Celebrating Philanthropy

On September 23, leadership donors to the Kent Place Fund were celebrated at the Leadership Council Reception at Norwood House in recognition of their generosity to the school and its students. Kate (Hammond) DeOssie ’04, who in 2017 became one of the youngest members ever on the Board of Trustees, addressed the guests.

FOLLOWING ARE KATE’S REMARKS.

Good evening. It’s lovely to be here, and to see you all in person! Truth be told, any faces other than those of my immediate family would be refreshing — but I’m especially happy to see yours, and to be in the presence of this incredible group of people who have done so much to support and advance Kent Place. My name is Kate DeOssie ’04, and I’m a proud KPS alumna, Trustee (this is my fifth year on the Board), and cochair of the Board’s Mission & Vision Committee, which is responsible for, among other things, oversight of our strategic planning and updates/revisions to keep important school documents relevant, in partnership with the school’s incredible Leadership Team — lucky me! After graduation, I went to Brown, where I studied economics and visual art, and happened to meet my wonderful husband (who’s here tonight), and we now have two sons . . . that’s right, sons. They apparently didn’t get the KPS memo, but I promise they’re being raised with Kent Place values. When Anne Grissinger, our Board’s fearless leader, called and asked me to say a few words tonight, I was honored, but a bit intimidated as well.

Trustee Kate (Hammond) DeOssie ’04

It’s a hotly contested debate among my family members whether I am, as I claim to be, an introvert, but I am. And although I occasionally get mistaken for a social butterfly, I’ve never gravitated toward a podium without serious prodding. The reason I’m going into all of this is that I’m here tonight not just because I wanted to be in your presence or because I was afraid that Anne would be angry with me if I said no — although both are true, it’s because my time as a student at Kent Place taught me to say yes. That sounds simple and maybe even trite, but it’s been pivotal and life-changing for me, really, to say that one word — to overcome insecurities, discomforts, imposter syndrome — to say yes and figure it out from there. And, as we know, that’s where we grow: in the space between comfort and terror.

I’d like to spend some time talking about the yes of Kent Place.

Saying yes was instilled in me as a student here, but what I’ve come to admire most about this school as a Board member (15 to 20 years later) is the degree to which, as an institution, we never become complacent: Regardless of how advanced we are or how highly we’re ranked, we never stop wondering how we can be better, what else can we say yes to. In that sense, KPS lives and breathes the model of lifelong learning. Over the last several years, as we considered our new Strategic Plan, it was important to remember that we weren’t changing the school’s mission; we were revising the statement of our mission and articulating our plan to support and advance it. That was a liberating acknowledgment for those of us working on it, because rather than feeling as if we were fundamentally changing what has made KPS so special for the last 125-plus years, we were tasked with clarifying, distilling, and elevating exactly that: what has made KPS special for the last 125-plus years. As our young women graduate from KPS, the world they enter is constantly changing, and even as we hold fast to enduring values — specifically, creating a space that empowers girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who advance the world (that’s our mission!) — we want always to be in step with profound cultural shifts that have an impact on girls and women. That means both responding to them and being in the forefront of them, because I think we can all agree that Kent Place girls are exactly the leaders the world needs.

Trustee Kate (Hammond) DeOssie ’04 (right), with Board Chair Anne Grissinger P ’25 (left) and Head of School Dr. Jennifer Galambos

Frances Longo P ’24, Kelly Daab P ’19 ’23 ’23, and Rosalinda Markels P ’19 ’23

So that’s the spirit that underpinned the four pillars we outlined in our Strategic Plan: Learning with Purpose, Leading with Ethics, Thriving in Community, and Investing in One Another. Learning with Purpose speaks to the future of our academic program, because advancing academic excellence is always our top priority. The richness of that experience is a hallmark of a KPS education, and I can say that I remember feeling genuinely engaged in the material and inspired by my teachers and classmates across the board, from English to physics to art and beyond. We were always encouraged to reach outside the box, think critically, question assumptions, and discuss often-complex concepts effectively and with confidence. That formed the foundation for how I’ve approached all learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Yes can be an interjection, an adverb, a noun, or a verb, but it can also be an invitation — an invitation to question, to investigate, to unpack, and to rethink. With that in mind, what’s exciting about the new Strategic Plan’s approach to learning (with purpose) is that in practice, it will advance all of the things that Kent Place does so well and bring them to the next level, to create an even richer, more holistic, and more durable learning experience, one that’s interdisciplinary, culturally responsive, and based on problem-solving. In addition to being on the leading edge of technology and innovation in education, more than ever before, we’re celebrating our differences and ensuring that each student will increasingly be able to see herself in all aspects of the curriculum (“windows and mirrors”), as she explores intellectual concepts critically and develops her own perspective and voice. Leading with Ethics speaks to our mandate to advance girls’ leadership and ethical decision-making. There’s a lot going on in our country and the world that calls into question the purpose and worth of all institutions and organizations, and that demands thoughtful assessment of our own institutional values. Being intentional about the role that ethics plays, from the personal to the global, is of vital importance, as is expanding possibilities for girls and women in all areas of leadership.

