Groton School Quarterly, Fall 2017

Groton School The Quarterly • Fall 2017 The Quarterly • Fall 2017

Mr. Peabody, Mrs. Peabody, fellow Grotonians, and friends of the school: It has been a long time—thirty-one years—since I sat down in the graduating form, and the Rector is just the same.[Mr. Peabody]: A little hard on the Rector. [Governor Roosevelt]: I was going to add that Mrs. Peabody looks even younger. I think I am a believer in relativity.

The other day there was an article published about a graduate of the school and it told something about his schooldays and mentioned the fact that Groton School was founded in 1792 [laughter] and that we had historic buildings here. Well, we have. We have historic buildings and we have great traditions. And s a matter of relativity. When I came here the oldes iving graduate was still the same oldest living gradu ate we have got Forgotten today. Why, he had been out of scho Prize Day Speech ten years! And I thought of him as a very old man And in those days we had already, ten or twelve year after the school was started, traditions; one boy, for nstance—I think it was one of the Adamses—was walking in his sleep in Brooks House dormitory one

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FDR’s

Groton School Fall 2017 • Volume LXXVIII, No. 3

The Quarterly

FDR’s Forgotten Prize Day Speech On June 12, 1931, while he was governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Form of 1900) addressed Groton’s graduates.

For decades, the speech escaped the attention of presidential historians. page 11

Prize Day page 28

Reunion Weekend page 44

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Message from the Headmaster

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Circiter / Around the Circle

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Personae / Profiles

57 Voces / Chapel Talks 66 De Libris / New Releases 68 Grotoniana / Arts 74 Grotoniana / Athletics 81 In Memoriam 83 Form Notes

Photo by Ellen Harasimowicz

Annie Card

Message from the Headmaster GROWING UP, my siblings and I would spend ten months

of the year with our paternal grandparents. There was no running water, no electricity, and we were always barefoot (except my mother and father). Compared to the other villagers, we were privileged. Ours was the only car in the village, and our house was the post office.

For the summer months, we became even more privileged.

My maternal grandparents would send a car, a Dodge Lancer, to fetch us, and we would go via oak-lined, tarred roads and a long driveway into grandpa and grandma’s house. There, we had electricity, refrigerators, a gardener, a cook, and an unlimited amount of food. We could eat to our heart’s content, surprising our stomachs. Back in the village, food had to be shared and never thrown away.

In the village, no white person ever visited, except the white police—the South African Police. One visitor in particular, with license plates SAP 1818, was feared by everyone except the children, who would shout what they had heard from their parents: “SAP is Satan After People.” We would run to warn the people the SAP had come to harass.

Miriam Makeba wrote a song called “Khawuleza,” which says, “Hurry up, Mama, and hide; they are coming into the house to harass you, Mama.” That was our reality.

In the town of Alice each summer, it was a different world with my Yale- and London School of Economics-educated grandfather, who was the principal of a college that, at the time, was attended by all races because it was founded by the church. Everyone in town, both black and white—even the police—referred to my grandparents as Mrs. Matthews and Prof. This would come to a screeching halt when the apartheid government had had enough of “uppity” blacks. They called my grandfather a troublemaker—an agitator who was

Editor Gail Friedman

Senior Editorial Advisor Elizabeth Wray Lawrence ‘82

Design Irene Chu

Form Notes Editor Jessica M. Hart Photographer/Editorial Assistant Christopher Temerson

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demanding more freedom than any “K-word” (an equivalent of the “N-word”) needed.

Grandpa, along with Nelson Mandela, would be arrested and charged with treason. Eventually, my grandfather left South Africa—after his town was declared a white area and blacks were no longer allowed to live there. In a flash, their privilege and rights were all taken away.

There is a good ending. Last year, the government bought the house and declared it a national heritage site because it is where my grandfather suggested the idea for—and co-wrote— the Freedom Charter, which outlined the principles that would form part of the foundation for the Constitution for a New South Africa. This is also where he met struggle heroes and sheroes (as we called them at the time), such as Nelson Mandela and Lillian Ngoyi, as well as those from the U.S. civil rights era, such as Ralph Bunche and Eslanda Robeson, the wife of Paul Robeson. They would visit my grandparents at 9 Gaga Street, in Alice, with messages from those who were fighting for civil rights and against racism in the U.S.

Freedoms can be fleeting; guard them jealously. Guard your planet jealously. Blessings are not valued until they are gone. Guard Groton jealously as well. A Groton education often enables a life of privilege. Some may choose to walk away from what the school represents, but many embrace the privilege and put it to work for the greater good.

Once a colleague goaded me by saying, “Temba, you are now part of the 1 percent.” He was surprised that I embraced my privilege and wondered why I did not feel guilty. I told him I had paid my dues. In addition, ordinary Americans have done extraordinary things to help my family become part of the 1 percent.

We embrace the privilege and opportunity with great appreciation and with a dose of humility. Refusing to feel guilt because of a healthy income is not arrogance—it is appreciation for what luck, struggle, and education have done for us. No one should feel such guilt because they had the privilege to attend Groton.

Recognize your privilege, embrace it, and put it to use for the greater good so that others, too, may have a chance to enjoy this very short life journey we are on.

Temba Maqubela Headmaster

Advisory Committee Amily Dunlap Kimberly A. Gerighty Elizabeth Z. Ginsberg P’16 Allison S. MacBride John D. MacEachern P’10, ‘14, ’16 Kathleen M. Machan

Editorial Offices The Schoolhouse Groton School Groton, MA 01450 978 - 448 -7506 quarterly@groton.org Send feedback, ideas, or letters to the editor to 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.

Gail Friedman

circiter

A RECORD-SETTING PRANK?

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he morning before Prize Day at 6:00 a.m., eight intrepid Sixth Formers walked over to a faculty member’s garage to pick up the secret project they had conceived in October and had planned since March.

Carefully, they gathered the 2,972 pieces of paper and 1,824 feet of tape, plus several tarps and lengths of rope, that connected into a mammoth work of tiled printing. The determined pranksters — Jack Fanikos, Rand Hough, Anson Jones, Zizi Kendall, Will Norton, Elle Santry, Victoria Wahba, and Chris Ye — moved the print from Classics teacher Andres Reyes’ ’80 garage to the Schoolhouse.

Their inspiration: another tiled print that the Form of 2008 had hung from Groton’s Chapel, leaving a legacy that is

still mentioned under “Tiled printing” on Wikipedia.

To create a tiled print, a special program places a grid on an image, then splits the image into tiles that can be printed individually and pieced back together. “We printed on Saturday and Sunday, cut all the pages Sunday night and Monday night, and taped all of the pages to the tarps Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,” said Zizi Kendall ’17.

The students believe they have broken the Form of 2008’s record, and perhaps even a world record. According to Wikipedia, the Form of 2008’s print — made of more than 1,500 sheets of 11-by-14-inch paper —was the largest ever at that time. It immortalized three faculty members, while the Form of 2017’s featured a different

icon: Bart Simpson, writing over and over and over, “We will not pull a prank.”

But pull a prank they did, blocking the front entrances to the Schoolhouse and covering most of its wide façade. The huge print just might put Groton back on the tiled printing map … or at least on the Wikipedia page. “We are uploading our photos and the technical information to a blog to get onto the Wikipedia page,” said Zizi, adding that they may also contact the Guinness Book of World Records.

Time will tell if the Form of 2017 will knock the Form of 2008 off its tiled printing pedestal. Regardless, students and faculty were amused by Bart Simpson’s woeful greeting and the Sixth Formers’ gargantuan effort to pull a memorable prank before Prize Day.

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A Successful Second Summer for GRACE hallenging. Helpful. Fun. Intense.

Engaging. Those were typical words listed by this summer’s GRACE Scholars on a survey asking them to describe their experience in Groton’s summer academic program. Twentyone students completed GRoton Accelerate Challenge Enrich (GRACE), held July 2–29, bolstering their readiness for Upper School and propelling themselves toward higher levels of study.

The 2017 GRACE program followed the successful pilot of the summer before. After the 2016 program, students performed well in classes that might otherwise have been challenging, said GRACE Program Director Dave Prockop P’15, ’17, while noting that there are too many variables to definitively attribute student success to GRACE. GRACE Scholars unequivocally entered fall classes with increased confidence and an abundance

of newly acquired knowledge.

The 2017 GRACE Scholars reinforced skills or prepared for higher-level courses in math, chemistry, English, or Latin — in some cases in two of those subjects. One student reported on the survey, “I feel like it has prepared me very well both material-wise and in terms of work ethic.” Another said, “Too early to tell, but I think it will pay off big time.”

GRACE teachers, all full-time Groton faculty members, praised the more relaxed summer environment and marveled at how much students could master when focusing on only one or two subjects. “The students were always curious about how much of the regular year’s material they had covered and were impressed by how much they had learned in such a short time,” said chemistry teacher Sandra Kelly.

Weekend and evening trips, plus regular

Dave Prockop

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Emma Beard ’20 and Joshua Guo ’20

afternoon activities, bring an element of summer camp to GRACE. Excursions, from whitewater rafting to ziplining, took advantage of the New England summer. An enrichment class in music taught by Director of Instrumental Music Mary Ann Lanier culminated in a trip to hear a Zydeco band in Northampton, MA, and a night of camping nearby. On-campus activities included games, swimming, and s’mores by a campfire.

Plans are already underway for the third year of GRACE, in July 2018.

From Mao to Julia Ward Howe: 36 Years of Chapel Talks

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Listening, Learning, Empathizing The Reverend Christopher Whiteman, Groton’s school chaplain, led a session called “Beyond Religious Identity: Faith in the Twenty-First Century.”

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spring Diversity and Inclusion workshop replaced Saturday morning classes with provocative meetings — almost all student-run — on difficult subjects of societal significance. Topics ranged from environmental racism and business activism to social justice and gender identity. The aim: to help students learn to listen and empathize.

In one session, “Climate Change, Social Justice, and Environmental Racism,” students reviewed case studies demonstrating how the poor bear a disproportionate burden from environmental neglect. In another classroom, “Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ as a Pop Culture Phenomenon” explored feminism, racism, misogyny, and other issues through the popular album. Two workshops challenged students to find commonality and respect despite sometimes vehement disagreement. One of the most powerful sessions seemed, on the surface, quite simple: “Telling Our Stories” encouraged participants to do just that, but those personal stories illustrated how very little we sometimes know about the people who surround us.

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orning chapel has always been a central component of Groton. In the fall of 1978, the Reverend John F. Smith, then the new chaplain, instituted a regular rotation of speakers, with the headmaster or chaplain speaking on Monday morning, a student on Tuesday, a faculty member on Thursday, and a special program of music on Friday. These talks did not need to be, and rarely were, explicitly religious. Any member of the community could address the school on a matter of his or her own choosing. They were never censored, and the chaplain never demanded any prior knowledge of what might be said. That policy created engaging addresses that helped transform morning chapel into the treasured institution it is today.

John W. Tyler taught history, English, and religion at Groton from 1978 to 2014. During his thirty-six-year tenure, Dr. Tyler gave many such talks. Last fall the Reverend John H. Finley IV ’88, one of Dr. Tyler’s former students, persuaded him to collect his talks into a printed volume. From Mao to Julia Ward Howe reflects the range of Dr. Tyler’s interests, from American history (his particular academic specialty) through architecture and art. (Dr. Tyler was the first director of the de Menil Gallery.) There is also a liberal dose of Groton School and local history among the essays. For the first ten years of his career, Dr. Tyler was an Upper School boys’ dorm head, so not

Ethics Chief for One GOP President Explains Why He’s Suing Another

Supreme Court, in its Citizens United ruling, relaxed limits on campaign funding. Painter, now a University of Minnesota law professor, offered an impromptu lesson in the origin of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which prevents officials from taking gifts or profiting from foreign officials. The clause was conceived to prevent the young American republic from being swayed by the big powers of the day, such as Britain, France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and — he noted pointedly — Russia. At the time, British parliamentarians were being bought off by royalty with appointments or stipends, or by the French king through portraits laced with

surprisingly, a number of the talks address campus issues, rule-breaking, and the need for good manners in a closely knit community.

It is a highly personal collection, probably appealing most to those who knew Dr. Tyler as a teacher or dorm head, but together the essays also provide a snapshot of Groton School during the years he taught there and the issues that concerned community members at the time.

The book is a fundraiser for the Epiphany School. To purchase a volume, send a check for $20 plus $5 shipping payable to Epiphany School, 154 Centre Street, Dorchester Center, MA 02124, Attention: John Finley.

Gail Friedman

Tilly Brooks ’19 and Seamus McAvoy ’19

diamonds in their frames, Painter said.

Flash forward to 2016. Painter’s take: Many Americans felt that their politicians were being bought, that big money was lining up with Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, the Koch Brothers — major donors — started “auditioning” candidates beyond the establishmentblessed Jeb Bush, and only one person in the field looked independent: Donald Trump. Even before the election, a problem arose: “It’s not so much what he owns but what he owes,” Painter said. Big real estate projects require big loans, and Trump has not been forthcoming on the sources of that money. Furthermore, he added, many diplomats and foreign influencers are staying in Trump hotels or using his golf courses to curry favor.

“We don’t want our leaders taking profits from dealing with foreign governments,” Painter said. What if Groton’s most famous alum, he posited, had had a Roosevelt Tower in Rome or Berlin after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941? Would Franklin D. Roosevelt have been more reluctant to fight Germany and Italy?

Painter is vice chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which has sued the Trump administration to provide, at least to a judge, the financial books from the Trump Organization to assess conflicts of interest.

Classics Excellence

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roton’s young classicists performed exceptionally well again on the National Latin exam, with 71 percent of Latin students earning cum laude recognition or higher, and 46 percent of those students earning either maxima cum laude or summa cum laude. Earning a perfect score on the 2017 National Latin Exam were Tilly Brooks ’19 and Seamus McAvoy ’19 (above). In addition, the National Latin Exam Committee recognized Mac Galinson ’17 and Claudia Oei ’18 for achieving summa cum laude for four consecutive years. On the National Greek Exam, Hanna Kim ’17 and Lauren Kochis ’17 received blue ribbons for their superior work, while all Groton students enrolled in Ancient Greek earned scores of distinction.

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he Bush administration put Richard Painter in as its chief ethics counsel because the Republican lawyer knew business law — and how money could get officials in trouble. From 2005 – 07, he was an early-warning system for President George W. Bush, helping vet appointees for potential problems or researching issues that could cause scandal for the White House.

These days, Painter is suing another Republican president, and he recounted his journey — from White House insider to White House irritant — to an engaged Groton audience in April.

Even when he was in the White House, Painter saw a broken campaign finance system.

“It was a cesspool of campaign muck … The money was coming in from all over the world … even though it was technically illegal,” he said. He feared that a foreign government could influence a president, a fear that grew when the

Millie Kim ’17

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A new tradition capped off Convocation this year: students carried flags representing their homeland or their heritage from the Chapel to the Schoolhouse, where the evening concluded with the first Roll Call announcements of the school year. The twenty-eight flags were from the U.S. and countries all over the world, but one additional flag — the Groton School flag — represented every student and their home away from home.

Christopher Temerson

CONVOCATION:

An Official Start to the Year

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Gail Friedman

eadmaster Temba Maqubela welcomed back students and faculty at Convocation on September 10, introducing the year with messages of renewal and belonging.

Convocation was the first time that new students gathered beside returning students and faculty, joining as one community in St. John’s Chapel. Mr. Maqubela opened his chapel talk with a Bible passage that his grandfather often quoted — Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

He then explained how the ancient reading remains relevant. “We anticipate renewal as we forge new relationships, recognize our uniqueness, and celebrate our diversity,” he said. The headmaster stressed that the Groton community belongs to every single person listening in that Chapel, from every walk of life.

“All gathered in this Chapel should feel they belong rather than are merely invited,” he said. “… this is as much your school as anyone else’s.”

Mr. Maqubela went on to caution that diversity is not enough: “We should always be mindful that diversity alone can isolate anyone, whereas diversity coupled with inclusion empowers everyone.” The flip side of inclusion is exclusion, which he said “is often an excuse for complacency, because you are comfortable. To succumb to false notions of cultural superiority is being soft.

Grotonians are not soft.”

Attention to inclusion must be ongoing and cannot be neglected. “History teaches us that if we take our eyes off the ball for a second we become soft and complacent,” Mr. Maqubela said.

“This is a recipe for mediocrity.”

Sam Mercer ’73

IMAGINE THE SCENE: movie executives are

brainstorming what they hope will be their next blockbuster. Their idea is solid, they’ve lined up investors, they even have a director in mind.

Suddenly, they find themselves in a quandary.

Who can actually take their idea and turn it into a movie? That’s when they call Sam Mercer ’73.

Sam has built a reputation as the cool-headed producer who gets things done in Hollywood. He has collaborated with world-renowned directors, such as Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Mendes, Susanne Bier, and Brian De Palma. His numerous films include, most recently, The BFG, a Spielberg fantasy, and, perhaps most notably, The Sixth Sense, a surprise smash hit and Academy Award nominee for Best Picture. The Sixth Sense was also the first motion picture knockout for director M. Night Shyamalan, who has since collaborated with Sam on seven films.

Sam’s phone contacts may read like a Who’s Who in Hollywood, but on a summer afternoon in Santa Monica, he is slouching unassumingly outside a popular restaurant. He has been up since 6:00 a.m.—that’s when he exercises every day. It’s a must, he says, to maintain balance and health in an industry that demands long hours and extensive travel: to Greenland for The Last Airbender, to the Czech Republic for Van Helsing, to London for Snow White and the Huntsman, and to Denmark and Scotland for The BFG, to name just a few of Sam’s global film journeys.

Known as a productive workhorse, Sam credits his efficiency to Groton. On the Circle, he says, he learned to manage his time and give projects organizational structure. Groton’s demands also taught him to work fast. Sam got a head start in entertainment through a string of early internships, dating all the way back to spring term of his Sixth Form year. With credits completed for graduation and itching for real-world experience, Sam took off the term and traveled every day to WGBH in Boston,

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personae

The Producer

» He has collaborated

with world-renowned directors, such as Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Mendes, Susanne Bier, and Brian De Palma.

where his mother was an associate producer on Masterpiece Theater and Julia Child’s The French Chef. Both “go-fer” and keen observer, Sam fetched coffee, but also spent time in the editing suite and watched filmmakers shoot on location. By Prize Day, he had already started paving his career path.

After Groton, Sam continued to accrue experience and mental notes during summer jobs in entertainment, and took a year off from Occidental College for an internship at 20th Century Fox. That’s where the learning intensified. “Working with great crew members gave me invaluable knowledge and skills,” he said. Right after college, Sam contacted his former colleagues at 20th Century Fox and landed a job as a production assistant on a Roger Corman–produced independent film called Moving Violation. His knowledge, hard work, and accountability led to more and more opportunity.

And Sam was driven. “I just knew what I wanted,” he explained.

After assisting the producer, he spent eight years as a location manager, scouting ideal spots for shoots and managing location logistics for films including Stripes and The Witches of Eastwick. His career took a leap when a

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colleague who knew Sam’s work—and work ethic— offered him a job as a production executive at Disney. Sam was just thirty years old, and he had cracked the barrier.

Sam stayed at Disney for seven years, where he worked on films including The Sixth Sense and Dead Poets’ Society. The latter, a film about an inspired teacher at a boarding school, was like “going back in time for me, reliving what Groton did for me,” Sam said.

About a year ago, after forty years in show business, Sam took a sort of sabbatical to make a small “passion project.” An avid photographer, he documented the story of Jesse Alexander, a photographer who exposed Formula 1 racing to the world. The film, Inside the Archives of Jesse Alexander, won 2016 Best Feature Video of the Year from the Motor Press Guild.

Now developing additional projects of his own, Sam offered advice to young people who want to make it in Hollywood. “Find work, prove that you have a work ethic and a brain, learn from the best people you can,” he said.

“And if you don’t already know, figure out specifically what you want to do within the industry—costumes, camera, stunts, etc.—because it’s a lot easier for people to help you if you know what you want.”

Eliza Golden ’01

ELIZA GOLDEN dreamed of being a human rights litigator, taking on the crushing problems she’d seen firsthand working in Africa and Cambodia. But early in her legal career she realized the limitations of law and saw a chance to make a larger, more satisfying contribution in finance—social-impact finance.

“I absolutely thought law was the right degree for me. I was interested in using litigation to secure and promote economic and social rights, particularly in southern Africa, where I had studied, lived, and worked,” she said. “But I realized that while the work was important, the impact and progress that I was seeking required other approaches. I shifted to thinking more about how to spur economic development from the bottom up and looking at how businesses could be used as intentional drivers for social change.”

This fall, Eliza left New York and her position as legal counsel at Acumen Fund, a non-profit social venture fund, to become one of the firm’s U.S. portfolio managers in San Francisco. Her decision rested upon years of boots-on-theground work that took her from Cape Town to Cambodia. But her inclination toward a career with social impact actually started in Connecticut, where she learned that even a fifteen-year-old could make a difference for people struggling a world away.

“At the time that I started the Future Stars ice hockey clinic, there was a lot of media around the ongoing crisis in Kosovo.

Creating a girls’ ice hockey camp to benefit Kosovo relief efforts seemed like a logical way to help, while also encouraging young female athletes and helping to build a sport that was still relatively new for women,” said Eliza, who grew up playing hockey on boys’ teams.

Eliza went on to play hockey at Groton and continued at Princeton. The lessons she learned from years of competitive team sports continue to serve as guiding principles: teamwork and collaboration, accountability, dedication and grit. She credits Groton for helping to shape her sense of community and commitment to make a difference. “People took care of each other, which I think has informed my worldview. It was a place where leaders modeled a life of giving back in various ways, and gave us an example of how to live a life with impact,” she said.

“Taking care of your community was a real core value, and I left Groton with a clear sense that service was a key component of a satisfying life.”

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personae

Finance for Social Change

In her first semester at Princeton, a seminar on the international politics of AIDS in Africa provided “an awakening . . . the severity and complexity of health crises in southern Africa was something I knew very little about, and the seminar kind of blew the lid off for me,” she said. “Our incredible professor not only presented new information and new perspectives, but he also taught differently, demanding that we become agents of change. Every week, it wasn’t just ‘learn this’ or ‘read this,’ but ‘tell me what you have done.’ Being told that I could actually create change, and that I would be held accountable to do just that, was incredibly motivating and inspiring.”

During her junior year, while pursuing her major in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Eliza had the opportu-

then received a Princeton fellowship to work for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Guinea (“definitely not Africa Lite”), a small nation which had received hundreds of thousands of refugees from the civil wars in neighboring Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire. With the IRC, she worked on health education programs and assisting unaccompanied minors who had crossed the borders and lost their families.

