CONTE WINTER 2020
Did You Know? Mercersburg’s original pool,
42
completed as part of the construction of Nolde Gymnasium in 1912, measured 75 feet by 30 feet, featured four lanes, and had a low ceiling and shallow depth that challenged the most
FEATURES
courageous of divers.
32 Milestones in Our Shared History
Honoring 55 years of black student integration, 50 years of coeducation, and 30 years since the founding of the Black Student Union
42 Diving In Introducing the new Lloyd Aquatic Center and the 50-meter Furnary Pool
46 Beyond AP Announcing plan to move beyond the Advanced Placement (AP) designation
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NTS
Editor: Megan Mallory Contributors: John David Bennett, Julia Borger ’20, Caroline Kranich ’20, Amy Marathe, Audrey McGrory ’20, Tyler Miller, Lee Owen, Alexandra Patterson, Zally Price, Aba Sankah ’20, Doug Smith, Shelley Swope, Jillian Wilkerson, Jasen Wright ’99 Design: Mid-Atlantic Media Cover Art: Tristan Chace Head of School: Katherine M. Titus Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Amy Marathe Associate Head of School for External Relations: Quentin McDowell Mercersburg Academy magazine is published by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications. Magazine correspondence: mallorym@mercersburg.edu Class Notes correspondence: classnotes@mercersburg.edu Alumni correspondence/change of address: alumni@mercersburg.edu 800-588-2550 Read us online: mercersburg.edu/magazine © Copyright 2020 Mercersburg Academy. All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced or reprinted in any form without the express written consent of Mercersburg Academy.
32 DEPARTMENTS
Mercersburg Academy abides by both the spirit and the letter of the law in all its employment and admission policies. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or national or ethnic origin.
Look for this image throughout the magazine to indicate additional photos, videos, and other content online at mercersburg.edu/magazine.
2 Head of School
10 A Mercersburg Moment
27 Alumni Life
3 Calendar
12 Mercersburg Summer
48 Annual Report
4 Social Media 5 Living the Values
Programs by the Numbers
13 Campus Life News Briefs / Athletics
52 Class Notes 72 From the Archives
WINTER 2020
1
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
20-20 Foresight
2
020. There has always been something confident and hopeful about the numbers 20-20. The term 20-20 for eyesight is meant to indicate a clarity and sharpness of vision. As head of school, I spend a fair amount of my time thinking about vision and the future, worrying
whether decisions made today will help or hinder the next generation of school leaders. If only there was a way to ensure that foresight is 20-20, not just hindsight. While not perfectly feasible, I do believe that honing the right combination of reflective hindsight, relevant research, and bold courage can best ensure the acuity of our foresight. In fact, Mercersburg has been honing this combination for years, which has resulted in the pioneers of our history. By now, you know how much I love learning about the history of our school–this is my reflective hindsight. I’ve written about the pioneering spirit of former headmasters and the inspiration that I draw from their unwavering faith in the possibilities for our school. This year,
In this historic year, as we celebrate milestones from our history, we reflect on those who have come before us and learn the lessons
as we celebrate the 50th year of gender integration and the 55th year of black student integration, I think about pioneering students, like Charles Watson McGilberry (the first Native American graduate in 1917), Tom Leslie (the first black student to graduate from Mercersburg in 1966), Carol Eppinger (the first female to graduate in 1970), Debbie Simon (Class of 1974, who inspired our Mercersburg community with her unprecedented $100 million gift that has changed the course of our school), Diane Wynter (the first black female student to graduate from Mercersburg in 1974), and so many more. As I think back to the pioneering students from our history, I cannot help but wonder who those students will be today for our future. The Class of 2020 certainly represents their confident and hopeful numbers well. They present with a clarity of purpose and an inspiration and will to change the world. We are compelled to do better for them and for the next generation of students who will follow them. That is why our faculty have been diligently researching and exploring how our educational system might evolve to prepare our students today for a complex, changing world. This academic year, we announced our intention to move beyond Advanced Placement. This is not a revolutionary decision, but one that opens up the possibilities for our curriculum that we find both compelling and necessary. This is just one decision, rooted in years of research, that will be
that will help
the foundation of the future of our school.
drive our future.
have come before us and learn the lessons that will help drive our future. We also remain resolute
In this historic year, as we celebrate milestones from our history, we reflect on those who in our commitment to being experts in teenagers, even as the world in which they live evolves so rapidly. There’s a quote attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca that says, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” To me, this is what it means to be a pioneer—to be willing to prepare relentlessly and to be courageous in creating our opportunities. If we do these things, the Mercersburg of 2020 will be a lucky school, with the foresight for enduring greatness.
Katherine M. Titus P ’20, ’23 Head of School
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Calendar Reunion Weekend 2020 JUNE 4-7 MAY
Irving-Marshall Week
Stony Batter Players Present Spring Scenes May 1-2 Hale Studio Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts
FEBRUARY
MAY
FEBRUARY 24-28
MAPL Swimming and Diving Invitational February 1 Lloyd Aquatic Center Joe Beauregard ’18 Memorial Generosity of Spirit School Meeting: Mykee Fowlin February 7 Stony Batter Players Present Mamma Mia! February 7-9 Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts Peggy Orenstein Residency February 10 Easterns Swimming and Diving Championships February 14-15 Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Mirenka Cechova: “Miss Amerika” March 27 Joint Concert: Chorale and James Buchanan High School Messa Voce March 27 Irvine Memorial Chapel
APRIL
Baccalaureate May 22 Irvine Memorial Chapel
Spring Pops Concert April 3 Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts Jacobs Residency Lecture: Gabby Rivera April 6 We Speak 2020 April 7
MARCH
Spring Music Concert April 24 Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts
Admission Revisit Day March 23
Spring Dance Concert May 9 Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts
Admission Revisit Day April 3
Winter Dance Showcase February 21 Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts
Cum Laude Convocation March 20
Spring Board of Regents Meetings May 7-9
Admission Spring Preview Day April 24
Springtalks April 24 Burgin Center for the Arts
Commencement JUNE
MAY 23
Reunion Weekend 2020 June 4-7
SUMMER 2020
Look for the next issue of Mercersburg Academy magazine to arrive in your mailbox!
WINTER 2020
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SOCIAL MEDIA
/mercersburgacademy
For the first time, Mercersburg Academy’s famed pretzel pie is available for sale—in ice cream form. South Mountain Creamery (of Middletown, Maryland) and Utz Quality Foods (of Hanover, Pennsylvania) have created Pretzel Pie Ice Cream, which features salted chocolate-covered pretzels in vanilla ice cream topped with caramel. (Pints can be purchased at the True Blue Café in the Simon Student Center on campus.)
CMYK / .eps
@mercersburg
The morning of October 16 was a departure from routine for the senior class, with the College Counseling Office’s annual “PJs and Pancakes” workshop in the dining hall. Good luck, seniors, with your college search!
The Edwards Room transformed into the Great Hall as members of the campus community came together for an Evening at Hogwarts! Photo courtesy of Kalwa Tembo ’23. Three Mercersburg faculty members (Kelly Dowling, Michele Poacelli, and Alexandra Patterson) attended and presented at the National Council of Teachers of English in Baltimore, Maryland. Poacelli and Patterson presented on a program they did with 10th-grade English last year, Choose Your Own Lit-venture, and Dowling presented on her interdepartmental lessons using live action role play (LARPing), which she developed in partnership with the ninth-grade English program.
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@mercersburg
We were excited to welcome our guests from Gauss Gymnasium in Worms, Germany! Mercersburg has a long-standing exchange partnership with this school (22 years and counting!). Our visitors arrived in September and stayed with us through early October.
/mercersburg1893
@katietitushos
Watch highlights from the traditional Christmas Candlelight Service in December. Fun watching our Springboard seniors October 24. It’s amazing what they produced in one day!
Stony Batter Players, Mercersburg’s student theatre company, presented Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. this past fall. The cast gave performances in September and again in October for Family and Alumni Weekend and invited the four local elementary schools to campus for special showings during the last week in October.
Living the
VALUES WINTER 2020
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LIVING THE VALUES
BRINGING MERCERSBURG’S VALUES TO LIFE
I
n this section of the magazine, we highlight individuals in our community—students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends—who are living Mercersburg’s values as outlined in our strategic design: lofty ideals, great faith, noble integrity, and ceaseless devotion to a mighty task. Read more about each of the
individuals highlighted here on Mercersburg’s website. If you would like to nominate someone for possible inclusion in this section, contact communications@mercersburg.edu.
for more about these individuals
#Leadership JACK KOTHARI ’20 Slowing down is not easy for Jack Kothari ’20. As vice president of the senior class, a prefect in Main Hall, co-president of the Green Team, and co-editor of the cultural section for the Mercersburg News, Kothari admits that his biggest fear is leisure time. Constantly pushing himself outside of his comfort zone, Kothari—who visited India last summer through MAPS (Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global Studies)—is unafraid to dive into the unknown. “The best way to learn about yourself is to go to a place that is completely foreign,” he says. “You quickly discover what is important to you.” At Convocation in September, Katie Titus presented Kothari with the Robert H. Michelet ’30 Prize. The Michelet Prize is awarded to the student who most distinguishes himself or herself in scholarship, character, and school spirit during the upper-middler (11th-grade) year. Although he is unsure of how his life beyond Mercersburg will unfold, Kothari knows for certain what he will carry with him after he graduates. “Mercersburg has taught me how to walk humbly, care deeply, laugh frequently, and act with integrity and grace,” he says. “This community has shown me what it means to love and support one another, to build much-needed bridges, and to be a part of something far greater than myself.”
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LIVING THE VALUES
#CeaselessDevotion DIANE WYNTER ’74 Diane Wynter ’74, the first black female graduate of the Academy, came to Mercersburg through the A Better Chance program, and for many years, she felt like a failure because she wasn’t able to go directly to college. Her journey took 19 years and included being mugged at knifepoint and facing those universal voices that sometimes tell us we aren’t good enough. She returned to Mercersburg this past fall for the first time since her graduation to share her story: “The bottom line is that I did get my bachelor’s. I just took the scenic route, and life happened in the interim. Three years after that, I got my master’s.… What seemed like I had academic challenges when I was here, when I got to college, [it was] smooth sailing. It was effortless as I made the dean’s list every semester and graduated magna cum laude. All of that was ingrained in my DNA when I was here. So, today I say, to all of those voices in my head that said that I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough, I say, ‘Shut the heck up!’”
#MightyTask SHAWN ROCKWELL HARDY ’80 In 1983, Shawn Rockwell Hardy ’80 took the journey of a lifetime, trekking into the Arctic with her father (faculty emeritus Tim Rockwell) and other Mercersburg Academy community members (Frank Rutherford ’70, Dan Kunkle, Brent Gift, Kurt Nielsen ’84, Robin Sarner ’84, and Jeff Dailey ’83). Hardy was the only woman on this expedition that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the First International Polar Year and also honored Ross Marvin, former faculty member, who perished in support of Robert Peary’s 1908 trek to the Pole. Today, Hardy is a journalist, sharing others’ journeys. “Everyone has a story,” she says, “and even after 35 years in the business, I’m still finding people’s stories.”
#GreatFaith SUSAN SIMAR P ’86, ’90, ’91 When visitors walk into Traylor Hall, they immediately feel at home, and Susan Simar, the admission receptionist, is one of the reasons why. “They’ve walked into my living room,” she says. “I want everyone to be comfortable.” With hundreds of interviews and campus tours each year, Simar has her work cut out for her, scheduling visits, arranging logistics, and ensuring that everything runs on time. She even helps coach Blue Keys, the student tour guides, on eye contact and a firm handshake. She says her goal is simple: “I love Mercersburg, and I want everyone else to share in that feeling, too.” Simar has been a part of Mercersburg for 32 years (28 as the admission receptionist). She moved here in 1988 when her husband Ron was hired as the athletic director, and since that time, her son, two stepchildren, and a grandaughter have all become Mercersburg alumni.
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LIVING THE VALUES
#NobleIntegrity MONIQUE GARCIA In her ninth-grade mindfulness course, Monique Garcia ’22 was asked to bite into a jalapeño. This spicy approach to stress reduction encourages students to sit with difficult emotions rather than reacting to them. Although some of her classmates didn’t enjoy the experience, Garcia—whose parents are from Mexico— laughs, “My mom does this at home all the time.” Garcia went on to start the first-ever Mindfulness Club on campus. At Convocation in September, Katie Titus presented Garcia with the John H. Culbertson ’24 Prize, which recognizes a rising 10th-grade student who shows exceptional promise and who has already demonstrated outstanding accomplishment. “My goal here is to do my work, experience as many things as I can, and make my mom proud,” Garcia says. “I didn’t feel like I deserved an award.” Garcia says she owes a lot to her mother, and if it weren’t for her, Garcia wouldn’t have completed her Mercersburg application. But she’s glad she did. “When I went home for the summer, my friends said that I walked differently. They said I walked taller,” Garcia laughs. “I took it as a compliment because I knew it was about confidence. Mercersburg has taught me to venture out of my comfort zone.”
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#LoftyIdeals JIM MALONE P ’01, ’03 Faculty member Jim Malone is known for wearing many hats at Mercersburg Academy: physics teacher, Mercersburg Outdoor Education rock climbing volunteer, Black Student Union adviser, assistant boys’ JV basketball coach, hawk and owl trapper, “Classic Rock and Roll” email group curator, and homeless shelter meal coordinator, among others. For the past 41 years, he has sought to make the world a more interesting place for his students and to inspire a love of learning that will last a lifetime. “I try to present my kids with high ideals about understanding the world and how it operates,” he says. “I want them to develop a sense of intellectual curiosity and approach the world from a point of view that you can never learn enough about it.”
For more Mercersburg stories like these, subscribe to our podcast mercersburg.edu/burg’s-eye-view Listen on Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts
WINTER 2020
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A MERCERSBURG MOMENT
As part of Family and Alumni Weekend 2019 and in celebration of this academic year’s theme of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a school meeting on October 18 featured a panel discussion with Ernest Green of the “Little Rock Nine,” Eyram Awittor-Awuma ’20, faculty member Selas Douglas, and John Henry ’91. Learn more on page 64.
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WINTER 2020
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SUMMER 2019 BY THE NUMBERS
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY SUMMER PROGRAMS
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PROGRAMS
14
SESSIONS
20th Year
19
OF ADVENTURE CAMP STATES REPRESENTED including the & ESL+ District of Columbia
537
11
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
288
PARTICIPANTS
MARSHMALLOWS
18
35
576
CAMPFIRES
YOUNG ALUMNI STAFF
GRAHAM CRACKERS
11
CURRENT-STUDENT STAFF
39
LEGACY PARTICIPANTS
16
PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE SIBLINGS OF MERCERSBURG ACADEMY STUDENTS OR ALUMNI
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189
HERSHEYPARK TICKETS
15%
3
BASEBALL GAMES
OF NEW MERCERSBURG STUDENTS IN 2019-2020 PARTICIPATED IN A SUMMER PROGRAM BEFORE APPLYING
2
LIVE PERFORMANCES
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CLASS III-IV RAPIDS
Mercersburg’s Octet, Magalia, and Jazz Band lit up the stage during the Fall Pops Concert in November. Pictured here: Octet member Tomiwa Salako ’22 belts out a tune that night.
CampusLIFE NEWS BRIEFS p14
»
ATHLETICS p22
WINTER 2020
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CAMPUS LIFE
Convocation Kicks Off 2019-2020 Academic Year
Left to right: Jesse Zhang ’20, Rose Potter ’21, John Xu ’22, Kaitlyn Dowling ’23
“No matter where your interests lie, you will need the
Mercersburg Academy’s Opening Convocation for the 127th academic year took place September 1 in the Irvine Memorial Chapel. Faculty member Sue Malone, who will complete 38 years of service to Mercersburg and is retiring at the close of the 2019–2020 school year, was the featured speaker. “No matter where your interests lie, you will need the courage to take risks, to try something others will tell you is crazy,” Malone told the students at Convocation. “Trying something new is
courage to take risks,
what you are about to do, every day, as you learn and grow here at Mercersburg.”
to try something
Titus; School Minister Rev. Will Whitmore; former faculty member Alisa Springman; Student
others will tell
students, some of whom carried flags representing each of the school’s four grade levels and all the
you is crazy.”
member Bryan Morgan ’07.
—Sue Malone
Culbertson ’24 Prize. Learn more about both students in the Living the Values section of this issue.
Along with Malone, other participants in the service included Head of School Katherine M. Council President Aba Sankah ’20; Peer Group Leader Brandon Lamer-Connolly ’20; a number of nations of the student body and faculty; and the Mercersburg Chorale, under the direction of faculty During the service, Titus presented Jack Kothari ’20, of Hagerstown, Maryland, with the Robert H. Michelet ’30 Prize, and Monique Garcia ’22, of Passaic, New Jersey, with the John H. Mercersburg’s 2019–2020 student body is composed of 442 students, including residents of 27 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and citizens of 35 nations. The Class of 2020 (the Academy’s senior class) numbers 125, with 123 upper middlers (11th graders), 106 lower middlers (10th graders), and 88 juniors (ninth graders).
