Andover magazine - Commencement 2017

Congratulations Class of 2017!

Andover | Commencement 2017

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Class of 2017

Paige Morss, Alexander Ellsweig ’18

CONTENTS Andover for Life................................................... 3 Promenade ........................................................... 4 Community Convocation.................................. 6 Commencement Concert ..................................7 Baccalaureate......................................................... 8 Address to the Class of 2017 ...........................10 Faces glow in a hushed Cochran Chapel as Rabbi Michael Swarttz offers parting thoughts at Baccalaureate.

2017 Photos ...............................................16–19 Class of 2017/By the Numbers ..................... 20

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COMMENCEMENT 2017

Volume 110 Number 4 PUBLISHER

Tracy M. Sweet Director of Academy Communications EDITOR

Allyson Irish ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Rita Savard DESIGNER

Ken Puleo

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jill Clerkin, Neil Evans, Gil Talbot, Jessie Wallner Š 2017 Phillips Academy, Andover, MA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Andover, the magazine of Phillips Academy is published four times a year by the Office of Communication at Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810-4161.

Main phone: 978-749-4000 Changes of address and death notices: 978-749-4269; alumni-records@andover.edu Phillips Academy website: www.andover.edu Andover magazine Phone: 978-749-4677 Email: andovermagazine@andover.edu Periodicals postage paid at Andover, MA and additional mailing offices.

Postmasters: Send address changes to Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover, MA 01810-4161 ISSN-0735-5718

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Andover | Commencement 2017

Andover for Life Dear Class of 2017, Your senior spring saw weeks of rain. However, it paid off with spectacular weather on Commencement weekend.

You finished up your time on Andover Hill in a weather pattern that reflected the spirit of your class: a lot of sunshine with some heat, but not overbearing.

We often wonder what words you will remember from a weekend filled with many speeches and beautiful musical performances. There were some very heartfelt messages shared by teachers and classmates that added to this weekend, rich with tradition.

As the STARs rang the bells on Friday evening, you entered Cochran Chapel with the people who had shepherded you through your Andover journey. Faculty, house counselors, staff members, and coaches joined you in the pews for Community Convocation to hear messages from chosen speakers. Karissa expressed gratitude for classmates being her “Rushmore.” Dakoury professed, “Life doesn’t have to be flawless to be perfect.”

And Mr. Gorham said that those gathered with you that evening had done their part. Your part is to continue the journey from here, armed with the tools these adults taught you to use.

Meaningful messages from speakers continued at Baccalaureate on Saturday evening. Mr. Steiner reflected that while the journey is yours, it is also experienced by the family and faculty who are there to support you throughout the successes and many bumps in the road. Auguste proclaimed, “It is time.” And, in a song he wrote, Mr. Hodgson shared the reflections of a man who is devoted to the students of Phillips Academy. There is ne’er a more beautiful moment during Commencement weekend than when the chapel is alight with candles and still in reflection.

Your Commencement day was beautiful—adorned with sunshine, a light breeze, smiles, and tears. Arthur reminded you that your roads ahead will be divergent, but they will never touch the experiences you had together.

As the final student speaker of the weekend, Madison reflected that indeed, "it was worth it.” And Mr. Palfrey stated the most appropriate phrase: “Go out there and make us proud. We believe in you; I believe in you.”

You now join the 25,000 members of the Andover family around the world. Just as you were active members of the student body, we invite you to be active alumni. Connect. Stay in touch with each other and with your school.

You are now alumni, 2017, and that is for life— #andoverforlife.

Jenny Savino, P’21

Director of Alumni Engagement

Misty Muscatel Davis ’01 President of Alumni Council

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Promenade

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9 5. Jonathan Xue, Allyson Ty ’18, Katherine Sweetser, Daniel Tran, Gwyneth Wei, Christian Alberga 6. Adam Herman, Alex Apgar, Taylor Beckett, Robert Cerulle, Teymour Farman-Farmaian, Noah Ward, Connor Haugh, Turner Corbett, Henry Ennen 7. Sewon Park, Nick Schoeller ’18

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8. Kaela Olsen ’18, Moe Sunami, Gherardo Morona, Max Rigby-Hall ’18

