afternoon, John Jacobsson ’86 moderated a panel on “Diversity and Inclusion at Groton Today,” with panelists Sravani Sen-Das P’16, ’19, the director of Diversity and Inclusion; Cort Pomeroy, director of enrollment management in the Admission Office, and several students, who shared the reality of Groton today while listening to audience members recall diversity issues in years past. As always, highlights of Reunion Weekend included the ceremony honoring recipients of the Distinguished Grotonian and Cui Servire awards, presented to Robert Bolling ’76 and Caitlin Reed ’91, respectively. Forms ending in 2 and 7—mark your calendars for next year’s Reunion Weekend, May 12–14, 2017.

www.groton.org

1. Morgan LaPointe ’11, History Department Head Tom Lamont, KC Hambleton ’11, and Emory Wellman ’11 2. Jeanie and T Grant ’61 in the Schoolroom 3. Billy Oates ’61 and Gardner Jackson ’61 having their picture taken in the new Sackett Forum 4. Nancy Kim ’96, Lindsay Kirkley Clemons ’96, Matt Hutson ’96, and Maryam Mujica ’96 5. Karina Beleno Carney ’96, with children Esben and Sophia, ringing the Chapel bells 1

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

6. Samantha Goldstein ’96, Connie Yepez ’91, and (below) Gardner Jackson ’61 and Kate Blow McGloon ’81 listening to Headmaster Maqubela’s welcome in the Sackett Forum 7. Crew Coach Andy Anderson, John Higginson ’56, and Emory Clark ’56 8. Gina-Nicole O’Dell, Onu Odim ’81, Jen Cunningham Butler ’81, Crista Herbert Gannon ’81 and daughter KC Hambleton ’11 9. Nazish Agha ’91, Karen Hartley, and Jackie Cavanaugh Bielagus ’91

6 Tony Ducret ’96

“Diversity and Inclusion at Groton Today,” a Reunion Weekend discussion with panelists Cort Pomeroy, director of enrollment management in the Admission Office; Sravani Sen-Das P’16, ’19, director of Diversity and Inclusion; students Varsha Harish ’16, Langa Chinyoka ’17, Charlie Hawkings ’17, Ivana Primero ’17, and Roan Guinan ’17; and moderator John Jacobsson ’86 7

www.groton.org

1. Mike Pak ’86 with Jordan, Dylan, and Semi 2. Ross Julian ’11 greeting his former coach, Mike MacDonald P’12

GWN panelists Hilary P. Maddox ’96, moderator Emma Fuerst Frelinghuysen ’96, Katie Smith Knuppel ’91, Erin Kelly ’01, Jessica Huang ’06, Virginia Powell ’06, Suzette Bross Bulley ’86, and Maryam Mujica ’96

3. Those tackling the Triangle Run included English teacher and cross country coach John Capen, Jack Sweeney-Taylor ’01, Christopher Graham ’06, Bubba Scott ’11, Hope Nichols Prockop ’86, Rees SweeneyTaylor ’06, Christopher Stephens ’86, George Sampas ’81, Hilary Callahan ’81, and Olly Ames ’81. 4. Hamilton Richards ’56 and Joanne Richards

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

5. John Mullaney, Susan Mackler ’06, Andrea Paloian, and Alex Perkins ’06 taking advantage of the visit from the ice cream truck 6. LuAnn Polk talking with Nancy Wheeler Dickson ’96 after the Groton Women’s Network panel

5 Tony Ducret ’96

7. Before Saturday morning’s Alumni Row on the Nashua: Tony Ducret ’96, George Sampas ’81, Eric Gill (husband of Megan Quigley ’91), Liz Laws Fuller ’01, Zahra Mehta ’01, William Tully ’01, Brendan O’Malley ’86, Hilary Callahan ’81, Geordie Hebard ’91, and Maude C. Emerson ’01 (holding Alice) 8. Alan McLean ’51 with Elizabeth and Mike Lay ’51 9. Erin Kelly ’01 and Katie Smith Knuppel ’91 participating in the GWN panel 10. Steve Krause, David Landon ’56, Alexander Goriansky ’56, and Henry Francis ’56 11. Haley Ladd-Luthringshauser ’11, Hannah Reeve ’11, and Michela Mastrullo ’11, reconnecting over ice cream

www.groton.org

Groton Inducts New Members to Athletic Hall of Fame

Groton School inducted two teams and three individuals into its Athletic Hall of Fame during Reunion Weekend—Hope Nichols Prockop ’86, P’15, ’17; Emory Clark ’56; the 1985 football team; the 2005 cross country team; and, posthumously, Frank White ’51.

Hope Nichols Prockop ’86, P’15, ’17, with trustee and emcee Franz ColloredoMansfeld ’81, P’09, 13, ’15, ’18

HOPE NICHOLS PROCKOP ’86, P’15, ’17

Members of the 2005 cross country team: Sam Allen ’06, Christopher Graham ’06, Coach Nishad Das, Rees Sweeney-Taylor ’06, and Coach Bill McGuire

The 1985 football team (all Form of 1986 unless noted): Front row, Tom Gardner, Mike Pak, Coach Charlie Alexander, Coach Jon Choate ’60, Coach Jake Congleton, Chip McDonald, Dave Tosatti, and Dave Archer; back row, Sean Delaney, John Jacobsson, Brendan O’Malley, Charlie Forbes, Thomas Wright ’87, and Gat Caperton

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

When Hope arrived at Groton as a Third Former in 1982, she was already a tennis player. Her math teacher, David Bannard, introduced her to squash, and Hope was a natural. She played varsity squash and tennis at Groton for four years, held the #1 spot on the ladder for two years of squash and three years of tennis, and achieved a #5 national junior squash ranking. At Prize Day, Hope received the Cornelia A. Frothingham Athletic Award. Hope’s squash career, as of 2016, has spanned thirty-four years; in that time, she has distinguished herself as a junior, collegiate, adult, and masters champion. After Groton, Hope attended Harvard, where she co-captained a national and Ivy League championship team and was named All-Ivy and Second Team All- American. After Harvard, she reached a world ranking of 92 and represented the USA on the national team three times, in 2006, 2008, and 2010, earning gold medals in both team and doubles events at the 2006 Pan-American Squash Championships in Colombia. In 2015, Hope became the first American woman to win a British Open masters title when she captured the 45+ championship. In 2016, Hope added to her U.S. masters championship collection by winning both the 40+ and the 45+ titles for the second year in a row. She now has eight national masters titles, and she appears far from finished. In addition to her own competitive career, Hope continues to coach and inspire squash players of all levels. She has volunteered for urban squash programs for fifteen years, in addition to serving on a leadership committee for U.S. Squash and chairing the Friends

of Harvard Squash for more than a decade. In 2015, U.S. Squash named Hope one of the “Top 50 Most Influential People in the Game.”

At its sixtieth reunion in 2016, that ’56 Groton A boat once again ventured onto the Nashua with Higginson stroking, Emory at #3, Sam Lambert at #2, and Jim White in the bow. This time they did, in fact, go undefeated.

EMORY CLARK ’56 1985 FOOTBALL TEAM Emory Clark discovered his passion for rowing in a heavy old “tub” on the Nashua Urgency defined this team of fourteen Sixth River during his Second Form year. He loved Formers and twenty-eight underformers as running through the woods to the boathouse they returned from a 6–1 season. Determined every afternoon and “messing around in not to let another undefeated season slip away, boats.” During his Fifth and Sixth Form years, the team came ready to play each game as if it he rowed in two almost-undefeated A Boats. were the last. Fall soon echoed with frenzied Emory then went on to Yale where he, cries of “Are You Ready?!” “We Are Ready!” with Groton formmate Sam Lambert, won always followed. every race for two straight years. As captain Coach Jake Congleton’s squad ended the of the crew his senior year, Emory was less year in first place and undefeated. Over seven fortunate, losing in 1960 to a Harvard boat games, the team outscored its opponents in which another Groton formmate, John 147–25. Tom Gardner (captain), Dave Archer Higginson, was in the #2 seat. (captain), and Gat Caperton were nominated Determined not to settle for that final to First Team All-League; Sean Dooley, Charlie defeat, Emory, after a three-year tour in the Forbes, Brendan O’Malley, and Mike Pak to Marine Corps, joined Philadelphia’s Vesper Second Team All-League; and Honorable Boat Club in 1964. With Emory rowing #5 Mentions were given to Matt Brock, Huao seat in an eight, his boat won at the Olympic Hwang, John Jacobsson, and Chip McDonald. trials, beating a favored Harvard eight and The squad was led by a tight-knit group of Fifth going to Japan for the 1964 Olympics. and Sixth Formers who, thirty years later, still In Tokyo, after losing in the first heat by believe in each other and are still “Ready.” twenty-eight hundredths of a second to the The 1985 football team expressed great undefeated Ratzeburg crew from Germany, appreciation for Jake Congleton, Jonathan Emory’s boat came from behind to beat the Choate ’60, Charlie Alexander, and their entire Germans in the finals and earn the gold coaching staff. medal. Following the Olympics, Emory joined again with John Higginson, and, along with two other vintage oarsmen, raced in veterans’ 2005 CROSS COUNTRY TEAM regattas around the world for twenty-five years. With considerable regret, Emory retired On the heels of an undefeated regular season, the 2005 boys cross country team started the from competitive rowing in 2015. year motivated to reach even greater heights. With a strong returning core, the squad completed one of the most successful seasons in the program’s impressive history: its 19–1 record was punctuated by a thrilling victory at the ISL Championships, which avenged a regular-season loss to St. Paul’s and earned Groton cross country its first ever league title. A first-place finish at the New England Division III Championships, the program’s sixth in a row, capped off the year. Led by Sixth Form Co-Captains Sam Allen and Chris Graham, the 2005 squad featured four All-ISL honorees: Chris Graham, Alex Karwoski, Nick Karwoski, and Rees Emory Clark ’56 with Franz ColloredoSweeney-Taylor; all four, along with Django Mansfeld ’81, P’09, 13, ’15, ’18

Broer-Hellermann, were All-New England winners. In addition, Nick (who recently rowed for the U.S. in the Rio Olympics; see page 10) set a new school record on the home course, completing the five kilometers in 16:30. This outstanding season was a testament to the runners’ camaraderie and drive, and to the excellent coaching of Bill Maguire and Nishad Das.

FRANK WHITE ’51 Frank White, Senior Prefect of the Form of 1951, was a three-sport athlete, playing a significant role on the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams in his upper school years at Groton. Frank was the captain of the 1950 undefeated football team, which set three school records at the time. The team scored more points, 225, than any previous team playing a seven-game schedule, scoring four or more touchdowns in each game and averaging 32 points per game. Frank’s strong leadership was ever-present in the team’s success. A threat on offense and a stalwart on defense, he played nearly every minute of every game. He was a highly disciplined and dedicated player with an extraordinary work ethic that made him a phenomenal athlete. Frank overcame many injuries and setbacks at Groton and in college, yet his performance under pressure was remarkable. His wingback reverse pass, the first pass he ever threw in college, won the Harvard-Yale game of 1954 in the closing minutes. Frank joined the faculty at Groton in 1963, where he taught until 1972 in the English Department. He was an assistant football coach under Jake Congleton, and head coach for one year, while Jake was on sabbatical. He played a part in producing three league championship football teams and was beloved by the players. In 1967, he became the founding director of the school-supported Groton Lowell Upward Bound Project, a federally sponsored program that helped low-income youth success in college. Frank’s life was dedicated to those who were less fortunate. He was direct, kind, and brought out the best in people and he was always thinking of how to make life better for others. Frank spent his life in education, where he touched and changed the lives of his students and of others. Written by William E. Chauncey ’51

www.groton.org

Cui Servire Est Regnare Award

Caitlin Gutperle Reed ’91 The Cui Servire Award is given annually to outstanding alumni who, through their exceptional contribution to the school or the world, have truly lived up to the school’s motto, cui servire est regnare.

