TOWER The Masters School
VOLUME 78, NUMBER 1
49 Clinton Avenue Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522
OCTOBER 26, 2021
Editorial As we reunite as a school community and return to campus, let us move forward with a renewed sense of appreciation of all of the opportunities around us.
tower.mastersny.org
A decade later, zero tolerance policy reformed Kira Ratan
A
Editor-in-Chief
fter years of conflict and contention, Masters’ current one-strike policy regarding drug and alcohol abuse will be removed and replaced by a broader policy not limited to automatic academic dismissal. The one-strike policy, also known as the “zero tolerance” substance abuse policy, was first instituted in 2011 under Chris Frost, the head of Upper School from 20012013. Leading up to its implementation, some substance abuse issues had developed on campus, according to current Head of Upper School Peter Newcomb. In the Fall of 2010, a student nearly overdosed in his classroom, on illegal drugs sold to him by an upperclassman. A policy had to be put together quickly, and above all, one that could be enforced. The one-strike policy, as found in the 2017-2018 Upper School Family Handbook, specifically states that, “Any student who uses or is found in possession of alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription drugs not prescribed for his/her own use on campus will be dismissed from school. Any student who sells or makes available to others alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription drugs will be dismissed from school.” Additionally, the policy allowed random searches to be conducted without prior notice if a faculty or staff member had reasonable suspicion, and it outlined Sanctuary, now called Amnesty under the new policy, in order to make the language used in the
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program more all-encompassing. The sanctuary policy states, “Any student concerned about his or her own or someone else’s use of drugs or alcohol may receive help without fear of disciplinary response. Sanctuary is a non-disciplinary response to situations in which student safety is compromised.” The health center and counseling office, who work closely with the policy, specifically those in Sanctuary, declined to comment, as they said they, “have not been informed of any of the changes” to their roles within the program. Newcomb explained that the administration is always looking to revisit policies and procedures and reevaluate what works for the community. He said that administrators decided this shift in their substance abuse policy “felt more in line with the School’s mission and values and approach to learning happening best within a supportive environment.” “We didn’t think it felt right to be cutting people off from a community as they struggle with substance abuse,” he said. The new policy that has been put in place this year, according to the 2021-2022 Upper School Family Handbook, states that, “Any student who violates this policy while on campus, at a school-sponsored event, or on a school-sponsored trip will be subject to disciplinary action from The Masters School up to and including dismissal. Repeated violations of this policy will result in a separation from The School.” Dean of Students Jeff Carnevale noted that the several Family Handbook policies
We didn’t think it felt right to be cutting people off from a community as they struggle with substance abuse.”
- Peter Newcomb, Head of Upper School
have been changed significantly within the past three years, with the goal of creating “student-centered” guidelines for the community, including the sexual misconduct policy, the anti-racism policy and, now, the substance abuse policy. “If our goal is to help students, and we recognize that this is a time of learning, the zero tolerance policy didn’t align with that,” Carnevale said. Questions about the one-strike policy and its alignment with Masters’ mission had gained traction in recent years. Several incidents which occurred over a year-long period prompted students to begin speaking up about their qualms. Masters alumna Nora Fellas ‘20 was an active voice in the Masters community against the one-strike policy throughout her senior year. She explained that in earlier years, she hadn’t really been aware of the policy and didn’t have strong feelings one way or another. So, when several students were dismissed for substance abuse on a school-sponsored trip to Thailand in the summer of 2019, Fellas said that, to her, it felt like the administration had “suddenly decided to enforce a rule where there had previously been a perception of a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ situation.” That same October, 16 students, predominantly boarders, were suddenly taken out of school and faced possible expulsion for violating the zero tolerance policy in the dorms, but later moved into the Sanctuary program under the old policy. Senior Marbod Faure was one of the 16 students involved. Faure entered into the Sanctuary program and was only permitted to return to Masters three months later, upon the completion of the required programs. “I was breaking the policy in order to escape my own reality, which was really hard for me to acknowledge,” Faure said. “But, there was so much grey area in that hand-
book; we never really knew what was going to happen to us.” Angry and impassioned about both incidents, Fellas did what she said students at Masters have been taught to do. She brought her doubts to the attention of the student government, in the form of an Executive Committee proposal. A similar proposal had been brought to Executive Committee in 2017 by alumnus Elijah Emery ‘19, which sparked a wider discussion surrounding the validity of the policy, but didn’t lead to any tangible change. Fellas’s statement of rationale outlined ten reasons as to why the zero tolerance policy was ineffective and harmful to the community, including but not limited to its failure to reduce the number of drug users, its inability to differentiate between drug addiction and casual experimentation and its disproportionate effects on lower income students. Dozens upon dozens of students came to Executive Committee’s town-hall style meeting to discuss Fellas’ proposal, m a n y with differing o p i n ions. Although a vote was never taken
ELLIE YANG/TOWER
THE ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY, adopted in 2011 following a student’s near overdose on campus, stated that any student who uses or is found in possesion of alchohol or illegal drugs would be dismissed from school. This policy has been altered as a result of administrative and student urged reform.