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CAMPUS LIFE
Recognizing the 2019-2020 Faculty Award Recipients The 2019-2020 recipient of the Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religion and Interdisciplinary Studies is Jay Bozzi, and Kristen Pixler is the 2019-2020 recipient of the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award. Bozzi has taught at Mercersburg since 2014.
her husband, Matthew, live off campus with their two
He is head of the history department and is SEARCH
daughters; she is an adviser and dorm faculty member
coordinator for Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for
in Fowle Hall.
Global Studies (MAPS), where he works with 12th-
The Zern Excellence in Teaching Award was
grade students on their capstone research projects.
established by Judy and Allen Zern ’61 for annual
He is also an assistant wrestling coach and previously
presentation to a faculty member or members, with
coached football. Bozzi and his wife, Sarah (a member
special consideration given to teachers in the math
of the mathematics faculty and assistant director of
or science department.
Mercersburg Outdoor Education), live off campus and are advisers and dorm parents in Tippetts Hall. Pixler teaches digital art and photography,
The Ammerman Distinguished Teaching
Jay Bozzi
Award was established by Andrew Ammerman ’68 and his late mother, Josephine Ammerman, to bring
as well as COMMARTS: The Art and Business of
recognition to a member of the faculty who has
Graphic Design (a Springboard capstone course
demonstrated outstanding pedagogy in challenging
available to seniors). Pixler is also the head coach
Mercersburg students to address the spiritual, moral,
of Mercersburg’s girls’ varsity soccer team, has
ethical, and artistic dimensions of their lives, or to
previously worked with Mercersburg Outdoor
bring recognition to special religion scholars-in-
Education, and is an adviser to Blue Review, the
residence who may be engaged from time to time
school’s student literary-arts publication. Pixler and
to accomplish the same purpose.
Kristen Pixler
Mercersburg Welcomes New Faculty Mercersburg Academy welcomed 10 new faculty members for the 2019-2020 academic year. Front row (L-R): Ryan Tyree (English and director of squash), Justine O’Connell (language and director of global programs), Andy Brown (science/robotics). Second row: Christian Bancroft (English), Rudy Wise (associate director of admission), Jessica Doubell (technical director in the Burgin Center for the Arts), Bill Kissick (chief development officer). Back row: Tim Kerr (history and head boys’ lacrosse coach), Jennifer Sipes (student counseling services), Cindy Fowler (college counseling).
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CAMPUS LIFE
Announcing Three New Faculty Chairs As the 2019-2020 school year kicked off, Mercersburg Academy proudly announced three newly named endowed chairs. Newly appointed endowed chairholders include David Bell (Archibald H. Rutledge Chair), John David Bennett (Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation Chair in British Literature), and Amy Kelley (Joseph F. Huber ’64 Department Chair of Mathematics). David Bell
The Archibald H. Rutledge Chair was
Mercersburg’s inaugural dean of curricular
who served as an English faculty member
innovation. He previously served as head of
for 33 years and was the South Carolina poet
the English department and coached softball
laureate from 1934 to 1973. It was previously
(leading Mercersburg to the 2012 Pennsylvania
held by Frank Rutherford ’70 from 2001 until
independent-school state championship),
his retirement in 2019.
boys’ cross country, and JV boys’ basketball.
Bell, who teaches history and in
school’s swing dance society. Bennett and his
Studies (MAPS), came to Mercersburg in
wife, Denise (the special events coordinator
1997 and officially joined the faculty one
in the school’s Office of Advancement and
year later. Bell was the 2017-2018 recipient
Alumni Relations), are the parents of three
of the school’s Zern Excellence in Teaching
children: Cameron Rogers ’12, Grace Bennett
Award, and received the Ammerman
’19, and Augie Bennett ’23. Chair of Mathematics was established
At Mercersburg, Bell has coached varsity girls’
by Joseph Huber ’64 to support teaching
basketball and softball, as well as JV boys’
excellence at Mercersburg. The Chair honors
basketball and baseball; he is also a public-
former faculty members Herbert “Fido”
address announcer for varsity football games.
Kempton, Stephen Chandler, and Walter
He and his wife, Julie (an assistant librarian at
Burgin Jr. ’53, who inspired Joe’s interest
the school), have two daughters: Jennifer ’17
and excellence in mathematics, which helped
and Emily ’18.
establish his successful career in investment
Foundation Chair in British Literature
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
The Joseph F. Huber ’64 Department
and Interdisciplinary Studies in 2007-2008.
The Joseph and Helen Regenstein
John David Bennett
He has also sponsored “Four on the Floor,” the
Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global
Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious Amy Kelley
Bennett teaches English and is
established in honor of Archibald Rutledge,
banking and investment management. Kelley teaches mathematics and has also
was established to be an “example of
team-taught 3D Design, which was one of
caring and sharing” by philanthropists
the offerings in Mercersburg’s Springboard
Joseph and Helen Regenstein and later
capstone course program for members of the
supported by their son, former Regent Joseph
senior class. She and her husband, Joe, lived
Regenstein Jr. ’41. The chair was previously
in Fowle Hall on campus for six years; she
held by Chip Vink ’73 from 2014 until his
continues to serve as an adviser and dorm
retirement in 2019.
faculty member in Fowle.
Jo Wrzesinsky (center) with Chris Howes (far right), administrative assistant Laurie Rice, and several students in the Office of Student Life.
Jo Wrzesinsky Appointed Dean of Students The 2019-2020 academic year celebrates many milestones for Mercersburg: 55 years of black student integration, 50 years of coeducation, and 30 years since the founding of the Black Student Union. It also marks another important moment for the school and for faculty member Jo Wrzesinsky. Wrzesinsky is in her first year as dean of students, the first woman to hold this role in the school’s history. “I think it’s interesting because in general, people see the role of the dean of students as a disciplinarian,” Wrzesinsky says, noting that, even in 2019, the stereotype is still to see women as the nurturers and men as the disciplinarians. “I have both of those sides to me, and it’s interesting
A chronological list of Mercersburg’s deans of students (or their equivalent): Colonel Don F. Wills Faculty tenure: 1897-1915 Years as head of discipline: 1897-1915 Harold Colson Faculty tenure: 1915-1921 Years as head of discipline: 1915-1921 Roy “Spike” Andrew Faculty tenure: 1914-1961 Years as head of discipline: 1921-1961
to blend both of those and have a female in a position that is primarily seen as a disciplinarian. We’re trying to change that view. It’s really exciting, it’s an honor in a lot of ways, and it’s nice to have two former deans of students [Tom Rahauser ’74 and Chris Howes] here to go to if I have questions or need someone to be validating of how things are.” In her new role, Wrzesinsky approaches her work as a combination of providing that traditional disciplinary response while also creating a space in the Office of Student Life where students can come and find support in any form. “We are trying to factor in social-emotional learning for students and not necessarily deliver a consequence, but help them learn and grow from the choices they make,” she says. “The current structure of our office allows us to do so much more for the school and effect change in a positive way and to really help the kids understand that it is such a privilege to be here and that this is their home.” Wrzesinsky credits Howes with starting this approach when he joined the faculty as dean of student life in 2017 and the Office of Student Life formed. As Wrzesinsky assumes her new role, Howes moves into the position of assistant head of school for student life and culture, and the role of the Office of Student Life continues to evolve as a place for both disciplinary responses and student support.
Bill “Soapy” Howard Faculty tenure: 1939-1977 Years as dean: 1961-1977 Joe Chandler Faculty tenure: 1968-1988 Years as dean: 1977-1979 Tim Rockwell Faculty tenure: 1970-1996 Years as dean: 1979-1996 Tom Rahauser ’74 Faculty tenure: 1978-current Years as dean: 1996-2017
“I couldn’t be happier to have Jo step in as the dean of students,” says Howes. “She has committed much of her professional life to Mercersburg, and Mercersburg is lucky to have someone like her guiding our students in this position. She is caring, thoughtful, fair, and restorative in her approach and is a perfect fit for our students and families as they navigate this stage of their lives.” Wrzesinsky comes to her new role after holding a number of other positions at the school. She joined the Mercersburg community in 1999 as an assistant director of annual giving in Mercersburg’s Office of Alumni and Development. In 2002, she moved to the school’s Office of Summer and Extended Programs and became director in 2015. In 2017, she was appointed associate dean of student life. She
Chris Howes Faculty tenure: 2017-current Years as dean: 2017-2019 Jo Wrzesinsky Faculty tenure: 1999-current Years as dean: 2019-current
lived in Fowle Hall for 10 years before serving as the dormitory dean of Swank Hall from 2010 to 2017. She and her husband continue to live in Swank with their two children.
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CAMPUS LIFE
Leaders in the 2019-2020 Mentor Leadership Program (L-R): Alex Coenajerts ’20, Audrey McGrory ’20, Allison Schuldt ’20, Zoe Gooch ’20, Peter Berle ’20, and Diego Morgan ’20.
New Mentor Leadership Program Introduced Since 1985, incoming ninth graders at Mercersburg Academy have
reflection of self, relationship building, vulnerability and listening
participated in a program called Peer Group, a group of 10 to 14
skills, use of time, and resisting drugs and alcohol, and it culminates
fellow ninth graders who meet weekly with two 12th-grade leaders
in a session about exam preparation.
to discuss topics ranging from the location of buildings on campus to
“Being a Mentor Leader has been a great experience that I will
homesickness to preparing for exams and so on. Beginning with the
take with me after Mercersburg,” says Allison Schuldt ’20. “Many
2019-2020 school year, Mercersburg is now offering a sister program
people, including me, weren’t exactly sure how the program would
to Peer Group called the Mentor Leadership Program. This program is
play out since it’s new to the school. I can confidently say, though, that
designed specifically for incoming 10th graders as they acclimate to life
it’s been a place for me to foster and develop relationships with new
at Mercersburg.
faces. Even with my co-leader (Zoe Gooch ’20), I’ve developed a very
“Faculty member Chris Howes and I saw a need for this type of
close relationship that I may not have otherwise. One of my favorite
programming within our community,” says faculty member Betsy
parts of the program is that there isn’t a strict structure that leaders
Cunningham, who leads the program. “It is a shorter version of Peer
have to follow. Having this flexibility allows the leaders to make unique
Group but for an older, more mature audience. It is an opportunity for
activities based on how their group feels in a given meeting, ultimately
new 10th-grade students to form relationships with peers and seniors.
letting everyone in the room simply enjoy each other’s company and
I hope students gain a greater sense of who we are as a community at
make the most out of the experience.”
Mercersburg, a better understanding of themselves, and a new group of friends outside of their advisory group or PGA.” Similar to Peer Group, Mentor Leadership connects two 12th-
While Peer Group continues through February of a ninth grader’s first year, Mentor Leadership concludes at the end of the fall term. In addition to Schuldt and Gooch, inaugural 12th-grade leaders for the
grade leaders with a group of incoming 10th graders. In this first
2019-2020 Mentor Leadership Program include Alex Coenajerts ’20,
year, the Mentor Leadership Program includes three groups of about
Audrey McGrory ’20, Peter Berle ’20, and Diego Morgan ’20. Faculty
nine students each, and groups meet weekly. The curriculum for the
advisers for the Peer Group and Mentor Leadership Programs include
10th-grade program is slightly different from Peer Group and includes
Cunningham, Will Whitmore, Rachel Mallory, and Coleman Weibley.
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Speakers Add to Campus Conversation Mercersburg welcomed various speakers this fall as part of both the 2019-2020 Monday Evening Lecture Series and as featured authors of some of Mercersburg’s summer-reading selections.
Molly Smith, artistic director at Arena Stage in
through the generosity of Regent Emeritus
Like a Girl, gave the Schaff Lecture on Ethics
Washington, D.C., gave the Ammerman Family
Andrew R. Ammerman ’68 and his mother,
and Morals in the Burgin Center for the Arts’
Lecture in September in the Burgin Center for
the late Josephine Ammerman, in memory of
Simon Theatre.
the Arts’ Simon Theatre. This lecture officially
Andrew’s father, H. Max Ammerman, and his
kicked off the school’s 2019-2020 Monday
brother, Stephen C. Ammerman.
Evening Lecture Series.
Robin Benway, author of the summer-
Hegar is a recipient of the Purple Heart and is just the sixth female aviator to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device,
reading selection Far from the Tree, was
which she received after being shot down
the arts. She has served as artistic director
the featured speaker at a school meeting in
and wounded during her third tour of duty in
at Arena Stage since 1998. Her more than 30
October in the Burgin Center for the Arts’
Afghanistan in 2009. She was named one of
directing credits there include Oliver!, Fiddler
Simon Theatre.
Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers
Smith’s talk focused on activism and
on the Roof, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, South
Benway is a National Book Award-
of 2013 and one of Newsweek’s 125 Women
Pacific, and How I Learned to Drive. She most
winning and New York Times-bestselling
recently directed Our Town at Canada’s
author of six novels for young adults,
Shaw Festival.
including Far from the Tree; Audrey, Wait!;
U.S. Senate seat in her home state of Texas in
of Impact of 2012. Hegar has announced plans to run for a
the AKA series; and Emmy & Oliver. Her
2020. She continues to mentor ROTC cadets
development for more than 30 years. She is
books have received numerous awards and
at the University of Texas (her alma mater),
a great believer in first, second, and third
recognition, including the PEN America
serves on the AFROTC Advisory Committee,
productions of new work, and has championed
Literary Award, the Blue Ribbon Award from
and writes and speaks publicly about her
projects including How I Learned to Drive;
the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books,
experiences in the military and her fight for
Passion Play, a cycle; Next to Normal; and
the American Library Association’s Best
increased military readiness through equality.
Dear Evan Hansen.
Books for Young Adults, and ALA’s Popular
Smith has been a leader in new-play
The Schaff Family Endowment was
Paperbacks for Young Adults. In addition, her
funded by and is in honor of Schaff brothers
brings to the community speakers of national
novels have received starred reviews from
Phillip H. ’38, Charles B. ’41, and David S. ’42.
renown who have important perspectives
Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly,
The endowment supports annual speakers “on
on the significant issues of the day and the
and have been published in more than 20
topics related to fundamental human values—
capacity to help young people understand
countries.
those principles which direct a person’s
The Ammerman Family Lecture Series
the relevance of such issues to their lives. Endowed in 1999, the series was made possible
In November, Mary Jennings Hegar, author of the summer-reading selection Shoot
decisions and actions because they clarify what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’”
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Seniors Honored by National Merit Scholarship Corporation Newsweek Ranks Mercersburg Among Top STEM Schools Mercersburg Academy was named to Newsweek’s Top 500 STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) High Schools for 2020, and was among the top 10 schools in Pennsylvania. The announcement was made in conjunction with National STEM Day (November 8), and more than 30,000 private and public schools in the United States were considered for the ranking. Mercersburg received a rating of 90.96 out of 100. Only 17 schools in Pennsylvania were named to the list. Scores were determined by Newsweek and STEM.org by utilizing regression analysis to evaluate which primary and secondary institutions in America best offer students quality experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, while also preparing them for post-school life.
In early October, Mercersburg proudly announced that three students had been chosen as Semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Competition, a significant achievement awarded to just 16,000 high-school students nationwide. Those honored included Sean Fiscus ’20 (LaVale, Maryland), Jiachen Sun ’20 (Hangzhou, China), and Gary Zheng ’20 (Hangzhou, China). The Semifinalists were named in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered in the spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. More than 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of “Merit Scholar.” In addition, 13 members of Mercersburg Academy’s Class of 2020 were named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program: Davis Anderson ’20 (Seattle, Washington), Rosina Beritela ’20 (Sparks, Maryland), Tess Browne ’20 (McLean, Virginia), Shannon Fan ’20 (Beijing, China), Aidan Ferrin ’20 (Bozeman, Montana), Jack Kothari ’20 (Hagerstown, Maryland), Brandon Lamer-Connolly ’20 (Greencastle, Pennsylvania), Kevin Lee ’20 (Seoul, South Korea), Grace Lewis ’20 (Greencastle, Pennsylvania), Hung Tran ’20 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Priscilla Wadlington ’20 (Shippensburg, Pennsylvania), Selina Xue ’20 (Shanghai, China), and Jesse Zhang ’20 (Beijing, China). The honorees are among a group of about 34,000 students nationwide who are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Those selected receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their accomplishment. Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied selection index score that may vary from year to year. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.
Thirteen members of Mercersburg Academy’s Class of 2020 were named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. 20
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Left to right: Faculty members Kelsey Steiner, Wells Gray, and Leah Rockwell ’97 during Summer Faculty Institute 2019.
Mercersburg Hosts Fourth Annual Summer Faculty Institute
John David Bennett, dean of curricular innovation and English faculty, leads a workshop on moving beyond AP courses.