Caitlin Gutperle Reed ’91 accepted the award with these remarks: I AM DEEPLY honored to receive this award today. Thank you. My eleven-year-old daughter recently competed in a banjo contest. Filled with parental pride as I sat with her at bedtime that night, I told her how proud I was that she was brave enough to enter the competition and perform in front of a big audience. She was quiet for a little while. Then she looked at me and said, “Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not afraid.” I was struck by the truth of her comment. It reminded me of my experience working in Liberia two years ago. I went to West Africa as a volunteer doctor to work with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders at the largest Ebola Treatment Unit ever built. On my first night shift in the unit, I was sweating in my plastic and Tyvek suit, lumbering from tent to tent to see the patients, acutely anxious about contaminating myself with Ebola virus. There was a brief intense thunderstorm and we lost power. It was three o’clock in the morning. One of the tents was flooding, patients were moaning, my lungs were burning from the chlorine used to decontaminate the area, my goggles were fogging up, and the incinerator for burning medical waste was sending billowing clouds of smoke into the dark night. I started to panic and think, “How did you deliberately choose to be here, of all the millions of places on this Earth?” I managed to calm myself down, thinking, “You sought this out for a reason.” I realized that the fear I felt was useful, something I could use to help keep me safe. I had training, I had mentors—the two other doctors on the night shift with me whom I deeply admired—and I had it so much better than the Liberian doctors at the government hospitals, who were working with inadequate protective gear. There was not much time to panic: we had things to do. I mastered my fear enough to keep going that night, and the next. Being brave isn’t something that just happens during a crisis. You need to practice in smaller ways, over and over, as you grow up. Groton gave me opportunities to practice. 56

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

In Second Form shop class I was scared of the bandsaw. Mr. Brown showed me how to use it, and although I avoided it for a few months, eventually I figured out how to use the jigsaw, then the bandsaw, and I kept taking shop. I managed to graduate with all my fingers intact—as well as a handmade rocking chair and table. Modern dance was not my forte. It’s no surprise that for the final performance I ended up being assigned to the role of a tree. Just getting out on a stage and moving was terrifying for me—and, when it was over, exhilarating. I didn’t really know how to study when I came to Groton, and Mr. Alexander’s Latin 1 was where I crossed that Rubicon, sweating over flash cards during study hall and later learning, as Mr. Myers would often say, to “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the Latin text. Who knew that I would end up studying Latin for five years, doing a tutorial during my senior year and starting out as a classics major in college? I coxed for girls crew starting in Third Form. This meant that a short, shy kid like me had to give commands to my rowers. This did not come easily. One time during practice I hit a bridge, and got yelled at. Just getting in the boat the next day took some courage. But I did it. For my formmates and fellow alumni, if you think back about your Groton experience, I am sure you can think of times when our teachers, our coaches, and our friends offered us the opportunity to be brave, to act despite our fears, and to discover that we were more capable than we knew. Maybe it was when you decided to sign up for AP Calculus, even though math was not your strongest subject, but you knew Mr. Choate would help you learn. Maybe it’s when you tried out for a new sport, took that Shakespeare elective, sang the solo in choir, wrote a cover story for the Circle Voice, or gave a chapel talk in front of the whole school. We all owe Groton our gratitude for these opportunities, for the wonderful teachers who knew when to encourage and nurture—and when to push us to take a risk—and for all those chances to practice being brave. Thank you.

Distinguished Grotonian

L. Robert Bolling ’76 Since 1977, Groton School has presented the Distinguished Grotonian Award to a graduate whose life of highly distinguished service reflects the essential values of the school.

L. Robert Bolling ’76 and Caitlin Gutperle Reed ’91 with Headmaster Temba Maqubela

L. Robert Bolling ’76 accepted the award with these remarks: GOOD MORNING. The last time that I spoke at Groton, I was a trustee giving a chapel talk. I reminded the audience of students, parents, faculty, trustees, and guests of the “call-andresponse” tradition of my faith. One purpose of the tradition is to establish a relationship between the preacher and the congregation and to help to encourage the pastor as he delivers “the word.” So, let’s try this again. I will give a greeting, or call, and you will return an enthusiastic response.

GOOD MORNING!

Now I am ready. Thank you, Temba, and thank you, Groton family. I would also like to recognize my formmates who are here today. Hi, fellows! Today I am humbled and honored by the Distinguished Grotonian Award. Finding the proper and distinguished words to express my gratitude seems impossible. I can see and feel the stare of my maternal grandmother’s blue-green-gray hazel eyes. They express what my ears have heard from her loving, stern voice during hundreds of warm embraces. She would say, “Be polite and tell the truth.” “Yes, ma’am, I will try,” was often my response. I then did just as she said. I will attempt to do so today. I have been asked to reflect on my life’s service components, and to consider the influence that Groton may have had on my career and personal life choices. Before I begin however, I ask that you think about a few dates:

July 17, 1949 July 9, 1993 August 30, 2012 March 30, 2016 September 14, 1972

Particular events on these dates significantly impacted my life; more on the dates later. Let me first share with you what it is that I do. I am the chief executive officer of ChildSavers, a ninety-two-year-old nonprofit that provides mental health and child development services for children up to seventeen years of age. ChildSavers is located in my home community of Richmond, Virginia. So that you may accurately understand our work, I ask that you to consider our mission statement: ChildSavers guides our community’s children through life’s critical moments with trauma-informed mental health and child development services. The words of this statement are important for our work, but also connect to my Groton experience. “Guides” relates to ChildSavers’ history. The former name

of the organization was the Memorial Child Guidance Clinic. We were one of the first guidance clinics in the country and the first in the South. Our initial work focused on the health and welfare of poor children. “Our community’s children”

We believe that every child that we serve is a child of our community as encompassed in the African proverb roughly translated, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The proverb’s meaning actually suggests a stronger sentiment: “How dare you not believe that it takes a village to raise a child?” “Life’s critical moments”

Children can experience critical moments at several points in their development. They can be affected by trauma— either through witnessing it or being the subject of it. In fact, 80 percent of the children that we serve have been involved with at least one traumatic event. We deliver on this mission through an outpatient mental health clinic, coupled with an immediate response service that sends clinicians to scenes where children have www.groton.org

The Groton experience is undergirded by relationships. Core for me was the concept of family. I found one here that was much like the one I was born into: loving and firm, and always encouraging.

witnessed or experienced one of those traumatic acts. Imagine for a minute that my fist is your brain. Now imagine that you are going for a walk in your neighborhood. Suddenly you hear a dog barking. For this example, that dog is a traumatic event. You are in stress mode as the brain goes on alert, and its sensors are activated as you search for the location of the barking animal. My waving fingers are the search monitors. You finally see that the dog is encased behind a fence. The sensors recede as you relax. You are safe. For far too many children, daily life is commonly filled with domestic violence, sexual assault, and murder. These things happen regardless of socioeconomic status. For these kids, that barking dog is never behind the fence but, instead, in their faces. The impact of these multiple traumatic events keeps the brain always on high alert, impeding the ability to develop relationships or positive social mores, or to achieve academically. The child never feels safe. Our therapeutic work helps children to regulate, and promotes resilience, thereby putting children on a path to happiness, safety, healthiness, and readiness to learn. Just as important is the training that ChildSavers provides to the teachers of our youngest—preschoolers. Research clearly shows that the neurons of the brain that develop in the first five years are the pathways for lifelong learning and good decision-making. We want to maximize the development of those neurons, and quality early education helps to ensure that neuron growth. In fact, there is a seven-fold return for every dollar invested in quality early education. Now: on to Groton and its influence on my work. Remember September 14, 1972? Forty-four years ago my father and I traveled from Richmond to Boston by plane. We took a cab from Logan Airport and arrived at Groton around dinner time. My dad got out of the cab, and dropped my large, green, hardback suitcase at my feet on the steps of Hundred House. He then turned, got back in the cab and said, “See you later, son,” and he was back off to Logan. I had no idea what to do. Then a smiling David Rogerson (director of admissions at the time) appeared and took me to the Dining Hall to join the rest of the school. This helped me to settle in and begin my Groton journey. The Groton experience is undergirded by relationships. Core for me was the concept of family. I 58

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

found one here that was much like the one I was born into: loving and firm, and always encouraging. I hope that they are not embarrassed, but Charlie and Ann Alexander were my core at Groton. Their family had a lot of kids, just as mine did. My parents stayed in their comfortable home during visits to the school. Thank you. Groton engaged the question of becoming, and made the decision to become, a co-educational institution during my time. In fact, my Form of 1976 is the last all-male class of the school. There was much discussion within the student body and in my class. I think that it is fair to say that opinions were evenly split on whether this was the thing to do. Tradition was important, but so was the future. It is as clear today as it was forty-plus years ago: co-education was the right decision for our daughters and for our sons. The school is better. The Groton experience was not always fun. I did not become senior prefect after serving as class officer each of the three previous years. I thought that I should have served in that role, and was sure that my formmates believed the same. It was disappointing and I felt wronged at the time. But let me tell you, my class had great wisdom. The right person became senior prefect for the right class at the right time. Even more, the role of Hundred House Prefect was right for me. I learned a great lesson in humility, one that stays with me today. Coming to Groton, I had no idea of what to expect. My time here provided the tools of service and caring for my mission-driven work. Finally, back to those remaining dates. July 17, 1949 was my parents’ wedding date. My father was the proud man who brought me to Groton, who had also searched for over three years to find the right home for his family in a southern, working-class, emerging integrated neighborhood during the 1950s. My mother, but not for the color of her skin and her zip code at birth, would have had available the resources and opportunities to become a brilliant PhD scholar, a business executive, or an attorney—all areas of interest to her. The remaining dates are the birthdays of my twin children and my two grandsons. My life’s work of service is a testament to the values of my birth and Groton families. I trust that I will leave a legacy to my offspring and their diaspora. I am grateful to be included among this distinguished group of Grotonians. I trust that I have been polite; you have been for listening. I hope that I have told the truth and that my Grandma Virgie is proud.

ROMANS 5:1-5

The Reverend Stephen J. McCarthy ’06 delivered the following homily, on Romans 5:1-5, during Sunday Chapel on Reunion Weekend.

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

What do you do with a gift? It’s a question at the core of this passage from Saint

Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and a question which unites each and every one of us here gathered, because we all share the gift of Groton. Now, perhaps you think you know what that gift is for. If you’re a student, you may regard it as a stepping-stone to a prestigious college, and it may be that, but even when you’ve completed your university education, the question will remain, dogging you well into your reunions; what is one to do with the gift of an education like ours?