“By the time I got to Guinea in 2005, the refugee camps had become so entrenched, it was as if they were permanent mini cities, yet they remained largely isolated from the surrounding Guinean towns, and the dynamics between the refugees (who were receiving significant amounts of international aid) and local Guineans (who were not) were complex,” she said. “I saw how

Eliza applied for a pro bono fellowship in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, a global law firm focused on technology, energy, and finance. As the firm’s pro bono fellow, she began to build a practice working with nonprofits and companies in the social enterprise field, as well as with the investors and foundations who were funding these companies. After twoand-a-half years as the fellow, she transitioned into the firm’s corporate group to ensure that she was getting exposure to transactions in the traditional market as well as in the impact space. A founding member of the firm’s impact finance practice, Eliza said she loved supporting the innovation and impact of clients who were tackling the broad challenges associated with poverty around world.

“Impact investing is investing with an intentional focus on creating posi-

» Impact investing is investing with an intentional focus on creating positive

social impact ... The positive impact for low-income consumers is not simply a nice ancillary effect; it’s the driving motivation of the company.

nity to study abroad in London, Prague, or Cape Town. “My father was like, ‘OK great, Prague or London.’ And I was like, ‘South Africa!’ As he says, I’ve been ignoring his advice for decades.”

Working on a children’s healthpolicy task force in Cape Town, she volunteered in clinics and taught health education classes in Cape Town’s townships. “Cape Town is incredibly beautiful—idyllic Table Mountain sloping down to beautiful beaches and the ocean—but it’s a place of massive contradiction, with tremendous poverty and challenges associated with the legacy of apartheid that the country is still working through.”

She came away from the semester feeling that she’d only scratched the surface of what she could learn about the complicated issues of poverty and health in southern Africa, describing her Cape Town experience as “Africa Lite” because it was so comfortable. She

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difficult it is to find solutions for refugees whose lives have been uprooted for so long, even when their home countries have returned to a relative level of peace.”

A determination to find solutions became a compass for her career. She attended Harvard Law School with the goal of pursuing human rights legal work. But after her second year, the vision of what she hoped to accomplish had become clouded. She spent a summer working in Cambodia fighting human trafficking, but felt powerless in a way she never had before. As a tool for combating human trafficking in Cambodia, the formal legal system seemed minimally useful. While frustrating and saddening, the experience was “a key inflection point for me in realizing that traditional legal approaches might not allow me to have the impact I was seeking.”

After graduating from law school,

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tive social impact,” she said. “For me, an impact company is a company that is purposefully trying to solve a problem that affects low-income populations by offering a product or service to alleviate that problem and improve lives.

The positive impact for low-income consumers is not simply a nice ancillary effect; it’s the driving motivation of the company.”

After a year in the legal department at Acumen, a venture capital firm that invests in companies that combat global poverty, Eliza joined its U.S. investing team, Acumen America. As a portfolio manager, she said, “Our job is to find the most dynamic and compelling entrepreneurs who are committed to tackling poverty here in the U.S. by narrowing inequality and gaps of opportunity—and to finance them and help them build their companies.

“I think I have the best job in the world.”

—Nichole Bernier

FDR’s Forgotten O

Prize Day Speech

ver the years, the Prize Day podium has featured leaders in government and education, law and religion, arts and business and media. A long list of literati, and a few glitterati.

The first known Prize Day speaker—in 1887— was Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall.

We don’t know exactly who spoke in 1886, when a single student graduated; the Groton archives refer only to “a number of gentlemen.”

On two later occasions, there was no Prize Day speaker—in fact, no Prize Day at all. The reasons: chickenpox in 1892 and mumps in 1899.

Unsurprisingly, Prize Day speeches have touched on common themes, such as gratitude and service. They frequently reacted to troubles of the day, from World War II to the Cold War to terrorism.

Lamentation over an increasingly fast-paced society occurred as early as the 1920s.

Groton’s list of esteemed speakers (see page 15) includes U.S. presidents, Cabinet members, and Congressmen; numerous university presidents and professors; social justice activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu; the German chancellor who served shortly before Hitler; and countless other leaders and influencers. But the words of perhaps the most famous speaker of all have been known only within a limited Groton circle.

Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a Prize Day speech in 1931, while he was governor of

New York and his son, Franklin Jr. ’33, was a Fourth Former. FDR would become president less than two years later.

While President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 Prize Day speech is readily accessible online through the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University, FDR’s Prize Day speech does not appear to be in any collections outside the Groton archives. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, author of Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, said he could not find any scholarly references to FDR’s Prize Day speech.

“It’s fascinating because we don’t have that many off-the-cuff remarks by Franklin Roosevelt,” Brinkley said. “It’s a very fresh, new FDR document, very useful for FDR studies. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find anything new on FDR .”

Brinkley said the speech, delivered during the Great Depression, “illuminates some of his thinking about what would become the New Deal . . . he’s tapping on issues about health care and taking care of people, about people with mental disabilities; what’s going to be our obligation to society and what does it mean? It has a modern ring to it.”

FDR scholars may find the speech particularly interesting because it was delivered at Groton.

“This isn’t just a random talk to any school,” Brinkley said. “This is to his alma mater.”

— Gail Friedman

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Franklin D. Roosevelt, a graduate of Groton’s Form of 1900, delivered the following Prize Day address in 1931, when he was governor of New York.

Mr. Peabody, Mrs. Peabody, fellow Grotonians, and friends of the school: It has been a long time—thirty-one years—since I sat down in the graduating form, and the Rector is just the same.

[Mr. Peabody interjected]: A little hard on the Rector.

[Governor Roosevelt]: I was going to add that Mrs. Peabody looks even younger.

I

think I am a believer in relativity. The other day there was an article published about a graduate of the school and it told something about his school days and mentioned the fact that Groton School was founded in 1792* and that we had historic buildings here. Well, we have. We have historic buildings and we have great traditions. And it is a matter of relativity.

When I came here, the oldest living graduate was still the same oldest living graduate we have got today. Why, he had been out of school ten years! And I thought of him as a very old man.

And in those days we had already, ten or twelve years after the school was started, traditions; one boy, for instance—I think it was one of the Adamses—was walking in his sleep in Brooks House dormitory one night, and Mr. Billings came out of his room and the boy saw him and dove out the second story window and was found—this is the tradition—eight or ten miles away.

And then I remember what I think to me was the thrill that comes once in a lifetime: my first St. Mark’s game, right here in school, down where the old Chapel was. And I remember two things about that game: Groton, 46, St. Marks, 0. And I remember an old man—a Fifth Former— by the name of . . .[text missing].

In those days they wore athletic hair. His hair almost reached his shoulders and it was a beautiful golden hue, and his specialty was end runs. And as he ran, Dave

Hawkins’ hair flapped up and down behind him and you could always tell when he was on his way to another touchdown. He happens to be with us today, by the way, but the hair isn’t. Those were the good old days before the school became effeminate. Why, the First Formers—I don’t think that this was ever approved of by the Rector—but we had “shoe boxing” in those days; but now the stature of the human race has increased so much that the First Formers are much too large to be put into the shoe box.

Then we had a certain rite or ceremony that was performed by the Sixth Form. It was all right then, but I believe that traditions change in school just as much as they do in outside life. Through all these years we have been building up a series of traditions about Groton. It is a fine thing for us to have those traditions. We are getting not only the traditions of the school but all sorts of traditions about the graduates, which is a fine thing, too. I am glad to say that most of the traditions about graduates will bear repeating again and again and repeating in polite company.

When I came here today I knew one thing very positively, and that was that I could not come back to school and make either a speech or an address any more than I could make a speech or an address in my own home.

And so I want to talk to you very simply and quite briefly in a one-sided conversation about some of the things that you people who are graduating this year are going to meet very soon.

* The remark was greeted with laughter; Groton School was founded in 1884.

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We have all heard a great deal at school—I suppose you hear it still, the way we did— about service. There are some boys in the school who get a little tired of this preaching about service and come to regard it as some kind of a duty, as something that has to be done, an obligation. I think most boys who graduate from this school look on service perhaps a little bit more from the point of view of privilege: as something that we as Americans have a right to take part in. We hear a lot about the obligation of service from the point of view of unselfishness. But we very often forget the other point of view, that service of some kind may be a selfish thing. I am thinking of service in both of those terms. Let me give you some examples.

Take, for instance, government—service to government. Why, government, a lot of people are inclined to think, is something objective, something apart from all of our lives. And yet you and I know as practical human beings that practically every day we come in contact with government. I am glad to say that

a concrete road past your door; therefore, that becomes of the utmost importance in the budget of the local district. Taxes—death and taxes—are always with us and always will be. Americans howl when the taxes are high.

They cannot understand how the long-suffering English people stand for an income tax of ten shillings on the pound. They cannot understand why they keep on with a government that allows such an income tax as that. Yet the war has to be paid for—over there, especially. They have great problems to meet.

How often do we unthinkingly, in school and out, talk glibly about this, that, and the other thing which is wrong, but without offering any solution?! Why, dozens of my friends come to me all the time and say, “Isn’t the English dole system a terrible thing?”

I say, “Well, suppose it is?”

“Well, I don’t see why they keep on with that dole system.”

I say to them, “Well, perhaps it is the wrong principle.

I think it is; but if you stopped the dole and put nothing

As a nation, as a race, as a world, we are beginning to get a more understanding heart. How long ago was it that so-called “society” had no conception whatsoever of social problems? very few graduates of the school have come in contact with a government in uniform. But my thought is this: Government, after all, does affect every single one of us in all of our individual lives. It is perfectly amazing to me, the lack, the amazing lack of information about government that exists among our educated—I don’t like to use the word—classes. If you could see my mail in Albany, for instance, on the average morning, you would be perfectly astounded at some of the letters that I get: letters from excellent businessmen, men in positions of great responsibility, who solemnly write to the Governor of the State of New York and ask why their garbage is not being removed every morning as promptly as it should be. The perfectly amazing requests—the assumption that there are a certain group of individuals who in some way, rather a hazy way, are chosen to run certain public activities, and that having taken part perhaps occasionally in their choice, we can safely commit everything to them until the next election.

How many of you parents in this room are giving much consideration to the question of taxes? Taxes mount up. A tax is difficult to pay, assessed valuations seem awfully high, and yet how many of you know where your taxes are going? How often do you look at the question from the personal point of view? You would like to have

in its place there would be about three million people who could not buy food. Have you got any substitute for the dole?”

In other words, criticism, mere criticism without the offering of a remedy, is of very little use. It is awfully easy for people who have sufficient means, awfully easy for people who do not take the time or the trouble to look at all the sides of a question, just to criticize, just as it is awfully easy in school, as we know, where one boy has done something that makes him rather a mark, for everybody to criticize him and keep on criticizing without offering a helping hand to pull him out of a rut.

And so I believe that we have this opportunity, especially an opportunity that is given by the kind of training that we get here in school—the kind of training which is far broader in its teaching, with far more chances to learn about economics and social relations and all those things, than a lot of people believe that a so-called “rich man’s school like Groton” gives to boys. And yet we have seen lots of graduates go out of this school with a pretty broad education in the best sense of the word— not merely an education as to how our 5 percent of the population of the country lives and some understanding as to how the other 95 percent of the population of the country lives. It is a great tribute to the Rector and all

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who run this school that you have the opportunity here to understand the problems of the moment—the problems of the very minute you graduate—the problems which the very minute you leave here at the end of the Sixth Form year you are going to come into individual contact with.

After all, I think that in these latter days we have met great problems, taken tremendous strides in understanding. “Give me an understanding heart.” I think that that is the mightiest and the shortest prayer that there is. As a nation, as a race, as a world, we are beginning to get a more understanding heart. How long ago was it that so-called “society” had no conception whatsoever of social problems? Why, it is less than a hundred years ago that Charles Dickens discovered that people in prisons were human beings. It is only in our own lifetime—we old people who haven’t got any hair on top of our heads—it is only in our lifetime that we have made these marvelous strides in the conquering of disease, in the care of mental troubles. When I was a boy, even at home, the families in my neighborhood where there was an unfortunate child who was what you and I today call a moron, instead of

I remember—I think it was in my first year in school—I cannot remember the Rector’s words, but I have always remembered the point of what he said. He made the point that the curve of goodness, the curve of decency, is in the long run always a mounting curve.

There may be little dips for a year or two—the years of excitement and let-down after a great way, for example, little dips in the upward progress—but never affecting the broad fact that the progress is constantly upward.

If I had my choice I would start next September back at Groton as a First Former, because in the next fifty or sixty years we are going to have more opportunities for interesting lives in this country and all over the world than we people who were born forty-nine or fifty years ago ever had. And we people have seen, I think, a greater change for the better in world conditions in the past halfcentury than had occurred in the previous two or three hundred years, and I will back up that statement. And through it all comes a kind of love of the school that no graduate can ever get over. I was saying to Mrs. Sturgis just after chapel that I would like to come back here next

If there is one other thing that to my dying day I shall always be happy and proud of, it is the privilege that it has been to me to have my four boys come to Groton and go through Groton while the Rector was still the head of the school. sending him to a school of some kind as we do today— oh, no, not Groton; they can’t get in here, otherwise we would take them and make them into men—in the old days, instead of trying to turn them some way into useful citizens, they used to put them up in the attic. That is literally true. A feeble-minded child, as they called them then, was put up in the attic and kept away from the rest of the family, kept away from the neighbors. It was a sort of skeleton in the closet. Those children often lived to be old men and old women, and every community had them.

Think of what we have done in the lines of stamping out many of the old epidemics and disease. Think of what is being accomplished all the time for better health of the community. Why, in the old family Bible you will see how they used to have twelve or fourteen children, and it was very necessary in those days to have that number, because against the names of an enormous percentage of those children who were listed in the family Bible appeared the date of death long before they had ever grown out of childhood. Today, according to the expectation of life, you people in the First Form have got about three times as good a chance of living to be seventy years old as you would have had a couple of generations ago. Now that is a very comforting thought for the First Form.

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winter, and she said, “To go into an Upper Sixth?” I said, “No, I could never pass the examination for an Upper Sixth now.”

You people who are graduating today, I think, know more, have got a broader knowledge, a better education than I had when I graduated from college. When I was in college I happened to find some old examination books, final examinations of my father when he graduated from college, and I found those same books on his graduation from college covered just about the same range of learning and education that I had acquired while I was still at Groton. I think that the human mind in some strange way must be acquiring a very useful ability of crowding into a few years about twice as much as we could ever crowd in in our day.

Yes, Groton moves on. It is the same school, and it is always going to be the same school. And if there is one other thing that to my dying day I shall always be happy and proud of, it is the privilege that it has been to me to have my four boys come to Groton and go through Groton while the Rector was still the head of the school. And so, as the Rector’s father taught us round Christmastide every year, and as the Rector has continued to teach us, “God bless us, everyone.”

GROTON

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2017 Christopher Shays U.S. Representative (CT) 2016 Margaret Marshall 24th Chief Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 2015 Christopher Isham ’71 Vice President/Washington Bureau Chief, CBS News 2014 Stephen A. Higginson ’79, P’14 Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit 2013 Tobias Wolff Writer 2012 Cyrus Vance Jr. ’73 New York County District Attorney 2011 The Reverend Canon Andrew P.B. White Vicar, St. George’s Church, Baghdad 2010 Mitt Romney Massachusetts Governor 2009 Philip Dimitrov Bulgarian politician, prime minister 2008 James Cooper ’72, P’08, ’14 U.S. Representative (TN) 2007 Doris Kearns Goodwin Writer/Historian 2006 Bill Bradley U.S. Senator (NJ), Writer 2005 Evan Thomas Writer/Historian 2004 George “Bert” Walker III ’49, P’78, GP’02, ’04, ’13 Ambassador 2003 Billy Collins U.S. Poet Laureate 2002 H.D.S. Greenway Writer, Boston Globe 2001 Desmond Tutu Archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2000 Peter Gammons ’63 Sportswriter 1999 James Schlesinger U.S. Secretary of Defense, CIA Director 1998 Anna Quindlen Pulitzer Prize–Winning Writer 1997 Priscilla Vail Writer/Educator 1996 Ruth Simmons President, Smith College 1995 Sam Waterston ’58, P’87, ’95 Actor 1994 Joseph Lelyveld New York Times Executive Editor 1993 P.J. O’Rourke Political Satirist 1992 David Halberstam P’98 Journalist/Historian 1991 Lewis Lapham P’91 Editor, Harper’s Magazine 1990 Candice Bergen P’90 Actor 1989 Gordon Gund ’57, P’86, ’89, GP’19, ’19 Businessman, Pro Sports Team Owner, Sculptor 1988 Daniel Oliver P’88, ’91, ’99 Chairman, Federal Trade Commission 1987 Sam Waterston ’58, P’87, ’95 Actor 1986 James Cooper ’72, P’08, ’14 U.S. Representative (TN) 1985 Peter Benchley P’85 Writer 1984 Marshall Green ’35, P’60, ’63 Ambassador, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State 1983 Jonathan Bingham ’32, GP’91 U.S. Representative (NY), U.S. Delegate to U.N. General Assembly 1982 Louis Auchincloss ’35, P’76, ’82 Writer 1981 George Plimpton Writer 1980 Kenneth Auchincloss ’55, P’96 Editor, Newsweek

1979 1978 1977 1976 1975

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Prize Day Speakers Brendan Gill Writer, The New Yorker Richard S. Salant President, CBS News Kitty Carlisle Hart Actress George C. Lodge ’45, P’74, ’76 Professor, Politician W. Averell Harriman 1909 U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Ambassador, New York Governor

1974 McGeorge Bundy ’36, P’69, ’71, ’74, ’77, GP’07, ’09, ’12, ’12 U.S. National Security Advisor 1973 Cyrus R. Vance P’73 U.S. Secretary of State 1972 Francis Keppel ’34 U.S. Commissioner of Education 1971 Kingman Brewster President, Yale University 1970 Townsend Hoopes Under Secretary of the Air Force 1967–1969 1969 McGeorge Bundy ’36, P’69, ’71, ’74, ’77, GP’07, ’09, ’12, ’12 U.S. National Security Advisor 1968 Reverend John Crocker 1918, P’42, GP’70 Headmaster, Groton School 1967 Matthew Warren Rector, St. Paul’s School 1966 Dean G. Acheson 1911, P’39 U.S. Secretary of State 1965 Right Reverend Stephen Bayne Episcopal Bishop, Columbia University Chaplain 1964 C. Douglas Dillon ’27, GP’75, ’78, GGP’98, ’99 Secretary of the Treasury, Ambassador 1963 Lloyd Garrison Dean, University of Wisconsin School of Law, President, New York City Board of Education 1962 John Finley U.S. Navy pilot 1961 Newbold Morris ’21 New York City Mayor 1960 Richard M. Bissell Jr. ’28 CIA officer 1959 Archibald MacLeish 1921 Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet/Writer 1958 John Mason Brown Writer 1957 Chester Bowles Connecticut Governor, Ambassador 1956 Whitney J. Oates Professor, Princeton University 1955 Charles C. Cabot Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1954 Arthur B. Perry Headmaster, Milton Academy 1953 Paul H. Nitze P’53, ’60, GP’91, ’94 U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Deputy Secretary of Defense 1952 Alan Goodrich Kirk Admiral, ambassador 1951 Stewart J.O. Alsop ’32 Journalist 1950 James Killian President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Science Advisor to President Eisenhower 1949 Joseph C. Grew 1898 Ambassador, U.S. Undersecretary of State 1948 Henry Cabot Lodge U.S. Senator (MA), ambassador 1947 Christopher LaFarge 1916, P’47, ’49, ’65, GP’72 Poet/Novelist 1946 Malcolm Peabody 1907, P’38, ’39, ’46, GP’67, ’73, ’82, GGP’94, ’16 Episcopal Bishop 1945 Harper Sibley 1903, P’27, ’45, GP’50, ’55, ’57, ’58, ’61 President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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1944 Edward A. Weeks Jr. Editor, The Atlantic Monthly 1943 Arthur L. Kinsolving GP’98, ’99 Rector, St. James Episcopal Church, Manhattan 1942 Theodore Green Professor, Princeton University 1941 Heinrich Bruening German Chancellor, Professor, Harvard University 1940 Beverly Tucker Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church 1939 Arnold Whitridge 1909, P’41, GP’69, ’73 Writer, Professor, Yale University 1938 William Eddy President, Hobart College, U.S. Envoy to Saudi Arabia 1937 Lewis Perry Headmaster, Phillips Exeter Academy 1936 Robert Hutchins President, University of Chicago, Dean, Yale Law School 1935 Lewis W. Douglas P’42 U.S. Representative (AZ), Ambassador 1934 A. Lawrence Lowell President, Harvard University 1933 George E. Vincent President, University of Minnesota 1932 Henry Fairfield Osborn Jr. 1905 President, New York Zoological Society 1931 Franklin D. Roosevelt 1900, P’26, ’29, ’33, ’34, GGP’97 Then New York Governor, 32nd President of the United States 1930 George Rublee 1886 First Groton graduate, speechwriter for President Theodore Roosevelt, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

Right Reverend Henry K. Sherrill Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts 1929 Thomas Barbour Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology 1928 Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell Medical missionary 1927 Harper Sibley P’45 Businessman, Public Safety Commissioner, Rochester, NY 1926 Joseph Grew 1898, GP’49, GGP’85 Ambassador, U.S. Undersecretary of State 1925 Francis G. Peabody Professor, Harvard Divinity School 1924 Chauncey B. Tinker Professor, Yale University 1923 Julian L. Coolidge Professor, Harvard University 1922 Samuel McComb Minister, Episcopal Theological School 1921 Henry Sloane Coffin President, Union Theological Seminary 1920 Dwight Morrow P’28 U.S. Senator (NJ), Ambassador 1919 Lewis Perry Headmaster, Phillips Exeter Academy 1918 Charles G. Washburn U.S. Representative (MA) 1917 Roger B. Merriman P’23 Professor/Historian 1916 Dr. Richard C. Cabot Physician, social work pioneer 1915 Isaac Sharpless President, Haverford College 1914 Henry D. Sedgwick P’1914 Attorney, Writer 1913 John H. Finley GP’54, GGP ’88 President, City College of New York; Commissioner of Education, State of New York 1912 Flavel Luther President, Trinity College 1911 William H.P. Faunce President, Brown University

General Leonard Wood Presidential candidate, Governor General of the Philippines 1910 George Rublee 1886 First Groton graduate, speechwriter for President Theodore Roosevelt, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

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1909 Joseph H. Choate III P’30, GP’60, GGP’85, ’88, ’88 Attorney, ambassador 1908 Arthur T. Hadley President, Yale University 1907 Jacob Riis Journalist, social reformer 1906 Roland Cotton Smith Episcopal priest 1905 Charles J. Bonaparte U.S. Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Attorney General 1904 Theodore Roosevelt U.S. President 1903 Henry Cabot Lodge U.S. Representative (MA)

Jacob Riis Journalist, social reformer 1902 Leighton Parks Episcopal priest 1901 William Neilson McVickar Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island 1900 J.W. Atwood Bishop, Episcopal Church of Arizona 1899 No Prize Day (mumps) 1898 Henry Whipple Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota

James H. Canfield President, Ohio State University

Arthur Lawrence Rector, St. Paul’s Church, Stockbridge, MA 1897 Roger Wolcott Massachusetts Governor 1896 William Reed Huntington Episcopal priest 1895 W.F. Wharton U.S. Assistant Secretary of State

Horatio McLeod Reynolds Professor, Yale University

LeBaron Russell Briggs Dean, Harvard College

Dr. Blake, of Boston

Leighton Parks Episcopal priest 1894 Seth Low President, Columbia University

George Rublee 1886 First Groton graduate, speechwriter for President Theodore Roosevelt, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

Charles Eliot President, Harvard University

Arthur Crawshay Alliston Hall Preacher 1893 George Goodale Harvard Botanical Museum

Reverend Sherrard Billings

Theodore Roosevelt Politician ( later U.S. President)

William Lawrence Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts

Samuel Endicott Peabody (Rector’s father) 1892 No Prize Day (chickenpox) 1891 Thomas Clark Bishop of Rhode Island and ( later) Episcopal Church in America

George Boutwell Former Massachusetts Governor

William Lawrence Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts 1890 Reverend Leighton Parks Episcopal priest

Reverend Francis G. Peabody Dean, Harvard Divinity School

Francis Walker President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1889 Charles Francis Adams Historian

Arthur Lawrence Rector, St. Paul’s Church, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

William Lawrence Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts 1888 William Goodwin Professor, Harvard University

Lawrence Barrett

John Codman Ropes Attorney 1887 Leverett Saltonstall Massachusetts governor 1886 “A number of gentlemen spoke.”