In August, Mercersburg Academy hosted several speakers from around the country at its fourth annual Summer Faculty Institute. The event attracted 54 participants, including teachers and administrators from Mercersburg as well as surrounding independent schools. Geared toward classroom teachers and those working with adolescents in residential, counseling, and advisory settings, the annual event is open to education professionals from within or outside the Academy. “The institute brings our faculty together as a community of learners,” says Dr. Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, associate head of school for school life. “We are able to model lifelong learning for our students and stay abreast of the very latest research on education and adolescents.” This latest Institute featured five tracks, including Using the Google Suite in the Classroom, led by Greg Kulowiec and coordinated by Maurer; Social and Emotional Work, led by Chris Thurber and
Visiting presenter Greg Kulowiec leads a session on using the Google Suite in the Classroom.
coordinated by Chris Howes, assistant head of school for student life and culture; a workshop on moving beyond AP courses, led by John
The fifth Summer Faculty Institute will take place August 17-21,
David Bennett, dean of curricular innovation and English faculty, and
2020. For more information, visit mercersburg.edu/sfi or contact
Jennifer Miller Smith ’97, dean of academics; a language workshop with
Mercersburg Summer and External Programs at 717-328-6225.
a group from the Rassias Method (which was created and developed
The Institute is one of several key initiatives supported by
in 1964 by Professor John Rassias of Dartmouth College), coordinated
Mercersburg’s Daring to Lead Campaign, which surpassed its
by Tom Thorne, chair of the language department; and Restorative
fundraising goal of $300 million at its completion in 2016.
Practices, led by Lee Rush and coordinated by Howes.
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Mercersburg Names Athletic Complex for Dwight Goldthorpe ’37 Dwight Goldthorpe ’37 attended Mercersburg Academy for two years, and gave to the school throughout his life at a level similar to many alumni, friends, and supporters. His support of Mercersburg was consistent and reliable, but not unique by any standard. In 2007, after Goldthorpe passed away at the age of 87, the school’s Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations received a surprise call that Goldthorpe had bequeathed an estate gift of nearly $14 million to Mercersburg. It was an unexpected gift that he gave as his final recognition of his commitment to Mercersburg Academy. Usually, when donors give large gifts to the school, their intentions are known in advance, allowing the school to celebrate these gifts in appropriate ways. As Dwight Goldthorpe had no children or extended family, the school decided to wait for the right moment in which to honor him. That moment came in early October 2019, when Head of School Katie Titus announced to faculty, staff, and students that all of Mercersburg’s athletic buildings (including Nolde Gymnasium, the Plantz Courts, the Flanagan Pool, the Davenport Squash Center, the Hale Field House, and the new Lloyd Aquatic Center) would now be under one name—Goldthorpe Athletic Complex. Dwight Goldthorpe was born in 1919 in Bellerose, New York. He enrolled at Mercersburg in 1935 as an 11thgrade student. While at Mercersburg, he was a member of the Mercersburg News staff and was involved in the Washington Irving Literary Society and French Club (Les Copains). He played baseball, track, squash, and tennis. After Mercersburg, Goldthorpe graduated from Amherst College and spent one year at Harvard Business School before joining the military. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946 and finished his service as a lieutenant. Goldthorpe became an independent investor and moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where we lived for the rest of his life. In Palm Beach, Goldthorpe became a champion tennis player and was a member of multiple tennis clubs. Goldthorpe regularly attended regional alumni events in Palm Beach and qualified for all giving societies at Mercersburg: he was a Torchbearer and a member of the Via Lucis Society, the William Mann Irvine Society, the McDowell Society, and the Marshall & Irving Alliance. Dwight Goldthorpe’s gifts allowed Mercersburg to think broadly about and act specifically on renovations of multiple campus buildings—the Simon Student Center, Nolde Gymnasium, 1893 House, and the Rutherford Health and Wellness Center. We are honored to recognize Mr. Goldthorpe by naming the athletic complex in his honor, and we hope these facilities will continue to inspire our athletes to train to be their best and to compete while surrounded by “loud swelling cheers.”
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Varsity Athletics Notes Ten student-athletes from the fall season earned all-conference honors (All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League or All-Keystone State Football League): Aakash Koduru ’20 (boys’ cross country), Annaliesse Cantera ’20 and Izzy Jones ’22 (field hockey), Christian Jetter ’22, Aiden Nelson ’23, Campbell Prentiss ’20, and Jack Yeager ’20 (football), Luis Gomez ’21 and Diego Morgan ’20 (boys’ soccer), Annie Klaff ’20 and Tanaka Mukudzahvu ’20 (girls’ soccer), and Coco Sandhu ’21 (girls’ tennis). Koduru also finished sixth at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association State Championships for All-State honors. Luke Thompson ’21 (boys’ golf) and Isabel Su ’23 were honored by the Department of Athletics with the fall Best Performance Award for male and female athletes, respectively. Stephen Rice ’21 and Zareena Sorho ’23 received the Breakthrough Athlete Award, Grace Lewis ’20 (girls’ cross
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CAMPUS LIFE
country) earned the Athletic Leadership Award, and Ben McNeil (boys’ thirds soccer head coach) received the Excellence in Coaching Award. Seven members of the senior class earned a letter in a varsity sport for the fourth year. They include Annaliesse Cantera ’20 and Maggie Quick ’20 (field hockey), Jack Mitchell ’20 (boys’ golf), and Alex Coenjaerts ’20, Addie Jenkins ’20, Annie Klaff ’20, and Sophie Krasny ’20 (girls’ soccer). In its first season of eight-player football, the Blue Storm earned the No. 2 seed in the Keystone State Football League playoffs, reaching the league championship game with a 44-36 win over Delaware County Christian in the semifinals. The Storm fell at Perkiomen in the title contest; earlier in the season (on the same field), Mercersburg had rallied from a 28-6 deficit late in the third quarter to stun Perkiomen, 34-28, in overtime.
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Other notes: Luke Thompson ’21 led Mercersburg’s boys’ golf team by firing a 74 to earn medalist honors at the prestigious Keystone Cup; Thompson led the team in low rounds for the season… the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams both earned seeds in the PAISAA state tournament, with the Storm boys winning their first-round contest over Malvern Prep in a dramatic penalty shootout… the field hockey team posted six shutouts (including over Madeira in the M Cup showdown between the schools and the season finale over Hun)… Caroline Dillard ’21 reached the finals of her flight at the MAPL Girls’ Tennis Championships, which Mercersburg hosted in the Hale Field House and Smoyer Tennis Center… the volleyball team won eight matches, including six by a 3-0 count… three student-athletes announced college commitments in the fall (all to NCAA Division I institutions): Aurelius Dunbar ’20 (wrestling, Penn State), AJ Gray ’20 (boys’ basketball, Hartford), and Quintin Metcalf ’20 (boys’ basketball, St. Bonaventure).
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F I F T H
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Calling all educators!
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FA C U LT Y I N S T I T U T E
Join us this summer as we bring educators and
thought leaders together on campus to examine topics of critical relevance to those working with adolescents! Visit mercersburg.edu/sfi for more information.
AUGUST
17–21 Mercer sburg , PA
just CAMP... THINK
SUMMER,
THINK MERCERSBURG MERCERSBURG
SUMMER
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VISIT WWW
.
ummer It’s not
A N N U A L
FOR THE COED SUMMER PROGRAMS | AGES 8-17
2020 PROGRAM
LISTING
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
It’s not just CA SUMMER PROGRAMS
Chris Adams ’20 and Eliza DuBose ’20 portrayed George and Emily in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, performed by Mercersburg’s Stony Batter Players in October. This was the third performance of Our Town at Mercersburg under the direction of faculty member Laurie Mufson and the first in the Burgin Center for the Arts.
Alumni LIFE
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ALUMNI LIFE
The Legacy Connection Mercersburg’s new students for 2019-2020 include 16 legacies. To find out what that means to their parents and grandparents, we asked! We also wanted to know about similarities and differences, dorm life, and more.
m ’22 ions fro iannaris ny tradit a m Lydia G t y p e sk chnolog burg ha wever, te o h Mercers re t; a n e y d ts toda s as a stu . Studen e c my day n e re id fe d outs gest dif the worl is the big ct with ta n o c t n le. in consta rg bubb rcersbu e M e th of ’88 iannaris —Paul G
Frank Ca ntera ’2 3 Having F rank at M ercersbu of mind rg mean . It is me s peace aningful th a t all thre my kids e of have sha red or are Mercers sharing burg exp the erience, grandfa one whic ther [Ch h their arles Ca them ex ntera ’46 perience ] b e fo re d. —Dav id Cante ra
amily ’23 naf an rry o inson a k c l s me i e n line W at she ca and it giv ften o o r a C fairly y th ool, p s h u p c a s p h m I am acy at the on ca tics. leg to be athle y g it r n u u b t s r r o e rc opp t Me ’89 ppor inson k to su il W w re —And
Peter Rice ’23 Students did sil ly things when I went to Mercersburg an d still do. The st udent-toteacher situatio n is friendlier th an when I went to Merce rsburg. —William Rice ’83
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Nathalie Maure r ’23 Having Nathali e (and my othe r children) at Mercersburg is an honor. We talk with them about their resp onsibility to se rve their communities and take part of the magic of this place out into the world . —Julia Stojak M aurer ’90
ALUMNI LIFE
Andrew Orders ’2 3 and C Even th atherine ough it h Orders ’2 a s been 25 3 graduate years sin d, I’m su ce I rprised b everyth y h ow famil ing still fe iar els when special to I visit. It’s share a p re a lly la ce and e my child xperienc ren that e w w ith a s so impo —Melissa rtant to Glah Ord me. ers ’95
Colin L issette ’23 It mean s a lot to me tha legacy t Colin of our fa is conti mily m nuing th and, m embers e ost imp w ho have o rtantly, incredib attende that he d le Merc is gettin ersburg g the impact experie the rest nce tha of his li t will —Stacie fe. Rice Lis sette ’8 5
Zane Arky ’23 When Zane calls home and tells us about his life there, I can recall my own experiences, while at the same time recognizing that his experience is his own. I have to check myself to keep from saying, “You know, when I was a student there….” —John Arky ’82 Caroline Simpson ’22 The facilities have all been updated and are definitely improved, but the layout is the same, so I can picture her walking to Irvine, the Chapel, and the Burgin Center (Boone Hall when I was there). Although, she has yet to go to Romeo’s. —Sandra Davenport Simpson ’86 Robert Sellery ’23 I had a wonderful experience at Mercersburg, and I’m so proud of my grandson for being there. It was a strict but kind and safe place. You’re away from your parents so you make your community there. —Steve Sellery ’60 Clark Bayer ’22 Clark’s academic adviser is Jim Malone, and Jim’s first year at Mercersburg was my senior year. It was great because as we were moving Clark in, there was Jim Malone standing there. —Thomas Bayer ’80
Isabel S u ’23 I lived in Fowle m y whole Mercers time at burg. Th is is also m dorm, a y daugh nd her ter’s room is room th actually at I live the sam d in e s —Willia enior ye m Su ’8 ar! 8
ers ’23 Andrew Ord
n her whe 3 s a teac awler ’2 a L w , ta ks, e re n ic G Eric H e Malo ave Mr. iser, Su v h d o a ls r a e n H ne, a d e could Jim Malo ere. Sh r. th M s , a 8 Mrs. w I arth ’7 o have e Holzw ould als v c a e D ell, h r. S . k M more h Roc w Ms. Lea ly a few h it 7 w ’9 rk probab or wo Lawler Clinton r Smith — . e in Jennife s of m ssmate both cla
Charlotte Stauffer ’22 It means the world to me that my daughter has the opportunity to attend Mercersburg. What a wonderful environment for a young adult. —Thomas Stauffer ’88 Cole Smith ’23 Mercersburg has always been a special place to me—so much so that I moved back, and my kids ended up growing up here. —Jennifer Miller Smith ’97
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ALUMNI LIFE
Tapping Into the Alumni Network With more than 11,000 alumni around the globe, one of Mercersburg Academy’s greatest strengths is our people, and one of our greatest resources for current students is our alumni. In the last few months alone, Mercersburg students have connected with alumni from various decades—both on campus and off—as part of field studies, research projects, internships, hands-on learning, and more. If you are not part of these connections yet, we urge you to get involved! Your voice is valuable and can make a real difference for today’s students.
Connecting through the curriculum Each graduate of Mercersburg Academy is required to complete one of two capstone tracks— MAPS (Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global Studies) or Springboard—and these classes encourage collaboration between alumni and students. In October, the Entrepreneurship Springboard class taught by Todd
“Meeting our Mercersburg alumni
McGuire traveled to the D.C. area to meet with Michaella Hoehn-Saric ’13
in different areas of business and
and Alec Harris ’00 of Halo Privacy.
learning about how diverse the
David Bennett are working on yearlong research projects connected to
options are for entrepreneurship
alumni (including Walter Burgin ’53, Paul Sommerville ’63, Alan Brody ’64,
was my favorite part of the trip.”
their recollections of the 1960s at Mercersburg. Read more on page 32.
—Shirley Lee ’20
talk about the craft of film and his work, including his new documentary
of 2U Inc., Lacy Rice ’79 and Dara Vaziri ’10 of Federal Capital Partners, Students in the Parallel Histories Springboard course taught by John Mercersburg’s history as a school, and have spoken with a number of Charlie Guy ’65, John VerStandig ’66, and Clarence Youngs ’68) about Documentary filmmaker David Ashton ’06 visited Kristen Pixler’s Springboard COMMARTS class during Family and Alumni Weekend to “The Legacy Sessions.” Nigel Sussman ’01, who was recently featured in Oakland Magazine, also connected with the class via Skype in the fall to talk about his work as a professional artist and graphic designer. Outside of MAPS and Springboard, Jennifer Nelson ’13 choreographed a piece titled “My Control” for the Fall Dance Concert in November; she was on campus in September to work with the student dancers and crew, and she is also
Michaella Hoehn-Saric ’13 (left) with students
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
scheduled to set a piece for the end-ofyear Spring Dance Concert.
ALUMNI LIFE
Connecting through travel
“Mercersburg alumni
In the spring of 2018, the inaugural San
Nixon sees this internship as
Francisco Alumni Connections trip took place
a small example of the possibilities
over spring break. Offered every other year, this
within the greater Mercersburg
have so much to offer
weeklong trip is set to run again in March 2020 and
community. “I’m super interested
offers students the opportunity to make meaningful
in the potential of the Mercersburg
students looking for
connections with Mercersburg alumni who live and
Network, and this six-week internship
work in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since many
is a perfect example of that,” she says.
additional work outside
alumni work in the tech industry (and not just in
“I was excited to have someone from
coding), trip participants examine various aspects
Mercersburg come to L.A. and work
of the classroom.”
of the tech world.
with us, and Sophie outperformed and
—Sophie Krasny ’20
“This trip provides our students with tangible
did such a great job in only six weeks.
experiences that begin to get at what professional
When alums come together, in any
experiences are out there,” says Tim Crouch,
capacity–be it social, work, whatever,
Mercersburg’s director of regional engagement,
we want to do everything we can for
who leads this trip with faculty member Michele
each other because we have this special
Poacelli. Crouch says it’s impressive to see the outcome of what Mercersburg is preparing students
shared connection to the school, and this
for, and when the trip ran in 2018, every alum they connected with underscored the importance
was a very small case study of that.”
of Mercersburg. “I was really humbled by how seriously and ernest and excited every alum was,” Crouch says. “It made us feel really special.” Some of the alumni who met with 2018 trip participants include Matt Cook ’11, who works for Snapchat; Chris Adusei-Poku ’16, Chuck Roberts ’07, and Magdalena Kala ’09, who were all attending Stanford University; Jerry Li ’13 at Google; Raymond Schulz ’65 at Varian Medical; Amy Lanigan ’91, who connected students with Salesforce; Matt Danziger ’99 at Pure Storage; John Lucas ’84 at UBS; Hillary Gridley ’06 at Dropbox; and Bruce Sandell ’81 at Looker Data Sciences.
Want to connect? You are part of the Mercersburg Network. “Don’t underestimate how inspiring one’s story and one’s journey can be,” says Crouch. “Chances are there’s a current student at Mercersburg Academy who can
Connecting through internships Over the summer of 2019, Sophie Krasny ’20 interned with Sierra Nixon ’01 at Empire in Los
identify with that journey and that student’s life can be changed by it.” To make that connection and get involved,
Angeles. Empire is an event production company headquartered in New York, and Nixon heads up
visit mercersburg.edu/networking
the Los Angeles branch. She and Krasny connected through Mercersburg’s Office of Advancement
or contact Jason Bershatsky, director
and Alumni Relations; in fact, Krasny was the first intern ever to assist in the company’s Los
of alumni relations, at bershatskyj@
Angeles office.
mercersburg.edu or 717-328-6364.
“It is a very unstructured internship,” says Nixon. “Because we are a small company, interns have the opportunity to get a lot of hands-on experience—if they are self-motivated and eager. Otherwise they can get lost in the fast-paced shuffle of the office. Sophie understood
Sophie Krasny ’20 (left) with Sierra Nixon ’01
the urgency and took it seriously. She went above and beyond and did a great job.” Some of Krasny’s responsibilities included helping to prepare for an upcoming event in May 2020. She contacted every venue in New Orleans that could hold 600 people and requested layouts of the spaces and pricing details. She also networked with representatives at each location. “It was exactly what I was looking for,” Krasny says. “Throughout my time at Empire, I learned to problem-solve and reorganize when things didn’t work out. I learned a lot about the entertainment industry, but I was also able to apply and practice other skills useful to everyday tasks.”