And when we graduates return, of course we welcome the chance to see one another again, to reminisce and socialize. But it’s easy to come away from such events feeling wistful, having hoped to accomplish something more with this time together. A Groton education certainly includes the opportunity to make great friendships; but really, boarding school shapes our character so profoundly that I think, in returning, we hope to make some sense of how and why these people have made us who we are. I don’t for a minute want to suggest there is a Groton type, a cookie cutter to which we all conform. I merely wish to acknowledge that each one of us has been marked in some distinct way by this place. How are we formed by it? Perhaps Saint Paul says it best: we come to learn to “boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). Why else the cold showers and cubicles, the black marks, or—more currently—the work program, Saturday classes and a classics requirement, distinctive features

which other institutions may laud, and even envy, while rejecting as too demanding for their own student bodies? From its founding, our alma mater has sought the gifted. And if the equation used to assess this giftedness may have shifted somewhat from treasure to talent, an underlying principle has remained constant: that those who have received much benefit from standards high enough to induce a certain degree of suffering. Teaching resilience and grit may be in vogue among today’s educationalists, but as far as I can tell, it has never been out of fashion on the Groton School Circle. Such a character-building pattern can be taught, but it cannot dictate our hopes. And if anything, we can find our hopes malformed from the process. Having learned how to endure, having developed resilient character, we remain unsure what it’s all for. And so we become exhausted, trapped in what seems like a zero-sum game, regarding others as measures against which to grade our performance. It can make being here an occasion to be down on ourselves, or jealous to maintain and assert our

www.groton.org

successes. With uncertain hopes, we risk becoming the victims of our own lonely ambitions, slaves to a vain belief that some achievement will lend us an unassailable identity beyond the reach of anyone else. It’s a dangerous temptation, to believe that we can craft our own identities by our deeds alone, independent of our origins, or of the people with whom we share our earthly walk. When I first arrived at college, I tried very hard not to refer to this place by name, or to utter the words “prep school,” or wear any clothing emblazoned with the school crest. I wanted to pretend that my formation was my own doing, or at least just like everybody else’s. Really, I was embarrassed by the gift of this education. Yet no fewer than two weeks passed before a classmate asked me what something had been like at my boarding school, and I begrudgingly answered on the condition that she would tell me how she knew. And giving me a once over as I sat before her in my Nantucket Reds—I’d thought I could get away with them if I just admitted they were pink—she fulfilled the condition with the simple statement: “It’s just obvious.” Our hopes betray us; they announce to the world our pride and our shame. Even in the effort to escape what I felt was the burden of the enormous gift of Groton, something of my identity had been revealed. In truth, our hopes are where our identities find completion. Now admittedly all this sounds very abstract, and yet I think I’ve seen the interplay of identity and hope with my own two eyes. James was one of my best friends in college. He was a history major with a great sense of humor and a sharp intellect that could flash forth in a minute, or be detected in his quiet resistance to others’ attempts to dictate how he should think, about himself or the world. But despite his obvious talents, his college experience was hardly without suffering. Indeed, just a few months into freshman year his father passed away unexpectedly. I can’t begin to imagine the pain of that loss. Like so many of us Northeasterners, he was a private fellow, but occasionally a hint would surface of

Groton School Quarterly

•

what must have been a deep struggle. Such evidence appeared most reliably whenever the campus minority center would contact him with surveys or special opportunities. His father had been a doctor from India, who met and married an Anglo-American woman working in a hospital in upstate New York, and it was with her that he would have their only child, my friend James. And so with his father’s passing, James was deprived of his most immediate connection to a heritage which his appearance continually disclosed. And while he had no desire for that link to be taken from him, it was just as obvious that even the best campus resource center couldn’t possibly restore what he’d lost with his father’s passing. When senior year finally came to an end, I remember knotting my schoolcolors bowtie around my neck and donning my cap and gown before walking

Our hopes betray us; they announce to the world our pride and shame. with James and another friend to the outdoor amphitheater where we all parted ways to line up alphabetically and receive our diplomas. Lost in the great throng of people after the ceremony and somewhat overwhelmed by the occasion, I remember catching a glimpse of James passing through the crowd. Around his shoulders was this hulking dry garland. It was bright saffron with red dye in places, and may even have been interlaced with pieces of wood. The colors were rubbing off all over his gown and onto his suit, and a man was walking beside him. It was his uncle, who had traveled all the way from India to give him this gift, and to witness his nephew’s graduation, who, as far as I knew then, hadn’t seen him in years, if ever. James looked uncomfortable—when I called him for permission to share this story, he told me that the garland had also been heavily perfumed with sandalwood—in short, he had every reason to feel embarrassed. Yet despite that fact, I remember

Fall 2016

seeing an unmistakable serenity in his eyes, as if a long-felt absence had been filled. Our school, too, has its relatives, ancestors whose influence continues to be felt around this place even as they may seem foreign to us and to the world in which we are measured and judged. They are gone. We can mourn them and we can try to ignore how they continue to shape who we are, but either way they are not coming back to the Circle. And yet Saint Paul’s words summarize a gift, which they still reach out to offer us today: hope in Jesus Christ. It is a scandalous claim, that through faith in him we are justified. The very idea flies in the face of the calculus by which we so often seek to construct our identities, those comparisons which animate so many of our worries and desires. Like a man who flew around the world to give a dry garland to a nephew he hardly knew, God traveled in Christ to be with us in our triumphs and defeats, to give us the gift of his own life, that we may know his love, a gift beyond anything we could ever earn or deserve. The Gospel is that very idea, that by Christ’s cross we are pardoned, forgiven, and loved because of who God is, rather than whom we feebly strive to be. Believing that truth, placing our hopes in what God has done for us completes our identity. It takes us out of the rat race and enables us to lead lives of perfect freedom, secure not in the approval of peers, but in the knowledge of God’s love. Like a dry garland set before us by those who have gone before, it is an idea that each of us is free to take up and try on. You may never choose to do so, and indeed if you are brave enough to don it, you should be forewarned that you will be made different, made to feel awkward amid the throng—for the Gospel is an idea that musses up one’s outer garments—and yet believe in its truth and your heart will be flooded with a love like no other, a love so complete as to show us what all the gifts we have received are for: the gift of this life, of this school, of this world, and of this Lord. Lord Jesus, give us your peace. Amen.

Form of 1941 John Bradley with grandniece Hannah Henderson

Form of 1946 Front row: Rosalind Hunnewell, Jane Gardiner, Frances and John Train, Bruce and Jenny Chandler, Pam Peabody, Nancy Hubbs Back row: Charlie Gardiner, Holly Hunt (daughter of the late Bill Stevenson), Harry Welch, Miles Morgan, Arnold Hunnewell, Mike Peabody, Oliver Coolidge

Form of 1951 Front row: Tom and Susan Coolidge, John Stainton (seated), Sarah Donnelly, Dick Buel Back row: Harry Schroeder, Jeanne Rhinelander, Elaine Stainton, Jim Donnelly, Alan McLean, Bill Lawrence, Bill Chauncey Attending but not pictured: Michael and Elizabeth Lay, Ray and Jeanne Walker, Jean White

www.groton.org

Form of 1956 Front row: Susan Cabot, Christina Clark, Richard and Nancy Scott, Casey Lambert, Priscilla and Kermit Roosevelt, Lewis Cabot, Henry Francis, Michael Humphreys, Win and Nick McConnell, Sheila Humphreys, Frederick Trask Middle row: Jim and Mary White, Philip Burnham, Samuel Lambert, Ann and Michael Westgate, Joanne Richards, Susan Hopkins, Penny Trask Back row: Emory Clark, David Landon, John and Lindsey Higginson, Alexander Goriansky, Stephen Krause, Theodore and Victory Chase, Honey and Peter Chapin, Hamilton Richards, David Hopkins, Thomas Lloyd Form of 1961 Front row: Ann and Henry Blackiston, Gardner Jackson, Sarge Cheever, John Richmond, Billy Oates, Jay Ferguson Middle row: John Dundas. Alan Iselin, Bobby Whitney, Bill Pedersen, Richard Parke, Herb Motley Back row: T and Jean Grant, Ned Watts, Tom Hamilton, Tony Hyde, Bob Devens, Daniele Bouly, Mike Sargent Form of 1966 Front row: Marshall and Kathryn Webb, Jim Brown, Perry Gignoux, Tom Considine, Ken Emerson, Tim Gillingham Middle row: Bob Kinzel, Rob Morgan, Joanne Brown, Jim Turner, Ellen O’Meara, Carolyn and Joe Cheshire Back row: Bart Lane, Ninna and Breck Denny, Debby and Denny Gardiner, Louis Sass, Sam Blagden, Katie and Hugh Davies, Bill Hammond

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Form of 1971 Front row: Hunt Williams, Andrew Bundy, Lee Newman, Asa Yancey, Sally Coates, Kim and Ned Motley Middle row: Chris Hudson, Julie Olsen, Doug Ludwig, Chris Isham, John and Mary Sandifer, Morin and Barbara Bishop, John Peirce Back row: John Hadden, Peter Johnston, Bill Orrick, Nat Gardiner, Rob Wrenn, Owen Clay, Alfred Forrester

Form of 1976 Front row: E.J. Barnes, Brian Bixby, Lawrie Foster, J.T. Coe, Jeffrey Bolding, Chris Eklund holding Alexander Back row: Bill Blood, Elliot Scott, Bobby Bolling, Grant Pennoyer, Tatiana Eklund holding Anna Attending but not pictured: Larry Chao, George Hatch, Pat Horgan, Tom Lincoln, Charlie White

Form of 1981 Front row: Onuoha Odim, GinaNicole O’Dell, Selden Wells Tearse, Mollie Rimmer Hoopes, Meg Smith (and John Child’s dogs, Pucho and Sunny) Second row: Gates Garrity-Rokous, Jen Cunningham Butler, Diana Ferguson, Betsy Wright Hawkings, Starr Collins Osborne, Lydia Faesy, John Childs, Kate Blow McGloon, Becky White Dilworth, Carl Johnson Third row: Bill Tsutsui, George Sampas, Dwayne Staton, Crista Herbert Gannon, Charlie Wanzer, Olly and Elizabeth Ames, Lukie Osborne Wells, Mary Porter Johnson Fourth row: Nat, Chris, and Caroline Landau, Untray Brown, Jedidiah Burack, Marichal Monts, Al Reyes, Hilary Callahan, John Harvie, Andy Dunn

www.groton.org

Form of 1986 Front row: Ben Tregoe, Semi, Mike and Jordan Pak, Jane Lilly, Dylan Pak, Jadon Archer, Penelope Tregoe, Beckett Archer, John Sperling, Sean Delaney, Tracey Bishop Heather, Gat Caperton Second row: Jack Reiss, Ted Lilly, Nicole Archer, Imani McGregor ’18, Dave Archer, Jake Congleton, Tom Gardner, Hope Prockop, Marney Hupper, Diane Davol, Ward Davol, Alison Shackelford Monaghan

Ann Woodward, Suzette Bross Bulley, Anne Reiss, Vanessa Lilly, Rohini Pragasam, Tim Goodale, Court Cunningham, Carl Carlson, Shannon Tosatti Fourth row: Lynne Lamson, Sarah Jensen, Carl Reiss, Grace Song Park, Suzy Earl, John Jacobsson, Sarah Casey and Charlie Forbes, Brendan and Linda O’Malley, Peter Mali, Grant Gund, Christopher Stephens, Chip McDonald, Dave Tosatti