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1. Andrew Cortner, Leah Hamann, Ladan Kasraian, Niko Skrivanos 2. Casey Yarborough, Alexandra Kim, John Sandor ’18, Lydia Paris, Reuben Philip ’18 3. Reagan Posorske, Robert Jones ’16, Grace Hannam, Taylor Beckett, Beth Krikorian, Sam Bird ’18, Courtney Masotti, Robert Cerulle, Whitney Garden, Ben Andresen 4. Stanley Wojtas and his date Maddie Eastman, Jared Zuker ’18

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9. Arthur Paleologos, Alexa Goulas ’18 10. Soleil Miller, Madison Katz, Isabel Jauregui, Janet Conklin, Daphnie Ordonez, Lydia Fikru, Amadi Essoka-Lasenberry, Aisha Akoshile, Riley Hughes, Mahlet Ayana, Charlotte Suan 11. Sophie Smith, Nathan Goldthwaite ’18, Malika Dia, David Kwon 12. James Lewis, Lauryn Roberts

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13. Camilla Guo, Sarah Ding, Claudia Meng ’18

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Community Convocation

2 1. Jules Gilligan, Nicole Rodriguez 2. Karissa Kang 3. James Jusuf, Jacob Peffer

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4. Dakoury Godo-Solo

“I don’t know what I will do after I graduate. I don’t know where my life will go. I’m sure some of you might feel the same way. But, what I do know is that, whatever I do and wherever I go, I will be ready. I am ready.”

—Karissa Kang

4 5. Luke Bitler, Jack McKenna, Johnny Rex, David Shamritsky, history and social science instructor Nile Blunt, Gardner Gendron, Colin Lata, Keegan Cummings, Thomas Godwin, Christian Lippey

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6. Richard Gorham ’86

“Every faculty member I’ve had the privilege of knowing has given their whole self to the students of this class, whether it be meeting for breakfast, chaperoning a dance, or being a shoulder to cry on without a word of complaint.

So on behalf of the Class of 2017, thank you for your time, your wisdom, and your kindness.”

—Dakoury Godo-Solo

“You see, we believe that you, given access to the extraordinary opportunities, resources, and networks that this school offers, will use them to make the world a better place … And so I urge you—first, find your passion in life.

Second, figure out how you can build on that passion to improve our world.”

—Richard Gorham ’86, Associate Director, Andover Bread Loaf

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Commencement Concert 2

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1. Chloe Lee 2. Music instructor Derek Jacoby 3. Harrison Ringel ’19 4. Ebin Hirschman 5. Michelle Koh 6. Brett Sawka

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Baccalaureate “[Class of] 2017, take sanctuary in the fact that the people around you have infinite confidence in you. It is time to break ground somewhere else; it is time to go out there, as unsure and out of control as you may feel. It is time.”

—Auguste White

“If tomorrow is for Instagram, tonight belongs to the tattered family album.

The one filled with fading photographs of relatives whose sacrifices brought us to this celebration … If you, our children, wonder at our confidence in you, know that we can sense, even if we cannot witness, your countless acts of industry and kindness.”

—Joshua L. Steiner ’83, P’17, ’19

“Institutions like Phillips Academy challenge and uplift us: they are human creations that point beyond themselves to ideals of justice, of compassion, and of excellence in their pursuit.”

—Thomas Hodgson, P’99, Instructor in philosophy and religious studies

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Congratulations and Godspeed!

Address from Head of School John Palfrey, P’21 June 4, 2017

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ur distinguished faculty were led in procession this morning by faculty emeriti of Phillips Academy. In asking faculty emeriti to join us on this occasion, we honor their long and dedicated service, and we extend to them a very warm welcome back.

Welcome, everyone: trustees, faculty and staff; faculty emeriti; trustees emeriti; alumni; families; friends; and—most of all—our beloved students. Thank you all for being here today.

Let us please start with a note of gratitude to the adults in the Andover community.

Andover thrives as a direct result of individual and collective diligence, support, 10

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and love. To all the adults who select our students in the admissions process, who care for our students every day, and who teach and help them all the way along: thank you. Please join me in a great big round of applause for the faculty, staff, and faculty emeriti of Phillips Academy.

To the parents and grandparents, guardians, and friends: Thank you, too.

Thank you for the gift of time with the students you have sent to us. I know, for many of you, that it felt like a great sacrifice to part with your children so early, for so many days out of the year—whether as boarding or day students. For this gift of time, you have our enduring thanks. These

students have grown, perhaps beyond recognition; they have worked very hard and they are now ready—in some cases very ready—for the next chapter in their lives— all as it should be. We thank you for making possible this education for these terrific young people.