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Milestones in Our
Shared History This issue of Mercersburg Academy magazine acknowledges, explores, and honors moments in our school’s history that profoundly impact the Mercersburg of today. We begin this journey with a story by four current students—Aba Sankah ’20, Audrey McGrory ’20, Caroline Kranich ’20, and Julia Borger ’20—about their search for information related to Mercersburg’s decision to integrate 55 years ago. Five years after this decision, Mercersburg opened its doors to women, and faculty member Alexandra Patterson shares her experience watching these four young women interview Denise Dupré ’76, Mercersburg’s first female chair of the Board of Regents. Then, in 1989, Mercersburg took another momentous step and created what would come to be known as the Black Student Union. Jasen Wright ’99 shares that story. The following pages are just a snapshot of all that has happened in the 55 years since these milestones began. Please visit our website for more on our shared history.
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Exploring 55 Years of Black Student Integration By Aba Sankah ’20, Audrey McGrory ’20, Caroline Kranich ’20, and Julia Borger ’20
uring the first weeks of school, alongside “What colleges are you applying to?” Mercersburg seniors are often asked, “What Springboard class are you taking?” Springboard, one of the Academy’s two capstone programs, allows students to combine their interests and talents for a yearlong, immersive project that they present in April. One standout Springboard course is Parallel Histories. (Don’t fret, it has no correlation with math.) Facilitated by John David Bennett, dean of curricular innovation and director of Springboard, Parallel Histories focuses on moments in the history of Mercersburg Academy and their relation to what was happening nationally and globally at the same time. As a part of this class, in September we began to research the story of black student integration at Mercersburg Academy, a topic of particular interest considering this year marks its 55th anniversary.
Starting the Search
On our first day of class, we listened to an interview about Tom Leslie ’66, the first black
graduate of the school, and the notorious 1964 football game between Mercersburg and RandolphMacon. The voice in the interview belonged to Ron Simar, a player in the game for Randolph-Macon,
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Left to right: Audrey McGrory ’20, Aba Sankah ’20, Caroline Kranich ’20, and Julia Borger ’20
who was unaware of the behind-the-scenes drama until years later when he became Mercersburg’s athletic director. When Randolph-Macon learned that the Mercersburg roster included a black player, they refused to play if Leslie participated. Leonard Plantz, Mercersburg’s athletic director at the time, insisted that if Leslie couldn’t play, the whole team wouldn’t. On the day of the game, RandolphMacon relented, and despite Mercersburg’s loss, the game marked a significant turning point in the Academy’s history. Since then, we have interviewed Paul Sommerville ’63, Alan Brody ’64, Charlie Guy ’65, John VerStandig ’66, and Clarence Youngs ’68. We’ve also interviewed former Headmaster Walter Burgin ’53, and each interview has helped us understand the time period a bit more. Although the men with whom we’ve spoken have said that integration was a relatively seamless process, being a black student at Mercersburg in the 1960s came with significantly trying moments. Guy remembers one day when a group of classmates, including Leslie, went to a local convenience store and bought a couple of bottles of Coca-Cola that they’d all share. They passed the bottles around, each taking a sip. Following Leslie, a student from Virginia grabbed a sip and exclaimed, “You know, before this year, I’d never even talked to a [black person]. Now I’m drinking after one.” Guy admits that as much as Leslie did for the school and for the social and civil awareness of so many of his classmates, they “weren’t good at taking care of him. We didn’t know how.”
Moving Toward Integration
Although students in the years leading up to 1964 were unaware of plans to integrate, many of
them were discussing the topic, with the Mercersburg News acting as a platform to share their opinions. As we discovered in our research, Brody, who was the editor-in-chief of and a frequent writer for the
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newspaper, wrote that “Integration is really a broadening experience, a contact with people in some respect different from oneself. As such, it should be an integral part of education, and an integral part of the Mercersburg education.” Offering a different perspective, another student wrote in 1963 in support of Mississippi’s decision to stand by segregation, arguing that although integration was inevitable, Mississippi’s decision was justified since it reflected the opinions of “the majority of the people.” Although the student did not support segregation, he wrote in favor of a more gradual introduction to integration. According to Board of Regents meeting minutes recorded on October 18, 1963, there was
“Integration is
pressure from the United Church of Christ to “accept any boy who meets the admission standards
really a broadening
national origin.” In the fall of 1964, Mercersburg integrated. This was further emphasized by former
experience, a contact with people in some respect different from
and also to provide financial help where need is demonstrated, and this regardless of race, creed, or Headmaster Burgin when we interviewed him: “The school does have a way of managing to do what is right to do, even if at times it has come slowly to understand what that is.” With help from organizations like A Better Chance, a program that gives underprivileged, minority youth an opportunity to attend “high-achieving” preparatory schools, Mercersburg enrolled three black students: Leslie, Conrad Vickers ’68, and Tom Fleming ’68. Leslie, Vickers, and Fleming were all active members of the Mercersburg community. To name just a few of their contributions, according to school records, Leslie won the John Mountain Prize for the best poem published during
oneself. As such, it
his senior year, was a member of The Fifteen, and served as a dorm proctor (what we now call a
should be an integral
and Vickers lent his musical talents to various groups, including Football Band, Concert Choir, and
part of education, and an integral part of the Mercersburg education.” —Opinion piece by Alan Brody ’64 in a 1964 edition of the Mercersburg News
prefect). Fleming served as an Irving Society declaimer, a Blue Key, and vice president of Paideia, Glee Club.
The Borough’s Response
Knowing that Vanessa Youngs ’03 would be back on campus for a Board of Regents meeting this
past October, we scheduled a time to connect with her and her father, Clarence Youngs ’68. Mr. Youngs came to Mercersburg from Harlem, New York, where he found Mercersburg through A Better Chance. He shared that most of his difficulties during his Mercersburg career didn’t stem from the Academy, but from time spent in the borough. This was further supported by former Headmaster Burgin, who told us about how the town was still segregated at the time of the Academy’s integration, whether geographically or by designated seating in the local movie theater, the Star Theatre. Youngs recalled an interaction with a white child who screamed, “Oh Mommy, there’s a dark black man! I’m scared!” Although Youngs told us how most of his memories at the Academy were positive, there was tension between some Southern students and the black students. When we asked Youngs whether or not he felt he was treated like a minority, he simply said, “We knew who we were.”
Looking Ahead
As our year progresses in Parallel Histories, some of us will continue with this project, while
others will focus on other aspects of the Academy’s history. Regardless of what direction we take individually, being a part of unearthing this story has been an unforgettable experience. We appreciate the opportunity and feel fortunate to be just one small piece of its history. None of us would have this experience if not for the first female students, who bravely paved the way for future generations of girls at the school. The anniversaries of female and black student integration set the framework for this year’s theme of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which we will continue to highlight and celebrate as the year continues.
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Witnessing a Conversation 50 Years in the Making By Alexandra Patterson, Director of Library Services and We Speak Coordinator
alking in for the interview between Denise Dupré ’76 and four seniors in the Parallel Histories class, I could hear peals of laughter from the four girls seated on the couch. Aba Sankah, Audrey McGrory, Caroline Kranich, and Julia Borger were excited and maybe a bit nervous. This was a momentous occasion, the opportunity to talk to a woman who had experienced some of the first years of coeducation at the Academy. Denise Dupré arrived at Mercersburg in the fall of 1972, a few years after Mercersburg opened its doors to women and the second year that women were allowed to board. She came to the Academy from just outside of Pittsburgh, a drive she says took “two hours and 20 minutes if you were running late, but usually took about two hours and 45 minutes.” Dupré did not set out to attend a private school; in some ways it fell into her lap. She knew she wanted to challenge herself academically, so she started asking many of the people who came to the ski resort near her home where they’d gone to school. Hearing the name Mercersburg Academy, she picked up the phone and called the Admission Office: “I said, ‘Hi! I think I want to come to your school. How do I do that?’” Dupré says she ended up at Mercersburg because of a stroke of “good timing, in addition to dumb luck.” Her ninth-grade class was a small one, so small that she was able to illustrate it by pointing to the girls: “The four of you sitting there on that sofa, that was my freshman class of boarding women.” The students were shocked and wondered whether that was uncomfortable for Dupré and her cohort.
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Dupré recalled her first year at Mercersburg was all about small steps for the school and herself. She acknowledged that there were a few bumps along the road since women were still a new thing on campus: “The school had done great things to adapt, but there were some things they hadn’t thought of yet.” The girls erupted into laughter as Dupré shared the story of living in Tippetts, which was a boys’ dorm before she and her cohort moved in, and “they’d left the urinals in! They didn’t even think of it!” The conversation quickly turned serious as Sankah asked about whether Dupré noticed that she was in the minority and if the boys were welcoming. Dupré admitted that “it was a pretty lopsided ratio, which created an interesting dynamic in its own right,” but she remembered that, by and large, everyone was welcoming. The school didn’t have as many offerings for women yet, which had its pluses and minuses: “I had to quickly adapt to what [sports] choices there were, which weren’t many [for women] in the fall. You could either swim or play field hockey.” Dupré, however, made the most out of the situation, adding, “I always got to start!” In response, the students shared some of the current performance group activity (PGA) options for men and women, ranging from Stony Batter Players (Mercersburg’s theatre group) to lacrosse to soccer. “So many choices!” Dupré laughed. Despite having to carve her own path in some areas, Dupré The first class of women to return to the Academy since 1897 joined as day students in 1969. Pictured here: (first row) Barbara Hawbaker ’72; (second row, left to right) Maude Scott ’73, Carol Eppinger ’70, Amy MacDonald ’72, Anna Scarborough ’71, Robin Grove ’73; (third row, left to right) Lisa Humphreys ’73, Elizabeth Washabaugh ’71, Ann Chalfant ’71, Pamela Carter ’71, Abby Anderson ’72, and Jody Gullet ’73.
fully immersed herself in Mercersburg life. When asked to share her Mercersburg moment–the experience that defined her time at the Academy–Dupré joked that while she’d love to pick the hat trick on the field, she would have to go with the time she got a paper returned her ninth-grade year. The teacher had written a comment: “This was really great work.” For Dupré, who had been struggling with whether she would be able to handle the academics at Mercersburg, it was a sign that she could succeed. “After you have a taste of it, it’s how you behave; it’s a glory spiral. You work harder, you succeed, you take risks.”
Post-Mercersburg
And take risks she did. After Mercersburg, Dupré went on to Dartmouth College, where she
again ushered in coeducation. Dupré compared her two educational experiences and found her time at Mercersburg to be the less jarring of the two. The almost 10:1 ratio of boys to girls her first year at the Academy meant that “[women] were more novelty than threat,” according to Dupré, and it was easy to “mix in.” Dupré returned to Mercersburg as a member of the Board of Regents in 1995. She served on the executive committee for the Daring to Lead Campaign and was on the Mightily Onward Campaign steering committee. She became president of the Board in 2005 and served in that capacity until 2012. Dupré was the first female Board president, an experience she called “really a rich privilege and honor.” She shared some of the parallels between being Student Council president and Board president: “The memory came back to me when I became chair of the Board. They handed me the same gavel [that I used as Student Council president]. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve had this gavel before.’ The weight of that moment really hit me.” Her time on the Board was “Mercersburg 2.0,” she says, and she appreciated the opportunity to give back to the community that meant so much to her: “[Mercersburg made] a profound difference for me.”
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Things That Have Changed
Sankah, McGrory, Kranich, and Borger wondered at the changes Dupré had seen over her time at
the Academy as a student and a Board member. There is such a “breadth of choice” now, Dupré said. “[There is] just a microcosm of the four of you sitting here. You have crafted your Springboard project for yourselves. There was a lot more structure and a lot less choice.” Things are also different due to globalization. “The world comes to Mercersburg in a much different way than when I was here,” Dupré remarked, referring to the speakers the Academy brings in. (Learn more about this year’s campus speakers on page 19 of this issue.)
Parallel Histories
Despite the more than 40-year gap between her time on campus and today, Dupré says there
are certain things that time can’t change: “On net, there is a love for this place and a respect for this place and its traditions.” McGrory asked about whether Dupré was Irving or Marshall. Dupré quipped, “I can put that on the record! I was very much on the record: Irving!” Marshall Society member McGrory replied, “Oh, I think that should be off the record!” This gentle rivalry is one of the many reasons that, listening to the conversation, I was struck not by what has changed over the course of Mercersburg’s years of coeducation, but by what has remained the same. For example, there before me sat two class presidents, nearly five decades apart in age, who had both given up a sport to come to Mercersburg: Aba Sankah ’20 and Denise Dupré ’76. They both spoke about ways to make the most of time spent on campus. Dupré’s advice to the girls was, “Senior year goes fast—love every day,” which echoed Sankah’s message from the beginning of the term. At Convocation, Sankah told her fellow students, “At the end of the year, when you reflect, make sure that you have more ‘I’m glad I…’ instead of ‘I wish I….’” The parallels continued. When asked about what she wished she’d known as a student, Dupré replied, “To have the courage to not be good at everything. To be able to laugh at yourself. To hang in there and to try things you aren’t necessarily good at. Take more chances because sometimes luck comes your way even in unexpected packing.” Again, her words mirrored Sankah’s opening speech: “Remember to not take yourself too seriously; it’s important to give yourself a break and laugh, crack jokes, and spread smiles across the campus. Never back down from raising your voice, and always have open ears to listen to the ideas of others.”
Moving Forward
Dupré wanted to give some advice to the girls as they move forward in life. She noted that there
are often challenges to being a woman in the workplace, and “you have to work hard to differentiate yourself. It doesn’t come easy. You have a real springboard here. Mercersburg has given you something. Grab it and run with it!” At Mercersburg, we celebrate this spirit, and we are proud to honor 50 years of coeducation this year in a variety of ways. Our summer reading was dedicated to women telling their stories, and students were asked to read one of three books that told uniquely female stories: The Woman’s Hour by Elaine Weiss, Far from the Tree by Robin Benway, and Shoot Like a Girl by MJ Hegar. Various speakers throughout the year, including Benway and Hegar, have spoken to the female experience, and our celebratory programming will culminate in April with a daylong series of workshops titled “We Speak 2020: A day dedicated to the past, present, and future of women and gender equality.” I encourage you to follow along online as our year of celebrations continues, and to see some of the conversation that I witnessed between Dupré and these four students, be sure to visit Mercersburg’s website. WINTER WINTER2020 2020
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Celebrating the History of the BSU By Jasen Wright ’99
Editor’s Note: Jasen Wright delivered a version of this speech at the 30th Anniversary of the Black Student Union Celebratory Dinner at Family and Alumni Weekend in October.
lack students (and other students of color) have been a part of the fabric of Mercersburg’s history and success for the last 55 years, but our contributions have not always been recognized or celebrated. We’ve come from countries all over the world and some of the biggest cities here in the United States to serve as leaders of this community–valedictorians, salutatorians, student body presidents, class presidents, PGA captains, headwaiters, Irving and Marshall officers and declaimers—the list goes on and on; we have done it. Black students and alumni have always been an integral part of Mercersburg, helping to inspire and write the Academy’s very own core values: lofty ideals, great faith, noble integrity, and a ceaseless devotion to a mighty task. The mighty task 30 years ago was to create a student organization that can provide a sense of identity, belonging, and unity for students of African descent. That mighty task was taken on by a
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Past and present members of the school’s Black Student Union gathered with special guests during Family and Alumni Weekend 2019 for a dinner celebrating the BSU’s 30th anniversary and the 55th anniversary of black student integration at Mercersburg Academy. The evening included music and spoken word performances, remarks by current and former BSU members, and several award presentations.
young woman named Tonya Rutherford ’90. In the fall of 1989, an article in the Mercersburg News described the African-American Student Union (AASU) as a new social-conscience group formed to share the cultural diversity of the African culture with all people. Tonya had the vision, curiosity, and
“The 30th celebration of the Black Student
bravery to create this organization as a safe place for students of color and a community where we can speak, console, and mentor freely as we navigated the complexities of our adolescence here at Mercersburg. The officers of the AASU included Tonya, president; John Henry ’91, vice president; Tim Eneas ’91, secretary; David Ndlovu ’90, treasurer; and Kirk Cummings ’92, member at large. While Tonya and her classmates led the way in 1989, we did find in our research that back in
Union was powerful.
1974, there was a Black Student Union on campus that hosted a Black Advancement Day. It was a
We experienced the
10-point objective program to provide social activities relevant to black students and to assist students
full range of emotions.
weekend themed “not burn baby burn, but learn baby learn, so you can earn baby earn.” It included a in the selection of their future careers through career conferences. More than 300 black students from Washington, D.C., Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and surrounding areas visited the campus to participate in a speaker series, gospel and dance performances, rap sessions, a pool party, and
We laughed hearty
culturally relevant movies. According to records from the Mercersburg News, it was a hugely successful
laughs and even
several stereotypes and misconceptions about black students and history.
shed some tears. We
officially had an organization that would live on for the next 30 years and continues to thrive as a
celebrated our past
the African-American Student Union to the Black Student Union. It’s important to note that the BSU
and articulated the
kind, constantly pushing the narrative and conversation to ensure black students and students of color
framework for our
for Black History Month and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and has helped to coordinate the Jacobs
future. It was perfect
the great civil rights leader Andrew Young; Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.; Lorene
exactly as it was.” —Tonya Rutherford ’90, founding president of the BSU
weekend and allowed the school community to celebrate black history and culture and addressed It wasn’t until 15 years later when Tonya had the vision to create the AASU that the Academy vibrant part of the school community. In 2016 the name of the organization officially changed from has led the way for culture-based student organizations at Mercersburg. It has been the only one of its have a voice and a seat at the table. Over the years the organization has led the way in programming Residency and the Monday Evening Lecture Series, which have brought speakers and authors such as Cary, author of Black Ice; and African dance instructor Stephanie Powell. The organization continues to inspire various student activities such as the Pump Up the Jam House Party, dances, fundraisers, and more. As Mercersburg focuses on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, we should all be proud to see the Black Student Union at the forefront of the discussion, as evidenced by the panel discussion on Friday of Family and Alumni Weekend, where Ernest Green shared his life experiences as part of the “Little Rock Nine.” While the BSU is meant to celebrate the history, identity, and culture of black students and students of color, it is an organization open to all, and we should continue to encourage the entire school community to support and participate.