Third row: Gordon, Willow, and

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Form of 1991 Front row: Dan Oliver holding Amelia Ruth, Garrett Hartley holding George, Patricia, Angela, and Gavin Macphail, Carter Hartley, Justin and Mei Ling Bielagus, Sienna and Campbell Lazer, Charlotte Cohen, Hayden and Campbell Ardrey, Charlotte and Camilla Calderwood, Zaira and Nazish Agha, Connie Yepez, Theo Lawrence, Nathan, Rosemary, and Sophia Gill, Leela Dubois Middle row: James Broadhead, Will Broadhead, Jay Rogers, John Rogers, Theo Hartley, Karen Hartley, Ken Lazer, Nikki Wood Lazer, Guy Ardrey,

Sara Becton Ardrey, Geordie Hebard, Christopher Calderwood, Kelly Christopherson Calderwood, Josh Newsome, Caitlin Reed, Baylor FoxKemper, Molly Stearns, Katie Knuppel, Sarah Tuff Dunn, Nisha Patel DuBois Back row: Peter Picard, John Ford, Ekua Ansah, Greame Samuels, Rhett Hartley, Ryan and Jackie Cavanaugh Bielagus, Alex, Gary, and Melissa Cohen, Andrew Calderwood, Sebastian Rand, Benagh Newsome, Topher Blunt, Eloise Lawrence, Tinka Markham Piper, Suzannah McFerran, Megan Quigley and Eric Gill

Form of 1996 Front row: Zuly Reyes Tharel with youngest son, Nora Mae and Nehemiah Tharel, Freddy and Angus Dent, Margaux Butler Lisiak, Nancy Wheeler Dickson, Alice, Carolina, and Tommy White, Maryam Mujica, Chandler Bass Evans, Nike Martin, Sofia, Karina, and Benji Beleno Carney, Samantha Pitre and Curt Quillen, Rich Calhoun, Larry Perera, Peter Fagan holding Sonia, Kara Miller and Zhe Lu with daughter, Pia Raymond with son Sage

Second row: Nathan Tharel, Hillary Maddox, Nancy Kim, Samantha Goldstein, Alice Miller, Oliver Evans, Burke Ramsay, Andreas Wiggen, Lindsay Kirkley and Joshua Clemons, Cabot Henderson holding Cordelia, Alana Henderson holding Cabot, Eva Jaffe Back row: Brooke McFerran Bancroft, Anson and Emma Fuerst Freilinghuysen, Tommy White, Rich Scott, Tom Reynolds, Matt Hutson, Reeve Joliffe, Tony Ducret, Greg Whittaker, Owen and Rhea

Breck, Eloise and Justin Muzinich, Erin Pennington and Brett Wood, Damian and Britt Zunino with Georgia, Elliott, and Harper. Form of 2001 Front row: Eric Braun, Alex Stepanek Braun holding Emmie, Andrew and Kristen Midon Woodward, Meghan Greenberg Lockwood, Eliza Johnson Bishop holding Frances, Elizabeth Laws Fuller, Rachel Adams Miller, Preston Bannard, Rachel Slack, Zahra Gray Mehta holding Bodhi,

Emily Hruby and Simon Halpern Back row:Â Adrienne Boone, Maude Emerson holding Alice, Naveed Khalidi, John Gunderson, Chip Lockwood, Erin Kelly, Ashley Lynn, Sayles Braga, Will Tully, Anand Mehta holding Wyatt, Hardy Simes, Pierce Smith

www.groton.org

Form of 2006

Form of 2011

Front row: Elizabeth Gardiner, Virginia Powell, Jessica Huang, Helen Mou Fisher, Hannah Farrell, Katherine Gannett, Julia Silverman

Front row: Orme Thompson, Katy Wagner, Adriana Sclafani, Mayra Cruz, Emory Wellman, Shalini Trivedi, KC Hambleton, Bubba Scott, Dan Rodriguez, Jocelyn Hickcox, Julia Haney, Charlotte Bullard Davies, Will Bolton, Adam Klein, Michela Mastrullo, Haley Ladd-Luthringshauser, Adrianna Pulford, Emma Peabody

Middle row: Blessing Agunwamba, Courtney Bowen Tully, Samantha Webb, Rachel Cooke, Elizabeth Darden Wooten, Carol Stepanek, Whitney MacKenzie, Susan Mackler, Jovan Julien, Christopher Graham Back row: Thomas Mott, Charlie Anderson, Geoffrey Arner, Sam Bristol, Stephen McCarthy, David Cutting, Alex Perkins, George Pond

Middle row: Andrew Ryu, Ken Ballato, Edoardo Saravalle, Morgan LaPointe, Likhitha Palaypu, Jack Cohen, Coco Paul-Henriot, Bronwen Carter, Sage Redman

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

Back row: Daniel Hong, Mike Storace, Remy Knight, Alex Southmayd, Eric Smyth, Gracie Villa, Whitney Hartmeyer, Brian Choi, Hannah Reeve, Camilla West, Josh Imhoff, Zach Nicol, Elizabeth Bailey, Hans Trautlein, Ross Julian

A C H A P E L TA L K

by Logan Deming ’16 May 27, 2016

Bridging the Opposites

I remember one day, my parents and I walked into the elevator of the apartment building we have lived in for ten years. Another woman was already in the elevator, leaning against the paneled walls, carrying bags of groceries. My parents were arguing over the date of their anniversary, which neither could remember. Her ears pricked forward as she overheard their conversation, and I watched her eyes widen as the three of us walked in together. Her eyes flicked between my parents, her mouth slightly agape. “Oh! I never realized you two were . . . together.” Her eyes flicked between their faces again, remaining on my mother’s. I felt the blood rush to my head and I tried not to look at her face. I noticed my dad quietly step toward my mother, as she responded with a large, slightly sardonic smile: “Yes, we’ve been married for almost twenty-five years.” The elevator doors opened and we stepped into the lobby. Now, during one of the most awkward elevator experiences of my life, two intertwined contrasts became clear to me. One, the different ways in which my parents handled the situation. My father, an introvert, perceptive, and reserved, conveyed meaning with an action. My mother, extroverted and direct, was cutting, candid and forthright. Similarly, I realized the contrasts of their pasts. I saw my mother, who had experienced forms of discrimination her whole life: taxi drivers who wouldn’t pick her up because they assumed the trip would be too far, storekeepers who suggested she should leave because she couldn’t afford their clothes, restaurant owners who gave her a discount because they assumed she was the maid. I saw her combat racism with pure strength, and slight sarcasm. And in my father, although he will never experience the same direct racism as my mother, I saw the strength in support, in listening to hardship and empathizing with struggle, rather than attempting to assuage a pain he had never experienced. I

www.groton.org

voces

have always seen my life as a series of contrasts. To me, this world always seemed like a bridge between opposites: you cannot experience happiness without sadness, cold without heat, night without day. It is in opposites that we find ourselves. The world is just the space between antitheses, the gray area. Whether it be in my background, interests, or setting, opposites have always helped me define myself. The most obvious contrast in my life is between my parents. My mother is Jamaican. When she was fourteen, she left the rolling green of the mountains, sweeping cerulean seas, and her Granny’s creaking rocking chair for cracked sidewalks, steel skyscrapers, and the beating heart of New York City. My father, on the other hand, lived on Long Island as a kid. He grew up playing sports in the basement and being teased by his two older brothers. His favorite baseball team is the Mets. He comes from, as my mother loves to tease, a family of WASPs. As Claudette [Ramos ’16] said of her own parents, from the beginning, their relationship was controversial. It was a different time, and race was a line in the sand, never to be crossed. When people found out my parents were together, there was a sense of indignation, a sense of injustice. The trouble is, people would say, “not you two, but your children. If you ever had a kid, the child would always be at a disadvantage. Your child would constantly live between two worlds, and would never belong anywhere.” They [told my parents they] were being selfish. Growing up, I never really understood what my parents had to endure. Their relationship was simple fact to me; they were my parents and that was all there was to it. Yet, as I grew older, I saw more signs that this “line in the sand” was yet to be wiped away.

Alexandra Conner ’16

Below, Logan; at left, with friends after her chapel talk

voces

“

Reading always bridged the opposites in me. Books had an innate ability to connect complexities. Bob Krist

saw the strength in going against the mold. In many ways, those people who attempted to dissuade my parents from having a child were right. I noticed early on that there was a certain expectation for me to “choose” one piece of my identity. Bridging the complexities between these two cultures has been a constant battle. I try, as much as I can, to keep my feet in two worlds rather than one. I don’t think I always succeed. In many ways, I have never had a culture of my own. Even so, this contrast has made me. I try to keep my feet in these two spheres because I believe the middle is where I am supposed to be. And when I can’t, I try to find other ways of linking my disparities. Reading always bridged the opposites in me. Books had an innate ability to connect complexities. Literature voiced the conflicts inside my own head, the conflicts I saw in the world. When I read The Giver, its world flourished in my mind: the gray, dystopian society filled with precision but lacking vitality. In its ending, I assumed defiance was not 68

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

only admirable, but essential. The world was just waiting to be pushed against. Then I read A Swiftly Tilting Planet and learned the exact opposite. I watched Charles Wallace, the protagonist, accept serenity, listening to the harmonies of the universe—albeit, since it is a book for like third graders, from a flying unicorn. Perhaps we should accept our paths; perhaps we should have faith. Each book, and how I read it, connected new opposites, illuminating my reality differently. I read the ones close to my heart over and over. Those books are always tattered. Their pages fall out with the slightest touch. I open each one carefully, and my eyes light up at the familiar words; I feel myself sink into the wellknown sentences. Each time I reread, new ideas leap from the page. My mindset, how I have grown, shifts the old words into new phrases. At the beginning of the year, the speaker Wes Moore spoke about finding “the things that make us tick.” I like to

“

I carried my Aeneid with me wherever I went; sometimes lines from Caesar or Virgil would just float to the forefront of my mind.

never would have danced in the dark with Sunny, after we promised ourselves we would either “sleep or study.” If there is one thing I am certain of, these memories will last far past Groton. Groton’s contrasts have taught me how to endure, have taught me how to fail while keeping some semblance of grace, but—most importantly—have taught me that joy comes not from wide-sweeping contentment, but, as most things in life do, from contrasts.