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Cyrus Vance Jr. ’73 New York County District Attorney

“NOW, AN INVESTIGATION may uncover outrageous immorality and mounds of suspicion; but when thorough investigation up until trial fails to produce convincing evidence of guilt, we must not proceed—regardless of any public pressure to move ahead. Put simply, if we are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, we can’t ask a jury to find him guilty. Frankly, such cases comprise one of the most agonizing parts of our work.”

2008

James Cooper ’72, P’08, ’14 U.S. Representative (D-TN)

“GROTON IS a half step between your

family and the world, a precious interlude, a gentle meritocracy. Most young people are thrown directly from their families into college; Groton cushions the blow.”

2016

2014

2010

Margaret Marshall Chief Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Stephen A. Higginson ’79, P’14 Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit

Massachusetts Governor

“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. In the eyes of apartheid, their race, their blackness, defined them completely as inferior human beings.”

“… the most impressive advocates are people who can reconcile opposites or, to borrow from Justice Cardozo, “people who recognize that competing values often each have merit, yet still oppose each other, so the task is bringing them together so that as much as possible of the good in each can be preserved.”

Mitt Romney

“In the past, American values have helped lift billions of people out of poverty. The blood of American men and women have helped free the oppressed from tyranny.

America’s revolution threw off the yoke of political oppression and opened the way for free men and women to question, to dissent, to innovate, and to pioneer. That is who we are. That is in your DNA. Question.

Search. Discover. Discover for yourself. The nation depends upon it.”

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2006 Bill Bradley U.S. Senator (NJ), basketball player “I HOPE that you will develop the capacity to see, to

feel, and to give. To see the dichotomies between urban, suburban, black, white, Muslims, Christians, liberals, conservatives, in comparison to our common humanity. To see that hatred is a self-indulgence that America cannot afford. I hope you also learn to feel. To feel a neighbor’s pain and suffering as well as her joy. To feel a family member’s love and return it in full measure. To feel your own strengths and weaknesses and from that knowledge face the future with clarity.

I hope you will also develop the capacity to give: to give without the expectation of getting something in return.”

2004

2001 Archbishop Desmond Tutu South African social justice activist “IT IS AMAZING, when you come

to think of it, just how frequently God has used young people as God’s partners to accomplish God’s purposes.”

1997

Priscilla Vail

George “Bert” Walker III ’49, P’78, GP’02, ’04, ’13

Writer/educator

1983

Jonathan Bingham ’32, GP’91 Politician and diplomat

Ambassador to Hungary “If nothing else, and there is so much else, you have been given a superior education — an education that permits you to experience the fullness of your humanity.”

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“I hope you have generous rooms where many people can come together. I hope you also have room for solitude and the habit to enjoy it. I wish you bright colors, and I also wish you some bare walls awaiting just the right painting. Let your house offer sanctuary to those in need. I hope you have room to store what is important to keep.

Equally, I wish you big garbage cans and recycling bins for the things which served a purpose for a while.”

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“What changes the world has lived through in these fifty-one years. And no change more startling to an old-timer than girls at Groton. In the twenties and thirties, girls came to visit just once: over Washington’s Birthday weekend.”

1995 Sam Waterston ’58, P’87, ’95 Actor “WHAT YOU do for a living, your profession, your job, is

just the way you put a roof over your head. It’s the house, not the contents. It will be something objective and hard to bounce off of and define yourself by, and in that sense, is a good metaphor for life itself. A profession has its uses. But if your job becomes your only means of defining, knowing, and becoming yourself, God help you.”

1999 James Schlesinger U.S. Secretary of Defense “IF, INDEED, the United States

is slated to be the world’s hegemony, pride appropriately should come not from our elevated status, but from the care and sobriety of our actions.”

Photo from his first Prize Day speech, in 1987

1976

1972

1971

Professor, politician

U.S. Commissioner of Education

President, Yale University

George C. Lodge ’45, P’74, ’76

“… there is no hope in those who think that somehow the past is going to come back.

They are doomed to discouragement. And there is no hope in those who, like the characters in a Kafka novel, sit at the gates of a bureaucracy trusting, patiently waiting, for the gates to open and their needs to be fulfilled.”

Francis Keppel ’34

“Incidentally, you will discover a certain perverse anger in yourself if any of your successors dare to say that they had a worse time than you. There is no joy comparable to that of remembered martyrdom. Don’t let the young ones take it from you.”

Kingman Brewster Jr.

“Self-contained, self-justified learning is the educators’ response to a world too unreliable to give convincing meaning to ‘success.’ “

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1996 Dr. Ruth Simmons President, Smith College “WE ARE reassured

to be surrounded by the magnificence of nature. Whether for its order or irregularity, it grounds us. The cycles of its life proclaim to us that we are but one part of an orderly universe and that we must take our proper place in it. As steady observers and obeyers of this order, we can identify with the otherwise terrifying unpredictability of many of life’s events.”

1970

Townsend Hoopes

“In the burning villages of yet another country, in the rising American casualty rate, in the unfolding likelihood that the South Vietnamese Army intends a permanent occupation of Cambodia with the tacit consent of our own government, we see that a war which began as a mistake and grew to a tragedy has now become an obscenity.”

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Candice Bergen P’90 Actress “[SINCE I HAVE] confessed to a severe bout

of academia interruptus, my lecturing you about your college years would be like the captain of the Exxon Valdez advising you on navigation … the corporate conscience is nothing more than the cares and concerns of each of the individuals who run those organizations, and they can—they must—determine how that corporation acts, how it fulfills its responsibility to society.”

1968

1956

Former Groton School headmaster

Chair, Princeton Department of Humanities

Reverend John Crocker 1918, P’42, GP’70

Undersecretary of the Air Force

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“… we make too simple and too absolute a distinction between good and bad. And this mistake leads to the worst evil of all, selfrighteousness and cruelty. It cuts the cords of compassion. It prevents reconciliation.”

Fall 2017

Whitney S. Oates

“Dethroning the false god, objectivity, does not involve paltering with the facts, the data of our experience, but rather recognizes the supreme fact that each of us in the life of the mind has only a partial grasp of the objective universe, both physical and spiritual, which surrounds us.”

1982 Louis Auchincloss ’35, P’76, ’82 Writer

1989 Gordon Gund ’57, P’86, ’89, GP’19, ’19 Businessman, pro sports team owner, sculptor “WITH THE loss of my sight, I also lost the

ability to make quick assumptions about another person because of the way he or she looked, dressed, or appeared to act. I learned to listen — really for the first time —to all the glorious and not-so-glorious sounds around us and most especially to others and what they were saying.”

“I DO NOT mean to imply that all those graduates whose memories of school days remain vivid to them today look back on those days with dewy-eyed nostalgia or even with gratitude, although some do.

But in some cases, the very opposite is the case. A school is like a parent. It must be expected to be blamed for everything that goes wrong in the graduate’s life. What goes right, on the other hand, is ascribed to some intrinsic excellence that neither the parent nor the school with all their efforts has been able to eradicate.”

1941

1932

1930

German Chancellor 1930–32

President, American Museum of Natural History

First Groton graduate, Form of 1886 (also spoke in 1894 and 1910)

Heinrich Bruening

“One thing resulted from the fighting of 1914–18: those who had survived the war in actual combat had no hate for each other. They became immune to the effects of the hate propaganda that was started in every country by people who had never actually seen any fighting.”

Henry Fairfield Osborn 1905

“On my wonderful voyage of 110 days and 27,800 miles around the world, I not only encountered many of the … heroes of exploration, of science, of medicine, who made the voyage possible … but I found that every one of these heroes prepared himself at an extraordinarily early age.

They either ran away to sea or began their professions in boyhood. This gave me a new slant on what boys can do.”

George Rublee

“The contrast between the school of today and what it was when I came here in 1884 is very striking, yet beneath the surface it is the same school. The course it was to follow was firmly set from the beginning. Outwardly there is a great change. Then we had only Brooks House, lacking the southern wing. There was no Chapel. We used to march every Sunday, rain or shine, to Groton for services in the Town Hall. There was no gymnasium, only a barn where we pulled chest weights and did calisthenics. There were no playing fields, no laboratories, no library. There was just the one pleasant little building surrounded by mown pastures where we played our games.”

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1977 Kitty Carlisle Hart Actress Kitty Carlisle Hart, an actress and longtime member of the New York State Council on the Arts, was Groton’s first female Prize Day speaker; she asked at the time that her remarks not be published.

1974 photo; also spoke in 1969

1974 McGeorge Bundy ’36, P’69, ’71, ’74, ’77, GP’07, ’09, ’12, ’12 U.S. National Security Advisor “AND THIS privacy is not merely necessary because there is concern in the doctor for disease, the lawyer for crime, the minister for sin, but also because in each case there are the countervailing virtues — health, justice and charity — which can require the kind of openness which comes only in the trust of privacy.”

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Director, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

Medical missionary

Undersecretary of State

Thomas Barbour

Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell

“… even today, in this perplexed world of motors, of radio and all that makes for the speeding up of life, to be a naturalist offers thrills and a selfish, if you will, soul satisfaction which few other pursuits yield …

There are hordes of creatures of which we know nothing whatsoever of the life history, and every group, even up to the birds and mammals, offers fascinating problems. We have really only begun to investigate the deep waters of the ocean.”

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“I went all over the United States to see how Prohibition was working, and I absolutely believe it is working finely, and is doing a wonderful amount of good all over the country. But unfortunately, it is the rich who are breaking this law the most.”

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Joseph C. Grew 1898, GP’49, GGP’85

“Don’t be afraid of sincerity, boys. There’s all too much cynicism in present-day life. There’s all too much obscuring of one’s better nature under the guise of banter and sarcasm. I don’t mean to lose your sense of humor — God help the man who loses that!— nor do I mean to wear your hearts upon your sleeve. But I mean, when you have a sincere conviction, don’t be afraid of expressing it.”

1973 Cyrus Vance P’73 U.S. Secretary of State “THUS WE SEE that at the core of the exercise of authority is respect for the individual and his rights and, in the broad sense, love for the individuals who make up the community.”

1966 Dean Acheson 1911, P’39 U.S. Secretary of State

“I KNOW of no one who on returning from public life to private life—not always a matter of free choice—has not felt flat and empty. Contented, interested, busy—yes. But exhilarated—no.”

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English professor, Yale University

U.S. Representative (MA)

Chauncey Brewster Tinker

“The cry today is ‘systemization’— a thing as horrible as the word that describes it: organization, mass production, mass consumption, standardization, little parcels of things already prepared for consumption — add something and serve, price ten cents. That is what people will do with your life if you do not look out.”

Charles Washburn

“From 1865 until 1917, a period of over fifty years, we were at peace — save only for the Spanish War, relatively so insignificant as to be a mere incident in our history. We were not only at peace, but the vast majority of our people believed that we never would be at war again and refused to prepare for such a contingency. We congratulated ourselves upon our isolation and viewed with complacency our less fortunate fellow men on the other side of the ocean. When this Great War began, we were genuinely sympathetic, but felt that it was really no concern of ours. Our wisest men said, ‘This war cannot last three months.’ It has lasted now nearly four years.”

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Writerly Wisdom It’s a safe bet that a professional writer will deliver a memorable commencement address. English teacher John Capen P’17, ’22 was kind enough to review many of the Prize Day speeches by authors, poets, journalists, and other writers. “What a parade of prophets,” he marveled after finishing.

Following are some of John’s favorite excerpts from those speeches:

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Stewart Alsop ’32 Columnist, political analyst

John Mason Brown Drama critic, author

“… I earn my bread and butter by writing about world affairs. Therefore it is my chief function to tell you how the world which you are entering as adults looks from the rather dreary vantage point of Washington. It will not surprise you to hear that it doesn’t look too pretty.”

After comparing the nuclear arms race to a Third Form algebra problem, but “a great deal more difficult to solve” and quoting then Secretary of State Dean Acheson 1911 on “containment through alliances and strength . . . what Winston Churchill called ‘a peace of mutual terror’”: “This is, to put it bluntly, the best you can hope for, and even in this case the psychological, political, and economic pressures to which you will be subjected will be far heavier than any your predecessors have known.

The plain fact is that you and your generation are in for the toughest test of character and moral fiber that any generation has ever faced. … You will find that you are much better prepared for this than you know. “

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“Children learn to walk in order to walk away …To help children learn how to walk away is one of the first obligations of loving parents and good schools.

To me anger is a great and proud word, like wrath in the Bible. A tantrum is not anger. Anger, in the best sense, is a flexing of an aroused conscience. It is a big emotion which, I hope, the immorality of indifference will never keep you from summoning. I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of the snivelers, the defeated, and the whiners. I am sick and tired of being expected to believe that ugliness is beauty, that melancholy is man’s sole pleasure, that delinquency is delight, that disease is health, that laughter is something to be ashamed of, and that any denial is better than affirmation.

Many of us, if we have happy childhoods, are tempted when young to believe that life is a pony, beribboned and curried, which has been given to us as a present. With the passing years we, sooner or later, come to learn that, instead of being that pony, life is a mule which unfortunately has more than four legs. To the best of my knowledge, no

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one who lives long enough fails to be kicked, usually again and again, by that mule.

You have in you all the markings of exceptional men. Quite understandably, we in a democracy shrink from such as term as ‘the elite.’ If, however, we denude the word of its ugly overtones of snobbishness, if we cleanse it of its Nazi perversions, and if we remove from it its odious suggestions of social superiority and think of it only as standing for the best, the true best, the Order of Merit best, there is every reason why we should be proud of the word and no reason why we should be embarrassed by it. We cannot afford to remain ashamed of the best. “

1959 Archibald MacLeish 1921 Poet, appointed by FDR as Librarian of Congress, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard “I have never understood why the graduation speech was invented. The one time when you cannot possibly catch or hold the attention of another human being is when something has ended for him … a graduation is not a beginning and nothing you can call it — not even ‘Commencement’ — will make it seem like one.

The general theory held on both sides of the enormous gap which divides you from your grandparents is that you are not so much another generation as another race.

You dress differently from any human creatures we have ever seen before. You speak an English we have never heard and cannot understand … You prefer a spasmodic dislocation of the spine to the fluent movements previously associated with the dance. You adore singers who cannot sing, guitarists who cannot play the guitar, and songs without either music or words, unless you count a mooing repetition of sounds like love and above. You have a passionate addiction to motion at high speeds in any direction and by any means as long as it is mechanical and makes a great deal of noise and requires no effort on your part. You are taller than your parents and considerably taller than your grandparents and far more beautiful than either. You are probably, though you go to considerable lengths to conceal it, more intelligent than any previous crop of youngsters harvested in the schools of this country. In brief, you are enigmas and you fascinate us.

We don’t know what to think about you…

We don’t know partly because we are old and

stupid and partly because you don’t know either. You have yet to write the poems and the plays in which you will discover your own meanings, and by the time you do discover them we will be as ignorant as bones.

It is hard enough for the old to put up with an American attitude toward America which regards it as nothing but a meal ticket — a double page advertising spread of conveniences which must be defended against the Russians merely because the Russian conveniences are less convenient than ours. For the young, if they have any youth left in them, the whole conception is revolting. An American ‘way of life’ which means nothing more than an American way of eating too much, an American ‘standard of living’ which becomes in practice an American standard of having, turns Lincoln’s last, best hope of earth into a sick regret and leaves the boy or girl, whose nature is to dream, without a country of his own to dream of.

If the revolt of your generation against the suffocating materialism of mine — a revolt for which I hope with all my heart — takes the form of a revolt against the social conventions through an attack on the innocence of the senses, you will not profit by it. Your books will not be better books, your pictures will not be better pictures, and your lives will not be better lives. There are two ways to be blind. One is not to look because your eyes are turned toward things. That is the way we are blind in my generation. The other is not to see because you do not sense that you are seeing. This happens when the innocence of sight is lost. It can happen even to the young.

Do you remember those two things of which Keats said he was certain? One was the truth of the imagination. The other was the holiness of the heart’s affections. You may doubt the first: you will impoverish no one but yourselves if you do. But if you doubt the second you will miss your lives.

The holiness of the heart’s affections is the one provable certainty in the bodily lives we lead in this mysterious earth. If we preserve it, it will preserve us whatever happens. If we betray it—if we corrupt the innocence of the sense through which it finds its mysterious and difficult way to the miraculous insight we call love—nothing that happens in our lives will matter, for we will not be alive.”

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1991

Kenneth Auchincloss ’55, P’96 Newsweek managing editor

Lewis Lapham P’91 Editor, Harper’s Magazine

“I’d like to turn the job for the ’80s over to you, the graduating class. I can’t tell you what stories to look for but I can give you some hints. Look for things that happen very slowly, not fast. Look for things that don’t involve powerful politicians, or flashy personalities. Don’t look for things that will simply intrigue people for an evening as they watch the television news or for a morning as they digest their newspaper with their coffee. But look for things that will change people’s lives.

Finally keep a fresh eye. One of the very best pieces of journalistic advice I ever got came, I swear, from a Chinese fortune cookie whose message simply read, “Ignore all previous fortunes.”

“The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn’t waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, and it doesn’t meet you at the dock.

When I was your age, I thought the world knew exactly what it was doing, but as I grew older I noticed — first to my surprise and then to my disappointment and chagrin — that the more insistently people claimed to know all the answers, the less likely that they knew even a few of the answers. The more imposing the pomp and ceremony of the façade, the more likely emptiness and fearfulness within.

The walls of the establishment are made of paper. As often as not the fortifications are manned by soldiers already dead, propped like sandbags on the parapets of office. The wizards of Oz make a great show of their magnificence in order to conceal their nervousness.”

1981 George Plimpton Sportswriter, humorist “I have known many Grotonians in my life, but I never knew that they actually came from a place. They always seemed to me to have sprung full-grown and intelligent presumably from the forehead of a brilliant and eccentric reverend, much as Athena burst from the forehead of Zeus.”

1992 David Halberstam P’98 Writer “…after forty years of the Cold War, this country is fragmented and unsure of itself. The role of your generation, different from ours, will

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be to try to make America whole or as complete as you can. You can choose to be part of the greatest and most exciting experiment in the history of the world as more and more immigrants flood our shores, bound only by the common hope of some greater political freedom, some elemental economic dignity, and the hope that they can manage to survive for one generation but that that their children in the next generation will rise above them. After all, they come to the most regenerative nation in the world, the one country in the world where you have the right to reinvent yourself.”

1994 Joseph Lelyveld New York Times executive editor “Avoid proud self-definitions like the plague.

You only limit yourself by defining an identity in terms of what you are not.”

like carrying a backpack filled with bricks on my back every single day. And oh, how I wanted to lay my burden down.

Trying to be perfect may be sort of inevitable for people like us, who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and in its good opinion. But on one level it is too hard, and at another, it is too cheap and easy. Because it really requires only to read the zeitgeist of wherever and whenever you happen to be, and to assume the mask necessary to be whatever the zeitgeist dictates, or requires. Those requirements shapeshift, sure, but when you are clear you can read them and do the imitation required.

But nothing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

1998 Anna Quindlen Pulitzer Prize-winning writer

1993 P.J. O’Rourke Writer/humorist “You are all younger and fitter than I am. You got into this school, so you are smarter than I am. You are graduating from this school, so you are better educated than I am. You didn’t get kicked out of this school, so you are sneakier than I am. I, of course, am more experienced than you are. I am two-and-ahalf times your age. But all that means is that I have done and said two-and-a-half times as many stupid things as you have.

Privilege in some ways means that when you succeed, people will think you did so because you had luck; if you fail, you will get no sympathy — people will just laugh at you. So don’t be too embarrassed nor too impressed with your advantages in life or the duties which come with them. Privilege is just like any other kind of luck — good, bad, or indifferent. It doesn’t make you better or worse or separate from the rest of humanity. Accept your good luck; do as well as you can with it. Believe me, you’ll get plenty of bad luck too. When that happens, the same people who scolded you about your advantages will be scolding you about your disabilities. If life hands you lemons, make lemonade, they’ll say. Well, let me say, when life hands you grapes, make champagne.”

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“At my graduation I got a leather-bound dictionary for the English Prize and a wood plaque for good citizenship. If there was a test to be had, I had studied for it; if there was a paper to be written, I had written it. I smiled at everyone in the hallways because it was important to be friendly, and I gossiped behind their backs because it was important to be witty. … Being perfect was hard work, and the hell of it was, the rules kept changing at the time.