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Imagery supplied by Kristina Velickovic/Digital Vision Vectors via Getty Images
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
n i v i D g In Introducing the Lloyd Aquatic Center: Mercersburg’s New Water World
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By Lee Owen
s the crowd entered the brand-new Lloyd Aquatic Center for the first time in October, two trays of stainless-steel cups sat waiting next to the Furnary Pool. Each cup held about four ounces of water—and 50 years of history—from the Flanagan Pool, which produced a legion of legendary swimmers and divers, Easterns and national titles, and nearly two dozen Olympians during its halfcentury of venerable service to Mercersburg Academy. During an opening ceremony that night, alumni, school leadership, donors, friends, and members of the current student body poured water from the cups into the roughly 480,000 gallons of water already in the 50-meter (Olympic size) Furnary Pool. The approximately $16 million facility is located on the east side of campus, adjacent to historic Nolde Gymnasium and between the Hale Field House and baseball field. The Furnary Pool can be configured through a system of movable bulkheads for competitions and training sessions at 25-yard (short course) and 50-meter (long course) distances, and will be in the running to host official USA Swimming and USA Diving events. (The aquatic center, gymnasium, field house, Davenport Squash Center, and Plantz Courts are now officially part of the school’s newly christened Goldthorpe Athletic Complex; read more about namesake Dwight Goldthorpe ’37 on page 22.) A diving area with two one-meter and two three-meter boards is a key feature of the Furnary Pool and will serve as a home for Mercersburg’s diving program. The pool’s
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Top photo: Andrew Yuen ’21 swims in the first meet in the Lloyd Aquatic Center’s Furnary Pool in December (a victory over The Hill School). Photo at left: Phil ’65 and Peggy Lloyd with daughters Bebe ’94 and Kim ’90 and grandchildren Charles and Mattie Welch and Rowan and Addison Nessel. Photo at right: Stapley Curwen ’20 completes a dive in the opening meet. Bottom photo: Mercersburg and Hill swimmers take flight at the start of a race.
multiple configurations allow for maximum flexibility and use by all members of the school community, from competitive swimmers and divers to athletic training and recovery workouts, kayaking and other instructional courses, and as a hub for the fitness of students, employees, and families. The Lloyd Aquatic Center is named for Board of Regents member Philip A. Lloyd ’65, his wife, Peggy, and their daughters, former Mercersburg swimmers and divers Kim ’90 and Bebe ’94. The Furnary Pool honors Tony Furnary ’76, a leading cardiothoracic surgeon who was a standout swimmer and student at Mercersburg. Construction on the Lloyd Aquatic Center began in spring 2018; the facility’s first official home meet was a December clash between the Blue Storm boys’ and girls’ swimmers and divers and Mid-Atlantic Prep League rival The Hill School. “The Lloyd Aquatic Center is a game changer for us,” says Rick Hendrickson, Mercersburg’s director of athletics. “It provides us with a premier facility to go along with premier coaching for our athletes, and it opens up so many possibilities for formal and informal use by our school community. We will be able to host significant meets in this building and be a good community partner for our local area.” In fact, for the first time this winter, the Mid-Atlantic Prep League—of which Mercersburg is a member—will hold its league meet somewhere other than the Peddie School (in Hightstown, New Jersey). The Lloyd Aquatic Center is scheduled to host the 2020 MAPL Swimming and Diving Invitational February 1. “This building signals our commitment to having the best program we can have,” Mercersburg head swimming coach Glenn Neufeld says. “You want to know that the school you send your kids to will support whatever your kids want to do—whether it’s a sport, the arts, or anything else. This facility is living proof of our commitment. It will impact prospective students and will enhance what we can do for our current students.” Head diving coach Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (who is also the school’s academic dean) was a diver at Mercersburg and later at the University of Richmond. She is thrilled that Blue Storm divers will no longer be limited to evening practices; the new larger facility can house swimmers and divers concurrently. In addition to an in-ground hot tub on the deck, the diving area also features special belts to help divers learn to practice new dives with assistance (and reduced pain from potential awkward impacts with the water’s surface). “From our standpoint, it’s a huge statement of support for the divers and for our program,” Smith says. “I’m excited about what this will do for our program, but even more excited about what this will do for our current and future divers and anyone who has aspirations of diving here in the future.” “Phil Lloyd and the Lloyd family have been committed to the research and development for the right facility for Mercersburg,” Hendrickson says. “We didn’t just decide that we had to build a 50-meter pool. This facility is the result of several years of planning and evaluation and discussions about the role it will play in our community. “We’re grateful for the strong alumni and donor support we’ve had from our community, and there are so many people that deserve credit—including the Lloyds; [Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations] Maria Kimsey; Betsy Mitchell ’83, one of our Olympic gold medalists, who has been such a great resource for us; and obviously the leadership of former Head of School Douglas Hale and now Head of School Katie Titus for bringing it all together.” The first “race” in the new facility during the October ceremony was truly an all-star affair, featuring a ceremonial swim and relay with—among many—returning Olympic swimmers Mitchell and Geri Mewett ’92, Kim Lloyd and Bebe Lloyd, Furnary, Board of Regents president emerita Denise Dupré ’76, and members of the current Mercersburg swim team—plus Titus.
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Mercersburg Academy Announces Plan to Move Beyond AP By Jillian Wilkerson
demands of the 21st century, we have to adapt so the students will benefit from having a curriculum that prioritizes creativity, curiosity,
Mercersburg Academy is taking steps to move beyond the Advanced Placement (AP) designation. This decision, which has been vetted and researched by faculty and administrators over the past two years, has been carefully calibrated to encourage innovation, rigor, and additional time in the school’s academic schedule to explore creativity and depth of topics both in and out of the classroom. The academic team has recommended that Mercersburg move beyond the designation in 2020-2021 to allow innovation within courses across the curriculum. Not all classes will be radically different, and many faculty members may choose to keep their same course structure, but will have more liberties in their courses by not teaching specifically for an exam. Mercersburg will replace current AP course titles with a new designation: “Advanced Studies
and the audacity to
in….” For example, a course formerly titled “AP Chemistry” will become “Advanced Studies in
become emergent
Academic departments will decide which “Advanced Studies” courses will align with the AP
leaders.” — John David Bennett, Dean of Curricular Innovation
Chemistry,” designating it as the highest level of that subject offered at Mercersburg Academy. curriculum, and students will have the opportunity to sit for the corresponding AP exams. But moving beyond the AP designation will allow us to create advanced courses that the College Board does not offer. Examples could be “Advanced Studies in Robotics” or “Advanced Studies in Western Philosophy,” which colleges would regard as high level courses, equivalent to the AP. “This decision provides our talented faculty with maximum flexibility to build new and innovative courses that will better serve current and future Mercersburg students,” says Head of School Katie Titus. “While in some cases, courses will look similar to the current AP classes, this is about more than just reimagining today’s curriculum—it’s about reimagining education to ensure we are preparing our students for a complex, changing world.”
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Imagery supplied by fstop123/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
“In order to match the
“Moving forward, we can now empower our talented faculty to build new and innovative courses that will better serve current and future Mercersburg students.” — Head of School Katie Titus
According to John David Bennett, dean of curricular innovation, the move away from AP will create the room and flexibility for innovation in the classroom. “We want to innovate, and moving away from Advanced Placement isn’t an innovation in and of itself,” says Bennett. “In order to match the demands of the 21st century, we have to adapt so the students will benefit from having a curriculum that prioritizes creativity, curiosity, and the audacity to become emergent leaders.” “Students can expect more opportunities for experiential learning, including travel—to be incorporated into the classes, such as getting off campus for field experiences that are otherwise hard to find time to do,” says Jennifer Miller Smith ’97, the school’s dean of academics and a member of the science faculty. “With less time devoted to specific preparation for a year-end exam.” Introduced in the 1950s, AP classes offer motivated high-school students a chance to take collegelevel classes to receive college credit, sometimes allowing students to complete their undergraduate degrees early. But many colleges and universities require students to take the course again, even if they’ve taken the AP course and scored well on the AP exam. “Students may feel obligated to enroll in AP courses for the sake of their transcript, sacrificing time that could be spent exploring other areas of interest that are just as compelling to prospective colleges,” says Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, associate head of school for school life at Mercersburg. Mercersburg is not the first college-prep school to make this switch. In recent years, schools across the country have opted to move beyond AP in their advanced courses for the sake of freeing up students to spend focused time on experiential projects, explore new content areas, and conduct field studies to prepare them for college. Ultimately, college admission offices want to know that students are challenging themselves at the highest level during their high-school careers. Mike Conklin, director of college counseling at Mercersburg, says that colleges evaluate a student’s transcript, and the rigor of their curriculum, within the context of the school they attend. “Through our various conversations with faculty and administrators at secondary schools that have already moved beyond the AP, none reported an adverse impact on college admission,” Conklin says. “In fact, college-admission personnel have consistently affirmed the value of the dynamic learning that takes place in non-AP courses.” “The question isn’t whether applicants have taken AP courses, but rather if they have taken advantage of their high school’s most challenging courses offered,” Maurer says. “Every college we’ve talked to has indicated that they want to know that students have challenged themselves while they’ve been at Mercersburg.” Mercersburg Academy is excited about what this will mean for the community as it looks forward to more depth and creativity in the curriculum.
For more about this announcement, including answers to frequently asked questions and an opinion piece by John David Bennett, Mercersburg’s dean of curricular innovation, visit our website.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19
MERCERSBURG UPDATES HISTORIC GIVING FROM MERCERSBURG PARENTS PROPELS ANNUAL FUND GROWTH
The 2018-2019 Annual Fund closed at a staggering $3,405,345 (or a 4 percent increase over the previous fiscal year). This was fueled by an incredible year in parent giving, which crossed $1 million in commitments ($1,001,278 or a 52 percent increase) thanks to the support of 253 families. Alumni giving also increased by 5 percent with $2,368,651 thanks to 2,327 donors.
INTRODUCING THE LLOYD AQUATIC CENTER Mercersburg’s new Lloyd Aquatic Center opened in October 2019 and includes the 50-meter (Olympic size) Furnary Pool. The Lloyd Aquatic Center is named for Board of Regents member Philip A. Lloyd ’65, his wife, Peggy, and their daughters, former Mercersburg swimmers and divers Kim ’90 and Bebe ’94. The Furnary Pool honors Tony Furnary ’76, a leading cardiothoracic surgeon who was a standout swimmer and student at Mercersburg. Read more on page 42.
RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING CLASSES AT REUNION WEEKEND 2019
• The Class of 1999 had the most classmates at Reunion Weekend with 51 in attendance (a record for a 20th reunion) and led the way in Annual Fund donors with 58 (or 40 percent), another record for a 20th reunion. • The Class of 1974 gave the most to the Annual Fund, totaling $313,762 (a record for a 45th reunion). • The Class of 1979 set a record for attendance and donors at a 40th reunion (49 donors and 33 classmates in attendance). • The Class of 2014 cinched the record for the most classmates in attendance at a five-year reunion (49 classmates).
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GENEVIEVE GAWLIK ’19 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Recipient of a scholarship through the Witmer Family Scholar Endowed Fund A dancer, member of Chorale, and certified lifeguard, Genevieve “Nevie” Gawlik jumped right into life at Mercersburg Academy: “I could go on forever about the opportunities that I’ve had here,” she says. “I love getting to do hands-on projects. I’m so happy every time we do a lab or I get to work with my teachers or we go outside or something like that because I know that here I’m getting an amazing experience whereas I might be just looking at a textbook at home.” By exploring the possibilities, Gawlik discovered a love for athletic training, learning how to help athletes with injuries. As part of her senior Springboard project, she developed an athletic leadership class for students at the nonprofit Girls Inc. in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland. She is now in her first year at Lehigh University, majoring in environmental studies and health, medicine, and society. She is following a pre-law track and will begin the spring semester as a sophomore, thanks to the credits she accrued at Mercersburg. When asked about those who make Mercersburg scholarships possible, Gawlik says, “Thank you so, so much for the opportunity and for amplifying the amount of diversity and voices that we have at the table. For me, I am being surrounded by diverse voices that I never would have gotten to work with or see at least until college, if then. Working with so many kids from so many backgrounds has been such an incredible experience, and the support I’ve had at Mercersburg is incredible and has really changed my life.… I am so happy for the opportunity, and every step of the way, I’ve been so blessed.”
RICHARD H. WITMER ’70 Greenwich, Connecticut
Benefactor of the Witmer Family Scholar Endowed Fund Richard “Rick” Witmer ’70 says Mercersburg changed the trajectory of his life. “High school is a time when we are very much defining who we are and what we believe,” he says, “and it’s a great privilege to be in a community like Mercersburg where you have teachers and peers challenging you as to why you believe what you believe, and it is really helpful in terms of figuring out who you are.” At Mercersburg, Witmer played soccer, squash, and lacrosse; served on student government and the honor committee; and was a member of the newspaper staff. At graduation, he was awarded the Headmaster’s Prize and Yale Aurelian Award. He went on to attend Brown University and credits mentors like Mercersburg English teacher Barry Bergh and soccer coach Tom Steiger ’35 for their influence that followed him to college and beyond. Today, Witmer and his wife Jean have three children, and he says he is currently “failing at retirement.” While still a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman & Company, he now pursues his three passions: investing in software businesses, spending time outdoors with family and friends, and helping others grow and develop. Recipients of the Witmer Family Scholar Endowed Fund have certainly benefited from that third passion, but Witmer is quick to shine the spotlight away from himself. When he thinks about Nevie Gawlik, he says, “I am so grateful about her many contributions to Mercersburg. Having an exceptional student and person like Nevie in a community the size of Mercersburg has a huge impact on all the other members. She has contributed as much to the school as the school contributed to her.”
A DISTINGUISHED HONOR Mercersburg Academy is one of just eight independent schools honored in 2019 with a CASE Educational Fundraising Award, which is presented by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. This award annually recognizes exemplary development programs based on a blind review of data. It marks Mercersburg’s second such award in a four-year span; the school’s Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations was previously recognized in 2016. “It is both humbling and affirming for our school to receive this distinguished recognition from CASE,” says Quentin McDowell, associate head of school for external relations. “This award is not only a reflection of the tireless daily work of the wonderful people here at Mercersburg, but it is also a tremendous tribute to our community of alumni, parents, friends, and volunteers who choose to support the school so fully.”
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ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19
THE MERCERSBURG ACADEMY ENDOWMENT VALUE as of June 30, 2019
The purpose of the Mercersburg Academy endowment is to support the people, programs, and activities of the school in perpetuity. Over the years, growth of the endowment through investment returns and philanthropic support has enabled the school to offer financial aid to qualified students, to attract, retain, and develop an excellent faculty, and to provide programs that enrich the lives of the entire Mercersburg community.
$325 $272 $250
$240
$249
062
$241
$213 $194
$200 $159
$189
591
$169
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2013
2011
2014
56 2012
$50 2010
031
2009
$100
0
0
(IN MILLIONS)
SPENDING
ASSET ALLOCATION
as of June 30, 2019
12% Faculty Support
The endowment spending policy is designed to provide a steady flow of support to the annual operating budget. In FY ’19 the endowment spending draw was $11,042,797. Of this draw 25% was designated for financial aid. A significant portion of the endowment, 37%, is unrestricted as to its use, giving the school maximum flexibility in the use of these funds.
1% Physical Plant 25% Financial Aid
37% Unrestricted
25% Restricted/ Other
as of June 30, 2019
To achieve the long-term benefits of a diversified endowment, strategic targets for each asset class in which the endowment is invested have been adopted. The portfolio weight for each asset class is expected to remain within minimum and maximum percentage ranges.
13.7% Cash and Short-Term Bonds 2.3% Inflation Protection
27.3% U.S. Equity
24.6% International Equity
9.6% Absolute Return 15.9% Hedged Equity
PERFORMANCE
RETURNS
as of June 30, 2019
as of June 30, 2019
The endowment is managed in accordance with the Investment Policy Statement last amended by the Board of Regents on January 25, 2019. The investment objectives of the endowment are the preservation and enhancement of the endowment’s inflation-adjusted purchasing power in order to provide a stable flow of support for the school’s annual operations while preserving the purchasing power of the endowment in perpetuity.
Annualized Return
Rolling Ten-Year Annualized Returns*
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Actual Return
7.1%
5.7%
5.0%
6.1%
7.9%
Total Portfolio Benchmark**
6.5%
5.4%
5.2%
6.4%
7.2%
CPI +5.0%
7.2%
6.8%
6.8%
6.6%
7.0%
* The returns listed for the endowment are net of all fees and expenses. ** The total portfolio benchmark is a weighted average of market indices using the Academy’s strategic asset allocation through time.