Mike Sperling

think of those as crafts that bridge the opposites in all of us. In Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It, Maclean calls this state becoming “molecular.” When people do something so integral to who they are, so inherently connected to them, they become one with their surroundings. Each molecule of their being connects with the world because they are so intrinsically linked to that thing. The beauty is not in talent, but in the way they let themselves go, connecting with their environment. In many ways, I believe reading has done this for me. Books have been a thousand mirrors, catching fractals of light, revealing different aspects of my being. I believe Groton, too, is a consolidation of contrasts. This place is so filled with misery, and yet I do not think I could have experienced such profound joy without it. In spring term of last year, I remember studying for my AP Latin final. People who have been in the class, I think, have a feeling of what I am about to describe. Before Ms. Martin-Nelson’s exam, I don’t think I had ever been so stressed in my entire life. I carried my Aeneid with me wherever I went; sometimes lines from Caesar or Virgil would just float to the forefront of my mind. Forsan et haec olim memminisse iuvabit was my mantra. And yet, to this day, that was one of my favorite classes at Groton, one of my favorite memories. Perhaps part of that stems from masochism, but I also don’t think I had ever felt so accomplished, nor made such close relationships, until I was forced to wake up early every morning, and Ross and I would walk to the Dining Hall when the sky was only beginning to lighten, the dew still sparkling on the grass. Or when Zahin would draw a gravestone before every test, emblazoned with his name, his birthdate, and the current date, before slowly slumping forward onto his desk. I don’t know why Groton puts so many burdens on us. I don’t know how we stay afloat amongst the steady stream of homework, sports, clubs, essays, and keeping up with friends—all the while pretending as though everything is fine. I will probably look back on this time, appalled at how much we do, wondering how we got through it all. I really don’t know. I do know without these hardships I never could have experienced such strong bonds. I never would have stayed up to the far reaches of the night with Diva, working on an essay we should have started long before. I

www.groton.org

A C H A P E L TA L K

by Carrie Banwell P’12, ’15, ’19 April 29, 2016

Being Neighbors voces

very time I come to Groton, I am amazed by how accomplished you all are and how much you are asked to do. People my age talk all the time about how much is demanded of you—you are required to do considerably more than we were at your age. Obviously, you study and work extremely hard, but you also run half-marathons and make shots at the buzzer, bring music into nursing homes, debate major Supreme Court cases, write and perform songs, ride bikes across the country, feed the hungry, and— did I mention you study a lot more than we did?! By any standard, your lives are demanding and stressful. And yet, we ask you to do even more. At a time when it would be much easier for you to accomplish your goals by sticking with people who are exactly like you—those who don’t challenge you—we ask you to be open and inclusive in the midst of trying to accomplish much. I’m here today to talk to you about why that’s important—why that matters as much as, if not more than, all those other undertakings— and to add some ideas about how we all might do it better. As you can probably tell by the way I talk, I was born and raised in the South, eastern North Carolina, to be specific. I was born in 1963—at the height of the civil rights movement. My earliest memory is of a warm night in 1966, well after bedtime, when my father hastily put my sister, brother, and me in the back of our family station wagon. With no headlights, and not much explanation, we quietly coasted up toward a big field on the outskirts of our town. As we crept toward the field, we saw what looked like a huge bonfire blazing in the center of a large assembly of people. But as we got closer, we could see clearly that the bonfire was actually a large cross burning in the middle of the field, and the big assembly was actually hooded Ku Klux Klansmen rallying around the cross. The terror and horror I felt as I watched those men

stays with me still. And I am sure my dad was equally horrified. My father had been working as a city council member to integrate local eating establishments and repeal segregation ordinances, and he understood the deep racial hatred embedded in our town. But what I imagine made it even more chilling for him is that he likely knew some of the men under those hoods. He knew them from his church, from the hospital where he worked, maybe even from the city council. These were members of our town’s community who had united that night to endorse exclusion fueled by hatred. And as risky as it was for my father, he wanted us to carry that image with us forever. In places like eastern North Carolina, the work of civil rights and inclusion lasts long after the passage of the Civil Rights Act or the ratification of the 24th Amendment. It endures, taking decades for communities to work through hatred, misunderstanding, regret, fear, anger, and intolerance. And still we are fighting. As the most recent state government policy change has shown us, bigotry is alive and well in North Carolina, as it is in so many places. In many places in this country, as well as, perhaps, here at Groton, it is often hard to look at our neighbors and not feel angry, frustrated, or even pessimistic. But we see a glimpse of a solution to this dilemma in nature. As Richard Rohr writes, in varied ecosystems, it is diversity that generates long-term survival, resilience, and balance. Indeed, plants and animals thrive in complex systems of interdependence between different kinds of organisms. Just as in the natural world, “if we want sustainable communities we must always welcome the ‘other’ and learn to see our neighbors as ourselves. Without it, we do not have community at all, but just egoic enclaves.” 1 But how we see our neighbors is changing. As Marc Dunkelman describes in his book The Vanishing Neighbor, in 1 Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation Daily Meditation

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

today’s world, we tend to have three “rings” of contacts in our lives: the inner ring includes our most intimate friends and family, the outer ring contains our vast array of contacts (not necessarily friends) from school or work, and the middle ring contains people we live near and come into contact with on a daily basis, but don’t call close friends. These are people that live near us, folks with whom we work on committees, or in your case, people in your science class or in your dorm. You know these people pretty well, but you don’t know their siblings’ names, their childhood stories, what they did over spring break. Dunkelman argues that, in this more technological age, we have become more and more dedicated to and reliant upon our closest friends and families, while also carefully managing our social media input and footprint; but, in so doing, we have lost our ability to know, communicate with, and “hear” our middle-ring contacts. This comes with a cost. A diverse community of neighbors can’t find the sweet spot of inclusion and community when we just stick with our close, inner-ring friends and our outer-ring, superficial Facebook friends. Rather, it develops when we sit with, listen to, and accept our middle-ring friendships. And this—as you well know— can be messy business. It’s not easy to do. And at Groton, you are constantly asked to do it in an increasingly more diverse environment.

Since I first set foot on this campus in 2007—less than a decade ago—the percentage of students of color has increased from 19 percent to 36 percent; the number of kids from mainland China has gone from zero to sixteen, and the financial aid budget has nearly doubled. As we grow more diverse, we naturally gravitate to our inner-ring close friends while carefully managing our outerring status. However, for this whole thing to work, we must be more engaged with the middle ring. But it’s not easy to sit next to someone at lunch with whom you have little in common. It’s not easy to hear—really hear—what someone has to say, when you know his opinion is different from yours. It’s not easy to walk to Chapel with someone whose customs are different, whose ancestors owned slaves, or whose political or religious views just make you mad. But in order for us to get the “I-word” [inclusion] right, we have to do that. We have to figure out ways to lean in to middlering friendships, to listen with open ears and open hearts, and to value each other’s opinions, mores, and ideas. Our commitment to being neighbors—middle-ring friends—is the secret ingredient that helps us live in a kind of kindred unity that enriches our lives. [Dutch theologian] Henri Nouwen said, “We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another.” I imagine he was referencing the parable of the Good Samaritan crossing the road to help someone in

“

What I imagine made it even more chilling for him is that he likely knew some of the men under those hoods.

One of Carrie Banwell’s earliest memories—the horror of a 1966 KKK rally

www.groton.org

voces

need. Of course, it is so easy to be that kind of neighbor with a closer, inner-ring friend, or to post something on Instagram about the poor neighbor being stuck on the other side of the street. But when was the last time you helped a kid you don’t really know well with homework, or sat beside someone you don’t like at an all-school lecture, or joined a group that is not your crowd for lunch? When we are neighbors, we actually commit to a shared goal of making the neighborhood better. And the only way to do that is by being more compassionate. Although many of us are often empathetic to other people and their problems, compassion is not the same as empathy. It goes deeper. “Empathy refers to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person, and compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help.” 2 You’re being compassionate when a loner is hanging out by herself in the common room and you sit down and hang with her, or when a classmate makes a big mistake and you give him a second chance. “Research shows that when we feel compassion, our heart rates slow down, we secrete the ‘bonding’ hormone oxytocin, and regions of our brains linked to empathy, caregiving, and feelings of pleasure light up.” 3 This often bathes us in feelings of gratitude and

results in our wanting to approach and care for even more people. The most important directive for humans stands on this concept and is found in religions across all our cultures (from Islam to Christianity, Judaism to Buddhism, Hinduism to Confucianism): do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It couldn’t be simpler. Have some compassion for those who are not just like you, and dive headfirst, with gratitude, into the neighborhood to help make things better. Here at Groton, there are a lot of good people working hard to give us the tools we need to help us be good neighbors. And as you get this right, as you treat middlering friends with compassion and gratitude, perhaps you will come to know that success is not that with which we parents all seem to be so concerned. It’s not in your SAT scores or your college acceptances, your erg score or how many varsity teams you’re on or the role you played in the musical this winter or the number of clubs you lead. Maybe success is just the acceptance and compassion you inspire in other people. Maybe it’s that grand and that simple at the same time. 2-3 www.greatergood.berkeley.edu

Frank Bruni ’15

“

We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another.”

The Banwell family: Carrie, Clement ’19, Turner ’15, Allie ’12, and Ian

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

A C H A P E L TA L K

by George Klein ’16 May 2, 2016

Seeing

the Trees for the Forest

s I was growing up, my parents often told me that “everybody has something.” While at first this phrase seems incredibly vague, those three words have held a lot of meaning for me throughout my life. The saying “everybody has something” was a way for my parents to explain that everyone else had something on their minds as well, that I wasn’t alone in my anxieties and frustrations. The other members of the world had baggage they carried around with them too: their problems, disappointments, and stresses. With that being said, I’d like to talk about a bit of my own “something.” It’s a bit that I’ve been battling for a long time, and didn’t truly start to overcome until this past winter, but I’ll get to that later. First, I want to tell you three stories that I’ve picked out from over the last couple of years. The first story occurred during the annual cross-country preseason trip up to Maine, a trip in which there is a lot of running, a lot of hiking, a lot of swimming, and not a lot of sleep. I first went on the Maine trip as a Fourth Former, unsure of what to expect. I had joined the cross-country team on an impulse, after a less-than-stellar thirds soccer career. After two years of trying to move my long, discombobulated legs in a soccer-player-like fashion, I was ready for a change. My friend Michael told me I should try cross country and that was pretty much that. However, I’m not exactly sure why we signed up for the preseason trip. Generally speaking, experienced runners are the ones who go on the trip and I was anything but. On our first day in Maine, Mr. Capen described the eight-mile run ahead of us, and that was when I realized my problem. I had never run eight miles, or six, or four, or even two. Palms sweaty, I looked for a way out. Could I fake being sick? Could I roll my ankle? Could I pretend to pass out? My mind was racing but the team was already moving

www.groton.org

George and friends after his chapel talk

voces

“

With the wind running past my head, my sneakers bouncing off the gravel, and the team cheering me on, I started looking forward to the next day’s run for the first time.

forward. For the first ten minutes or so, Michael and I were fine: breathing heavily, cramping a little, but keeping up with everyone else. Then, our annoyed captain scolded the team. ”Come on guys, let’s really run.” The team shot off, leaving only dust behind them. Michael and I were not in the lead. We weren’t in the middle of the pack either. We were far back, unable to see or hear anyone else. Sore, fatigued, and with blisters beginning to form on our feet, we quickly adopted one of long distance running’s most illustrious and ancient strategies: walking the uphills and jogging the downhills. This strategy achieves without fail the same results: the loss of any sort of rhythm and the exacerbation of previous physical troubles. So as we made our way more slowly with every second, we adopted another illustrious and ancient strategy of long distance running: walking until someone sees you. Somehow, some way, after limping our way for a long while, we finally came to the finish. We could see the pole that marked the end of the run, and the rest of the team standing there. They were clapping and shouting for us to sprint. I had two main thoughts on my mind: 1. Why is everyone clapping? We’re in last. We stink. 2. I don’t want to sprint. I really don’t want to sprint. Taking action, I hastily told Michael, “Don’t sprint, dude. We can fake it.” But I knew that I was in trouble when Michael grew his famous wide-faced grin and giggled. 74