So that while I arrived at college in 1970 with a trunk full of perfect pleated skirts and perfect monogrammed sweaters, by Christmas vacation I had another perfect uniform: overalls, turtlenecks, Doc Martens, and the perfect New York City Barnard College affect, part hyper-intellectual, part ennui. … Eventually being perfect became

Eventually being perfect became like carrying a backpack filled with bricks on my back every single day.

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2000 Peter Gammons ’63 Sportswriter “From the Irish to the eastern Europeans, baseball was always on the cutting edge of American immigration and its assimilation into society. Jackie Robinson was playing for the Dodgers, as you all know, seven years before Brown vs. the Board of Education.”

On asking pitcher Pedro Martinez if he would put his name on a school he was building in the Dominican Republic, Martinez said, “Absolutely not. I’m going to have one motto on the outside of that building, and that is going to be the motto that my mother told me time and time again as I grew up, which is, ‘You cannot be free unless you serve.’ I turned to him and said, ‘You know, there was a motto at a school I went to which is, ‘To serve is perfect freedom.” He said, ‘Well, those old dudes got it.’”

2002 H.D.S. Greenway Journalist “Or must I impose my way of thinking on my neighbor and drive him away? There are people here today who remember when the fierce face of intolerance wore a Nazi uniform, and that generation rose to the occasion.

More recently, Communism sought to impose itself on the world and was responsible for more deaths in the name of class hatred than even the Nazis could manage. And that generation saw the struggle through. Today we are engaged in a fight to protect our citizens from catastrophic attack from another form of intolerance, but although the face has changed the enemy is the same. And long after al Qaeda has passed from memory along with the nihilists of czarist Russia and the murderous sects of ancient Syria, there will be new cults of intolerance, terrorists with whom to do battle both at home and abroad.”

2003 Billy Collins U.S. Poet Laureate 2001– 03 “Because I’m being honored today largely for my life in poetry, I’m going to speak to you as a poet about two habits of mind that poetry promotes. One involves a slowing down from the hyper-accelerated pace of twentyfirst-century life, and the other concerns the important place of uncertainty and ambiguity in our lives, especially in times which pressure us to take a position, to stand solidly in one camp or another.

The danger in all this haste is that we, ourselves, will accelerate to keep pace with the speed of information, and in doing so lose sight of the real life around us, of the discreet moments of our experience, and even of the natural world — the earth that holds us in its hands. How can we avoid being so caught up in an information frenzy that we forget

who we really are? How can we widen our apertures so we can see more than just that spot on the horizon, that unattainable dot we are rushing toward? How can we preserve a sense of mindfulness? The answer, as usual, lies in plain view. Although teaching and learning themselves have been motorized by the hyperpace of information, it is good to remember that the true tempo of education has always involved deceleration. You can actually feel it as you walk onto this campus, a shift from the urgencies and demands of the world to the more leisurely pace of discussion, the cadence of study and reflection, the seemingly stopped time of engrossed

Long after al Qaeda has passed from memory along with the nihilists of czarist Russia and the murderous sects of ancient Syria, there will be new cults of intolerance. thought. Here you are offered not just the chance at a diploma, but the opportunity to learn the value of modulation, the habits of quiet analysis and speculation. Here lies the antidote to what cardiologist Meyer Friedman calls “hurry sickness.” This is the more relaxed pace of learning and thought that I hope you can sustain even after your formal education has ended.

What is poetry’s role in all this? What does poetry teach us? Well, there are many great themes of poetry which echo down the ages, themes that connect us to the history of feeling and thought. Although when you take a closer look, literature is always busy expressing the same handful of themes.

William Matthews said that there are only four themes in lyric poetry: one, I went out into the woods today and felt, you know, kind of religious; two, we’re not getting any younger; three, it sure is lonely here without you, baby — or with you, baby; and four, the coin of happiness is spent too soon and on what we know not. So poetry retells the same few human stories century after century, but it also teaches us habits of mind. Poetry teaches us to slow down because its careful design and the intensity of its language offer

resistance to our habits of speed reading. And by providing a home for ambiguity and uncertainty, it suggests an alternative to always having our minds made up. Keats expressed this state of mind famously in a letter to his brothers when he cited what he called “negative capability” as almost a requirement for poetic activity. He defined negative capability as our capacity to be in uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. In other words, to keep an open mind instead of one hardened by opinion and fiercely held convictions. For Keats, without this open-mindedness, one could never achieve sympathy with another, whether that other was a nightingale or, we could add, a Palestinian, a Moslem, a Jew, a Christian, whoever looms as “the other.”

Uncertainty and ambivalence: that is, the ability to feel two ways at once, should be placed right up there with the ability to laugh as qualities that distinguish us from the lower forms of life. … I am here to argue for leaving room for contemplation in your life. I’m here to make the case for day-dreaming. From Daydreaming 101 right through a graduate seminar in meta-daydreaming. There is something to be said for resolve and determination, but I’m not going to say it. You will never experience a lack of people eager to extol the virtues of conviction and single-mindedness.

Today I represent the opposite end of the scale, a spokesman, a poster boy if you will, for ambivalence, ambiguity, and irony.”

2005 Evan Thomas Historian, biographer, Newsweek editor “Secretary of State Dean Acheson [1909] and Ambassador Averell Harriman [1911] … played a huge role in creating the Western Alliance that protected us through the Cold War, and they were crucial to the success of the Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe after World War II. What [your headmaster] didn’t tell you, maybe because he was leaving it to me, is that Acheson and Harriman were not all that successful at Groton. …The qualities that made them difficult or troublesome teenagers made them interesting, independent-minded adults. I am certain that there are some remarkable, creative, dynamic kids among the indifferent athletes and academic cellar dwellers. They may surprise the rest of you in later life; they may even surprise themselves.”

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Photographs by Adam Richins

Celebrating the Form of 2017: Verity Lynch, Caroline Fisher, Amani Jiu, Cha Cha McLean, Maddie Ferrucci, Caitlyn DiSarcina, Elle Santry, Mims Reynolds, Caroline Johnston, Victoria Wahba, Langa Chinyoka, and Adia Fielder

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Opposite page, clockwise from top: Hallie Bereday and Tyler Brooks, Vuyelwa Maqubela and Delaney Tantillo, Adia Fielder.

This page: Cherian Yit.

ON SUNDAY, June 4, eighty-five members of the Form of 2017 tossed their

hats into the air and bid farewell to their years on the Circle during Groton School’s 132nd Prize Day ceremony. ¶ It was a day filled with tradition — from the boater hats, to the prizes presented, to the emotion and gratitude that enveloped graduates and faculty in their final handshaking line. ¶

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Living the Dream Keynote speaker and former Congressman Christopher Shays

Following remarks by Headmaster Maqubela and Board of Trustees President Jonathan Klein P’08, ’11, ’18, keynote speaker Christopher Shays (R-CT, 1987–2009) delivered the following address:

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etsy Hawkings [’81, P’17] had the reputation in Washington as the best chief of staff in Congress.

My wife and I think she is one of the finest people on the planet.

Betsy went to Williams College, but all she ever talked about was Groton.

And now I know why. I was told I have ten to fifteen minutes with you. I am going for eleven. I hope that is all right.

It was a kick being here last week and seeing you all in action. Thank you for being so warm and welcoming.

I asked some of the service providers who take care of the buildings, “How do you like being here?” This was their uniform response: “I love this school, and I love the students.”

This — coming from the service providers — speaks volumes about you, because they feel appreciated and see you as kind, thoughtful, and intelligent young people, and that is the way I see you.

Except you still have a right to be kids, to enjoy and savor this time in your life.

Graduates, today is deservedly about you; but first, let me say of your parents, they have been incredibly unselfish to let go of you so that you could have the education of a lifetime. And of the faculty and staff, they are truly a wonderful 32

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blessing to Groton School — and to all of you — and hopefully they will become your lifelong friends. Last week I met a number of students, and I wish I had met more of you. Thanks for giving me a good glimpse of this institution. And thanks for helping me understand what topics I should avoid.

It was recommended that I not talk about Donald Trump, South Africa, diversity, inclusion, SAT scores, who is going to what college, the rowing team . . . What you didn’t tell me was that I was not supposed to disclose to your headmaster that these subjects were off limits, especially “diversity and inclusion.”

So, when we were at the headmaster’s house a week ago Thursday, I blithely share this information with Temba when he asked me what I had learned. He seemed surprised, and a bit concerned, and some of you seemed a tad bit horrified. Those of you standing behind Temba made every attempt to signal me, with hand gestures, that I was in dangerous territory and needed to make a careful and hasty retreat. But by then, the “perceived” damage was already done.

Actually, there was no damage done, because you, the graduating class, have come to understand inclusion and live it. And that is what ultimately matters.

Among all the other important lessons this class has learned, appreciating diversity and understanding the practical elements of inclusion — based on the hard lessons that you, Temba, and your dear wife, Vuyelwa, learned in

South Africa, and here in the United States — are an integral part of this school, and a rich and substantive part of every student’s DNA. So, Temba, your job as headmaster with the Form of 2017, at least, is done. And you can take great comfort in a job well done.

As someone who has been in the public arena for decades, I have learned to be a good observer, and I have learned that appreciating others is an easy way to make someone’s day, and your own as well.

From what I have observed, you have learned why it is important to do nice things for those you come in contact with. You know that, however small the deed, your thoughtfulness will lift them up and lighten your day as well.

What I have come to learn over time is the importance of paying attention to the strangers next to us. They may even be people we think we know well.

You, like me, may be amazed at the things you will learn from them — and about them — and surprised at the benefits that come from caring about someone other than yourself . . . which leads me to Donald Trump.

Graduates, I realize Donald Trump is on the recommended “subjects to avoid” list, but having served in public office for thirty-four years, I can’t resist sharing a short, heartfelt observation with you. Donald Trump is our President, and as [Ohio] Governor John Kasich points out, “When you are on a plane, you pray for the pilot.”

President Trump and our country need our prayers. But the reality is, our

Senior prefects Caroline Johnston, Feild Gomila, Langa Chinyoka, and Michael Aduboffour; Caitlyn DiSarcina and Nico Davidoff

new president is everything my parents taught me not to be, and everything we taught our daughter not to be. Too much of what you see in President Trump is not typical, or admirable, conduct. He may be president, but he clearly is not a model you should seek to emulate.

The fact is, character and conduct matter. Mahatma Gandhi recognized the essential nature and importance of character and conduct in his description of what he called the Seven Sins. One of these may apply to you sometime

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Are you allowing yourself to dream and to imagine yourself as a productive member of society?

during your life. If so, you may want or need to rethink how you are living your life. Gandhi describes these sins as:

• Wealth without work • Pleasure without conscience • Knowledge without character • Commerce without morality • Science without humanity • Religion without sacrifice • Politics without principle In my youth, I was told a Scout is …

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. Little did I know that — as a young person in the “not so cool” Boy Scouts — I was given a road map for a happy and successful life. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent are words you can live by.

And I know to some measure that all of you do. But as with Gandhi’s list of Seven Sins, it never hurts to periodically take stock of where you are.

So, what is this about a Scout is Clean? And why pick this one out of the list of twelve? I chose it because I

saw a need, and thought it might get overlooked. Clean, in part, refers to how you keep your quarters. Given my short tour of the campus, I sense there is room for improvement. Seeing the rooms of Second Formers made me realize: not all Groton School students are perfect — yet.

If you think this is a silly topic to bring up, Four Star Admiral William McRaven — ninth commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command — strongly disagrees. Speaking to the graduates at the University of Texas, Admiral McRaven shared ten life lessons he learned from Basic SEAL training. The very first lesson was, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

He argued, “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.” I bet his rooms were always spotless, and for good reason.

Before closing, I want to touch on one last subject — near and dear to my heart — that I know is important. It involves having dreams, and allowing your dreams to motivate and guide you.

Because I had a teacher in third grade who taught me the infinite joy of reading, I became a voracious reader. www.groton.org

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From top, Paul Lopez, Anson Jones, Alec Reiss

Reading books helped me to imagine my life as an adult.

Because I particularly loved reading about America and its people, I knew back in elementary school I wanted to be part of our government. By the time I was a senior in high school, I thought that might include serving in elective office. As a student your age, that became my dream; that became my focus. My life was not like “a feather,” floating aimlessly from place to place, and your life shouldn’t be either.

Because of my dream, my life had direction and purpose.

I would ask myself: What books should I read? What subjects should I take? What experiences should I have to prepare me for my dream, serving in public office?

Relevant courses in college and graduate school, reading lots of books on a variety of subjects, serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, working as a mayor’s aide, and — I might add — marrying the love of my life helped give me the skills and confidence to pursue a dream that resulted in thirty-four meaningful years in state and federal elective office.

I have interacted with many young people whose lives seem so limited. I wondered, how expansive could their dreams be, and would they ever have reason to believe their dreams could come true?

The fact is, there are countless young people in our country — and around the world — who haven’t come close to being given the opportunities you have. They have never known the love of reading. They may never have traveled beyond their own community.

But you have.

Dedicated parents, good schooling, vacations, internships, work programs, domestic and overseas travel, contact with different cultures, and exposure to the arts are not a part of their 34

experience — but, to varying degrees, they are a part of your experience.

So, what about you? Are you allowing yourself to dream and to imagine yourself as a productive member of society? Given the opportunities your parents, and Groton School, have provided you, floating aimlessly from place to place is not an acceptable option.

If you haven’t done it by now, you owe it to yourself — and to those who have invested their time and love in you — to begin to understand who you are and what you want to become.

Doing this is imperative, but it is not a struggle when you patiently entertain your dreams and allow them to gradually motivate and guide you.

At some point, if you haven’t already, you will discover your direction and purpose. At that point, you will be able to say, “This is my dream. This is my focus. This is what I want to be.

This is what I want to do. This is my purpose in life, my God-given purpose in life.”

In closing, graduates of Groton School, Form of 2017, we salute you and rejoice in your success. But more importantly, we rejoice in who you are and what you have already become.

There is no doubt: you leave this magnificent Circle at Groton wonderfully prepared to build on what you have learned here.

While every day is always an opportunity for a fresh start, your graduation today, and your new adventure this fall, should particularly encourage you to dream big thoughts and live them — as a trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent, and productive citizen of the world.

On this special day, may God shower great blessings on you and your family and keep you safe as you head home and begin a new and exciting journey.

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Together on the Groton Journey Members of the Form of 2017 chose Marcella Flibotte (below) to deliver the student Prize Day speech:

To state the obvious, this is a very big tent. I did not realize so many people would come. I only wish this had been obvious to me a bit earlier.

Thank you to all friends, family, and students here to witness the Form of 2017 graduate. I think at this point my mother is no doubt sobbing, my sister Isabella is cringing at every word I say, and my sister Gabriella (Form of 2009) is pretending she is up here because, in her own words, she is “a Groton legend.”

As I stand up here, I can’t help but think about how much we have learned from our five, four, or three years here. Here at Groton, we all have had a unique and privileged experience to be surrounded twenty-four hours a day with some of the brightest teachers and students. We have teachers who

Sully Hamdan, Matt O’Donnell, Jarvis Bereday, Aram Moossavi, and Taggart Eymer

are so passionate about the subjects they teach, it almost makes you jealous. I have loved learning from Dr. Black that at any moment the world could implode from invasive plant species. I have loved reading The Wasteland and contemplating the meaning of life and the “Groton blues” with Ms. Sen-Das. I have loved learning way too many math-related jokes with Ms. Leroy, learning how not to spill food in the Dining Hall from Darlene, and learning about bravery from Dr. Reyes and Ms. Martin-Nelson, who valiantly took on the burden of trying to teach me Latin.

Our teachers have given us the confidence to formulate our own ideas and to forge our own paths. We have all come to Groton because we share an affinity for learning. You can see this excitement on students’ faces when they discuss math and poetry with Mr. Creamer, or in how their eyes light up when they talk about a U.S. History class with Mr. Lyons. And if any of you have seen the look on Jack Fanikos’ face when Dr. Reyes says just about anything — then you know what I am talking about.

So what has each year here taught us?

Before I came to Groton in Third Form, my sister Gabriella warned me that Second Form is “pretty strange” and to watch out for those kids in my grade who came for it. Despite that piece of useful advice, many of them became my closest friends, and I even ended up living with one for the last two years. And even though I wasn’t here for Second Form, they all talk about it so much that it’s like I experienced it for myself. The Second Formers can find joy and excitement in almost anything they do. They can find the joy in a mundane

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“

I think students not yet in Fifth Form tend to talk in soft whispers when discussing it, as if it were some tragedy.

study hall — where, on their five-minute breaks, members of my form would climb into giant trash barrels and roll down the ramps in the Schoolhouse; the only way to stop was by crashing into the wall. They even found ways of waking up in the morning fun. In Petroskey’s Dorm, Piper was the designated alarm clock. She would sing and play the guitar to wake everyone up in the dorm. None of them even worried that Piper might sleep through her own alarm. Second Formers use their childlike wonder to help them turn any ordinary or boring obligation into something they look forward to.

However, the summer comes and the transition from Second to Third Form is substantial. Thirty kids turn into ninety, and the returning Second Formers seem to all have the mantra “new year, new me.” For example, Hadley retired her flashy, neon-pink wardrobe for cool, gray tones; Trip grew over a foot in one summer; and John grew over a foot in one week. All these changes cause the Third Form to become some of the sassiest members of the community. If you have ever walked through the Mall in Brooks House, you definitely know what I am talking about. Third Form is sooo sassy that when a member of our form brought homemade brownies the first week of school, they were interpreted as a bribe for friends. People refused to eat them, and if they did, they wouldn’t dare tell anyone, which is ridiculous because they were delicious! This is four years too late, but thank you, Zizi, 36

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for bringing some of the best brownies I have ever had.

Thankfully, when the year comes to a close, everyone is ready for Upper School. In Fourth Form, I remember feeling like I had finally made it into the club — the Hundred House Club — where everyone was guaranteed a room with full walls, a door, and no lights out. What luxury, I thought; these are conditions fit for a king. Fourth Formers are just happy to be on Upper School side and are optimistic about everything. And while the Fourth Form gets pitied by the Sixth and Fifth Form for still having mandatory study hall, they still get excited for their fifteen minutes of freedom each night. I mean it is a huge deal. You can have a dance party, play a game of ping-pong, or make a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich in the Dining Hall, and it is not unusual for all three to take place at the same time. All in under fifteen minutes.

And they do this every night.

And then Fifth Form comes. I think students not yet in Fifth Form tend to talk in soft whispers when discussing it, as if it were some tragedy.

These students can be heard swapping gossip like ghost stories around campfires, saying, “I heard they went to bed at 1:30 and that was considered an early night.” Or, “I heard they haven’t left the library in three days — not even to shower.” Or, the one that gives everyone goosebumps, “I heard they didn’t start their research paper until the night before.” All of which can make even the most academically strong

begin to sweat about Fifth Form.

Despite these instances, Fifth Form is one of the best years here. You learn how to work hard and how to — as Mr. Maqubela puts it — TCOB: take care of business. Part of taking care of business is learning how to prioritize.

You schedule your time to the very last minute, managing all your schoolwork so that you can survive six major commitments in one week.

Last spring was filled with SATs, ACTs, and APs, but it also was the spring when Beyoncé’s Formation tour came to Boston. Maybe it was lack of sleep or too many testing dates to remember, but nonetheless, Frances, Caroline, Adia, and I bought tickets for the concert the night before the last available SAT. We had a dilemma on our hands: To go, or not to go.

Fifth Formers are the most responsible students on campus and must efficiently use their time to get good grades and test scores for the upcoming college process. And being responsible, we all decided to go to the concert. We even calculated the exact amount of sleep we could get, and when the hours were looking grim, we then resorted to plan B, which was convincing ourselves that sleep did not matter and was not a factor for a good performance.

The next morning, sporting our new Beyoncé swag, we strutted into the test like we owned the place, sang her songs in our heads to power us through the test, and slayed.

After the dust settles on a chaotic junior year, you enter Sixth Form. This is the year you prefect the dorm, the year you are the captains of your athletic teams, and the year your form leads the school, as Langa, Feild, CJ, and Mike have done incredibly this year. In Sixth Form, you have the confidence and fearlessness that allow you to take on anything. This can be perfectly exemplified in three words said by Langa. During breakfast someone asked if she was excited to give her chapel talk — mind you, it was the morning of — and she boldly and defiantly stated: “It’s not done.”

Shivers were sent down everyone’s

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closest friends and confidantes playing his favorite song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” before releasing him back into the wild. He is the only animal Langa has ever loved.

Just as it was Piamoo’s time to leave, it is now the Form of 2017’s. We have worked hard and made ourselves a home here. Each year, Groton has brought a different set of challenges, and who knows what the challenges in the wild unknown will present?

What I am sure of is that we are all well equipped to handle any situation that may come our way, because we will approach it with the excitement of a Second Former, a bit of sass of a Third Former, the optimism of a Fourth Former, the hard work of a Fifth Former, and the confidence and fearlessness of a Sixth Former.

The traits we have acquired over

the years are what make us ready for anything. And I know that even when we leave campus today, we will carry all the lessons Groton has taught us. And when we next return — whether it be in a year or at our twentieth reunion — we will be welcomed back home by the warm embrace of the Circle, because as we shake our fellow Grotonians’ hands today, our handshakes will be more than goodbyes. They will be a promise that each of us will enter the world and continue to be fearless, hardworking, positive, strong, and everything that Groton has taught us to be. Above all else, it is a handshake promising to care about and believe in each other.

We have grown up together, we have failed together, and we have succeeded together. Now it is time to take on the world together, bringing a bit of the Circle wherever we go.

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spines. However, when 8:00 a.m. came around, she not only had the whole thing done, but it was one of the best talks of the year. This type of confidence is what led CJ, Marco, Mims, Frances, and me to think it was a good idea to keep the wild baby bunny we found stuck in a storm drain. We brought him to the dorm and got him a cage, food, and a little house made out of a tissue box. We named him Piamoo.

Despite concerns people had about our new furry friend, we kept him and brought him with us wherever we went.

He was quite the social rabbit. He had a plethora of friends and could be seen studying in the Schoolhouse at night, or even in the Student Center playing pool in the afternoon. But as he grew up, he longed for life beyond the Circle.