50
523
$301
$295
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
One-year
3.1%
Three-year
7.4%
Five-year
4.0%
Ten-year
7.9%
6.6% Private Equity
The long-term performance of the endowment is critical to the financial health of the school. Most notable in the data to the left is the ten-year performance, beating the Consumer Price Index (CPI) +5.0% goal of 7.0%.
INCOME STATEMENT 2018-19
2017-18
Net Tuition and Student Fees
18,024,275
18,423,605
Contributions Received
3,689,059
3,580,962
Endowment Draw
11,042,797
10,837,660
Auxiliary Activities
869,312
1,019,049
Other Sources
126,300
192,689
33,751,743
34,053,965
Revenue
Total Operating Revenue
Revenue 3% Other
11% Annual giving
33% Endowment income
53% Tuition and fees
Expenses
Instruction
9,700,975
9,804,031
Academic Support
2,615,972
2,610,576
Student Services
4,371,661
4,356,095
Institutional Support
5,615,196
6,143,518
Operation and Maintenance
6,196,918
5,727,482
Auxiliary Activities
1,106,368
1,249,806
Interest
2,133,464
2,111,812
Operating Transfers Total Operating Expenses Change in Assets from Operating Activities
2,005,917
2,046,722
33,746,472
34,050,041
5,271
3,925
GIFTS AND COMMITMENTS Funding Type Financial Aid
Expenses 13% Student services 16% Auxiliary activities, interest, and operating transfers
36% Instruction and academic support 18% Institutional support
17% Maintenance
Giving Societies (number of members)
Cash Received $2,707,474
New Commitments $387,793
$1,511,316
$816,728
Program Support
$1,089,301
$338,263
Campus Sustaining
$4,059,433
$5,528
*New members added in 2018-2019
$128,282
$66,414
Facilities
$4,114,863
$2,719,644
For descriptions of each society, visit mercersburg.edu/recognition.
Annual Giving
$3,681,810
$3,777,380
Faculty Support
Unrestricted Endowment
To be designated Total
$1,755,077
$1,773,179
$19,047,556
$9,884,929
ANNUAL FUND Total Annual Fund donors 3,298 First-time Annual Fund donors 302 Gift range $1 to $300,000 Median gift $100 Total reunion giving $814,626
William Mann Irvine Society: 681 Number of Torchbearers: 2,442 Marshall & Irving Alliance: 2*
Giving by Constituency Friends $45,455
Parents $1,142,711
Solicited alumni who made gifts Solicited parents who made gifts Faculty who made gifts Staff who made gifts
37% 57% 93% 56%
Alumni $2,493,644
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
This painting, created by Clara Getty ’21, was featured in Wilson College’s Ninth Annual Juried High School Student Art Exhibition from October 30 through December 6.
Class
NOTES WINTER 2020
53
Weddings
Grant Ferguson ’08 married Alex Geer September 7, 2019, in Westport, Connecticut.
Jessica Keeseman ’10 married James Bowman in the Irvine Memorial Chapel on June 1, 2019. Dr. Lawrence Jones, former school minister, officiated the wedding.
Elizabeth Martin ’14 married Paul Stolpzfus June 2, 2019.
Allan Lutz ’07 married Tara O’Malley ’07 July 6, 2019, in the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland. Pictured from left to right: Kathleen O’Malley ’12, Pam Aquino ’06, Allan, Tara, John Richey ’09, and Mary O’Malley ’06.
Stephanie Stine ’11 married Benjamin Keoseyan July 21, 2019, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Chuck Roberts ’07 married Tyler Badgley September 14, 2019, at the Congressional Club in Washington, D.C.
Dusty French ’07 married Hayley Drews on November 18, 2018, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Back row (L to R): Dillon French ’09, Andrew Sowers ’07, Noelle Saracino ’07, Chris Marston ’07, Dan Gottlieb ’07, Andrew Gordon ’07, John Marshall ’07, and A.J. Notestine ’07. Front row: Drew Crofton ’07, Dusty, and Hayley.
CLASS NOTES
Births/Adoptions
1
2
3
1. Emily Peterson Karottki ’97 and her husband, Sal, welcomed a daughter, Adair Florence, May 4, 2018. Adair joins big brother Alexander (Xander). 2. Jessica Stojak Schafer ’07 and her husband, Brook, welcomed a son, Wesley Neal, March 29, 2019. Wesley joins older brother Wyatt. 3. Sarah deVries Osipowicz ’03 and her husband, Dominick, welcomed a son, Alexander, May 1, 2019. 4. Ashley Doughty Harless ’04 and her husband, Brett, welcomed a son, Hayes Alan, June 4, 2019.
4
5. Travis Youngs ’06 and his wife, Carla, welcomed a daughter, Naomi Rae, July 21, 2019.
5
6. Bailey Blake Weibley ’11 and her husband, faculty member Coleman Weibley, welcomed a daughter, Parker Lenore, July 29, 2019. 7. Ugonna Onyekwe ’99 and his wife, Buffy Youngblood, welcomed a daughter, Tigerlily Xola Onyekwe Youngblood, August 7, 2019. 8. Jonathan Palmer ’99 and his husband, Dominic Vaiana, welcomed a daughter, Petula May Palmer-Vaiana, August 7, 2019. Petula joins big sister Liliana. 9. Ethan Cline ’05 and his wife, Jessica, welcomed a son, Ethan Allen Cline II (Little E), September 1, 2019.
6
8
10. Faculty and staff members Anna and Tim Crouch welcomed a son, George Samuel, October 1, 2019.
9
7
10
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CLASS NOTES
sion s i m Sub dline is a De next issue for
0
02 , 2 2 l i Apr the
’44 Johanna Alderfer Harris, wife of William Harris, passed away January 27, 2019.
’47 Betsy McAlpine, wife of Harry McAlpine, died May 10, 2019. Bob Walton ’57 and his wife, Mary Ann, celebrated their combined 80th birthdays from atop Heidelberg Castle.
’50 Submit class notes via email to classnotes@mercersburg.edu or online at mercersburg.edu/ classnotes. The submission deadline for the next issue is April 2, 2020. Submission does not guarantee publication. Mercersburg reserves the right to edit submissions for space or content, and is not responsible for more than reasonable editing or fact-checking. When submitting a photo, please provide the highest-quality version possible, and include the names of all persons pictured and their Mercersburg class years. Due to size and quality considerations, some images may not be suitable for print.
70th
Edmund “Ted” Kase III shares, “After 65th graduating from Princeton in 1954, I served two years in the U.S. Army, and obtained my law degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959. I then moved to Socorro, New Mexico, 60th where I set up a law practice. In 1971, I was appointed district judge for the four-county Seventh Judicial District, retiring from that th position in 2014 after serving 43 years on 55the bench. I am now widowed and still living in Socorro under the caring and watchful eyes and ears of my two children, Adam and Judy; my four grandchildren (Grace, Mia, Giuseppe, 50th and Lauren); and my companion, Spaight.” Hugh Nevin writes, “It’s hard to believe that this year will be our 70th reunion. My wife 45th and I are enjoying our fifth year as residents of Beverwyck, a senior living community just outside of Albany, New York. We now also track th the careers of our eight grandchildren, all 40postcollege. Two great grandchildren, ages 3 and 1, are just getting started.”
’55
th 70 35th
65th 30th George Lewis is looking forward to meetingth
60 25th
56
Head of School Katie Titus and seeing everyone on campus in June for his 65th reunion. George McClellan shares alumni connections he has had throughout his career: His first architectural job was with John Haughtwout ’40. He worked with John Strite ’52 and Jim Lile ’49 in Philadelphia, and a contractor on one of his projects was Bill Dando, father of Jeff Dando ’56. L. Aaron Mendelson retired from business in 2010 and was a founding trustee of an urban charter school for grades five through eight in Springfield, Massachusetts. The school now has 390 students, with plans to expand to 450 in the next two years. The group started a second school in a neighboring city that will enroll 450 students in another two years. Aaron is also involved with a business group working to improve the Springfield district public schools. He also enjoys serving on the board of directors of the retirement community where he lives. “Sadly, my wife, Cyndy, passed away in July after a nine-year struggle with Alzheimer’s,” he says. “We had the most wonderful marriage for 59.5 years. I am healthy, and my life now is busy and full. I’m planning on attending our 65th reunion.”
’58 Phoebe Karen Wetzel, wife of Roy Wetzel, died April 5, 2019.
10th
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
55thth 20
5th
CLASS NOTES
70th Valley, which, among other things, features 900 vineyards. Our home is within walkingth 65 distance of our son, Brian; his wife, Sarah; and our two grandchildren, Nate and Eliza, who are 6 and 9, respectively.”
60th
’65
55th Some members of the Class of 1963 recently had a mini class reunion in Sunriver and Bend, Oregon. Matt Kettering ’90 hosted the group. Pictured from left to right: Jim Goodwin, Charlie Ballou, Jim Kettering, Paul Sommerville, Kent Price, and Matt.
Eric Reif ’60 is pictured here with his wife, Donna. Eric shares, “Donna and I look forward to seeing everyone in June at the 60th reunion.” Read his class note for more about what he’s up to these days.
Jere Keefer says, “Our 25th and 50th reunions 50th set records. Let’s do it again June 4-7, 2020, for our 55th. Contact those people you would like to attend.”
45th
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor,
40th
It has been a pleasure reading each publication over the past 40+ years since I left the ’Burg. Even though I only live about three hours away (outside of Philadelphia), I’ve only had a few occasions to get back to the school. The latest one was the retirement dinner for Karl Reisner, where I got the chance to reconnect with him and his wife, Stephanie, shortly before her passing. Karl was the football and wrestling coach at
35th
the time I attended the school, and he and I had a very close relationship. Similarly, I lived in Fowle Hall both years I attended, and Frank Rutherford ’70 was the new floor adviser for my wing. I can still remember stopping up at his apartment on weekends, as Debbie did not arrive on campus until the year after
30th
I graduated.
70th
Stoner Lichty ’62 (second from left) and his husband, Darryl Raszl, stopped by campus in August along with their cousins, Ann Birot-Salsbury and Patrice Salsbury, after biking together from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland. th
’60
65
I was not a standout student in any fashion, and I won’t bore you with the number
25 of rules that I bent (significantly), but I never had the honor of standing in front of the
th
Disciplinary Committee or walking guard. The ’Burg, in its own way, prepared me for life, as it has for so many others. Many of us did not realize how well it was preparing us until after we had long left the campus. I recently celebrated my 30th anniversary with my lovely wife and my 60th
20th
birthday, and looking back, some of the memorable thoughts come from the ’Burg.
60th
I look forward to reading additional publications in the years to come. Regards,
15th
Scott Summers ’77
Eric Reif writes, “In 2013, my wife, Donna, th 55 retired from her lengthy career as a Pittsburgh realtor. I also retired after spending 45 years specializing in civil litigation in a Pittsburgh law firm. We now live in Silverton, Oregon, which 50th is a small town in northwest Oregon’s Willamette
45th
Collegeville, Pennsylvania We want to hear from you! Tell us your thoughts on magazine stories, send us your questions and story ideas, and share memories from your time at Mercersburg. Contact Megan Mallory, Mercersburg Academy magazine editor, at mallorym@mercersburg.edu.
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65th
CLASS NOTES 60th
’70
55th
50th
Oscar Hunsicker has been back to Mercersburg 45th twice in the last 50 years just passing through. As he looks toward June, he says, “I am looking forward to the reunion to see old friends, see the place, and learn about the school’s 40th programs. The more that attend, the better it will be.” Paul Mellott shares that he’s “enjoyed 35th reconnecting with Pete Flanagan, our senior class president, as we prep for our upcoming 50th reunion in June. He’s still extremely funny, and it’s been a blast talking on a regular basis, 30th as well as with the other 15 classmates we have on the committee. So far, there are 31 of us who will be at our reunion. In addition to Pete and th me, Stefan Brodsky, James Clingan, Jim25 Dake, Vic DeRose, John Dutrey, Don Freas, Tom Guirola, Tex Higley, George Hubbard, Oscar Hunsicker, Jim Lampl, Steve Leonard, Ross Lillard, Rick Macek, Robins McIntosh, David 20th Moore, Sam Morgan, Phil Moshier, Bruce Neustadt, Kent Peterson, Patrick Regnery, Bob Richards, Frank Rutherford, Dan Seamans, th Tom Shipley, Bill Stamets, Bill Wallace, 15 Dave Winning, and Doug Wright are all planning to attend. Please plan ahead, get the dates June 4-7, 2020, on your calendar, and come back to the ’Burg. We want to see you!” Bob Richards and his wife, Cindy, have been in Chambersburg since 1983. He says, “I continue to practice orthopedic surgery in our family business, Richards Orthopaedic Center and Sports Medicine, which my dad started in 1953. My oldest daughter (Dr. Karli Richards Stenger ’97) is our foot and ankle specialist, and my youngest daughter (Dr. Rebekah Richards Boring) will join her in the practice next summer, after finishing her residency program in Roanoke, Virginia. My sons, Ryan and Mike, are microbrewery owner and chef at Roy-Pitz Brewery and Stube in Chambersburg, and my son, Nate, works with Hitchens 58
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Last September, Flora Then ’78 and Lois Findlay ’80 met up with Linda and Don Hill and their son, D.J. Hill ’86, in Lewes, Delaware. Lois says, “We had a great time catching up!”
Construction Company, doing renovations and building projects. Having five married children and eight grandkids keeps us busy. Life is good!” Frank Rutherford reports in that he’s “retired after a 43-year career teaching and coaching at Mercersburg and is now kayaking and swimming outside daily as a part of my new routine in sunny, southern Florida.” Bill Wallace re-retired from New Jersey Transit Rail in October, after a total of 37 years with the company. “I retired for five years in 2009, but was called back and have been on a part-time basis for the last five years,” he says. “Time now to let someone else administer NJT’s passenger and freight business relationships with outside railroads. Now I can finish restoring my 1974 BMW and invent some new kind of home-brewed beer!”
’71 Paul Dickman has been appointed to the Nuclear and Radiation Sciences Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Paul shares that he has held senior management and technical positions with the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is currently a senior policy fellow with Argonne National Laboratory in its Washington, D.C., office. He was a member
1984 classmates Bill Mathews and Jose Alonso share “Firewater Mango” in Bogota, Colombia.
70 of the recent NASEM committee chartered by Congress to provide an independent assessment of science and technology for the Department of Energy’s Defense Environmental 65th Cleanup Program. Paul also serves as an adviser th to10 the Japanese government agency responsible for the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear accident site. th th
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5 Nelson, mother of Andrew Nelson, Nancy Christopher Nelson ’73, and John Nelson ’77, passed away April 30, 2019. She was also the 55th mother-in-law of Susan Hobbs Nelson ’77 and grandmother of Nate Nelson ’10 and Maddie 0th Nelson ’15. th
’75
50th
45th Neil Hoppe is a 737 captain with American Airlines. He plans to retire in October 2020 40th after more than 30 years with TWA/American. Neil has three children and three grandchildren. Robert Lugg is practicing law with his son, 35th John, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Captain Anthony Tito retired from Delta Airlines Flight Operations April 30, 2019. Over th 30 the course of his 42-year commercial aviation
25th
CLASS NOTES
70th
65th
60th
55th 1985 classmates (pictured left to right) Perrin Lewis Rubin, C.C. Gachet, Sarah Mendelsohn Kim, Mindy Hershey Houck, Stacie Rice Lissette, Susan Corwin Moreau, and Carol McCullough Bender connected in New Jersey last spring for a four-year girls’ reunion.
career, Tony was licensed by the FAA to fly nine types of jet aircraft and logged 24,800 flight hours. Since 2008, Tony was also a line pilot volunteer for the Delta Airlines Pilot Assistance Program. His primary role was to mentor and counsel fellow Delta pilots in the early months of their respective drug/ alcohol rehabilitation programs. Then, at the appropriate time, he helped guide them through the FAA’s complicated recertification process for recovering airline pilots. Since retiring, Tony has left Michigan and now resides near his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
’77 During a trip to Denison University last April for an annual meeting of the Denison Hilltoppers a cappella group, Nick DiVirgilio had the pleasure of meeting Adam Cromwell ’17. Adam is a current member of the Hilltoppers, and Nick was one of the founding members of the group. Both Nick and Adam were in the Octet while at Mercersburg. Nick was very pleased to learn that some of the Hilltoppers music given to Adam during his audition was from the original Octet sheet music Nick brought from Mercersburg to help start the group in the spring of 1979. Nick says he was glad to see that the Octet/Hilltopper connection is alive and well.
Edward Tuberoso ’86 and his family came to Mercersburg in August. They live in Trinidad, and it was Edward’s first time on campus in more than 30 years.
50th
45th
40th
35th Peter Shim ’93 met up with Tom Heefner ’57 and former faculty members Karl Reisner and Tim Rockwell for breakfast at the Foot of the Mountain in Mercersburg in September.
’81 Reverend Samuel Scott was invited to begin a master of science degree at the Villanova School of Business in church management. He has been appointed to be the director of an executive training program for new pastors in his diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. “My life, therefore, has been a bit hectic,” he says, “but I am looking forward to my sabbatical in July/ August of 2020.”