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

HEHEHEHEHE. He took off. Cursing, I followed him, moving my aching body as speedily as I could. And that’s when something happened: I actually began to enjoy myself. With the wind running past my head, my sneakers bouncing off the gravel, and the team cheering me on, I started looking forward to the next day’s run for the first time. Let’s move on to the second story, which took place during last September’s preseason cross-country trip, two years after the events I just described. I mentioned before that there is a lot of swimming during the cross-country trip—but those words simply do not do the amount of swimming justice. We swim in swimming pools, heated saltwater swimming pools, mountain pools, lakes, and ponds. We swim in the sea, off docks, and even in unidentified bodies of water lying next to the road. As the other members of the team know, I am not a bigtime swimmer. When I was little, my parents forced me to take lessons at the local YMCA. I often just stood, shivering, beside the pool until, ultimately, the instructors had to physically force me in. Why do I have such an aversion to swimming? For one reason, the coldness. I can’t stand the icy feeling when you first wade into the water, an icy feeling that consumes your entire body, removing all warmth in your limbs, until at last your head has been submerged. The cold never comes on gradually, either, but suddenly stabs you into agony. Another reason is the bottom surface of anywhere I’m swimming. Whether my feet are sensing the scrappy bottom of a pool or the muddy, mucky bottom of a lake, the sensation enclosing them is simply unpleasant. I’m also a pretty poor swimmer, probably due to my avoidance of the activity throughout my entire childhood. So, back to the cross-country trip—my hostility towards swimming posed me a problem. I did find a couple of remedies in the beginning. The first method: simply not going in the water at all. This did secure my complete dryness, but could also be brutally awkward in the cases when I was the lone member of the team not swimming. I backed away from this strategy on the trip of my Fifth Form year when a man walked up to me by the pool and said, “You’re a thinker not a doer, aren’t you?” The line of questioning proved too deep for me and I resolved then to find other methods. Thus came into being the second method. I sat and just dipped my legs into the water, occasionally even putting my hands and wrists in. I liked to claim that this counted as a “half-swim” for me, but the others never bought it. This method did bring me closer to the action going on in the water, but it still removed me from the team and also resulted in an uneven body temperature. So eventually, I came to a third method: just sucking it up and going swimming. So when during this past trip we went swimming in a lake behind someone’s house, I took a deep breath and waded in, trying not to pay attention to what my feet were touching on the lake bottom.

There was a wooden platform hovering in the middle of the water, so the team started playing King of the Hill, a game in which someone tried to stand alone on the platform after much pushing and shoving. Somehow I soon found myself on top of the platform. I shouted, basking in my good fortune after showing such bravery—I did go swimming after all. That’s when these huge, disgusting, mud-spider things from the darkest corners of my nightmares exploded out of the wooden platform and began to cover everything, including my feet and ankles. I shrieked, sounding kind of like Dobby the House Elf, and launched myself off the platform. Did I proceed to cut my foot on a sharp rock? Yes. Did I have to wash off my cut in the bathroom of the family behind whose house we had been swimming? Yes. Did I have to cover it in glittery Dora the Explorer Band-Aids, since those were the only Band-Aids the family had? Yes. Are my dreams now frequented by disgusting mud-spider things? Yes. But when the team eventually climbed aboard the bus, and we retold the story and laughed about it over and over again, I couldn’t help but think about how happy I was that I had chosen to go swimming. OK, now to the third and final story. It was a Monday night last winter term, and a sheet of ice had completely covered the campus. At eight o‘clock, right after the Second Formers left the dorm for study hall, Zahin, Michael, and I decided to go sledding down some icy hills. We took off the tops of some of our storage bins, which had already proven themselves to be speedy. With our sleds in hand, we set off. So we went sledding and, to be honest, nothing very interesting happened for the next hour or so, until an idea arose among the group. Each of us would walk for a minute into the forest, and when we couldn’t see anything in the darkness we would stop and wait for the next person. It was the type of activity that takes place at one of those “experience the wilderness” birthday parties that everyone goes to in elementary school. Michael went first, his feet crunching against the snow and ice of the forest bottom. His figure disappeared. Zahin followed, and then it was my turn. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to walk into the forest. The darkness was overpowering, and my throat was tightening up. I couldn’t let go. My feet just wouldn’t move forward. So I simply turned around, shouted that I was going back to the dorm, and shuffled shamefully towards Brooks House. Now a lot of you are probably thinking by this time, “Ugh! George Klein is such a weenie! Ugh!” And you’re right. I was thinking the same thing. But why was I acting like such a weenie? Well, walking back to the dorm with my sled tucked tightly under my arm was the moment when I started to “get it.” “Get it” is a phrase I heard Mr. Lyons use last year in our U.S. History class, and it has stuck with me since. Our class hadn’t done well on the famous Constitution test, and he repeatedly urged us to be students who “get it.” “Getting it,”

to me, means a few things: it means you understand what’s happening, you know what you have to do about what’s happening, and then you go out and actually do what you have to, if that makes any sense. That night, last winter, I finally understood what had been happening: I had been letting my worries and fears consume me. Not only that, but I realized that I had been letting them consume me for the entirety of my Groton career. I’ve constantly been in a state of anxious worry here: anxious about what other people thought of me, anxious about an upcoming math quiz, anxious about a sports game, anxious about a whole lot of other things. A teacher wrote in one of my Third Form comments that I “saw the trees but not the forest.” When I first read the comment I laughed it off. What could he possibly know about my inner psyche? I assured myself it was simply a case of that teacher reading too much into my class performance. But he was right. I’ve spent my time at Groton so wrapped up in all my little worries that I didn’t notice the big picture. Time goes by quickly here. The days and weeks can drag on seemingly forever—we all have so much crammed into our schedules that it can be hard to unwind even a little. We rush around and rush around and don’t stop, constantly panicked about what needs to get done. Yet somehow, the months and the years zoom right by. When I first arrived at Groton for Second Form, five years sounded like an eternity, but now that the eternity is almost over, I just wish I had more time. I wish I had more time to create lasting memories. Groton is an incredible opportunity that many would give an arm or a leg for, but it took me too long to appreciate all that Groton means. I spent so much time caught up in my daily issues that I failed to perceive what really mattered. Decades (or even years) later, I’m not going to remember what random people thought about me, I’m not going to remember an October calculus quiz, and I’m not going to remember a mistake I made in a JV basketball game. I’m going to remember running with the cross-country team, going swimming and meeting terrifying spiders, spending 10-12 with the other FC’s prefects, afternoons in the Athletic Center with Edis and Drew, and all those other moments with friends that stay with us forever. This year, Sixth Form, has been my favorite year at Groton—because after I walked back to the dorm with my sled, I strove not to let my worries get the better of me. Now, when I’m feeling anxious about a little “tree,” I keep my eyes on the whole forest. I have a month left here and I want to make the most of it, to make up for all the memories I lost out on due to my worrying. “Everybody has something.” But don’t be a weenie like me. Overcome that “something,” that worry you know is holding you back. Overcome it earlier than I did. You’ll get the most out of your Groton experience, which is something I wish I could say. I envy all of you sitting over here in this chapel, because you still have lots of time, and I don’t. Make the most of your time.

www.groton.org

book review

Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice Curtis Sittenfeld ’93 Review by Cate Tynan O’Dwyer ’94 When I first opened the email asking me to write this review, I have to admit that I balked. Perhaps this conversation with my husband will elucidate my response: Me: I’ve been asked to review Eligible for the Groton Quarterly, but I’m not sure if I want to. Him: Why not? Me: It’s a modern retelling of P&P, so…

de libris

Him: P&P? What the heck is that? Me [flabbergasted]: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! Him: Do you really abbreviate Pride and Prejudice to P&P? You are a huge English nerd. Me [after a few moment of silence]: Everyone does it. That defensive, overly familiar love of Austen’s classic is the reason that Eligible sat, un-purchased, in my Amazon shopping cart even though I’d added it long before it was published. I thought, I’ll read it this summer. But I kept putting it off, even after I’d agreed to review it, and even though summer affords me, as an English teacher, blessed stretches of time (read: minutes — I also have kids) to read for pleasure. But what if, I worried, it didn’t live up to my (admittedly nerdy) fondness for the original? What if, dear reader, I didn’t like it? When I finally did pick it up, it didn’t take Curtis Sittenfeld long — just one sentence — to allay my fears. Austen’s iconic first line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” sets the tone for a novel that throws a very sharp light on societal expectations of class, marital status, and gender. Austen’s wry, ironic statement about “universal” truths becomes, in Sittenfeld’s present-day comedy, a simple statement of fact, that, “Well before his arrival in Cincinnati, everyone knew that Chip Bingley was looking for a wife.” For Sittenfeld’s Bingley (a dashing young doctor) is in fact the star of a Bacheloresque reality dating show called “Eligible,” which “everyone” watches and then pretends not to. In this, and in myriad other ways, Sittenfeld uses the social critique established by Austen

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

to insightfully and humorously remind us that, in some ways, very little has changed since the original was published just over two hundred years ago. Set in Sittenfeld’s hometown of Cincinnati, which she describes lovingly as a city that reflects both a genteel, provincial past and a cutting-edge future, Eligible chronicles a year (or so) in the life of the Bennet family, primarily from the perspective of their second daughter, Liz. Expensive private school educations for all five of the Bennet daughters have resulted in five women, now between twenty-three and (gasp!) nearly forty, who are, in descending order, a yoga instructor, a writer, a perpetual student, and two unemployed Crossfit addicts. Only the eldest two daughters have moved out of the house; all remain unmarried and are still being supported, in one way or another, by their parents. The family trust fund, after years of gradual winnowing by Mr. Bennet (who Liz comes to realize is “one of those men who push around piles of his family’s money”) and by Mrs. Bennet (a closet bigot, overt snob, and compulsive shopper), takes a major hit when the uninsured Mr. Bennet becomes ill and the resulting medical bills place the family—who are all, except the pragmatic Liz, either oblivious or in denial — in dire financial straits. Unlike in the original, however, financial ruin is staved off not by rich men — although there are plenty of those in Eligible, and the modern Mrs. Bennet remains entrenched in an antiquated worldview that pins all her hopes on her daughters’ ability to marry well — but by the daughters themselves, who, led by Liz, come reluctantly to terms with the reality the family now faces. Liz’s primary love interest remains the haughty and freakishly wealthy Fitzwilliam Darcy, but their relationship evolves in a manner which, without giving anything away, both honors Austen’s original and reflects today’s more “open,” shall we say, courtship rituals. Sittenfeld addresses the same broad themes raised in the original through decidedly modern issues such as gender identity, casual sex, racism, artificial insemination, reality television, and — hilariously — modern manners. Many of the challenges that her characters face would, surely, have been unimaginable to Austen and her contemporaries, and I myself blushed on more than one occasion while reading. But while Sittenfeld’s novel is decidedly lighter, punchier, funnier, and sexier than the original, she maintains the same narrative tone as her forebear did, clearly loving her characters even as she illustrates their weaknesses in sharp detail. Honoring and yet modernizing that authorial voice must surely have been Sittenfeld’s greatest challenge in recreating a book that she clearly reveres every bit as much as the Austenites whose love of the original, like mine, borders on obsession. Her ability to craft characters who remain relatable in spite of, or perhaps because of, their flaws, ensures that readers — whether English nerds or not — won’t be disappointed.

FALL EXHIBIT

de Menil Gallery and Christopher Carey Brodigan Gallery

“The Insanity of Violence” Gordon Chase September 18 – November 11, 2016

The de Menil Gallery is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays (except Wednesdays) and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends (except school holidays). The Brodigan Gallery, located on the Dining Hall’s ground level, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays (except school holidays). Both are free and open to the public.