To the great Class of 2017: Congratulations and thank you. You are a very special class.

Arthur and Madison: You have led your class and the school with distinction. Thank you for your words this morning and for the positive tone you have set for the entire last year. I am grateful to you both for your leadership.

Every class is a little bit different. Class of 2017, you have a great sense of humor and fun—one of the hallmarks of this school. Along the way, you put on beautiful shows and concerts, produced inspiring visual art, won a pile of athletic championships, and played a lot of spikeball. A few weeks ago, you even threw me a glorious “birthday” party! Thank you—I loved it! You haven’t been perfect— none of us is—but you’ve been wonderful and inspiring and have distinguished yourselves in ways large and small.

Today gives us the opportunity to pause, to reflect on what this journey has been all about. Why did you come here? Why did

you choose this challenging road for your high school experience? You tell us that you came to Andover for many things: to learn academically; to perform in the arts, theatre, and music programs; to compete on the athletic fields. You’ve done all of that—with real distinction. As an aside, parents and grandparents: One thing I said to the seniors at the athletics banquet a week or so ago was that I am proud of their many championships and records, but I am most proud of the fact that never once, in their four years, did I ever hear a complaint from an opposing coach, parent, or head of school about how they acted on the field. I can’t tell you how important that is to me Andover | Commencement 2017

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and to the faculty who have the pleasure of coaching these young people.

A big part of why you tell us you come to Andover, too: is to grow—to grow in character.

That raises, it turns out, an interesting and hard question. What exactly does “character” education look like today, in the 21st century? Once upon a time, when Phillips Academy was founded in 1778 and Abbot Academy was founded 50 years later in 1828, everyone at these schools knew what “character” meant. It was defined by the set of morals prescribed by a particular form of Christianity at the time.

Today, when we come from so many different cultures and religious traditions, it can seem a good bit harder for us to define exactly that character, those morals, that we all agree upon. Make no mistake: We have not turned our back upon the founding values of this school. Though not defined 12

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the way it once was by a strict form of Calvinism in 1778, it means something to have graduated from Andover—to embrace the aspects of character that we have in mind for you.

Class of 2017, you know by now what we mean by that. We mean that we agree to value the presence and the strength of youth from every quarter; that we value being a need-blind school, one that espouses the power of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We mean finis origine pendet— that the end depends upon the beginning— that your education is foundational and that it matters for its own sake. We mean that we value goodness with knowledge—“that both united form the noblest character and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind,” as our charter states.

In reciting this familiar—hopefully comforting—catechism, I have left out one of our primary founding values. My hunch

is that this last one is the one that you are most likely to carry with you.

That one thing—the one value that I expect to be the most lasting on a dayto-day basis for the rest of your life—is non sibi.

As all of you seniors know, one of your graduation requirements is to fill out the Senior Survey in your concluding weeks at Andover. If you did not complete it, you would not be sitting here today, so I know you all did. We use this survey for various purposes: to understand your experience at Andover, to improve our practice as teachers, to benchmark what we are accomplishing as educators over time.

Among the most important reasons to conduct this Senior Survey is to ask you to reflect upon your experience at Andover.

I changed it up a little bit this year by replacing a previous question with this one: “Please respond to the following prompt:

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Page 10 and 11: Edward Elson, Rahmel Dixon, Zizo Bahnasy, Andrew Reavis, Howard Johnson, Brandon Barros, James Wolfe 1. (back row) Soleil Miller, Mahlet Ayana, Charlotte Suan, Isabel Jauregui, Morgan Rooney, Aisha Akoshile, Riley Hughes, Samantha Valentine, Amadi Essoka-Lasenberry, (front row) Janet Conklin, Daphnie Ordonez, Mika Curran, Lydia Fikru 2. James Nash, Jackson Davenport, Jerry Yang, Sean Pan, George Toumbas 3. Valentina Boldurescu, Maria Caso, faculty emerita Elaine Crivelli 4. Kelly Sheng, Jackson Lee 5. Avery Kim, Caroline Corwin, Viraj Kumar, Anneke Sherry, Liz Irvin, Jack Hjerpe, Anna Zimmer, Zöe Sottile 6. Bennett Slibeck, Aditya Krishnamachar 7. Madeleine Stern, Auguste White

As I am about to graduate from Andover, here’s what non sibi means to me.”