Last week we hosted a release party. We processed around the Circle with his

Clockwise from top left: Kai Volcy, Melissa Lammons, and Emma Keeling; Hannah Simmons, Matt Mullen, Liza Greenhill, and Tripp Stup; the Yit family: Bill, Cherian, Sierra, and Bina; Joceyln Sicat Capen, Temba Maqubela, Ella Capen, Wally Capen ’22, Keith and Susan (Capen) Kroeger, and English teacher John Capen; Hadley Callaway with parents Cameron and Hadley and sister Darden ’10; Michael Aduboffour and Joyce Osei; Molly Prockop ’15, Lyle Prockop, Ella Capen, and Hope Prockop ’86; Tyler Brooks with aunt Adonis Patterson (left) and grandmother Angel Brooks; English teacher Peter Fry presenting a diploma to daughter Phoebe

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2017 Groton School Prizes The Charles Lanier Appleton Prize Awarded to members of the Sixth Form who have greatly served the school Langelihle Kathryn Chinyoka Moylan Feild Gomila III 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 MacGuinness Galinson 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 Hanna Kim The Perry History Prize Given by Mrs. Eliza Endicott Perry to the best scholar in the field of history Charles Townsend Hardy Hawkings 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

The George Livingston Nichols Prize Awarded for the best essay on a historical subject MacGuinness Galinson Marco Collins McGavick The Isaac Jackson Memorial Prize Awarded to the best mathematics scholar in the Upper School Peter Zhang The World Languages Prize Marco Collins McGavick (Chinese) William Connolly Norton (French) Delaney Blair Rosselot Tantillo (Spanish) The Hudson Music Prize Given by the friends of William Clarke Hudson ’56 to recognize effort and progress in music during the school year

The Choir Cup Awarded to the Sixth Form chorister who has exhibited musical growth in sight reading and vocal technique Piper Kelly Higgins

The Anita Andres Rogerson Dance Prize

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Debating Prize Given in memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1900 by W. Averell Harriman 1909

Adia Michelle Fielder, Abby Hannah Kong, Melissa Marie Lammons

Isabel Maria Kendall Lauren Alexandra Kochis

The Photography Prize

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

Ivana Cabrera Primero

Abigail Mary Power

Isabel Maria Kendall The Butler Prize for Excellence in English

Melissa Marie Lammons

Langelihle Kathryn Chinyoka Isabel Maria Kendall The Dennis Crowley Drama Prize Given by Todd C. Bartels ’01 to a member of the Sixth Form who has made the greatest contribution to the theater program

Jack Cecil, Jack Fanikos, Feild Gomila, Marco McGavick and Christopher Ye

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 Zizi Kendall

William Connolly Norton

MacGuinness Galinson

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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 Piper Kelly Higgins 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 Ella Hand Anderson

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 Charles Townsend Hardy Hawkings Piper Kelly Higgins The Asma Gull Hasan 1993 C IRCLE V OICE Journalism Prize Acknowledges outstanding leadership in creating, editing, and producing the school’s newspaper Hadley Carolyn Callaway John Gallagher McLaughlin 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 Caroline Fielding Johnston

The Upper School Shop Prize Kai Volcy The Heard Poetry Prize Josie Drake Fulton 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 Nailah-Imani S. Pierce 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 Jamie Jiang The Bertrand B. Hopkins Environmental Sciences Prize Given by the Form of 1948 James Cook Hovet

The following awards were presented on the Saturday evening before Prize Day: The John Jay Pierrepont Prize Given to the best mathematics scholar in the Lower School Richa Pillai The Lower School Studio Art Prize Angela Wei

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 Piper Kelly Higgins

The Lower School Shop Prize Josephine H. Alling Graney The Lower School Creative Writing Prize Angela Wei

Kei Nawa and Matt O’Donnell

Potter Athletic Award John Francis Amherst Cecil Verity Allen Lynch 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 Catherine Qiao The Reverend Frederic R . Kellogg Upper School Art Prize Given in his memory in recognition of distinguished work in art Youheng Dong Phoebe Shi 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 Brian Xiao 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 Cara J. Chang

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An D. Nguyen The Rensselaer Medal Awarded to a Fifth Form student who has distinguished him- or herself in mathematics and science Charles X. Sun The New England Science Teacher’s Award Christopher Zeng Ye 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 Elbereth Chen Maxwell Kennedy Steinert Benjamin Quang Zaidel 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

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University of Rochester Honorary Science Award Given to the member of the Fifth Form who demonstrates exceptional promise in the sciences

The first Harvard Book Prize, given by Harry Eldridge ’20 in memory of his brother Francis H. Eldridge ’24 Charles Robert Vrattos The second Harvard Book Prize, given

by Mark A. Medlinsky ’76 in memory of his father Becky Xinyue Zhang 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 Christian Lee Carson 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 Margaret Aldrich Cheever 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 An D. Nguyen

Elyssa Wolf

The Wellesley Book Prize Given to young women who have been top scholars in high school as well as talented performers in extracurricular areas Catherine Qiao 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 Kevin Xiao The Frederick Greeley Crocker Memorial Award Nosheen Hotaki ‘14

Lwazi Alwaba Bululu 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 Noah Augustine Aaron 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

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The Form of 2017 Michael Annor Aduboffour Summa Cum Laude

Jack David Fanikos Magna Cum Laude

Isabel Maria Kendall Summa Cum Laude

Ella Hand Anderson Cum Laude

Madeline Ada Ferrucci Cum Laude

Hanna Kim Summa Cum Laude

MacGregor Tannahill Beatty Cum Laude

Adia Michelle Fielder Magna Cum Laude

Heeu Millie Kim Summa Cum Laude

Katherine Mae Belanger Halina Russell Bereday Cum Laude

Caroline Elizabeth Fisher Magna Cum Laude

Lauren Alexandra Kochis Magna Cum Laude

Marcella Maria Flibotte

Jarvis Willet Bereday Cum Laude

Phoebe Tomion Fry Magna Cum Laude

Abby Hannah Kong Magna Cum Laude

Christine Frances Bernard Cum Laude

MacGuinness Galinson Summa Cum Laude

Victor S.W. Liu Cum Laude

Carly Marie Bowman Magna Cum Laude

Moylan Feild Gomila III Cum Laude

Paul B. Lopez

Tyler Ashton Brooks

Rashawn Kyandrew Grant

Verity Allen Lynch Cum Laude

Timothy John Bukowski

Elizabeth Gayle Greenhill Cum Laude

Frances Elizabeth McCreery Cum Laude

Roan Henry Guinan Cum Laude

Marco Collins McGavick Summa Cum Laude

Sully Misja

John Gallagher McLaughlin Magna Cum Laude

Hadley Carolyn Callaway Summa Cum Laude Ella Susan Capen Magna Cum Laude Westby Robert McTavish Caspersen Summa Cum Laude

Charles Townsend Hardy Hawkings Summa Cum Laude

John Francis Amherst Cecil

Piper Kelly Higgins Magna Cum Laude

Langelihle Kathryn Chinyoka Cum Laude

Matthew Garnet Higgins Iati Summa Cum Laude

Hae Chan Chung

Albert Randolph Hough, Jr. Cum Laude

Nicolas Sam Davidoff Symonds Cum Laude

Amani Terae Jiu

Caitlyn Frances DiSarcina

Caroline Fielding Johnston Magna Cum Laude

Youheng Dong Summa Cum Laude Owen Fox Duggan

Anson Hyde Jones Magna Cum Laude

Taggart Carlo Eymer

Emma LingXue Keeling

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Melissa Marie Lammons

Charlotte Alan McLean Cum Laude Caroline Parkhurst Moore Cum Laude Aram Moossavi Cum Laude Matthew Daniel Mullen Kei Nawa Cum Laude William Connolly Norton Magna Cum Laude Matthew Douglas O’Donnell Liberty Stuyvesant Potter

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Hannah McFall Simmons Cum Laude

Terrence Cody Wang Cum Laude

Ivana Cabrera Primero Magna Cum Laude

Tristan Sohrab Smith

Eleonor Charlotte Wolf Cum Laude

Eliza Ray Solomon

Lyle Prockop Magna Cum Laude

Robert Edward Stup III

Elyssa Harriet Wolf Summa Cum Laude

lftikhar Shane Ramnandan

Delaney Blair Rosselot Tantillo Magna Cum Laude

Isabella Yihan Yang Summa Cum Laude

Mims Birdsong Reynolds Cum Laude

Edward Ravy Uong Cum Laude

Christopher Zeng Ye Summa Cum Laude

Kai Volcy

Gisselle Lydia Salgado

Victoria Samiha Wahba Cum Laude

Cherian Chiuen Yit Cum Laude

Alec Michael Reiss Magna Cum Laude

Noelle Marie Santry Magna Cum Laude

College

Charlotte Hamilton Wallace Cum Laude

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Abigail Mary Power Magna Cum Laude

YinJie Zhang Summa Cum Laude

Number attending

Georgetown University

Columbia University

Harvard University

Earlham College

University of Chicago

Emory University

Brown University

Lafayette College

Princeton University

Northeastern University

Scripps College

Northwestern University

University of St Andrews

Pomona College

Villanova University

St. Lawrence University

College of William and Mary

The College of New Jersey

Cornell University

Trinity College

Dartmouth College

Tsinghua University

Hamilton College - NY

Tufts University

New York University

Tulane University

Yale University

United States Naval Academy

Amherst College

University of Akron

Barnard College

University of California, Berkeley

Bentley University

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Boston College

University of South Carolina

Boston University

University of Virginia

Bowdoin College

University of Waterloo

Bryant University

Washington and Lee University

Butler University

Washington University in St. Louis

Colby College

Williams College

College of the Atlantic

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Photographs by Adam Richins

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Alison Roman, Benjy Hansen-Bundy ’07, Poppy Doolan ’12, Tory Mayher ’12, and Mary Bundy ’12

REUNION WEEKEND 2017

T

he 2017 Reunion Weekend welcomed graduates from years ending in 2 and 7— spanning the eight members who attended from the Form of 1947 to the seventy-one members from the Form of 2012. On May 12–14, some 380 graduates—many accompanied by spouses and children—traveled to the Circle from twentynine states and numerous countries, including Germany, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

While alumni participated in a wide range of activities, from birdwatching and alumni rowing to form dinners and panel discussions, no activity outshined the chance to renew old friendships and see favorite teachers.

A highlight of the weekend, as always, was the ceremony honoring this year’s Distinguished Grotonian and Cui Servire Award winner—the Reverend Edward “Ned” Gammons Jr. ’52 and Dr. Nicholas Stevenson Potter ’82, respectively.

The Reverend Gammons reminisced in his acceptance speech about growing up on campus and the faculty members who shaped his life (see page 49). Dr. Potter acknowledged the importance of his work on brain disorders, then chronicled the numerous accomplishments of his 1982 formmates (see page 48).

Alumni also packed the Schoolhouse’s Sackett Forum for Headmaster Temba Maqubela’s reunion address, in which he discussed the GRoton Affordability and INclusion (GRAIN) initiative and emphasized the importance of admitting the “talented missing middle”—the children of artisans, doctors, professors, civil servants, and teachers, among others, who often wrongly assume they will not qualify for financial aid at Groton.

Two panels on Saturday provided provocative discussion. First, a Groton Women’s Network panel—led by Christy Connor-Tanner ’87, a senior vice president at CBS News Digital—shared anecdotes and insights about challenges and opportunities facing women in the workplace. “Women apply for promotion if they think they have 100 percent of the qualifications,” observed Christian Viering ’87, a director at Novartis. “Men will apply www.groton.org

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1. Emma Thomasch, Liz MeLampy, Emily Hoch, Form of 2012 2. Peter Laboy ’12 and Prescott Owusu ’12 3. Ramsey Walker ‘82 (foreground) about to take the lead during the Triangle Run 4. Michael ‘47 and Gene Luther 5. Lucy Chou, Luke Duroc-Danner, Molly Belsky, and Emma Milbank, 2012 6. 1977ers reunite: John Veague, Ellie Dwight, Pete Congleton, and Chris Loring

1

if they have 50 percent.” Besides Christian, the panelists included Jane Allison ’02, a senior manager at Salesforce; Stephanie Borynack Clark ’92, vice president of Wally Findlay Galleries; Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend ’97, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network (and 2016 White House “Champion of Change”); Phyllis Higgerson ’87, proprietor of Henhurst Interiors; Karen McLoughlin ’82, CFO of Cognizant; and Taylor Simmons ’07, an MBA candidate and former buyer at Bloomingdale’s.

The afternoon panel discussion, “What You Don’t Know About the Entertainment Industry,” featured James Bundy ’77, dean of the Yale School of Drama; Mary Bundy ’12, a writers’ production assistant on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Bill Camp ’82, an actor recently starring in HBO’s The Night Of; Kristen Carter ’02, a content creator for shows including BET’s Black Girls Rock and NBC’s The Voice; Charlotte Morgan ’92, a producer for PBS’ Charlie Rose; Jason Zenowich ’92, a Hollywood talent agent; and moderator Ben Pyne ’77, a longtime Disney executive who described the changing face of entertainment. “Millennials subscribe to an average of four streaming services,” said Ben. James recommended a book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, and noted that live theater can tell important stories, such as those of marginalized groups. “When you have an audience, you have responsibility,” he said.

The panelist most likely to be stopped for an autograph, Bill Camp, was about to begin work on The Looming Tower for Hulu. “I’m just a tool.

I’m just an actor. I’m just a part of something much larger,” he said, downplaying his fame. “I don’t make decisions.”

Later on Saturday afternoon, alumni moved on to the Athletic Center to welcome the newest inductees into Groton’s Athletic Hall of Fame (see page 50).

Planning is already underway for the 2018 reunion—for forms ending in 3 and 8. Mark your calendars for May 18–20, 2018.

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7. The Groton Women’s Network panel included Christian Viering ’87, Jane Allison ’02, Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend ’97, Stephanie Borynack Clark ’92, moderator Christy Connor-Tanner ’87, Taylor Simmons ’07, Phyllis Higgerson ’87, and Karen McLoughlin ’82 8. Among those enjoying the remarks of Groton Fund President Dick Patton ’87 are Stanley Spence ’22, Judy and John Bross ’57, Matthew Douglas ’07, Christian Viering ’87, Bobby Greenhill ’87, Henry Patton, Nick Frelinghuysen ’87, and Nick’s daughter, Amelia 9. “What You Don’t Know About the Entertainment Industry,” an afternoon panel, featured Mary Bundy ’12, Charlotte Morgan ’92, moderator Ben Pyne ’77, Kristen Carter ’02, James Bundy ’77, Jason Zenowich ’92, and Bill Camp ’82.

10. Clyde Osborn ’47 11. Ravi Ramkhelawan ’02, Shantanu Dhaka ‘02, and Ethan Dennison ’02 12. Peter Allison ’02, and Jonathan Choate ’60 greeting Jane Bradley Allison ’02 7

10

8 9

11 12

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Cui Servire Est Regnare Award

N. Stevenson Potter ’82 Stevenson Potter ’82, a physician in the Division of Neurocritical Care at Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, was honored for improving the understanding of the human brain, including extensive research on strokes, brain trauma, and seizures. Headmaster Maqubela pointed out the importance of collaboration in Steve’s work, relating it to his rowing at

Groton: “The success of a crew depends on everyone pulling together with the same intensity for the same goal. Steve’s professional accomplishments — his demanding and fulfilling work with patients with complex challenges, his first-year medical-student course on the functions and complexity of the brain and mind, and his research — are highly collaborative, bringing together the patient-care, scientific, technological, and theoretical aspects of medicine.”

Distinguished Grotonian Ned Gammons ’52, Headmaster Temba Maqubela, and Cui Servire Award winner Steve Potter ’82

Dr. Potter accepted with these remarks:

T

hank you for the kind introduction. Many thanks to Headmaster Maqubela and to our Alumni Office. I am deeply honored to be given the Cui Servire Award.

When Betsy [Lawrence ’82] called me three weeks ago to tell me I was being given this award, I told her I was gobsmacked. She said I wasn’t the first recipient to say exactly that. Here’s the reason: what I do is important, but in this group of my fellow classmates in the Form of ’82, it is not unusual. Truly.

Listen to what we do.

We serve by building projects from scratch, bringing art and education to children, and we bring music education to children on two continents.

We serve, making policy at every level—town, city, national, and international. The International Labour Organization’s latest publication reads in part, “[This recommendation] provides a rights-based framework for achieving universal access to essential health care while ensuring basic income security by building comprehensive social security systems.”

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We are past and present members of the Fourth Estate, who serve to keep us anchored in reality.

We are opera singers, painters, graphic designers, actors, animators, and authors of fiction and nonfiction.

We treat patients. We deliver babies into the world. We follow people as they age. We treat men, women, and children, and we analyze how we do it in granular detail and try to do it better.

We teach history, English, art, writing, music, medicine, science, and business. We bring the gospel of genetics, evolution, and experimental design to the masses—at least to those in Maine.

We teach every level and all abilities.

We design houses and buildings and beautiful furniture.

We serve as chaplains, diplomats, lawyers, veterinarians, CEOs, CFOs, and directors.

We administer schools. We serve as deans. We serve as heads of schools.

We serve as trustees and board members of schools, not least this one (and including the one my mother attended, Castilleja).

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Importantly, we change. We serve, and we shift, and we serve again. We start in, say, finance, shift to fight climate change by helping establish the means for individuals to make biodiesel, and shift back to finance again.

We start in finance; we go to the mountains and the wilderness; and we return to convince others to move through the world with great attention.

We find meaning.

Or in my case, start off teaching English, shift to science, then to medicine, then to neurocritical care, then science, then teaching again.

Who has the heart (craziness?) to do that? We do.

I think a lot is linked to the ethos of this school. We are surrounded by people we respect who say, “You can.

Try it. Go ahead.”

We all serve. You all serve. You inspire me greatly. Thank you for this award.

Don’t forget, we also have a classmate trying to keep this administration on the legal straight and narrow. Keep him in your prayers.

Distinguished Grotonian

Edward B. Gammons Jr. ’52 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.

The Reverend Edward B. Gammons ’52 was honored for, as Headmaster Maqubela said in his introduction, a life that “most certainly reflects the essential values of this school.”

The son of Groton’s longtime organist and choirmaster, Ned grew up on the Circle and carried his family’s focus on spirituality

into a career in the ministry, at St. Andrew’s School in Delaware and All Saints Episcopal Church in New Jersey. Since retiring in 2001, Ned and his wife Gretchen have been active in East Bay Citizens for Peace, a social action coalition, as well as Epiphany Advocates, a program through the Church of the Epiphany in

East Providence, Rhode Island, that educates immigrants to be prepared in case of deportation.

The Reverend Gammons accepted with these words:

T

HANK YOU, Temba. I am deeply

touched and astonished by this great honor; not speechless, for during adult life, I have been expected and paid to say things. But I am nervous—more nervous than I have been since we were in Fritz DeVeau’s First Form Latin class in September 1946.

My roots at Groton run deep. They reach back over seventy-five years. My father joined the faculty in 1941 when I was seven years old. So, the impact of Groton was, from the start, more about people and relationships than about an institution. In that first autumn, I went out each morning to wait for the school bus to take me to Boutwell Elementary School. The bus, which was known as Mac MacGregor’s Barge, was, even then, an antique. We lived across the street from Parents House, beyond which was a vast field. Beyond that was the new house which the school had built for the Peabodys as a retirement home. Many a morning, an awesome sight hurtled toward me: a very large man riding his bicycle on the way to Chapel and the gym. It was the Rector. As he passed, he would look over and roar at me, “Good morning, boy.” Thus I was in touch, in a small way, with the Rector. Later, when I was in seminary, I kept a vivid memory of those mornings, and wondered, if there are bicycles in heaven, is that what

God looks like?

In that same August, I met Jack Richards, who, until his death in 2013, was my best friend. Jack’s father came to Groton as a student in 1890 and taught from 1898 until 1941. He then was in charge of alumni news for many years. We heard many lively stories from Mr. Richards about people and events.

So, for me, past, present, and future all flowed together. I was drawn into a family of people to know and admire. This took on a new dimension during the six years I was a student at Groton. When I graduated, I could look back on what I had achieved, but also, much more, on what I was beginning to understand as gift, challenge, and opportunity.

What was my experience of Groton’s gift to me? Much has been written about its famous graduates, and its rank as an elite institution. My experience has to do with relationships and people. First, much is expected of you. Your talent and skills are not the decisive factor. You are expected to stand up for what is right; that in whatever you do, you bend an effort to make a difference. I was struck by that; it means I am valued, not because of my talents, but because my school family expects me to make the best of myself.

Second, my teachers at Groton lived

and worked beyond the job’s requirement. Most of these people were distinguished by the passion and care they gave their students. This was not only my father’s job, but his life. Not to leave anyone out, but a few names come to mind whose impact on me was enormous: Paul Wright, Malcolm Strachan, Ernst Loewenberg, and Junie O’Brien. Of course, this took place beyond the classroom. I remember how much they cared about us, and about our joint adventure of teaching and learning.

That is a lifelong gift. Third, my classmates! Some are here today. Others are rich in memory. They are not just fellow students. They have been, through the years, my companions, whose friendship I cherish.

These memories and relationships are not nostalgia or sentiment. Groton does not live on its past. I am excited to know that this school, in ever new ways, is a place of great expectations, of boundless caring, of companionship, in what I have called “an adventure in teaching and learning.” My grandfather was an old-fashioned Yankee gentleman. If one did something out of the ordinary for him, he never said, “Thank you.” He said, “Much obliged, sir, much obliged.” So, Temba, my good friend, I say to you, “Much obliged, sir, much obliged.” www.groton.org

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New Inductees into Athletic Hall of Fame

Will Gardiner ’82 presents Gail Cromwell with the award for her late husband, Olympic rower Seymour Cromwell ’52.

Ken MacLean ’57, Hugh Scott ’57, Gordon Gund ’57, Stewart Forbes ’57, Emily Oates Torres ’97, Pen Williamson ’59, Bill Polk ’58, David Bingham ’58, and Wilford Welch ’57

The 2017 inductees into Groton’s Athletic Hall of Fame include an Olympic medalist in rowing, a professional ice hockey player, a decorated runner, and two undefeated teams.

Seymour L. Cromwell II ’52 While at Groton, Seymour “Sy” Cromwell played football, managed the baseball team, and participated in track. He began rowing at Princeton, building a successful crew career that would earn him a silver medal in the double sculls at the 1964 Olympics and a spot in the U.S. Rowing Hall of Fame.

After graduating from college in l956, Sy spent two years in the Air Force, then earned a degree in naval architecture at MIT. He began to scull on the Charles River in l959, quickly becoming a top U.S. sculler and winning many national sculling championships. He won the

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Royal Canadian Henley singles championships two years running, then competed in the European and world championships. At the Henley Royal Regatta Diamond Sculls, he was the first sculler to complete the course in under eight minutes, setting a new record for the 120-year-old event.

Sy worked as a naval architect at Babcock & Gibbs in New York before sailing on Ted Hood’s Nefertiti in the America’s Cup trials in 1962. Later he would teach at Iolani School in Honolulu, Collegiate School in New York, and at Groton School from 1973–76. At the time of his death in 1977, Sy was

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completing a degree at Harvard University in environmental engineering.