“Why do humans act so violently? Is this what it takes to survive, let alone to flourish and to thrive? “In the twenty-first century, how is possible that so many terrible conflicts still occur, that countless refugees have to run or swim for their lives, and that so many perish or suffer when deliberately targeted as the ‘other’? Does the human race possess an urge for self-destruction? Is patriarchy to blame? Why is it so difficult for us to understand that life is sacred?” Gordon Chase poses these questions in an artist’s statement, and tackles them in his artwork, on display this fall in both of Groton School’s galleries — sculpture in the de Menil and drawings in the Brodigan. Groton’s curators, Monika Andersson (de Menil) and Beth Van Gelder (Brodigan), cooperated to give as much attention as possible to Chase’s theme of nonviolence — as Monika said, to “double up on this very important message.” Gordon taught art for forty years, including at Groton School from 1971 to 1978. His “art with a social conscience” continues to provoke viewers to think about violence, life, and identity, and to forcefully question ingrained assumptions.

grotoniana

“The Firestarter,” 30x44 inches, charcoal, 2015

“The Insanity of Violence,” 12x12x6 feet, marine plywood, 2015

www.groton.org

Photographs by Christopher Temerson

This page, clockwise from right: Lyndsey Toce ’19, Lily Cratsley ’19, and Andrew Porter ’20; Amy Lu ’19; Karla Sanford ’19 and Julien Alam ’19; exchange student Anna Cardy; Karla; and Matt Efros ’16. Opposite page, Richie Santry ’18, John Lamson ’18 and Lily; Zahin Das ’16 and Jack Fitzpatrick ’16; Sophie Conroy ’19 and Josie Fulton ‘18

The biennial Short Play Festival gives Groton students the chance to assume any type of role in a production — whether they want to be on stage, behind the scenes, or part of the creative process. The one-act plays are written, directed, managed, and performed by students. And rehearsals occur during free periods, allowing athletes to participate. It’s theater at its most inclusive.

Michael You â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16

grotoniana Follow Groton Athletics on Twitter:

@GrotonZebras

Photographs by Jon Chase

Boys Tennis 12–3 The boys varsity tennis team completed an impressive season, earning an invitation to the Class A New England Championships. Though they lost in the first round, they played well and with heart. Highlights of the spring include an 8–7 victory, late in the season, against a previously undefeated team from BB&N. On that day, every boy on the squad won at least one set. It was a true team victory. Groton played another very strong match away at St. George’s, defeating a talented team. The boys celebrated with a quick run down to the ocean to cool off. After all ISL matches were over, four

Groton players headed to the New England Prep School Invitational Tournament (NEPSIT) at Choate. MacGregor Beatty ’17 and Sam Girian ’18 won the doubles championship, Captain Michael You took third place in the “A” singles, and Nico Davidoff won the “B” singles. It was a wonderful culmination to a great season. This team had great poise and a fighting spirit. With the support of managers Emma Cusano ’16 and Lizzie Tobeason ’16, who served us well for two years, the boys worked hard each and every day. I will long remember this team and the incredible leadership offered by Michael You ’16.” — Coach John Conner P’11, ’14, ’16, ’19

Girls Tennis 13–3 The varsity girls tennis season was enormously successful by any measure. At the end of it all, the team had earned a record of 13–3, second place in the ISL, and a tie for third at the Class A New England Championships. More importantly, the players had formed a tight-knit group: they practiced hard with one another and competed even harder for each other. With a host of strong players back from last year’s team — including Maddy Forbess ’16 at the top of the ladder — and the addition of Elizabeth Girian ’20, we came into the season with high hopes. It was, therefore, a bit of a shock to open with

Spring SPORTS

grotoniana

a decisive loss to an outstanding Andover team, followed by a narrow loss on a cold day at Deerfield. One week into the season, this talented, ambitious team was 0–2. Fortunately, the leadership of Sixth Formers Maddy Forbess, Claire Peabody, Jessica Saunders, and Captain Sunny Chai helped the team to learn from the early losses, work hard in practice, and look ahead to the next opponents. The next twelve, actually. That’s the number of consecutive wins the team racked up. Time and time again, we faced solid opponents who hit the ball well and played with impressive determination. Time and time again, the Groton players came up with the extra measure of focus and desire

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

needed to win the big points. As a result, several matches that were close on the court ended up looking extremely lopsided on the scoreboard. Most notable were an 11– 4 win over perennial powerhouse Thayer, a decisive 7–2 win over Hotchkiss, and a long, hard-earned 12–3 result at Nobles. The closest match during that stretch was against Middlesex, who played better than their record to come out of singles at 6–6 before we put our top players in to sweep the doubles sets. The stage was set for high drama in the quarterfinals of the Class A New Englands. Groton was seeded #3, above Deerfield, who had beaten us in the first week of the season. Having improved a great deal since

then, the Groton players were determined to take advantage of this opportunity to avenge the early loss. It was a close and well-played match, and when the team score came to 4– 4, Elizabeth Girian was ahead in her final set and would let nothing stop her from closing out the match. In the final week of the season, the Groton winning streak finally came to an end with a loss to a stellar Milton team. Even in defeat, the Groton players were gracious and came away with more sets than any other team in the league had taken from Milton. The season ended on a high note, with yet another hard-earned, high-quality, decisive win over St. Mark’s, 15–0. Excellent sportsmanship? Check. Winning

Opposite page, clockwise from left: Nick David ’18; Sammy Johnson ‘16; (from back) Will Norton ’17, Charlie Patton ’16, John Cecil ’17, and (this page) Nick Barry ’16 This page, from far left: Olivia Potter ’18, Matt Mullen ’17, Catherine Qiao ’18

record? Check. High finish in the ISL and at New Englands? Check. Beat St. Mark’s? Check. Strong Sixth Form leadership? Check. Players who improved rapidly during the season? Check. Teammates who supported each other through thick and thin? Check. By any measure, this season was an unqualified success! — Coach Dave Prockop P’15, ’17

Boys Crew 8–2–1 Last year’s first-place finish at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championships was powered by a squad deep in Sixth Formers. With the graduation of many talented

oarsmen, it looked like this would be a rebuilding season. To fill the gaps left by graduation, the top four boats included ten boys new to varsity. But led by captains Nick Barry ’16, Charlie Patton ’16, and Andrew Sudol ’16, the boys had an excellent preseason and began the spring with characteristic optimism. In the first race, Groton’s third and fourth boats beat both BB&N and Nobles, while the first and second boats beat BB&N but lost to Nobles’ boats that were rated much higher. By the next week, our crews had found their speed and swept St. Mark’s and Middlesex. At the Pomfret regatta, the first boat jumped out on last year’s NEIRA champions, Deerfield, and beat them by a

length. It was a fine race and convinced us that we had the potential to race with the best crews in New England. The next week, at the Wayland Weston Regatta, our crews stumbled a bit and were third, behind Belmont Hill and Nobles. On a very choppy Lake Cochichewick at Brooks, none of the Groton crews rowed very well, and both Belmont Hill and Choate got the better of us. We shook up the lineups of the second and third boats. Confidence is a big part of racing, and when our crews rowed aggressively, determined to stay ahead, they found the qualities that they needed. At home on the calm waters of the Nashua for Alumni Day, all four of our crews rowed magnificently

www.groton.org

This page, right (from front): Layla McDermott ’18, Anna Reilly ’16, Lauren Kochis ’17, Kate Hyde ’18. Below left: Sophie Wilder ’16; below right (from front): Andrew Sudol ’16, Hayden Futch ’16, Clement Banwell ’19, and Richie Santry ’18 Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Eddie Uong ’17, Tyler Forbes ’18, Angelina Joyce ‘18, Claire Peabody ’16

grotoniana

and avenged their earlier loss to Nobles. The season concluded on a somewhat disappointing note at the NEIRA, although the boys earned three medals. This ended up being good enough for a second-place team finish, tying us with Choate behind Belmont Hill. The decision that had been made three weeks earlier to go to Henley looked sound. We had the potential to race very well. Next year’s team will be led by tri-captains John Cecil ’17, Will Norton ’17, and Piper Higgins ’17. It is unusual for a coxswain to be a team captain, and even more so for a girl to be a captain of a boys team, but Piper’s experience and dedication to her teammates won her a lot of votes. This was the first time since 1991 that I

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

coached boys, and I enjoyed working with them very much. — Coach Andy Anderson P’15, ’17, ’20

Girls Crew 7–3 The girls crew team had a strong season this spring, led by senior captains Ross Ewald, Candace Tong-Li, and Nena Atkinson (who, unfortunately, was not able to row due to a knee injury). Despite the loss of a captain and another season with a very young team, the Groton girls crew worked extremely hard and gradually gained speed every week, keeping the NEIRA championship in their sight. The regular season produced a few early

losses to Deerfield and Taft in the first boat, but also some nice victories, particularly against BB&N and Choate. The goal for championships was to get all four varsity boats into the finals, which the girls accomplished; also, the first boat was able to finally beat St. Mark’s, in a beautifully rowed morning heat. Groton was one of only three schools to get all four varsity boats into the grand finals at NEIRAs this year, and we finished third in the overall points results, behind Winsor and Nobles. We wish our seniors all the best; good luck to Candace Tong-Li, who will be coxing for MIT in the fall. — Coach Tiffany Doggett P’17, ’19

Baseball 6–11 The 2016 Groton School baseball team (@ GrotonSchool9) finished with an overall record of 6–11, and an ISL record of 6–9. As always, the team had high expectations coming into the season, and although the final record was disappointing, the boys worked hard throughout the spring. With only three Sixth Form starters, the Groton Nine had a lot of young players who gained a tremendous amount of valuable experience. The future is bright for Groton baseball. The team started the season off in late March with our annual trip to Florida for spring training. After a week of hard work and preparation, the Groton Nine headed up

north and opened the 2016 season in early April against Cushing Academy. After the non-league opening loss, they finished the month with a 3–3 league record, with wins against Governor’s, Roxbury Latin, and St. Paul’s. Inconsistent defense and some early pitching woes were evident in the losses, as the team leaned on some of the younger players to assume larger roles earlier than planned. Throughout this up-and-down time, the boys continued to show up to practice with a tremendous attitude and work ethic, aiming to put together a winning streak. The month of May started with a few disappointing losses that tested the team further, as they fell to Brooks, Andover, and Middlesex. Offensively and in the field, the

team struggled to put seven complete innings together in order to stay competitive. But the middle of May saw a nice turnaround, with upset wins on the road against cross-town rival Lawrence Academy and perennial league power Belmont Hill. Groton also played great games against the eventual league champions, BB&N and Milton Academy, with great pitching that just fell short late in the game. The season finished on a high note, with an extra-inning, 3–2 win against our rivals, St. Mark’s. The game was won in dramatic fashion when Sixth Form Captain Arthur Jelin stole home on the final play of the game. This year’s team was led by Arthur and

www.groton.org

Left: Nico Davidoff ’17; below left: Jay Montima ’18. Below: Rowers after winning the Cooke Family Cup against Nobles, Groton’s oldest rowing rival (first race: 1922). Holding the cup are Captains Candace Tong-Li ’16, Ross Ewald ’16, Nick Barry ’16, Charlie Patton ’16, and Andrew Sudol ’16