I want to share with you a few of these responses, as I think they help to get at this question of what exactly we mean by the Andover character—and what’s distinctive about an Andover education, beyond the excellent academics, arts, and athletics in which you have engaged.

Before I get into the most apt of the responses, let me acknowledge a few things.

A couple responses to this prompt were truly silly or cynical. (Those of us who read a lot of student survey responses know that there is one student who seems to respond always with “Apache attack helicopter” to every prompt, no matter what. I suppose it proves something, but it beats me as to what it is meant to mean.) I also know, from reading these responses and interacting with you over four years, that you are critical thinkers. Several of you mentioned

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that non sibi—in its purest form of “not for self ”—doesn’t take into account the obvious need to take care of oneself as well as others. One graduate of the Pike School down the street noted a preference for the Pike motto, non sibi solum, or “not for self alone.” Though it may be heresy to say so, as both an Exeter graduate (Exeter, by the way, has the same motto, if you didn’t know that) and as an Andover head of school, I happen to agree—non sibi solum makes more sense. Yet others of you criticized our ability as a community to live up to the non sibi motto every day; surely you are right, so long as that criticism then propels us to self-improvement rather than acceptance or self-loathing.

Overall, you reported back in the Senior Survey that non sibi is about character, citizenship, and community. Let us dwell on a few of the responses that illuminate this collective understanding of non sibi.

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One senior wrote: “We often focus on ourselves at Andover, with work and all.” (Yes, I do know that we give you a lot of work—that’s part of the academic excellence you’ve achieved and should be proud of, no doubt.) This senior went on: “Non sibi, however, makes me think about the incredible community we have here.

It means so much to have friends to lean on, and it is impossible to make it through Andover without those people in your life.” Faculty, this final part’s for you: “I also see non sibi in the teachers who actually encourage me and believe in me and work closely with me.”

In some respects, this statement most describes the Andover that I aspire for us to be as a community.

Another of you wrote: “[Non sibi] is a motto I will carry with me forever, a motto that symbolizes how to travel through life as a selfless human being. I know I will Andover | Commencement 2017

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1. Trustee President Peter Currie ’74, P’03, Madison Pettaway, Zizo Bahnasy, Annie Zhu, Nadha Illikkal, Alexa Tsay, Head of School John Palfrey, P’21

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2. Brett Sawka, Trevor Lazar, Jack Lawlor

“Each of us is like a unique, individually colored stone—separately, we catch eyes and are pieces of art on our own. But, when combined, together we have painted a single beautiful mosaic that is the Class of 2017—a mosaic that artistically accomplishes so much more than the sum of its individual pieces.”

—Arthur Paleologos School Copresident

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give back, give service, and help whatever community I am a part of.”

And you are right—I have no doubt you will. You are not alone in this respect. Over the course of the year, we heard about this positive non sibi spirit in our alumni body.

We heard about the life’s work of Dario Collado, Class of 1998, in his Non Sibi Day All-School Meeting address. Mr. Collado went out of his way to thank all those teachers whose non sibi spirit supported him along the way, including the teacher who paid his application fee and drove him to his Andover interview.

Many of us traveled to the coast of Maine on a snowy day this past spring to witness the commissioning of the USS Thomas Hudner, a Naval destroyer named for Medal of Honor awardee Captain Thomas Hudner, Class of 1943. One of Captain Hudner’s acts of non sibi was to crash-land his own plane in enemy territory during the Korean 14

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3. Arthur Paleologos 4. Zahra Marhoon, Claudia Chu 5. Madison Pettaway 6. Lovisa Gyllencreutz Romander, Martha Gao, Saadiya Lakhani 7. Alice Lu, Kika Weirich-Freiberg 8. Front row: Jaeden Washington, Payton Donato, Vera Geranpayeh, Corina Lindsay, Maria Hristache, Anezka Kuncova, Margot Forti Middle row: Matthew Cerfolio, Kyle Martin, Danny McGrath, Will Sirmon, Brendan Ryan, Kyle Lynch, Kailan Lee, Stanley Wojtas, Haroldo Nesbeth, James Lewis

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War in order to seek to save his fellow naval aviator, Ensign Jesse Brown.