Besides Sy’s silver at the Olympics, his accolades include gold medals in single sculls at the 1960 and 1961 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and at the 1a963 Pan American Games; silver medals in single sculls at the 1963 European Championships and in double sculls at the 1966 World Championships; and bronze medals in single sculls at the 1961 European Championships and 1962 World Championships.

In 1964, Sy was the Diamond Sculls Singles Champion at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Caroline Bierbaum LeFrak ’02 Caroline ran on Groton’s varsity girls cross country team for four years and was a four-time ISL and NEPSAC Divison 3 champion. She holds course records for every course she ran, including those at Groton, Lawrence Academy, St. George’s, and Middlesex.

A decorated athlete at Columbia University, Caroline was a five-time All-American in cross country and track and field. She was the 2005 recipient of the Honda Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding athlete in women’s cross country, selected by balloting from one thousand NCAA member

Temba Maqubela with Paul Stewart ‘72

The 2002 boys tennis team: Stuart Landesberg ’03; Shantanu Dhaka ‘02; Coach John Conner P’11, ’14, ’16, ’19; Jamie Conner ’11 (then “ball boy”); Ravi Ramkhelawan ’02; Zack Pasanen ’02; James Higgins ’02

schools. She has track bests of 32:44 for a 10k and 15:52 for a 5k.

Caroline graduated from Columbia in 2006 with a degree in history and was selected as an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient. Professionally sponsored by Nike from 2006–08, Caroline now runs competitively for the New York Athletic Club.

In 2012, she ran in the Olympic Trials Marathon and finished with a personal best of 2:38:14.

Paul Gerard Stewart ’72 Paul Gerard Stewart’s professional hockey career rests upon a passion for the sport that dates to his childhood.

As a young teen, he was often in tow when his father’s English High School hockey team played against Groton. For Paul, sports were not just an

after-school activity; they were an integral and formative part of life, shaped by coaches and peers.

When he joined the Circle as a Second Former, Paul played JV first, then four years of varsity, serving as assistant captain his Sixth Form year. After Groton, Paul played Division I hockey at the University of Pennsylvania and later for both the World Hockey Association Cincinnati Stingers and National Hockey League Quebec Nordiques.

In 1994, Paul found a new career as an NHL referee, working 1,010 regular-season NHL games and forty-nine Stanley Cup games.

He also refereed two Canada Cup Finals, including what some call the greatest game ever played, when Canada faced the Soviet Union in 1987.

1957 Varsity Boys Hockey Team It was a winter like no other, a hockey season unblemished by loss. The 1957 varsity hockey team ended the season with a 10–0 record, outscoring opponents 53–9. While the squad was led by many respected and talented players, the official leader, Kenny MacLean ’57, was key to the their positive and effervescent spirit.

Coach Junie O’Brien stressed that players must act as a team, not as individuals, to achieve, and each player absorbed his message.

2002 Varsity Boys Tennis Team Tennis may be defined by individual performances, but the 2002 boys varsity players came together as a team, led by Coach “Señor” John Conner, to achieve a perfect season: 15–0 in the ISL and

the first and only New England Division A Championship win in the school’s history.

The 2002 Sixth Formers began with a strong foundation: their 2001 team had defeated archrival Milton to win the ISL crown, but fell short in the New England Championship to the Phillips Exeter squad. After losing four starters from 2001, the team entered the 2002 season with uncertain expectations. Ultimately, the underformers, who gained strength and confidence as the season progressed, headlined the story. After a few close matches, the team hit its stride with a dominating win over Milton. In the New England Championship, the team finally overcame Exeter in a hard-fought battle in the semis, then persevered to come from behind against Milton in the finals to capture the title.

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1. From the Form of 2007, David Orlowitz, Chris Cleveland, Saamer Usmani, Taylor Simmons, Asenso Ampim, Scotty Weber, Stephen Millington, Katelynn Clement, Kaleigh O’Hara Douglas and her husband Matt 2. Gordon Gund ’57, Judith Parker, Tim Rivinus ’57, and Nat Coolidge ’57 3. Franco Bueno Mattera, Emily Lamb ’07, Fan Zhou, and Jenny Desrosier ’07

1

2

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FORM PHOTOS

Front row: Barbara Metcalf, John Bordman, Mike Morss, Hala Lawrence, Gene Luther Middle row: Paine Metcalf, Pamela Morss, David Lawrence Back row: Betty Kirk, Roger Kirk, Clyde Osborn, Mike Luther, Grant La Farge

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Front row: Elaine Berg, Irwin Berg, Ned Gammons Middle row: Ellie Southworth, Erastus Corning, Campbell Steward, Gretchen Gammons Back row: Minot Nettleton, John Cabot, Alycyn Nettleton

Front row: Tim Rivinus, Sam Webb, John Bross, Wilford Welch, John Bingham, Nat Coolidge Middle row: Hugh Scott, Peter Schabert, Stuart Auchincloss, Michael Vesselago, John Carmody, Doug Brown, Stewart Forbes Back row: Ian Dunn, Kenny MacLean, Gordon Gund, Hill Bullard

(Above) Front row: Buck McAdoo, Peyton Biddle, Ken Audroue, Frank Blair, Shep Krech, Jim Balano, Brad Whitman, Elaine Whitman, Blakely Bundy, Harvey Bundy Back row: Tod Gregory, Pat Gregory, Anne Gardiner, Rob Gardiner, Sheila ffolliott, Helena Meyer-Knapp, Rob Knapp, John Whitman, Bill Forsyth, Scott Asen, Chris Angell, John Cobb, Bayard Cobb, David Thorne, Rose Thorne

(Left) Front row: Sheldon Crosby, Hope McDermott, Charlie Bering, Hugh Auchincloss, Theo Towns, Warren Motley, Louise Howell Back row: Shaw McDermott, Ed Childs, Ramon Revuelta-Lapique, Harry Morgan, Charlie Howell Not pictured: Gardner Fiske

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Front row: Sherri Moore, Jim Cooper, Stephen Strachan, Steve Borgeson, Bill Larkin, Jake Congleton, Peter Bickford, Katrina Bickford, Andy Woolworth, Vicki LaFarge Middle row: Preston Moore, Robert McSween, McCulley Stewart, Paul Stewart, Sally Congleton, Charlie Agnew, Chris Mead, Larney Fowler, Hench Ellis, Chris LaFarge Back row: Danny Davison, Steve Considine, Robert Manning

Front row: Ben Pyne, Janet Pyne, Ed Toy, Maria Tjeltveit, Rob Southworth, David Bolger, Tish Lewis, George Riley, Chris Kelly Middle row: Naomi Pollock, Clifton Beach, Andy McGrade, Lili Morss, Peter Congleton, Ellie Dwight, Catie Camp, Chris Loring Back row: Alyce Lee, Holly Lyman, James Bundy, Mark Hansen, Bill Cross, John Veague, Peter Werner, Anna Finch, Philip Goodnow, Arthur Anton, Whitson Lowe

Front row: Clint Johnson, Nini Rogerson Morris, Mark Roberts, Virginia Rhoads, Karen McLoughlin, Betsy Wray Lawrence, Olivia Fischer Fox, Andrew Auchincloss Middle row: Deirdre Swords, Bridget Elias and Townsend Davis, David Saltonstall, Bunny Forbes Hickey, Megan Spurdle Peel, Caroline Perera Barry, Julia Hicks de Peyster Back row: Will Thorndike, Henry Romaine, Martha Sutro, Ramsey Walker, Phil Higginson, Brooks Donnelly, Steve Potter

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Front row: Anna, Luke and Charlotte Gardiner, Monica Spencer Green, Christy Connor-Tanner, James Waterston, Finn Waterston, Kate Piccirillo, Craig Piccirillo, Christian Viering, Will Houston, Jonathan Bross, Isaac Archer-Mye, Adam Isles, Dick Patton, Hazel Patton, Henry Patton, Heather Clay ’89, May Frelinghuysen, Will Vrattos

Middle row: Sarge Gardiner, Aimee Gardiner, Barry Browning, Phyllis Higgerson, Rick Higgerson, Kristin McFadden, Leila Archer-Mye, Fred Piper, Monica Patton, Nick Frelinghuysen, Amelia Frelinghuysen, Heather Vrattos

Back row: Tom Wright, Bobby Greenhill, Dan Quigley, Jenny Minton Quigley ’89, Ted Paisley, Angus McFadden, Jerry Lavish, Lanny Fuller, Rebecca Archer, Mike Bolger, Kim Anstatt, Tom Piper, Charles Gansa, Otto Piper, Tommy Gansa, Bill Vrattos

Front row: Harry Spence, children of Alison and Chris Cho, Stanley Spence, Eliza Spence, Stephanie Borynack Clark with son Julius, Devon Brownell, Philip Nicholas, Tom Hooper, Todd Tesoro, Charlotte Howard Cloninger, Robert Cloninger, Elizabeth Lang Eberle, Jeffrey Eberle

Middle row: Lillian Smith, Abigail Smith, Alison Cho, Barry Shea, Phil Kurzman, Ann Spence, Zahr Said and daughter Farah, Cade Bridges, Allison Sewell Bridges, Jamie Bromwell, Storm Taliaferro, KC Chambers, Christina Lamb, Jamie McConnel, Charlotte Morgan

Back row: Kristi Smith, Geoff Smith, Katherine Smith, Adam Spence, Chris Cho, Dan Ok, Frederick Clark, Charlie Whinery, Tia Whinery, Nick Burgin, Suzanne Wirtz, Courtney Burgin, Tiverton Smith McClintock, Austin McClintock, Morgan Dix, Jason Zenowich, Gaston de los Reyes, Sascha Pleasant, Dale Fairclough

Front row: John DeStefano, Hannah Haddadi, Megan Rutter Haddadi, Katie Cobb Leonard, Kendra Borowski, Fatima Sanandaji, Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend Middle row: Hilary Watts Wieczorek, Gillian Curran, Matt Zsofka, Brooks Finnegan, Samala Penalver, Nico Landrigan, Jen Field Whitman, Emily Oates Torres, Abiola Dele-Michael Rear row: Andrew Piccirillo, Matt Asano, Trilby Reeve, Brooke Andrews, Karim Ani, Mollie Spongberg, Srdjan Tanjga, Nia Spongberg, Alex MeVay, Peter Niles, Tyler Bradford, Ed Stephenson, Barclay Lynch, Lauren Muzinich Not pictured, but in attendance at Reunion Weekend: Judith Noel Devins, Valerie Cooper, Ben Jallow, Guillermo Barnetche and Eugene Croddick

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Front row: Gabe Menendez, Kyle Eudailey, Alex Furer, Nell van Amerongen, Will Boothby, Peter Allison, Jane Allison, Jon Ward Middle row: Philip Anstey, Brooks Gordon, Nathaniel Bristol, Kristen Carter, Hilary Minot Capato, Julia Deming Vaughn, Haven Thompson Boothby, Martha Campbell, Jade Allamby Back row: James Higgins, Bo Twumasi, Zack Pasanen, Justin Ifill, Ben Niles, Andrew McElroy, Shantanu Dhaka Not pictured: Anna Sjogren, Pradeep Ghosh, Whitney Rauschenbach, Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid, Christina Goodlander, Ethan Dennison, Ravi Ramkhelawan, James Barkley

Front row: John Zacharias, Nate Reeve, Samantha McMahon, Kaleigh O’Hara Douglas, Elisabeth Anderson, Katelynn Clement, Taylor Simmons, Billy Hennrikus, Wynne Evans, Emily Lamb, Sinead Sinnott, Caitlin Fross, Catherine Simes Middle row: Benjy Hansen-Bundy, Matthew Douglas, Jenny Desrosier, Kaitlyn Mauritz, Sean Wu, Dave Orlowitz, Kiersten Dockeney, Katie Burggraf, Kaylee Maykranz, Katherine Dwyer, Liz Kalaris Back row: Alex Hull, Arthur Colby, Chris Cleveland, Stephen Millington, Saamer Usmani, Henry Bloomfield, Scotty Weber, Asenso Ampim

Front Row: Gordon Pyne, Kayode Dansalami, Peter Laboy, Tim Morrill, Cerel Munoz, Ben Ames, Ali Norton, Julia Combs, Molly Belsky, Allie Banwell, Tory Mayher, Poppy Doolan, Diana Chen, Emily Hoch, Katie Petroskey, Lizzy Ross, Prescott Owusu, Tarik Welch

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Middle Row: Nick Fischetti, Walter Hunnewell, Sherwood Callaway, Harry Pearson, Ray Dunn, Jack Kessler, Sarah Long, Sarah Brooks, Susanna Kalaris, Artie Santry, Emma Milbank, Lucy Chou, Matt Clarida, Gen Fowler, Olivia Trase, Derek Boyse, Talia Simon, Chloe Fross, Hope Cutler, Nicole Fronsdahl, Abby Morss, Mary Bundy, Jacqueline Anton

Fall 2017

Back Row: Winston Shi, Jamie Billings, James Lee, Adam Lamont, Malcolm Johnson, Eliza Fairbrother, Denia Viera, Joe MacDonald, Trevor Bossi, Luke Turchetta, Mike Doherty, Luke Duroc-Danner, Carly Margolis, Thomas Choi, Will Holley, Evan HansenBundy, Zach Baharozian, William Goodenough, Charlie Terris, Chris MacDonald

A C H A P E L TA L K

by Anson Jones ’17 May 16, 2017 voces

Adam Richins

A Chapel Talk. . . Literally HEY GUYS! How is everyone? Are you guys tired?

Because I’m tired. Early morning chapel really can be annoying sometimes. We are rudely awakened by our alarms, forced to trade warm beds for uncomfortable pews, to sit here, listen to a classmate ramble on in the pulpit, our heavy eyes assaulted by the light that pours in, casts colors on the floor, and fills the sculpted vault of the ceiling with gold. Oh, it’s awful.

OK, in all seriousness, look at this building. Look at the windows, look at the wood carvings on the pulpit, the tiny quatrefoil windows, the hidden hovering angels.

There is an unbelievable amount of beauty in this space.

Everybody look at the ceiling. Doesn’t it look so far away? It is gorgeous, and I don’t think I noticed it until this year. Recently, I’ve been trying to keep myself more

aware of this space, so every morning I pick something, usually this east window, and let it make me smile. I want to take a second to let you try it, so feel free to turn around, crane your neck, stand if you like, just find something you either didn’t notice or didn’t appreciate and give it an inner nod or smile. I’ll wait.

OK. I think it’s really easy to overlook the Chapel because we see it every day, and plus, we all have an automatic aversion to places where our presence is mandatory.

But this place deserves all the respect in the world. Some of it I totally understand: religion is a touchy subject and having to be in a place of worship whose religion you don’t follow makes for a breeding ground of resentment.

I’m not saying that everybody ought to be waiting with bated breath for next Sunday’s lessons, but I love this

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building and everything that happens here, and it’s not just about religion. So, let me tell you some of the secular reasons that I love the Chapel.

I have always loved religious spaces. I grew up singing on summer Sundays in the children’s choir at St. Andrew’s Dune Church. The Dune Church is very different from St. John’s Chapel. It’s much smaller, built of reddish wood, and incredibly hot, and incredibly dark. It used to function as a naval rescue base, in which it takes great pride. You might have noticed that this morning’s reading, which is the departure prayer, referenced “dispatching rescuers,” and today’s hymn, “For Those in Peril on the Sea,” is sung every Sunday service. It’s very true to its name: although three sides of it are bordered by flowers, if you walk out the south door you find yourself less than three feet from the steep slope of the dune. It’s filled with the same faces every Sunday, and there’s a 95 percent chance they all have sand in their shoes. When you walk in, the bright light of the beach is muted and your eyes take a moment to adjust. The room’s corners blur into shadows that are deep and warm, the walls punctured by small windows of richly colored glass.

On hot days during those summers, the ceiling fans had no effect on the thick air. I would sit there sweating under the heavy fabric of the choir robes, wishing I had a glass of water, fidgeting, until one of two things happened: I got bored enough to listen to the preacher, or I stared at the stained glass as my mind fell into a lulled state of

contemplation. I would wonder about “the meaning of life,” “who am I,” and the rest of Reverend Tumminio’s 2:00 a.m. questions, looking for answers I knew I wouldn’t find. Eventually, the service ended, we processed to the back, and emerged into the blinding yellow light full of smiling post-church chatter.

I’m sure a few of you have also heard me say that, of all the buildings I’ve ever been in, my favorite is the Pazzi Chapel by the Church of Santa Croce in Florence.

Dissimilar from both this Chapel and the Dune Church, the Pazzi Chapel has clean white walls and stone moldings the color of wet concrete. But like the two, it is striking.

I’ve only walked in those doors once, but it was breathtaking; its seclusion, its cool simplicity, the metallic hush of echoing sound, all quieted my mind immediately. I sat on the surrounding benches, alone— until Meg, the woman who taught art history in the program I was with, stepped in and sat down, clearly exhilarated by the space.

She and I sat whispering, first about the building’s geometry, then every tangent we could find. As we talked, each thread of conversation we followed led to another and we wandered everywhere. As we spoke, somehow the space itself seemed to give me permission to lose myself.

Chapels have always been a sanctuary, a moment of quiet, a place for contemplation. But that’s just what they mean to me. You can look at this space from any perspective, and still find a reason to love or respect it.

If you love physics, there’s no way you aren’t

Allison MacBride

“It may be silly, but I like to think that we come here to give adoration to this concept of thought.”

Anson with friends after her chapel talk

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voces

astounded and fascinated by how there are tons and tons of stone and wood hanging over our heads that won’t fall.

Or by the elegance of the structure and how every force in the walls is perfectly in balance.

If you love math, the geometry in the Chapel is equally absorbing. The Gothic tracery of the windows is a challenge to map and to understand what types of curves make up the design,—how you could break them down and turn them into something graphable.

More than these things, the Chapel is steeped in history. There is obviously a lot to be learned about the history of religion in any chapel, but St. John’s Chapel has a much more intimate history as well: one of past rectors, teachers, and students, which is quite literally written on those walls.

So, even looking just from an academic standpoint, chapels are fascinating, and this one in particular. But I think what really sets the character of this Chapel apart from every other one is that its main function has nothing to do with Sundays. We come on weekdays to appreciate something totally secular—a speech by one of our peers.

There’s a reason chapel talks are such an iconic tradition. They embody much of what defines Groton. Where else will we spend four days a week with our whole community listening to someone we know give a speech about what matters most to them? The things that everyone remembers—senior poetry, expo class, speeches of conviction—all happen when someone stands up and says what

they want to say. It may be silly, but I like to think that we come here to give adoration to this concept of thought. It’s really what brought us all to Groton in the first place, and it is the strongest mortar that holds the community together.

In all honesty, I wanted to give this talk because I know I feel guilty about taking the Chapel for granted.

These last four years, I have walked through these doors ten to twenty times a week. The majority of those times, my thoughts didn’t change at all when I stepped in. Last year I brought flashcards into the back of the Chapel most of the days I had a U.S. History test. And maybe it’s senior spring talking, but I also feel like I’ve been taking for granted everything that it stands for. How many chapel talks do I remember? Did I ever bother speaking to the people who gave them? If I did, did we have real conversations or just complain about work?

Pretty soon, I’ll be walking out of this Chapel for the last time as a Groton student. I’ll remember the things that people said in the pulpit, or the black box, or the roof of the Chapel, or the Dining Hall after a long dinner, and I’ll also remember the way that walking in the Chapel feels when I let it give me space to breathe. Hopefully, when I do finally walk out, I can take that peace of mind, that space for thought, and every small smile I have given the windows.

If you really found something that made you smile this morning, look at it tomorrow. Look at it the next day, and the next, until you can carry it with you when you leave.

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A C H A P E L TA L K

by Stephen Hill ’80, Trustee April 21, 2017

Reason to Rhyme Listen to this chapel talk at www.groton.org/hillchapeltalk.

S

ometimes, you’ve got no idea how you’re gonna do it.

Can’t fathom how you’re about to get through it.

But at the heart of the start of any bizarre journey far You’ve got to say au revoir to the comfort of who you are And challenge yourself to raise your bar.

OK I’m in now.

I gotta swim now.

Treading this verbal water Whether I shouldn’t or oughta; Paddling madly so as to not drown in the sound of a misplaced verb or noun.

I’ve got this determination to make this alliteration one for the generations.

Today’s chapel talk? It’s Board of Trustees time.

Trusting you won’t be bored with this trustee’s lines That I’m hoping will inspire and lift you higher With my back to the choir Start your day on fire . . .

Like the bon of St. Mark’s.

I want this chapel talk to throw off sparks And be the pilot light that might ignite a tight insight.

Is that alright?

So by the time we get to the very end, We’ll see if I’m Abel . . . like my friend the Weeknd. 1 I want to tell you what happened . . .

Perhaps you’re laughin’ at this rappin’; I’d be saddened if you were nappin’ Like I sometimes did as a student in the very back rowwww.

But then I’d get waken up by Mr. Choate2 And told to goooo /along the road/ straight to my desk at the call of roll.

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I was hangin’ with Langa in Lincoln’s common room one night.

There was Adia to the left, Annie and Elechi to the right.3 ‘Twas not taciturn; the topics turned at such high velocity.

Opinions banging back and forth with such great ferocity.

Groton as a student body lacks not passion; The same passion a Kardashian might have for their fashion.

“Listen, Listen, Process” and to be or not cisgender; These are two issues I vividly remember.

Then the topic of the conversation turned my way And I mentioned to my friends that earlier that day, After the splendid chapel talk we heard from Gus & Charlie’s dad, 4 I was contemplating exiting the building, and I had Been approached by Temba Mac (well, that’s what I call him) Who wanted to know, for a fact, if I could be all in.

He said: “Will you brighten and widen our eyes; possibly fertilize our minds By doing YOUR chapel talk next time?”

Oooh . . . A chapel talk . . . do I hafta?

I’d kinda rather run from here to Durban, South Africa.

I’d kinda rather play Terrance Wang 5 in squash with no racquet.

I’d kinda wanna see how I feel; and then get back at ya.

I feel too much weight on my shoulders.

I feel like I wouldn’t be focused.

I feel like. I feel like; I would just speak fluff.

I feel like it wouldn’t be enough.

I feel like; I feel like words are my fair-weather friends.

I feel like I’m having the bends.

I feel like: I feel like I might go too far.

But mostly . . . I feel like I ripped this riff off straight from Kendrick Lamar.

Well, Temba Mac hates “No”s . . . and I’d kinda said “maybe.”