’91 Chloris Schaff Barnes, mother of John Barnes ’91 and James Barnes ’95, died August 6, 2019.
’95
30th
25th Meredith Glah Coors lives in Denver with her husband and four kids. She volunteers withth 20 JDRF to raise money for research and a cure for Type 1 diabetes after her son’s diagnosis five years ago. She has enjoyed catching up with classmate Sylvie Butera Rich on a few recent 15th trips to Santa Barbara and is looking forward to the class reunion in June. Her niece and nephew, Andrew Orders ’23 and Catherine Orders ’23, now attend Mercersburg as ninth graders, and her oldest daughter is applying this year. WINTER 2020
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CLASS NOTES
1998 classmates Paul Yun and Marilyn Chua met up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July. Paul was on a business trip to the Malaysian Ministry of Defense, and Marilyn lives in Klang, near Kuala Lumpur. Read more about each of them in their class notes.
’96 Lori Esposit Miller shares that she is now the publications operations manager for global scientific communications at Eli Lilly and Company. She oversees a team of 15 people who work on logistical and project management support for Eli Lilly’s publications.
’97 Emily Peterson Karottki recently celebrated her second work anniversary as head of people at Fooda Inc., a Chicago-based startup that brings popup restaurants for lunch to office dwellers across the U.S. She says, “Life is busy and good!” Alexandra Prot recently came to visit campus with her husband, Tim, and son, James (age 4). Her daughter, Anabelle (age 9), was not able to make the trip because of school, so she stayed in San Jose, California. The family has been living in California for five years, where Alexandra recently opened a bridal shop.
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
All roads lead to Mercersburg. Jenn Flanagan Bradley ’99 shares that she ran into Ed Gardiner ’81 and his wife, Margaret, at the top of Harbor Town lighthouse on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Ed is a good friend and former roommate (at Mercersburg and Syracuse University) of Jenn’s uncle, Dave Flanagan ’81.
Gretchen Warner has been appointed the new head of school at the Madeira School. She is the 10th head of school in the school’s history and will officially assume the role July 1, 2020.
’98 Marilyn Chua founded and runs a swim school named Supersharkz with three locations in Selangor, Malaysia. She also coaches the Selangor State Swimming Team, along with her brother Mark. Paul Yun published his fifth book, a translation of the work This Kind of War. The original book, written by T.R. Fehrenbach in 1963, is about the Korean War as seen from the point of view of the U.S. forces. Paul also shares that he is currently working as a general manager for export sales business at Naviworks, a software company in Korea that provides virtual-realitybased simulation products and technical services to the military, government, and private sectors.
Jasen Wright ’99, a vice president at the branding agency Beanstalk, ran into Nate Bachtell ’11, a sales representative for Trickling Springs Creamery, at the New York City Summer Fancy Food Show, the largest specialty food industry event in North America and the premier showcase for industry innovation.
’99 Ambika Behal recently launched Sustainability in the Corporate World: A Practical Guide for Real People by Real People in Hong Kong, where she currently lives. The ebook, which she co-authored with former colleagues Carmen Taubman and Lawrence Wong, is designed to help employees better understand what sustainability means and how being more conscious in their everyday work lives can help not only the bottom line, but also create a happier, healthier work environment. Andy Choi is currently an assistant professor of cardiology with an active practice and is a national expert in heart imaging. He lectures throughout the U.S. and represented the American Heart Association at a national summit this past fall in Washington, D.C.
35th CLASS NOTES
30th
’00
10th
25th
20th Doug Hoffman, father of Dane Hoffman and Shelby Hoffman ’06, passed away September 15th 30, 2019. He was the brother of staff member Kim Strawoet and the former husband of faculty member Trini Hoffman. In February 2019, while completing his medical school rotations, Tom Schwabenbauer stayed with his old roommate Aaron Groves. He shares, “We roomed together in the bowels of
Fowle Hall in the winter and spring of 2000. It was great to see him again. Aaron, his wife, and three kids were very hospitable. He and I picked up where we left off from Mercersburg: I beat him in a hotdog-eating contest, and he beat me in our daily runs and weightlifting competitions. It was great to share old memories—like our nightly wrestling matches! Rooming with Aaron at Mercersburg helped make me who I am today, and I continue to be inspired by his generosity toward me and his motivation to help me get back in ‘fighting shape.’ Aaron doesn’t age! Mercersburg was instrumental in helping me develop a friendship that will last forever!”
’03 Vincent 5th Bove finished up a two-year tour as the current operations officer for CTF-69 in Naples, Italy, and is glad to be stationed back in the U.S. with his wife, Tina, and two children, Myra (age 6) and Jack (age 4). After 0th a few months of training, Vince will report to the submarine USS Virginia in February 2020 as the executive officer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Charles Cutshall has been selected to serve as the next chief privacy officer for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In
ALUM MAKES MEMORIAL PARACHUTE JUMP IN HONOR OF D-DAY ANNIVERSARY Bill Mathews ’84 has a really good excuse for missing his 35th Mercersburg reunion last June—he was jumping out of a plane as part of a memorial parachute jump in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. “Jumping out of the airplane was probably the best part,” Mathews says. “These were all airplanes that actually flew in the D-Day invasion, and they’ve all been kept up. They’re essentially museum pieces. So, taking off in a 70-plusyear-old aircraft, I was anxious to get out of it. I felt safer in the parachute than I did in the airplane.” Mathews was one of 70 to 100 jumpers from all over the world who participated that day. He was in the first group to jump, and he says one of the jumpers in the last group was a man in his 90s who had made that jump as a soldier on D-Day 75 years before. A recreational interest in swimming at Mercersburg and in college led Mathews toward becoming a Navy SEAL, a position he held for six years until he left to marry (his wife, Molly Robinson Mathews ’84, is a fellow alum) and start a family. Over the years, his connections to the military have stayed strong and propelled him toward exciting opportunities like the D-Day jump in June and, later in the summer, a charitable fundraiser for homeless vets in New York City. “I got to swim across the Hudson River in August from the Statue of Liberty to Battery Park with a group of SEALs,” Mathews says. “It seems the older I get, the more I run across these really unique and fun opportunities. It was a fun summer.” While Mathews missed his 35th reunion, he took a little bit of Mercersburg to Normandy with him: “I was actually supposed to be at my reunion, so in honor of that, I wore my Mercersburg T-shirt that morning in honor of my classmates.” Bill Mathews ’84 on D-Day in June. He wore his Mercersburg T-shirt under his fatigues to stay connected with the school in spirit.
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70th
CLASS NOTES
65th
70th
60th
65th
55th
60th
50th
55th
45th
50th
40th
45th Jack Oliphant ’09 completed his second Ironman Triathlon July 28, 2019, in Hamburg, Germany.
40th this role, he leads the agency’s privacy program and is responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable privacy requirements, 35th developing and evaluating privacy policy, and managing privacy risks. Sam Miller has been writing for a Disney 30th Channel show called “Just Roll With It” that premiered in June. He shares, “The series is a first-of-its-kind sitcom where the studio audience gets to vote on what happens to the 25th cast in the scenes. Please check it out, and if you’re ever in the Los Angeles area, you’re welcome to a taping!”
’05
20th
15th Lindsay Steinour has left Philadelphia and is now working in Melbourne, Australia, as an associate for Robert Half Executive Search.
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MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Brookke Mahaffey ’10 is working for UPMC Sports Medicine at Saint Francis University as an athletic trainer, and has become a world traveler since high school. In August 2019, she traveled to Melbourne 35th and Sydney, Australia, with the Saint Francis University women’s basketball team as part of its foreign tour. This photo is from that trip. She says, “I can’t wait to come back for my 10-year reunion and catch up with all of my classmates!”
’07
30th
Dusty French is working as a process engineer 25th for LCI Corp. Jessica Stojak Schafer has started a doctorate program through Drexel University 20th to obtain an EdD in educational leadership and management.
’08
15th
Robert Nagel served as an adjunct professor at Clark University this past fall. He was awarded the Cedric Smith Prize for his research on “Sexual Violence and Conflict Recurrence.”
’09 Julie Sohn has left her job with New York Life, and this past fall, she went back to school at the University of Michigan to earn an MBA.
In March, members of the Classes of 2010 and 2011 met up in Paris for a mini reunion. Aimee Chase ’10, Taria Griffin ’10, and Jordan Krutek ’10 visited Andrea Metz ’10, who was studying abroad in Paris for law school. Colin Reagan ’10, who lives in Amsterdam, and Troy Nwanna ’11, who is in graduate school in London, also attended.
’10 10th Aimee Chase graduated in August from Marymount University with a master’s th 5 degree in clinical mental health counseling and a master’s in forensic and legal psychology. She works as a therapist in the Washington, D.C., metro area and is in theth 10th 0 process of obtaining an LPC. Carlos Garcia has received a master’s in environmental policy and certificate of law 5th from the University of Pennsylvania and University of Pennsylvania Law School and is working on renewable energy policy and project development with the New York City 0th Environmental Justice Alliance. He is looking forward to seeing his classmates during Reunion Weekend this June.
CLASS NOTES
ALUM’S MERCERSBURG EXPERIENCE LEADS HIM TO PATAGONIA
Phoebe Moore Miller ’13 and Jordan Krutek ’10 connected at the Hershey’s National Sales Meeting in Arizona last May.
Jordan Krutek recently celebrated five years with The Hershey Company, where she is a customer sales executive. She lives in New Orleans with her boyfriend, Matthew, and their dog, Frankie. Andrea Metz earned a JD from Columbia Law School in May and is now working at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York City. She is looking forward to seeing her classmates on campus at their 10th reunion in June. Leigh Saner launched her own health and wellness coaching business, Define YOU LLC, in January 2019. Define YOU is a business dedicated to helping people define individual goals and strategies that will help them live a healthy, balanced, and sustainable lifestyle. Leigh and her business were featured in the Pitt County Women’s Journal (published in Greenville, North Carolina) as part of the Women to Watch feature.
Taylor Phillips ’98 leads a tour in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Taylor Phillips ’98 credits his interest in the outdoors and his life’s work to Mercersburg, the TREK program, and faculty member Jim Malone. “I can thank Big Jim Malone for that one,” he says. “I can’t tell you what an incredible adviser and teacher and inspiration he was to me. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I would be running a different course if our paths hadn’t crossed. Introducing me to the outdoor world was invaluable, and I am completely fulfilled now.” Phillips owns and runs his own outdoor tour business, Jackson Hole EcoTour Adventures, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and this March he is leading his first international trip to study pumas in Patagonia. The trip will span 10 days and will allow Phillips and his clients to observe pumas, study Andean condors, and spend time aboard the M/V Forrest in the Straits of Magellan. Patagonia is a sparsely populated region at the base of South America, spanning portions of Chile and Argentina. With the momentum of this first trip, Phillips is already planning another puma-viewing trip to Patagonia in February 2021. During Phillips’ time at Mercersburg, Malone was one of the faculty leaders for
’11 Christian Binford retired from pro baseball after the 2019 season. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2011, signing with the
TREK, the precursor to Mercersburg Outdoor Education (MOE). While TREK lasted only a few months out of the school year, MOE now offers programs during each term of the academic year, and Phillips has previously partnered with MOE to give tours to students during their trips to the Yellowstone area. “It has been so fun to connect with current students in that fashion,” Phillips says.
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CLASS NOTES
team over an offer from the University of Virginia. Christian pitched for eight seasons in the Royals, Orioles, and Tigers minor-league systems (and with the independent Kansas City T-Bones), reaching as high as Class AAA (just one stop from the majors). Christian also played in the 2014 MLB All-Star Futures Game. Sam Rodgers graduated from Cornell University’s law school in May 2019 and is running for the New York State Senate in 2020.
Nikki Hyrkas Moyle ’11, Clint Brown ’07, and Chris Freeland ’08 at the Naval Aviation Tailhook Symposium in September 2019 in Reno, Nevada. Go Blue Storm!
Enrico Vincenzini ’12 and faculty member Nate Jacklin ’96 met up during Nate’s recent trip to Italy.
Roberto Solis graduated from the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University, El Paso. He is off to Sacramento, California, to train for five years in head and neck surgery at the University of California, Davis. Stephanie Stine married Benjamin Keoseyan
SCHOOL MEETING FEATURES CONVERSATION ON DIVERSITY As part of Family and Alumni Weekend October 18, a school meeting featured Ernest Green of the “Little Rock Nine,” John Henry ’91, Eyram AwittorAwuma ’20, and faculty member and panel moderator Selas Douglas. Over the course of the conversation, Green shared his experiences of integrating Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and encouraged the audience to be advocates for change. “To the students here,” he said, “my hope is that you recognize that we can make a change for the better.” Green, whose daughter spent a summer participating in Mercersburg’s swim program in the early 2000s, came to Mercersburg for Family and Alumni Weekend at the invitation of Henry. “This gentleman [Ernest Green] is my hero,” Henry told the audience, as he encouraged everyone to find that energy in their own lives. “I like that energy around me as I continue to learn from him. Everyone in this room is a leader just by the fact that you are here, and you are going to graduate. You are a step ahead of everyone else. Now the question is: what do you want to do with that? Reach beyond your grasp.” Henry is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Chariot Companies, an organization focused on revitalizing underserved communities throughout the United States. Awittor-Awuma is the president of Mercersburg’s Black Student Union, and Douglas teaches history and leads diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on campus.
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Pictured L-R: Ernest Green, Eyram Awittor-Awuma ’20, Selas Douglas, and John Henry ’91.
CLASS NOTES
Chris de Morais graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and is working as a financial consultant for AXA Advisors in Pittsburgh. He is looking forward to connecting with classmates and alumni in the city.
July 21, 2019. Classmates Bethany Pasierb and Hannah Edwards, along with cousins Matt Cook and Leah Cook ’15, were in attendance. Stephanie and Ben live in Tucson, Arizona, where Ben is a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona and Stephanie works as a mental health therapist.
Bennett Turner graduated magna cum laude from Bucknell University in May 2019 with a degree in finance and accounting. He started working in New York City for Barclays as an investment banking analyst.
’12 Vanessa Anyanso has started a PhD program in counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
’16
Gregory Cole, father of Kaitlyn Cole ’12, passed away May 5, 2019. He was also a part-time Campus Safety officer.
John Huang received the American Chemical Society Analytical Chemistry Division Award presented by Carnegie Mellon University. The award is presented annually to an outstanding junior chemistry major who shows achievement in chemical analysis.
This past fall Augusto Lima was named an assistant soccer coach at Bucknell University. Winnie Lu is living in New York City where she works as a junior associate for the architecture firm MdeAS.
Mary Gray Stolz has moved to Philadelphia. She is beginning a doctoral program at La Salle University in clinical psychology and is looking forward to connecting with more Mercersburg friends now that she is back in Pennsylvania.
2021 class of Schwarzman Scholars. One of the world’s most prestigious graduate fellowships, the Schwarzman Scholars Program is located at Schwarzman College of Tsinghua University in Beijing and is designed to prepare future global leaders to meet the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. It
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the geopolitical landscape of the 21st Century,
Grace Bennett debuted in her first college musical, Mamma Mia!, in September 2019 at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.
selected from more than 4,700 applicants.
and McGloin is one of only 145 scholars As part of the Schwarzman Scholars Program, McGloin will spend a year pursuing a master’s in global affairs and gain access to important relationships through internships,
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Campbell Drennan spent her summer interning for U.S. Senator John Kennedy (of Louisiana). In this role, Campbell attended hearings with the senator and provided research for staff members.
mentors, high-profile speakers, and
Faculty
of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University,
Laurie Mufson, arts department head and director of theatre, represented her undergraduate alma mater, Beloit College, at the installation ceremony for Gettysburg College’s 15th president, Robert Iuliano, in September. She was among several dozen official delegates representing American colleges and universities.
Program during his senior year. As a 2018-
opportunities to travel throughout China. McGloin anticipates that this experience will help prepare him for a future career in the international sports industry. McGloin is a 2018 graduate of the College
5th
Jordan Allen is enrolled in a biomedical master’s program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Phillip McGloin ’14 has been named to the
is the first scholarship created to respond to
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PHILLIP MCGLOIN ’14 SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARS PROGRAM
0th
where he was selected for the Luce Scholars 2019 Luce Scholar, McGloin has spent the last year working in Xiamen, China, with Anta Sports Products Limited, the biggest sports brand in the country. McGloin came to Mercersburg as a postgraduate, and his sister Patrice ’19 is also an alum of the school.
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Magdalena Kala ’09 speaks at Mercersburg’s 2019 Commencement.
MAGDALENA KALA ’09 FEATURED IN FORBES Congratulations are in order for Magdalena Kala ’09, a vice
MBA from Stanford University. She is currently vice president
president at Bain Capital. She was recently featured in Forbes’
of consumer, retail, and dining at Bain Capital in Boston,
newly released “30 Under 30 In Finance 2020” as one of the
Massachusetts. She is also a former member of Mercersburg
top young financial minds.
Academy’s Board of Regents (2015–2018).
