Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

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Winter 2022 VOLUME 85 |

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Adirondack chairs in Rockefeller Quadrangle form a gathering spot for students, who were excited to return to campus this fall for a fully in-person experience. Turn to page 28 to read about efforts to strengthen community at Loomis Chaffee this year after 18 months of disruptions from the pandemic. Photo: Jessica Ravenelle

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Contents w in t e r 2 0 2 2

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Volum e 85

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F E AT U R E S

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Strengthening Community

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Q&A: Jason Karp ’94

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A Campus Vision

As the school returned to fully in-person learning and campus life this fall, the focus was on strengthening community.

Jason sits down with us to talk about his professional journey from hedge fund manager to CEO of HumanCo, a growing conglomerate of healthful brands, and his personal journey to overcome serious health issues through drastic changes in his diet and lifestyle. The two journeys are really one.

Loomis Chaffee’s new campus master plan imagines the school a decade from now and signals the school’s needs and aesthetic aspirations for the years to come.

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ON COVER: Kent Day fervor energizes Loomis Chaffee students cheering on the Pelicans in the revived Spoon Game. Photo: Stan Godlewski

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EDITORIAL & DESIGN TEAM

Lynn A. Petrillo ’86 Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing

Becky Purdy Managing Editor

Cassandra Hamer Graphic Designer

Matt Ruffle Obituaries Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Matt Ruffle Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97 John Cunningham Nat Follansbee Mitchell Linker Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 Lisa Salinetti Ross Deidre Swords Tim Struthers ’85 Makhala Huggins Mary Coleman Forrester

SUBMISSIONS/STORIES & NEWS

D E PA R T M E N T S

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From the Head Island News Faculty & Staff News Pelican Sports

48 50 56 64

Object Lesson Development News Obituaries Reflections

WEB EXTRAS Look for this notation throughout the magazine for links to online extras, from podcasts and videos to photo galleries and expanded news coverage.

Alumni may contribute items of interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, CT 06095 860.687.6811 magazine@loomis.org

facebook-square facebook.com/loomischaffee twitter-square twitter.com/loomischaffee instagram instagram.com/loomischaffee

Visit Loomis Chaffee online at www.loomischaffee.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos. You also will find direct links to all of our social networking communities.

For an online version of the magazine, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Printed at Lane Press, Burlington, VT Printed on 70# Orion Matte

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Fr om t he Head

O Spoon Game

By Sheila Culbert

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

n Saturday, November 13, several busloads of Loomis Chaffee athletes and students made their way to the Kent School for the newly reinstated Spoon Game and other athletics contests. The story of the Spoon Game is, of course, legendary within Loomis/Kent lore— but the two schools’ football teams had not competed against one another since 2012. It was later that school year when Kent elected to drop Loomis Chaffee from its schedule due to changes in the Erickson League rules.

The Kent School was founded in 1906, just a few years before The Loomis Institute opened its doors in 1914. Both schools touted a democratic ethos, an accessible tuition model, and a commitment to preparing students from all walks of life. Loomis students modeled their proposal for a student government on the Kent plan, and Mr. Batchelder approved it. Indeed, Mr. Batchelder was close friends with Father Sill, the Kent headmaster. The two men admired one another, so it was natural that they would also compete against one another in sports—and so they did. In those early days, Mr. Batchelder coached the football team and was a passionate advocate for his team. Sidney Eaton, a member of the class of 1923, described Mr. B as “a vocal competitor” and a “berserk partisan.”

Mr. B was always quick to dispute a call, and that is exactly what he did in the game against Kent in 1921. As both schools’ players piled up on the Kent goal line, the officials ruled against a Loomis touchdown. Mr. Batchelder stormed onto the field to be met by an equally animated Father Sill. The two nearly came to fisticuffs until saner heads prevailed and the game resumed.

Kent went on to win 13 to 7. Following the game, the two teams met for tea and cocoa at the Head’s House, where, Eaton wrote, “sociability was cool to icy.” It was at this tea that a Kent student pocketed a silver teaspoon from Mrs.

Batchelder’s wedding cutlery set. When she later discovered the spoon was missing, Mr. Batchelder contacted Father Sill to demand that the Kent student return the spoon. An outraged Father Sill suggested that it was just as likely that the culprit was a Loomis student.

With the friendship between the two men now irrevocably shattered, the two schools would not play again until 1934.

It was not until 1947 when the complete story of the disappearing teaspoon was fully revealed. A Kent boy had indeed taken the spoon—perhaps inadvertently. When, several months later, he approached Father Sill to tell him what had happened, relations with Loomis were already too far gone.

Father Sill did not want to admit to Mr. B that he had been right, so Father Sill told the boy to keep the spoon.

Subsequently it was passed down from head prefect to head prefect as a secret trophy. On the occasion of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of Mr. B’s headship, the new head of Kent, Father Chalmers, told the story and offered to return the spoon. Mrs. Batchelder told Father Chalmers that Kent should keep the spoon, but the two schools agreed to have a replica spoon made by New York jewelers Cartier that the two schools would then compete for annually. Each year the new Spoon would be awarded to the winning team, and the score would be engraved along the handle.

And so Kent Day became enshrined in Loomis and Kent traditions and was played every year from 1947 until 2012.

When I became head in 2008, the football team had suffered a long string of losing seasons, and we needed to do something to get the program back on its feet. We hired a new coach and made the decision to leave the Erickson League believing that the league’s rules limited Loomis’ chances to improve its struggling football program and compete effectively both in the league and against non-league teams such as Deerfield, Andover, and Exeter. We continued to play Kent through the

Fr om t he Head

2012 season. In spring 2013, with the conference realignment of New England prep school football, we no longer played Kent. (Kent opted to play Andover instead of Loomis as its one non-Erickson League game.) The hiatus of the Spoon Game continued until this year, when football became a Founders League sport, and on November 13, Loomis Chaffee won the game at Kent, much to the delight of our rain-drenched fans. Unfortunately, Kent appears to have lost the original spoon as well as its replacement, and though a silver spoon did change hands upon the Pelicans’ victory, it was not the spoon.

After the pandemic year of no interscholastic contests, this fall’s team under Coach Jeff Moore had an 8-1 regular-season record, losing only their game against Choate. The team’s excellent and disciplined play earned them not only a victory against Kent but also a berth in the school’s first-ever bowl game. The coup de grace for the season was winning the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) Todd Marble Bowl, which is named for the longtime Kent athletic director and football coach.

The football team is just one of several successful Loomis Chaffee athletics teams this fall. In addition to

Though a silver spoon did change hands upon the Pelicans’ victory, it was not the spoon.

football, three teams made it into the post-season NEPSAC Class A tournaments: girls and boys soccer and girls volleyball. While girls soccer lost its quarterfinal match against Buckingham Browne & Nichols, boys soccer defeated Milton in theirs but then lost in the semifinals to Taft on a penalty kick.

Our Founders League champion volleyball team beat Choate in its quarterfinal match and beat Exeter in the semifinals but lost 2-3 to Deerfield in a hardfought championship match. Girls cross country also won the Founders League and came in second in the Division I New England Championships, held the same day as Kent Day, but at Andover, where the weather was much kinder than at Kent.

Indeed, the success of so many of our fall teams has contributed to the overall uptick in school spirit that we have seen. It is fun to have winning athletics teams—it raises the overall sense of spirit and community on campus.

Enthusiastic fans braved pouring rain to cheer on the Pelicans on Kent Day. Photo: Stan Godlewski

WEB EXTRAS To see a video with highlights of Kent Day and the pep rally, visit www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

Sophomore defensive linemen, and twin brothers, Jerod Smith and Jacob Smith rush the Kent quarterback Photo: Stan Godlewski

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Happiness Expert Speaks at Convocation

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he author of this year’s all-school read spent a day on campus in September discussing her research into the psychology of happiness, including what makes people happy and how they can increase their enjoyment of life, topics in line with this year’s school theme, “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

As the first convocation speaker of the year, psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky delved into the science of happiness, citing findings from studies and examples from her book, The How of Happiness. Through her research and writing, Ms. Lyubomirsky has identified and described both the immediate and long-lasting impact of happiness in people’s lives.

“Happy people experience frequent positive emotions, and they feel a sense that their life is good,” Ms. Lyubomirsky told the audience of students, faculty, and staff. People who report being happy in their lives and with their lives tend to be physically healthier, be better leaders and negotiators, have stronger social support, contribute more to charity, and bounce back quicker from adversity than those who are less happy, she said.

Ms. Lyubomirsky also has studied ways that people develop happiness. We are more likely to find happiness by connecting with people in our families and communities and expressing our gratitude for people in our lives who connect with us, she said.

“Other people matter,” she concluded. “If you want to be happy and if you want to enjoy the benefits of happiness, ... you need to focus, not on yourself, but on other people, on supporting other people and recognizing how other people have supported you.” She warned against looking for happiness through indirect personal connections, such as social media. People tend to be happier when they are not on social media and are instead spending time with other people or helping others directly.

After the convocation, Ms. Lyubomirsky continued the discussion with a smaller group of students and faculty, and she met with a Neuropsychology class and with students in the Chaffee Leadership Institute.

Ms. Lyubomirsky received her undergraduate

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degree in psychology from Harvard University and her doctorate in social/personality psychology from Stanford University. She teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology and serves as the Department of Psychology’s vice chair at the University of California, Riverside. According to her biography, she has been recognized with the Faculty of the Year Award twice and has received the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award for her work with students.

Ms. Lyubomirsky’s visit to campus was part of the Hubbard Speakers Series, made possible by a gift from Robert P. Hubbard '47.

“If you want to be happy and you want to experience the benefits of happiness, … you need to focus, not on yourself, but on other people, on supporting other people and recognizing how other people have supported you,” Ms. Lyubomirsky said.

Psychology professor and author Sonja Lyubomirsky Photo: Cassandra Hamer

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LEFT: History teacher Rachel Engelke, retired English teacher Jane Archibald, and Mark reunite at the event.

BELOW: Students follow along as Mark reads an excerpt from his book.

Photos: Cassandra Hamer

Mark Oppenheimer ’92 Examines Tragedy and Resilience in a Community Author and journalist Mark Oppenheimer ’92 returned to the Island in November to discuss his latest book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, with an audience of more than 100 students and faculty members.

Squirrel Hill focuses on first-person accounts of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and examines the resurgence of antiSemitism in the world. The book is about the strength of a community, Squirrel Hill, and its ability to understand and cope with the 2018 tragedy, in which a shooter entered the Tree of Life synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 people and wounding six others.

“It is a sad, terrible story, but an incredibly hopeful book because what you see is the way people come together in a community to help and support each other in the worst of times,”

noted Mark, who also read an excerpt from the book for the gathering.

After his talk, the author took questions from students about his writing career. He shared that his interest in communities and how they work began when he was a student at Loomis Chaffee. His involvement with the debate and cross country teams on the Island helped him to form his ideas about how a person lives in a community and led to his later focus on religious studies as one aspect of a community. “A lot of who I now am was forged in my early years, at Loomis,” he reflected.

After graduating from Loomis, Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a doctorate in religious studies from Yale University. He is a lecturer in English at Yale and the coordinator of the Yale Journalism Initiative. He also has taught at Wesleyan

and Stanford universities. In addition to teaching, Mark has been a beat reporter for The Hartford Courant; a writer for The New York Times Magazine; an essayist for The American Scholar, Southwest Review, and Yale Review; and a historian of religion. Mark has written five other books, and he hosts Unorthodox, the No. 1 Jewish-themed podcast in English, according to iTunes.

The event, held in the Norton Family Center for the Common Good in Founders Hall, was a collaboration among the Norton Center; the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and Writing Initiatives. All attendees received a free, signed copy of Mark’s book, thanks to the generosity of the Carolyn Belfer ’86 Fund for Jewish Life and the Dominic S. Failla Speakers Fund.

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LOVE of THREE ORANGES PHOTOGRAPHS BY:

Anna Zuckerman-Vdovenko

COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE The vibrant story of The Love of Three Oranges unfolds on the outdoor stage near Chaffee Hall.

The play is based on a scenario in the style of the theatrical form commedia dell'arte, which originated in Italy in the 16th century.

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31-member student cast and crew presented the raucous slapstick comedy The Love of Three Oranges during a five-night run in October on both an outdoor stage next to Chaffee Hall and in the Hubbard Performance Hall.

The play, by Hilary DePiano, is based on a Commedia Dell’arte scenario by Carlo Gozzi and tells a classic tale of jealousy, love, friendship, and laughter. The Loomis Chaffee production incorporated references to Island landmarks and used its venues to full advantage with improvisational jokes from the cast and running commentary about the performance spaces as the actors performed.

The show was directed by theater teacher David McCamish and assistant directed by English teacher David Edgar. The cast included senior Aidan Cooper as Tartaglia and, in dual roles, seniors Vanessa Magid as Fata Morgana/Dottore and Benjamin Radmore as Pantalone/Creonta. The stage management team was led by senior Jasper Gitlitz.

“The student actors rose to the challenges of improvisation and comedic acting technique, and the student technicians were actively involved in the creation of the set, lighting design, and building costumes,” said Susan Chrzanowski, head of the Performing Arts Department, which produced the play.

Despite moving between indoor and outdoor venues throughout a rain-filled week, the adaptable production team created a unique and entertaining show, Sue remarked.

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TOP: Pantalone (senior Benjamin Radmore), King Silvio (junior Arthur Beaugeard), and Princess Clarice (junior Jade Silverstein) MIDDLE: As Fantarello (sophomore Michael Hoffman) and King Silvio (Arthur Beaugeard) somberly watch, Pantalone (Benjamin Radmore), Rope (junior Nathan Ko), and several Zannis (sophomores Audrey Hall, Lauren Sonnenfeld, and Jessica Luo) try to make the king laugh at their comical antics. BOTTOM: Rope (Nathan Ko) holds a directional sign particular to the show’s location.

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TOP LEFT: Zannis (Jessica Luo and junior Nandini Ramanathan) TOP RIGHT: Princess Clarice (Jade Silverstein) and Prince Leandro (sophomore Brigham Cooper) break the fourth wall with a fish-face pose.

BOTTOM LEFT: Tartaglia (senior Aidan Cooper) carries Truffaldino (freshman Iris Sande).

BOTTOM RIGHT: Dottore (senior Vanessa Magid), Creonta (Benjamin Radmore), and Il Dottore (Lauren Sonnenfeld) plot their mischief.

WEB EXTRAS To see the full list of cast and crew, read the playbill, and see more photographs from the show, please visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

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FAR LEFT: Sophomore Mercuri Lam and music teacher Netta Hadari converse about Mercuri’s work exhibited at the opening.