Now we’re back in Lincoln’s dorm . . . trying to think of a wavy Way to make it a “yes”!

But with “yes” there’s excess stress I’ll have to address.

Nonetheless I acquiesce it’s best to just reassess: Access a process to suppress my want to egress.

So now that I’ve figured it out, I confess that I’m less pressed than a Fourth Former’s dress.

And that metaphor is NOT a transgress: At the age of sixteen, you have to admit, the dress of any sex is usually a wrinkled mess.

As you might guess . . .

We went through some ideas; most of them lame.

Then a lightbulb went “click” ( fingersnap) . . . like the Q in your headmaster’s name.

The result of my Lincoln session: this talk should rhyme!

No one who was there could remember a time It’d been done before.

How could I ignore The chance to be the first to soar And be supreme: Sotomayor 6!

voces

OK. Whoa.

Focus Stephen . . . we’re one minute in and you haven’t even Explained how we got here in the first place.

Right now this talk has the relevance of Myspace.

That’s a disgrace.

Time for an about face.

This journey jumped off in January; let me present my case.

And I want to be on the money and have confidence in my mission; I want to Be Anthony like Suzi. 7 Instead, I got inexperience; and I’m green like Lil Uzi. 8 How should I do this? I’m not a rapper.

What if I write something that should be flushed down the cra . . . chamber pot?

Then I thought of the phrase that, at that time, I’d not yet borne.

It’s one that you’ve heard already once this morn.

And you’ll hear it twice more before I’m through.

So just in case you’re counting, this here is time number 2.

Sometimes you got no idea how you’re gonna do it.

Can’t fathom how you’re about to get through it.

But at the heart of the start of any bizarre journey far You’ve got to say au revoir to the comfort of who you are And challenge yourself to raise your bar.

So with the dorm’s encouragement . . . here I stand: Trying very hard to be the only man To rhyme every single phrase AND inspire from this vessel.

And THAT’s a tall order; REAL tall; John Cecil. 9 I mean, I never thought that I would be the kind of guy To hit this open mic; just like I’m Phoebe Fry. 10 But when I accomplish this, I totally stand to be The very first at Groton School . . . you can call me Rublee! 11 So now I’m inspired to fly higher.

My desire is catching fire Like a spark hitting a drier pyre, Heat like a thick wire bent with pliers.

Don’t want to leave you uninspired.

Or feel like you do when you talk about inclusion . . . just tired!

OK, I say that as a joke, but let’s never forget: the “I” word is important; maybe think of it as a debt.

To whom much is given, they say much is expected . . .

To collect it, GRAIN 12 has been erected; so please reflect it, respect it, and protect it In your actions, deeds, your thoughts and your words.

They all have power, oh yeah I heard . . .

“Abel” is the true first name of the popular artist known as “The Weeknd.”

Math teacher Jonathan Choate ’60 3 References to students and math teacher and dorm head Cathy Lincoln 4 Trustee Bill Vrattos ’86 is the dad of Gus ’19 and Charlie ’18.

5 Squash captain Terrence Wang ’17 6 Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

7 Susan B. Anthony played a pivotal role in the women’s suffrage movement and can be found on the $1 U.S. coin 8 Lil Uzi Vert is a popular rapper.

9 John Cecil ’17 is 7’ 0”.

10 Singer/songwriter Phoebe Fry ’17 helped organized open mic nights.

11 George Rublee is the first graduate of Groton School.

12 GRoton Affordability and INclusion 1 2

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Let’s just say that for not every song should we sing every line, I opine.

Shout out my good friend . . . Caroline .13 Now here’s the part where I impart some noble wisdom.

With all my heart I hope I’m smart; you won’t say “he is dumb”!

With all my heart I hope I’m smart and you might learn some.

OK. Let’s start with this here chart: let’s go 5 to 1.

Five nuggets concerning Groton and I hope they’re relatable.

But will they all be? Ehhhh, maybe debatable.

Five chances to go deep water; oxygen tank.

In French and in failure, these five could be sank.14 Number five: Like your good doctor David15 whose environmental study is VERY weighty, I, too, am Black . . . Groton . . . class of 1980!

Number four: I love Groton. I haven’t forgotten. I’m part of this fabric like Egyptian cotton.

EVERY year / alumni B-ball/ try to get my shot in!

Because . . .

I am not throwing away my . . . shot!

I am not throwing away my shot!

I’m just like my school; established, old but cool.

And I’m not throwing away my shot!

Aaaaaas an aside: I took my mom to see Hamilton, she was rambling and stammering But afterwards . . . her first words to me were . . . “Huh, I always thought Hamilton shot Burr!”

(That’s true. That actually happened.)

Number three: I said I was a student here, did I mention teaching?

Taught math and coached and was part of admissions meetings.

Ran a dorm with all the 3rd Form boys and took a beating.

And this was all happening while Preston Bannard 16 was teething.

Aaaaaas an aside: During my time as a teacher, I saw accomplishments I thought great.

1984 was Groton’s centennial date.

In ’86 football unbeaten; they won all eight Due in no smart part to the rugged John Jake.17 But the biggest win of all? The smoothest moves: no debate?

Pssh . . . that’s easy: Belsky’s wooing of Kate.18 Number two: I’m extremely honored to be a Groton trustee!

My mom was one a few years before I, you see.

So proud to be on this amazing board; Always engaged. Pushing forward Towards excellence and service and to be the best Regnare: Cui Servire est

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Number one: But did you know the original Groton motto was, um, a bit different?

Latin still the language but let me tell you just how it went: “Esse Quam Videre”; “to be rather than to seem” I love this motto like I love ice cream!

I love this motto like you love the headmaster’s jacket green!

I love this motto ’cause here’s what it really means.

While it’s easy to make it appear that you’ve achieved your dreams, There’s nothing more sweet than your own actual evolution of being.

Whoever you are; love it, embrace it, hold it, be it, do it.

All the seeming in the world can’t change who you are; that is undisputed.

Flow boldly through the seemingly disparate elements that are you at your truest.

Above all and at all risk, allow the you you are to be fluid.

Your journey is a gift that should shape shift like a snowdrift hit with continuous, swift, lifting winds.

I wish you confidence of motion, action, thought, and comfort

inside of your skin.

I wish you the confidence to NOT “seem”; no snap filter needed on your lives.

I wish you the courage to be all you . . . and trust that you will thrive.

Live your life out loud!! Or reeeeeal quiet if you want to.

Or mix and match; all I ask is you be truthful in how you do you.

I’m going to close this out before my voice gets even more pitchy, But first, I’ll make a proposal 19 from this pulpit like Lillian Harris did for Richie.

I propose today that you, like me, do something unusual.

Maybe something you’ve wanted to, but you thought not fruitful.

Maybe something that takes courage to set into motion; Today is the first next day of your evolution.

You aren’t who you will be and certainly don’t have to be who you were before.

And I hope how this talk ends rings in your ears going forward.

You already know what I’m going to say Since it’s slipped from my lips already twice today.

And of course, I warned you there’d be a third.

I sincerely hope you’ll find a road map like I did in these words . . .

Sometimes you got no idea how you’re gonna do it.

Can’t fathom how you’re about to get through it.

But at the heart of the start of any bizarre journey far You’ve got to say au revoir to the comfort of who you are and challenge yourself to raise your bar.

Bars.

“Caroline,” a song by Aminé The French word for five is “cinq.”

15 Ecology teacher David Black ’80 16 Latin teacher and former faculty child Preston Bannard ’01 17 Reference to John Jacobson ’86, trustee 18 Faculty couple Stephen Belsky and Kate Dennison 19 A student “promposal” 13 14

A C H A P E L TA L K

by Yolanda Dong ’17 April 11, 2017 voces

Angels’ Landing T

here’s an old Chinese saying: “读万卷书,行万里路”— “Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.” So, over spring break, I decided to get started on the latter part, but I did not expect to almost lose my life in Utah.

Early that day, our tour guide, Geath, drove us to Zion National Park and told us that Angels Landing is a must-see. So, four young and eager teenagers enthusiastically went to the bottom of the mountain.

There hung a wooden sign: Angels Landing, 2.5 miles away. We thought that it was going to be a peaceful, fivemile meander in the mountains, with birds, lake, trees, and beautiful scenery. Not bad.

We had charged our professional cameras the day before, wore some extravagant and cumbersome clothes and shoes, and decided to see this Angels Landing.

However, as we proceeded, the slopes got steeper and we realized that we had to climb several mountains to get to the destination. The pathway was smooth at first, but soon became so rocky and narrow that we could only walk in single file. My delicate friends, who are precious, only children at home and never do sports, slowed down and dragged behind. We had never actually done any hiking before and were not planning to try it out that day.

“Are we almost there?” my friend Chen Xi asked.

Geath said, “It says on the GPS that we’ve traveled 0.5 miles. Just two more to go.”

The nice plateau path became hills; hills became mountains. After we got to the other side of the mountain, we realized that it was just the very beginning of many more rocky mountains and precipitous cliffs.

Soon walking became climbing, and climbing became crawling. Just as we reached what we thought was Angels Landing—after two hours of hard walking—another

narrow path appeared with chains attached to the sides of the mountain. The clouds cloaked the peak so we couldn’t even see the summit.

It was horrifying. Later on, I saw a description of Angels Landing online. It said, “The Angels Landing Trail is one of the most famous and thrilling hikes in the national park system. Zion’s pride and joy runs along a narrow rock fin with dizzying drop-offs on both sides. Such an intimidating path is rarely frequented by hikers. This narrow ridge with deep chasms on each of its flanks allures only the most intrepid hikers. Climbers scale its big walls; hikers pull themselves up by chains and sightseers stand in awe at its stunning nobility. The actual Angels Landing Trail is only a half-mile way, but it is a spectacular half-mile.

Kids should not be taken there.” Since 2004, six people have died falling from the trail. Just a month ago, a female climber lost her life because she slipped while taking photos of the scenery.

Now, in case I haven’t mentioned this before, we four are not professional hikers; in fact, we had never actually hiked before nor were we equipped at all that day for this kind of hiking. As it turned out, our tour guide Geath confessed to us that he had never reached the actual summit because he had only taken old Chinese tour groups to Zion.

He himself had never seen the actual Angels Landing. We got to the two-mile point and saw the scary, chained, halfmile path. He advised us to only take a few photos and return, even though we were only half a mile away from the summit.

“We’ve come so far. There was no going back the moment we stepped on this trail. I am not going back until I see this Angels Landing,” a friend said. Our boldness and wild hearts made the decision to take on this seemingly impossible challenge.

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“My dad always said that he was lucky to have been the oldest because if he had been born later, my grand­parents would have sold him in exchange for crops and money.“

Now let me digress from this scary adventure and talk about my life and a similar experience that my father has had.

I’ve always felt extremely lucky. This is not just some cliché that we should always be grateful for what we have; or, don’t take everything as a given. I truly feel blessed for the life I have had.

My whole life has turned out quite smoothly, planned or not. I barely knew any English in fifth grade and, miraculously, I was admitted to one of the top private American middle schools. I maybe knew the alphabet and apples and bananas, but that was it. I was basically placed in an environment where I couldn’t understand anything, say anything, write anything, or do anything.

In 2012, not many Chinese children studied abroad that early. I’ve always thought that my middle school probably needed to add some diversity to their sixth grade, and that’s why they admitted me in the first place.

My mom gave up her job in China and came to America with me. Twelve-year-old me didn’t have any problems with homesickness, but I knew that my parents had given up family for me and my education.

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When my father was young, he lived in one of the poorest areas in China, a place called Dainan that no one has ever heard of. I once followed my parents to the field my grandparents owned and cared for in Dainan. It wasn’t big: approximately half the size of a soccer field.

At the time, the land only grew 油菜花, a type of yellow flowers, the seeds of which can be processed to produce oil. The flowers in the field looked like shimmering sand from afar, and the blue sky beyond the horizon was the sea. My grandparents would always ask me what the ocean looked like because they had never walked out of the town.

Once I took a walk with my dad over a bridge next door to visit my grandparents in the fields. The lake beneath was always frozen whenever I visited. I picked a brick from the pile that was used to fix roofs and threw it into the lake. Those bricks were kept in the same spot every year, but somehow the more I threw into the lake, the more the pile grew every year. Soon there would be enough to build a house.

From a distance, my father watched me in silence as I threw the bricks into the lake. One brick wasn’t heavy enough to break the ice, so it took several bricks hitting

My dad said, “I was not born with a silver spoon, mama. This is the only way out!” And that was the last thing he said before he left. As an ambitious teenager, he decided to leave his hometown with essentially nothing, making money by playing guitar in the Chinese subway stations. Penniless, lonely, and homeless, my father went to Shanghai knowing no one and somehow managed to make a new life.

Never fully understanding how hard it was for my dad to abandon his family, completely change his way of living, and beg others for funds, I took education, opportunities, pleasure, and everything in my life for granted. I thought that my parents would never understand my hardships, the loneliness, the feeling of being away from home when I came to America in sixth grade.

I have only recently been truly thankful for the life they’ve given me. For me, my family lived in three different places. For me, my mom sacrificed her career and the years that she could have spent with my dad.

b

While exploring Zion in 1916, Frederick Fisher exclaimed, “Only an angel could land on it.” And thus the monolith was named Angels Landing. My friends and I thought it should not be called Angels Landing, but instead Angels Ending, even though it was not the end of the journey.

Looking back, I never thought I would ever do something like this in my life. The view at the summit was not too different from the view at the two-mile mark.

Our clothes, shoes, and nice little purses were completely ruined. My camera broke from constantly slamming into the rocks. The trip down the mountains was even harder, as the sun went down before we did. I don’t know what it was that got us to Angels Landing in the first place. I don’t know what it was that got us back to the car. As soon as we got back to the motel, I lay on my back on the bed, feeling numb but extremely exuberant. No one probably would have even recognized that that person covered in mud with exploded hair was me.

I could have lived a very happy life without reaching the summit. I could have saved my camera screen from cracking if I hadn’t taken it on this feat. But I probably would have regretted my decision for the rest of my life.

I would have thought every night in my dreams: what does Angels Landing actually look like? What if the view at the summit were drastically different from the view at midpoint—even though it was not? I could have only answered those questions by actually making it to the top.

It is weird sometimes that little things that seem trivial are the things that actually matter.

Every one of you, like me, like my father, will encounter your own Angels Landing. Either you will walk away from it and regret it for the rest of your life, or you will overcome it. It is always your choice.

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voces

the same spot to make a hole. The ice cracked with each hit near its center. The ice was really thick down there.

Then my father stepped onto the bridge, grabbed my hands, and looked into my eyes. I saw a deep, black well, in which the water raged and stirred.

“Someone might fall into that hole,” he said.

Years later, I learned from my grandparents that I had stood at the exact same place where my father watched his younger brother drown. They had eight sons in total and kept two. My dad always said that he was lucky to have been the oldest because if he had been born later, my grand­parents would have sold him in exchange for crops and money. By the time my uncle, the eighth son, came around, they had sold enough yellow-flower oil to afford to keep my uncle. He was the luckiest of them all. My grandparents told me that they intended to keep three: my dad, who was the oldest; my uncle, the youngest; and the one who had drowned, the second. When the weather wasn’t cold and the lake wasn’t frozen, my dad and his second brother had gone swimming in the lake.

One didn’t made it back.

Being a child of two poor farmers who had no expectations of him other than to be a farmer when he grew up, he skipped school every day and instead played soccer with other farmers’ kids. My grandmother told me that, though he was not studious or intelligent, he loved reading books—a lot of books. He would sell boiled eggs, the only kind of protein he got once per week, to others in exchange for money to buy books. He loved reading biographies of famous people, and one night in his high school junior year, he read about a famous Chinese entrepreneur who was also a farmer’s child and became the CEO of the Chinese Facebook by leaving the stagnant farmers’ life to pursue higher education. He always knew that the world “out there” had chances and opportunities, but he never imagined that that life was possible for him.

When the other farmers’ kids were farming, kicking soccer balls, and marrying each other to have children to farm, he learned everything from first grade to eleventh grade in one year. My grandparents didn’t know that my dad excelled in classes and got the highest score on 高考,the College Entrance Examination, in the whole neighborhood; they only thought that he was reading excessively for fun and stopped playing soccer because he lost interest. Thus, when they learned that my dad was accepted to the best college in Shanghai, Jiaotong University, with a scholarship, they were surprised and did everything to oppose it.

They could not afford to lose my dad, with the possi­ bility that he might never go back to an ordinary farmer’s life. They were afraid of change. My dad’s fate since birth was to become the main farmer of the household, who would sell crops for minimal living, since my grandparents were getting old and my uncle was only six years old when my dad got into college.

new releases

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► Please send information about your new releases to quarterly@groton.org.

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R.P. Eddy ’90 and Richard Clarke

Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes

After spending decades working in national security policy and diplomacy, R.P. Eddy and Richard Clarke were struck by a disturbing yet promising pattern: for nearly every catastrophe, a highly credible, data-driven expert had given a precise warning but was ignored.

White House National Security veterans, now corporate CEOs, the authors argue that millions of lives could have been saved by these 66

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advance warnings and that millions can be saved in the future. They ask, “Can we find those prescient people before the next catastrophe strikes?”

In Greek mythology Cassandra foresaw calamities but was cursed by the gods to be ignored. Modernday Cassandras clearly predicted the disasters of Katrina, Fukushima, the Great Recession, the rise of ISIS, and many others. Right now, other experts are warning of impending disasters, but how do we know which warnings are likely to be right? Warnings explains how to separate the accurate Cassandras from the crazy Chicken Littles. The best-selling book has

Fall 2017

earned praise from decision-makers including Bill Clinton and Henry Kissinger.

2

Wilford Welch ’57

In Our Hands

In Our Hands provides an easy-tounderstand primer on global warming and its related challenges, from climate refugees to degraded natural resources. The author makes clear the disastrous future that awaits all of us if we do not take action, and the positive future if we do. The book

3 David Cleveland ’70

Time’s Betrayal

Time’s Betrayal is an epic, multigenerational-family saga covering the years from the battle of Antietam to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Touching on elements in John le Carré’s A Perfect Spy and John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the novel chronicles a son’s search for a larger-than-life father, a CIA agent who disappeared in the early fifties, leaving behind a distraught wife and lovers, not to mention a Pandora’s box of devastating secrets and unanswered questions that baffled all who investigated his fate—a fate as beguiling as it is mysterious.

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recent U.S. ambassadors to Great Britain, Sweden, and Luxembourg, as well as a recent U.S. undersecretary of agriculture. More than one hundred heads of family descending from Robert Winthrop are covered.

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Ben Coes ’85

features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie’s grounded, high school life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding.

7 Rachel Adams Miller ’01

Wanderlust

Trap the Devil

Some of the most powerful people in the government, military, and private sector have begun a brutal plan to take over the U.S. government, removing people who stand in their way and replacing them with sympathizers and puppets. They’ve already taken out the Speaker of the House— whose death was made to look like an accidental drowning—and the president and vice president are next.

Once they have their own people in place, they plan to start a bloody war on an unimaginable scale.

Only Dewey Andreas can stop this coup. But when the cabal’s hit man takes out the secretary of state with Dewey’s weapon, Dewey is on the run, desperately trying to unravel the plot before the conspirators succeed in killing millions of innocents.

Wanderlust highlights artists as voyagers who leave their studios to make art.

This book—and the exhibition it accompanies—is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s need to roam and the work that emerges from this need. Wanderlust showcases the work of under-recognized yet pioneering artists alongside their well-known counterparts. The book represents works that vary in process, with some artists working as solitary figures implanting themselves physically on the landscape, and others performing and creating movements in a collaborative manner or in public.

6 Christian Yee ’01

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

Scott Steward ’81 and Chip Row

The Descendants of Robert Winthrop of New York

During the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Winthrop family of Massachusetts produced three colonial governors in three generations.

The family did not—as would so many early New England families—then fade away. One line drifted south, to Connecticut, and then settled in New York City. By the time Robert was born in 1833, the family was well established in Manhattan. The Descendants of Robert Winthrop of New York offers a full review of this line of the family in England and America from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the present day. Modern-day descendants include

The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie’s every waking thought. But when she discovers she’s a celestial spirit who’s powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered.

Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie’s outrageous transformation— sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively— as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from the hellspawn.

This epic, young-adult debut draws from Chinese folklore,

Book summaries were provided by the authors and/or publishers.

Norman Veenstra ’85

Antares

Antares is the seventh album

by Tone, a Washington, D.C.based guitar ensemble. Along with Norm Veenstra on guitar, the band’s lineup includes longtime members Gregg Hudson on drums, Jim Williamson and Gustavo Vargas on guitar, and Charles Andrews on bass. Tone is known for guitar-based instrumentals with dynamic contrast and textures uncommon in rock music.

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outlines specific action that we can take in our communities and professional lives and provides a guide to helpful resources, including books, films, and organizations.

In Our Hands is available on Amazon as well as on InOurHands.Earth, where any not-for- profit can sign up and receive proceeds to support their organization’s mission from books sold to their members. Through the website, book buyers can give five free copies of the eBook to friends, in hopes they will help build the climate movement.

Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz

EQUUS

In May, Groton’s theater program tackled Equus, a uniquely challenging play about a boy obsessed with horses and the psychiatrist who is treating him.

The horses were made of wire, but the emotion was real and raw.

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Clockwise from top, opposite page: James Hovet ’18 and Mac Galinson ’17, Josie Fulton ’18, Charlie Hawkings ’17 and Elyssa Wolf ’17.

Clockwise from left, this page: Amy Lu ’19 and Charlie, Julien Alam ’19 and Elyssa, Julien, Katherine Johnson ’20, and Mac.

Photographs by Steve Wollkind

Participants in the dance program last spring: Neha Agarwal ’20, Christine Bernard ’17, Cara Chang ’20, Morayo Fernandez ’19, Adia Fielder ’17, Abby Kong ’17, Melissa Lammons ’17, Candilla Park ’18, Jane Park ’21, Charlotte Pontifell ’19, Dashy Rodriguez ’19, Phoebe Shi 19, and Faye Tian ’19

Spring Dance Recital

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Christopher Carey Brodigan Gallery

The Brodigan Gallery, located on the Dining Hall’s ground level, is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays (except school holidays). It is free and open to the public.

FALL EXHIBIT

The Female Form: Go Figure Claudia Olds Goldie, Ruth Rosner, Melanie Zibit Through November 14, 2017

A Weight-Bearing Exercise

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he female form has inspired artists throughout history. “The Female Form: Go Figure” presents three very different interpretations of women. Each sculptor has a unique story to tell.