Emeritus Trustee Alicia Cotter P ’13 ’20, Hallee (Branin) Dangler ’96 P ’26 ’28 ’30, Head of School Dr. Jennifer Galambos, and Trustee Jen Grogan P ’26 Honorary Trustee John Dughi P ’94, Board Chair Anne Grissinger P ’25, and Emeritus Trustee Dick Herbst P ’95 GP ’28

The structure around ethics and ethical decision-making when I was a student at KPS wasn’t as formal as it is now (I graduated before the Ethics Institute was established), but my values were baked in on a more profound level than just the Honor Code: Integrity, accountability, and thoughtful conduct were infused into my entire education. Ethics defined what it meant to be a Kent Place leader. It was understood that we were to treat others fairly, make the “right” decisions even when we were presented with a complex set of circumstances, conduct ourselves in a way that was consistent with our values, and hold one another to the same standards. I think it goes without saying that empowering girls the Kent Place way — as confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders — has never been more timely. It’s no surprise that KPS is a national leader in ethics education, and I’m thrilled that we’re continuing to advance, institutionalize, and expand that leadership. And I’m not-so-secretly jealous of our current students, that they have such tremendous opportunities to learn from the best. It’s like learning to walk while still in the womb, and that’s just the coolest, and I can’t wait to see what they do. Thriving in Community speaks to health and wellness, athletics, the arts, and cultural responsiveness. That’s a lot! I’ve always said that Kent Place has a secret sauce, and a big part of that gravy is that we have a community of ambitious, high-achieving, awesome girls who take their education and extracurricular endeavors seriously, yet the atmosphere is entirely collaborative and supportive. It’s a sisterhood of lifting each other up: competition in the spirit of everyone doing her best, but never tearing down anyone else. In my experience, Kent Place did an exceptional job of balancing those components of a quality education in a positive campus climate, which is not easy. But there have been many advancements relative to our understanding of wellness and balance, in addition to what it means to be an equitable and inclusive community. I’m very excited about the ways in which this new Strategic Plan will expand the capacity and resources for a school climate that promotes these things — not at the expense of high performance, but quite the opposite: We understand that those things are in fact necessary for sustained success, in everything from academics to athletics, and that’s what we want to set up for our girls.

Chris Johnson P ’26, Jim Wu P ’24 ’26 ’30, Jim Yie P ’24, Beng-Li Oh P ’24 ’26 ’30, and Olivia Wong P ’26

Annel and Toby Mitchell P ’31

I just want to interject here that before I joined the Board, I had no idea what it did (and I’m delighted to still be learning!). I’m hopeful that today’s students feel more connected not only to the process of the Strategic Plan, but also to the outcome — that they see and feel positive change at their school. It was important to us all that students’ thoughts, opinions, experiences, and voices, as well as those of faculty, staff, parents, and alumnae, be captured and reflected in our Strategic Plan and in our mission. This is their school, and our mission is to serve them, and empower them, in meaningful ways. So I hope that each one of those constituent groups sees its members and hears its voices in the plan and its results. The state of Kent Place today would make its founders proud, because the spirit of our school, and our reason for being, has always been aspirational. What’s aspirational today — if we’re doing our job — should be different from what made it aspirational in 1894. We’ve pulled from and preserved the best of our traditions while bringing fresh, forwardlooking eyes to our role and responsibility in educating and empowering girls today for tomorrow. This Strategic Plan is the proof that tradition and innovation can, and should, coexist and complement each other. One of the many things I admire about Head of School Jennifer Galambos and the rest of our Leadership Team is that they’re intent on doing, using data to inform their decisions and producing measurable results. This plan won’t be hidden on a shelf somewhere to be revisited in four or five years. We have benchmarks and evaluation procedures to ensure that our goals continue to advance so what’s aspirational today will have to be revisited in a few years because the goals became the reality. I don’t need to tell you that we have the dream team leading this school, and I feel very fortunate, as a Trustee, to work with, learn from, and support them. They’re the best in the business. Thank you again for saying yes. That goes to the final pillar:

Emeritus Trustee Susanne (Santola) Mulligan P ’27 ’29, Jennifer Counihan P ’27 ’30, and Erika Melchiorre P ’29 Investing in One Another.

Thank you for saying yes to this school, and for saying yes to the very critical work that Kent Place does to empower girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who will advance the world. Whether you’re a current or former parent, an alumna, or a friend of the school (perhaps with only sons) who believes that our girls will change the world, we’re here tonight because of you, and our girls are exactly where they should be because of you. I want to conclude my remarks this evening by telling you that my very best friends today are my friends from Kent Place. And what’s been incredible to me as I made new friends in college, or make new ones as an adult, is the degree to which that’s an anomaly: Most people have at most one or two friends from high school, people they might loosely keep in touch with. But what’s not an anomaly is the number of graduates of our school who say the same thing: that their best friends are KPS friends. What an amazing testament to the culture of the school and its lasting impact on its students. Thank you for lighting the way. We’re so grateful.

Laurie Kennedy P ’25 and Rakhee Sheth P ’27

Trustee Arjun Murti P ’20, Emeritus Trustee Boris Vuchic P ’20 ’23 ’23 ’26, and Trustee John Markels P ’19 ’23 Carolyn Carey P ’25 ’26 ’29, Jim Wu P ’24 ’26 ’30, Beng-Li Oh P ’24 ’26 ’30, and Chris Johnson P ’26

Teresa McGoey P ’24, Frances Longo P ’24, Paul Longo P ’24, Todd Walters P ’24, Tracey Walters P ’24, and Kevin McGoey P ’24

Keith and Gale Peters P ’26 and Tracey and Todd Walters P ’24