Hurricane Ida storms though the Fonseca Center Sabrina Wolfson
Lead Opinion Editor
O
n the night of Sept. 1, as the entirety of the East Coast was hit with Hurricane Ida, the buildings at The Masters School attempted to hold the rain out, and while some were successful, others were not. The main athletic buildings at Masters, the Fonseca Athletic Center(FC) and Strayer Hall, suffered severe flooding on their bottom floors. The bottom floor of the FC is home to the gym, fencing and dance studios, various classrooms and faculty offices in addition to training rooms. In Strayer Hall, there is a gym and various performing arts studios. All of these
spaces suffered fairly extensive damage. When these spaces flooded, those who work in them were forced to survey all items as quickly as possible to see which could be salvaged and which had to be thrown out. Upper School Dance Teacher and Director of Masters’ Dance Company Shell Benjamin came in on Sept. 2, the morning after, to gather all of the belongings she could. Benjamin said, “Everything was drenched. Things had moved around and were out of place and I had to go through and sort costumes, posters, documentation, music, books, dresses, tutus, and these were all things that could never be replaced.” The Dance Company had spaces in the Fonseca Center as well as in Strayer Hall which were both flooded on Sep. 1. As such, Benjamin
and the bill was not officially passed, awareness from the school community skyrocketed, and the policy became a major point of contention for the remainder of that school year. “Throughout the year, there were speeches about drug use and the strict policy in place at Masters, but people continued to use drugs. That’s what really drove home for me that the policy doesn’t work,” Fellas said. Policies are ever-evolving at Masters, especially ones that tackle issues of student safety and health on and off campus. Newcomb hopes that the new policy will provide more breadth to treat each situation with the specificity it may need, and that it will lower barriers for students to solicit help for themselves or their friends when it’s needed. Newcomb said, “My hope is that the student body sees this change in the manner it was intended. Not advocating substance use, but instead putting the focus back on student learning and growth at large.”
packed up and moved most of the remaining items into the Experimental Theater on the top floor of the Fonseca Center, converting it into a temporary dance studio with portable mirrors and portable bars. Dance Company was not the only group at Masters affected by the flooding, as the water also damaged many of the athletic faculty offices. Logan Condon, director of athletics, experienced extensive flooding in his office. Condon was forced to move into a new temporary space in McCormack dorm. He said he thought about the students and this would affect them. Condon said, “Because our team’s seasons were about to begin, we wanted to make sure that our athletes could move forward and have everything that they need; that was my first priority.”
Even spaces in the Fonseca Center that were built to withstand water were impacted, such as the training room on the first floor of the building. Kalya Medina, the head athletic trainer was also forced to leave this area for a number of days. Medina said, “The drains and tile floor meant I didn’t have much damage, but I had to leave due to the air quality so I packed up my stuff and turned my golf cart into a mobile office for the time being.” Although this flooding took the school by surprise, the faculty and staff are determined to make the most of this experience. Benjamin said, “We can’t allow ourselves to be defeated just because something didn’t go as planned. We need to focus on solutions instead of dwelling on our problems so we can look forward and make the most of the future.”
Inside this issue:
ANDREW MITCHELL/TOWER
ANDREW MITCHELL COMMENTS ON his experience “bike-packing” across the United States and what he learned. Opinion, Page 9
ALEXA WACHEN/TOWER
GISELE CESTARO COVERS A few students and their life-changing experiences at Semester Away programs. Features, Page 10
MATTHEW IVES/TOWER
ROWAN MCWHINNIE COVERS THE refusal of many neighboring private schools to play field hockey against boys. TOWER
ON THE NIGHT OF Sept. 1, the first floor of the Fonseca Center suffered severe flooding on the first floor, damaging the fencing and dance studios, various classrooms and faculty offices. Since then, the Maintenance Department has been cleaning and repairing the damage. The clean-up is to be completed up by December break.
Sports, Page 12