Claudia Olds Goldie’s ceramic sculpture, A Weight-Bearing Exercise, investigates the complex contradictions of body, mind, and perception. She examines how living and aging change the psyche and physical body.

Ruth Rosner sculpts women of all races and ages; they evolve from discarded

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objects, rusted metal, wire, plaster, and clay.

Empowered by the yoking together of shards from industry and earth, Rosner’s women stand as guardians, oracles, and voices for the voiceless and unheard.

Melanie Zibit sculpts in the abstract. One of her works, Madonna, is a representation of the Virgin Mary, the archetype of a mother and child. Still relevant today, this piece reminds us that some women choose the role of nurturer and that self-actualization can reflect traditional gender roles.

Top: Madonna Bottom: Woman Rapt in Burlap & Spikes

de Menil Gallery FALL EXHIBIT

Paintings by Nelson Da Costa Through November 12, 2017

Love Is Needed, 2011

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ach piece in Da Costa’s oeuvre is linked to a larger narrative, derived from observations from his life in Angola as a child, his exodus to Cuba for his studies, and his immigration to the United States.

His works are based on memories—Da Costa calls his creative process the door to “the spiritual world of my past.” Many of Da Costa¹s early works address the destruction,

poverty, and despair wrought by war, based on his own survival of the Angolan civil war and the tragic loss of his family. More recently, he has begun to explore themes of the present and future, particularly his experiences and encounters with American culture. Drawing on the many influences from his tumultuous life, Nelson transmutes memory and strife into a stark allegory of subject and shape. www.groton.org

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Icons

The de Menil Gallery, in the Dillon Art Center at Groton School, is open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays (except Wednesdays) and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekends (except school holidays). The gallery is free and open to the public.

Photographs by Jon Chase

Drew Burke ’19 Opposite page, Gloria Hui ’19, Gabe Scholl ’19

SPRING SPORTS

Baseball 7– 9 – 1 With only one Sixth Former on the team, it was a learning year for a lot of our younger players as they experienced competition in one of New England’s toughest baseball leagues.

Many of the underclassmen played significant roles and developed nicely as the season progressed.

The season began in historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, the site of our annual spring training trip, where the boys worked hard as a unit to prepare for the season. Long, hot days on the field proved to be a blessing as we ended up 4 –1 on the trip. We opened the season back home against three of the top teams in the ISL; all were close losses but

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the boys battled every pitch. In early April, we were back on the winning track with successes against Pingree, Roxbury Latin, and St. Paul’s. Pitching, defense, and timely hitting all clicked as we climbed closer to .500. We dropped the next few games as bats went silent and defense was inconsistent. But a ten-inning tie — called due to darkness on the Circle—with perennial powerhouse Phillips Andover showed how the boys could put it together.

The last week of the season saw Groton at its finest: dominant pitching, great defense, and timely hitting led to season-ending shutout wins against Milton Academy and archrival St. Mark’s. Our young players developed quickly this spring, and it was mainly because

Fall 2017

of the hard work, dedication, and leadership of our Upper Schoolers.

As we look ahead to our 2018 season, Groton baseball is primed to improve in a very strong ISL league. Our top four pitchers will return, and our starters will be a year older and have the experience to help push the team to the next level.

As always, our program’s goal is to have a chance to win every game by doing the little things right and working harder than our opponents. With a solid core due back on the Circle, the future is bright for the Groton Nine! Follow us on Twitter at @GrotonSchool9 for daily updates, scores, and highlights of the 2018 season.

— Coach Glenn DiSarcina

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Girls Tennis 12–3 The varsity girls tennis team had another highly successful season, but the 12–3 record does not tell the whole story. With six returning players and only one new one (Isabel Brown ’20), most of the Groton players were familiar with the high level of play they would see in the best matches of the season. They spent early-spring practices working effectively to prepare for those days and began the season 1–1 after falling to Andover (the eventual New England champion), and then scoring a decisive victory over Deerfield.

After four more, well-earned wins in a row, including a telling one over Thayer, the

team faced one of the biggest challenges of the season. On a day of terrific competition and long, close matches, Nobles was the better team by just a hair, 8–7. The Groton girls responded to that loss with renewed determination, which produced six more wins in a row, highlighted by a decisive victory over a greatly improved Rivers team. After a brief appearance in the Class A New Englands, Groton came back to Earth with a loss to perennial powerhouse Milton Academy.

The season ended with the traditional St. Mark’s match — a lopsided win for Groton, but a fitting conclusion to a season in which the Groton girls grew even closer through their shared love of tennis and

determination to continuously improve.

With not a single player graduating from this year’s team, these girls have a great deal to look forward to when they come back together on the Groton courts next spring.

— Coach Dave Prockop

Boys Tennis 9– 6 The boys tennis team played eighteen interscholastic matches (all but three against ISL schools) and competed in three tournaments, including the Division A New England Championships. Nico Davidoff ’17 provided great leadership as captain,

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playing at the #2 slot and earning an honorable mention in the ISL. At #1, Sam Girian ’18 was superb, winning many matches and earning All-League status.

He and his doubles partner, Andrew Yang ’19, were one of the strongest tandems in the league and won almost every match. Other varsity players were Roan Guinan ’17, Charlie Vrattos ’18, Gabe Scholl ’19, Aaron Jin ’19, and newcomer Powers Trigg ’20.

With an early victory in the season against Exeter, the boys were competitive in all but a handful of matches. Groton lost a number of contests 8–7, including matches against Belmont Hill and Nobles.

Through hard work, the squad has laid the groundwork to return to the top of

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New England tennis next year, led by Captain Sam Girian.

One highlight of the season was welcoming back the varsity boys team from 2002, a squad that was inducted into the Groton School Athletic Hall of Fame during Reunion Weekend. It was fun for the two squads to get to know each other, and the alumni seemed impressed with the promise of this generation of players. When the past meets the present, great things happen. A highlight of all my years at Groton was at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, standing with the team of 2002 and looking at the current team in the crowd.

— Coach John Conner

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Boys Crew 6–2–2 An excited group of boys returned from our 2016 trip to the Henley Regatta. Although we graduated some important oarsmen, talent was still flowing down the Nashua this spring.

It was a tall group of boys — so tall that when we went to scrimmage St. Paul’s, we could not fit into their shell. Our whole program suffered, however, when co-captain Will Norton ’17 broke his finger in a hockey game and missed the first six weeks of the season. As in any team sport, if even one key athlete is injured, the whole squad feels it. That was the case during the first half of the season: we swept BB&N, St. Mark’s, Middlesex, Dexter, Pomfret, and Brooks, but lost to Deerfield and Belmont

This page, left, Amani Jiu ’17; below, Richie Santry ’18, Will Norton ’17, John Cecil ’17, Clement Banwell ’19, and Piper Higgins ’17

Hill, while splitting races with Nobles and Taft. When Will rejoined the crew, he had to switch from starboard to port. Toward the end of the season, our boats began to pick up speed and closed some of the gap with our top rivals. We entered the NEIRA with high hopes.

But it was not to be. The morning heats were quite encouraging. Our fourth boat placed second, qualifying easily for the grand finals. Both the second and first boats, seeded sixth, rowed very strong races and also earned places in the finals. The third boat, however, missed out on the finals, coming in a disappointing fourth. In the finals, the fourth boat rowed hard but lost to Deerfield and Belmont Hill. They did, however, win a well-deserved bronze medal.

Both the second and first boats raced hard but placed fifth in the finals, not having the same power that they had showed in the heats. It was a disappointing NEIRA for us, although there is some consolation in knowing that Deerfield, the top crew, won the Youth National championships, and we were within six seconds of them. Groton ended up tied with Nobles for third place overall.

One thing this spirited group learned was the importance of winter training if they are to compete at the highest level in New England. Already there is great optimism among our many young athletes, who will be led by Captains Richie Santry ’18 and Michael Senko ’18.

— Coach Andy Anderson

Girls Crew 6–2–1 The season started out strong with many rowers returning early in March for our annual preseason. Despite snow and cold temperatures, we put in quality work on the water, which set up the team for an early sweep of BB&N in our first dual race of the season in late April. The spring continued cool and rainy as we rolled into the heart of our racing season, beating St. Mark’s on our home course.

Results were mixed at the Pomfrethosted multi-school race: we beat Pomfret and Southfield across all boats, and tied Deerfield and Taft. The third boat had the best day, beating all crews, and the second boat also showed well, losing only to www.groton.org

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grotoniana

Opposite page, top: Layla McDermott ’18.

Annie ColloredoMansfeld ’18, Rosell Lovell-Smith ’18, Nailah Pierce ’18; bottom, from left, Elechi Egwuekwe ’18, Jay Montima ’18, Sam Girian ’18

This page, right, Lyndsey Toce ’19; below, Hallie Bereday ’17, Sophie Conroy ’19, Anya Hanitchak ’21, and Verity Lynch ’17 Opposite page, top, Joe Collins ’18; below, Matt O’Donnell ’17 and Pat Ryan ’19, Bennett Smith ’19

Deerfield. We went on to race Middlesex, besting their lower three boats, but the first boat lost in the last twenty strokes, one of the toughest losses of the season.

After many changes and no time to gain speed, the girls struggled at the Wayland/ Weston Invitational Regatta, with no boats making the finals. We had a week off and gained some speed, beating Brooks’ second, third, and fourth boats. Unfortunately, our first boat suffered a disappointing loss to Brooks, setting them up for a poor seed at championships. But they worked hard the two weeks before the final race on Lake Quinsigamond and fought hard to make it to the finals! The first boat ended up beating Middlesex in the heats, taking the sting out

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of their mid-season loss, and they also beat the fourth seed to finish second in the heats, giving them a spot in the finals, where they raced with the top six crews in New England.

The second boat missed making the finals as they ended up in the most competitive heat of the morning. Groton School’s girls ended up tenth overall in New England in 2017, but we are already looking forward to faster boats in 2018.

— Coach Tiffany Doggett

Boys Lacrosse 5 –12 Tri-Captains Taggart Eymer ’17, Tripp Stup ’17, and Tyler Forbes ’18 led from the

Fall 2017

front this season, instilling spirit, grit, and work ethic in our team as we scrapped our way through a challenging ISL schedule. With coaches drilling strong technical lacrosse as well as basic tactical concepts, this young team was able to compete with some of the top teams in the league.

Lack of depth, however, proved once again to hamper our final results. Taggart, who plays at Bryant University, was consistently one of the best players on the field, defining the Swiss Army Knife metaphor by playing at close defense, long-stick midfield, face-off middie, and on the man-up offense and man-down defense. Tripp (playing at William & Mary) was a locomotive from the midfield, steamrolling his way to the goal.

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BASEBALL

BOYS LACROSSE

GIRLS LACROSSE

BOYS CREW

GIRLS CREW

TRACK & FIELD

Rookie of the Year Luke Beckstein ’20

Most Valuable Player Taggart Eymer ’17

Most Improved Player Dan Herdiech ’18

Most Improved Player Matt Mullen ’17

Coaches’ Award Marcella Flibotte ’17 Caroline Fisher ’17 Cha Cha McLean ’17

Captains-Elect Richard Santry ’18 Mike Senko ’18

Captains-Elect Layla McDermott ’18 Nailah Pierce ’18 Olivia Potter ’18

Most Valuable Players Noah Aaron ’18 Kai Volcy ’17

GIRLS TENNIS

Coaches’ Award Coco Wallace ’17 Zizi Kendall ’17 Paul Michaud ’18

Coaches’ Award Jay Montima ’18 Bennett Smith ’19

Fred Beams Award Tripp Stup ’17

ISL Honorable Mention Alyna Baharozian ’18

ISL All-League Taggart Eymer ’17 Tyler Forbes ’18

ISL All-League Jay Montima ’18 ISL Honorable Mention Luke Beckstein ’20 Captains-Elect Jay Montima ’18 Cam Schmitt ’18 Bennett Smith ’19

ISL All-League Marcella Flibotte ’17

Captains-Elect Alyna Baharozian ’18 Layne McKeown ’18 Addie Newsome ’18

ISL Honorable Mention Patrick Ryan ’19 Tripp Stup ’17

BOYS TENNIS All League Sam Girian ’18 ISL Honorable Mention Nico Davidoff ’17 Captain-Elect Sam Girian ’18

Captains-Elect Tyler Forbes ’18 Charlie Pearce ’18 Patrick Ryan ’19

Most Valuable Player Catherine Qiao ’18 Most Improved Player Elizabeth Girian ’20 Coach’s Award Gloria Hui ’19 ISL All-League Gloria Hui ’19 Sangah Lee ’18 Catherine Qiao ’18 Captains-Elect: Elechi Egwuekwe ’18 Sangah Lee ’18 Catherine Qiao ’18

Their fellow Sixth Formers were a spirited, tightly knit unit: Jarvis Bereday, Tim Bukowski, Rashawn Grant, Sully Hamdan, Aram Moossavi, Matt Mullen, and Matt O’Donnell.

Tri-captain Tyler Forbes ’18 was a multiple threat on offense, drawing each team’s top defender and still managing to be one of the league’s prolific scorers, and Patrick Ryan ’19 stood tall in goal.

Several Second and Third Formers saw considerable playing time. Though we lost nine to graduation, our 2018 squad returns a youthful, energetic group, eager to continue Groton’s tradition of work ethic, togetherness, coachability, and camaraderie. All of the coaches are proud of the effort our team put forth all season long. Many thanks to coaches Greg Hefler and Andrew Zincke, JV coaches Jamie Funnell and Peter Fry, and team managers Liza Greenhill ’17 and Hannah Simmons ’17. We are also grateful for our parental and alumni support.

— Coach Bob Low

Girls Lacrosse 3 –12 –1 The varsity girls lacrosse team faced a challenging ISL league this year, struggling to best some of New England’s prep talent through a difficult schedule. While the girls were edged out by their opponents more

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often than not, the team remained spirited, endured the stretches of rainy days, and forged on to make meaning out of each hour on the turf.

Sixth Form Captains Caroline Fisher, Marcella Flibotte, and Cha Cha McLean were key members of the team’s leadership, while Fifth Formers Alyna Baharozian and Angelina Joyce took care of much of the scoring. Our newer, younger players contributed greatly as well, providing a bit of depth to the lineup. Overall, a season to build upon for the coming spring.

— Coach Randi Dumont

Track & Field Groton’s track & field team enjoyed a successful season. Thirty-one athletes competed on the combined boys and girls team, setting several school records.

The girls team placed fifth in the NEPSTA Division III Championships at Cheshire Academy. The girls 4 x 100 relay team of Coco Wallace ’17, Kochoe Nikoi ’19, Montanna Riggs ’19, and Evie Gomila ’19 placed third there, with a time of 53.03 seconds. Also placing for Groton at the NEPSTA Championships were Angelika Hillios ’19 in the javelin, Kai Volcy ’17 in the shot put and discus, and Montanna

Fall 2017

Most Improved Player Caleb Coleman ’20

ISL Honorable Mention Kai Volcy ’17 Zizi Kendall ’17 Nik Karns ’19 Captains-Elect Noah Aaron ’18 Paul Michaud ’18 Kochoe Nikoi ’19 Montanna Riggs ’19

Riggs ’19, who placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump. During the season, pole vaulter ZiZi Kendall ’17 improved her previous school record with a vault of 9 feet 6 inches.

In the boys’ competition, Noah Aaron ’18 scored in three out of four events. During the season he set school records in the 100meter dash (11.29 seconds), the high jump (6 feet 2 inches), and the triple jump (39 feet 2 inches). Noah’s performance in the 100-meter dash at the New England Championships was particularly noteworthy: he was one of just eight among a strong field of thirty-seven to qualify for the final, where he placed third.

Noah also earned All-ISTA Honorable Mention for his performance in the high jump at the ISTA Championships. Fourth Former Nik Karns set a school record in the javelin at the ISTA Championships with a throw of 155 feet 9 inches, earning All-ISTA Honorable Mention.

Congratulations to 2017 graduates Michael Aduboffour, Tyler Brooks, Brent Chung, Zizi Kendall, Paul Lopez, Kai Volcy, and Coco Wallace for their leadership and for a great season.

— Coach Bill Maguire

in memoriam

Christopher A. and Hamilton F. Forster ’50 October 12, 1932 – January 31, 2017 and October 12, 1932 – June 6, 2016

by Arthur L. Armitage ’5o

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P

N THE FALL of 1944, twenty-two eleven- and

twelve-year-old boys entered Groton to create what would become the Form of 1950. Two of them were identical twins, Chris and Hammy Forster. Most of us had never known twins. When they were standing together, we could tell them apart. But when they were alone, we had difficulty. Chris had a cracked front tooth, so a smile solved that one.

Born on October 12, 1932, they died within a few months of each other. Hammy died on June 6, 2016, and Chris on January 31, 2017. At their eightieth birthday party, held at the Yale Club in New York, many of us from the Form of 1950 cheered them on and “roasted” them a bit.

During our Groton years, Chris became the manager of the secondhand athletic store. Hammy lettered in football. Jim Hopkins, our formmate, has told the story of getting to the finals in a Fives tournament—already counting his victory—when he was beaten by Hammy. Both Chris and Hammy were members of the Dramatic Society and the Missionary Society, and Hammy also was a member of the Athletic Society.

On the occasion of his fifty-fifth reunion, in 2005, Chris wrote that he most valued the relationship between faculty and students at Groton, noting in particular the influence of Paul Wright, calling him “a great teacher and communicator” who “had everyone’s respect, despite his steely eyes.” Hammy pointed out Mr. Wright in his reunion comments, too: “. . . his demeanor, his control of everything, and his impeccable dress.”

Upon graduation, Hammy went to Harvard and Chris to Yale. Hammy became a member of the A.D. Club at Harvard, and Chris the Fence Club and Wolf ’s Head Society at Yale. One story tells of their mischief: When Chris visited Hammy at Harvard, he went to breakfast pretending he was Hammy, allowing his brother to sleep in. Apparently, they never got caught.

With college degrees in hand, both joined the Army as second lieutenants and were sent to Germany— Hammy to Heidelberg and Chris to Stuttgart. They once took leave together and visited Venice. Upon their discharge both got married, Chris in 1957 to Elizabeth “Betsy” Cheston and Hammy in 1958 to Elizabeth “Libby” Hartz. Several formmates were ushers at their weddings.

The Forster family has been involved with Groton since the early 1900s. Chris and Hammy’s father, Henry, graduated with the Form of 1907, and their uncle, Frederick, was a member of the Form of 1906.

Continuing the family tradition, Hammy and Chris’ sons attended Groton as well: Hammy’s son, Tim, was a member of the Form of 1980, and Chris’s son, David, a member of the Form of 1981. Chris and Betsy also had two daughters, Julia and Emily, and six grandchildren.

Hammy is survived by Tim, his daughter Laura, and four grandchildren; Libby predeceased him in 2008, as did their daughter Lissa, in 2006.

Chris spent his entire thirty-seven-year career at Marsh & McLennan, retiring as a managing director in 1993. Hammy worked in the securities industry,

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From top: Chris and Hammy on a trip together, ready for Groton’s gridiron (1949), and playing golf, a favorite pastime

When Chris visited Hammy at Harvard, he went to breakfast pretending he was Hammy, allowing his brother to sleep in.

Apparently, they never got caught.

primarily as a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch, retiring in 1994. Both were avid golfers and both kept up their squash games. Hammy also enjoyed paddle tennis. Chris was president of the Yale Club of New York and served on its council. In 2004, for his involvement in Yale and the Yale Class of 1954, Chris was awarded the Yale Medal. Tim remembers attending a Harvard-Yale football game at Yale with his father Hammy, who was in his early seventies at the time. As they walked around the outside of the Yale Bowl, probably a dozen people passing by gave out the greeting, “Hey, Chris!” No point in correcting them.

Chris and Betsy spent many a summer in North Haven, Maine, and Chris often talked of his time on the North Haven golf course. Hammy and Libby spent leisure time in Far Hills, New Jersey, where Libby’s family lived, and Hammy hit the links at the Somerset Hills Country Club.

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Fall 2017

Both Chris and Hammy stayed close to many of their 1950 formmates. They attended most of our reunions, and those of us who lived in the New York area saw them regularly. Chris was a regular at the Yale Club, where he and Pat Crossman ’50 were part of a group who bet tiny amounts on the coming weekend’s athletic events.

After Libby and his daughter Lissa died, Hammy spent much of his time at his apartment, where several of us would go to visit with him. Chris regularly checked up on Hammy. The twins, while they would bicker, were very close and marvelously interested in what others were doing. When Chris asked, “How are you?”—you knew that he really meant it! The Form of 1950 will miss these twin brothers, loyal members of the Groton community who enlivened our lives for decades.

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.

Morgan Pagliocco ’14 (far right) with friends at a company-sponsored volunteer activity

A Circular Network WHEN MORGAN PAGLIOCCO ’14 was hunting for a summer internship, she had a secret weapon: Groton’s Office of Development and Alumni Affairs.

The office offers alumni the chance to pay it forward by helping other graduates who are looking for job contacts or career advice.

That’s how Morgan met Rich Knapp ’93, who at the time worked in marketing for TripAdvisor, a company that intrigued Morgan. “He was incredibly helpful and walked me through the entire application process,” she said. Morgan spent last summer in TripAdvisor’s brand marketing division, helping develop and distribute TripAdvisor awards and stickers.

“I had the opportunity to pitch concepts for new award campaigns, hear the CEO address the entire company, and spend a full day volunteering at a summer camp with my colleagues. These combined for an

amazing experience,” Morgan said, “and none of it would have been possible without the Groton alumni network.”

It was a win-win, for Rich understood the wisdom of hiring a Groton graduate. “It was a pleasure helping steer Morgan toward a summer internship at TripAdvisor,” he said. “I was confident that she would be an asset to the company based on her Groton experience and the lessons she learned in and out of the classroom during her years on the Circle.”

Groton’s career advisors can help fellow alumni establish professional contacts within chosen fields and/ or locations. As Morgan found, the program can be a significant asset when looking for a job or internship. “I am so thankful for this opportunity,” she said, “and for the Groton connections that continue to impact my life after Prize Day.”

To learn more about Groton’s career advisory program, visit www. groton.org/careeradvisory.

To volunteer to be a career advisor, or to receive a customized list of career contacts, please be in touch with Allison MacBride at amacbride@groton.org or 978-448-7588.

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IN 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Groton 1900) met secretly with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and drafted the Atlantic Charter, which outlined future goals and became the basis for the United Nations Charter.

At a dinner that Roosevelt hosted for Churchill, Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles (Groton 1910) asked those present (including FDR’s special envoy, Averell Harriman, Groton 1909) to sign the menu, which Benjamin Welles ’34 later gave to the school.

Christopher Temerson

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