TOP RIGHT: Ceramic creations were among the student artwork displayed in the exhibit.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Juniors Zoe Alford and C.J. Bukowski read the submissions of Emerging Writers.

Photos: Cassandra Hamer

Exhibit Celebrates Student Creativity

WEB EXTRAS To view the online versions of the Emerging Artists and Emerging Writers exhibits and to see a video from the opening, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

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Dozens of Loomis Chaffee students pursued independent work in writing and visual art last summer as part of the Emerging Writers and Emerging Artists programs, and a dual exhibit showcased their work in the Barnes and Wilde galleries of the Richmond Art Center this fall.

At the opening for the show in September, the student artists and writers shared their excitement for their projects.

“The colors represent me,” junior Sofia Mansilla said in describing her painting. The mix of bright and dark colors that she used work together to show the different aspects of her personality, she explained, adding that she found her passion for the visual arts at Loomis.

Junior Julie Kang also said her artwork is part of her personality. “I have something more inside myself that I don’t show to people,” she said. Her visual arts teachers at Loomis Chaffee and the freedom she found to express her ideas at the school inspire her work, she added.

Twenty-seven students participated last summer in the Emerging Artists program, which invites student visual artists to pursue projects independently and submit the completed work for the annual showcase.

Similarly, the Emerging Writers program invites student writers of all inspirations to submit proposals for independent development during the summer. Poetry, short stories, and other written pieces by the 28 student

participants were on display in the exhibit this fall.

Senior Aidan Cooper and junior Chinelo Osakwe both shared their written work in the exhibition. “I have always been writing,” Aidan said, “and the culture at Loomis really bolstered my love for writing as well as my ability to write.”

Chinelo said the writing program has enabled her to creatively explore topics and ideas in a different way and “has helped me to become a better writer by teaching me different techniques.”

The faculty directors of the two programs stood by proudly watching the students enjoy the opening.

“I love the creativity and drive of our students,” says Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97, a visual arts teacher and the coordinator of the Emerging Artists exhibition. “Seeing the look on their faces as guests viewed their artwork was unmatched.”

Kate Saxton, director of Writing Initiatives at Loomis, says the Emerging Writers program gives student participants well-deserved recognition for their work. “The act of writing is often independent and personal,” Kate remarks. “I think it’s wonderful that this annual event allows students to engage with their audiences and celebrate with our community.”

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Mercy Gallery Features Kinetic Art Exhibition A solo exhibition of work by christian.ryan, a transdisciplinary artist and teacher in Loomis Chaffee’s Visual Arts Department, was on display in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery in the Richmond Art Center this fall.

Work Against Grain was an interactive exhibition of 14 different pieces involving sound, simple motors, and sleek figures — all created from reclaimed wood, most of which was sourced from trees recently taken down on the Island. The artist hoped that the kinetic works displayed in the exhibition would encourage interaction and reaction from the student, faculty, and staff visitors.

“A large number of the pieces had their

start in a creative research trip that I took to France, which was funded by the school,” christian said. “The work that I do in the studio feeds back into the classroom, and the work I do in the classroom feeds back into my art.”

The exhibition coincided with several other shows in the Richmond Art Center, including the Emerging Artists and Emerging Writers exhibitions of student work in the Barnes and Wilde galleries and the Community Arts Exhibition, featuring works in various media

by Loomis Chaffee faculty, staff, and other adult members of the school community.

“The work that I do in the studio feeds back into the classroom, and the work I do in the classroom feeds back into my art.”

— christian.ryan

LEFT: Sophomore Taizo Harada discusses christian.ryan’s kinetic piece “Bare-Throated Oak Warbler” with the artist.

RIGHT: christian in the Mercy Gallery Photos: Cassandra Hamer

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FAMILY WEEKEND RETURNS History teacher Rick Taylor meets with David Delcampe and Tammi Dulberger, parents of his freshman advisee Jake Delcampe, during Family Weekend in October. The school community celebrated the reprise of in-person Family Weekend this year after the event was held online in 2020 because of COVID-19.

PHOTOGRAPH BY:

Cassandra Hamer

WEB EXTRAS To watch a video from Family Weekend 2021, visit www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

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Berrie Moos

Retired Faculty Celebrated

Fred Seebeck

Ruth Duell

Candice Chirgotis

Dennis Robbins

Phyllis Grinspan

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he school community honored the careers of recently retired faculty members Berrie Moos and Fred Seebeck in a gathering on the lawn of the Loomis Family Homestead shortly before the start of this school year. Between them, Berrie and Fred represent 64 years of teaching, coaching, advising, and leadership at Loomis Chaffee.

Current and former faculty, staff, students, and family members of the honorees attended the celebration to pay tribute to Berrie and Fred, who retired in June 2020. The event had been postponed because of COVID-19.

Four other honorees from 2020, Ruth Duell, Candice Chirgotis, Dennis Robbins, and Phyllis Grinspan, were unable to attend this year’s gathering due to family obligations and travel issues relating to the pandemic.

Opening the evening’s festivities, Head of School Sheila Culbert reflected that both Berrie and Fred “made an impact on thousands of students over the years that they have been at the school.” She thanked them for being “faculty members that were easy to look up to, easy to admire, and truly inspirational.”

English Department colleague Andrew Watson spoke in Berrie’s honor, reflecting on their friendship, her dedication to her students, her sly sense of humor, and her ability to form strong relationships with her students. Taking on a variety of roles over her tenure on the Island, Berrie was known by her students for her storytelling, her love of grammar, and her genuine interest in their lives, he added.

“Berrie is intensely curious, deeply

knowledgeable, and super-humanly patient,” he reflected. The students in her classes were inspired to go beyond just learning about the literature and language that they were studying; they wanted to “know more and ask deeper questions” about the topic, he said.

In her remarks, Berrie regaled the gathering with humorous memories of students and colleagues over her 28 years of service to the school.

Fred worked and lived on the Island for 36 years, during which he taught English; coached swimming, water polo, and track; worked in admissions; served as a dean of students and a dorm head; and was involved in the growth of the school. He was especially known for his thoughtful mentoring of both students and colleagues.

Associate Director of Studies Robert DeConinck, who coached with Fred, and former Associate Head of School Aaron “Woody” Hess paid tribute to Fred. Bob reminded the gathering of the dedication, commitment, and understanding that Fred brought to his job, and Woody noted Fred’s “unusually genuine interest in other people and students” in the classroom, on the playing fields, and in the dorms.

In his remarks, Fred spoke of Loomis Chaffee’s strong community, the opportunities for personal and professional growth, and the sheer variety of the daily work as reasons for staying on the Island for 36 years.

“The community of friends here has been diverse, interesting, and the friendships that have been made are lifelong,” he said.

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Stellar Evenings of Science Astronomer Lindsay Demarchi leads a Zoom discussion about dead and dying starts.

Photo: Matt Ruffle

Supernovae, dwarf galaxies, dead stars, and more were on the menu for participants in a series of evening forums this fall with astrophysicists and expert astronomers, including a Loomis Chaffee graduate.

Astrophysicist Adam Burrows ’71 treated students and faculty to a discussion of the tools created by and for scientists in the study of core-collapse supernovae when he was invited to speak via videoconference at an Evening of Science event in November, organized by Loomis Chaffee’s Physics and Astronomy Club.

Adam’s primary research is in supernovae theory, exoplanet and brown dwarf theory, planetary atmospheres, computational astrophysics, and nuclear astrophysics. A full professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, Adam has written numerous fundamental and influential papers and reviews on these subjects.

During his presentation, Adam shared the excitement of his research and the importance of creating strong three-dimensional models and simulations of a collapsing star. These models, he said, help scientists to better understand the collapse and subsequent explosion of supernovae, or massive stars.

“The explosion and collapse of a supernova are two of the most violent events in nature,” he said. They occur “a few times a second in the universe, but only once in 50 years in our galaxy.” Because these events occur so infrequently in the Milky Way, creating models is crucial for scientists to study and begin to understand their nature, he said.

The explosions are a central player in the

evolution and character of galaxies and the universe. When a massive star explodes, the oxygen, iron, fluoride, calcium, and other elements disperse and litter the interstellar medium, he explained.

Adam also spoke about the birth of smaller stars, which form in the wake of the collapse of supernovae, and the creation of black holes. His presentation included images of the three-dimensional models and sound recordings of the explosions.

Earlier in the fall, astronomer and doctoral candidate Lindsay DeMarchi led a discussion about astronomy and her study of dead and dying stars. Describing herself as a “stellar mortician” who works to piece together a star’s life based on the information it leaves behind after collapsing, Ms. DeMarchi studies the moments just before a star dies, the instant that a star collapses and releases gravitational waves, and the electromagnetic processes that occur immediately afterward. She also explained the methods and instruments she uses in her research, and she answered students’ questions and offered advice and encouragement to students considering a career in astrophysics or astronomy.

Ms. DeMarchi, who earned her undergraduate degree in physics from Colgate University and her master’s degree in physics from Syracuse University, is completing her doctorate in astronomy at Northwestern University.

In the third Evening of Science this fall, observational astronomer and astrophysicist Anna Frebel, a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discussed the chemical and physical conditions of the

early universe and her research into some of the oldest stars in the universe.

Illustrating her talk with detailed visuals, Ms. Frebel told the story of the beginning of the universe and described how the chemicals involved in the initial nuclear synthesis event, or Big Bang, were strewn throughout the universe. These chemicals, or heavy elements, are found in all the stars and planets of the universe.

She also explained the life cycle of a star, including the fact that new stars contain more heavy elements than do older stars. By studying older stars, scientists can better understand the original chemical make-up of the universe, she said.

For their research, Ms. Frebel and her team frequently use the Magellan telescope in Las Camas, Chile. The data that the telescope gathers aided their discovery of seven stars in the ancient, ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II. The three Evening of Science events, all of which took place via videoconference, were facilitated by senior Lillie Szemraj, president of the Physics and Astronomy Club, and Science Department Head Neil Chaudhary ’05.

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Guest Artists

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Netta performs in the Hubbard Performance Hall.

Photo: Cassandra Hamer

GUEST MUSICIAN

Netta Hadari Violinist, composer, and Loomis Chaffee Orchestra director Netta Hadari performed a series of pieces on the violin during an interactive performance of music and discussion in September in the Hubbard Performance Hall.

The recital, titled The 21st Century Violin, included five pieces by contemporary composers Daniel Bernard Roumain, Roxana Panufnik, Istvan Peter B’Racz, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson; two original pieces composed by Netta; and a 19th-century work by Niccoló Paganini.

Between musical selections, Netta answered questions from the audience about his compositional process, inspirations, and playing style.

Netta’s compositions, “Rise” and “Happy Old Marriage,” were inspired by the work of artists and Visual Arts faculty members Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97 and Jennifer McCandless, respectively. Netta explained that he began working on the compositions as a way to collaborate with his visual arts

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colleagues. He composed each piece based on the impressions evoked when viewing their artwork, and he said his pieces are musical expressions of those emotions and ideas.

Netta received a bachelor’s degree in music from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music.

In addition to directing the Orchestra, leading the Chamber Music program, and teaching music theory and violin at Loomis Chaffee, Netta helps to run the educational programs at the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, where he conducts the Young People’s Concert. He is also an accomplished solo performer.

WEB EXTRAS To see the artwork that inspired Netta’s compositions, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

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GUEST MUSICIANS

Rajan Kapoor and Yoshino Toi Cellist Rajan Kapoor and pianist Yoshino Toi performed an evening of chamber music selections in November in the Hubbard Performance Hall as part of the school’s Guest Musician program.

The recital included a variety of emotional and rousing compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Cesar Franck, and Claude Debussy.

Rajan, a private cello instructor for Loomis Chaffee students, is an experienced solo, chamber, and orchestral musician who has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is

pursuing a degree in musical arts at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. He is a Massachusetts Cultural Council music educator and teaching arts fellow.

Ms. Toi is an associate instructor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University while finishing a master’s degree in music at the university. She earned her undergraduate degree in music from the Hartt School and has since received top awards in multiple piano competitions around the United States.

The Guest Musician program is made possible by the Joseph S. Stookins Lecture Fund.

Yoshino Toi and Rajan Kapoor perform during their chamber music recital.

Photo: Cassandra Hamer

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VISITING ARTIST

Nancy Friese

Landscape artist Nancy Friese spent a week in residence this fall at the Richmond Art Center,

Ms. Friese earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Dakota and

where she worked alongside students and faculty in the printmaking studio and spoke about the ideas and inspirations behind her art.

a master of fine arts degree in printmaking from the Yale School of Art. She also studied in the graduate painting program at the University of California, Berkeley, and in the graduate program in painting and printmaking at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. She was a recipient of a Yale University Summer School of Music and Art at Norfolk Fellowship. Ms. Friese also was elected to the National Academy Museum and School in New York City and received three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, including the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Creative Artist Fellowship.

In addition, she was granted a Lila Acheson Wallace Giverny Fellowship, a Blanche E. Colman Award, Pollock-Krasner Foundation funding, and a George Sugarman Foundation Grant for painting.

While on campus, Ms. Friese worked in the printmaking studio, sharing her work and discussing her process with members of the Visual Arts Department and their classes. The week culminated with Ms. Friese presenting a demonstration on watercolor monoprints for students in the College-Level Art Seminar and helping students create prints of their own.

“The students enjoyed the process and were pleased with their results,” said art teacher Mark Zunino, who directs the Visiting Artist program.

An award-winning artist, Ms. Friese describes her landscape paintings as “a composite of things seen, remembered, and felt. By studying nature’s phenomena, I tie visual observations to experience,” according to her artist statement.

The artist lives in Rhode Island and North Dakota and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Nancy Friese works with students in the printmaking studio. Photos: Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97

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The chamber music recital included a variety of emotional and rousing compositions by Bach, Mendelssohn, Franck, and Debussy.

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THAT’S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! SOLVING PROBLEMS Students in the course Problem-Solving for the Common Good this fall conducted market research for the Caring Connection, an adult health center in Windsor that sought help from the class in increasing its client base and brand recognition. The students presented their findings and proposed solutions to Caring Connection representatives near the end of the fall term and planned to make presentations to the Windsor town manager and Town Council as well. Loomis Chaffee Director of Innovation Scott MacClintic ’82 taught the course.

ELECTRIC CHARGES The school opened its first electric vehicle charging station on campus in November.

Operating as a pilot program, the charging station will allow faculty and staff participants with electric cars to charge their vehicles at a rate of 20–30 miles per hour charged, with the hopes that the station will enhance the lives of community members through convenience while reducing the school’s carbon footprint, according to Jeffrey Dyreson, director of environmental sustainability initiatives and associate director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. Located behind the Katharine Brush Library, the charging station is maintained by ChargePoint, a company working to expand electric vehicle charging stations around the United States. The pilot program, initiated by the Alvord Center, will run at no cost to users through June 1. At least for now, the charge station is open only for LC faculty and staff who have registered for the pilot program.

UP FOR DEBATE The Debate Society fared well this fall in tournaments around the Northeast. At two large tournaments in a row, the Hotchkiss Debate and Public Speaking Tournament in October and the Phillips Andover Invitational in November, the team earned second-place school awards. At the Vassar College Invitational Debate tournament in October, which attracted a

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strong field of high school debaters from East Coast and West Coast schools, senior Justin Wu placed seventh and senior Aidan Frazier placed ninth in the advanced division, and freshman Luke Han placed fifth in the novice division. In a Debating Association of New England Independent Schools tournament hosted by Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, the duo of juniors Michelle Liu and Arthur Beaugeard was the first-place novice team in the parliamentary debate competition, and Michelle won the top speaker award in the field of 64 parliamentary debaters in her division. At the Connecticut Debate Association’s November tournament, junior Eric Sun, junior Dora Lin, and seniors Justin and Aidan combined for a record of five wins and one loss debating the merits of space tourism.

Aidan, Eric, and Justin all have qualified for the state debate finals on the merits of their high-ranking finishes in Connecticut tournaments this fall.

INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONS International students shared some of their home-country traditions and celebrations with the Loomis Chaffee community this fall. With help from parent volunteers, international students filled the Parton Room in the dining hall with mooncakes, Chinese lanterns, and other decorations to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 21. A traditional festival celebrated in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam as well as by Chinese and Vietnamese communities in the United States, the event is also known as the Mooncake Festival, named after the cakes that are traditionally served as part of the celebration.

For this year’s festival at Loomis, international students and parents shared three varieties of mooncakes — with red bean paste, mixed nuts, and lotus paste with egg yolk filling.

International students also shared their perspectives and traditions with the community this fall through a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner on October 11, a spoken-word poetry performance at an all-school meeting, and an international karaoke night. The group honored and celebrated the diversity of the community near the beginning of the school year

by displaying flags from their 40 countries of origin in the Katharine Brush Library.

HISPANIC HERITAGE Loomis Chaffee celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 through October 15 with a series of events and activities honoring the history and culture of Latino/a/e and Hispanic Americans. Pa'lante, an affinity group for self-identifying Hispanic and Latine members of the Loomis community, organized the series with support from the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and other campus organizations and departments. The Island celebration included screenings of documentary and fictional films followed by student-led discussions on the Hispanic experience in the United States.

Traditional food was shared with the community during the Harvest Fest clubs event, and Pa’lante members, in collaboration with DEI interns, worked on daily “did you know” facts and co-sponsored a Hispanic Heritage Month game for students and faculty. The month-long celebration culminated with Latine Fest, where students enjoyed music, dancing, games, and food inspired by Latine and Hispanic cultures. The Mariachi Academy of New England, an organization that helps spread Hispanic culture through music, cultural education, and performances, provided music for the gathering; senior Kate Shymkiv led a salsa dance lesson; and plaintain chips, hot peppers, and authentic Mexican food were available from the Los Mariachis food truck. National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15 because it is the anniversary of the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively.

TUBA WINNER Junior Benson Wang won first place in the International Tuba and Euphonium Association’s (ITEA) 2021 Solo Competition in the 15-and-under age division last spring. ITEA is a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and its competition attracts com-

Isl and Ne w s petitors from around the world. Benson, a repeat Connecticut All-Region and All-State qualifier, plays in the Loomis Chaffee Wind Ensemble and is a tuba student of Wind Ensemble Director David Winer.

BOOK CHATS The Island was buzzing with bookish conversation on September 13 as students and faculty participated in school-wide Summer Reading Book Chats about the 22 titles chosen this year.

In addition to the usual grade-level summer reading requirements and the all-school read, Loomis Chaffee students chose from the list of Book Chat titles, read their chosen book during the summer, and participated in the group

discussions after they returned to campus.

“Our students are so busy throughout the year that it’s really nice to take an hour out of the schedule at the beginning of the year to just talk about books and talk about reading,” noted Emily Ziemba, instruction and outreach librarian at the Katharine Brush Library and the summer reading coordinator. The Book Chat list was created with input from departments and centers across campus, and one of the selections was the memoir Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality by Pauline Chen ’82, a surgeon, writer, and former Loomis Chaffee Trustee.

While faculty led most of the discussion groups, Pauline graciously agreed to lead the Book Chat on her book.

To see the list of Book Chat selections, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

STUDENT ART Two students earned national recognition in recent months for their art work. Senior Serena Chang received a certificate of excellence for her painting “Conversation” in the 2020–2021 National High School Media and Communication Competition & Annual Media Review, hosted by the Journalism Education Association. Sophomore Emily Tang earned a national Silver Medal in photography in the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Facult y & S taf f Ne w s Chief Financial Officer Rich Esposito serves as president of the Board of Directors of First Town Downtown, a nonprofit organization that promotes Windsor center and sponsors many local community events and programs.

Science teacher Koby Osei-Mensah and his wife, Mary, welcomed a baby boy, Zane Nana Yaw Osei-Mensah, on October 21, 2021. Big sister Ellie adores her little brother.

Two dozen new faculty members, including five alumni, joined or rejoined the school community this fall. They are Chloe Alexander ’12, an associate director of admission, the director of multicultural recruitment, and the all-gender housing coordinator; Adam Alsamadisi, who teaches science and math; Ashley Augustin, director of the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Bill Ball, who returned to the Island as an associate director of admissions and head coach of the boys varsity lacrosse team; Melanie Carr, who teaches visual arts; Caitie Cotton, a history and philosophy teacher; Rebecca DiSciacca, assistant director of learning access and student achievement; Catherine Dunlavey ’13, who returned for a second stint as a science faculty member; Pierce Ellinwood, an English teacher and the head coach of the ski team; Liana Fernez ’12, an English teacher and assistant director of student activities; counselor Eva Haldane ’00; Carmen Hatchell, who teaches French and Spanish and advises The Log; Meghan Hazard, who teaches French; Scott Hsu, who teaches math and music; Matt Kammrath, the Keller Family Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good; Maggie Kennedy ’05, who rejoined the faculty as an associate director of admission; Jada Myricks, a Penn Fellow who is teaching science; Kayla Padroff, director of student activities and head coach of the girls varsity softball team; Albert Rubin, a Penn Fellow teaching in the Math Department;

Michelle Ruffle, who teaches in the History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies and Social Science departments; Kate Seyboth, computer science teacher and director of digital and computational learning; Aidan Winn, a Penn Fellow who is teaching chemistry; and librarian Alyson Youngpeter.

Retired longtime faculty member James “Grim” Wilson says he gets his “Loomis fix” enjoying golf with retired faculty members and alumni near his home in Vermont. For one of these outings in September (pictured below), former Director of Development John Clark, Grim, Charlie Means ’69, and former Director of Admissions Tom Southworth enjoyed a day of golf and an evening of conversation at John’s home in Manchester, Vermont. Grim also played a round of golf in September with Scott McGee ’66, former Trustee Peter Seigle ’65, and Mark Catlin ’66 at Lake Morey Country Club.

John Clark, Grim, Charlie Means ’69, and Tom Southworth

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PE L ICA N SP O RT S

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FOOTBALL WINS CHAMPIONSHIP

Photos: Stan Godlewski

The varsity football team won the Todd Marble Bowl on November 20, 2021, with a 21-3 victory over Milton Academy on Pratt Field. The bowl is considered the Class A New England prep school championship.

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VARSITY RECORDS BOYS CROSS COUNTRY 4-2 Founders League, 2nd Place

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GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY 6-0 Founders League Champion New England Division I, 2nd Place

FIELD HOCKEY 7-10-1 FOOTBALL 9-1 Todd Marble Bowl Champion Founders League Co-Champion

BOYS SOCCER 12-4-3 New England Class A Semifinalist

GIRLS SOCCER 10-5-1 New England Class A Quarterfinalist

VOLLEYBALL 19-2 Founders League Champion New England Class A Finalist

BOYS WATER POLO 2-16 CO-ED EQUESTRIAN Results of the team's fall-winter season will appear in the spring issue.

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The girls cross country team and coaches with the Founders Championship plaque Quarterback and captain sophomore Dante Reno

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Senior Shawn Meng Junior Shunsuke Matsubayashi Senior Emily Collins and sophomore Emma Wuchenich

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Girls soccer team Junior Malcolm McPherson, backed by freshman Henry Glover Junior Charlotte Sorensen

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STRENGTHENING

COMMUNITY

BY Matt Ruffle

On a warm afternoon this fall, students gathered on the steps of the library, meandered along the paths of Grubbs Quadrangle, and sat in multicolored Adirondack chairs arranged outside of the Scanlan Campus Center, enjoying the warmth of the sun and each other’s company. These casual interactions and serendipitous gatherings differ little from the campus atmosphere of past years, but after 18 months of pandemic-induced separation and upheaval, scenes of community feel special this year.

The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the challenges of maintaining a strong sense of community in a virtual space. However, the Loomis Chaffee community rose to the challenge.

“The pandemic brought out the best in our community,” says Head of School Sheila Culbert. “There is no denying that we have had a difficult couple of years, but students, faculty, and staff cared for one another, were mindful about the decisions they made on a personal level and how those decisions could have an impact on one another, and they looked out for each other’s well-being.”

Still, as Loomis Chaffee returned to fully in-person learning and campus life this fall, the school focused on strengthening community. Students, faculty and staff, advisors, coaches, parents, and administrators made concerted efforts to foster a sense of community, and the very

idea of community seemed to take on deeper meaning and importance.

Community can mean simply a physical location or a geographical space where people meet and interact with one another. As it has been throughout Loomis Chaffee’s history, but perhaps no more so than this year, community also means the feeling that comes from these interactions, the ideas that are created within these communal spaces, and the overarching sense of self and belonging that exudes from living and working together.

“Since I first arrived on the Island in the late summer of 1975, community has remained one of the most important strengths of Loomis Chaffee,” says Associate Head for External Relations Nat Follansbee. “Visitors, whether prospective students and their parents or prospective teachers, have almost always commented on the comfortable, warm feel of the school. That sense of community comes from close relationships among faculty and staff members and between faculty members and students.”

Recognizing the strain that the pandemic placed on the culture of shared space, shared experiences, and shared purpose at Loomis, the school this year has created intentional community-building opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to restore the sense of community and reconnect with classmates and colleagues, according to Jessica

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Matzkin, dean of student life. “We needed to remember what it felt like to be together, so we created those opportunities with greater intentionality,” she says.

Those opportunities began with faculty and staff before students returned to campus this fall. During their opening days meetings, the adults in the community devoted a beautiful sunny afternoon to fun and games in Rockefeller Quad. Divided into their Pelican Games teams — orange, yellow, purple, and green — new and returning faculty and staff worked together to solve problems, play games, and show off their hidden talents. Juggling, jump rope, headstands, relay races, cup-stacking, and even a rendition of “Baby Baluga” were involved.

The Pelican Games, which were first introduced last spring, provided a fun way this fall for returning students to reconnect with each other and welcome new students to the Island. Faculty and staff, already energized from their competitions during opening days, got the students excited about the new tradition with a game of musical chairs at a Friday all-school meeting in early September. Thanks to coach John Cunningham’s lightning-quick reflexes, Team Purple won the day. That weekend, students took to Pratt Field for their turn. The turf was awash in team colors as students competed in tug-of-war, wacky relay races, a scavenger hunt, capture the flag, dodgeball, and other events. Team Green collected the most points and, as of January, is in the lead of this year-long competition.

On the weekend prior to the Pelican Games, resident assistants, prefects, and international student ambassadors competed in a highly anticipated lip-sync battle on the Hubbard stage, cheered on by a pumped-up crowd of fellow students. This popular event capped off more than a week of orientation activities and set the tone for a year of weekend events organized by Student Activities and Kayla Padroff, the school’s new director of student activities. Students gathered for dances; game nights in the campus center; karaoke; volleyball, spikeball, dodgeball, and soccer tournaments; movie screenings; and plenty of delicious food provided by a variety of student organizations and ever-popular food trucks. Students also enjoyed opportunities to gather casually around firepits, eat s’mores, and relax together.

Class-based bonding events also returned this year. On the fall term’s Pelican Day, the freshman class spent a morning at Northwest Park in Windsor visiting the farm animals, fishing, and enjoying the outdoors. The sophomore class traditionally travels to Camp Becket for an overnight retreat in the fall, and while COVID forced the suspension of that tradition last year, the sophomore class did get off campus this fall for a day of ziplining and ropes course fun at Adventure Park in Storrs, Connecticut.

These planned activities, combined with the less formal small moments in the dorms, dining hall, club meetings, practice fields, and the SNUG, “breed community,” Jess says.

In creating the community they want to experience, students left little to chance. The Student Council worked with the administration at the beginning of the year to bring back all-school

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Faculty and staff members of the yellow team compete in the Pelican Games.

Photo: Cassandra Hamer

WEB EXTRAS To watch video highlights of the faculty/staff games during opening days, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

meetings, which had not been held for several years. The Student Council leadership of President Evan Caulfield, Co-Vice President Pilar Wingle, Co-Vice President Ryan Fortani, and Secretary/Treasurer Mary Kate Briglio sought to bring the school together while increasing transparency and communication among the student body, campus organizations, and the administration.

“The all-school meetings have helped to restore community,” says Pilar. “The meetings give student art groups, like theater, individual musicians, and concert groups more opportunities to perform and allow for students and faculty to share information about all the different organizations, clubs, and arts” at Loomis Chaffee.

Other community organizations and activities also have stepped up their outreach this year, emphasizing the importance of bringing people together and of accepting diversity in all its forms.

The student affinity group Pa’lante created a series of events to highlight the Latino/a/e experience at Loomis. The group aims to bring students together to discuss a variety of topics such as race, culture, and identity through the events they sponsor.

Events have included movie screenings and discussions of the portrayal of Latine culture in film, work with the multicultural organization PRISM and the gender-sexuality alliance Spectrum to delve into unconscious biases, and Latinefest, a celebration of

Opening Days tug-of-war Photo: Cassandra Hamer

Students signal “L” for Loomis during a pep rally in the Olcott Center on the night before Kent Day. Photo: Stan Godlewski

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the food, music, games, and dances of Latine cultures.

To junior Angelina Amastal, co-president of Pa’lante along with Pilar and senior Mariapaula Gonzalez, these events strengthen the community by bringing different voices to the table. By hosting cultural events and leading discussions, the group works “to build awareness of our culture and heritage” and is an important part of the continued growth of community on campus, Pilar says.

The LGBTQ+ community, with the help of PRISM, Spectrum, and the affinity group Brave Space, also has worked to gather students for discussions of identity and race. Collaborations among the groups have gained importance this year not only for the topics that students meet to discuss, but more importantly, for the opportunities for students to share their ideas.

“My definition of community is a group of people that are welcoming and support you while being diverse in their opinions,” says sophomore Mercuri Lam, a co-president of Spectrum and Brave. “At Loomis, we are celebrated for our differences.”

The Loomis Chaffee Athletic Association (LCAA) helps to build community as well. In November, the group hosted an allschool pep rally with senior introductions, competitions, a stepteam performance, and general good cheer to foster school spirit and generate excitement about the return of Kent Day. “We want the kids to have fun, enjoy each other’s company, and celebrate the athletic accomplishments of our students,” says Assistant

Athletic Director Stephanie Bissett, who advises the LCAA. Alumni and parents also play an important role in helping to create the feeling of community on campus. Nat uses the metaphor of a target to describe the importance of the wider Loomis Chaffee community. The bullseye, or middle, of the target is the school. The concentric rings represent parents, alumni, former faculty members, past parents, and friends of the school. The goal, as Nat sees it, is to increase the size of the bullseye and expand the concentric rings to strengthen the school community as a whole while each group remains strong and vibrant. By strengthening the relationships on campus, the opportunities for connection for alumni, parents of alumni, former faculty, and others will increase and the community will grow.

The Black Alumni Mentoring program illustrates the value of connecting the concentric rings in Nat ’s analogy. Launched in the fall of 2020 after a group of Black alumni expressed a strong desire to guide and support the school’s current Black students, the program matches interested students with volunteer alumni mentors who help the students navigate different aspects of independent school life. The goal of the program is to help students form lasting relationships with mentors to guide them in their journey at Loomis Chaffee and beyond. Black alumni who initiated the program recall that, as students, they often wished for someone who looked like them to talk to and to share their experiences.

ABOVE: Parent volunteers Lingling Wang (mother of freshman Daniel Jiang), Ying Tang (mother of sophomore Emily), Helen Wang (mother of senior Henry), Felicia Deng (mother of junior Erica Zhang), Catherine Jiao (mother of freshman Jessica Zhao), and Hong Fowler (mother of junior Rebecca) pause during their preparations for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Parton Room.

TOP RIGHT: Mooncakes for the festival RIGHT: Sophomores Destiny Pond, Nana Achiaa Donkor, and Angela Adu-Boateng sample the sweets at the event. Photos: Cassandra Hamer

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Families and faculty members enjoy each other's company in sunny Rockefeller Quadrangle during Family Weekend in October. Photo: Cassandra Hamer

This year, even with campus visits still limited, the virtual mentoring program remains strong, increasing in both alumni and student participation.

“Our Black alumni are very successful individuals,” says faculty member Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97, who coordinates the program.

“They know other very successful individuals and would love to give Black students the opportunity to network and advance.”

The presence of Loomis Chaffee parents on the Island is another positive sign that community ties are growing this year.

Parents were able to return to campus in limited ways and remain strongly connected to the life of the school.

Sixty-two families helped to sponsor this fall’s Mid-Autumn Festival, organized by the Loomis Chaffee International Students organization. A traditional festival celebrated in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam as well as by Chinese and Vietnamese communities in the United States, the Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the night of the full moon between early September and October, which corresponds with the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Mooncake Festival, for the cakes that traditionally are served as part of the celebration. For this year’s festival at Loomis, international students and parent volunteers shared three varieties of mooncakes.

One of the organizers of the event, Helen Wang, whose son Henry is a senior and whose older children are alumni, explains, “Loomis is a diverse community that welcomes diverse cultures.

That’s why I want all students to experience this and introduce this tradition with different foods and understand a different

The presence of Loomis Chaffee parents on the Island is another positive sign that community ties are growing this year.

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culture.” The event was “a way to bring everyone together and share our traditions with the rest of the Loomis community,” she says.

In an ironic twist to the pandemic-inflicted separations, virtual meetings have allowed more parents and alumni to connect to campus and to one another, according to Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Lisa Ross.

The option of online meetings helped the Loomis Chaffee Parents Association to maintain connections and even broaden its reach last year, Lisa says, and the organization is continuing to hold many of its meetings virtually because the format has allowed more parent participation. “The virtual meetings allow for more flexibility than on-campus meetings, and parents are able to enjoy the connection with fellow parents, as well as hearing from the head of school and faculty presenters,” Lisa says.

Attendance at the meetings has more than doubled since they were moved online.

As with the Black Alumni Mentoring Program, involvement of alumni in various aspects of the school community has increased with the help of online options. “Throughout the pandemic, individual alumni connected with students and faculty in the classroom through Zoom presentations and meetings, sharing their professional, personal and/or academic experiences, and wisdom,” Lisa says. This year, those virtual connections have continued.

“As an alum living far from campus, I have enjoyed the opportunity to connect via Zoom events,” says Donna (Keffer) McShea ’83 after participating in a virtual book chat with former faculty member Fred Seebeck in March. Because of the availability and flexibility of meeting with former classmates and teachers from home, Donna reports that she “feels much more connected to Loomis since the pandemic began than ever before.”

A profound appreciation for community underlies all of the efforts this year to strengthen the sense of collective support and respect at Loomis Chaffee. It is an appreciation that deepened last year when the pandemic threatened to compromise it and overflowed this fall when the campus roared back to life. And as the fall cooled into winter, the initial excitement of reuniting on campus shifted to a subtler, though no less significant, atmosphere: a sense of students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni savoring community.

TOP: Students enjoy time together in Rockefeller Quad. Photo: Jessica Ravenelle MIDDLE: Family Weekend togetherness: Marc and Maria Magliacano with their daughter, sophomore Lily, and Damon and Lisa Liss with their daughter, sophomore Charlie.

Photo: Cassandra Hamer RIGHT: Janis Davis-Canty, parent of senior A’jah Canty, helps at the Loomis Chaffee Parents Association "Give a Book to the Library" event, a program she co-chairs, outside Katharine Brush Library during Family Weekend. Photo: Cassandra Hamer

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A profound appreciation for community underlies all of the efforts this year to strengthen the sense of collective support and respect at Loomis Chaffee.

The boys cross country team gathers for a post-practice huddle on Sellers Field.

Photo: Jessica Ravenelle

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Q+A

FROM HEDGE FUND to HumanCo with Jason Karp ’94

INTERVIEW BY Nat Follansbee 36

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B

y the time he turned 40, Jason H. Karp ’94 had rocketed to the thin air of the hedge fund universe as the founder of Tourbillon Capital Partners, which managed more than $4 billion. But in 2018, Jason decided to close Tourbillon, retire from the hedge fund world, and turn his attention to an entirely different venture: growing companies that help consumers live healthier lives. Building on lessons learned through the success of Hu Kitchen (Hu is pronounced “hue” as in “human.”), a clean-food restaurant that Jason, his wife, and his brother-in-law opened in New York City in 2012, and the rapid growth of Hu’s healthy chocolate and snacks business, Jason is co-founder

and chief executive officer of HumanCo, a holding company that invests in and builds healthy-but-tasty food brands. In a June 2021 profile of Jason, Business Insider magazine described HumanCo as an ambitious venture that aims to create “the next big food conglomerate, a challenger to big food companies like Unilever and Coca-Cola, but with healthier options.” The business and technology news website The Hustle called HumanCo “the Berkshire Hathaway for health and wellness brands.”

Jason, a member of the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2019, was a four-year student at Loomis, where he played varsity tennis and was involved in theater. After Loomis,

he attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he played varsity squash and received several awards for scholarship and leadership. He graduated summa cum laude in 1998.

Associate Head of School for External Relations Nat Follansbee, who coached Jason in tennis at Loomis, spoke to him recently about his career, the story behind his focus on the wellness industry, and his launch of HumanCo. Their conversation, edited for clarity and space, follows.

Nat began the conversation by asking Jason why he decided to become a Trustee.

Jason: I felt that Loomis had more of an impact on my life and who I’ve become as a person than any other educational chapter that I’ve had. There were a handful of faculty that had a significant influence on me in terms of developing my character, giving me self-confidence, and giving me the passion and the grit to pursue what I ultimately wanted to pursue. I was certainly honored to be a Trustee, and I felt like it was the sort of culmination of everything I’ve done to be able to serve the school and hopefully provide other students with the resources, the experience, the faculty that I had because it was so influential on me and on who I have become.

Jason: He was my advisor for a couple of years as well as my coach. I think in my earlier years at Loomis — and this is where [former faculty members Jeffrey] Scanlon [’79], [Samuel] Pierson, and Dom Failla come in too — I really was about who I wanted to be and who I was. I was very insecure.

And the common thread between all of you was that you saw something in me that I didn’t know I necessarily had.

You encouraged me to develop those skills and strengths in areas where I was either oblivious to them or I frankly just doubted myself. The greatest value of a mentor is not necessarily in what they teach explicitly about facts, but much more about equipping that individual with the life skills and the confidence to become a greater person and to become your best self. All of those people that I mentioned really did that for me.

I transferred into Wharton. I was always interested in probabilistic aspects of business and investing, but I also always wanted to be a doctor. So I enrolled premed, but in my first semester, there were two different econ classes that you were required to take. If you were in the college of arts and sciences, pretty much everyone took the college of arts and sciences econ class. But because of my athletic schedule [with the Penn squash team], I couldn’t take that. I was forced to take the Wharton econ class.

Nat: Who are a couple of the teachers whom you remember best and who were influential in your time at school?

Jason: Well, aside from you and Fred Seebeck— Nat: You don’t have to talk about me, but talk about Fred.

Nat: From Loomis Chaffee, you went on to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Jason: I actually went to Penn premed.

Nat: It changed your life, right?

Jason: There was one exam that changed my life for good. I noticed in my first three, four weeks, that econ came to me like a second language.

And I didn’t really study much; it just sort of felt right. The teacher and several students in the class made comments to me that I really knew my stuff. So I basically go in and I take my first exam of college without studying. I had read everything. It wasn’t like I was comloomischaffee.org

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pletely unprepared. I just didn’t study the night before. I come back four days later and they hand [the graded tests] out, and the teacher explains what a curve is. And then he put up on the chalkboard the max, the min, the mean, the median, and I looked at my test, and I got a 91, the highest score in the class. There was a kid who leaned over and said, “That’s the kid who got the 91!” And I blushed and I was all embarrassed, but then I got really kind of proud. I remember thinking, “I think I’m good at business. This is what I’m going to do, and I never want that feeling to go away.” After that test, I looked into what was required to transfer, I got admitted, and started sophomore year in the Wharton School.

Nat: After Wharton, you started at George Weiss Associates, and then you went to S.A.C. Capital Advisors and then finally Carlson Capital before you founded your own fund. How did those years in financing and investing and the increase in responsibility prepare you for the founding of your own hedge fund?

Jason: I had a lot of mentors along the way. I worked at three great places, and each of those bosses had totally different lessons to teach me. I attribute my philanthropic proclivities primarily

“I was made a partner at the age of 24 or 23, but I wasn’t taking care of myself.”

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to George and my father. George was always about, “If you’re fortunate in any way, not just money, if you’re fortunate with your time or your health or your wisdom, you need to give back.” And when he got me to start doing that, I realized how much I loved it. But I would say that they all — George Weiss, Steve Cohen, and Clint Carlson — were really good business builders. Over that 14-year period I learned a lot about what works from an investing perspective and what doesn’t work. It was a great mentorship period that gave me the conviction and the confidence that I didn’t really have anywhere to go anymore except for starting my own firm.

Nat: So you became a founder [of Tourbillon Capital Partners], which was great. The other part of the story is in your 20s, while you were experiencing professional success, you became ill through a variety of autoimmune diseases, including what the doctors described as a degenerative eye disease that would likely lead to blindness.

understand how, at that age, I was so sick. The worst part of it, though, was I was going blind. Doctors couldn’t figure out if there was anything [to] do, and ultimately they said that it was incurable. I didn’t believe it. It just didn’t make sense to me. I’ve always had this kind of anti-establishment optimism. So I did research in a lot of areas around biology, anatomy, physiology, this particular eye disease, what it’s correlated to, other kinds of medicine that are now called functional medicine. [It’s] sort of Eastern-style medicine, where you treat the root causes of diseases instead of the symptoms. The Western medicine approach is treating the symptoms.

Through a bunch of experimentation, teaching myself how to sleep again, giving up coffee and alcohol, giving up processed food, giving up refined sugar, giving up gluten, eating a lot more natural food, fruits, and vegetables, etc., I reversed my disease over the course of about nine months, and my vision fully came back.

Nat: Wow, that’s incredible.

Jason: This is really what shaped what I’m doing now and who I am. When I was in my second and third year of work, I was very ambitious, and I had achieved some very quick financial success. I was made a partner at the age of 24 or 23, but I wasn’t taking care of myself. I went from being a healthy collegiate athlete who was balancing sleep, diet, stress in a regimented fashion, to the typical things that happen to people when they get out of college and go to a high-stress, new job in New York City, which was I was sleeping a lot less, I was eating crappy food, [and] I wasn’t exercising that much because I was trying to move up and work really hard.

The combination of all those things, plus what I now know is genetic, led to the manifestation of several diseases that came out abruptly in me when I was 23, 24. I was very ill, and I was ashamed of it. I didn’t really talk about it to a lot of people because I couldn’t

Jason: If that economics class was one pivotal moment in my life, walking out of the doctor’s office when he had acknowledged that I had reversed the disease, that was the next pivotal moment in my life. I realized, “Oh my God, there are so many people out there who are sick or who are sort of sick, and they don’t really realize it, whether it’s obesity or heart disease or diabetes, and it’s the modern food supply and the modern lifestyle that’s doing it.” I wanted to devote significant time to helping others, and that ultimately led to the creation of Hu Kitchen with the help of my brother-in-law Jordan [Brown], and my wife, Jessica.

Nat: Tell me about the history of Hu Kitchen and the expansion in terms of the chocolate bars, the addition of other products like Hu Hunks and Gems and the grain-free crackers.

“I’ve always had this kind of anti-establishment optimism.”

Jason; his wife, Jessica; and their children, Isla and Tyson, live in Austin, Texas. The family moved to Austin from New York City in 2019. Photos: HumanCo

Jason: The genesis of Hu Kitchen — and the Hu stands for “human” — is that my brother-in-law Jordan, starting in maybe 2008 or 2009, started reading a lot of the same books on health and wellness that I was reading. He didn’t have any of my illnesses, thank God, but when he made those changes to his diet, he noticed that he looked better, he performed better, he had more energy, he lost weight, he developed more muscle, everything just improved. And he said, “This is amazing!” And he said, “There’s nowhere to eat in New York City that’s the manifestation of these principles,” which today is basically described as the paleo diet. Jordan came to me and said, “We should open up a restaurant in New York City that is the

manifestation of this, and … people will like it because you can’t trust restaurants and the quality of the ingredients and what they add.” It’s very hard to find things that are refined-sugar-free or gluten-free or grain-free or no-dairy.

And I said, “Jordan, I’m a professional investor. Restaurants are terrible businesses. We don’t know anything about restaurants.” So we decided to hire a few consultants and explore it. I was motivated more philanthropically than anything. I did not think it was going to become what it became. I frankly wanted a place where I could eat every day, and I wanted to be able to prove to New York that you could make healthy food that actually tastes good because up until that point, most healthy food

was gross and had a stigma. So it started as a restaurant. We did everything in-house. We baked all of our own stuff. We cured our own bacon. We made our own ketchup from scratch.

We started baking a lot of grain-free and gluten-free items like muffins, scones, and cookies. We wanted to put chocolate chips in them, but we could not find chocolate chips that met our ingredient guardrails, and so we said, “We have to make our own chocolate chips.” We found a chocolatier who was a pastry chef at a French restaurant and who made chocolate as a side hobby.

We said, “Can you make chocolate with these ingredients?” And he said, “I don’t think so.” And we said, “Let’s just try it.” After a lot of trial and error, we

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hit on a chocolate recipe that’s basically what you have today. And it was so good that Jordan had the idea to turn it into chocolate bars in addition to the chips. We only sold them in the restaurant, and then another stroke of luck was that the girlfriend of one of our chefs worked at Whole Foods.

He used to bring her home chocolate from our restaurant, and one day she said, “These are so good. Can we sell them in the Columbus Circle location of Whole Foods?” And that is how our business turned into a business.

chocolate because it was too bitter, and they would say, “I can’t believe this is healthy!” Most healthy chocolate is very bitter. When I saw that kind of reaction from consumers, we decided as a family — Jordan, me, and Jessica — to lean in on the business, particularly on the product side, which started with chocolate then went into the chocolate-covered nuts called the Hunks, the chocolate chips called the Gems. Then we did crackers, and now we have grain-free, gluten-free cookies, which also have no added sugar.

In the early days of Hu Kitchen, the restaurant, we’d have a lot of health nuts who would come in. These were very discerning people who would eat only healthy stuff, and they would eat our chocolate bars. They would say, “I’ve never had healthy chocolate that tastes like this. This is incredible!” We knew we had something because of the reaction. Then we started giving it to people that would not eat dark

Nat: How did it spread to other Whole Foods stores across the country?

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

Jason: Back then Whole Foods was independent. Now it’s owned by Amazon, but back then, it was much more entrepreneurial at the regional level.

They had people in the store whose job was called “forager,” and they would go out and find local food companies’ products that they could dis-

play in that local Whole Foods. They put us in the specialty section. It started flying off the shelves. Once that starts to happen, they start talking to their managers and other stores, and say, “Hey, this is really going. You should try it.” Before you knew it, we were in five stores and then 10 and then 20. Now we’re in thousands and thousands of stores.

Nat: How did you meet demand then?

You had to push your manufacturing.

Jason: It was so challenging. It taught me so much about business because prior to that I was just a professional investor. I invested in other people’s companies. I was entrepreneurial in the way that I had built my own investment fund, but I had never built a company that sold stuff. Our chocolate was made by hand. When it started to grow as quickly as it did, we had to find a manufacturer that could make it the way we wanted to make it. We

had to buy some of our own equipment and partner with a manufacturer who had never made chocolate the way we did, and put our own equipment on their floor. We just had to keep increasing capacity and investing in it, and we spent millions of dollars over many years trying to increase production and capacity to make it. The ultimate question is, “How do you make the chocolate that was so good when we only made 10,000 bars, how do you make it that good without compromising when it’s a million bars?” And I give Jordan credit. That was his main area, and there was no playbook for this because nobody made chocolate that way.

Jason: Mondelez was spun off of Kraft about 10 years ago. They’re best known for Oreos and Cadbury, but they have about 70 brands. We spoke to them and a few other of the large corporations that are in the chocolate business about letting them invest. We chose Mondelez as our initial investor because they had bought some other brands that we thought they had done a really nice job with. We spent a lot of time with them over two years. And what happened — and this is public information — another very large company came in and tried to buy Hu in 2020. We decided that Mondelez would be the best partner, so we sold to Mondelez.

within frozen appetizers. What we’re doing with Coconut Bliss is within ice cream. We just bought another company called Against the Grain, which is a fairly large grain-free and gluten-free pizza company out of Brattleboro, Vermont. Food, in my opinion, is supposed to bring joy and is supposed to be a part of rituals with your family, for celebration, for holidays. Food is an intrinsic aspect of human culture, and so I wanted to create foods and categories of foods that were associated with happiness, but do it in a way that was clean and you could trust it. That’s the common thread right now with all the brands I’ve done.

Nat: So you decided to close down the hedge fund and concentrate on the health food and sustainability industry.

You founded HumanCo, a private holding company where you were CEO, and you sold Hu to Mondelez, the world’s largest snacking company.

Nat: And now you have this umbrella company, HumanCo.

Nat: What are your hopes and dreams, both personally and professionally, for the future?

Jason: HumanCo is the culmination of everything I’ve done for 22 years. I retired from the hedge fund industry after 20 years because I felt like I had learned what I could learn, and the experience with Hu showed me how much I love building things that actually help people. HumanCo is a holding company, or you could think of it as a small conglomerate of brands in different categories that all have the same philosophy and ethos around health, wellness, and sustainability. What we did with Hu was in chocolate, cookies, and crackers.

What we’re doing with Snow Days is

Jason: We’re trying to build HumanCo to be a household name, where we will become a one-stop shop for people who want to figure out, “How do I eat a healthy version of x?” And personally, [the goal is] really living a balanced life. I think I was out of balance for 20-plus years. I think part of the reason I got so sick was because of that lack of balance. And [the goal is] really just trying to be my best self and focusing on the areas that I think bring me positive energy.

“Food, in my opinion, is supposed to bring joy and is supposed to be a part of rituals with your family, for celebration, for holidays.” loomischaffee.org

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Architectural illustration of the vista to the Meadows from Grubbs Quadrangle that would be gained by reconfiguring Flagg and Ammidon halls.

Illustration: RAMSA

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

Picture This:

A

CAMPUS VISION

FOR THE

NEXT DECADE

BY Becky Purdy

I

magine a vista onto the Meadows from Grubbs Quadrangle, offering an expansive view of the playing fields and the tree-lined banks of the Connecticut River beyond. Picture an assembly hall dedicated to all-school meetings and convocations, with capacity for the entire school in tiered seats and a wide balcony. Envision a 45,000-square-foot field house on the western edge of campus, providing indoor training and competition space next door to an expanded ice rink, all connected by a raised boardwalk that overlooks the woods and wetlands on one side and hockey games on the other. Imagine a quadrangle that embodies the liberal arts, bordered by buildings for theater, dance, music, visual arts, English, math, and science and further enlivened with an outdoor performance space and a terraced café.

These ideas are among the potential projects envisioned in a new campus master plan for Loomis Chaffee.

The plan, created earlier this year and presented to the Board of Trustees over the summer, imagines the campus a decade from now and signals the school’s needs and aesthetic aspirations for the years to come.

Not every aspect of a campus master plan, often referred to as a facilities master plan, comes to fruition, but such a plan guides a school in making long-term

decisions and setting priorities, says Associate Head of School for External Relations Nat Follansbee, who helped steer the master plan process along with Director of the Physical Plant Lance Hall. Aspirational by definition, a master plan presents an intriguing view of a school’s future, like a parent who imagines what their toddler will be like as a pre-teen, or an arborist who pictures a deep forest of trees where saplings now sway.

Past Loomis Chaffee master plans envisioned the expansion of the school’s boarding community, with construction of several new dormitories and the renovation of the Island’s century-old residence halls. They recognized the creativity that springs from spaces designed for the school’s visual and performing arts programs, leading to construction of the Richmond Art Center, the Hubbard Music Center, and, most recently, the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Center for Theater and Dance. Previous master plans have identified changes in academic settings, shifts in faculty housing needs, scarcity of community spaces, and opportunities for bringing the outdoors inside and vice versa. Perhaps most importantly, master plans see the campus as a whole and imagine how its many parts can work together, how, for instance, a collection of adjacent buildings can be transformed into a welcoming quadrangle, where people

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pause and gather, instead of just passing through.

The school’s last master plan was created in 2010–11 and has run its course after 10 years. Many of the changes it envisioned, such as the construction of a campus center and addition of new dormitories, have been completed. Other ideas in that plan, such as the relocation of the dining hall and Norris Ely Orchard Theater, were ultimately reimagined.

The time had come for a new master plan, and in late 2020, the Board of Trustees interviewed firms and awarded the project to Robert A.M. Stern Architects, or RAMSA. The New York City-based firm already was familiar with the Loomis Chaffee campus and has broad experience working with colleges, universities, and independent schools. Under the direction of architects Caitlin Getman and Kevin Smith, the firm designed the new Nichols Center for Theater and Dance that is now nearing completion on campus. Among its many other projects for educational institutions, RAMSA designed a music and performing arts center and an environment-focused learning and living center for Choate Rosemary Hall, dormitories at Taft and Hotchkiss, and a library at St. Paul’s School, and the firm has created master plans for campuses, urban centers, and residential communities around the world.

RAMSA worked on Loomis’ new master plan under the direction of the Master Plan Task Force, co-chaired by Trustees Katherine Ballard and Doug Lyons ’82.

Subcommittees made up of Trustees, administrators, and faculty focused on landscape and aesthetics, athletics, academic and student services, residential life, and sustainability.

The architects, in consultation with the task force, set five key goals, outlined in the master plan: To build upon the “legacy” of the existing campus; To encourage community and celebrate diversity through the physical setting; To attract the best students and faculty;

To help Loomis Chaffee become a leader in sustainability by taking advantage of the school’s location; And to create a plan that can guide both “broad strategic moves and small tactical interventions.”

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With these goals as guidance and before suggesting changes and enhancements to the campus, the planners took stock of the existing campus, including its setting within the town of Windsor, its dormitories, its academic buildings, its space for welcoming prospective students, its office space, its communal spaces and services, its athletics facilities, its infrastructure, its parking, and its formal and natural landscapes.

The subcommittees and architects identified the school’s current facility needs and projected near-term and long-term needs, and then the planners suggested solutions, considered feedback from campus community members, and ultimately created a comprehensive plan for meeting the school’s needs.

Physical changes to the campus that are recommended by the plan include: A large extension of the Clark Center for Science & Mathematics to wrap around the west side of Ratté Quadrangle and expand the number of laboratories as enrollment in science courses continues to grow; Construction of a free-standing assembly hall that would seat the entire school for allschool meetings, convocations, and large events such as Class Night; Expansion of Sellers Hall to accommodate growth in the number of visitors and applicants to the school and the commensurate growth of the Office of Admission; Additions to Taylor, Warham, Ammidon, and Flagg residential halls; Enlargement of the swimming pool to an eight-lane facility; Construction of a field house for indoor sports training; Expansion of the hockey rink; Replacement of the bleachers on Pratt Field with athletic stands and a press box; Removal of the colonnades on the fronts of Kravis and Carter dormitories; Completion of the Ratté Quadrangle; And completion of the pedestrian pathway, known as “the Way,” through campus.

In addition to these recommendations, the plan anticipates renovation of a num-

ber of other buildings to update infrastructure and meet the changing needs of academic and community programs.

With an eye toward the effects of climate change and the school’s proximity to the Connecticut and Farmington rivers, the master plan also recommends changes to the floodplain areas that give the campus its “Island” nickname. The landscaping, drainage, and water collection proposals would lessen the effects of flooding and stormwater flow, which scientists predict will increase in severity in the coming years.

In all, creation of the new campus master plan took about seven months. When RAMSA had completed the plan and the task force had accepted it, the task force proposed priorities to Head of School Sheila Culbert, who reviewed the plan and priorities and presented them to the Board of Trustees in July.

The school already has moved forward

with several of the projects discussed in the master plan. Work on Palmer Hall to renovate student rooms, expand the dorm’s capacity, enhance the faculty apartments, and improve and modernize the mechanical systems entered its initial phase in December as contractors began working on improvements to the heating, plumbing, and safety systems in the 100-yearold dormitory. The project is scheduled for completion before the fall of 2022.

Dugouts for the girls softball diamond, Audrey Field, were built over the summer and fall, and the remaining field work is slated for completion in time for the spring season.

Relandscaping of the Ratté Quadrangle also is under way as the Nichols Center construction nears completion in that quad. The master plan includes a comprehensive vision of this southernmost section of the campus as a unified space, on par with the Island’s two other main

quads, the original Grubbs Quadrangle, with its Georgian architecture modeled after Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of an “academical village,” and the newer Rockefeller Quadrangle, which has become a popular outdoor gathering place after construction of the adjacent Scanlan Campus Center, completed in 2018.

Among all the inspiring ideas in the master plan, Nat says he is most excited about the plans for Ratté Quad, which would complete a series of inviting and well-defined community spaces on the campus, connected by the Way. Nat notes that he is especially hopeful that the quad’s namesake, former Headmaster John Ratté, might well see its completion in his lifetime.

The vision for Ratté Quad includes a large extension of the Clark Center with an entrance — or “front door,” as the planners describe it — facing into this quad.

The Clark project would take place in two

Artist impression of the imagined expansion of the Clark Center for Science & Mathematics, opening into the Ratté Quadrangle. A cafe and terrace would form the building’s southeast facade. Illustration: RAMSA

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parts, according to Lance. The first, the addition of eight math and science classrooms and a café with indoor and outdoor seating, would define the northern side of the quad, where the school’s greenhouse currently is located. (A new greenhouse would be created on the roof of Clark.)

The second part of the Clark expansion, construction of four wet labs, would wrap around the quad’s western side toward the Hubbard Music Center. Chaffee Hall, the hub of English instruction on campus, and the Richmond Art Center create the southwestern and southeastern corners of the quad, and the Nichols Center forms the eastern boundary. A raised, central space for outdoor performances, currently under construction, would accentuate the liberal arts flavor of Ratté Quad.

The master plan addresses the potential downsides of creating enclosed quadrangles in a setting as breathtaking as the Island. Much as the campus’s original architects, Murphy & Dana, designed views out from what is now Grubbs Quad, the newest master plan would create vistas into the landscape surrounding the school.

The dance studio in the Nichols Center,

In this illustration, a boardwalk connects an expanded ice rink and a new field house and offers a view of the adjacent woods and wetlands.

Illustration: RAMSA

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

for instance, will feature a wall of glass overlooking the Meadows. In the lower level of the Katharine Brush Library, the master plan recommends replacing the brick exterior walls with glass walls facing the Meadows. The plan also calls for extension of the east-facing terrace outside the Scanlan Center to afford more expansive views of the Cow Pond, the farmland-turned-playing fields, and the tree line along the river. Similarly, the architects conjured the idea of an outdoor space and boardwalk connecting the rink and the field house and overlooking the wetlands and natural landscape to the south.

In Grubbs Quad, the master plan recommends regaining a vista into the Meadows with the major reconfiguration of Ammidon and Flagg halls. The lounge that connects the two existing dorms would be eliminated, opening a view to the east. The plans imagine green space and a wide cascade of stairs leading to the Loop Road and the Meadows beyond. While realization of this full vision is probably some time off in the future, Lance says, the school in the nearer-term

is considering making improvements to Flagg and Ammidon by incorporating the dorm-head residences, which are currently detached houses, into these dorms.

Other ambitious visions that aren’t likely to come to fruition in the near future include flood control and wetlands mitigation measures, creation of a permanent outdoor classroom along the Farmington River, and revival of the school’s boat launch on the Farmington. It’s not that school leaders dislike these ideas, Nat and Lance note, but the practicality, priority, and expense of the projects must be weighed.

Envisioning the Island’s future and bringing that vision to fruition are different tasks, of course. One relies on imagination, a whole-campus perspective, and a clear set of aspirations. The other depends on practicalities, priorities, and funding, and it is this next set of guiding factors that Loomis Chaffee will turn to as the school determines which plans remain on paper and which become bricks and mortar in the decade ahead.

The current view into Ratté Quadrangle from the south and a vision for the entrance as a campus gateway.

The Richmond Art Center courtyard today and as conceptualized with new landscaping.

The east side of the Scanlan Campus Center today and a proposed extension of the terrace.

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O bject Le sson

Evelyn Longman’s Tender Allegory of the Toll of War

By Karen Parsons

Loomis Chaffee History Teacher & School Archivist

Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives Sculptor Evelyn Longman planned to send the plaster cast of her sculpture Victory of Mercy to the Modern Art Foundry in Queens, New York, over the summer of 1947. There the design would be fabricated into a five-ton bronze monument in larger-than-life scale. Her husband, Loomis Headmaster Nathaniel Batchelder, later explained in a letter to the foundry that the cast’s arrival would be delayed: “Important people are coming to see it.”

Victory of Mercy, Loomis Chaffee’s war memorial, is arguably one of the most historically significant objects on the school’s campus. It derives

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the deepest, most important meanings from its location. Placed on the east side of its sculptor’s studio, Chiselhurst-on-Farmington (now called Longman Hall), where Evelyn Longman worked for 27 years of her highly acclaimed career, it is also in view of the home she shared with her husband and of Founders Hall, where every man the monument honors crossed the threshold as a Loomis student or teacher. The object’s design intersects with national debates surrounding war memorials and, surprisingly, resided from 1923 to 1945 as a two-foot model on a tabletop in Chiselhurst before finally being cast in large scale.

Business correspondence, embedded with deep

O bject Le sson

connections to the history of the school, reveal an unexpected backstory about the object that Longman once described as “the biggest thing in feeling I have ever done.”

A mid-1920s photograph of Longman working in her studio on the Spanish American War Memorial for Hartford’s Bushnell Park reveals the small-scale model tucked against the studio’s west wall. Despite being out of the way, visitors were drawn to it. In 1924, Mr. B. wrote to Col. Arthur Woods and referred to his Harvard classmate’s earlier studio visit and admiration for the “two figure group of the winged angel giving comfort to the fallen man.” Mr. B. lobbied Woods and other planners of Harvard’s World War I monument, pitching this design as “an ideal memorial…represent[ing] the purpose with which many of us went into the war, and … free from … conventional and hackneyed symbols of many war memorials.” This was the first of nine unsuccessful campaigns during the interwar period to sell the allegorical design and respond to inquiries about “that beautiful Angel stooping over a sick man” from monument committees in Chicago, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia, New York, and Los Angeles and private clients in New Jersey and New York. Longman tried to no avail to shift the design’s meaning away from war; in 1940 she noted its suitability to a client looking to “acquir[e] a sculpture which would embody the virtues of kindness, sympathy, and service.”

Batchelder lamented in 1932, “many have loved it,” but no plans for fabricating it in heroic scale came to fruition by the end of 1941 and America’s entrance into World War II. While Longman described her career as having had unusually good success with art commission competitions and she sometimes turned away private requests because she was too busy, this story reveals how the business side of making art could be affected by global events, politics, and shifting cultural values.

In stark contrast to Longman’s allegorical design stood the popular and less expensive mass-produced “Doughboy” statues. Depicting an American soldier wearing a typical World War I infantry uniform and carrying a bayonetted rifle, these statues were dedicated in towns and cities across the nation during the 1920s and 1930s, the same decades that Longman displayed the model for Victory of Mercy in Chiselhurst. While some favored this realistic depiction of a soldier figure, others suggested — controversially — that the

“war to end all wars” ought to be memorialized with more realism surrounding the consequences of war. Anna Coleman Ladd and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney produced such monuments for Beverly Farms and Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts, and Washington Heights, New York, in the early 1920s. Longman’s two-figure group shares design elements with Ladd’s and Whitney’s monuments as well as ideas about service and compassion articulated by these sculptures and their artists. Ladd, in her 1924 Memorial Day Address given at Beverly Farms, stated, “The victors can sit back no longer: They are bound by that sacrifice of boys to live up to their ideal of a new world, to make good their hopes, to remember.” In 1922, The New York Tribune described the subject of Whitney’s monument as “the common heroism and humanity of the American warrior” — a “helmeted doughboy [bending] to receive the last words of the dying sailor.”

In 1945, the Loomis Trustees accepted Longman’s offer of her “labor of love,” the war memorial she titled Victory of Mercy, honoring the school’s alumni and faculty who had fought in World Wars I and II and a thinly veiled tribute to her husband’s almost four-decade service to the boys of the school. Batchelder’s portrait appears as the face of the angel. Longman requested no compensation for her three years of work enlarging, revising, and preparing the piece for casting. The monument’s dedication took place on June 11, 1948. Tom DePatie ’48, president of the senior class that year; Glover Howe ’48, president of the Student Council; and George Christian ’49, incoming president of the Student Council, unveiled the sculpture during Commencement weekend.

And the visitor from the summer before? Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, in her role as chairperson of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights, expressed interest in viewing Victory of Mercy and perhaps acquiring a copy for the U.N. site in New York City. While Roosevelt was forced to cancel plans to see the plaster cast at Chiselhurst, it’s tempting to imagine she shared Longman’s confidence in this sculpture to inspire compassionate leadership and service.

Longman had earlier told The Log that viewers could ascribe their own meanings to the memorial but suggested one possibility could be that the allegorical figures depicted the newly formed United Nations and its future work in the post-war world.

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Photo: Robert Photo: Jessica Benson Ravenelle

De v e l opme n t Ne w s

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

De v el opment Ne w s

Peter Hsing FUND Classmates and friends Peter Hsing ’86 and Phil Rudnicki ’86

Shortly after learning the devastating news that Peter Hsing ’86 had passed away from cardiac arrest on July 17, 2020, Phil Rudnicki ’86 contacted Loomis Chaffee on behalf of several of Peter’s friends. Their aim was to celebrate Peter’s life through a special fundraising effort. At the time, neither Phil nor his classmates knew what form such an endeavor might take; they simply knew that they wanted to do something in conjunction with their upcoming 35th Reunion to pay tribute to Peter, the lives he touched, and his deep affection for Loomis Chaffee.

According to Scott Lahman ’86, “We were determined to honor his legacy in a meaningful way.”

In the fall of 2020, a core group of Peter’s friends and the Loomis Chaffee Alumni/Development Office began to collaborate. Through Zoom meetings, which sometimes overlapped with their class reunion meetings, the group strategized as to how they might support the school while honoring Peter.

Ultimately, the group gravitated toward an opportunity that aligned with Peter’s professional journey as a passionate entrepreneur, investor, and venture capitalist.

“Pete was involved in everything at Loomis,” Phil notes. “He was friends with everyone and fit in with every group, or so it seemed. He was tireless and he had an endless curiosity. He was also a real leader who thrived on creating and doing things his own way.

It came as no surprise that he became an entrepreneur.”

As such, the group endeavored to establish a fund to support the school’s Pearse Hub for Innovation (PHI). Launched in the fall of 2018, this signature Loomis Chaffee program champions innovation, collaboration, project-based learning, design thinking, technology, and entrepreneurship. As Director of Innovation Scott MacClintic ’82 explains, the purpose of the PHI is to encourage students to “make things and make a difference.”

After sharing this concept with a wider group of classmates, the effort to establish the first-ever endowed fund to support the PHI, the Peter Hsing ’86 Fund for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, began. This fund will provide support for classes, programs, and initiatives offered in the PHI that foster collaboration, technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

“Pete loved taking risks,” classmate Joe Michaels recalls. “He loved building things. He loved technology and things that were new. He was moved by innovation and invention. Furthermore, he loved to help and cultivate the talents and creativity of students and those just starting out in their careers. It’s wonderful to think that the Peter Hsing ’86 Fund for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will help students like him find similar passions.”

Phil’s son, Caleb Rudnicki ’15, didn’t have the opportunity to work in the

PHI, having graduated a few years before its creation. The essential elements that make up the PHI, however — the spirit of problem-solving, adapting, and engaging with technology — already existed at Loomis, influencing how Caleb learned and ultimately inspiring his career path. Phil notes, “Beyond learning from books, you need to problem-solve and think independently, and I believe the PHI nurtures such attributes in students.”

Relatedly, Joe suggests that “the more you provide the tools for Loomis Chaffee students to experiment, the more you’re going to see great outcomes with young adults going out into the world doing big things.”

Furthermore, Scott imagines what the PHI would have meant to Peter as a student, had it existed in 1986. “I’d like to believe that, had it been around in our day, Pete would have recognized many of his own interests in the PHI; he would have likely been a very familiar face in and around its halls,” Scott says.

Thanks to the generosity of Peter’s classmates, friends, and colleagues, $100,000 has been raised for the Peter Hsing ’86 Fund for Innovation and Entrepreneurship so far. It is uplifting to know that Peter’s legacy at Loomis Chaffee will live on in perpetuity through this special fund that emerged organically out of the love and admiration of those in our community who knew him best.

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CHAFFEE BOOK CLUB

David Kayiatos and Kari Diamond Kayiatos ’97 with their children, Thomas and Carter “My time as a Loomis Chaffee student was transformative in so many ways: It opened my eyes to what was possible, pushed me to consider new ideas and perspectives, and encouraged me to try things I never would have tried. Returning to LC to work in the Development Office opened my eyes once again to the true impact and importance of financial support by our generous alumni, parents, and friends. In particular, I saw how powerful planned gifts are and how easy they are for the donor to set up.

“I am proud to include the school in my estate plans and encourage anyone who is interested in making a difference for Loomis Chaffee to consider it as well. Just as the Loomis family did, a gift to Loomis Chaffee is an investment in the best selves and common good of future generations.”

— Kari Diamond Kayiatos ’97

For more information about planned gifts and the John Metcalf Taylor Society, please contact Associate Director of Development Heidi E.V. McCann ’93, P ’23, ’25 at 860.687.6273 or heidi_mccann@loomis.org. www.loomischaffee.giftplans.org

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

Attendees included Betsy Pelgrift Boak ’69, Mary Braman Buchan ’61, Franci Vinal Farnsworth ’69, Sarah Fogg ’75, Melissa Reese Jones ’61, Sharon Leyhow ’69, Betsy Mallory MacDermid ’66, Priscilla Ransom Marks ’66, Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, Dorothy Smith Pam ’57, Alice Schaffer Smith ’57, Brenda Roulhac Stovall ’70, Jane Torrey ’67, and Lynn Hayden Wadhams ’61.

The fall gathering of the Chaffee Book Club, the second event of the book club’s 20th anniversary year, was conducted virtually on November 17, 2021. Head of School Sheila Culbert led a thought-provoking and interesting discussion of Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian novel Klara and the Sun. It was a wonderful Zoom event with attendees participating from near and far.

STAY IN TOUCH CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

facebook-square twitter-square linkedin

Page name: Loomis Chaffee Alumni Tweet to and follow @LC_AlumniNet Go to LinkedIn and search for “Loomis Chaffee alumni.”

De v el opment Ne w s

Introducing our new chairs of the

Annual Fund Leading and supporting fundraising efforts, the chairs of the Annual Fund will partner with the Alumni/Development team to assist with volunteer recruitment and serve as spokespeople for Annual Fund initiatives. They look forward to sharing their passion for the school with you and hope that you will join them with your continued support.

Jane Mackay Howe ’49

John G. Gantz Jr. ’66

Marc A. Rubenstein ’82

Nitin K. Sacheti ’01

To learn more about being a class agent, email deidre_swords@loomis.org or visit www.loomischaffee.org/class-agents.

Betty Stolpen Weiner ’04

Loomis Chaffee Class Notes

GO SOCIAL

We have changed our approach to helping you share your news with your classmates. Alumni news notes now appear exclusively on Loomis Chaffee alumni social media accounts, which can be viewed publicly. These include the Loomis Chaffee Class Notes Instagram account and the Loomis Chaffee Alumni Facebook page. Follow us and submit your news today!

@LCCLASSNOTES loomischaffee.org

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

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th

SAVE THE DATE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24

For 10 years, the Loomis Chaffee community has come together to make an impact on the lives of our students and faculty by participating in our Philanthropy Day challenges.

Please join alumni, parents, and friends in celebrating the 10th annual Philanthropy Day as we strive to reach 1,250 donors in 24 hours!

To volunteer for Philanthropy Day, please contact Director of the Annual Fund Deidre Swords at deidre_swords@loomis.org. www.loomischaffee.org/giving

JOIN LC Connect

Loomis Chaffee’s alumni engagement platform LC Connect is an online community and resource for alumni that makes it easier than ever for Pelicans to stay connected to each other and with the school.

LC Connect is an opt-in networking platform, powered by Graduway, that enables alumni to: Find and re-engage with fellow alumni through the online directory and groups Expand professional connections through mentorship opportunities and a job board Stay up to date with Loomis Chaffee news and activities through an alumni events board and the school’s social media channels Have on-the-go access through the LC Connect mobile app

Register at www.loomischaffeealumni.org

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Photo: Cassandra Hamer

Obit ua r ies

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1940 David Bigelow Fowler, on October 3, 2021, surrounded by his son and family. A four-year student from Norwood, Mass., David was involved in the Radio Club and the Ping Pong Club, and was a member of the Dining Committee. He was active in football, hockey, and baseball. David attended Brown University before serving as a P-51 Mustang pilot in the Eighth Air Force in Debden, England, during World War II. He was awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

According to his obituary, these medals recognized his “extraordinary achievement in aerial flight over enemy occupied Continental Europe” and the “skillful and zealous manner” in which he piloted his plane. Upon returning from the war, David completed a bachelor’s degree at the Boston University School of Management.

David spent most of his working life in the insurance business, primarily with the Commercial Union Insurance Company of Boston, Mass. During retirement, David supported the Connecticut Aeronautical Society doing volunteer work at the New England Air Museum at Bradley Field, Conn., and served as an instructor with the Saybrook Power Squadron, and Literacy Volunteers of Westbrook, Connecticut. He was also a volunteer driver for the Estuary Council’s Meals on Wheels program in the Connecticut shoreline area for many years. Preceded in death by his first wife, Cynthia E. Fowler; his second wife, Deborah D. Fowler; and his brother, Theodore Fowler, David was survived by his two sons, John and Steven; a daughter-in-law, Hong D. Fowler; and a granddaughter, junior Rebecca Fowler.

1946 Alfred G. Redfield, on July 24, 2019, in Alameda, Calif. A four-

year student from Woods Hole, Mass., Al was involved in the Chess, Radio, Ski, Nautical, and Jazz clubs. He served as the president and chief electrician of the Stagehands Union, a member of the Senior Advisory Committee, and a member of the Commencement Committee, among others.

Al was the captain of the soccer team and was active in track. Al was also a three-year Honor Roll student and received the Barss Prize at Commencement. After graduation, Al attended Harvard University and earned a master’s degree and doctorate in physics from the University of Illinois.

After returning to Harvard for postdoctoral work, he established himself as a research scientist, publishing several papers and articles in magazines and journals.

His field of interest was in nuclear magnetic resonance, to which he brought many pioneering developments as a researcher and teacher at Columbia University; the University of California, Berkeley; and Brandeis University.

Al was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received numerous other awards and recognitions for his work, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the Max Delbruck Prize from the American Physical Society. As his friend and colleague of many years Tom Pochapsky of Brandeis University wrote, “His unassuming nature belied his formidable intelligence. Ideas that he tossed off almost as an aside became the basis of complete careers for others.” Preceded in death by his wife, Sarah Cossum Redfield, Al was survived by his children, Samuel, Wendy, and Rebecca, and Rebecca’s spouse; and a grandson.

1951 Leon Roy Case II, on December 10, 2020. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Leon was involved in the Radio Club and the Chess Club. He was active in football, tennis, basketball,

and baseball. He graduated with a degree in mathematics from Wesleyan University and began his career programming early computers for the U.S. Army, for which he served at the Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Ala. For the next 35 years, Leon continued creating efficient and effective data systems for General Electric, Travelers, and Aetna. Committed to sharing his computer skills, he also served as a graduate school teacher and a volunteer in local schools. Leon had a love of music, serving as a member of the choir at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cromwell, Conn., and performing in the traveling musical The Last Supper for many years. Preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn R. (Peterson) Case, Leon was survived by his sister, Virginia Case Parkin ’57; his son Douglas C. Case and his spouse; two grandchildren; and many nieces and their families. A private interment was held in the Swedish Cemetery in Portland, Conn.

J. Allan Hobson, on July 7, 2021, at his home in East Burke, Vt. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Allan was involved in many different clubs and activities during his time on the Island, including the Ski Club, Student Council, Senior Entertainment Committee, Scholarship Committee, and Chess Club. He was secretary-treasurer of the Press Club, sports editor and a member of the Editorial Board of The Log, a member of the Editorial Board of Loomiscellany, a medical aide, and an exchange student with the International Schoolboy Fellowship of 1951–52. He was active in sports, playing football, basketball, and baseball. A well-rounded student, Allan also was a member of the cast of both Saint Joan and Ten Little Indians, was a three-year Honor Roll student, and received a Book Prize at Commencement.

After spending a year abroad, Allan attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where he

earned an undergraduate degree in English; and Harvard Medical School, where he received his medical degree in 1959. After medical school, Allan interned at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and served in the Public Health Service of the National Institutes of Health. According to his obituary in The New York Times, “Over a career that spanned more than four decades, his … research and that of others, showed that sleep is crucial to normal cognitive and emotional function, including learning and memory. … In more than 20 books … he popularized his research and that of others, including the findings that sleep begins in utero and is essential for tissue growth and repair throughout life. ... His work became foundational for many other sleep researchers. ... He was influenced

by Michel Jouvet, a neurophysiologist who discovered the region of the brain that controls rapid eye movement and who helped steer Dr. Hobson to study sleep and dreams. ... One of his most influential contributions to dream research came in 1977 when Dr. Hobson and a colleague, Robert McCarley, produced a cellular and mathematical model that they believed showed how dreams occur.” Apart from his research, he was passionate about his farm in Vermont, where he converted part of his barn into a sleep study classroom and museum. Allan married Joan Harlowe in 1956; they divorced in 1992. He married Rosalia Silvestri in the mid-1990s, and she survives him along with his children, Julia Hobson Haggerty, Andrew Hobson, Matthew Hobson, Christopher Hobson, and Ian Hobson, and their spouses; five stepchildren; and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister, Harriet Hobson Mowshowitz ’59.

John D. Voorhies, on September 15, 2021. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., John served as vice president of the Darwin Club loomischaffee.org

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and was involved in the Sophomore Reception Committee, Glee Club, and Scholarship Committee.

He also played football, tennis, baseball, and basketball and was on the Honor Roll all four years.

John earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate in analytical chemistry from Princeton University. For many years, John worked for American Cyanamid Company in Stamford, Conn., as a research chemist and authored several technical publications and patents in the field of electrochemistry. In 1987, John opened a water-testing business, Environmental Analysis Corporation, in New Canaan, Conn., and served as an adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Connecticut, Stamford. John and his wife, Julia, lived in New Canaan for more than 50 years, and he was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan, singing in the choir, serving as a deacon and a Sunday school teacher. He was preceded in death by his sister Alice and his brother, Bob. John is survived by his wife, Julia Henderson Voorhies of Norwalk; his sister Janet Voorhies Abel ’47; several nieces and nephews; several great-nieces and great-nephews; and many dear friends.

Robert Edmond Wilkes, on September 11, 2021. A four-year student from New Canaan, Conn., Robert was involved in Student Council, the Stagehands Union, the Student Endowment Fund, the Bridge Club, the Nautical Club, and the Jazz Club. He also served as a cheerleader and was a member of the Freshman Dance Committee and the Senior Reception Committee. He was active in sports, participating in football, basketball, baseball, and tennis at the school. Robert earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from Williams College before starting his career in Citibank’s financial training program. Soon after, he was called to serve with the U.S.

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Air Force, where he earned the rank of captain. Upon returning from service, he and his wife, Carol Conron Wilkes, settled down in Fairfield, Conn. The majority of Bob’s career was spent at Citibank, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, and First Valley Bank. He retired as president of Summit Bancorp Pennsylvania. While working and in retirement, he served on several executive boards for corporate and nonprofit organizations. Throughout his life, family and sports played a strong role. Preceded in death by his sister, Adrienne Wilkes Monroe, and brother, Arthur Wilkes, Bill was survived by his wife, Carol; their children, Robert Edmond Wilkes, William Blake Wilkes, Howard Parsons Wilkes, and Kimberly Wilkes Tirrell, and their spouses; 13 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A private service was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Vero Beach, Fla.

1952 Diane Emerson, on August 7, 2021. A two-year student from Manchester, Conn., Diane graduated from Willimantic High School after her family moved to Columbia, Conn. Diane attended Rollins College in Florida.

According to her family obituary, she was a woman of many interests, including knitting, quilting, Appalachian crafts, gardening, and contra dancing. Preceded in death by her sister, Noma Emerson Blanuvelt ’48, Diane was survived by her children, Kathleen Emerson-Dell, Sharon Monosmith, and Nora Dell, and their spouses; and two great-grandchildren.

William Lovett Gamble, on August 21, 2021. A four-year student from Bristol, Conn., Bill was involved in the Student Endowment Fund, Sophomore Reception Committee, Student Council, and Athletic Council. He also served

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

as the chairman of the Sports Committee and earned varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball. Bill attended Colgate University before graduating from Rhode Island School of Design.

He was a co-founder of an industrial design firm that later transitioned to a graphic design firm, Gamble and Bradshaw Design in Farmington, Conn. Bill’s firm was known for award-winning and state-of-the-art designs, including parts of the spacesuits worn by astronauts who landed on the moon.

His favorite pastimes included fishing, kayaking, golf, paddle tennis, and skiing in the mountains of New England. Bill enjoyed traveling with his wife, Elizabeth Richardson Gamble, with whom he took adventure trips to Africa, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, and many countries in Europe. Bill was a happy person with a great sense of humor who loved reaching out to people and who enjoyed local theater, musical events, and sharing the home that he loved with friends and family. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his four daughters, Jaye Donaldson, Dana Rebhun, Kate Lassiter, and Amy Best, and their spouses; his three stepsons, Michael Richardson, Todd Richardson, and Steven Richardson, and their spouses; 13 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many extended family members. A memorial celebration of Bill’s life was held at the Unitarian Church in Barnstable, Mass.

Pierre-Henri Laurent, on November 14, 2021. A two-year student from New Rochelle, N.Y., Pierre was involved in the Jazz Club and the Ludlow Club. He served on the Student Endowment Committee, the Maher House Committee, the Library Committee, the Dormitory Committee, the Senior Reception Committee, the Study Hall Committee, the Sports Committee, and the Elec-

tion Committee. He was active in football, basketball, and track.

Pierre attended Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., before serving in the U.S. Air Force in an intelligence capacity. In 1958, he married Virginia Brayton and entered Boston University, where he later earned both his master’s degree and doctorate in modern European history. Embarking on a career in academia, Pierre taught at several colleges and universities, including Sweet Briar College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Tulane University, before landing at Tufts University, where he stayed for the next 33 years.

Among his many roles at Tufts, Pierre served as the History Department chair and director of the International Relations programs, authored numerous articles and essays in more than two dozen books, and was the editor and co-editor of four books on European history. He was the recipient of two Fulbright awards, a Paul-Henri Spaak Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities award, and a NATO Fellowship in the Humanities. His teaching centered on 19th- and 20th-century European diplomatic, political, and economic history, and much of his scholarship was on the European Union Studies Association. Upon retirement, he served on the Town of Wellesley Historical Society in Wellesley, Mass., and as a volunteer for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd in Newton, Mass., among other organizations. Pierre remained connected to Loomis Chaffee as a member of the Common Good Society and as a longtime class agent and reunion volunteer.

Preceded in death by his infant daughter, Amy Ruth, Pierre was survived by Virginia, his beloved wife of 63 years; his children Paul, Bradford, Nicole, and Alexa and their spouses; his grandchildren; his sister, Marie-Jeanne Aguiar; and numerous extended family members and friends. A memorial service was to be held at a later date.

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1953 Chester William Cooke, on July 7, 2021. A one-year student from Wallingford, Conn., Chester was a member of the School Development Committee, Maher House Committee, Photography Club, Automobile Club, and the Chapel and Assembly Committee. He graduated from Bowdoin College before becoming an officer of the New Haven Savings Bank and an appraisal consultant for the Connecticut Savings Bank, retiring in 1992. Chester had a passion for music, architecture, and design and was an avid art collector and frequent traveler to England. He was also active with the Bowdoin College Alumni Association, serving as a class agent for six years and as a member of Bowdoin’s Planned Giving Committee. He was survived by several cousins.

1957 Robert Arnott Berger, on September 29, 2021. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Bob was involved in the Glee Club, Loomistakes, Student Council, Scholarship Committee, and two theater productions. He served as the managing editor of The Log and a medical aide, and he was a member of the basketball, track, tennis, and football teams.

He was a Cum Laude graduate and a Merit Scholarship Finalist.

Bob attended Wesleyan University and served in Army Intelligence before beginning a long and distinguished career in journalism, serving as the deputy op-ed editor at The Washington Star for many years. When that newspaper shut down, Bob moved to The Los Angeles Times to take on the role of editor of the op-ed page and held that post for more than 25 years.

He later was a lecturer and writing coach at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism. Bob was survived by his wife, Deborah Goffa Berger;

his son, Luke Berger; and his “unofficial” stepson, Michael Taylor, and Michael’s sister, Leigh Taylor.

1958 Theodore F. Rochow, on June 26, 2020. A two-year student from Darien, Conn., Ted was involved in the Orchestra and the Senior Scholarship Committee, and he served as the chairman of proofreading for The Log. He was active in tennis and on the rifle team. Ted earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree and doctorate at Duke University in Durham, N.C., before beginning his career as an assistant professor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Penn. Ted later moved to Florida and served as a biologist/ environmental scientist at Southwest Florida Water Management District in Brooksville, Fla., until he retired. Ted was survived by his wife, Beverly A. Rochow, and numerous family and friends.

1961 David Douglas Kerman, on November 17, 2019. A two-year student from Daytona Beach, Fla., Dave was involved in the Sailing Club, Darwin Club, Chess Club, Library Committee, and Political Debating Club, and he served as a medical aide. He was active in wrestling, lacrosse, and soccer, and he captained Allyn junior football.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Duke University, Dave served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching school in eastern Turkey, where he met his future wife, Jura Strimaitis. Dave earned a law degree from Syracuse University School of Law in 1970 and began his work in legal services in Syracuse, New York, and Lynn, Mass. In 1990, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis appointed Dave as a judge in the newly created Northeast Housing Court in Lawrence, Mass., where

he served until his passing. His favorite pastimes included sailing and Argentine tango. He was an avid student of Argentine tango’s complex and rich instrumentation, originality, culture, and historic roots. Dave was survived by his wife, Jura; his brothers Jeffry A. Kerman ’64 and Michael Kerman; his nephew and namesake David Whitcomb Kerman; and eight additional nephews and nieces.

His brother Stephen C. Kerman ’67 passed away in April 2020.

A public memorial service at the Northeast Housing Court in Salem, Mass., was held in May 2020.

His name will be added to a family memorial bench in the Duke University Gardens in Durham, N.C., beside the names of his parents.

Middletown, N.J., Bob was involved in the Library Committee and the Dining Hall Committee, and he was a member of the 5:10 Club. He was also a member of the football and tennis teams. Bob attended Syracuse University and New York University, earning a master’s of business administration before beginning his career at the Bankers Trust Company. He was a lifelong car and music lover and a collector of modern watches.

He was survived by his wife of 44 years, Joan Kerwin Burgess; his daughters, Thea and Kate, and son-in-law Stu Mair; his sister, Janet O’Brien; his two grandsons; and many extended family members. A celebration of his life was planned for a later date.

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1967

Joan Hartnett Ottaway, on July 25, 2021, in Marin, Calif. Joan was a four-year student from Windsor, Conn. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a master’s degree from San Francisco State University. In her late 30s living in Sausalito, Calif., and working at the University of California, San Francisco, she found her passion for running.

Coached by Steve Ottaway, whom she later married, Joan burst onto the national stage in 1989, when she was named USA Track & Field’s Runner of the Year in the 45–49 age category. She went on to win that prestigious honor in the 50–54 and 55–59 age divisions four more times, breaking numerous road and track American age group records along the way. Preceded in death by her brother, James Hartnett ’52, and sister, Grace Hartnett Leffel ’55, Joan was survived by her husband, Steve.

Neil Conan, on August 10, 2021.

A one-year student from Englewood, N.J., Neil was a longtime National Public Radio (NPR) journalist and host. Instead of enrolling in college, Neil began his five-decade career in broadcasting by convincing one of the nation’s first listener-supported radio stations, WBAI in New York, N.Y., to hire him. He later helped to shape NPR’s newsmagazine, All Things Considered, and was the anchor of Talk of the Nation for 12 years. Receiving many accolades for his work, Neil won the coveted George Foster Peabody Award and was a three-time winner of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for his work at NPR. According to Neil’s obituary in The New York Times, Ted Koppel, the longtime anchor of ABC’s Nightline, said Neil was, “respectful, objective, and superbly grounded.” Scott Simon, the host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, said of Neil, “There are thousands of people whom he interviewed, or from whom he took questions, and millions of listeners who are left with a direct, personal memory of his kindness, intelligence, and eagerness to hear what

1963 Robert Tate Burgess, on July 10, 2021, at his home in Millbrook, N.Y. A one-year student from

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they had to say.” Neil was survived by his wife, the poet and essayist Gretel Ehrlich.

Virginia Norris Exton, on September 29, 2021. A four-year student from Bloomfield, Conn., Vini, as she was known, served as class president during her sophomore, junior, and senior years.

She was a reporter for The Chiel all four years and a member of the Chaffers, Glee Club, Student Affairs Club, Dance Committee, and Chapel Committee. She was the daughter of former faculty members Barbara and Howard “Squirrel” Norris ’28. She remained connected to the school as a member of the Common Good Society and served as a reunion volunteer. Vini attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, before earning a master’s degree in English from Stanford University. She began her career in education at the Lothlorien School in Palo Alto, Calif., and moved on to an instructor’s position at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Colo. Over her years in education, Vini taught at schools in Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah and earned a doctorate in education in English from Utah State University, where she also served as a researcher and professor. Vini earned recognition and praise for her work with students and schools, receiving the Researcher of the Year award, Continuing Education Instructor of the Year, and an Innovative Practices Award all from Utah State University. Vini was a member of the Snake River Cycling Club and loved to compete in races with her teammates. According to her friends, Vini was “passionate about her relationships with people and her relationship with nature” and was “a skillful and beloved teacher, mentor, and athlete, touching the lives of hundreds of students, colleagues, and friends.”

Preceded in death by her parents

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and her younger sister, Emily Norris ’68, Vini was survived by her children Josh and Bailey and their spouses; her four grandchildren; and her youngest sister, Dorothy Norris ’75. Celebrations of Vini’s life are planned for May 2022 in Mesa, Colo.; and the Tetons.

1971 Frank David Richmond, Richmond, on September 9, 2021 at his home in Carmel, Calif. Frank attended Loomis just as his father, Howard Richmond ’35, had before him. After leaving the Island, Frank set his sights on New York University and started his career working in the recording studio at Atlantic Records. Frank continued his career in music, moving to England to head up the London office of TRO Essex, his family’s music publishing company, where he worked with a catalogue that included songs by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and David Bowie, among others.

He returned to the United States with his family in 1992, settling in Rumson, N.J., then left for California, eventually moving to a ranch in Carmel Valley. According to his obituary, Frank had “a strong sense of curiosity and was passionate about a variety of topics, including evolutionary biology, jazz, and baseball.” An animal and nature lover, Frank brought those passions to the operation of a ranch in his later years. Frank was survived by his daughter, Katie; his son, Jeremy; his siblings, Lawrence Richmond ’72, Phill Richmond, Robert Richmond, and Loomis Chaffee Trustee Elizabeth Richmond ’80; his two grandchildren; his former spouse, Danielle Haub-Richmond; and his many nieces and nephews, including Jason Richmond ’99, Spencer Richmond Schulman ’11, Madelynne Richmond ’15, Anita Richmond Schulman ’16.

A private memorial was planned for a later date.

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2022

1982 Conor McTeague, on April 7, 2021. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Conor was an active member of the school community, involved in Student Council and the Curriculum Committee and serving as a peer counselor, Greenhouse boss, and editor of The Loom. He was inducted into the Cum Laude Society, and he received the Ammidon Prize at Commencement. He was predeceased by his mother, former faculty member Marguerite McTeague. He was survived by his brother, Liam McTeague ’79.

Former Faculty

Janet U. Dagenhart, on September 4, 2021. A longtime teacher of oil painting, watercolor, and lithography, Janet had a positive impact on and made lifelong connections with her students on the Island. Born in Haverhill, N.H., Janet was raised in Piermont, N.H., where she helped her father and uncle on the family farm. Moving to Wethersfield, Conn., in ninth grade, she first studied art in high school and, later in life, studied painting techniques under the guidance of Louis Fusari. Janet took a series of courses in art at Wesleyan

University and the University of Connecticut as her expertise in art and quilting continued to evolve over the course of her lifetime. She influenced many students in her art classes both at her home and at Loomis Chaffee, where she taught for 26 years. Janet was a member of many professional and guild associations, including Connecticut Women Artists; the Windsor Pallet and Brush Club, of which she was a founding member; the Greater Hartford Quilt Guild; and the Windsor Quilters Guild. She loved travel and took many trips to Europe, Russia, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and all over the United States with family members and church friends. Janet was preceded in death by her husband, James “Jimmy” C. Dagenhart; her daughter Elizabeth; her son Bryan; her daughter-in-law Melissa; and her sister, Joyce Conroy, and her husband, Robert. Janet was survived by her brother, Douglas H. Underhill, and his wife; her son Dwight and his wife; her daughter-in-law Melissa A. and her daughter, Gia; two grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. A service of remembrance and a celebration of life will be held at the First Church of Windsor, in Windsor, Conn., in the spring.

Marilyn Dirks Loomis, peacefully at her home on September 15, 2021. Marilyn began her long relationship with Loomis Chaffee in 1973 after moving to Connecticut

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with her husband, Aubrey Kingsley Loomis, who had recently retired from the U.S. Navy and became Loomis Chaffee’s longtime chief financial officer. She served in a variety of roles in the Katharine Brush Library, including working in circulation, cataloging, and serving as archivist. While cataloging the school’s record collection, Marilyn learned about the recording artists and could speak about all of the rock music recordings, artists, studios, and producers associated with the collection.

As archivist, she co-authored For Better and Grander Lives, the 75th anniversary celebration of Loomis Chaffee’s history. Marilyn was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, where she attended the Old Trail School. After graduating, she attended Wellesley College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in French, and then moved to New York City, where she worked for AT&T as part of the company’s first “class” of executive training for young women. Never one to shy away from adventures, Marilyn took advantage of the cultural opportunities available in New York, enjoying the theater and diligently reading the Sunday New York Times, which became a lifelong habit. She met Aubrey, a young submarine officer, while

visiting her parents in New London, Conn. They were married on September 22, 1956. In addition to her work at Loomis, Marilyn also was involved in the local Windsor community, serving as president of the Windsor Historical Society from 1994 to 1997 and as a board member of Windsor’s First Town Downtown. She was an active member of the First Church in Windsor, singing in the choir and serving on several church committees, including the Prudential Board. Upon retirement from Loomis Chaffee, Marilyn served as a volunteer at Hartford Hospital, staffing the reception desk in the surgical waiting room.

Marilyn loved to travel, visiting countries all over the world and bringing back pictures and stories of each. Preceded in death by her husband, Aubrey, Marilyn was survived by her children, Loren Loomis Hubbell ’76, Rebecca Loomis ’77, Dirk Loomis ’80, and John Loomis ’83, and their spouses; eight grandchildren and their spouses; and countless friends both near and far. Services will be held at the First Church in Windsor, Conn. in April.

Amy Loesser Roebelen, on July 8, 2021. Born in Queens, N.Y.,

Amy attended Smithtown High School West, earning the honor of commencement speaker at her graduation. She earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., where she began her lifelong love of squash and tennis.

Amy began her career working for TIAA in New York City before moving to Connecticut to work for Phoenix. She earned a master’s degree in computer science from Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute. She raised two children and worked at Poquonock Elementary School teaching first graders how to read. She coached squash on the Island for four years and later coached girls tennis at Windsor High School for 10 years. She was active in the town of Windsor, serving on the board of her synagogue in many roles, volunteering for the Windsor Library Association, and participating in parent-teacher organizations in the school district. Later, Amy and her husband, George Joseph Roebelen III, lived in New York City for two years, and she kept up her love of tennis by playing on the courts in Central Park and working as an usher at the U.S. Open. Amy and George did everything together, including winning mixed doubles tennis tournaments,

visiting art museums all over the world, and driving cross-country to visit friends and children. Amy was survived by her husband, George; her children, Alex Roebelen and Stephanie Bradley, and their spouses; her grandson; her parents, Arlene and Alan Lesser; her brothers Andrew and Adam Lesser; and many other loved ones. A memorial service was held at Carmon Community Funeral Homes in Windsor, Conn., on July 17.

More News The Alumni Office has learned of the passing of Janet Locke Genest ’42 on September 9, 2020; George W. Smith ’42 on April 26, 2020; John Yaeger ’42 on October 28, 2021; Bertil L. Wahlberg ’45 on May 17, 2021; Yuan Feng Chang ’46 on July 28, 2021; Christopher C. Gates ’51 on January 30, 2021; Carter G. Mosher ’52 on August 26, 2021; Robert A. Moreen ’63 on October 30, 2021; Alfred S. Chrzan ’68 on August 20, 2021; and David L. Holmes ’72 on January 1, 2000. More information, as available, will be printed in future editions.

Dexter Dudley Earle ’60 Former Loomis Chaffee Trustee 2004–13

Former Trustee Dexter Dudley Earle ’60 died peacefully on August 30, 2021. Serving as a Trustee for nine years from 2004 until 2013, Dexter remained a fierce advocate for the school throughout his life.

“Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, Dexter was a man you wanted by your side,” Head of School Sheila Culbert reflects. “He was

wise and insightful, kind and loyal, and had an incisive intelligence that cut through to the core of any problem—all of which combined with a warm, soft-spoken, and gentlemanly persona.”

A four-year student from Huntington, N.Y., Dexter lived in Maher House in his first year and Mason Hall for the remaining three.

He quickly immersed himself in the school, loomischaffee.org

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Dexter and Tyler ’09 at Tyler’s Loomis Chaffee Commencement

serving on the Student Council, the Athletic Council, the Student Endowment Fund, and the Chapel Committee. He led the Ludlow Club and represented the school at the Northfield Religious Conference. Dexter excelled as an athlete, participating on the varsity football, hockey, and baseball teams.

After graduating from Loomis, Dexter attended Rutgers University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, and from there he joined the Bankers Trust Company, where he eventually became a senior vice president responsible for pension investments. In 1981 he joined Goldman Sachs & Company, where he eventually co-founded the Equities Derivatives Department and spent 16 years building the business into a global leader. A partner and managing director of the firm, he retired in 1999.

Throughout his career, Dexter served as a mentor to many and was admired for his ability to put everyone from clients to colleagues at ease with his smile, humility, and warmth. In his 50th Reunion reflection about Loomis, he advised current students to “never underestimate the need to be a good listener; it will serve you well in life” — a skill that he exemplified.

Dexter often said that his proudest roles were those of a devoted husband and loving father.

After surviving a battle with cancer in his 50s, he retired to spend more time with his family, happily trading in his suspenders for Hawaiian shirts for the many visits to the family’s home on

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the Big Island.

In retirement, Dexter’s love for his family was matched only by his unwavering commitment to his philanthropic causes.

As a Trustee at Loomis Chaffee, he chaired the Advancement Committee and served on the Profile Task Force “Dexter was a dedicated and thoughtful Trustee who was aspirational for our school,” Sheila says. “He was a very special, one-of-a-kind man.” Adds former Chairman of the Board Christopher K. Norton ’76, “Dexter had a kind way of keeping us all on track. And he was always a proud advocate for our school, both on and off the campus. His kindness, sense of humor, and generosity will be greatly missed.”

In addition to his commitment to Loomis Chaffee, Dexter served on numerous other boards, including at the Atlantic Health System, where he regarded his three years as chair as one of his greatest privileges. Previously he had served as chair of the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center and was a driving force in fundraising campaigns for its Goryeb Children’s Hospital and Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute.

He had also served on the Board of Trustees of the Berkley Carroll School and Far Hills Country Day School.

Dexter is survived by his wife of 41 years, Carol, and his four children, Katie ’08, Tyler ’09, Reid, and Alex.

Dexter and Katie ’08 at her Loomis Chaffee Commencement

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loomischaffee.org

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R ef l ect ions

Kathleen Wiggenhauser ’95, College Guidance

Then & Now For 22 faculty and staff members at Loomis Chaffee this year, going to work each day has a semblance of time travel. Just a few short years (or a few short decades) ago, they were the ones balancing equations in chemistry class, donning Loomis Chaffee jerseys for game day, and hanging out with friends in the SNUG. In the spirit of the more things change, the more they stay the same, here are thenand-now glimpses generously shared by eight alumni faculty and staff.

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Carolyn Jarvis ’06, Health Center

Anna Barresi ’97, Counseling

R ef l ect ions

Chloe Alexander ’12, Admissions

Neil Chaudhary ’05, Science

Seth Beebe ’78, Alumni/Development

Maggie Kennedy ’05, Admissions

Liz Bucceri ’07, Mathematics and Science

The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Functional snow sculptures sprouted up on Grubbs Quadrangle at the beginning of winter term. One group of students constructed a snow couch, complete with pillows and cup holders, for winter lounging. The beginnings of Batchelder Hall’s igloo can be seen in the background.

Photo: Cassandra Hamer

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