Kala left her home in Poland in 2006 to join the
school’s 126th Commencement ceremony. She told graduating
While at Mercersburg, she was valedictorian of her class;
students in the Class of 2019, “Mercersburg has allowed me and
earned varsity letters in cross country and squash; served as a
all of you to explore various interests without limitations on who
dorm prefect; and was a member of Cum Laude, The Fifteen,
you should and can be. Cherish that spirit of exploration as you go
and the Mercersburg News. She was also a recipient of the Robert
through the next stage of your life. Follow the jungle gym of your
Michelet ’30 Scholarship Prize, the President’s Education Award,
curiosity instead and see where it takes you.”
the Community Service Award, and the Harry Smith Senior English Award. Following her time at Mercersburg, Kala graduated from Harvard University with an economics degree and earned an
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Kala returned to campus last May to give the address at the
Mercersburg Academy community as a 10th-grade student.
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE
Kala was also honored in June with the Alumni Council’s Young Alumni Leadership Award, which was presented on Reunion Weekend as her 2009 graduating class celebrated its 10th reunion.
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John P. Bernard, October 22, 2018. John served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a navigator in the latter stages of World War II, then stayed in Europe as an air traffic controller in West Berlin and in other military assignments before returning home to work as a salesperson for Grandoe, C.J. Bachner, and Hansen Glove Manufacturers. He is survived by two nephews and six stepchildren. William R. Meirs Jr., November 9, 2012. He was a lifelong farmer in New Jersey and a member of St. David’s Episcopal Church. He also was a professional singer.
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Richard E. Stouffer, August 24, 2019. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a construction battalion officer in the Pacific Theater. He graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and spent his career with the DuPont Company. He is survived by three children, four grandsons, and seven great-grandsons.
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Richard C. Gebhardt, February 4, 2019. Dick was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, serving on the destroyer USS Boyle in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theaters. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kent State University. Dick worked for the family business, United Oil Manufacturing Company in Erie, Pennsylvania, for nearly 20 years, becoming vice president of sales and purchasing. He later served as vice president and director of United Erie Inc. He is survived by three children, six grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. John Harold Harris Jr., April 30, 2019. Jack graduated from Dickinson College, the Sidney
Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He was professor and chair of radiology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and later was awarded the school’s John Dunn Distinguished Chair of Diagnostic Radiology. He is credited with being the primary developer of the emergency medicine radiology field, building on the knowledge he gained while he and his father treated accident victims from the Pennsylvania Turnpike and farms surrounding Carlisle. He was a founder and the first president of the American Society of Emergency Radiology and president and chairperson of the board of the American College of Radiology, and received each organization’s highest honor in recognition of his work. He is survived by two sons, four grandchildren, and one great-grandson.
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Robert E. Claster, February 26, 2018. Bob, affectionately known as Cookie, is survived by his wife, Nancy, along with three children, three stepchildren, and three grandchildren.
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E. Eugene Ebner, December 2018. William Gilkey, April 26, 2019. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Bill graduated from Westminster College and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and did his residency at Henry Ford Hospital. He was an obstetrician-gynecologist in Adrian, Michigan, for 40 years, delivering nearly 7,000 babies. He served terms as president of the Lenawee County Medical Society and the Adrian Board of Education. He donated his medical services at local free community clinics for decades. Bill was preceded in death by his brother, Robert M. Gilkey ’41. He is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
John L. Griffith, July 13, 2016. John is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
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Charles D. Cantera, August 17, 2019. Chuck graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, then worked for the DuPont Company on the construction of its Louviers Building in Delaware. After serving with the U.S. Army in Germany following World War II, he joined his father’s business, Cantera Construction Company, and helped expand it into Bellevue Holding Company. He later started his own development company, Charles D. Cantera & Associates. Chuck was preceded in death by his brother, Carl Cantera ’43. He is survived by two sons and five grandchildren, including Benjamin Cantera ’18, Annaliesse Cantera ’20, and Frank Cantera ’23. Wade H. Shuford Jr., September 18, 2019. Hamp was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a graduate of Catawba College, Middlebury Language Schools, and Austin Presbyterian Seminary. He served on the Catawba College Board of Trustees for more than 50 years, and was a lifelong member of Corinth Reformed Church. He traveled to every continent except Antarctica, spoke three additional languages, and sang in a barbershop quartet, among many other interests. He is survived by two sons and one granddaughter.
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Karl V. Kahl, October 8, 2018. K.V. was a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Potomac State College with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He spent his career working for the West Virginia Department of Highways, now the Department of Transportation. Wendell N. Stainsby, March 2, 2017. Wendell graduated from Bucknell University and Johns
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IN MEMORIAM
Hopkins University, and became a physiology professor at the University of Florida. He is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Mark S. Tome, August 2, 2019. Mark graduated from Gettysburg College and the University of Pennsylvania Dental School. As a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve, he served two years in Austria and Italy as a dentist. He practiced dentistry in Hanover, Pennsylvania, for 45 years, and was a life member of several national, state, and local dental associations, including terms as president at the local and district levels. He is survived by his wife, Jennie, two children, and two grandchildren. Richard E. Whittaker, July 21, 2019. A standout basketball player at Mercersburg, Dick earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Westminster College, where he played on the golf team. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Dick was the founder of R.E. Whittaker Company, which he grew from a local janitorial supply distributor into a globally recognized carpet cleaning system manufacturer. He later wrote three devotional books. He is survived by two children, two grandchildren, and his companion.
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Thomas D. Browning, May 18, 2019. Tom handled most of the bookkeeping for the family business started by his father and continued with his brothers, which became known as Browning’s Foodland in Oakland, Maryland. Then he later established his own deli and convenience store, Hometown Market. He was preceded in death by his father, Cheston H. Browning (1912); two brothers, Donald M. Browning ’43 and John R. Browning ’47; and a nephew, Robert E. Browning ’65. Tom is survived by his wife, Juanita; three children, including Michael T. Browning ’74; seven grandchildren; nine greatgrandchildren; nieces and nephews, including
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Cheston H. Browning ’61; and great-nephew, Willard S. Browning ’88. Kenneth R. Jones, July 22, 2019. Ken served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Essex during the Korean War. He graduated from Miami University of Ohio, and worked in the insurance industry for 33 years for both Penn National Insurance Company and State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company. He is survived by his wife, Betty Lou, two daughters, and five grandchildren. Lewis M. Soars, May 1, 2019. Lew was a U.S. Army veteran, and attended Yale University and Lehigh University. He worked at Sprout Waldron in Muncy. Lew was preceded in death by his father, Harold M. Soars (1921); brother, J. Richard Soars ’50; and nephew, Harold M. Soars ’67. He is survived by his wife, Florence; three children, including Elizabeth Soars Fink ’79; 11 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; nephew, Robert L. Soars ’66; and cousin, Ann P. Bruch ’76.
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Harold A. Holt, January 24, 2019. Charles R. Howland, June 30, 2019. Chuck graduated from Knox College, where he played tennis and football and was the president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He spent most of his career in the sporting goods business, working for Riddell among other companies. He is survived by his wife, Char, along with five children, 13 grandchildren, and 10 greatgrandchildren. Donald J. Redlich, May 25, 2019. Donald earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cornell University, then served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. He worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, along with two children, two
grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Harry W. Waple, June 29, 2019. Harry was from Tyrone, Pennsylvania, and is survived by his wife, Barbara.
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Sterling F. Higley Jr., April 27, 2019. Sterling earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, then served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, assigned to the 3rd Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He worked in food and beverage sales before starting cable television services in several New York and Ohio communities, and later served as president of C&U Video and Ohio Video Services, Inc. He was preceded in death by his father, Sterling F. Higley (1926), and his brother, Frank Z. Higley ’47. He is survived by four children, including Bruce S. Higley ’78 and Theodore N. Higley ’80; five grandchildren; nephews, Frank Z. Higley ’70 and James W. Higley ’71; great-nephew, Kyle E. Higley ’00; and his companion. Josiah B. Pritchard, October 11, 2015. Josiah was preceded in death by his father, Josiah W. Pritchard (1925), and his brother, David F. Pritchard ’53. Survivors include his nephew, Josiah D. Pritchard ’80. Jay H. Strickler, August 5, 2019. Jay was preceded in death by his wife, Ann Merritt, and is survived by his companion, Pam Keith. Gerret Swearingen, March 25, 2019. Van was a U.S. Navy veteran, and after attending the University of Maryland and Wake Forest University, he graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography. He worked in various photographic studios, specializing in advertising and portraits, and set up in-house color labs and did custom printing. He retired from Luck Color Lab. He is survived by his wife, Mary, one daughter, and one grandson.
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L. Bruce Laingen
A
mbassador L. Bruce Laingen, an emeritus member of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents and the highestranking American official held in Iran during the 444-day hostage ordeal that began 40 years ago, died July 15, 2019, in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 96. Laingen had a 37-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service that included posts in Germany, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He served as the American ambassador to Malta for two years before he was assigned to Iran a second time in mid-1979. That assignment—which he was told would last just four to six weeks—would be life
changing, as he and more than 60 other State Department employees were taken hostage after militant students seized control of the American embassy in Tehran on November 4. Several hostages were freed early on, but Laingen and 51 others were held until January 20, 1981. Laingen and two aides were in meetings at the Iranian Foreign Ministry when the embassy was taken. They were kept at the Foreign Ministry for much of their captivity, and later were transferred to a Tehran prison. The other hostages were held in the embassy. At home in Bethesda, his wife tied a yellow ribbon around the oak tree in their front yard, a symbol of vigilance and remembrance that was duplicated by tens of thousands of families across the country. While he was held at the Foreign Ministry, Laingen at times served as a contact to the outside world, sometimes meeting with diplomats from other countries. He sent messages to Washington, D.C., secretly through the Swiss ambassador. After his release, he fought for decades to have Congress provide compensation for the Foreign Service officers and other hostages who worked under him. Laingen later served as vice president of the National Defense University in Washington, and was executive director of the National Commission on the Public Service. He also wrote frequently on issues involving Iran. In an oral history recorded in 1992 for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Laingen offered thoughts on diplomatic work, informed in part by what he and his staff went through in Iran: “We are there to find out how people are thinking and why they are thinking that way and behaving that way. And if we get too comfortable in believing something that sort of fits our purposes, well, we are in hellish trouble.” Laingen was born on a farm in southern Minnesota. He served as a U.S. Navy supply officer in the Philippines during World War II. He graduated from St. Olaf College, then earned a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Minnesota. Laingen is survived by his wife, Penelope; three sons, William B. Laingen ’78, Charles W. “Chip” Laingen ’79, and James P. Laingen ’84, all retired Navy officers; 10 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
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David W. Austin, August 5, 2017. David is survived by his wife, Joan, five children, and 10 grandchildren.
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Paul A. Ironside Jr., May 26, 2019. While at Mercersburg, Paul sang in the school choir, competed in the Penn Relays, and earned varsity letters for track. He graduated from Washington and Lee University, where he was a member of the track team, and Hahnemann Medical College. He completed residencies in Pennsylvania and California, where he established his cardiovascular and thoracic surgery practice. He is survived by three children and four grandchildren. Robert N. Vredenburg, July 13, 2018.
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Warren H. Emens, April 4, 2019. David W. Faircloth, May 1, 2019. David graduated from Muskingum College, and worked in sales for law book publishers CCH, Thomson Callaghan Publishers, and Legal Directories Publishing. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, two children, and one granddaughter. Daniel T. Griffin, November 2, 2017. James C. Hamilton, August 4, 2014. Jim graduated from Earlham College, where he served as student body president, then earned a master’s degree in chemistry from Brandeis University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He first worked in the City of Boston Law Department, and later founded a small practice before joining the regional firm of Verrill Dana LLP, from which he retired. He served as a board member
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IN MEMORIAM
and president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, whose foundation established a fund in his honor. He also served on the Earlham College Alumni Council, and the college has a scholarship named for him. He is survived by one daughter, two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, one stepson, and two step grandchildren.
a bachelor’s degree in economics. He was owner/manager/partner of Hershey Systems Inc., as well as a printer and marketer of numerous products. He is survived by one nephew and one niece.
Michael J. Hartnett, August 23, 2012. Mike was a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a partner in a mechanical contracting firm, Hummel Engineering Corporation, for 30 years before his retirement. Mike is survived by his wife, Eileen, and one daughter.
James I. Enterline, August 7, 2019. Jim is survived by his wife, Vickie, along with one daughter, two granddaughters, and two great-grandchildren.
William B. Schleisner II, May 2, 2019. Bill graduated from Princeton University, then served in the U.S. Navy, stationed in New Orleans. He first worked at Schleisner’s, the Harrisburg clothing store started by his grandfather, then for Abraham & Straus in New York and Foley’s department store in Texas, retiring as a divisional merchandise manager. He later opened a sports bar in Galveston with his son. Bill was preceded in death by his father, Edward W. Schleisner (1917). He is survived by three children and one granddaughter.
Robert L. Adair Jr., August 21, 2019. Bob graduated from Hobart College, then served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Bronze Star. Bob is survived by his wife, Nancy, five children, and five grandchildren.
William F. Wenning Jr., July 31, 2019. After serving in the U.S. Army as chief accountant at Fort Riley, Kansas, Bill graduated from Geneva College and the University of Pittsburgh, where he pursued an advanced degree in metallurgy. He spent his career at Ceramic Color and Chemical Company, serving as its president for 40 years. He is survived by his wife, Judith, one daughter, and one granddaughter.
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Robert S. Hershey, June 9, 2012. Scott graduated from Northwestern University with
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Gordon E. Compton, August 21, 2019. Gordon graduated from Purdue University and the University of Virginia. He worked at Miles Laboratories in Elkhart, Indiana, and later became CEO of Compton Investment Corporation. He also served as a reserve officer for the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and the Indiana Sheriff’s Association. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, along with one son, seven grandchildren, and two stepsons.
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Allan M. Gerson, August 16, 2019. Allan earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. He practiced law in Cumberland, Maryland, before joining the faculty at Palm
Beach State College, where he chaired the Legal Studies Department and the college foundation board. He later taught and chaired the Legal Studies Department at South College Asheville, where he was responsible for having the associate paralegal and baccalaureate legal studies degrees approved by the American Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar. The college named its library legal collection for him upon his retirement. He is survived by his wife, Carol, one sister, and two nephews. Grant L. Hopkins Sr., June 6, 2019. Grant received a bachelor’s degree in history and English from Washington & Jefferson University and a master’s in Southeast Asian studies at the University of Michigan. Grant started his career in the oil industry working for Gulf Oil in Pittsburgh and Vienna, Austria. He later worked for Southwest Petroleum, Coastal States, Getty Oil, and Petroleum Finance Company. He played rugby and served as a high-school football referee. He is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.
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John B. Duerr, June 8, 2019. Blaine graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He worked at Onondaga Savings Bank, then served as manager of Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome Sports Center before moving to Florida, where he and his late husband operated the Columns Resort. He later worked as executive assistant to the owner of Palm Springs Follies. Blaine is survived by one sister, two nephews, and four great-nieces.
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Gary E. Katz, March 9, 2019.
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Harry W. Wilson II, May 20, 2019. A lover of fine food and drink, Harry was an exceptional cook. He is survived by two children.
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James G. Succop, May 6, 2019. Jim was a graduate of Oxford College of Emory University, and worked for American Roller Bearing in inside sales, customer service, and financial administration. He is survived by his wife, Carole, three children, and two grandsons.
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Peter B. Vance, June 13, 2019.
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Christopher B. Lee, January 20, 2016. Chris is survived by a brother, Josaphat E. Lee ’78.
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James Sienkiewicz, August 2, 2019. James is survived by his wife, Soleith, one daughter, and his parents.
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Michael Jack Sweeney, September 30, 2019. Jack was a first-year student at Juniata College where he was just beginning studies in a preveterinary program. While at Mercersburg, he earned three varsity letters in squash. He is survived by his parents, faculty members Michael and Jacquelyn Sweeney; sisters, Megan Sweeney ’07 and Fiona Sweeney ’21; brother, Sean Sweeney ’13; his grandparents; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
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Faculty/Staff/Friends
Brenda Walls Creager, wife of staff member Gene Creager, August 22, 2019. Kimberly Anne Cooley Muller, former field hockey coach (2000-2001), wife of former faculty member Karl Muller, mother of Josh Muller ’10 and Jake Muller ’13, and mother-inlaw of Emily Bays Muller ’10, August 17, 2019. John T. Peace, former faculty member (19661971 and 1972-1985), July 23, 2019. Grace “Gray” Staley, widow of faculty emeritus Ernie Staley, mother of Scott Staley ’71, grandmother of Jennifer Staley ’95 and Kyle Staley ’00, and mother-in-law of Ed Sehon ’64, May 6, 2019.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
L
eon Macionis ’37 won this gold medal in swimming at the 1938 Lithuanian National Olympics. It was one of five medals Macionis won at those games, which were created in part because Lithuania was not invited to compete at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin
due to a border dispute with Nazi Germany. (The Lithuanian National Olympics also celebrated the back for the Olympics, and about 2,000 participated in the event. Macionis and his brother, John ’34, both attended Mercersburg. John Macionis won a silver medal in swimming for the U.S. at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He also made the Olympic team four years later, though the 1940 Summer Games were canceled due to World War II.
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Imagery supplied by AF-studio/Digital Vision Vectors via Getty Images
country’s 20th anniversary as a sovereign nation.) Lithuanians from all across the world were invited
NTS
Riley Wick ’20 performed “Gone” during the Fall Dance Concert in November. Wick choreographed the piece and dedicated it to her mother.
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