A few weeks ago, I heard from a recent graduate, Gina Crivelli, Class of 2005, about her life of non sibi. Ms. Crivelli works for a global corporation with interests in many places and many fields. The work she’s excited about is the corporate social responsibility that she helps to lead. She promotes entrepreneurship all around the world, including in the Bronx, New York, and Miami-Dade County in Florida. They have set up a project to provide homes for Syrian refugees who have streamed into Greece. Ms. Crivelli told me that her work is so resonant for her because it is so aligned with the values that she learned here.

We heard the story of non sibi firsthand from Frank Stella, Class of 1954, who told us he wouldn’t have been an artist but for Andover. Mr. Stella remains a beacon of non sibi in terms of what he’s given the Addison

Back row: Stephen Hedberg, Gardner Gendron, TJ Urbanik, John O’Brien, Chris Muther, Alec Robitaille, Andriy Proctor

and what he has done to come visit with all of you—twice already during my time here as head of school.

We honored Soiya Gecaga ’92 this year with our Alumni Award of Distinction for her life of service devoted to children living in poverty in Nairobi, Kenya. In accepting her award, Ms. Gecaga told our students that “it was at Andover where I started spending time in different communities that were different from myself. I try to have this empathy and this element of non sibi in everything that I do.”

We are joined today by two former United States Ambassadors—one a grandfather, one a father of a graduate.

Through their public service, they uphold this same non sibi spirit, and I hope some of you, too, will enter public service.

If I kept going, we’d be here all day, and I know you’d all like to graduate soon, so I’ll stop with the examples. The point is that I

“We figured out our wants and needs, learned how to selfadvocate, created great memories big and small amidst the stress, and we’ve made it. No matter how tough your Andover experience was, you made it to this day, and that is something.”

—Madison Pettaway School Copresident 5

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know you will go on to do a huge range of things after you graduate. I hope and trust that you will make non sibi a central part of your life—not just a once-a-year thing, but an everyday thing.

A final non sibi quote from a senior: “Non sibi has meant many things to me over my four years at Andover. At first it was just a motto—something that was appealing to a visiting student, but not much different than any other school motto to strive for something greater. What I later figured out—and this happened gradually—is that non sibi isn’t simply a motto, but a culture. A culture that includes everyone, regardless of who they are. [This culture] allows kids to not only shine here, but also to give others the ability to shine, as well.”

On our best days, Andover, I believe we have that culture here. I know that each of you has embodied it and can embody it in your everyday life. Based on

my observations of you over four years, I believe that the Class of 2017 has embodied the non sibi culture as well as any other in the school’s long history.

In fact, that’s the way I’ll choose to remember this class as special—the one with the non sibi culture. And dare I say it, in all humility—I think more of your non sibi spirit and culture is just what we need in this troubled world of ours, as we observe with sadness another day of terror and loss on the world’s stage.

Allow me to close with a quote from one of my predecessors, Abbot Academy Principal Bertha Bailey. In 1918, Ms. Bailey said, “Let us introduce [our students] to civics in their own towns, that they may see clearly that a community is a big family, that government is a matter of good housekeeping, that citizenship is a fine and beautiful and noble privilege … and that if we are worthy of it, we will be ready

to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor for the common good.”

Class of 2017: Thank you for all the good things—the many acts of non sibi, and non sibi solum, that you have done while you’ve been here. As you take your leave of us today and head out into the wider world beyond the Andover bubble, I hope and trust that each of you will, as Bertha Bailey said, pursue citizenship for the common good, in the spirit of non sibi. Auguste, you are right; it is time. Karissa, you are right; you are ready. Go out there and make us proud. We believe in you—I believe in you.

And we will miss you. Congratulations and Godspeed. Thank you all. 

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We will miss you, 2017!

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Andover’s newest alumni

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Class of 2017

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Countries represented by graduates

1,364 Candles lit during Baccalaureate

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Pounds of strawberries served at the Commencement reception

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Clan MacPherson bagpipers who led the Commencement procession

By the Numbers

500 Pounds of ice used for sculpture at the Commencement reception

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Student musicians who performed in the Commencement Concert

3,500 841

Instagram likes for the most popular Commencement photo (see p. 10–11)

Chairs set up in front of Samuel Phillips Hall for Commencement

313 Diplomas awarded

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