BOYS BASEBALL

BOYS VARSITY LACROSSE

GIRLS VARSITY LACROSSE

BOYS VARSITY CREW

GIRLS VARSITY CREW

TRACK AND FIELD

Most Valuable Player Ward Betts ‘16

Most Improved Player Tripp Stup ‘17

Most Improved Player Paul Malone ‘18

Most Valuable Player John Beatty ‘16

Coaches’ Award Anna Thorndike ‘16 Sophie Wilder ‘16 Caroline Fisher ‘17

Captains-elect John Cecil ‘17 Will Norton ‘17 Piper Higgins ‘17

Captains-elect Verity Lynch ‘17 Eleonor Wolf ‘17 Hallie Bereday ‘17

Most Valuable Runners Noah Aaron ‘18 Kai Volcy ‘17

BOYS VARSITY TENNIS

GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS

Coaches’ Award Alexandra Conner ‘16

ISL All-League MacGregor Beatty ‘17 Michael You ‘16 Sam Girian ‘18

Most Valuable Player Maddy Forbess ‘16

ISL Honorable Mention Montanna Riggs ‘19

Coaches’ Award Sunny Chai ‘16

Captains-elect Tyler Brooks ‘17 Michael Aduboffour ‘17 Kai Volcy ‘17 Coco Wallace ‘17

Rookie of the Year Shane Kim ‘16

Fred Beams’ Award Mike Brown ‘16 J.P. Neenan ‘16

ISL All-League Ward Betts ‘16 ISL Honorable Mention Arthur Jelin ‘16 Eddie Uong ‘17 Captains-elect Eddie Uong ‘17 Jay Montima ‘18

ISL All-League John Beatty ‘16 Taggart Eymer ‘17 ISL Honorable Mention Mike Brown ‘16 Tyler Forbes

ISL All-League Anna Thorndike ‘16

ISL Honorable Mention Sophie Wilder ‘16 Captains-elect Marcella Flibotte ‘17 Caroline Fisher ‘17 Charlotte McLean ‘17

Captains-elect Taggart Eymer ‘17 Tripp Stup ‘17 Tyler Forbes ‘18

Groton School Quarterly • Fall 2016

Captain-elect Nico Davidoff ‘17 MacGregor Beatty ‘17

ISL All-League Maddy Forbess ‘16 Sunny Chai ‘16 Honorable Mention Catherine Qiao ‘18 2017 Captains-elect Sangah Lee ‘18 Elechi Egwuekwe ‘18

Most Improved Runner Montanna Riggs ‘19

Co-Captain Jack Fitzpatrick ’16, as well as infielder Ward Betts ’16. Jack filled a big hole defensively at first base and was a middle-of-the-lineup hitter who came up with several big plays throughout the season. Arthur, a four-year varsity player, provided tremendous leadership, grit, and timely hitting. The final play of his high school career, the steal of home against St. Mark’s, will go down as one of the most exciting plays in Groton baseball history. Ward was Groton’s top hitter and a defensive star as he played both shortstop and second base. One of the top players in the league, he earned AllLeague honors and will be sorely missed as he moves on to play at the next level. All of our Sixth Form players showed tremendous work ethic throughout their Groton careers and provided the leadership and example that is critical to our program. Our young players grew significantly this spring, mainly because of the daily example our Sixth Form leaders set. As we look forward to 2017, Groton baseball is well positioned to compete in a strong ISL. With six starters returning, strong pitching, and several new incoming players, the team will look to improve on their 2016 record. Our program’s goal, through hard work, attention to detail, and the will to win, is to have a chance to win every game in one of the toughest leagues around. — Coach Glenn DiSarcina P’13, ’17

Track and Field Groton Track and Field had one of its most successful seasons. Thirty-one girls and boys participated, and eleven qualified for the New England championships. Several school records were set, and the girls team enjoyed its highest finish ever — fourth place at the New England Prep School Track Association (NEPSTA) Division III Championships. Alexandra Conner ’16, Coco Wallace ’17, Kochoe Nikoi ’19, and Montanna Riggs ’19 set a school record in the girls 4x100-meter relay, placing third of thirteen teams, with a time of 52.38 seconds. Alexandra, a cocaptain, set school records in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, scoring ten points for the team. In the 100-meter dash, Kochoe qualified for the finals and finished fifth in a strong field of sprinters. Kochoe also set a new school record of 13.45 seconds during the season. Other school records were set by Fifth Former Zizi Kendall (9 feet in the pole vault), Fifth Former Kai Volcy (4 feet

10 inches in the high jump), Third Former Montanna Riggs (16 feet 5 inches in the long jump), and Fourth Former Noah Aaron (5 feet 10 inches in the high jump). The boys’ 4x100-meter relay team — Noah Aaron ’18, Michael Aduboffour ’17, Tyler Brooks ’17, and Paul Lopez ’17— finished third to set a school record of 44.5 seconds. Once again, the team practiced at the Ayer High School track, with Head Coach Bill Maguire leading the distance runners; Ronnie Dixon coaching the long jumpers, sprinters, and hurdlers; and Sally Klose coaching the throwing events (shot put and javelin). Congratulations to Sixth Formers Alexandra Conner, Stefano Viacava, and Ethan Woo for their leadership and for a great season. — Coach Bill Maguire

Boys Lacrosse 4–13 Competing in the talent-laden ISL is always a tall order for boys varsity lacrosse, but the leadership of tri-captains John Beatty ’16, Mike Brown ’16, and Wells Burrell ’16, as well as their fellow seniors, helped instill a work ethic, team unity, enthusiasm, and positive attitude that set the tone for this spirited team, green with youth. With up to seven freshmen and sophomores seeing significant playing time, our team battled week in and week out, often playing formidable opponents evenly early in the game, only to run out of gas as the contest waned. Coaches Greg Hefler, Andrew Zincke, and I drilled the boys daily on the fundamentals of the game as well as basic team concepts, and the group made remarkable progress throughout the season. A core of hard-working and eager underformers logged considerable minutes in all positions, from goalie through the midfield and to the attack. In every game, Middlebury-bound John Beatty drew the opponent’s top midfield defender and still proved threatening. John and Bowdoinbound Mike Brown were always at the center of play — nearest the ball — where the best players consistently find themselves, whether they were winning the ground war, playing tough one-on-one defense, clearing the ball, or driving to the cage. Our Sixth Formers brought out the best in their teammates, as strong leaders do. Taggart Eymer ’17, a three-year starter and impact player, and Tyler Forbes ’18, who

exhibited precocious leadership, join Tripp Stup ’17, the team’s Most Improved Player, as tri-captains for 2017. As much as we look forward to next year, we will miss all the seniors: John, Mike, and Wells, as well as Aron Cho, Adam Hauke, John MacEachern, J.P. Neenan, Will Robbins, and manager Will Corman. It was an honor to have them as part of our program. Our 2017 squad will return healthy numbers, with some promising young hopefuls. Most important, though, will be their work ethic, coachability, spirit, and camaraderie — groundwork successfully laid by the Form of 2016. Many thanks to JV Coaches Jamie Funnell and Peter Fry for their support and enthusiasm, as well as to all parents, alumni, and friends. The post-game goodies were a morale boost all season long. — Coach Bob Low

Girls Lacrosse 6–9 Girls lacrosse had a good season this year, including incredibly close games against Governor’s, Brooks, and Milton. The high point was a win in the final moments against a strong BB&N team. That impressive team effort, toward the end of the season, gave the team the momentum to compete against some of our toughest opponents at the end of the season. The team made significant strides throughout the season in both skill and chemistry on the field. After some close losses, it would have been easy for the girls simply to go through the motions in the final weeks, but instead they rallied together and continued to compete, which resulted in some of our toughest defensive play and most disciplined and organized attacks. Our fantastic group, led by six Sixth Formers, loved competing and playing together on the field. The team brought energy, drive, and enthusiasm day in and day out; they pushed themselves and each other. More than anything, I was overwhelmingly impressed by the kindness they showed one another throughout the tough times. We are looking forward to building on this season’s successes in spring of 2017. — Coach Eileen Giles

www.groton.org

Form notes

R Form Notes are now password-protected. Members of the Groton community may read them online by signing in at www.groton.org/myGroton.

Henry “Harry” Chandler ’42 February 14, 1925 –February 19, 2016 by Bruce Chandler ’46

P H

ARRY CHANDLER often reflected

in memoriam

on how lucky he was to have had a wind at his back. His was a full and interesting life, right up until he died, four days after his ninety-first birthday. My cherished recollections include Harry teaching me how to ski on a hilly golf course and crewing for him on a sailboat during summer vacations. As a result of my brother’s tutelage, skiing and sailing became lifelong passions for me. Harry was the third oldest of four brothers who attended Groton from 1937 to 1946. He was secretary/ treasurer of the Missionary Society, won the science prize in his Sixth Form year, and rowed in the first boat. He loved skiing with some of his classmates and being instructed by the French master, Roger Moore, himself an excellent skier. Harry was still at Groton when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and after graduation he followed our two older brothers to Yale, where he joined the Navy V–12 program. In his sophomore year, he was made battalion commander of all the seamen in Davenport (a residential college at Yale). The head of Davenport was our uncle, Henry E. Tuttle, who had taught at Groton . . . small world. After completing his junior year, Harry was assigned to midshipman school at Columbia University, graduating #2 in his class. The balance of his naval service was spent aboard a destroyer escort. He returned home in 1946, and went back to Yale to complete his senior year. It was then time to go to work, and in 1947, he started his thirty-three-year career at Quaker Oats, spending time at plants and in offices throughout the Midwest. In 1951, he married Clarissa (Chris) Haffner. They had four children: Laura, Harry Jr., Edward, and Phoebe.

Groton School Quarterly

•

Fall 2016

In 1962, Harry returned to company headquarters in Chicago, where he spent the rest of his career in senior management. In 1974, Harry Jr. was severely injured, becoming a quadriplegic. However, with the help of his family, he turned this tragedy into a triumph: finishing college, earning a master’s degree, and working at an insurance company. Harry was dedicated to, and instrumental in, furthering handicapped causes in Chicago. Harry retired from Quaker Oats in 1980. True to Groton’s commitment to serving the community, he continued his long association with the Chicago YMCA, which was started by our great-grandfather and evangelist Dwight Moody. Harry also served on the boards of the Nature Conservancy of Illinois, the Lake Michigan Federation, and the Field Museum. He served Lake Forest for three two-year terms as an alderman. He will be remembered for his service to the community and for his deep devotion to his family and friends.

Groton School

P.O. Box 991 Groton, Massachusetts 01450-0991

BACK

CIRC LI

PAID

North Reading, MA Permit 6

Change Service Requested

Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage

Christopher Temerson

LEGEND HAS IT that Sir Isaac Newton developed his law of universal gravitation (gravity) after an apple fell from a tree at his home in Lincolnshire, England. Lesser known is that the legend reaches right here onto Groton’s Circle: apparently, that very tree has offspring just outside the Dining Hall (above).

Several grafts from Newton’s iconic tree were planted around England, and some apparently were shipped to the United States around World War II. But Groton archivist Doug Brown ’57 says that Groton most likely received its tree graft in the early 1960s. Alas, he has no record of how the tree got here.

Do you know anything about this tree or how it got to Groton? Please let us know at communications@groton.org.

FOLLOW GROTON: