Portsmouth Abbey School Winter 2012 Alumni Bulletin

285 Cory’s Lane Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871 www.portsmouthabbey.org Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 3 Portsmouth, RI

P ORT S M O U T H

A BB E Y S C H O O L PORTSMOUTH ABBE Y SCHOOL

and Members of the Diman Club (alumni from all classes prior to 1962) This is your reunion year!

Please join us for another memorable weekend!

We have a fantastic line-up of events for the entire family!

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

Classes of: 1942 - 1947 - 1952 - 1957 - 1962 - 1967 - 1972 - 1977 - 1982 - 1987 - 1992 - 1997 - 2002 – 2007

Login to the Alumni Community from the Abbey website for more information on the schedule of events, accommodations, golf outings, class dinners, babysitting and to see who is coming to Reunion ’12!

Reunite ~ Reminisce ~ Celebrate Questions? Contact Fran Cook at (401) 643-1281 or fcook@portsmouthabbey.org

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

MISSION STATEMENT The aim of Portsmouth Abbey School is to help young men and women grow in knowledge and grace.

Grounded in the Catholic faith and 1500-year-old Benedictine intellectual tradition, the School fosters: Reverence for God and the human person Respect for learning and order Responsibility for the shared experience of community life

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL ANNUAL FUND

BOARD OF REGENTS

Right Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B. Abbot and Chancellor Portsmouth, RI Mr. John M. Regan, III ’68, P ’07 Chairman Watch Hill, RI Mr. Thomas Anderson ’73 Gwynedd Valley, PA Sr. M. Therese Antone, RSM, Ed. D. Newport, RI Mr. W. Christopher Behnke ‘81, P’12, ’15 Chicago, IL Dom Joseph Byron, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Dom Francis Crowley, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Mr. Stephen M. Cunningham ’72 Greenwich, CT Mrs. Kathleen Cunningham P ‘08, ‘09, ‘11, ‘14 Mr. Tim Cunningham ‘74 Dedham, MA Mr. Peter Ferry ‘75 Fairfield, CT

Dr. Timothy Flanigan ’75, P ’06, ’09, ’11 Tiverton, RI

Mr. Alejandro J. Knoepffler ’78, P ’12 Coral Gables, FL

Mr. Peter S. Forker ‘69 Chicago, IL

Ms. Devin McShane P’09, ’11 Providence, RI

Dom Gregory Havill, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Rev. Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B. Creve Coeur, MO

Dr. Margaret S. Healey P ’91 New Vernon, NJ

Mr. Ward Mooney ‘67 Boston, MA

Dr. Gregory Hornig ’68, P ’01 Prairie Village, KS

Mr. James S. Mulholland, III ’79 Sudbury, MA

Mr. M. Benjamin Howe ’79 Wellesley, MA

Ms. Deborah Winslow Nutter Medford, MA

Rev. F. Washington Jarvis Dorchester Center, MA

Mr. Barnet Phillips IV ‘66 Greenwich, CT

Rev. Dom Damian Kearney, O.S.B. ‘45 Portsmouth, RI

Mr. Robert A. Savoie P ’10, ’11, ‘15 Bristol, RI

Mr. Charles E. Kenahan ’77, P ’12 Swampscott, MA

Mr. Rowan G.P. Taylor P’13 New Canaan, CT

Mr. Peter Kennedy ‘64, P ’07, ‘08, ‘15 Big Horn, WY

Mr. Samuel G. White ’64 New York, NY

Mr. Edward G. Kirby ’83 Jamestown, RI

Very Rev. Dom Ambrose Wolverton, O.S.B. Prior Portsmouth, RI

Cover: Tim Ludington ’73 backpacking this past summer at Dorothy Lake Pass in the Northern Yosemite Wilderness. Read Tom Anderson’s ’73 profile of Tim on page 43.

Three of the hallmarks of a Benedictine education are stewardship, hospitality and community. Gifts to the Annual Fund nurture these traditions in the lives of Portsmouth Abbey’s current students.

For more than 80 years, alumni, parents and friends have supported the School with gifts to the Annual Fund. Continuing the tradition with your own gift deepens your sense of connection with the past and direction for the future of the entire School community.

Please consider making a gift to the Annual Fund today; visit www.portsmouthabbey.org/annualfund for more information.

Not sure if you’ve given this year? Visit the online Donor Honor Roll: www.portsmouthabbey.org/DonorHonorRoll

P U R P O S E F U L L I V E S : T H E E S S E N C E O F P O RT S M O U T H A B B E Y

by Abbot Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B. What really makes Portsmouth Abbey the place it is – for many – is

Dom Ambrose Wolverton was clothed in September 1958, in his

the continuing presence here of the monks, a stable community

late twenties – a relatively late vocation for those times. He had

comes with surprise to see how much those well-known faces

Academy and Harvard (where he entered the Catholic Church),

of familiar faces. Even if one has not visited for a long time, and have aged, there still emerges a sense of the continuity of what is

essentially Portsmouth Abbey. Yes, we live in a natural setting of unusual beauty. Yes, we have been blessed with a generous measure of loyal support and prosperity, so that the grounds and the physical plant are handsome and well cared for. But what gives

the place its unique identity is the presence of the people who have consecrated their lives here. Those who have done so in a purposeful formal way are the monks.

Our community of twelve monks includes now five octogenarians.

grown up in Iowa and Wisconsin, was educated at Phillips Exeter

served in the United States Navy, and then taught school for a time at Choate. At Portsmouth he was ordained a priest in 1965.

He directed the Glee Club, and served as Housemaster of Saint Bede’s for several years while it was still a residential house for

boys. He has been teaching Music and English in the School since

the early 1960s – and continues to do so today. (This makes his the longest tenure of a still-serving member of our Faculty.) An expert musician, he is a mainstay of School musical efforts; and

the monastic choir could perhaps just barely survive without him.

Over the years we have enjoyed many concert hall-quality piano

I calculate that the combined time-span of their monastic lives as

concerts performed by him, with a characteristic combination of

Island, comes to a total of three hundred and four years. The se-

he also served as the Prior of the Monastery, the Abbot’s right-

members of the Order of Saint Benedict in Portsmouth, Rhode

taste, verve, and modesty. For twenty years, until last summer,

nior in the habit, Dom Julian Stead, entered the Monastery at the

hand man, meticulously seeing to details of the Community’s life,

age of seventeen, and has already completed well over half of his

seventh decade as a monk – his entire adult life. The perseverance of these men sets for the rest of us an example which can challenge and inspire.

We members of the Monastic Community rank the brethren by their “seniority in the habit,” that is, according to the date of their

entry into the Monastery. Thus Dom Julian, who was first clothed in the monastic habit in April 1944, ranks senior to Dom Philip Wil-

son, although Father Philip is a year and a half older than Father Julian in chronological age, but was not clothed until July 1947.

Let me do some overdue boasting about these confreres, taking them in ascending order of seniority.

Dom Ambrose Wolverton, O.S.B., greets a Portsmouth Abbey family.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 1

PURPOSEFUL LIVES continued

and acting as the Abbot’s substitute in his absence. He continues

chairman of the English Department. He is a veritable legend in

Board of Regents of the School. It would not be possible to count

sition to generations of grateful Abbey students, including such

to serve as a valuable member of the Abbot’s Council and the the numbers of students (as well as his monastic brethren) who have been – and continue to be – enriched by his gentle presence,

unfailing courtesy, calm good counsel, and encouragement – by

his own time for frank but effective teaching of English compowell-known writers as E.J.Dionne ’69 and Christopher Buckley ’70.

True, he is eighty-three and retired from teaching, but he is as ac-

word, and even more by example.

tive as ever. (Saint Benedict, indeed, cautions monks against idle-

Dom Christopher Davis ’48, a devoted Philadelphian and mem-

taken that admonition to heart – but none more than Fr. Damian).

ber of the Society of the Cincinnati (being descended from an

army officer in the Revolutionary War), entered the Monastery right after college. He taught Christian Doctrine in the School,

and coached sailing. During the 1960s he was very involved as chaplain with our now-defunct neighbor, Elmhurst Academy, a school for girls, at Glen Farm on the other side of Aquidneck

Island. In more recent years his priestly ministry and friendly

presence have been very appreciated at St. Philomena’s School, our neighbor across Cory’s Lane.

In the early 1970s he headed West, and after serving as chaplain to Benedictine sisters in North Dakota, followed by graduate studies with the Jesuits in San Francisco, he wound up doing many years of priestly pastoral work in and around Fort Worth,

Texas. Back at Portsmouth since the 1990s, he makes his cheerful presence felt in the School with regular attendance at faculty

meetings, alumni reunions, assemblies, athletic practices, and

games. By way of cell phone calls he keeps up his support for numerous relatives, neighbors, friends, and alumni – sometimes on special occasions, happy or sad, sometimes just to “check in.”

ness, and all the monks mentioned in this article have certainly He looks energetically after at least three gardens (including the one at the Gazebo), curates our art collections, and mounts exhibi-

tions in display cases in the libraries of the School and Monastery and in the Administration Building, provides floral decorations for the Church (a job he took over from Fr. Philip earlier this year),

collects and takes care of the Monastery’s and School’s archives,

and acts as unofficial historian and art docent whenever there is a need to orient newcomers to Portsmouth Abbey.

He can be seen taking brisk exercise on foot in the morning before Matins and on bicycle later in the day, not to mention swimming in Narragansett Bay in season, and ice skating (his were the

very first skates to sample the new ice on the renewed hockey

rink floor this fall). He is also a fount of information on the development of Portsmouth Abbey and School, and on the families

closely connected with us over the years. He participates in the

governance of the School as a member of the Board of Regents,

and is a regular attendee at get-togethers of alumni and friends of Portsmouth.

His growing difficulty with walking in recent years has merely

Dom Philip Wilson is a native Yankee, born in Warren, Rhode

up with admirable regularity to activities beginning with Mat-

cism in his youth, and was received into the Catholic Church

out the day at Monastery and School functions, and as late into

he entered Portsmouth Priory to become a monk, it was not at all

slowed his movements, but not prevented him from showing

Island. The only son of Baptist parents, he converted to Catholi-

ins, the monks’ morning prayer in church at 5:45 a.m., through-

while a student at Brown University. When in his early twenties

the evening as we care to schedule them. He keeps up zeal-

easy for his parents to accept (but they became reconciled to the

ously with developments in politics and

situation later on). He was sent to

invitation to a party.

ies in Oxford, living at Saint Benet’s

Dom Damian Kearney ’45 joined the

there. In our School for decades he

England to do his theological stud-

sports, and never willingly declines an

Hall, the residence for Benedictines

community directly after graduating

taught Christian Doctrine (including

from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in

a much appreciated course in World

English Literature. For many years he

Religions, often mentioned by alum-

was Housemaster of St. Benet’s and

ni), was chairman of the Christian Dom Christopher Davis ‘43, O.S.B., with Libby Sacco ‘09

PAGE 2

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Dom Damian Kearney ‘45, O.S.B., tending to the monastery garden

Doctrine Department, and

complete list: besides teach-

Housemaster in the old New

Christian Doctrine courses

sor, St. Hugh’s, throughout

course in Patristics, the study

was a caring and vigilant

ing a full load of Classics and

and in its latter-day succes-

(including

the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

of the Fathers of the early

Many a former house resi-

rector of Admissions, Direc-

an

innovative

Church), he did stints as Di-

dent, who may have occa-

tor of the Summer School,

sionally groaned at the time

Assistant Housemaster in

under the perceived strict-

ness of his house regimen, now remembers Fr. Philip with gratitude and affection, as is frequently manifested when alumni contact the School or show up for a visit. For decades his floral

arrangements for the altars in Church inspired and supported

prayer, as many will attest. He put together our English-lan-

guage choir books for the Divine Office when we moved to reform them some thirty years ago, and still keeps them current. It is to him that people apply with their Mass intentions,

of which he keeps a careful account. He bears up with the least

amount of complaining under the infirmities of old age, and presents an inspiring example of faithful perseverance in the monastic round of prayer and community living.

Dom Julian Stead was born in England, and converted to Catholicism in childhood. His father was a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford, and young Peter Force Stead was acquainted with some of the Oxford luminaries of the time, not least C.S.Lewis.

He happened to be visiting relatives in the United States at the

end of the summer of 1939 when World War II broke out, and being prevented from returning to school in England, came to

Portsmouth Priory School. He would have graduated from – and become an official alumnus of – Portsmouth in 1943, but being

accepted early at Johns Hopkins, chose rather to leave school at the end of his Fifth Form year in 1942. That summer he worked on a farm, and so on through the following year until the end of the next summer, when he returned to Portsmouth to become a

postulant in the Monastery. (Almost seventy years later – to rapturous applause – he finally received his Portsmouth diploma from the hands of the present Headmaster, Dr. James DeVecchi, at Alumni Reunion Weekend in September 2011.)

St. Leonard’s, and Novice Master in the Monastery. In addi-

tion to being a published poet in his own right and a translator

from Greek and Italian, he has written on patristic subjects, on

St. Benedict, and on the virtue of charity. In the last twentyfive years or so he has discovered a talent and enthusiasm for

drawing and watercolor painting. He maintains close relations

with the Focolare Movement, with which he became first acquainted in its infancy while he was studying theology at the

international Benedictine college of Sant’ Anselmo in Rome in

the 1950s. He is a faithful correspondent via email and snail mail, being available to, and meticulously keeping up with, a host of alumni, relatives, friends (on both sides of the Atlantic), and former Abbey employees.

I am not afraid that any of these monks will be tempted to

pride at reading this short account of their accomplishments

and service, because they know well that in the service of God

we find ourselves always outstripped by the One who loved us

first and gave everything He had for us even before we came into existence. But a review of what He has enabled us to do fills us with amazed gratitude at His mercy and generosity, His support and forgiveness, His unfailing eagerness to sup-

ply strength to make another new beginning. Our small steps in following Him He accepts as if we were doing something

great. Saint Benedict in the 4th chapter of his Rule for Monasteries cautions us always to ascribe to God whatever good we

may find in ourselves (and to take upon ourselves the blame for

whatever in us is not good). It is only right that we thank God for all He has accomplished in these workmen of His, the senior monks of Portsmouth Abbey.

Fr. Julian spent almost more energy than he had in a series of

chores and offices of which the following is, most likely, an in-

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 3

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL Dear Friends, I write to follow-up on the news of Headmaster Jim DeVecchi’s retirement. As I trust you are now aware, after 13 years of dedicated service as Portsmouth’s Head of School, the 2012-13 academic year will be the last of Jim’s tenure. Let me reiterate how grateful we all are for all that he and Deb have done for the School during their nearly 40 years of life on Cory’s Lane. Jim’s unfailing commitment has helped thousands of students to grow in knowledge and grace.

Since Jim’s January 20 announcement, the process of finding his successor has advanced under the Search Committee’s guidance and the counsel of Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A). I am pleased to report that Lawrence W. Becker, senior search consultant at Carney, is working directly with Portsmouth Abbey. Larry is a seasoned independent school professional. He graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. and from Harvard University with an M.A.T. in Mathematics. He served as head of school and instructor of mathematics at the Brooks School from 1986-2008. At the Hotchkiss School, from 1964-86, he taught mathematics, served as a dormitory faculty member and held positions of director of college counseling, dean of admission, dean of faculty and assistant headmaster. Larry was elected to the Commission on Independent Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and served from 2001-07; from 2005-07 he was chair of the Commission.

He was a trustee of the Pike School from 1988-94, and has been a member of the Headmasters Association since 1987, serving on the Executive Committee from 2004-06. Larry brings considerable personal knowledge and the significant experience of CS&A’s Search Group to this most important process.

In the months to come I encourage you to use our website (www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/hss) to remain informed about the search process. Abbot Caedmon and I concur that active engagement with the Portsmouth Abbey constituency will be a hallmark of this search, and the Web will be an important conduit of information.

We have established multiple ways for you to communicate with us. Please send general advice or comments to the Search Committee at search@portsmouthabbey.org. If you would like to nominate specific individuals as candidates, please write directly to Larry Becker at larry.becker@carneysandoe.com. Finally, if you would like to correspond with me directly about the search, my Portsmouth Abbey email address is mregan@portsmouthabbey.org.

Portsmouth Abbey School is a complex organization, and this opportunity is distinct, consuming, and highly attractive. We are committed to identifying and recruiting a visionary leader who can aggressively lead our distinctive Catholic Benedictine School as our next Head of School.

Sincerely,

John M. Regan III ’68, P ’07 Chairman, Board of Regents Search Committee Co-Chairman

CONTENTS Stay Connected To keep up with general news and information about Portsmouth Abbey School, we encourage you to bookmark the www.portsmouthabbey.org website. If you are an alumnus/a, please visit and join our Alumni Community. Check our our listing of upcoming alumni events here on campus and around the country. And please remember to update your contact information on our Alumni Community pages where you can find out more about Reunion 2012, our Annual Golf Scholarship Tournament, and share news and search for fellow alumni around the world: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/alumni.

If you would like to receive our e-newsletter, Monthly Musings, please make sure we have your email address (send to: info@portsmouthabbey.org).

To submit class notes and photos (1-5 MB), please email: alumni@portsmouthabbey.org or mail to Portsmouth Abbey Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, RI 02871.

The Portsmouth Abbey Alumni Bulletin is published bi-annually for alumni, parents and friends by Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic Benedictine preparatory school for young men and women in Forms III-VI (grades 9-12) in Portsmouth, RI. If you have opinions or comments on the articles contained in our Bulletin, please email: communications@portsmouthabbey.org or write to the Office of Communications, Portsmouth Abbey School, 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, RI 02871 Please include your name and phone number.

The editors reserve the right to edit articles for content, length, grammar, magazine style, and suitabilty to the mission of Portsmouth Abbey School.

Headmaster: Dr. James DeVecchi Assistant Headmaster for Development: Patrick J. Burke ‘86 Editors: Kathy Heydt, Katherine Giblin Stark Art Director: Kathy Heydt Photography: Jez Coulson, Louis Walker, Andrea Hansen, Kim Fuller, Julia Driscoll ’06, Lizzie Benestad, Dan McManus, McCurdy Miler, Katy Booth Individual photos found in alumni profiles have been supplied courtesy of the respective alumni.

Purposeful Lives: The Essence of Portsmouth Abbey

by Right Rev. Dom Caemon Holmes, O.S.B.

1

Letter from John “Mac” Regan III ’68, Chairman of the Board of Regents

4

A Sense of Place at Portsmouth Abbey by Headmaster James DeVecchi, Ph.D. 6 Portsmouth Abbey’s Summer Study Journals

9

Church Assembly Talk by Sean Kenahan ’12

14

From the Classroom: A Place For Creativity by Don Cowan 16 Reunion 2011 by Fran Cook, Director of Special Events 17 The Father Andrew Jenks Dinner by James MacGuire ’70 22 An Education of the Heart by David R. McCarthy, Faculty Emeritus

24

Growing Up Abbey by Michael, Drake ’11, and Fletcher ’13 Bonin 26 Portsmouth Abbey School: Where’s That? by James E. Garman, Faculty Emeritus

28

Recollections from Irene Haney P ’80, ’85

29

My Favorite Place at Portsmouth Abbey

30

A Temporary Life by Alix Ohlin 36 Portsmouth Institute:

Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? by Tim Seeley ’77

Reflections on Faith and Science by Dr. Blake Billings ’77 Yosemite: Grandest of All God’s Temples: Profile of Tim Ludington ’73

by Thomas D. Anderson ’73

39 41 43

Update from the Office of Admission by Meghan Fonts, Director of Admission 46 From the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs

by Patrick J. Burke ’86, Assistant Headmaster for Development

48

Portsmouth Abbey Summer Program: Then, Then, and Now

by Tim Seeley ’77, Director of Summer Programs

50

Fall Athletics

52

Milestones 55 In Memoriam

60

Class Notes

64

Visit our website at: www.portsmouthabbey.org Join us on Facebook: Log in and search Portsmouth Abbey Shop online at the Portsmouth Abbey Bookstore: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/school_life/bookstore Corrigendum: In the Summer 2011 Bulletin we erroneously spelled the name of Lisa Hoffmann Walker ’02. We apologize for the error.

winter bulletin 2012

PAGE 5

A Sense of Place at Portsmouth Abbey

by Headmaster James DeVecchi, Ph.D. When speaking to groups of prospective students and their families, I often start by stating that Portsmouth is a Catholic, Benedictine, college preparatory, residential, coeducational, boarding and day school. I explain how the many dimensions of our Monastery and School communities come together to form a very special living and learning environment, a place we believe is life’s best preparation for a young person. I then list all of the excellent parts that make up our School – our curriculum, spiritual life programs, residential life, athletics, extracurricular programs, and more – and confidently state that at Portsmouth Abbey School, bound by our Catholic/Benedictine traditions, the parts come together to form a whole that is considerably greater than the sum of its parts. It is along these same lines, albeit much more personally, that I articulate my sense of place at Portsmouth Abbey and School.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation calls a sense of place, “Those things that add up to a feeling that a community is a special place, distinct from anywhere else.”

I think of my sense of place here – literally, environmentally, figuratively, morally and personally – and how the dimensions of “this place” come together to create a school and living community that is both special and, at least based on my own experience, different from any other place. I use the word “different” rather than “better,” because feeling that one

PAGE 6

place is better than another is subjective, and “best” or “good” for one person might be exactly the opposite for another. “Different” clearly is not so subjective.

Literally, Portsmouth Abbey School and Monastery are blessed with more than 500 acres of one of the most beautiful stretches of New England coastline, characterized by rolling fields and spectacular views of the Narragansett Passage, enriched by historical landmarks, and enhanced (at least for avid golfers like me) by the magnificent Carnegie Abbey Club – all within easy access of vibrant cities and cultural centers like Newport, Providence and Boston. The generations of monks at Portsmouth Abbey have created the magnificent physical place that we enjoy on our campus today. The great majority of our students understands – but perhaps does not fully appreciate – the beauty of this place where they are living and learning. They are appropriately preoccupied with themselves, each other, their studies, their athletics and activities, and with finding their way to the college of their “choice.”

It is amusing to see the reactions of some alumni when they return to campus for the first time after graduating. By the expression on their faces when they “once again” take in the beauty of our campus, I get the feeling they are asking themselves the question, “Has that bay always been there?” while they appreciate for the first time the beauty of a place that simply was missed the first time around because of all of the “distractions” of growing up and getting

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

A SENSE OF PLACE AT PORTSMOUTH ABBEY

an education. The tradition of respect for the natural beauty of our property is reflected in the way Portsmouth has developed its campus and will continue to do so. The Monastery and School’s philosophy on campus development is that the buildings are intended to serve the needs of the School and to fit in with, rather than dominate, the natural beauty of our surroundings.

A fundamental quality of our Benedictine institution is stewardship, stewardship characterized by a respect for the environment.

Indeed, stewardship of the environment has been a hallmark of our community since the founding of the Monastery in 1918.

Many schools, admirably, are promoting “green” initiatives and environmental responsibility as part of their programs, mostly motivated, I feel, by a sense of responsibility to protect and preserve the environment. At Portsmouth being “green” is more fundamentally being Benedictine, and, like the many other qualities of this place implied by our Benedictine tradition, being “green” is inspired by a fundamental belief in and commitment to, rather than a reaction to, external needs or forces. Certainly, the widespread recognition Portsmouth has received for stewardship-driven, i.e., “green,” initiatives like our wind turbine, solar house and energy-responsible residences has been nice, but part of our true “sense of place” comes from our commitment to “reverence, respect and responsibility,” in this case through the stewardship of our environment.

That Portsmouth is a caring environment – a safe and nurturing place for its students, and a place where young people fit in and are happy – is perhaps the quality of our community that is most immediately recognized by visitors to our campus. Most fundamentally, our Monastery, and by implication our School, is characterized by the view that we are a place occupied by persons, a view that truly defines our Benedictine hallmark of community – our sense of place. Out of respect for our “community of persons,” Benedictine qualities like hospitality, love, humility and stability influence greatly the kind of place we are. We would be kidding ourselves by thinking that our students are preoccupied with our Benedictine culture and its hallmarks, but I feel certain that they are profoundly, albeit indirectly, formed by the special qualities of our community; over time, that develops into a sense of place. Realizing the value of our Benedictine sense of place, a father recently commented to me that through the example of the monks, who are seen to have solemnly vowed to commit themselves to a life devoted to God and guided by the Rule of St. Benedict, he hoped his daughter would develop a desire to give some part of her life to something she believed in and that is good.

I also am repeatedly moved by how our alumni carry with them our Benedictine hallmark of stability. This hallmark created in many of them a feeling of solidity and permanence, one so important and reassuring to them in their formative years here at Portsmouth that it continues to exist throughout their lifetimes.

Alums often describe to me the special feeling they get when turning down Cory’s Lane after having been away for some time.

This “special feeling” was perhaps best captured for me recently by an international alum who had not been on campus for the twenty years since his graduation and found himself in Boston with a day’s free time. Deciding to visit the Abbey, he took the bus from Boston as he so often had when he was a student here.

As was the routine back then, the bus left him off at the “top of the Lane” and he started walking down to campus. He told me, somewhat out of breath when he appeared at my office door that day, that he became so overwhelmed by anticipation and where he was that he suddenly and uncontrollably found himself running down the Lane toward campus. If this special place becomes part of you, it stays with you.

Portsmouth Abbey School is a place where young men and women are formed, as our Mission states, through a process of growth in Knowledge and Grace. Portsmouth Regent and former head of the Roxbury Latin School, Reverend F. Washington (Tony) Jarvis, often reminds me that many (very fine and moral) prep schools include a religious/spiritual aspect as part of a mission statement list that seems to want to end with “etc.” – there is much emptiness in most of modern education, with a lot of information, but little wisdom, being imparted. At Portsmouth, the spiritual/religious core of this place is not just part of a list but rather the true foundation for everything else. We believe that an education based upon faith without reason is incomplete, and an education based upon reason without faith is flawed. Indeed,

Photos: Opposite page, top: Jim and Deb in the headmaster’s office on campus in 2009 (photo by Jez Coulson) Bottom: Jim with his mathematics students in 1981 Above: Jim and Deb, with Summer School students, prepare for a sail on Narragansett Bay in the early 1980s

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 7

A SENSE OF PLACE AT PORTSMOUTH ABBEY

Matt and Steve (front) DeVecchi grew up on the Portsmouth Abbey campus

For Deb and me over the past nearly 40 years, this place we know as Portsmouth Abbey School and Monastery has provided both a career and a home for us and our two sons, Matt ’95 and Steve ’97. Actually, in writing these reflections on my sense of place at Portsmouth, I am overwhelmed by how important and formative “this place” has been for our family. Just as the special qualities of our community come together to create a unique living and learning environment for our students, so do they create a wonderful environment in which to raise a family. Among my

most gratifying moments as Head are those conversations with some of the many satisfied parents of students that conclude with praise for what Portsmouth has provided for their child. These parents also comment at the outstanding environment on which our Abbey campus must have been for Matt and Steve to grow up. As I work to recruit talented, Missionspecific faculty, one of the most significant attractions to prospective teachers with families is the opportunity to raise their children on our campus. To a person, every one of our faculty with a family feels blessed to be able to provide such a physically beautiful and strongly moral environment for their own children.

Perhaps most touching for Deb and me, with both of our sons having spent all of their childhood years on this campus, was our “boys” feeling (really, hoping) that it would never end. Well, like all of our students, the physical living at the Abbey does end, but the formative qualities of our Abbey campus culture – our truly unique sense of place – remain with them. And that sense of place is among the greatest gifts one can impart, to a school’s students and to one’s own children.

Jim with members of the girls’ varsity soccer team, 2009

PAGE 8

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

PHOTO: JEZ COULSON

Portsmouth is a place unique in the world of “elite” boarding prep schools in that a specific (in our case, Catholic in the Benedictine style) religion not only is valued, but is practiced to form an unapologetic core of our culture of faith and values, a core that provides the principles for the formation of all of our students. Faculty Emeritus Tom Kennedy captured some of this spirit on our campus as part of the self-study he oversaw for our last school accreditation when he wrote, “Religion enters into the warp and woof of daily life.

While not thrust upon the students, the occasional presence at Mass or other religious services, and the quiet and ordered routine of the Monastic community, often reach the mind and soul of even the most light-hearted observer.” Our graduates leave Portsmouth with a grounded sense of right and wrong, a call to service, and a confidence that the underpinnings (namely, their Catholic/Benedictine education) of a life based on Christian/ Benedictine values will be with them always.

Portsmouth Abbey ’s Summer Study Journals SACCO INTERNSHIP – Jina Kim ’12 The Ali Sacco ‘05 Summer Internship award was established in 2004 by Children’s Hospital in Boston in memory of Ali’s spirit of curiosity, enthusiasm, and generosity. Ali died in December 2003 during her Fifth Form year at Portsmouth. The recipient of this award is chosen each year because of his or her academic accomplishments and outstanding personal qualities.

As the 2011 recipient of the Ali Sacco ‘05 Summer Internship, Jina Kim ‘12 spent two weeks at Children’s Hospital in Boston, shadowing the physicians and staff in the Cardiology Department. Following is an excerpt of her report of her internship.

“How are your kids?”

“Great! They are at summer camps right now.”

“Oh, mine too! I thought it would be better for them to be out of the house, so I sent them to three summer camps.”

not only a caring doctor who constantly interacted with the babies and the anxious parents, but a wife, a mother of a family and a humorous colleague as well.

To read Jina’s complete report, please visit the Portsmouth Abbey School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7247

HANEY FELLOWSHIPS – Emily Kaufman ‘12, Casey Kendall ‘12 and Michael Keane ‘12 The Haney Fellowship was established by William M. Haney, III ‘80, in honor of his father, Bill Haney, to provide Fifth Form students with a unique educational experience during the summer before the Sixth Form year. Bill Haney was a member of the Portsmouth Abbey School faculty from 1968 to 1991. As a chemistry teacher, housemaster and golf coach, he influenced a generation of Abbey graduates. Following is an excerpt from each of the three 2011 recipients. Please find their complete accounts on the Portsmouth Abbey School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/6784

Emily Kaufman, Masikuhle Educare Center, Cape Town, South Africa – If I could roll my experiences of five weeks into

“Three?”

“Yes, and phew! It took an hour or two to fill out all those applications. I had to get health forms for each application and describe any allergies that each kid had. But, while filling those forms, guess what my husband said to me: ‘Do we really need to fill out these forms and send our kids to summer camps?’

a giant ball it wouldn’t roll; the jagged edges of Table Mountain might stick out to one side, some shark teeth sticking out; panoramas of gorgeous sunsets and staggering heights would wrap around it; it would smell like pap and unmistakable low tide; the ball might sit on the back of an ostrich, bubbles would float around it; there would be singing in Xhosa and Afrikaans; the sound of a vuvuzela would cry out; and there would be lots of laughter.

“Well, let HIM try looking after all of them through the whole summer vacation!”

Now, here is a question for you; who do you think are the speakers? You might immediately think: ordinary mothers. Well, you are partly right because they are both mothers of three children; however, would you believe it if you were told that these women are actually the best cardiologists at Children’s Hospital in Boston?

The Ali Sacco Internship, created in memory of Ali Sacco ‘05 who passed away in her junior year (2003) due to a heart disease, gave me a chance to follow these amazing doctors for two weeks.

During those weeks, I could not help but be surprised over and over again, because I could not find any of the stereotypical doctors that I had imagined. Of course, as a high school student, I really had no idea of what the real profession would be like. But in such a big hospital as the Children’s Hospital in Boston, I had been certain that I would meet busy, workaholic doctors who have no time for anything but work. Who I actually met, however, was

Emily Kaufman ’12 at the Masikuhle Educare Center, Cape Town, South Africa

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 9

Casey Kendall ’12 with children of the Mtendere Village Orphanage in Malawi

did not bother him, though, because he still played that guitar with the biggest smile ever. That was when I first realized that the material things did not matter to them as long as they had each other.

In the mornings the beat-up van would pull up to 62 Diamond Drive, and I headed to Masikuhle Educare, where seventy smiling little faces shouted, “TEACHER!” and I became the human jungle gym; the human jungle gym that could not always support the pack of small children clinging to my appendages and ended up toppling over, to the delight of the smiling little faces, but nonetheless a human jungle gym. In the afternoons it was over to Muizenberg, where twelve eager, ocean-bound students wiggled into wetsuits and took to the waves with our guidance as the other volunteers and I shouted, “paddle, paddle, paddle, UP!” and they sailed away on surfboards towards the shoreline. There were also those who preferred “Emilyback Ocean Excursions,” which included piggy-back rides complete with spins and drop-offs into the peaks of breaking waves.

Read Emily’s full account of her Haney Fellowship on our website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7632

Casey Kendall, Mtendere Village Orphanage, Malawi How

could children who have absolutely nothing be the happiest people I have ever seen? This is what I was asking myself everyday while I was in Africa. This summer I was fortunate enough to travel to Mtendere Children’s Village in Malawi, Africa, where I spent 18 days. There are over 150 kids in the village -- they are technically not all orphans like I expected -- who were taken away from their families because they were not able to provide for them. Some still do have families and they come to visit the children.

After traveling for over 30 hours I finally made it to Malawi. All I wanted to do was a take a shower, but it turns out we did not have any running water or power. In fact, we had no running water for four days. I went straight to a Welcoming Ceremony performed by all the children. It was my first time to hear the traditional singing that I grew to love so much. The kids were so happy to see all of us. One teenage boy brought his guitar to the ceremony, but as I looked at it I noticed there were only two strings on his guitar. That

PAGE 10

I lived in a guest house on the property, and every morning I would wake up and go down to the village to be greeted by all the kids.

The younger ones would run up to me and give me hugs. One of my jobs while I was there was to help with a preschool class. I ended up being in charge of the four youngest boys in the village.

We would color and play with building blocks everyday. After my first day of preschool was let out, two twin boys took my hands, and I had no clue where they were taking me. We walked to their house and they motioned for me to stay outside. When they came back, they had their plates in their hands to put snacks on. These boys are younger than three years old, but they know to keep up with their plates or they will not be getting any food. These kids know how to survive and are more self-sufficient than any kids their age back home.

In the afternoon I would hang out with the older kids. I was not expecting to hang out with people my age when I went on this trip.

The oldest person in the village is 22 years old. Once they are in sixth grade, classes are only taught in English, and all the teenagers know how to speak English. During my last couple of days there, it was shelling time in the village. The villagers would lay out a huge tarp everyday and bring out buckets and buckets of dried corn. We would sit in circles and use our hands to shell the corn.

The first day I had huge blisters on my hands and could barely use them. Everyone laughed at me and said my hands were “too soft” to do this kind of work. Every kid was required to fill up a bucket of kernels each day. Even the baby of the village would sit and work on his or her contribution. The kernels are eventually ground up to make a corn meal, which is what they all eat for lunch and dinner.

No one would complain because they knew if they did not shell the corn, they would not have food for the next year.

Read more of Casey’s Malawi journal on the School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7631

Mike Keane, Amazon Rainforest, Reserva Ecologica Taricaya, Peru When asked about my experience from the Haney

Fellowship, I can only say it was indescribable. My Haney Fellowship allowed me to travel to Puerto Maldonado, Peru, where I lived in the Amazon Rainforest for two weeks. I stayed at Taricaya, an ecological reserve recognized by the government of Peru.Taricaya was responsible for giving the government annual records of populations in the reserve. It also rehabilitated animals to be, one day, returned to the wild. They were able to rescue turtles and clear trails of their reserve. But enough about what Taricaya could do; what did I do?

A typical day at Taricaya included the following: wake up at 5 a.m., first activity at 5:30, breakfast at 7, second activity at 9, lunch at

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

SUMMER STUDY JOURNALS

12, afternoon activity at 3:30, and dinner at 7. The jobs varied between trail clearing, animal feeding, butterflies, new farm platform (NFP) and canopy (bird watching), rescue center maintenance (RCM), new cage, fruits, seeds, and the turtle project.

Here are my brief anecdotes on each. Trail clearing: the machete quickly became my new favorite tool. Animal feeding: playing with monkeys and feeding jaguars whole chickens, unreal. Butterflies: butterfly net plus friendly wager equals extreme butterfly catching. Bird Watching: I’m no longer afraid of heights. RCM: sewing nets, manual labor and cleaning, not a favorite activity.

New cage: I built an animal’s cage, like one at a zoo; incredible.

Fruits: gathering fruits from locals, and naturally eating every new fruit we found. Nothing beats a good jungle fruit. Seeds: looking for endangered trees of the trails and collecting their seeds for repopulation. Now that you know what I did daily, I’d like to share a few stories.

Read Mike’s full account of his Haney fellowship on the School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7633

Invitation from Our Lady, and may one day find him or herself in her presence as I have the past 10 days.

Thursday July 14, 2011 – Bastille Day! I AM IN FRANCE – this is so exciting! Specifically, I am on a bus from the Pau airport to Lourdes. Thirty hours of travel down, thirty minutes left to go!

Matt (Jewell-DeMieri ‘12), Sean (Buckley ‘12), Cynthia (Holte ‘12), and I are so pumped about this pilgrimage. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but my money is on the idea that it will be inspiring and life-altering.

I started 5:30 a.m. yesterday in Georgia. Plane ride at 9:20 a.m.

Landed at JFK 11:30 a.m. Met up with everyone at 2:30 p.m.

Longest three hours ever – period! Very scary airport up there in New York. 6:15 p.m. plane to Paris. Arrived 7:30 a.m. today.

8:45 a.m. plane to Pau. Arrived 10 a.m. 30-minute bus ride to Lourdes--still in session.

We are going to tour Lourdes today and see how we will be spending our 10 days here. Tonight is the Bastille Day celebration, which means fireworks over the castle in Lourdes! We are ready to get out and see what there is. We are ready to get to work helping Our Lady of Lourdes heal our fellow Pilgrims.

An exciting adventure is ahead! I only hope I can keep up!!

Saturday July 16, 2011 – It’s been two days already. I can’t believe how time is going. It’s as if every moment lasts forever; we do things in short amounts of time, but they feel like they last forever. At the end of the day, anything you may have done feels like a million years ago. It’s odd how this could even be possible.

LOURDES PILGRIMAGE (Ampleforth Abbey) – Jamie Chapman ‘12 Jamie was one of four Portsmouth Abbey students who were sponsored last summer by Hugh Markey ‘40 on this 10-day pilgrimage to Lourdes, in conjunction with Ampleforth Abbey in England. The pilgrimage is one of two trips to Lourdes undertaken by Portsmouth Abbey each summer.

The following is an excerpt from the personal journal I kept throughout my 10 days in Lourdes, France. As hard as I have tried to describe my time in Lourdes, someone cannot fully understand the effects of the Grotto until one has traveled there and experienced it in person. I hope every one of you receives the

Above: Jamie Chapman ’12 assisted Lourdes shrine visitors in July 2011

That first night – wow. We went to the Grotto for a Candlelight Procession. But there must have been thousands of people at the Grotto. We marched around the domain and had to have said the rosary at least five or six times in at least 15 different languages (no exaggeration!). The Procession was absolutely amazing, and we (as in the “Americans”) learned that the British boys have quite a set of lungs to them – belting out the Ave Maria counts as “singing,” right? Needless to say, we “Yanks” went to sleep immediately after the Procession from pure exhaustion and jet-lag.

Day One officially begins. We are anxious, nervous, excited, and some – just plain scared. What would happen – would we be disappointed? Overwhelmed? Completely nuts? No one knew what to expect. But soon enough we had no time to worry – the hospital pilgrims had arrived.

Read more from Jamie’s Lourdes journal on the School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7318

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 11

SUMMER STUDY JOURNALS Tim McGuirk ’11 (far right) with fellow pilgrims in front of Rome’s coliseum

ROME HUMANITIES PROGRAM Tim McGuirk ’11 The Rome Humanities Program is a complement to the Humanities course that students take in the Fourth Form year. Selected students – Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Formers – take part in this communal two-week pilgrimage for two weeks, living in the oldest part of Rome and participating in tours throughout Rome of major basilicas, a descent into the excavations below St. Peter’s, a Wednesday general audience with the Pope, the Vatican Museum, and various sites outside the city.

June 6, 2011 – Today we arrived at our domicile in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome. A small community of religious women operates this pleasant home called the Centro Diffusione Spiritualità. Together, these women seek Christ by welcoming His pilgrims to Rome. I pray that over the next two weeks, we too may grow closer to Him through acts of charity towards our neighbors.

Upon our arrival from the airport, all of the guys quickly jumped when Mr. O’Connor called upon us to serve the ladies as porters and carry their luggage up six flights of stairs. Although not eager initially, we paired up and delivered the bags with no problems.

After nearly 24 hours of traveling, we were allowed a shower and a brief rest.

At 4 p.m., we met as a group to acquaint ourselves with the Programme. To begin, Mr. O’Connor described for us his sometimes varying personality, based on circumstance, as he put it, the purpose of this experience, and a new, rather catchy phrase: faro atto di presenza. This phrase means “to be fully present” in Italian. As Mr. O’Connor explained, we, as pilgrims, must remain committed to our spiritual end in order to grow in God’s grace and love. This phrase captures how each of us must try to live.

The challenge I find as a Catholic is not living the faith here, in Rome, or in Lourdes; it is instead always keeping Christ in front of us to guide us. When home in Boston, I often lose Christ and this

PAGE 12

Students begin their day of sightseeing in a Salamanca courtyard.

makes me more susceptible to sin and evil. Through our attentiveness and presence, we all can grow with God. By growing with God, our example of Christian life will direct others to Him. Brother Gregory next spoke to us about our art supplies and hospitality. As pilgrims, we take time out at Rome’s most famous sites to sketch. As guests of the community at the Centro, Brother Gregory reminded us of the similar Benedictine hospitality we are familiar with at Portsmouth and required that we all be worthy guests to our friends here. This concluded our meeting and we all itched for the Roman streets!

Mr. O’Connor led us through our neighborhood, Trastevere, and explained to us the few geographical restrictions on our night life here. During the tour, the names of streets and landmarks became featured questions on “the quizzes,” proctored at-will by Mr. O’Connor, who emphasized the importance of knowing our city; he successfully stumped me on more than one occasion.

Before we finished our tour, Mr. O’Connor brought us to isuppli, a small pizzeria that serves up all kinds of fresh slices and doesn’t cost much. I was filled after almost a day without a real meal!

Read more of Tim’s journal at www.portsmouthabbey.org/ page/7634

SALAMANCA SUMMER STUDY PROGRAM -With excerpts from Kian Kenahan ’12, Sasha Holway ’12, Alec Meigs-Rives ’12, Jeff Salvatore ’12, Phil Rizzuto ’12, Michael Keane ’12, Brianna Heaps ‘12 and Kelly Plageman ‘12 The four-week Summer Study Program in Salamanca allow students to be immersed fully in the Spanish language and culture and earn college credits by taking courses with language professors and native Spanish speakers. Students attend classes throughout the week and participate in excursions around Spain and cultural activities on the weekends.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Abbey students surround trip leader, Therese Thomas (center) at World Youth Day.

Sunday, July 6, by Kelly Plageman ‘12 – We have finally begun our long-awaited transition into the exciting and surreal lifestyle here in Salamanca. Yesterday Señor took us to visit the beautiful Museo de Salamanca where we walked through hallways covered in ancient and cultural artifacts. The museum is separated into three sections: Fine Arts; Archaeology; and Ethnology. We were able to see a wide variety of interesting paintings and sculptures. Later on that night we gathered with all of the students in the program for a formal introduction at the Casino de Tormes. Over delicious tapas and refreshments, we met a lot of the program advisors as well as the other students along with us on the trip. We have experienced very fine restaurants as well. I tried paella for the first time and loved it.

We are all extremely excited to explore and relax at the beach in Portugal this weekend and continue to discover new things about these exciting countries.

Monday, July 11, by Brianna Heaps ‘12 – This weekend we all traveled to Lisbon, Portugal. The bus ride was long and exhausting, with a few stops along the way. One of our stops included the city of Fatima. Fatima is a religious city in Portugal. There are two churches in Fatima. One is an older and more traditional church, with statues of the three siblings of Fatima inside. The second church is much larger and more modern in that it is all white on the inside, except for the wall behind the altar, which is an all-yellow mosaic of the 12 apostles. Over the altar is a huge statue of Jesus on the cross. Both churches are equally beautiful.

The atmosphere around Madrid during World Youth Day was also exciting. Large groups of people from different countries walked around in song and dance, people traded apparel and conversed freely as if they had known each other for years. People carried flags and dressed in patriotic colors. I had never experienced a larger group of genuinely happy people before.

No matter what language you spoke, people were eager to start friendly conversations because there was always something in common between everyone.

Our first night in Lisbon was spent in a four-star hotel, where we had a buffet dinner. Saturday morning we got on a bus that gave us a brief tour of historic sites in Lisbon.

Hearing Mass from the Pope was my favorite part of the trip, even though it was said in about 10 different languages. I think it was the most memorable Catholic experience of my life. Not many people can say that they saw the Pope in close proximity, let alone say that they attended Mass with him.

Read more of the students’ accounts of their time in Salamanca on the School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7640

Read more about James’ Madrid experience at www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7635

2011 WORLD YOUTH DAY, Madrid, Spain – James McField ‘12 and Akunna Onyiuke ‘12 World Youth Day is a week-long event for young people from around the globe to gather and celebrate their Catholic faith. Initiated in 1985 by Pope John Paul II, the celebration takes place in a different location every three years and attracts hundreds of thousands of youth. A group of students and teachers from Portsmouth Abbey attended in 2011.

James McField – I had never been to Europe before, nor had I ever been on a pilgrimage. Upon arriving in Madrid, I immediately fell in love. My love continued as we traveled to Segovia, Toledo and finally to Fatima, Portugal. It wasn’t just the scenery and countryside that amazed me; it was the entire World Youth Day experience that will remain in my memory forever. The other pilgrims in Manto de Guadalupe (the group we traveled with) were all kind-hearted people from various places that ranged from Mexico, California, New Jersey, Virginia and Colorado.

Akunna Onyiuke – “I’m in Spain, I can’t believe I’m in Spain.”

This is the sentence that repeatedly went through my mind when I walked off of the six-hour flight from New Jersey to Madrid. The weather was perfect and I couldn’t stop looking around at everything, I just had to take in as much of Spain as I possibly could.

But there was so much more to see in Spain than just the airport so I was ecstatic to learn that it was only 10 a.m. in Spain and that I had the rest of the day to explore Madrid.

Exploring Madrid was a rush. The streets were filled with people from all over the world to see the Pope at World Youth Day. Spain was absolutely beautiful. As I navigated through crowds of people I noticed how gorgeous the buildings were with the beautiful brown stones used to build them and the beautiful balconies.

Even the way the foods at the restaurants were made was beautiful. I could tell the appearance of the food was important and best of all, it tasted as good as it looked.

Read more from Akunna about 2011 World Youth Day on the School website: www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/7636

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 13

C HU RCH ASSEMBLY TALK Sean Kenahan ’12 - January 19, 2012 Sixth Former Sean Kenahan addressed the School community at Church Assembly in January. Sean spoke about his experience working in a school during the summer of 2011 in a rough-and-tumble Kingston, Jamaica, neighbor and how his six weeks in Jamaica were a wake-up call – in more ways than one.

I have kind of a crazy story to tell, a little different than the usual Church Assembly speech. My story is about the time I spent in Kingston, Jamaica, this past summer, and as strange as it may sound, my story combines street crime and kids playing with LEGO pieces.

But let me back up for a moment.

Two years ago, I met Douglas Orane, a successful Jamaican businessman, at the Jamaican Jazz Festival. I spoke with him about how I wanted to spend my rising senior year summer working outside of the United States. After much planning, we worked out a way for me to reach my goal. I would spend six weeks in Kingston with the Oranes and work at a nearby school, teaching underprivileged children.

When I first arrived in Jamaica I remember thinking, “Ok, just accept the fact that for these next six weeks, you’re going to be a minority— the outcast.” But I really had no idea how true that statement was.

From the moment I stepped foot out of the Kingston airport I was the only fair complexion for miles. In fact, I didn’t see another white person during my entire trip, and no matter where I went I was continually gawked at. Whenever I walked down the streets Jamaican eyes shot open, as if to say, “Yo mon, what this birgeon think he doin’ here?”

Needless to say, I was taking a crash course in being a complete outsider. To my surprise, however, being an alien somehow seemed to enhance my teaching at the school.

On the first day, the students at Stella Maris School stared at me like I was from another planet. They didn’t know what an American was doing in their country, much less in their school, much less standing in front of their classroom. But their curiosity to find out who I

PAGE 14

was and what I had to say immediately made for a great classroom dynamic. I was buried in questions about my home, and the kids hardly believed they were in school when they discovered that they were going to be in Uncle Sean’s class. (In Jamaica it’s common to address your elders as “Auntie” or “Uncle.”) In fact, they decided that being in my class was playtime—a fact that I used to my advantage.

Now, these kids loved playing with LEGOS. Little did they know that while they put together their LEGO cars they were also putting together the mechanical concepts of the axle and the wheel, and when they built their LEGO houses they were learning about structural integrity. The kids also had fake camp money they could use in class to “buy” more LEGO pieces. We hoped that this would teach the kids how to add and subtract money, which they rarely see, much less use. Before teaching these amazing children I had always considered education a right, but not a privilege. After seeing poverty-stricken children actually cheer when they were called back into class after lunch, I changed my mind. Cheering for school! The children’s faces yearned for instruction. I filled the role of elder, teacher, and friend.

For the first time in my life, I saw that for these Jamaican students, education was their right and my privilege.

That wasn’t my only wake-up call. I was also forced to confront the harsh reality that many of these children had to overcome.

Every day I would walk the same route to school. This involved a pleasant stroll down the quaint, well-developed street called Acadia, followed by a rapid change of scene. The upscale homes that included front gates and guard dogs quickly changed into the small rusted shacks that many Jamaicans call home. You see, once I left the protective confines of “uptown,” as the locals called it, I would then turn onto Rosemary Street, which is the boundary of Kingston’s tough “downtown” district. On one particular afternoon, as I walked down Rosemary, two men sitting on a corner across the street took notice of me. They immediately stood up and began to cross the road. As they neared, I told myself they just wanted to sell me someSean (from left) with Zarah, Bryce and Alea on a Jamaican beach

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

WHERE ARE YOU NOW? WHERE ARE YOU GOING? thing: possibly a newspaper, maybe some fruit, or even some sort of drug. But then they split up. One approached me from the front and the other from behind. Then I heard quick footsteps and the man grabbed me from behind. His partner in front, who was about the size of Mike Camara, tore my shirt as he rapidly searched my pockets for anything of value. Neither guy seemed to have a weapon—believe me, I was looking. Jamaican Mike plucked my Blackberry out of my pants pocket and took off running as I shouted some things that I won’t repeat here. The man behind me was still frisking me. I spun around and saw that this Jamaican had more of a Rhoads MacGuire physique, so I proceeded to throw a right hook that Matteo would have been proud of. It landed, the man staggered, and then fled. I was left standing there on Rosemary Street, wondering what had just happened. I was immediately filled with anger, anger because I had journeyed to this country in order to aid Jamaica’s next generation. Was this how the country thanked me for my hard work? My anger continued into the next day, but it then began to grow into something much more profound.

I tell this story not to celebrate violence or even to encourage selfdefense. I tell it for a reason that took me a while to realize: Appreciation. After the mugging a friend told me that almost all the crime and violence in Kingston arises from necessity. People steal in order to pay the rent, to clothe themselves or, all too often, just to feed their children. Getting mugged made me a little more wary, but a lot more appreciative. It’s easy to lose sight of all the luxuries that come with being an American, especially an American at Portsmouth Abbey instead of Stella Maris School in Kingston. Here we always have a roof over our heads, we never worry where our next meal will come from, and we enjoy an amazing education. Food, clothing, education: just the basics to us, but luxuries for most of the world. Seeing children overjoyed because they got to go to school, and witnessing, up close and personal, what some people have to do to survive changed the way I feel when the alarm goes off every morning.

I urge you all to take a moment every morning when your alarm wakes you to realize how lucky you are and to appreciate every moment you spend in this great community, surrounded by so many who only wish to see you grow into the person you want to be.

HOW WILL YOU GET THERE?

The monks of Portsmouth Abbey have found answers to these questions in the Rule of St. Benedict. . .

Could this be the answer for you?

We invite you to experience a week of prayer, work, rest, and recreation in our Monastic Life Experience Program for single, college - educated, Catholic men, 21- 45 years old, who wish to consider a call to monastic life.

The “open-ended” program will be scheduled to suit you – you may spend a few days to a week or more at the abbey, experiencing the life of the monk – Ora et Labora – including daily mass, common prayer, lectio divina, manual labor, and conferences on monastic history or spirituality, with opportunity for exercise and rest on our 500 acres on Narragansett Bay. The program is an opportunity to familiarize yourself with monastic life and consider the possibility that This Call May Be For You. www.portsmouthabbey.org

Thank you.

Vocations inquiries: abbotcaedmon@portsmouthabbey.org

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 15

English teacher Don Cowan, working with students in his Creative Writing class

FROM THE

CLASSROOM Beginning with this issue of the Bulletin, we will be featuring a regular contribution in the magazine from one of our teaching faculty. “From the Classroom” will highlight what is being taught in a particular classroom. In our first “From the Classroom” feature, Donald Cowan, English and Christian Doctrine teacher, describes the work he is doing with his Creative Writing class and, in turn, what the students are learning from it.

A Place for Creativity When asked what they take away from the class, eleven of my twelve Creative Writing students chose to mention the place of the classroom over their own creativity. Having read all of their work, I can assure you, each student is creative. But rather than mention their own poetic prowess, they showed gratitude for things like atmosphere, place, space, community, the social aspect, and conversations. What my students appreciate most about the class, is that it is a class. They appreciate that they can go to a place set apart for them to discover the meaning of creativity.

But how does one determine what is creative? I am tempted, sometimes in order to maintain civility, to claim that any writing that denies limits deserves the title creative. Of course, secretly, I say to myself that creativity is something else entirely. But it is true that poetry, one of the high forms of creative writing, is very much concerned with limits. It struggles with the limits of form, laments the limits of space and time, and often refuses to accept death as a real limit. Furthermore, there is the great limit of the reader’s expectations that must be challenged or else the writer risks being a propagandist or even worse, boring. So, poetry at least is concerned with limits, but it oftentimes creates or accepts limits just as much as it denies them. How then does one teach creativity?

We can say this, at least: if being creative involves denying, accepting, or creating limits, then, in order to be creative one must first know the limits. In the Fall Term, the Creative Writing class here at Portsmouth Abbey focuses on just that, the limits of poetry.

In particular, they focus on the forms of poetry. The students master meter and rhyme all while composing sonnets, various Japanese forms, aubades, vespers, blank verse, imprecations and charms, dirges, rondeaus, odes, soliloquies, villanelles, and much more. They learn that meter and rhyme are not arbitrary rules that rhetoric has imposed on poetry, but rather a mapping out of our natural speech patterns and a way in which language has its own music. And that it can be used to convey meaning! The

PAGE 16

students find inspiration from great poets who have clearly mastered the forms, such as Shakespeare, Keats, Donne, Thomas, Wilbur, and Frost.

They learn that when writing an aubade they can still praise night, because the morning follows after the night. The fact that it is an aubade means something, and they can play with that meaning. By the end of the term they should have about 20 poems written and ready to submit to our very own journal, The Raven.

Of course, creativity does not belong just to poetry. The Winter Term is devoted to prose work, but particularly the writing of short stories. The students read such short-story authors as Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner, and Nikolai Gogol. These authors help the students grasp a sense of the beautiful, the grotesque, and the absurd. By the end of the term they are responsible for a 10-to-15-page short story. The Spring Term is sometimes devoted to screenplays, other times devoted to playwriting.

But of the number of classes for the term, one half is devoted to learning new forms, new stories, new tools, new methods, while the other half is devoted to writing exercises created to get the students more comfortable with writing. In fact, each student has two notebooks: one for exercises, and one for finished work.

Each student goes through about two exercise notebooks a year.

In other words, they write a lot! Oftentimes, students will enter class and immediately begin writing in their notebooks. They all share the experience of carrying their own notebook which is devoted to their own musings, observations, inspirations, passions, and witticisms. The notebooks bring the students together because they are physical symbols of their work and their involvement in the class.

It is not surprising to me that my students genuinely appreciate their sense of involvement in the community of the class. The twelfth student appreciated her inclusion in something quite broader. The one student who did not mention the space of the classroom, Jamie, instead claimed that she has “developed an ability to translate [her] past experiences into a form which other people can read.” What she finds great about the class is that she is now aware that others will read her work. She overlooked her inclusion in the classroom, and instead found she was including the world! This may be the most vital lesson of the Creative Writing class: we do not write for ourselves but for others.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

by Fran Cook, Director of Special Events Enrico Palazio ’96, Michelle Palazio and their daughter, Madeleine, pause for a photo while out on a campus stroll!

More than 200 alumni, family members, and guests returned to campus on September 23 -25 for Reunion Weekend 2011. Despite a few scattered showers on Friday, the weather cooperated and we were blessed with a beautiful fall weekend.

Reunion weekend began on Friday with various activities across campus for alumni. Those interested in golf enjoyed a day out on the links at Carnegie Abbey. Others visited the classrooms of favorite teachers and subjects, while others got a chance to sit-in on The Abbey Players’ rehearsal for their fall production, The Frogs.

Classes gathered off-campus on Friday night to catch up over dinner at restaurants in the Portsmouth and Newport areas.

In addition to Mass and breakfast on Saturday morning, David Moran ‘71 welcomed alumni to the Linenfold Room to discuss the Monastic Renewal Program at the Abbey. David is currently the director of the Monastic Renewal Program Office. Other offerings for the day included a tour of the construction site of the new boys’ residence hall, a walking tour of “The Art of Portsmouth Abbey” led by Father Damian Kearney ’45, and “Back to the Classroom” offerings with favorite teachers. By lunchtime, guests were ready to enjoy a fantastic New England-style clambake complete with lobster and live music by Jim Coyle ‘79 and The North Shore Jazz Trio. The afternoon provided many opportunities for alumni to catch up with long lost friends, be it at the Raven’s Children’s Carnival and hayride or the many athletic contests on campus, including the ever-popular football game and hospitality tent!

At dusk, alumni gathered once again for their Reunion Cocktail Party in the Winter Garden and Terrace followed by an elegant sitdown dinner in the Auditorium which had been transformed for the evening. Before dinner, Headmaster DeVecchi made a special

Clinton Macsherry ’41 congratulates Fr. Julian Stead ’43 on receiving his honorary Portsmouth diploma. Fr. Julian received a Baltimore Orioles jersey as a gift.

presentation to Father Julian Stead ’43, who received an honorary diploma from the School. Headmaster DeVecchi explained that due to an early acceptance to university during his V Form year, Dom Julian did not graduate with the class of 1943 and thus did not receive a diploma. Father Julian was quite pleased to receive his diploma and, as an added gesture, was given a Baltimore Orioles jersey (he is a huge fan). Dom Julian quickly proceeded to put it on over his monastic robe and the crowd roared and gave him a standing ovation. The name of the new boys’ residential house was announced and revealed to be St. Martin’s, in honor of Abbot Emeritus Matthew Stark, whose confirmation name is Martin.

Patrick Burke ’86, assistant headmaster for development, who was also celebrating his 25th- year reunion, addressed alumni during dessert. Patrick highlighted major improvements to the campus since the group last gathered 5 years ago, recognized those alumni who were killed in the 9/11 attacks 10 years earlier, and also recognized friends and classmates who were unable to be with the group that night because they are serving the United States Military in places near and far. The night ended with lively recognition of each class in attendance and the awarding of a gift to John Yung ’86, who traveled all the way from Taiwan.

Planning has begun for Reunion 2012, which will be held on September 28-30. The classes of 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007 and all members of the Diman Club (those having graduated more than 50 years ago) are welcomed back to campus for this event. Please call Fran Cook at 401-643-1281 if you would like to become involved in planning this year’s reunion.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 17

The Diman Club

Left, front row (from left): Samuel A. Francis ’43, Francis G. Dwyer ’41 K, B. H. Tovar ’41, Father Julian Stead ’43, Clinton K. Macsherry ’41, Father Christopher Davis ‘48 Back row (from left): Michael R. Corcoran ’46, Roger H. Moriarty ’50, Edward S. Belt ’51, Joseph J. Scanlan ’46, Father Damian Kearney ’45, William J. Kent ’56, John A. Sullivan ‘52

Class of 1966

Right, front row (from left): Eric J. Sandeen, Stanley W. Burke, Robert H. Hanley, Ralph A. Mariani Back row (from left): Walter B. Cotter, Pierre de Saint Phalle, Jon B. Gilloon, James P. Danaher

Class of 1971

Left, front row (from left): Gregory M. Tobin, Rev. David K. Black, Stephen M. Griffith Back row (from left): David E. Moran, Thomas X. Lonergan, Robert W. Rudd, J. H. Billings, Timothy J. Klemmer

Opposite page Class of 1991

Front row (from left): Daryl D. Barnes, Ezra C. Smith, T. J. Healey Back row (from left): Alfonso Gonzalez, Gordon M. Carrolton, Kenneth Ashton

PAGE 18

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Class of 1976

Right, front row (from left): Franklin C. Craig, Jeffrey F. Calnan, Father Benjamin B. Reese, Peter E. McCarthy, William D. Mulholland, Timothy G. McKenna, Christopher R. Cooke, Richard J. Sullivan, Christopher D. Ferrone Back row (from left): J. M. Ryan, Thomas F. Keogh, Michael F. McTeigue, Robert W. Rodgers, Timothy Garvey, Mark K. Dietrich, Henry L. Schmitt, Francis J. Tietje, Edward F. Mahoney, Nicholas S. Murray

Class of 1981

Left, front row (from left): Peter C. Loos, John A. Ruvane, John L. McCauley (former faculty), Douglas J. Peale, Bryan A. McGuirk Back row (from left): Jeremiah C. Lynch, James E. Holland, John N. Canning, Thomas F. Magauran, Patrick M. Gallagher, Michael P. McCauley

Class of 1986

Below, front row (from left): Matthew A. Thornton, David R. Cantin, David A. Adelhardt Back row (from left): Patrick J. Burke, Douglas M. Gradek, William T. Brazell, John F. Sheehan, John C. Yung

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE PAGE19 19

Class of 1996

Left, front row (from left): Enrico A. Palazio, Graziella C. Christoffel, Heather S. Dwyer, Todd B. Rich Back row (from left): Steven J. Pietraszek, Matthew P. Leahy, Theodore S. Wells, Matthew K. Igoe, John N. Edenbach, Jaymes M. Dec

Class of 2001

Right, front row (from left): Jonathan D. Sellitto, Daniel C. Murray, John Jay C. MoulignĂŠ, Christopher G. Hornig Back row (from left): Fernando Kriete, Sean F. Flynn, Gordon F. Fellows, Matthew Kotowski, John C. Heins

Class of 2006

Left, front row (from left): Courtney J. Mitchell, Margaret Mahan, Julia A. Driscoll, Abigail M. DiPalma, Natalie J. Sharp Back row (from left): Laura Curren, Lisa H. Betz, Rachel E. Johnstone, Jesahel Cantarell, Katherine H. Atkinson, Joseph T. Queno, Beatrice Merz, Alexandra N. Leonard, Amanda Roderick, Julie A. Dufresne

PAGE 20

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Left: The North Shore Jazz Trio delights alumni at the New England Clambake on Saturday afternoon.

Right: (Back row, top left) Matthew Thornton ’86, David Cantin ’86; front row, Patrick Burke ’86, P’15 and Doug Gradek ’86 at Reunion dinner.

Right: Dolores Grenier and Tom Lonergan ’71, P’11, ‘14 enjoy lobster at the Clambake.

(Below, from left) Fernando Kriete ’01, Jon Sellitto ’01, Andrea Winterer, Alex Mouligné ’00, and John Jay Mouligné ’01 at the Reunion Cocktail Party.

Left: Hugh Tovar ’41 relaxes under the hospitality tent at the athletic events on Saturday afternoon.

Below: (From left) Courtney Mitchell ’06, Beatrice Merz ’06, Lisa Betz ’06, Julie Dufresne ’06, Rachel Johnstone ’06, Joe Queno ’06 and Jesahel Cantarell ‘06 at Reunion Dinner.

Right: Bill Brazell ’86 with his daughter, Genevieve

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE PAGE 21 21

“The mystery surrounding Dan gave rise to a thousand fantastic stories. I’m sure all of them were true. He was a child prodigy, still a legend in the Harvard Math Department thirty years later. He had invented a bawdy limerick for every geographic region on earth (“There once was a man from Aberystwyth…”). In college, he fell sixty feet into a subway tunnel and landed on his head. Somehow he climbed out and walked to the hospital on two broken legs.

This explained everything…”

– Anonymous ‘68 from “Dom Andrew: A Paradoxical and Powerful Man” Winter Bulletin 1989 “Fall in the Red was the most exciting time – he figured and refigured the schedule and did it again when some 2nd former said to him he had a conflict…

That dreaded word in the fall – conflict!

Then he would imitate Rip van Winkle for awhile, and peace would befall the Red again.”

– Red Cummings ‘63 from “Dom Andrew: A Paradoxical and Powerful Man” Winter Bulletin 1989 “If I were to try to state simply Father Andrew’s gift to me, I would say that it was one of example: how man honorably comes to terms with the choices he has made in life, no matter how difficult. It was not a lesson in love, but something close: it had to do with honor, principles, and ethics. It is not often in life that one encounters a deeply moral man. I’ve only met two that I’m aware of – my father and Dom Andrew Jenks.”

– Mark Power ’55 from “Dom Andrew: A Paradoxical and Powerful Man” Winter Bulletin 1989

PAGE 22

Father Andrew Jenks Dinner: A Heartfelt Remembrance

A dinner in memory of Dom Andrew Jenks, O.S.B., and in celebration of the establishment of the Jenks Chair in Mathematics was held on November 30, 2011 — Saint Andrew’s Day — at The Yale Club in New York City. Hosts for the evening were Headmaster and Mrs. James DeVecchi and Mr. and Mrs. John E. Pepper, Class of 1956.

After a welcome from Patrick Burke ’86, assistant headmaster for development and alumni affairs, Abbot Caedmon charmed guests with his recollections of Father Andrew, including a story Abbot Matthew had asked him especially to relate of Father Andrew appearing to the School doctor in the infirmary several weeks after his death. The doctor looked up from doing paper work and saw Dom Andrew in the hallway in a characteristic pose with a lit cigarette between his fingers. He waved absentmindedly, then realization struck, and he rushed out to the hallway. Father Andrew had vanished but a wisp of smoke remained.

Dr. DeVecchi offered his personal reflections of Father Andrew, emphasizing his intellectual brilliance and never-ending gift for kindness. Jim then introduced the first recipient of the Jenks Chair in Mathematics, long-term teacher of mathematics and Associate Headmaster, Daniel McDonough. In thanking the group for the honor, Dan recalled how Father An-

Kevin A. MacGuire ’65, Carroll J. Cavanagh ’60, John Tepper Marlin ‘58

drew had taught him that, while every teacher wants to work with the most gifted students, the mark of a great teacher is that he loves working with the least gifted students and concluded his remarks by saying, “Words cannot capture what it means to be associated with the legacy of Dom Andrew through your loyalty to his memory.“ John Pepper ’56, retired CEO of Procter & Gamble and chairman of the Walt Disney Company, also spoke with reverence for Father Andrew, his housemaster in the Red, whose photograph he has kept on his desk for fifty years. Following his remarks John gave the toast “to Father Andrew.”

During dessert, further reminiscences were given by Reverend Malcolm M. Kennedy ’54, John Dale ’65 and William Crimmins ’48.

Johnny Dale recalled coming to the School from the Deep South at the suggestion of his bishop in Natchez. He described Father Andrew, in contrast to the more cerebral detachment of then Prior Aelred Graham: “You might say he was a real boys’ monk. There was nothing prudish or puritanical or pious about Father Andrew, and yet there was an almost fierce self-sacrificing spirit in the man.” Father Malcolm drew a laugh when he began, “Don’t worry if you can’t finish everything on your plate. The ghost of Father Andrew will surely glide in before long

As the first recipient of the Dom Andrew Jenks Chair in Mathematics, Daniel McDonough, associate headmaster and head of the Mathematics Department, extends his sincere thanks and appreciation.

Patrick M. Kaufer ’84 and Abbot Caedmon Holmes

to sweep the leftovers into the voluminous folds of his robe.” And Bill Crimmins received a standing ovation when he related the story of how, on a blustery April evening in 1945, after being told by Father Bede that the second of his two brothers had been killed in World War Two, he received permission to go out for a walk along the Manor House drive and was “shouting at the gods,” when after a while he realized there was someone walking alongside him. Crimmins concluded: His quiet presence and loving concern eventually calmed me down, and I returned to St. Benet’s and he to the Manor House having never said a word, but then none were necessary. Thomas à Kempis once said, “I would rather feel compassion than know its definition.” Andrew was the epitome of compassion and certainly knew its definition.

The floor was then opened to all who wanted to share a story of Father Andrew; a few more admirers, including Blasé Reardon ’54, Nagle Jackson ’54, Kevin MacGuire ’65 and David Moran ’71, stepped forward. By evening’s end it was evident Father Andrew had touched the lives of many.

– James MacGuire ‘70 Senior Development Officer Director of Portsmouth Institute

Kristel Railsback (from left) and the Bohan family, Niamh M. Bohan ’03, MacDara K. Bohan ’91, Marie Jo Bohan P’03, ’91, ‘86 PAGE 23

AN EDUCATION OF THE

HEART

by David R. McCarthy, Faculty Emeritus

We arrived at Portsmouth on a hot day in early August of 1971, myself, my wife, five children, a dog, a cat, chickens, ducks and a goat, all transported in an aging Volkswagen bus, which, having completed multiple trips back and forth to our Massachusetts home, would then lay recumbent in our driveway, never to be driven again. Like the Volkswagen, once we’d arrived, there was no going back. What I’d come seeking was a spiritual and intellectual community: a place that we could call home.

When we arrived in ’71, the 60s, like some great and ominous nuclear cloud, still cast its shadow. To a greater or lesser extent, all of us had come unhinged: Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Martin Luther King’s assassination in Memphis, cities aflame throughout the hot summer of 1968, Robert Kennedy’s assassination in June of ’68, and then in 1970, the murder of the Kent State students. It was the last – the Kent State killings – that traumatized me. Classroom seats were empty.

Passions were high. Civility no longer ruled relations between teachers, students and administrators. The causes that engaged students and teachers, though often noble, were undermining the foundation of what Jacques Barzun had called, “The House of Intellect.”

I had come to the conclusion that education – like modern politics – was engaged in a civil war against itself. Conflict ruled; truth didn’t exist, even though the young, consciously or unconsciously, yearn to believe in something. The Socratic maxim, “know thyself,” seemed to lead to nothing but a radical skepticism. Education was no longer liberal, liberating. It sought instead to erode all tradition, all accepted assumptions. Not rationality, but power was the new telos of the coming university, and I knew I’d find no home there.

The question: Did there still exist schools where students and teachers were driven to discover the ultimate truth of existence?

Pope John Paul said it more precisely in his 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio: in our time this “search seems often neglected... in (the)

one-sided concern to investigate human subjectivity ... Sundered from the truth individuals are at the mercy of caprice ... and the person ends up being judged by pragmatic criteria.” *** I knew little about Portsmouth Abbey – or even where it was – that day in 1969 or ’70 when we drove south on Route 24 for a family outing in Newport. My only knowledge of Portsmouth was a college friend who had graduated from the Priory, which ever after had seemed to me somehow exotic.

In addition, I had just been reading Aelred Graham’s provocative work, Zen Catholicism, which identified him as the Prior of Portsmouth, and I had contemplated contacting him. Sweeping down the exit ramp of Route 24 and up and over the hill on 114, you come very abruptly to the Cory’s Lane light. And there on the right was the green Abbey sign. We turned right rather than proceeding on to Newport. Did we ever get to Newport? I don’t remember, but I think not.

Our first experience of the Abbey was the Winter Garden, the Alhambra columns, as if suspended in air, and the pool. And Dom Peter Sidler. Mesmerized by all the pool’s coins, my children greedily pleaded to be allowed to scoop them out. Then Father Peter appeared, smiling and jovial. We spoke; he told my children: “go ahead; help yourself.” Over the years, others would frown disbelievingly at my description of Father Peter, but to us he was both generous and exceedingly kind to our children. Ironically, given his often dour and forbidding aspect, Dom Peter became for us the gatekeeper, the face of Benedictine hospitality.

If happenstance had led us to the Abbey, how can one characterize the concatenation of events that led to my being hired as a Master in the summer of 1971? Was it chance? Providence? I prefer to think the latter. After that first visit, we returned. There were trips for high holy days and days of recollection. I began to wonder whether an Abbey School might, possibly, be just such a community, where the education of the heart as well as the mind was still Above: David teaching English during his first year at Portsmouth Abbey School, 1972

PAGE 24

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

The question: Did there still exist schools where students and modified. Inevitably, possible. A developing friendship with Dom students, albeit tangenteachers were driven to discover the ultimate truth of existence? tially, share in a way of Anselm Hufstader led life. Their education, me to ask, one Sunday in a unique way, invites over coffee in the Stillthem to “open our eyes to the light that comes from God and our man, about the chances of teaching at Portsmouth. No, he said, ears to the voice from the heavens.” Around them, now sadly there were no openings for ’71 and, though still unsigned, I had in in diminishing numbers, is a community of monks, living lives hand a contract from Stonehill College. Then the phone call came: centered on prayer, work and study, whose very presence is an Bob Cadogan, who taught English, had abruptly resigned. Was I invitation to spiritual wakefulness. interested? Yes, I was.

So we came to the Abbey, though to do so was to abjure tenure at Stonehill, which, lacking a Ph.D., assured that were I ever to contemplate a return to college teaching, the gatekeepers would bar the door. Nostalgia for what I left behind I occasionally felt, but after thirty - one years of living and teaching at the Abbey – and ten years in retirement – it has become for me, not only a place where I’ve lived and taught, but my spiritual home. How can I make such a hyperbolic statement understood? And how is this different from the proverbial, if now increasingly redundant, Mr. Chips, whose life and school’s life seemed synonymous?

Best, perhaps, to try to give some sense of the uniqueness of a Benedictine monastery school. Many schools call themselves “familial” – and may be more obviously familial than Portsmouth.

But monastic life is analogous to that of a family. And the one nominated to lead a monastery of men is the Abbot, a Father.

Such monastic schools also have a Headmaster, neither necessarily cleric or lay. The lay faculty’s allegiance – save in a certain restricted and important sense – is to the school, not the monastery. Why, then, this seemingly arcane governance? Because in a wonderful and mysterious way, this two-fold hierarchy reflects the very order of creation itself: God’s created time, kronos, the chronological measure of the coming to be and the passing away of both nature and our lives, but God also created a quality called kairos, which is the purpose, the meaning, implicit in the seeming randomness, or even meaninglessness, of things. So the very governance of a monastic school reflects the very nature of reality itself; all education must be understood as Æterne Deus.

When I first arrived, Portsmouth still advertised itself – in the words of St. Benedict – as a “school in the Lord’s service.”

I thought then such a claim somewhat disingenuous; students came not “to give up their wills” but simply to be students at a Catholic boarding school. But with age, my view has somewhat

Still, most of us remain sleepwalkers, even when we – especially adolescents – appear so exuberantly awake. How can one characterize them as asleep? Obviously in the order of nature, they are clearly awake, but what of their souls? Educated they are, both by schools and even more potently by the forces of the cacophonous world, but for all that, how many can, or do, hear the voice of the spirit that says, “Come and listen to me; I will teach you reverence for God.” Over the years I have come to believe that Portsmouth offered, in a community where civility and the intellectual and a moral life could be sustained, the possibility of hearing just that voice. And the Abbey has done it, not simply by offering a “rigorous academic program,“ but by offering an “education of the heart.” And what, finally, does such a phrase imply? It implies that Wisdom is education’s telos and that Wisdom is a gift. So, it is here, and under this Rule, that I have chosen to make my home, always mindful of the words of a certain wise man, “ask not if there is life after death” – because I’m sure there is – “but whether there is life before death!”

David R. McCarthy, Emeritus, taught at Portsmouth Abbey School from 1971-2002. Before coming to Portsmouth, he was a tenured Associate Professor at Stonehill College. He earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1955 and his M.A. from Columbia University as well as ABD from both Brown University and University College Dublin, Ireland.

At Portsmouth Abbey he taught English and Humanities and became Department Chairman of both departments.

He likes to quote St. Augustine, “I encounter myself, and recall myself” by discussing the importance of studying the past to understand the present and to move into the future as he has done in this brief article. He continues to read at the 8:00 a.m. Sunday Mass for Abbot Matthew. David is both a lifelong learner and teacher and currently teaches a variety of literature courses for the Circle of Scholars at Salve Regina University. He has six children, including Daniel ‘77 and Andrew ‘92, and two step-children, as well as 15 grandchildren. He lives with his wife, Cheryl Ann McCarthy, in Portsmouth, R.I. He can be reached at drmccarthy@cox.net.

David on the Manor House porch, summer 2007

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 25

At a boarding school, who could have a stronger sense of place than the faculty children – the “faculty brats” who grow up on campus, make friends with one another, and eventually become Abbey students and alums? One Abbey faculty family is the Bonins: Michael Bonin is the Head of the English Department; Laureen Bonin teaches English and is the Head Houseparent in St. Brigid’s House. They’ve raised their daughter Sydell, and their sons, Drake and Fletcher, on campus. Drake, ’11, was Head Boy and now attends Santa Clara University. Fletcher, ’13, is a current Fifth Former. Michael asked Drake and Fletcher to talk about being Abbey natives.

by Michael, Drake ’11, and Fletcher ’13 Bonin MB: What were your first impressions or experiences at the Abbey?

MB: What was it like to grow up next to a monastery?

Drake: I moved to the Abbey right before 4th grade, after my dad got the idea into his head that we were too preppy for West Coast life.

Drake: The solemn presence of the Benedictines on campus created the feeling that we were getting a rare glimpse into monastic life, something otherworldly that we wouldn’t encounter anywhere else—certainly at any other boarding school. It was great to meet all the different personalities, from Dom Damian working in the flower gardens, to Brother Francis in a fluorescent orange hoodie lapping the campus on his bike, to Father Chris cheering at Abbey home games.

Fletcher: Speak for yourself about the preppy thing. Black Nike midcalf socks go with everything. I remember Mr. McDonough showing us our house in St. Mary’s. He told us we could choose what room we wanted. When Drake and I picked out the room with the connecting door to the girls’ dorm hallway, Mr. McDonough said, “Hmm, I thought you might choose that one.” I didn’t know what he meant back then, but I get it now.

Drake: I remember how exciting it was to have a 500-acre backyard to play in.

Fletcher: Yes, we moved to the Abbey when I was seven, and I think the very first weekend I called every single faculty kid to go play at the gym. That was pretty awesome.

Drake: Also, now that I’m in college, I really miss having a view of the Bay. I took it for granted while I was there, but I’ve realized how hard it is to orient yourself without knowing where the ocean is. From our dorm apartment we could look out the window and watch ships go by, or lobster boats working their traps. In late August, we could walk down to the Boathouse and catch bluefish—schools of them boiling twenty yards off the beach.

Fletcher: Right. For a little kid, how about the safari that is the Abbey campus? I used to go down to the forest almost every day to catch frogs and salamanders with other faculty kids. I’ve seen skunks, coyotes, turkeys, deer, squirrels, hawks, herons, turtles, possum, foxes.

Above: Faculty children gathered on Easter Sunday PAGE 26

Fletcher: I was scared of the monks in their black robes when I was a kid, probably because I was raised reading about the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. The first time Abbot Mathew spoke in church, I just looked at my mom. His voice was the deepest I had ever heard: how God wants to sound. When I heard that Father Damian had been the school’s beekeeper, that was just the coolest thing.

But then I heard about a monk who gave kids pancakes from his pockets. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that one.

MB: What has been the best part of living at the Abbey?

Drake: Growing up on a boarding school campus is such a unique experience; it always gives me something to write about. College application essays were a snap. It was like growing up on an island (which, come to think of it, we did), or in a kingdom of our own.

Fletcher: The best part about living at the Abbey is the facilities open all the time, the fitness center and the indoor and outdoor basketball courts. Recently, playing basketball with the faculty who live on campus has been pretty cool.

Drake ’11 (from left), Fletcher’ 13, and Sydell Bonin down by the bay

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Below: A Halloween hayride for faculty children, driven by Brother Joseph

Below: Drake and Fletcher head for the bay for some late afternoon fishing

MB: And the worst part?

MB: But it has to be great, having your parents live and teach at your school, right?

Drake: Living at school: every student’s worst nightmare, right?

Honestly, it was not too bad, but there was never any separation between school and home. I never “went home” from school, so it was hard to feel like there was ever any getting away.

It’s definitely intense, like living in a fishbowl. Your teachers and peers are always with you. This allows for some really great relationships with both, but there is also more pressure.

Fletcher: The worst part would be the lack of privacy. For instance, when I was little I used to like making lots of weird noises. I also sing really loud sometimes. But I have found that the thirty-something teenage girls who live in the dorm can hear these things. People who live in regular detached houses can make all the loud, odd noises they want without fear of never getting a date for prom.

Students knock on our door a lot, too, which is annoying in itself, but not as upsetting as opening the door, seeing a girl from your class, and getting the same greeting every time: “Oh . . . is your mom home?” Not exactly ideal.

MB: Living in a girls’ dorm has to be strange for a teenage boy.

Drake: Whenever I tell another guy that I live in a girl’s dorm, they usually respond with something along the lines of “how lucky I am.”

Not true. I always had to be on my guard (and fully dressed) going downstairs, just in case my mom had decided to hold a St. Brigid’s prefect meeting. In our living room.

Fletcher: It’s hard to wrap your mind around the fact that you live right in the same building as your potential girlfriends. Often girls will come up to me in school and say that my mom is mad at them or yelled at them last night. I don’t know what they want me to do about it, but I guess they think I have to know that stuff.

Another odd thing about living in a girls’ dorm would be that every time I walk back home, girls say “hi” to me from their windows. I usually try to keep my eyes glued to the sidewalk so I’m not accused of being a creeper or a stalker, but I don’t know where their voice is coming from, so it forces me to stand outside the dorm scanning the girls’ windows, which can’t look too good to passersby... On the positive side though, girls’ dorms always smell a lot better than guys’ dorms.

Fletcher: Going to high school with your parents is not as fun as it may sound.

Drake: Definitely stressful. No matter where I was, I knew my actions were being watched. This kept me in line. If I ever were to do something wrong, I didn’t worry about the Disciplinary Committee.

I worried about what would happen when I got home.

Fletcher: I always worry what will happen when I get home, regardless.

Drake: There’s home, and then there’s the classroom. My AP English teacher was my dad, which had its positives and negatives. On the one hand, I had the best after-school help ever. But on the other hand, if I got a bad grade, not only did I have to deal with it in class, but we would review my performance at the dinner table that night.

That makes for awkward conversation.

Fletcher: But there are some definite positives. If you are that random teenager who kind of likes his parents, you always know where they can be found. If I feel like it, I can go see my dad in

his classroom during Conference Period. My parents can talk to my teachers for me, and if I have any question about English, my parents are a pretty good source of help. Also, my parents’ faculty friends come over, and you get to know these teachers in a different way than other students would.

MB: Since our theme in this Bulletin is “a sense of place,” I’ll end by asking about your favorite spot on campus.

Fletcher: My favorite spot on campus is probably the old basketball court. Not only for playing basketball, but for just hanging out because it’s just such a cool space. All the old-school wooden board walls and rafters give it a lot of character.

Drake: My favorite spot would have to be the theater. Mr. Bragan is able to transform the Auditorium every year into a different scene, creating a world where the actors can immerse themselves. But growing up at the Abbey, the whole campus was a world where we could immerse ourselves.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 27

Portsmouth Abbey School: Where’s That?

By James E. Garman, Faculty Emeritus

(A recent conversation between a parent and a teenager):

religious freedom, without impinging on the local customs and traditions. They befriended Roger Williams, who himself had been banished from Boston in 1636.

In that year he came to Rhode Island and made friends with the local Narragansett tribe of Native Americans. With them he negotiated a treaty in which he acquired land in what was to become the town of Providence in 1636.

Parent: We’re going to check out another independent school, a very good one, I understand.

Teen: What is it called?

Parent: It is Portsmouth Abbey School.

Teen: Where is it located?

Parent: It is in Portsmouth; that’s on Aquidneck Island, in Rhode Island.

Teen: I don’t get it. You’d better explain.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY...

Aquidneck Island was for many years known as Rhode Island.

The first recorded description of it was made by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, sailing in the service of the French in 1524. Later, in about 1614, the Dutch explorer Adrian Block visited here and named the island “Rhode Island” because of its resemblance to the Isle of Rhodes off Greece.

Aquidneck Island was the Native American name for the island and it is still the name by which the island is most known by locals. It is approximately 15 miles long and five miles wide at the widest point, and is made up of three communities: Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

During the American Revolutionary War the British occupied Newport for three years, and a major battle was fought in Portsmouth in 1778 in an attempt to dislodge the British from Newport. That battle, the Battle of Rhode Island, was fought on the grounds of the Portsmouth Abbey School. But alas, the colonists were forced to retreat.

Later in the 19th century, Newport became a major resort community during the Gilded Age and there are many remnants of the luxurious homes of that period still existing in Newport, many of them museums. Newport is approximately 6 miles south of Portsmouth Abbey School on Aquidneck Island.

The town of Portsmouth was founded by dissidents from the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1638. Among the most important founders, all of whom were banished from Boston for their questioning of the Puritan ministers in Boston, were William Coddington, the Reverend Doctor John Clarke, and Ann Hutchinson and her husband William. After being thrown out of the Massachusetts Bay colony, they searched for a place where they could practice

Roger Williams assisted Coddington, Clarke and the Hutchinsons with the negotiations of a treaty for an island in Narragansett Bay where they would sign a compact and settle their small colony.

The purchase price for the island was 12 rakes, 20 hoes and 40 fathoms of white beads. So the colony was established in the northern part of Portsmouth in 1638, 374 years ago.

In 1639 Coddington, Clarke and seven others decided to move further south on the island where there was a better harbor. They made a new settlement that they called Newport. Newport thrived as a major trading port in colonial British North America, becoming one of the five leading ports in this part of the British Empire.

Portsmouth became a community where agriculture was the major occupation and there remain many farms here today in a community of just over 17,000 residents. It is rural and suburban and it has a considerable amount of conserved land. There is a great deal of boat building activity in Portsmouth, and the major large-scale businesses are Raytheon and the nearby Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC). Many other businesses provide technical support to the U.S. Navy in Newport.

Now in its 85th year, Portsmouth Abbey School started in an old summer resort “cottage.” The School has a 500+ acre campus, is surrounded by farm fields and has well over a mile and a half of waterfront on Narragansett Bay. (Back to the conversation): Teen: It sounds like a place I would be very interested in.

Parent: I am sure you would. It is a very exciting place to be for the high school years.

Teen: Now, if we can just find Rhode Island, we’ll be all set!

Where’s the GPS? Photo: Cottage at the lower entrance to the Hall Estate prior to the founding of Portsmouth Priory.

PAGE 28

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

From left, Fr. Damian, Irene Haney, Bill Haney Jr., Cliff Hobbins, and Tom Kennedy get together at the Haney’s home on Cape Cod in 2003.

Recollections from Irene Haney P ’80, ’85 When Bill and I and our three children moved to Portsmouth in the summer of 1967, I had no idea that the community at Portsmouth Abbey would play such a great role in my life. It was the center of our family lives – socially, intellectually and, most importantly, spiritually. We were in the group of three families who were the first lay dorm parents. Memories of the boys of St. Aelred’s, their antics, (think monastery cars on the Holy Lawn as the sun rose on a Sunday morning; JUST WHERE WAS JOHN ROBINSON ?), house parties, Mass in the common room with Fr. Ambrose and, of course, our partnership with Cliff Hobbins, our good friend and colleague.

Our children received their first communions and confirmations in the Church of St. Gregory and continue to remind me of those beautiful Christmas Midnight Masses and the moving celebrations of the Easter vigils that we all loved.

Jonathan Haney ’85 (left) with Patrick Lawson in 1975

Bill Haney III ’80 (left) with Abbey friends in Manor House in the late 1970s

Trips on the Red Baron with Bill and the hockey team to encourage a win over St. George’s, golf matches at Wanumetonomy, middler and JV football games– all were part of our daily lives. It was a wonderful place to raise a family with folks who shared our values. As I continue to meet students who apply for the Haney Fellowship, I am reminded that they and their futures are in good, kind, loving hands: the Portsmouth men and women who nurture and guide them in their search for their places in a very complicated world. Peace and love were gifts Portsmouth gave us, and I pray they are gifts to all who enter that special community.

(Bill lies in the beautiful little Abbey graveyard, as I will someday, at rest where we worked together for over 20 years.)

Bill Haney is sheltered from the rain

by Fr. Damian.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 29

My favorite place on campus is the bay; it really makes this campus out of all the other boarding schools unique. It really opens up the campus and allows us every day to have a beautiful, picturesque view. The sunsets are phenomenal.

– Susana Marino-Johnson ‘14

My Favorite Place at Portsmouth Abbey...

My favorite place on campus is the Church of Saint Gregory the Great. I find it peaceful to spend time in there when praying to God, and it is a place where the entire Abbey communit y assembles to become as one and to give thanks to God. – Matt Benevides ‘15

d Without question, looking at the crucifix in the chapel! Gets me every time! I bet the grotto will be in the mix!

– William Marsden, father of Will ‘14

d I really like the spot with the picnic table, if you walk along the bay away from the rocky part, towards Carnegie.

– Lily Mercer-Paiva ‘14

d My favorite place is within the Church of St. Gregory the Great, for the Lord is there, and thus all beaut y, peace and hope.

– Richard Joseph Lafond Jr., friend

d The Monastery Graveyard. – Tom Healey ’60, P’91

PAGE 30

Caroline’s (Kirscht) room. Because I feel at home. – Maggie Stark ‘15

d

My favorite place is the auditorium. I love to see it “come alive” with the arts. It’s where I’ve had the chance to see the students using and more excitingly developing their talents in music, acting, dancing and public speaking. Sitting in the audience, I am always touched by the amount of support and encouragement given by the students and facult y.

– Colleen Byrne, mother of Abby ‘14

d My living room in St. Brigid’s, next to a fire in the fireplace, watching one of those spectacular pink and orange sunsets over the bay. I plan on being the oldest houseparent ever.

– Laureen Bonin, English Teacher, Head Houseparent, St. Brigid’s

d My favorite spot on campus has to be the new Senior Room. It is formally known as the Library Current Events Annex. But this is the new spot on campus for the VI Formers. – Caleb Chafee ‘12

d My favorite place on campus is the Cross Hill. It’s so quiet and peaceful up there. The gorgeous view doesn’t hurt, either!

- Courtney Macomber ‘12

d My favorite place is the church; it’s the only place that I can find some inner peace for a few moments in the day.

– Mario Rocha, Physical Plant Super visor

d I have t wo favorite spots. One is, of course, the view of the bay from Manor House porch.

The other is the view of the sports field from the library. You can see the Carnegie Tower, Mt. Hope Bridge, and Bristol as well.

– Grace Popham ‘10

PAGE 31

My favorite place is the open porch in front of the Manor House.

– Tom Lonergan ’71, P’11, ‘14

d

My favorite spot on campus is the Winter Garden because it acts as a double feature.

I still think of the boy’s varsit y soccer field on breezy fall days. I remember parents, students, and Fr. Paschal scattered around the hill bet ween the track and the soccer field.

– Sam Quatromoni ‘03

d

On one hand, it can be used as a meeting spot and a social area. Getting together is a snap, and catching up before and af ter Assembly is easy. Its second use is as a quiet place away from the action. When there is a free extended or a time af ter hours when you want quiet time, it is perfect. Water is a fantastic source of relaxation, and I find myself doing homework there a lot. The decorations make it festive too, but even without it, the fountain is beautiful. This is my favorite spot to hang out with some friends, do some work, read, or sit and do absolutely nothing.

Anyway, that’s my favorite spot.

– Sally Hoerr ‘15

d

My favorite place on campus would have to be the single picnic table on the cliff that overlooks the bay, where sometimes a swan passes into the nearby estuary. – Allison Bolles ‘13

d

My art studio :-) – Cameron Ross-MacCormack, Art Teacher

d My favorite spot on campus is the art building, it is so bright and open and there is really no other atmosphere like it on campus.

– Hadley Matthews ‘13

d The music room. – Xiang Li ‘13

PAGE 32

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

My favorite place is to sit on top of the wind turbine on a clear sunny day – quiet, peaceful, great view…… just a long way down to the closest rest room!! lol – Paul Jestings, Director of Operations

d Running on the dirt road behind the wind turbine!!

– Lizzie Benestad, Classics Dept Head and marathoner

d Anywhere near the Manor House – where I can gaze out at Narragansett Bay. – Nancy Brzys, Dean of Facult y, French Teacher

d My favorite spot on campus is the dining hall, with everyone bustling around.

There’s great food, which is really nice because I am always hungry and looking for food to eat! And the food is good, which isn’t a bad thing! And I get to see my friends, which is especially nice, and have a break from classes and have time to relax a little. And for some reason, the dining hall reminds me of the dining hall in Hogwarts, and I am a huge Harry Potter fan, so I always think of myself being in the dining hall of Hogwarts, which I feel like I am!

– Keri Heuer ‘15

d My favorite place on campus would have to be the Winter Garden. It has amazing acoustics for any t ype of musical performance, so I play guitar there during the evening when I have the time. The water is still and peaceful and the setting, shrubbery included, keeps you relaxed. For these reasons the Winter Garden will always be my favored chillin’ spot. – Rasaanh Matra ‘13

My favorite place is the dining hall because my favorite part of the day is eating dinner with my friends.

– Emma Smith ‘12

d The back of Bede’s because it is a magical place.

– Will Shaw-MacGillivray ‘13

d

d My favorite place on campus would have to be the ceramics room in the art building... or maybe my studio 1, or the darkroom... Somewhere in the art building, working with my students or working alone. It is the best!

– Joney Swif t, Head of Visual Arts

d Benet’s common room! – Jina Kim ‘12

d Benet’s tree – Fenton Billings ‘15

d My dorm room, because it’s the only place I can tell people to leave and they have to listen. – Ryan Conroy ‘15

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 33

Gazebo, looking west at sunset… giving thanks to God and to D. Damian.

– David Moran ’71, Director of Monastic Renewal Program Office, Latin Teacher

d

My favorite spot on the Portsmouth Abbey Campus is the hockey rink. “O ye ice and snow, Praise the Lord” As Captain of the team in 1995 and 1996 I enjoyed many great memories in that rink. Our team was ranked 8th in the New England Prep Hockey League and we had some very big wins over crosstown rivals St. Georges, Portsmouth, Barrington and Rhode Island power house Toll Gate School. More than anything I remember my teammates and t wo great years I had playing with them. – Todd Rich ‘96

Definitely St. Hugh’s. – Douglas Lebo ‘15

My favorite spot is down at the bay. A serene place, where I don’t have to worry about things going on at school and just think about deep stuff. – Nicole Wilner ‘15

d The library, as it is quiet, peaceful, and easy to be productive.

– Robert Sucsy ‘13 Library! – Callie Hall ‘13

d d

For me the library, then the church.

– Roberta Stevens, Library Director

d My favorite place on campus is probably the library.

– Nolan Banky ‘14

PAGE 34

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Two answers -- either: the church at night, empt y, or on my patio, mid-summer early evening, with a non-curricular, really good book on my lap. Bunch of facult y kids stage-lef t, playing goofing-around soccer. (Feel free to include the gin and tonic).

I have to admit, I also love random exam review sessions around my kitchen table at Saint Brigid’s with desperate students who actually are focused and thinking and trying to wrestle through really hard big questions that the texts evoke.... that is downright fun.

– Kate Smith, Humanities Teacher, St. Brigid’s Houseparent

d There are many favorite places. I do not know how you can choose just one.

The Winter Garden... a tranquil place to collect your thoughts, rest, relax, and read as a student. It was also a place to socialize and catch up with old classmates during alumni receptions af ter graduation. On Halloween during freshman year, it was the one place to avoid on campus so you would not be dunked or made to swim a lap by upperclassmen.

The Holy Lawn… a visually stunning, reverent, spiritual area of campus. We never dared step foot on the grass except during graduation.

The rocks by the boathouse. There are some comfortable sitting rocks in the area. A place that was peaceful, beautiful, rejuvenating, and isolated…. where you could be alone just sitting, thinking, listening to waves lapping the shore, and watching a sunset. A perfect place to escape from everyone on the main campus for a short period.

The “Tuck Shop.” Where else could you unwind socializing, playing foosball, and getting your sugar high af ter a couple hours in study hall with a rich ice cream frappe or other delicious junk food not available in the Stillman dining hall?

– Rob Poirier ‘90

When we first visited the Abbey during the spring of 2010 we arrived early and so I kept following Cory’s Lane to the end where the bay was an inspiring sight. We read the story of the brave African slaves who were offered citizenship if they defended the fort against the British nav y during the Revolutionary War; there is a historical marker at the site and an old stone structure. I always come back to this view point, read the story, look at the old stone house and I’m inspired again. I can only imagine that the first Benedictines saw and were inspired by the beaut y of the bay as well.

– Julio Maldonado, father of David ‘12

d Not sure if this counts, but I like the trails along the golf course at Carnegie. Very peaceful to walk or jog when the golf is out of season and you can find some “solo” time.

– Cecilia Schilling, Spanish Teacher, St. Mary’s Houseparent

d My favorite place: Manor House, when it was a library. Loved the walk down there all the way from St. Hugh’s, especially on windy fall nights. – Peter L. Lynch ‘81

d Walking down the path towards Bede’s from the Holy Lawn. It is all opened up now, as opposed to when I went here, and you can see past St. Martin’s right to the bay. Besides being a beautiful view, bet ween the change to the landscape and the building of the new dorm, this spot and view symbolize all the good things that have happened and are going on since I was here last.

– Tim Seeley ‘77, Summer Program Director

d WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 35

A Temporary Life Remembering the beauties and joys of life at a Rhode Island school

By Alix Ohlin

I’m a wanderer from a family of wanderers.

My parents left the countries they grew up in, as did most of my grandparents, and even relatives from the generation before that. I myself have lived in at least 20 different houses since I left home at the age of 16. So when I think about the places I love, they are all, inevitably, places I have left behind. I guess it’s not surprising, then, that my favorite place of all is one built with temporary residents in mind: a boarding school in Rhode Island.

Several years ago, fresh out of graduate school and struggling to finish my first novel, I applied for the position of writer-in-residence at Portsmouth Abbey, a Catholic high school located just north of Newport. The position offered room and board, a stipend, and time to write. It was, by definition, temporary: New writers-in-residence were brought in every year. I knew nothing about boarding schools, Catholic or otherwise, and had never been to Rhode Island. The dean who gave me directions to the interview told me to drive south from Providence onto Aquidneck, “the island part of Rhode Island.” It had never occurred to me that most of the state was not an island. I realized that I had no idea what to expect.

It was a hot June day when I turned onto the country lane that leads off Route 114 to the Abbey, and I rolled down the windows as I slowed down. I drove through the stone gates onto a curved road that skirted a wide lawn before wending toward the school buildings. I noticed hydrangeas blooming, big sloppy blue flowers dropping their petals casually to the ground, and then I saw the water.

The campus itself didn’t look the way I’d imagined a New England boarding school would. The buildings were dark brown and modernist, with an air of restraint that seemed almost Japanese. I would later learn they were the work of Pietro Belluschi, the

PAGE 36

Italian-born architect who also designed the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center and, with Walter Gropius, the Pan Am Building. Built of redwood and fieldstone, with weathered copper roofs, Belluschi’s 11 low-slung buildings stood grouped around a rectangle of manicured grass – not a quadrangle but a holy lawn.

Belluschi wanted to create a sense that the buildings were “hugging the ground”, growing out of the surrounding landscape rather than dominating it. At the heart of the campus was the Church of St. Gregory the Great, a bold octagonal, virtually windowless structure. The fact that I could not see inside it seemed to me emblematic, that first day, of how little I knew of the place as a whole. As I got out of my car, I saw a man crossing the campus in along black robe. I understood, then, that the ground markers I was walking past were the tombstones of Abbey monks.

Strangely enough, though the environment was exotic to me, tough I was an outsider to everything it represented, I felt immediately drawn to the place. Maybe it was the swoop of the bay and the smell of the breeze. Maybe it was that I was out of school and unemployed, and every other job I’d applied for had fallen through. When I was offered the job at the Abbey, I accepted right away.

Portsmouth Abbey was founded in 1926 by Rev. Hugh Diman, who had earlier, as an Episcopalian, established St. George’s School in Newport before converting to Catholicism and setting up a new school to showcase his new faith. Portsmouth was first a priory, then expanded to an abbey – the distinction has to do with the number of resident monks and their governance – in 1969. Notable students have included Robert and Edward Kennedy, John Gregory Dunne, and Christopher Buckley. At one time, the monks made up the majority of the faculty, but now there are many lay teachers as well as lay coaches and administrators, and assorted other hangers-on.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Raised as I was among wanderers who had left behind, in their travels, any sense of formal religion, I found the Catholic environment puzzling. I was taken aback, but also touched, the first time people shook my hand in church and said, “Peace be with you.” I was perplexed by terms like Ordinary Time, which appeared on the weekly academic calendar. What on earth was Ordinary Time? Would somebody tell me when the time was no longer ordinary?

For some reason I was afraid to ask, and I never did learn what it meant.

Most fascinating of all was meeting the Benedictine monks. Written in the sixth century, the rule of St. Benedict sets out guidelines for monastic life, based on principles of work, prayer, study, obedience, and community. These weren’t cheese-making or wine-producing monks, nor were they silent.

They struck me as an intellectual group, enthusiastic and beloved teachers. In some ways, they were more worldly than I expected.

The youngest monk, known to be a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, would sometimes watch that show on the communal television in the boys’ dorm lounge. Another wore a football jacket over his habit and smoked like a fiend, hacking wetly between puffs.

Many of the monks were artistic. Some wrote poetry; others played music. Some had been out in the world, working as parish priests, and were very sociable. One monk, a painter, had joined a local arts guild and took me to a monthly meeting as his guest. After the meeting, some female guild members invited us out for a drink. To my surprise, the monk wanted to go. So I found myself at the bar of a seafood restaurant with the monk and two leather-skinned, hard-drinking smokers who were making wry jokes about being recovering Catholics. If the monk was offended, he didn’t show it. He ordered a Virgin Mary. I went to get it for him – monks don’t carry cash– and a guy at the bar hit on me.

“I’m with the monk,” I said, scandalized. He shrugged, seemingly undeterred. Eventually I had to get the monk home for Vespers, and he reluctantly said his good-byes. Then I drove him out to the bar parking lot, past the strip mall with the grocery store and the bank, down the quiet, dark lane to the Abbey.

What the monks made of me, I have no idea, And I was not, at the time, quite sure what to make of myself. Soon after my arrival, the dean who’d interviewed me recommended Thornton Wilder’s ridiculous, charming novel Theophilus North, in which a young, disaffected teacher meanders onto Aquidneck Island and spends the summer in Newport. (It was made into an equally silly movie, Mr. North, in the 1980s, starring future ER doctor Anthony Edwards, Robert Mitchum, and Lauren Bacall.) Despite the silliness, I found a great deal of resonance between my life and this book. Theophilus North is a wanderer like me, a temporary sojourner. Like Theophilus, I was at a strange juncture in my life. A lot of things were up in the air: my professional future, my personal life, my supposed book that kept refusing to take form.

Amid all this uncertainty, the structured environment of the boarding school appealed to me greatly. Walking to class six days a week in their blazers and cable-knit sweaters, through the early-morning chill, the students struck me as quaintly, almost impossibly wholesome. (I know they weren’t all completely wholesome – the infractions for which they were sternly punished witnessed to that – but they were miles away from any high school students I’d encountered before, including myself.) After school, they headed to lacrosse practice or drama rehearsal, then to dinner, then did their homework and went to bed. They were so disciplined. The first day I taught my creative writing class, the students stood up when I entered the room. That freaked me out. I thought they were going to riot, or maybe sing.

“What’s going on?” I said.

They all looked a little embarrassed and muttered things like, “We do it for the monks” and “I guess it’s kind of old-fashioned,” before sitting quietly down and waiting for me to teach them something.

I’m not sure what, if anything, I did teach them (they breezed, undaunted, through assignments that I now realize ranged from ambitious to harebrained, from constructing impromptu sestinas to writing a festival of 10-minute plays in two weeks), but I learned a great deal, as they explained the school to me. In so doing, they allowed me to be part of it, just as they were, even though we were all just passing through. Alteration is in the nature of a school, as its population constantly turns over, and yet continuity prevails. Everyone’s transient, and everyone’s permanent, too. A traditional school like Portsmouth Abbey, where students wear blazers to class and attend mass, probably looks, of a Monday morning, very much the way it did 20 or 50 years ago, though the students themselves are different.

Which is probably why I would see, in my walks around campus, so many former students returning. They were always coming for reunions or even just showing up because they were in the neighborhood. When these alumni came back, they could actually see their younger selves in a way that most of us can’t. Look at those students, they’d say to their families. They might as well have been saying, Look at me, look at my former self.

Their memories were made concrete, embodied.

A school creates this sense of time that doesn’t pass, or time that moves but also stays in place, like river water. It isn’t ordinary time at all.

I’m sure that part of the Abbey’s charm for me came from participating in it as an outsider.

I didn’t have what those women at the seafood restaurant called “Catholic baggage,” and I didn’t have all the duties of a regular

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

teacher, either. I was an observer, and that’s a comfortable position for me, as it is for most writers.

And as appealing as it all was, my love of the place didn’t result in my having a religious conversion, or even a conversion to boarding school life. Nor did it resolve all the uncertainties of my future, though I did, in my time there, finish my book. But I found myself experiencing great joy in my temporary life at the Abbey; the beauty of the campus, the kindness of the people, the steady, structured erosion of the school days, terms, and year. Rather than representing an end to my wandering, this period helped me to feel rooted in that wandering – to feel at home in my ever-changing existence, as all the moments in our lives can have value, despite how quickly they pass by us.

When Theophilus North first arrives on Aquidneck, he gets out of his car and starts quoting Goethe to the locals. (It really is a peculiar book.) One person he talks to asks him if he’s all right. He answers, “It’s a beautiful day. It’s a beautiful place. I’m a little light-headed. Sadness is just around the corner from happiness.” So too, at times, can skepticism be just around the corner from belief, and exile from belonging, and transience form permanence. I lived around the corner from all these things when I was at the Abbey.

I would never belong to that place, but I loved it, and though I always knew that I would leave, I was very sad, in the end, to go.

Alix Ohlin was Portsmouth Abbey School’s writer-in-residence in 2002-4. She currently teaches at Lafayette University and is the author of The Missing Person, a novel, and Babylon and Other Stories.

This article is reprinted from Preservation Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, November/December 2007.

PAGE 37

PORTSMOUTH INSTITUTE

2012

Friday, June 22 - Sunday, June 24 Portsmouth Abbey School

Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Speakers will include: Dr. William Dembski ‘78, Discovery Institute An Information-Theoretic Proof of God’s Existence Dr. John Haught, Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University Evolution and Faith: What is the Problem?

Dr. Kenneth Miller, Brown University To Find God in All Things: Exploring the Evolutionary Architecture of Life Dr. B. Joseph Semmes ’67, Director of Research, True North Medical Center Palliative Care: The Science and Spirituality Rt. Rev. Dom James Wiseman, Abbot of St. Anselm’s Abbey and Professor at Catholic University A New Heavens and a New Earth: Christian Eschatology in Dialogue with Modern Science Rev. Nicanor P. G. Austriaco, O.P., Providence College The Existence of Adam and Eve: Recent Developments in Paleogenomics Dr. Michael Ruse, Florida State University Making Room for Faith in an Age of Science Special presentations by faculty members: Dr. Blake Billings ’77, Tim Seeley ’77, Rev. Dom Paschal Scotti and Robert Sahms For additional information and to register please go to www.portsmouthinstitute.org or contact Cindy Waterman at (401) 643-1244 or cwaterman@portsmouthabbey.org.

The Portsmouth Institute is a summer conference, study, recreation and retreat center for all those interested in questions pertaining to Catholic life, leadership and service in the 21st Century.

WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?

by Tim Seeley ’77, Director of Summer Programs

The ancients believed in God, at least in part, because they could find no other explanation for either the universe as a whole or for its various elements and processes. Lacking a physical explanation, they could only conclude the world must have been created by a being more powerful than us, and must be governed by it in every moment. From there it is a short step to claiming that the source of the physical universe is also the source of meaning and morality, and as such is worthy of worship and veneration and obedience.

sure, but just another step on the same continuum), and that life evolved from those self-replicating molecules to single-cell plants, animals, bacteria and archea, then to multi-cellular creatures, next to conscious ones, and finally to self-consciousness; from having sensory organs to nervous systems to brain to mind, through at least in part those same random, unpredictable interactions of the very smallest bits of the universe, all dancing with each other in an endless longing for change and development.

We find ourselves in the happy, but perplexing, situation of knowing a great deal more about the universe than did our forbearers, yet such increase in knowledge has not made clearer the role for God in its creation and workings and purpose. People of faith would expect that a clearer view of how the universe began and how it works would make clearer the place and role of God than had ignorance, but that has not proven to be the case. In fact, to some, such knowledge is pushing God out. How do we reconcile this advance in understanding with a diminishing of the need for God as an explanation? Is knowledge of God still to be found somewhere in science’s successful uncoding of the universe’s physical mysteries?

We know that human consciousness flows from the chemical and electrical interactions of the neurons in our brains, that our experiences of love, of pain, and of beauty are mediated through those physical reactions; that our ability to sacrifice, to create, and our desire to find meaning all come into reality through those same physical reactions.

That uncoding has been impressive indeed. We know that our universe began at a particular point in time, mostly likely 13.7 billion years ago, in a tremendous outpouring of energy, an outpouring beyond all imagining. We know that matter and energy are the same thing, merely different manifestations of the one reality that is the universe. We know that time ebbs and flows depending on the speed one moves through space, or the strength of the gravitational field one finds oneself in; we suspect that space and time, as well as matter and energy, really are one at the most fundamental level.

We know that the universe on its smallest scale is unpredictable, changing according to probabilities, not predetermined outcomes, and sometimes events occur in the subatomic world with no apparent cause at all. Cause and effect, therefore, are more fungible than we think. On the other hand, subatomic particles cannot do just anything at all; they behave according to those probabilities, which are described very exactly by quantum mechanics. This means events are not random in the sense of chaotic or completely without order. It is just a different sort of order than we are used to, an unpredictable order, an order with change at its heart.

We know the elements that make up our world were produced in the Big Bang and in the heart of stars. We know that the possible combinations of those elements increased through those unpredictable but inevitable changes brought on by quantum mechanics, and thus, from an initial chemical simplicity, ever more complex molecules came into the universe. Self-replicating molecules led to life (a big step conceptually, an awesome, magnificent step, to be

It is a beautiful, majestic universe, driven to change and development in every moment, change that in the short term is completely unpredictable, but in the long term may yield inevitable outcomes.

As noted above, some people of faith see threats from the progress of science, believing it undermines, or even eliminates, religious claims to truth. At its worst manifestation, the response to these threats is to deny the truths of science, to deny the whole scientific enterprise, and to assert blindly in the face of all evidence that religious scriptures must be taken as literally true, lest all religious claims be considered false.

Thankfully, Catholicism and mainstream Christianity have not followed that path for many years, and see value and truth in the work of science. But how do we reconcile the notion of a loving creator God with a universe that seems cold and indifferent, moving forward and developing following blind processes that bring about change all by themselves without need of outside intervention? A universe wherein we seem to be rather insignificant, merely a blip in an unremarkable corner of an endless sea of space, a universe that progresses through conflict, death, and luck?

Is the answer to what it means to be found in knowing evermore how it works? Maybe we just do not know enough yet; maybe we know enough to be more aware of our ignorance, but not enough to see the truth of things. Will further investigation allow us to find some place wherein the hand of God is so clearly stamped no one could deny it?

I doubt it, as appealing as that would be. I doubt it for scientific, philosophical, and, most importantly to me, theological grounds.

But even if I am right, it still begs the question: how do these two great spheres of human intellect and experience (religion and science, faith and observation), inform each other?

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 39

On the face of it, science and religion seem to be about different things, and perhaps that is the answer: they don’t. There is no relationship between the work and ideas of one and of the other.

Science gathers data and organizes it; it attempts to describe relationships and when possible quantify them mathematically, so past events can be explained, the present understood, and the future predicted. Religion, on the other hand, has always had at its heart less a desire to explain or predict but rather to find meaning in the past, present and future.

question of God’s existence is more like wondering about the reality of math, not really a matter of gathering evidence as much as understanding terms and implications. Is math purely an invention we find useful? Or does math “really exist” outside the human intellect, in a Platonic sort of way? Do numbers have an existence independent from how we apply them? The concept of God has certainly had a profound effect on every aspect of human experience. But does God have an existence beyond merely as an idea that has influenced countless people through the ages?

The great evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould claimed that religion and science are “two non-overlapping magisteria,” that is, they each concern separate aspects of our experience, and as such are not really in dialogue with each other. There is, therefore, no need to try to reconcile what might seem to be competing claims by each, because each has its own focus. As an example, Darwin was endeavoring to explain how it is that our world is populated by so many creatures that are obviously related (tigers and lions, for example) and others equally obviously different (blue whales and bluebirds and bluebonnets); the Bible is attempting to tell us what it all means without regard for what actually happened (much like a Shakespearean play that does not relate true events but does express a truth of human experience). So we ought not be any more surprised that evolutionary biology and Genesis seem to say something quite different than we are that history books do not list Hamlet as a prince of Denmark, or be worried when any other scientific claim and religious doctrine seem to be in conflict. In fact, we ought not expect one to inform the other in any way.

It is hard to see how science can help here. But also hard to believe it is irrelevant. After all, we experience the world all at once; it is a whole; but we study it in bits and pieces. We call this bit science, this bit art, this piece math, this one history, this one religion. But the universe, and our experience of it, is not really in these categories we have invented to make it easier to understand. If nothing else, our study of the fundamental nature of the universe has confirmed this. It has shown us that the universe is a whole, that everything is connected to everything else. There are no isolated entities; everything is in relationship with everything else; it is impossible to understand anything without reference to something else, and our own consciousness is an intimate part of our understanding of other things. The same processes drive everything, from the creation of galaxies to the creation of our children; from the path an electron follows to our awareness that we are loved.

That worked for Dr. Gould, and enabled him to effectively sidestep creationism and intelligent design arguments, so there is much to be said for this approach; but some people, myself included, find it harder to draw such distinct lines.

For one thing, God’s effects, if God is real, are clearly investigable, for there is only one way for God to act in the world in any meaningful sense—to bring about a change, either directly or through influence on something that does act directly, even if it is just a change of heart. And the existence of God seems to be a matter of fact, to use David Hume’s category, something that ought to be investigable the same way we investigate any matter of fact – collecting data, and then reasoning about that data. At first glance, answering the question of the existence of God should be the same as answering the question of the existence of an apple, or of Moscow, or of Narragansett Bay. There ought to be some concrete data that we can gather and then think about.

But gathering such data has proven difficult: what should count as evidence? The existence of the universe? What if we can explain that existence from within the universe itself? Elements of the natural world? What if those too all follow from the laws of physics?

Evolution? What if we have a perfectly natural explanation for that?

Human beliefs? Human actions? Human emotions? Perhaps the problem is this is the wrong way to think about it. Perhaps the

PAGE 40

I am convinced of two presuppositions: one, if there is a God, there ought to be some link between a scientific understanding of the universe and a religious one, since God would be the ultimate source of both; and two, faithful people ought not be afraid of what science can tell them because it cannot be wrong to use all of our intellect to pursue God. There can be elements of human existence and experience that religion addresses that are beyond or outside a scientific description of things, and areas science focuses on that religion is not particularly interested in, but I believe the two cannot be incompatible, and they ought to have an overlap that is reinforcing.

We ought to be able to unify our understanding so we don’t think about our lives in one way when we are “thinking like a theologian,” another when we are “thinking like a person with religious beliefs,” yet another when “thinking like a scientist.”

Why is there something rather than nothing? Is there a God? What do our lives mean? Whence comes our sense of the human spirit? What should we do with the time we have each been given? How do we reconcile our inner conflicts between, on the one hand, selfishness and self-preservation, and on the other, the sense that we should care for more than just our own security and pleasure, our intuition that we should rather give ourselves over to something greater than ourselves?

Understanding how the universe works will never answer these questions. But surely, such knowledge is a necessary part of the conversation.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Reflections on Faith and Science

by Dr. Blake Billings ’77, Director of Spiritual Life and Head of Christian Doctrine Department “I do not occupy myself with great matters, nor with things that are too hard for me.”

(Psalm 131:1).

I write as an educator at the secondary level, and no specialist in matters of faith and science. But the following is perhaps ironic: specialization is an act of humility whereby one must limit the breadth of one’s study; secondary education is an act of humility whereby one must limit the depth of one’s study. Yet both may be said to accept the wisdom of Psalm 131:1.

Mr. Seeley’s assessment of science and religion seems to possess the ambition of one not confined by specialization. Yet it has the authenticity of one who has spent a good deal of time trying to inform the insistent mind of the adolescent. This may be the virtue and the limitation of secondary education, careers which Mr. Seeley and I both have pursued. We may not reach too high, for we would lose all hope of connecting with our students. Yet we must be sincere, and therefore remain open to questions that really matter, questions of God and of truth, questions of morality and life choices. It is a bit of a tightrope, and one which Mr. Seeley walks astutely.

In response to my friend and colleague, I would first applaud him for comments that reflect a personal and sincere engagement in the questions at hand. They express his continued interest in the discoveries of science and their implications for our understanding of ourselves and of our faith. They reveal openness to the change that may be provoked from either pursuit: scientific research or reflection on faith. They are framed in the understandable terms one must seek as an educator at the secondary school level. And, most compellingly,

they do not close the door but open it in their concluding questions and appeals to continue to consider these important issues. They in many ways capture my own sensibilities as an educator at a Catholic institution. In my own experience, with a particular responsibility to what we call “Christian Doctrine,” I have encountered these questions in the academic context of the classroom, but also in the much broader context of boarding school life. Such a context, rooted here in the ideal of Benedictine community life, is holistic, and thus should be intellectual, spiritual, personal, and of course, Christian – that is, rooted in a faith in Christ. To frame my understanding of this project of education is in fact to frame my own sense of the relation of science and faith. And in both science and faith, and in the relation between the two, I would point to the need to integrate both a radical and sincere humility with a positive embrace and acceptance of the possibility of learning and progress. While such humility may present itself as disheartening, it also opens paths to deeper insight, progress, and advance.

First, in discussing “humility” of science, I have turned to Montaigne over Francis Bacon and Pascal over Descartes. Montaigne’s position on scientific advancement is somewhat skeptical: any gain in scientific knowledge actually serves to challenge not only the now-discounted knowledge claims, but even the new ones, for the discounted ones were once held with the conviction of certainty, the new ones now purport. Thus, whereas Bacon heralds the ongoing advance of science, Montaigne is more circumspect concerning its implications. And Blaise Pascal, in his remarks on human finitude, sees us in more of an

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

intellectual darkness than a light – though it is insights of reason that lead him there.

His rejections of rational proof that God exists leave him with a remarkable and rational insistence on the existence of God. Unlike Descartes, he is not willing to find in his reason any foundation for absolute knowledge. Such perspectives lead the scientific intellect to a sense of humility, that we should avoid the dogmatization or any absolutism of our scientific claims.

Yet, these limitations should not leave our students, who are with us to gain knowledge, as radical skeptics. Here we find support in a reading of Thomas Aquinas, and much further back in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. In fact, our optimism resides in the entire western tradition, which sees humans as endowed with “logos” or reason, and sees this rational quality as essential to our nature. This nature is God-given, according to believers, or at least nature-given, to those who would avoid the religious discourse. Acceptance of the fruitfulness of this “logos,” that we can achieve authentic knowledge through it, would lead one to reject a fideism that consigns any scientific or religious truth claims to irrationality. This is the error of creationism. We discover that Galileo famously and rightly asks if God, who gave us these characteristics of sense and reason, would provide them simply to mislead us through their sincere and proper use. Based on our innate human capacities of reason and the senses, our students should be willing to embrace scientific study, to appreciate the great progress in understanding that it allows, and marvel at the powerful evidence of its utility in so many fields of human life. So, in our scientific pursuits, we may find ample evidence for caution

PAGE 41

and humility, but also adequate confirmation of these efforts as fruitful and eminently worthwhile.

We find a related dialectic in religious life and faith, which moves, one could say, between humility and happiness. Our students encounter the fall of Adam and Eve, the story of Babel, and the scandal of David’s treatment of Uriah. Our faith tradition passes on this experience as one of sin, of hubris, of a self-centered rejection of God. Our students read of Peter’s denial, of Paul’s persecution of Christians, and of Christ’s message of repentance, forgiveness, and the need to turn to God. A radical humility saturates Old and New Testaments, where God is God, and man is “but a passing shadow.” The reliance on human strength alone is routinely eviscerated in the Scriptures. It is difficult to find a story in the Scriptures that does not point to the folly in our rejection of God and our need to return to and accept His holy will.

It is also clear in the Christian tradition that God’s ways are high above our ways, and that the human mind cannot begin to fathom its Creator. This elicits a humility prompted by both of the admission of willful disobedience, and of ignorance.

Our students discover these two vividly depicted in Augustine’s Confessions.

But, an authentic humility does not reject what we truly are – quite the contrary; it is grounded in our true selves. I mean that awareness of our sinfulness must not extinguish trust in our goodness. It may well be an act of humility to accept acceptance, and to trust that there is within us something which we do not have the power to destroy: God’s love for us. And so, neither is there a Scriptural passage that does not reveal God’s incessant commitment to His people, and His insistence that they live up to the goodness for which they were created. So as an educator, I must seek to lead students to a greater awareness of what our faith teaches we are in God’s eyes, and thus seek to elicit a confidence in our progress in seeking Him. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you,” the Scripture tells us. This is a consoling and supportive awareness that they are getting somewhere, growing in light. This is a humility that finds ultimately not a humiliation, but a hope in an acceptance by a lov-

PAGE 42

ing and forgiving Creator. Saint Benedict speaks of the “sweetest delight” of hearing the voice of God. And so it is to a delight to which our religious life is leading us.

The positions I am setting out here are rooted in the longstanding “orthodox” sensibility of avoiding extremes. Truth is thus more often the middle way between extremes –the extremes of self-degradation and hubris. Two such extremes to avoid: (1) a “scientism” that relies exclusively on senses and the reason, reduces to insignificance any knowledge gained outside those parameters; and (2) a “fideism” that rejects the rational assessment of the truths of faith, while enforcing rational dogmatic claims through the sheer power of will.

These two positions prematurely predetermine what it is one will ever be able to discern in one’s experience. And in the name of man or of God, end up puffing up one at the expense of the other. Scientism effectively reduces the “why” to the “how.”

Science seeks to address the causality, and thus the “how.” A physician can try to tell you how you became ill with cancer, or how a child died, but their discipline is silent on the question “why.” Similarly, physics will address the question of “how” there is something rather than nothing, but does not address the question of “why.”

Even discovery of a “God-particle” does not escape those strictures. This is the core of Aquinas’ proof from causality; we may find an infinite chain of causes and effects, but these remain “hows,” relative to each other and mere traces of a “higher” source. Fideism, on the other hand, sees the predominance of the “why” – pointing to God and God’s purposes, but in doing so surreptitiously imposes a “how” (e.g., creationism) that cannot stand up to the legitimate critique science presents.

Mr. Seeley’s essay seeks to weave its way around such issues, rightly sensing the difficulty of Gould’s appeal to “two nonoverlapping magisteria.” That would seem to canonize both scientism and fideism.

This divide may affect Mr. Seeley’s own introductory paragraph which seems to

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

reduce religious faith in “the ancients” to a form of fideism. He writes, “The ancients believed in God, at least in part, because they could find no other explanation for either the universe as a whole or for its various elements and processes. Lacking a physical explanation, they could only conclude the world must have been created by a being more powerful than us, and must be governed by it in every moment. From there it is but a short step to claiming that the source of the physical universe is also the source of meaning and morality, and as such is worthy of worship and veneration and obedience.” But does such an historical etiology of religious faith – indeed a common one in our contemporary (scientific) culture – presume that God simply fills in the gaps that reason and evidence cannot fill? Does it presume that through science we have grown out of an ill-explained theism, and thus to a faith more rooted in the truth? Where is the God of revelation here?

In relegating the origin of belief in God to a “lack of physical explanation,” Mr. Seeley may preclude the very integration of faith and reason he embraces and seeks out. Religious faith would surely propose a different etiology. Is it not possible that in the source of belief in God is, well, God? Rather than moving from a lack of explanation to God, should not the etiology move the other way? It could go like this: “From ancient days, humans have had an awareness of the eternal God, in their moral sense and in their empirical experience, and, as is essential to human nature, have tried to interpret and understand their world and their God, using any physical explanations they could muster. They fell short both in coming to terms fully with either their Creator or His creation, and have been at it ever since.”

With this as a possible point for future discussion, I would conclude that Mr. Seeley paints a picture of religious faith that is nuanced and receptive to the vital role religious experience plays in our lives.

And it is here that we share a common and probably universal interest – to fully and adequately understand our human experience. It is no surprise that at a Catholic and Benedictine institution, we will ultimately find a turn to God to be a prerequisite in making any true progress along that path.

Yosemite: Grandest of All God’s Temples

by Thomas D. Anderson ‘73

Tim Ludington ’73 has been a part of Yosemite National Park, “one of the crown jewels of the national parks,” for 37 years.

His love of the land, nature and the people responsible for caring for this great national treasure was nurtured in his early youth on the shores of Narragansett Bay. For it was at Portsmouth Abbey School where Tim first became inspired by his science teacher, Dr. Donal O’Brien – a forester and avid bird watcher – to view nature as a gift that is to be explored and preserved. During vacations while an Abbey student, Tim backpacked in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina with fellow Abbey alumni Jay Hector, Felix McKenna and Ken Stier. While home on Christmas break during his freshman year at Ithaca College, he thumbed through that month’s National Geographic magazine and came upon an article about Yosemite and was immediately inspired by its natural beauty. He applied for a summer job as a laborer that summer and has essentially never left Yosemite, which Galen Clark once characterized as the “grandest of all God’s temples.”

Yosemite has had its champions from its inception in 1855 when Galen Clark, the homesteader who was so impressed with the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, successfully fought to preserve the majestic trees from logging. His efforts soon spread to preserving the entire Yosemite Valley.

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant that protected Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove, the first territory set aside by Congress for public use and preservation. In 1890, John Muir, the Scots-born naturalist, and Robert Underwood, editor of Century Magazine, witnessed the devastating effects of sheep grazing in the high country and successfully lobbied Congress to set aside Yosemite as a national park, the first of its kind anywhere in the world. By 1906, the Yosemite Grant was incorporated into Yosemite National Park, and since 1890, Yosemite has benefited from its protectors and stewards beginning with the U.S. Calvary and followed by the founding of the National Park Service (NPS) in 1916. Today, the men and women of Yosemite’s NPS maintain the park and greet over 3.5 million visitors every year.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 43

A LUM NI SP OTLIGHT: TI M L UDI NGTO N ’ 73

Until his retirement in January 2011, Tim had been a fixture in rehabilitating and maintaining the hundreds of miles of trails and roads within Yosemite. When he first arrived, he says the beauty of the High Sierra “just grabbed me, “including sheer granite rock edifices, cascading waterfalls, towering giant sequoias, painted meadows and churning streams. When he joined the NPS full-time after college, Tim learned under the tutelage of Jim Snyder, one of the foremen who managed and maintained the 750-mile trail system within Yosemite. Some of the original trail routes were established by Native American tribes – mainly Miwok and Paiute – others by the U.S. Cavalry at the turn of the 20th century. The building and maintenance of the trail system presented unique challenges to Tim and his crews: steep topography; traditional dry-stack (nonmortar) stone wall building techniques; complicated route layouts including multiple switchbacks; transport of materials, equipment and supplies to remote wilderness sites using mules; and the feeding and care of the trail crews, etc., while keeping the environmental impact of the projects to a minimum.

After several summers working under Jim Snyder, Tim was assigned his own crew in 1980. He began working with California Conservation Corps (CCC) crews, a state-funded program for 18 to 25-year-old California residents. These crews were recruited from CCC centers statewide and were assigned to work with the NPS in the wilderness for six months at a stretch. Tim relished the opportunity to teach young adults about the value of service to the state and country, living in the wilderness, trail maintenance and masonry skills, respect for the environment, and generally being disciplined and safety-conscious while working in Yosemite’s back country. Many of the CCC workers came from inner-city and suburban neighborhoods and had never spent time in the outdoors. For some young adults in the CCC and, eventually, Americorps programs, the summer work allowed them to pay back their college loans. Soon after his supervisory appointment, the CCC and NPS crews introduced women to trail projects, which made for a better, more balanced community. This unique partnership between the NPS and CCC has grown and flourished for 32 years, and his association with it is a highlight of Tim’s Park Service career.

“May all your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you.”

– Edward Abbey, environmental author

PAGE 44

In 1997, torrential floods had a devastating impact on all of Yosemite’s facilities, particularly the trail and road systems. This required Congress to earmark nearly $200 million for repairs and reconstruction to park

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Opposite page: A steep, rugged trail in the Jack Main Canyon, Yosemite Left: Tim and his wife, Denise, atop a peak in the Northern Yosemite Wilderness Below, left: The National Park Service Camp and California Conservation Corps trail crew together, from the mid-1980s Below: Tim at Benson Lake in the Northern Yosemite Wilderness

Educating visitors about the environmental impact they leave on the park is an annual imperative for park employees and volunteers. Another potential threat to the enduring beauty of Yosemite is the reality of chronic, system-wide funding shortfalls and the lack of staff to manage the nearly 1,200square-mile park. Every decision concerning the park is scrutinized by all who love Yosemite – public and private.

infrastructure, including trails. Tim’s responsibilities within the park had been greatly expanded; he was now managing over 100 employees, not including CCC workers, to manage the program of rebuilding the park trail system. He also became more involved in public-private partnerships, particularly with the Yosemite Conservancy, which provides necessary financial support to fund projects that would otherwise not receive funding via the federal government. His involvement in external affairs related to the park became more important later in his career, as he began speaking publicly about Yosemite and the various initiatives that were being undertaken.

As Tim reflects on his career, he takes great satisfaction in his accomplishments at Yosemite and for following his passion to be connected to nature and the wilderness landscape. He is concerned with global issues around climate change and air quality, and has observed first-hand the changes within the park’s ecosystem. The NPS has the constant challenge of dealing with the millions of visits they get annually, which is a strain on the more accessible “front” country areas of Yosemite.

In retirement, Tim looks to maintain his long-standing relationship with Yosemite. His wife, Denise, and daughters, Nalani, Dana and Neesa, have an unbounded love and respect for the outdoors and for Yosemite in particular. He continues to work part-time for the NPS’ Fire Information Office during fire season and educates the public about fire impacts and policies. Beyond that, Tim plans to continue enjoying the outdoors, including his love of bird watching and hiking, and working on his golf game, which he recently took up. But whatever his retirement plan, Yosemite and the wonderful people who care for this special place will never be very far from his heart.

“Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it, rejoicing in its glorious floods of light, the white beams of the morning streaming through the passes, the noonday radiance on the crystal rocks, the flush of the alpenglow, and the irised spray of countless waterfalls, it still seems above all others the Range of Light.” – John Muir, naturalist

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 45

UPDATE from the OFFICE of ADMISSION The new school year always brings a time of reflection and a feeling of nostalgia, looking back on the past and looking forward with anticipation at the prospect of what is to come. This fall, in particular, has been an exciting one for the Office of Admission. We have been impressed by the students we have met from regions old and new, and continue to be pleased by how Portsmouth Abbey School’s mission is received far and wide.

The following offers a brief recap of our fall endeavors:

St. Martin’s House, nearing completion

A FALL IN REVIEW (September 2011 – December 2011) Open House 2011

ATHLETICS

McCauley Scholarship New this year is the McCauley Scholarship mailing to 6th – 8th graders who have been named to New England Pop Warner’s Academic All-American team. The winner of the McCauley Scholarship this year will be announced and presented at the Pop Warner Academic All-American Banquet.

ON CAMPUS

Open Houses For the second year, we have hosted two Open Houses. Over 300 visitors in total attended.

The Campus Visit The campus visit includes a tour with a current student and a classroom visit. Last year was the first year we invited visitors into the classroom during the initial visit and our tour evaluations noted an overwhelmingly positive response to this addition. We are one of few schools to offer this on the initial visit.

New Boys’ Residential Hall St. Martin’s House – We have modified the tour to have our students highlight the newest addition to the house system and to further mention our strong residential community to both boarding and day applicants.

Wrestling A comprehensive marketing plan for our new wrestling program was launched in November and included an Internet press release, a mailing to 3,000-plus youth wrestling coaches across the USA, and a phone call and letter to placement directors at our feeder schools.

Girls’ Ice Hockey Kate Reardon, assistant athletic director and head girls’ ice hockey coach, has hosted girls’ hockey teams on campus for dinner, tours, and interviews.

Off-Campus Student-Athlete Recruitment Coaches from field hockey, football, girls’ and boys’ basketball, and girls’ and boys’ ice hockey have attended showcases in Arizona, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Quebec.

The McCauley Scholarship brochure

PAGE 46

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Steve Pietraszek, Associate Director of Admission, traveled to China and Korea

TRAVEL

We continue our focus on our regional markets of RI, MA, and CT, and our growing markets of NH, NY, NJ, and PA. The secondary markets of FL, IL, NC, and TX were once again visited and supported by our current parents. Steve Pietraszek, associate director of admission, traveled to China and Korea, and hosted receptions and interviews in both regions.

RECEPTIONS

In early fall a reception was held in Chicago, IL, hosted by Chris ’81 and Erin Behnke, P’12, ’15, and another was held in New Canaan, CT, by Rowan and Julie Taylor, P’13. During our travel to Asia in November, receptions were held in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea.

Most recently, the Office of Admission, Summer Program and Office of Development & Alumni Affairs teamed up for a reception in Coral Gables, FL, at the home of Alex ’78 and Eva Knoepffler P ’12 with help from Pilar and Julio Larraz P ’12.

nication. The offices worked collaboratively to launch the new Abbey Dashboard with links to our Social Media sites, including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. We continue to value these tools as a means of conveying to our prospective families the pulse of the School. In addition, members of our office have started using QR (quick response) codes in their email signatures to highlight pages of the School’s website.

The Admission Office QR code can be scanned with a smart phone or tablet

We look ahead to reading the applications of many talented prospective students, and we look forward selecting and welcoming the Class of 2016.

– Meghan Fonts Director of Admission

SOCIAL MEDIA

Presence within the social media marketing effort has been coordinated between the Offices of Admission and Commu-

The Abbey Dashboard, the School’s social media page, connects the viewer to our Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter pages, as well as the School’s photo galleries. To view the dashboard, look for the green icon at the bottom of the Admission landing page.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 47

FR OM TH E OF F ICE OF DE V E LOP M E N T AN D ALUM N I AFFAIRS

The recent announcement of Dr. James DeVecchi’s retirement includes the reminder that Portsmouth Abbey School has much more to accomplish before Jim departs as Headmaster in June 2013. Among the numerous initiatives well underway, Growing in Knowledge & Grace: The Campaign for Portsmouth Abbey School is challenging the institution to meet ambitious goals that will further enhance the School’s ability to fulfill its distinctive Mission.

As we enter the opening months of 2012, Portsmouth’s campus is being touched by the Campaign yet again: St. Martin’s House is shaping up as a handsome sibling of St. Brigid’s House, its copper roof already beginning to oxidize and work heavily focused on interior finish details; the two residences constructed north of the Manor House are providing wonderful new homes for the faculty members occupying these conveniently located energy-efficient spaces; and the daily presence of longtime teacher and Associate Headmaster Dan McDonough in the Burden Classroom Building is another reminder of the Campaign’s achievement. As the inaugural holder of the Jenks Mathematics Chair, Dan is a living embodiment of the Campaign’s aim to support people – faculty and students alike.

Encouraging vibrant faculty life and the sponsorship of students are primary Campaign objectives in the early part of 2012. Completing the funding of the Kearney Chair in English, preferably by May’s Commencement, will honor the rich legacy of Dom Damian Kearney, O.S.B., ’45, English Master for over 50 years, and support the professional work of a current senior member of the English Department. Just as this issue of the Bulletin highlights the celebration of the Jenks Chair (see page 22), we seek to share comparable news regarding the Kearney Chair in the very near future. Indeed, as soon as Portsmouth is in a position to trumpet this success, the School intends to move forward with the creation of three additional academic chairs in other disciplines. In so doing, Portsmouth will noticeably deepen the endowed resources that support the School’s faculty.

PAGE 48

Having raised $4,600,000 in support of need-based financial assistance, the School enters the New Year seeking to raise a comparable amount of merit-based scholarship assistance. Although $17.2M of Portsmouth’s $38.3M endowment (as of 6/30/2011) are restricted scholarship funds, none have a specific merit orientation; rather, these funds are an integral part of the need-based financial aid program that assists 35 percent of Portsmouth’s students. For over 20 years Portsmouth Abbey has enrolled exceptionally well-qualified students as Diman Scholars; the full, four-year boarding scholarship awarded to an entering Third Form student is underwritten by the School’s operating budget. Under the auspices of Growing in Knowledge & Grace: The Campaign for Portsmouth Abbey School, we aim to begin the process of building a permanent foundation of endowed funds that will finance the yearly enrollment of other well-qualified girls and boys who possess the highest academic capacity.

At the forefront of Portsmouth Abbey’s list of remaining, ambitious capital campaign goals is the Science/Technology objective. The project will encompass the construction of a new science center and the renovation of the current science building into an academic space with state-of-the-art lecture hall.

The School is presently seeking early-stage funding that will allow the project to advance in 2012. The Science/Technology initiative is an exciting program that will further enhance the School’s ability to deliver the highest-quality education to girls and boys who will be our leaders in the 21st century.

As we recognize Jim and Deb DeVecchi’s longtime tenure at Portsmouth Abbey over the next 18 months, we will strive to meet more aims of Growing in Knowledge & Grace: The Campaign for Portsmouth Abbey School and thereby more fully celebrate their 40 years of service to our School.

– Patrick J. Burke ’86 Assistant Headmaster for Development

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Gifts needed to reach goal of $60 Million Raised as of December 31, 2011: $39 Million Gifts needed Gifts received

$5,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000

$ 500,000

$250,000

$100,000

$ 50,000

Many gifts under $ 50,000 are needed to reach our goal.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 49

THEN, THEN, NOW

AND

by Tim Seeley ’77 Director of Summer Programs It is August 1974. I am in St. Bede’s. I am a new Fourth Former, dropped off by my parents for early football with Coach John McCauley. The team is living in St. Bede’s, and more boys have shown up than expected, so some of us have bunks in the common room facing the bay (although the shore was so overgrown I am not sure I even knew there was water down there).

I sit, by myself, on my bunk. Suddenly, Oscar Long, Class of ’75, comes up and starts talking to me, and invites me into his room to meet some of the boys. I am never alone at Portsmouth Abbey again. I have thought back on that, on occasion, and marveled that Oscar was so kind to someone he had yet to meet, a lowly Fourth Former yet. I paid the favor forward my senior year, when Rob Rohn ‘79, a new Fourth Former also back for early football, was sitting alone and somewhat bewildered in his room, and I went in to greet and welcome him.

Fast forward to September 1984. I am in Room 9 in the Burden Classroom Building.

I am teaching my first class at the Abbey. It is a CD IV class, Ethics. My job here is to teach Algebra I and CD IV, be an assistant housemaster in Leonard’s, and coach Middler Football and Middler Tennis. I have been handed all the CD IV classes, sans curriculum, syllabus or textbook, in the grand manner of independent schools, which used to figure if you were welleducated and smart you’d figure it out. “In the meanwhile just don’t let the boys hurt themselves while in your charge.” Today, thankfully, Portsmouth, like most schools

PAGE 50

nowadays, has an extensive new faculty orientation and support system. But at that time, it was “Here are your class lists, you are in Room X, call if you need help.” I had no real idea how it was all going to work out, but I had a plan for the first day – to use a parable I liked called “The Old Man and the Scorpion,” a story that raises the question of whether human nature is basically self-serving or altruistic.

The classes went OK, without any obvious disasters or glaring errors. I had begun each class by saying it was my first day and I was quite nervous, and after one of them a student came up and said it may have been my first, but it was one of the best classes he had had. I don’t know if he was being completely truthful, but his generosity in saying something gave me great encouragement. (I can’t claim they were all that way. I cringe when I remember some of my classes that year, one so excruciatingly boring I had to stop after about twenty minutes to say, “I’m sorry. You guys must be dying out there, because I am.” A voice came from the back of the class, slightly bemused but kind, to say, “Yeah, but it’s OK.”) Fast forward yet again. It is the fall of 2011, and I find myself, amazingly, back at the Abbey one more time, my third incarnation, Tim 3.0 as it were, now as director of summer programs and again a teacher of Algebra 1.

I am in the Church of Saint Gregory the Great. I have walked in for the Thursday morning service, and I hear what I swear to myself must be an angel singing, come down to grace our prayers; the sounds floating through the space. Alternatively,

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

I think, I have somehow been transported to the heavenly choir loft itself. But no, it is Corinne Cotta, Class of 2012, singing a solo in as pure and clear and lovely a voice as I can remember hearing, her delicate tones rebounding off the wood and stone of the chapel. Girls’ voices have added immeasurably to our worship.

I also notice all the pink and lavender shirts and pastel ties on the boys. Nobody was wearing those when I was here last!

Each day, as I walk to my office in St. Bede’s, I see the Bay, no longer hidden behind overgrowth. Every morning it is an eye-catching, breathtaking view, a stunning beginning to my work, a brilliant blue with whitecaps today.

Now I am in my class, in Room 12, on the second floor of Burden, using a Smartboard to illustrate the problems we are working on. I am just starting to get a feel for how useful this tool will be in my teaching. Other than the technology, however, this class is not much different from the one I taught downstairs, directly below, in fact, in 1984. Kids still work too fast, still don’t want to write out the steps, still get confused at the difference between factors and terms. And they still respond to affection, care and attention, and still want to learn how to grow up to be good people.

Now I sit in the SLH for a faculty meeting and notice another change. The faculty meeting opens with a prayer. I don’t remember that from last time. In fact, in many ways, the religious life of the school is more intentional, more spoken now. At the start of school, Brother Francis explained to the new students what is going on in the

Left: Tim Seeley ’77 (seated, left) and Blake Billings ’77 accompany the Abbey Singers in the late 1970s.

Right: Members of the 2011 Summer Program enjoy a hike through Norman Bird Sanctuary.

Mass, what they should expect and what is expected of them, and Father Abbot also explained to students aspects of our religious tradition. New faculty were given an introduction to the Benedictine heritage of the School. The students read the Rule of Saint Benedict in CD class. I think that in my previous days here, because the monks were so much more a part of everyday life, in the dorms and classrooms and training room, no one thought to be so explicit about the religious side of things—it was assumed to take care of itself. Now that the monks are much less a part of the daily life at the School, everyone is more conscious of the need to speak of what is at the core here. Although I miss the monks’ more obvious presence, and look forward to the monastic renewal initiative bearing fruit, it is a good change to have our traditions be so spoken now.

for God and the human person, Respect for learning and order, Responsibility for the shared experience of community life. But it is a changed place as well. That heart is the same, but the form is softer. More Christ-like, it occurs to me.

It is good to be back.

My job now is to run the Summer Program.

As befits our Benedictine tradition, we seek our students to have a unified experience at a measured pace, while allowing for individual needs and interests. We also seek for them to gain a deep understanding of this place, through multiple lenses (the study of marine ecology and landscape painting in our afternoon enrichment program), so they may gain an understanding of what it means to be grounded in one’s environment.

Another thing I notice: the kids are friendlier, happier than I remember. It was a bit stark then, not brutal, but stark and highly competitive, as all-male environments tend to be (Oscar’s generosity notwithstanding). Visitors to the School now frequently remark on how friendly and polite our students are, and I see that in their interactions with each other, with me, with my dog. There is a deeper sense of community, and of affection for this community as a family, than I remember.

The program consists of academics in the morning, enrichment activities and athletics in the afternoon, and trips around New England on the weekend. Think summer school in the morning, and summer camp with added substance in the afternoon.

The Summer Program courses are intended to engage, excite, and enrich a student’s mind, all while increasing facility with the skills necessary to be successful in school.

These are real courses, but done in a more relaxed and easy-going manner than during the regular school year.

With all these changes, the School remains the same at its heart – a place that cares about scholarship and learning, that cares about nurturing one’s relationship with God, a place that cares about us all becoming good people. It is a place that indeed embodies its mission: Reverence

In the afternoon, in different weeks, students move between physical activities and those designed to give them a complete sense of where they are living. Each afternoon enrichment activity is designed to change their perspective on the complex

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

relationship between water, landscape, and the environment, while providing a formative experience that will draw the students together as a community over the course of the four-week program, since all will participate in these activities at some point during the summer.

The program is specifically designed for a slightly younger age group than students in the regular school, and is intended for students rising to the seventh through tenth grades. Activities, levels of supervision, and the balance of free time to structured programming are all chosen with these ages in mind. We believe kids (like all of us) learn best when they feel safe and cared for and are having fun, so that’s our goal.

Our hope is students have fun (it’s summer!) and have a real school experience, with good teaching by experienced teachers and challenging substance and content, gaining real academic skills. We will think about ethics and character development during our morning meetings. Students will increase their sense of this world as a sacred gift from God through the afternoon enrichment, get to know New England a bit and meet peers from all over the world.

So if you are looking for a quality academic and enrichment experience for your middle school aged children at a place you know and trust, give us a call! Or if you know someone who might be, tell them about us.

As one of our participants from last summer wrote, “Of course I want my friends to come! Why should I keep the Summer Program all to myself?”

PAGE 51

Dylan Pexton ’12

Andrew Lowis ’13

David Armenta ’12 Fergus O’Farrell ’12 Coleman Clark ’13 celebrates with Fergus O’Farrell ’12 and Sean Quinn ’12

PAGE 52

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

LOUIS WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY: www.louiswalkerphotography.com/Sports

Ford Bauer ’12

FALL 2011 ATHLETICS Girls’ Soccer Girls’ Soccer Trophy: Devon Hogan ‘12 MIP: Cynthia Holte ‘12 Captains-Elect: Annie Kirscht ‘13, Kelly Oliveira ‘13 Overall Record: 1-14-1 (EIL): 0-12 Boys’ Golf Boys’ Golf Trophy: Darren Colbourne ‘12 MIP: Jeff Heath ‘12 Captain-Elect: Garin Tracy ‘13 EIL Record: 12-2 Portsmouth Abbey Fall Junior Varsity Awards Coach’s Award: Will Parsons ‘12 Most Improved Player: Fang Shao ‘13 Captain-Elect: Joe Yates ‘13 Overall Record: 3-12 Eastern Independent League: 2-4

Girls’ Cross-Country Coach’s Award: Ceara Bowman ‘12 MIP: Claire Ritch ‘14 Captains-Elect: Claire Gralton ‘13, Hadley Matthews ‘13 Overall Record: 7-7 Eastern Independent League: 5-2

Girls’ Field Hockey Field Hockey Trophy: Taryn Murphy ‘12 MIP: Rachel Powers ‘13 Captains-Elect: Sara Sienkiewicz ‘13, Callie Taylor ‘13, Ally Tessier ‘13 Overall Record: 9-5 Eastern Independent League: 9-3

Junior Varsity Award: The Portsmouth Abbey Junior Varsity Award is given to the athlete who best demonstrates the spirit of Abbey athletics. The award recognizes hard work, individual improvement, sportsmanship and a willingness to do what is best for the team.

JV Boys’ Cross-Country: Doug Lebo ‘15 JV Girls’ Cross-Country: Monica Urquijo ‘13 JV Field Hockey: Ha Young Kim ‘15 JV Football: Tim Tsung ‘15 Boys’ JVA Soccer: Ben Vergara ‘15 Boys’ JVB Soccer: Jake Kim ‘14 Girls’ JV Soccer: Courtni Wade ‘15

Drake Kreinz ’12 LOUIS WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY: www.louiswalkerphotography.com/Sports

Boys’ Cross-Country

Football John M. Hogan Football Trophy: Matt Brigham ‘12 Coen Award (MIP): Trevor Kenahan ‘12 Captains-Elect: Austin Kreinz ‘13, Zach Pray ‘13, Severin St. Claire ‘13 Overall Record: 6-2 Evergreen Division: 5-0 Evergreen South Champions (5-0) Evergreen South Player of the Year: Drake Kreinz ‘12 Boys’ Soccer Williams Franklin Sands Memorial Soccer Trophy: Fergus O’Farrell ‘12 MIP: Andrew Lowis ‘13 Captains-Elect: Coleman Clark ‘13, Andrew Lowis ‘13 Overall Record: 15-2-3 Eastern Independent League: 11-1-1 Eastern Independent League Champions NEPSAC Class C Tournament: Advanced to the Semi-Final Round EIL Coach of the Year: Bowen Smith

PAGE 53

LOUIS WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY: www.louiswalkerphotography.com/Sports

Fall 2011 Athletics – Individual and Team Milestones Boys’ Soccer had an excellent season, winning the EIL, advancing to the semi-final round of the NEPSAC tournament and finishing with 15 wins, the most in the program’s history.

Boys’ Soccer All-League: David Armenta ‘12, Fergus O’Farrell ‘12 Dylan Pexton ‘12, Sean Quinn ‘12

Mr. Smith was selected as the EIL Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year.

Honorable Mention: Coleman Clark ‘13, Andrew Lowis ‘13 Antonio Minondo, Robert Sucsy ‘13

David Armenta ‘12 was the leading scorer in the EIL, and Andrew Lowis ‘13 recorded a new School record for shutouts with 11.

East West Prep All-Star Game: David Armenta ‘12, Coleman Clark ‘13, Fergus O’Farrell ‘12, Sean Quinn ‘12

Varsity Field Hockey finished with a 9-5 record, their best since 1993.

Girls’ Soccer Honorable Mention: Devon Hogan ‘12

Varsity Football won the Evergreen South League Championship.

Drake Kreinz ‘12 was selected as the league MVP. Matt Brigham ‘12 and Drake Kreinz ‘12 were selected to the All-New England Prep School Team.

Boys’ Golf finished second in the EIL with a 12-2 record, and Antonio Garrigues ‘14 placed first in the EIL tournament with a score of 77.

Evergreen Football Conference All-League: Matt Brigham ‘12, Kian Kenahan ‘12, Austin Kreinz ‘13, Drake Kreinz ‘12, Severin St. Claire ‘13 Honorable Mention: Gabe Carter ‘15, Doel Jarosiewicz ‘12, Zach Pray ‘13 Evergreen League South Football Player of the Year Drake Kreinz ‘12

FALL 2011 INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Eastern Independent League

All-New England Prep School Football Team Matt Brigham ‘12, Drake Kreinz ‘12

Boys’ Cross-Country All-League: Sean McDonough ‘14 Honorable Mention: Will Parsons ‘12

The Providence Journal’s 2011 All-State Fall Independent Stars Matt Brigham ‘12 – Football

Girls’ Cross-Country Honorable Mention: Hadley Matthews ‘13

Drake Kreinz ‘12 – Football

Field Hockey All-League: Kelly Plageman ‘12, Taryn Murphy ‘12, Alley Tessier ‘13 Honorable Mention: Taylor Lough ‘15 , Callie Taylor ‘13 Boys’ Golf All-League: Antonio Garrigues ‘14, William Hall ‘15 Honorable Mention: Darren Colbourne ‘12, Phil Rizzuto ‘12

Andrew Lowis ‘13 – Boys’ Soccer David Armenta ‘12 – Boys’ Soccer Taryn Murphy ‘12 – Field Hockey Antonio Garrigues ‘14 – Boys’ Golf

Visit our athletics photo galleries online at www.portsmouthabbey.org/page/athletics/photo_ gallery PAGE 54

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

MILESTONES Bill ’86 and Victoria Brazell with new daughter Penelope

Proud parents Matt ’95 and Libby DeVecchi with their newborn son, James Andrew

BIRTHS

Henry’ 92 and Silvia Snape with their son, Joseph Xavier

1986 A girl, Penelope Kelly, to Bill and Victoria Brazell October 18, 2011 1989 A boy, Ronin James, to John and Jennifer Coughlin December 14, 2011 A boy, Sullivan Vincent, to Michael and Stacy du Vigneaud December 29, 2011 A girl, Charlotte Elizabeth, to Thomas McGinn and Kristin Stone July 16, 2011 1991 A girl, Grace Marie, to T. Jeremy and Megan Healey July 6, 2011 A boy, Miles Harris, to Michael and Allison Dalton January 9, 2012 1992 A boy, Brigston Sirius Black, to Hal and Jennifer Black October 13, 2011

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

A boy, Joseph Xavier, to Henry and Silvia Snape November 28, 2011 1993 A boy, Brendan Patrick, to Brian and Erin Bordeau December 30, 2011 A girl, Analin Dunn, to Michael and Maura Brown November 6, 2011 1994 A boy, Lucas James, to John and Amanda Relihan August 24, 2011 A boy, Russell Wallace, to Charlie and Mary Elizabeth Day December 15, 2011 1995 A boy, James Andrew, to J. Matthew and Libby DeVecchi July 17, 2011 A girl, Abigail “Abby” Soleil, to Danielle and Jean-Luis Luther (McIntyre) November 27, 2011 A girl, Philippa “Pippa” Moran, to Chris and Maura Walsh Dyson January 4, 2012

PAGE 55

MILESTONES

William Forbes was welcomed by siblings Patrick, Abigail, and Jackson Forbes.

Joi Elise Hanako, daughter of Milton ’99 and Erica Little

Isabel, daughter of Jared and Cristina Craig Wurster ’98

A boy, Cameron Jace, to Brandon and Tanisha Respress August 16, 2011 A girl, Dominique, to Shannon (Reilly) and Peter Senise November 8, 2010 A girl, Isabel, to Jared and Cristina Craig Wurster August 22, 2011

1996 A boy, William Stuart, to Ann Marie and Matthew ’97 Forbes December 19, 2011 1997 A boy, Adebanjo Nickerson, to Jerome and Wolguine Stervil Olorunmaiye September 23, 2011 A boy, Francis Joseph, to Patrick and Alexandra Krol Riordan December 11, 2011 1998 A boy, William, to Brenna Bennett and Matthew Hadfield June 11, 2011

1999 A girl, Joi Elise Hanako, to Milton and Erica Little September 8, 2011

2002 A girl, Charlotte Cassandra “Ceci” to Reed and Mia Vachon Choate September 2, 2011 A boy, Lorenzo, to Luis Quintana and Adriana Rodriguez Carpio December 11, 2011 A girl, Vanessa Isabella, to Kyriaki Kyriakides and Richard Boyd September 3, 2011 2004/2005 A girl, Betty, to Nick ’04 and Allie ’05 Micheletti December 28, 2011

A boy, Charles Joseph, to Adam and Amelia Piccirilli December 12, 2011 A girl, Eleanor Grade, to Eric and Rebecca LaBrode July 10, 2011 2001 A boy, Cooper James, and a girl, Callie Jane, to Sakhon and Emily Case Uon July 25, 2011 Adebanjo, son of Jerome and Wolguine Stervil Olorunmaiye ’97

PAGE 56

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

WEDDINGS

Tiffany Spencer ’01 wed Ross Behnke on July 30, 2011

1992 Charles Burton to Heather Mae Wilson December 31, 2010 Andrew Wallace to Wistar Dean October 8, 2011 1993 Sean Peter Davison Berry to Erin Kathleen Carney December 17, 2011 Andrea Janosik to Fredrik Andersson September 10, 2011 1994 Melissa Alfred to Jonathan Wilson July 10, 2011 1995 E. Annie Sherman to Derek Luke December 9, 2011 1997 Kimberly Taylor to Jeffery Hirschfeld September 17, 2011 1998 Michael McCarthy to Carol Nordin September 4, 2011

From left, front: Andrew Wallace ’92 and his bride Wistar; Reverend Catesby Clay ’92, Patrick Leger ’92; Greg Gilman ’92, Gene Sullivan ‘57, Patrick Frank ’92, Henry Snape ’92, James Dwyer ’92, and Stratford Wallace ‘88

Kelly Olson ’02 married Edson Pereira, February 2011

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 57

MILESTONES

The wedding of Ann Elliot ’98 and Jonathan Sedgwick, from left to right: Ben Elliot, Chris Elliot, Jared Elliot ‘05, Kate Elliot Sedgwick ‘98, Scott Sedgwick, Richard Elliot, and Pete Elliot ‘97

Debra Berrett to Michael Legassie October 9, 2011 Ann Elliot to Jonathan Sedgwick December 28, 2010 Nate Singsen to Jeannette Clasgens November 14, 2010 1999 Christina Beccue to Robert Kunec June 17, 2011 Stephanie Garcia ’02 to Thomas Earp September 1, 2011 Lindley Haffenreffer to Joseph Maglio October 15, 2011 Francesca Palazio to Andrew Tauber July 23, 2011 Adam Piccirilli to Amelia Confone August 27, 2011

Guests at the wedding of John Jay Mouligné ’01 and Alexandra Hart ’00 included (back row, from left): Tiffany Spencer ’01, Martha Earp ’00, Stephanie Garcia Earp ’01, Maya Bacardi ’00, Sofia Regan ’03, Janine Graebe ’98, Ashley Jones’97, Tara Winston ’98, Kate Rooney ’98, Alex Hart Mouligné, Kate Ferrara Homes ’00, Mike McCarthy ’98, Beck Bennett ’00, Leah Murphy ’00, Bryan Flynn ’00, Tom Earp ’99, Will Hogg ’01, Fernando Kriete ’01, Pat Hewett ’00; front row, from left: Sean Flynn ’01, Tristan Mouligné ’98, John Jay Mouligné ’01, Griffin Flynn ’98, Ashley Hart ’98, Matt Kavanagh ’98, Justin Hart ’02, Nat Spencer ’98, Bill Hoffmann ’00, Angus Brown ’01, Dan Murray ’01

PAGE 58

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

2000 Alexandra Hart to John Jay Mouligné ’01 July 9, 2011

Above, left: From left, Sean Biddick ’02 married Mia Mayhew on September 17 in Jamestown, RI. The Abbey was represented well, from left, Kyle Biddick ’06, Lauren Beccue, Clay Beccue ’02, Mia Biddick, Sean Biddick ’02, Filipe Soares ’02, Rachel Soares, Pam Silvia ’03, and Neal Biddick ’03

2001 Alex Dominguez to Genevieve Deppe August 6, 2011 Gordon Fellows to Kris Wagner July 16, 2011

Above, right: Joanna Lanz ’07 married James Stevens in August 2011.

Brooke Gilligan to Beau Beecy October 9, 2011 Tiffany Spencer to Ross Behnke July 30, 2011

Right: Andrea Janosik ’93 married Fredrik Andersson in September 2011.

2002 Sean Biddick to Mia Mayhew September 17, 2011

Right: Christina Beccue ’99 with her wedding party, from left to right: Tony Gennaoui ‘99, Matt Kavanagh ‘98, Tiffany Costa Bolduc ‘99, Kristen Weida Smith ‘99, Rob Kunec (groom), Christina Beccue Kunec ‘99, Kyla Burgess ‘99, Elizabeth Hayes ‘99, Desiree Ravenscroft ‘99, and David Beccue ‘02

Kelly Olson to Edson Pereira February 26, 2011 Filipe Soares to Rachel Wanderer May 28, 2011 Crosbie Walsh to Candace Van Patten July 16, 2011 2004 Christian Burnett to Allie Foust September 17, 2011 2007 Joanna Lanz to James Stevens August 20, 2011

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 59

NECROLOGY

NECROLOGY Emma Aponowich Grandmother of Myles M. Somerville ’05 and Julia A. Driscoll ‘06 January 7, 2011 Alexander Benziger ‘61 December 25, 2009 Nancy Davison Berry Wife of John F. ‘55 Mother of Sean P. ‘93 Berry September 22, 2011 Mrs. Ann C. Buckley Mother of Peter B. ’72, James F. W. ’73, and William F. ’76 Buckley Grandmother of Anna E. ’07, James L. ’08, and Sean T. ‘12 Buckley December 30, 2011 Dr. Nicholas A. Conforti ‘48 November 1, 2011 John “Jack” Murray Cuddihy ‘39 April 18, 2011 Edward Cummings Father of Henry ’69, Amory ’70, Lawrence ’72, Ogden ’76, Alexander ’81 and McLean ‘83 Cummings December 27, 2011 Thomas Matthew Daley Father of William M. ’85 and Christopher ’88 Daley December 21, 2011 Valeda E. DeVecchi Mother of Headmaster, Dr. James DeVecchi Grandmother of J. Matthew ’95 and Stephen ’97 DeVecchi January 7, 2011 John J. Doyle Father of Brian G. Doyle II ‘00 September 18, 2011 Arthur M. Dring, Jr. ‘49 October 20, 2010 Myra Horgan Duvally Great-aunt of Jesse Rose Bessinger ‘12 September 27, 2011 Francis Gerry Dwyer ‘41 November 11, 2011 PAGE 60

Theodore H. Eckhart Grandfather of Steven P. Cotta ‘83 Great-grandfather of Corinne ’12 and Lauren ’15 Cotta October 18, 2011

Elizabeth Bynum Moran Russell Mother of Peter M. ’69, David E. ’71 and James T. ’77 Moran Aunt of Nick Moran ’81 August 2, 2011

John P. Fandel Oblate November 15, 2011

Robert Morris ‘39 May 21, 2009

Barrie G. FitzSimons Wife of David K. FitzSimons ‘56 Mother of David K. ’84 and William F. ’86 FitzSimons December 4, 2011 Mary E. Garcia Mother of Stephanie Garcia Earp ’02 Mother-in-law of Thomas Earp ’99 December 16, 2011

George C. Moore ‘49 Father of Nicholas Moore ’81 and Brother-in-law of George Connell ’53 October 19, 2011 Eileen P. O’Reilly Mother of J. Timothy O’Reilly ‘57 Grandmother of John O’Reilly ’83, Sophie ’06 and Josephine O’Reilly ‘09 October 15, 2011

Leo-Mark Godzich ‘77 October 27, 2011

Mary Hilary Perrem Grandmother of Tristan B. Howlett ‘15 September 21, 2011

Joseph Gulbin Father of Joseph Gulbin II ‘86 November 17, 2011

Craig Peters Dining Services Staff January 13, 2012

Mary Hamilton Lee Horsey Mother of Outerbridge Horsey, Jr. ‘71 December 29, 2011

Robert R. Price III ‘71 August 18, 2011

Paul C. Houston Father of Jeffrey P. Houston, M.D. ‘81 August 21, 2011 Charles O. McGuire Grandfather of Jeannine McGuire ‘15 November 24, 2011 Bruce W. McShane ‘68 Father of Kelley T. McShane ’05 Son of Gordon McShane ’41 Nephew of Creighton McShane ’50 Brother of Bryan McShane ’71 Sister of Devin McShane P’09, ‘11 Uncle of Parker ’09 and Tiernan ’11 Barry August 13, 2011 G. Scott Nebergall Father of Daphne E. ’04, Audrey ’06, Christian S. ’06, and Gregory W. ‘06 January 19, 2012 Margaret René Mother of Norman René ‘69 f September 23, 2011 P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Olgierd “Al” Prus ‘48 August 21, 2011 Gertrude D. Salerno Grandmother of O’Callahan Taylor ‘13 January 5, 2012 John Keating Sands ’40 Brother of James ’32 f, William ’32 f, Robert J. ’32 f Uncle of William F. '69 Sands� November 19, 2011 Deolinda Sousa Grandmother of Rachel R. Sousa ‘14 September 27, 2011 William Spain Father of C. Compton Spain ‘74 August 31, 2011 Kenneth W. Sparks Father of Alexandra E. ’04 and Graham J. ’06 Sparks August 30, 2011

IN MEMORIAM

Eunice Leeming Sullivan Mother of Mark J. Sullivan ‘84 August 28, 2011 Drothea S. Tobin Mother of E. Devitt Tobin ’70 and Robert C. Tobin ’73 Aunt of Charles J. Tobin III ’61, Thomas N. Tobin ’64, Gerald C. Tobin ’67 and Gregory M. Tobin ‘71 July 22, 2011

ROBERT PRICE III ’71 Robert Price III ’71 died at his Wye River home in Queenstown, MD, on August 18, 2011. He was 58 years old.

Bobby entered the School in the fall of 1967, and his slightly bashful demeanor could not prevent his native Eastern Shore affability from shining through; he soon made many friends. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania and then to University of Maryland Law School. He practiced law in Centreville with his father in the firm of Price and Price.

Bobby’s great love at Portsmouth and afterward was sailing. He skippered his boats, Sara B and Godspeed, in local waters and took part in Newport and Bermuda races. He was a member and past commodore of the Corsica River Yacht Club and the Tred Avon Yacht Club, and a member and rear commodore of the Cruising Club of America.

Bobby was stricken with kidney disease while still in college and struggled bravely against it. He received a kidney transplant from his aunt, Reeve Myers, and he treasured every day it provided.

Bobby is survived by his father, Robert Price Jr., and stepmother, Nancy Hammond, his two sons, Reeves and Andrew, his companion, Judith Funderburk, and her son, Jackson Steppe. His mother, Nancy Burke Price, predeceased him.

Bobby came to Portsmouth to take possession of a new boat two or three summers ago, and Father Julian christened her. He lived and died a country gentleman, modest, courteous and kind, and we extend our deepest condolences to all of his family.

– James MacGuire ‘70

BRUCE W. M C SHANE ’68, P ’05 Bruce Winthrop McShane passed away on August 13, 2011. Born in Montclair, NJ, he was the son of Bruce Winthrop and Mary Crane. When Bruce was a year old, his father died, and Bruce’s mother subsequently married Gordon McShane ‘41.

Bruce entered Portsmouth in Second Form. In his Sixth Form he co-captained the varsity football team and captained the wrestling team. That year, he was selected to the All-New England Wrestling Team.

After graduation from Portsmouth, Bruce attended the University of Denver for one year before volunteering for the U.S. Army draft in 1969. He did his basic training at Fort Dix, NJ, and then went to Vietnam where he served with the 101st Airborne as a radio telephone operator.

He saw much combat and, in 1972, was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service.

After his return from Vietnam, he earned a B.A. from Castleton State College and then attended Vermont Law School, where he graduated in its inaugural class.

He worked with Marsh and McLennan in New York and then, upon passing the N.Y. Bar Exam, joined the firm of Rogers Hoge and Hills.

In 1981, Bruce married Celeste Marie Bertucci, and in 1984, they moved to Westport, CT, where Bruce’s interest in sailing began when a friend gave him an old Hobie Cat. He would jump into the boat on a daily basis after work and sail until dusk.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

In 1985, Bruce started a law firm with Bill Johnston, Johnston and McShane, in New York City. In 1999, he and a friend started a sports marketing firm, Old Iron.

In 1995, Bruce and Celeste bought property in Watch Hill, RI, where they eventually built a house. Bruce continued his love of boating in the waters off Watch Hill and Newport. In 2006, he bought Summer Wind, a 47-foot Little Harbor, and over the next five years Bruce sailed that vessel throughout the Atlantic, much of it solo. His sailing adventures took him as far south as Colombia, through the Caribbean and to Bermuda. Sailing became his love and his life.

Bruce’s brother, Bryan ’71, said of him: “Bruce had a great enthusiasm for all the relationships he had in his life. He had the knack of seeing the truth in the nature of things, an appreciation for life’s challenges and, when necessary, he tended to the matters that counted. But it was his practical sense of humor – his love of laughter and of seeing others laugh – that showed his infectious love for life.”

Bruce was buried with full military honors in Westerly, RI. In addition to Celeste, he is survived by his daughters, Jessica and Kelley ’05 McShane, and his siblings, Leslie Anne Roach, Elizabeth Carter Conway, Devin McShane P ’09, ‘11 and Bryan. He was the nephew of Creighton McShane ’50, uncle of Parker ’09 and Tiernan ’11 Barry, and brother-in-law of Curtiss Roach ’63.

We offer our sympathies to Bruce’s extended family and many friends.

PAGE 61

IN MEMORIAM

EDWARD M. CUMMINGS P ’69, ’70, ’72, ’76, ’81,’83 Edward M. Cummings, father of six Portsmouth graduates and a former member of the School’s Board of Consultants, died on December 27, 2011, at the age of 90 in Reston, VA. He had been a resident of the Washington, D.C., area for the last 15 years.

Edward was born in Chicago, IL, and attended the Latin School of Chicago, Hotchkiss School and Yale University. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 and spent four years there as a Lieutenant, serving at one point as ordnance officer at Pearl Harbor. Following WWII, he joined the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, where during a long and distinguished career he rose to executive vice president and head of all domestic and international commercial lending. He retired in 1983, having worked the last two years in the bank’s London office to help strengthen the company’s European presence, and spent time in the ensuing years with his wife, Helene, at their vacation home in Normandy, France.

A longtime board member of DePaul University, Edward was also a life trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and served on the board of the Newberry Library and the Columbus-Cuneo Cabrini Medical Center. He was active in a variety of civic and Catholic organizations, including Catholic Charities, Alliance Français, and the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and was a member of the Knights of Malta.

Edward was the son of Walter J. Cummings, the chairman of the Board of the Continental Bank and the first chairman of the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation. One of Edward’s brothers, the late Walter J. Cummings, Jr., was former solicitor general of the United States and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit.

Edward sent his six sons to Portsmouth – Henry ’69, Amory ’70, Lawrence ’72, Ogden ’76, Alexander ’81, and Rev. McLean ’83 – one of only two families to have had so many children graduate from Portsmouth, something of which Edward was proud. He served on the School’s Board of Consultants from 1972-75 and 1978-81 and was a member of the Parents’ Committee.

“My father sent his six sons to Portsmouth because it is the finest Catholic boarding school in the country,” said Amory. “He also loved great architecture; possibly the beautiful Belluschi buildings alone would have convinced him to send his sons there! He was very satisfied with the education we received, as we matriculated at excellent universities around the country. But just as important to my father and mother was the religious focus of Portsmouth Abbey.

They knew that when we went out into the world after Portsmouth it was with a solid grounding in the Catholic faith.”

In addition to his wife, Helene (de Marcellus), Edward is survived by his sons, two daughters, Lillian Stevenson and Rose, and 20 grandchildren.

The School community extends its condolences to the Cummings family.

PAGE 62

G. SCOTT NEBERGALL P ’04, ’06, ’06, ’06 G. Scott Nebergall, former member of the Portsmouth Abbey Board of Regents and father of four Portsmouth graduates, died January 19, 2012. Scott was a resident of Tiverton, RI, and was the husband of Cynthia Nebergall for 32 years. He was a son of Myrta (Myers) Nebergall of Kansas City, Missouri, and the late Vernon Nebergall.

A 1973 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and Pepperdine Law School, Class of 1977, Scott earned his Master of Law in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1978.

An attorney and partner with Edwards Wildman Palmer in Providence since 1984, Scott served as co-chair of the Tax Department. Prior to joining Edwards Wildman, he was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and was a recipient of the Justice Department Outstanding Attorney Award. During the past 19 years, he served as the municipal court judge in Tiverton. An avid golfer and also enjoyed sailing, particularly cruising each summer with his family on his Baltic 38 sailboat, Eroica.

Scott served as a member of Portsmouth Abbey’s Board of Regents from 2002-08. Scott’s daughter, Daphne ’04, said, “Our father loved Portsmouth Abbey School. Dad believed that the Abbey gave us the very best intellectual and spiritual foundation, and he was deeply grateful.”

David Moran ’71, who was Chair of Portsmouth Abbey’s Board during Scott’s tenure, added, “Scott was quiet, and I have found that it is the quiet ones who give the best advice and think the clearest. When I needed advice on a difficult Board of Regents matter, the simple expediency of a phone call to Scott (he was always available when we served together) never failed to do the trick. He was a busy man, but never too busy for Portsmouth.”

Scott’s Funeral Mass was held January 24 in the Church of St. Gregory the Great at Portsmouth Abbey and was celebrated by Abbot Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B. In addition to Cynthia, Scott is survived by his children, Daphne Elizabeth Nebergall ’04, of New York City, Christian ‘06, Audrey ‘06 and Gregory ‘06 Nebergall, all of Tiverton; and his brothers, Mark and Jeffrey Nebergall.

The Portsmouth Abbey community mourns the loss of Scott, a dedicated and loyal supporter of the School. We extend our sincere sympathies to the entire Nebergall family.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

IN MEMORIAM

JOHN MURRAY CUDDIHY ’39

FRANCIS G. DWYER ’41

John Murray Cuddihy ’39 died on April 18, 2011.

Jack was born in 1922 in New York City, one of seven children of H. Lester Cuddihy, chairman of Funk and Wagnalls publishing company, and Julia Murray Cuddihy. The Cuddihy family was written about in Real Lace, Stephen Birmingham’s book on the so-called First Irish Families.

Francis G. “Gerry” Dwyer ‘41, of Middletown, RI, and Jupiter, FL, died on November 11, 2011. Gerry entered Georgetown University after graduation from Portsmouth and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He served first during WWII in the 4th and 6th Marine Divisions and again during the Korean War, and was released from active duty in 1952 with the rank of Captain. He graduated from Georgetown in 1947. Gerry was active in local and state civic and government affairs, serving from 1954-58 in the R.I. House of Representatives. From 1959-62, he was chairman of the R.I. Turnpike and Bridge Authority and then was campaign manager for John Chafee’s successful 1962 and 1964 runs for Governor. He also worked on Chafee’s U.S. Senate campaigns. Gerry worked for many years with his father in the family real estate and insurance business, Gustave J.S. White, serving as president from 1975 until he sold the business in the 1990s. He leaves his wife, Jane (Harlow) Dwyer, stepchildren Allen and Andrew OBrion, and their families.

After graduating from the Priory, where he played tennis and wrote for The Raven, Jack went to Georgetown University. He received three master’s degrees: two from Columbia University and a third from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He completed a Ph.D. in Sociology at Rutgers University and taught at Vassar College, Columbia University, and the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry before taking a position in the Sociology Department at Hunter College. He was also a senior fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York.

Jack’s fascination with Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell in the 1950s resulted in five scrapbooks of his, including exhibition catalogues, and hundreds of newspaper and magazine clippings, being part of the permanent collection at MOMA. Jack married Heidi DeHaven in 1961. They were at the epicenter of a colorful and often contentious group of Greenwich Village intellectuals. Jeffrey Hart wrote of Jack in his memoir of National Review: “An imaginative sociologist who taught at Hunter College, he later wrote the minor classic, The Ordeal of Civility: Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity. This book became a kind of underground scandal, though also prestigious.

Jack had a good sense of humor. For example one day I asked him how come Ernest van den Haag was so successful with women. The correct answer, I supposed, was his continental charm, and his André Malraux combination of man-of-thought and man-of-action. But Jack said, ‘The women are just curious. They want to see if he’s as funnylooking with his clothes off as he is with them on.’”

Heidi predeceased Jack by five months. Their three children – Heidi, Julia and John – survive Jack.

Three of Jack’s brothers also came to Portsmouth— Robert ’42, Thomas ’45 and Michael ’49.

The Portsmouth Abbey community offers its sympathies to the Cuddihy family.

GEORGE C. MOORE ’49 George C., 81, of New York and Watch Hill, RI, died on October 19, 2011, after suffering from complications due to a bicycle accident. After graduation from Portsmouth, he attended Bowdoin College and served as a private in the U. S. Army, stationed in Germany during the post-World War II occupation, in special service entertaining troops. For four decades, George worked for the George C. Moore Co., most recently as executive vice president, a familyowned elastic-manufacturing business. For decades George was a blood bank volunteer and did “sing-alongs” for nursing home patients in New York and Florida. A gifted pianist, musicologist and daily swimmer, he brought great joy to others over the years by performing and singing. George leaves his wife of 50 years, Audrey Connell Moore; his sons, George and Nicholas ‘83; and their families. Family members who attended Portsmouth include his brother, Geoffrey ’44, a cousin, Charlie ’55, and brothers-in-law Gordon McShane ’41 and George Connell ’53.

BARRIE GARTRELL FITZSIMONS P ’84,’86 Barrie Gartrell FitzSimons, wife of David K. FitzSimons ’56 and mother of David ’84 and William ’86, died December 4, 2011. A resident of Grosse Pointe Farms and Harbor Springs, MI, as well as Vero Beach, FL, Barrie was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and later received an honorary doctorate degree from Siena Heights College in Michigan.

She was an accomplished interior designer and a dedicated volunteer, active in a number of community and civic organizations. Barrie held the position of president of the Sigma Gamma Association; was a trustee of the Detroit Institute of Children and the University Liggett School; and was a director of the Wequetonsing Golf Club. She was an active member of the Garden Club of Michigan, the Grosse Pointe Garden Club, and the John’s Island Garden Club. In addition, Barrie was a docent for the Detroit Institute of Arts and a member of the Junior League of Detroit. In addition to her husband and sons, she is survived by her daughters, Kerry Wilson and Allison LaFramboise, and 10 grandchildren.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 63

CLASS NOTES

41 I Friends from the class of 1941, Dick Cooley, Hugh Tovar and Peter Flanigan, gathered in Newport in November to celebrate the life of their classmate and dear friend, Gerry Dwyer.

43 I Richard Daly wrote: “Frank Hurley and I get together – by phone – and hope to visit Portsmouth in the spring of 2012. I visited this past spring. The School/grounds looked grand as did Father Julian.”

Dick Cooley, Hugh Tovar and Peter Flanigan from the Class of 1941

Roger Moriarty ’50 and wife Marilyn catch up with Father Christopher Davis ’48 at the Reunion Diman Club Cocktail Party.

usual careful planning, we agreed to meet in Marrakech and drive through northern Morocco and southern Spain up to Seville.

Seeing his photo touches my heart and I am reminded again how important he has been in my life.”... Tony Elson checked in to say: “I am pleased to announce that my book entitled Governing Global Finance: The Evolution and Reform of the International Financial Architecture was published

by Palgrave Macmillan in March 2011. This book explains the origins of the collective governance arrangements (i.e., international financial architecture) which governments have put in place to safeguard the operations of the global financial system, and why they were unable to prevent the onset of the global financial crisis in 200809. It lays out a number of reforms that are needed to improve the crisis prevention and crisis management capabilities of the international financial architecture. The book draws on my many years of work experience with the International Monetary Fund, as well as teaching I have been doing at the Duke University School of Public Policy and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.”

63 I Red Cummings received a 2011 New England Book Festival Award for his acclaimed book, The Last Fling, a story of life in the mid-20th century in Westport with highlights from Hurricane Carol in 1954...

George Fowler’s translation of Lin Zhe’s epic novel of 20th-Century China, Waipode Gucheng, previously published under the title, Riddles of Belief and Love, was republished in January 2011 by Amazon Crossings as Old Town. His translation of Marah Rusli’s classic Malay-Indonesian novel, Sitti Nurbaya, was published in May 2011 by Lontar as a part of their Modern Library of Indonesia series. Both of these are available on Amazon.com. He is currently translating another contemporary novel from Chinese.

54 I Nagle Jackson shared “Just back from Paris where I enjoyed my ‘annual lunch’ with Basil Carmody. Enjoyed the opening night of my play Opera Comique performed in Luxembourg; it’s also running in Istanbul at the State Theater there, but I couldn’t quite make that. Had a splendid time seeing old friends at the dinner for the Father Andrew Chair at the Yale Club in November.”

59 I Jaime Del Amo shares: “In a box of old photos I came across this image of my dear friend Father Hilary in Seville in 1974. I had hoped to see Spain - I’m half Spanish - on the European trip with him after graduation in 1959 but it wasn’t in the itinerary.

After settling in Andalucia some years later I invited him to come, and finally, after his

Jaime Del Amo ’59 recently came across this image of his dear friend Father Hilary in Seville in 1974.

PAGE 64

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

65 I Charles Carignan retired from the bond and stock business in 2003. Recently he and wife, Gale, relocated from New

union barbecue party was held for West Coast alumni, Class of 1965, in midSeptember at my sister Mary Jane’s lovely mountainside home in Mill Valley, CA. Attending were Greg Knox, Eugene McGuckin, John Fisher, Nick Keefe, John Wade, Jim Sturdevant and Chris Bowes. Several guitars were in evidence and the singing and good time lasted well into the evening.”

66 I

Nagle Jackson ’54 just back from his annual lunch in Paris with old classmate Basil Carmody

Hampshire to Naples, Florida. Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., president of St. Anselm’s College, delivered the Homily at the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul on October 5th in Providence for the Red Mass, the annual Mass invoking the Holy Spirit upon the judicial year. Members of Rhode Island’s legal and law enforcement communities attended and were told that they have a responsibility as legal professionals to integrate their legal knowledge and their identities as Christians. Father DeFelice said “We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines of the decisions of life and death, of freedom and oppression, of immigration and prosperity. We have too much to offer from our faith and our tradition to do that.”...

Carroll Delaney shared this fall: “Great re-

Chris Ogden’62, still on the move, enjoying his travels

Paul Kennedy moved to Key Biscayne, FL, in 2010. If anyone will be visiting the Miami area, he would love to hear from you. A tip: February is better than August!

Architect John Carney ’68 enjoying life in Jackson Hole

71 I

68 I John Carney’s firm, Carney Logan Burke Architects, has come out with a book of selected projects, Inspired By Place, which celebrates their 20 years of work in the Rocky Mountain West. He and his wife, Elaine, live in Jackson Hole, WY, and travel to see John’s four grown kids who are spread out from London to Berkeley and points in between. Nora, the eldest, has produced the first grandchild, reminding her dad that he has entered a new life phase... and a fun one, at that.

Tom Lonergan retired from CIGNA and started a new job as Director and Actuary at The Hartford in Hartford, CT.

72 I 40TH REUNION

v

SEPT 28-30

Stephen Cunningham left his position at Deutsche Bank AG as the head of Latin American merger advisory and corporate finance in September to join Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest broker, as head of Latin American investment banking.

73 I

69 I John Harrigan wrote to let us know that his daughter, Julia, has started her sophomore year at Northwestern University.

Tony Klemmer was pleased to announce that his non-profit, The Center for Better Schools, was the recipient of grants from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others

Standing, from left, Robert Hanley ‘66, James Danaher ’66, Pierre de Saint Phalle ’66; seated, from left, Jon Gilloon ’66, Eric Sandeen ’66, Walter Cotter ’66, Stanley Burke ’66, and Ralph Mariani ’66 after dinner on Saturday night.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 65

Bill Heyer’s ’88 son, Ambrose

Chris Cooke ’s ‘76 Airedale showing some school spirit

Inc., in August after nine years to become a Partner at the media investment bank DeSilva+Phillips.

DeSilva+Phillips provides mergers and acquisitions advisory, corporate restructuring services and private placements of debt and equity to leading companies in the media industry.

78 I

in 2011, and they were able to launch the National Academy of Advanced Teacher Education for experienced, high - performing classroom teachers with a cohort of 25 middle and high school teachers from across the nation.

76 I Chris Cooke sent in a picture of his dog on his very own Portsmouth Abbey School blanket... Mark Ryan wrote to let us know: “Almost empty - nested. Our oldest, John, has a bachelor’s of music from NYU and is living in NYC. This fall, Katie will be a junior at Harvard and Jamie will be a freshman at Harvard.”

77 I

35 TH REUNION v SEPT 28-30

Dan McCarthy stepped down from his position as CEO at Network Communications,

Allen Chatterton III was the Chair of the 28th Annual Allen H. Chatterton Jr. Memorial Golf Tournament for Providence Children’s Museum. The tournament was held at Carnegie Abbey Club and raised $40,000 for the museum. The funds will be used to support the museum’s hands-on exhibits and educational programs... Winston Shero checked in and said, “Well, we have been in beautiful Anchorage, Alaska, for the last year and a half, and it has been fulfilled and exciting. What a change from hot and humid Houston, TX! For those of you that have never been to Alaska, you have truly missed an incredible place. I’ve hunted and fished in remote and wonderful places - with and without the company of bears, etc. We left number-one son in Texas at my alma mater, Texas A&M. If any of you Class of ‘78 are thinking of coming to Alaska, drop me a note - it would be great to see you!”... Richard White wrote: “Two in college and 2 years from being an empty nest. Still practicing cancer surgery – hoping to find the cure.”

81 I Richard Fitzgerald is still living in San Diego. He hopes everyone had a great time at Reunion this fall!

83 I

Steve Cotta was awarded the 2011 Rhode Island Horticultural Industries Leadership Award. Steve is a member of the American

80 I Fitz-John Fitzpatrick is working as the director of concept development and experimentation at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Bragg, NC. He will retire from the Army at the end of April... Bill Haney was featured in Forbes magazine in an article entitled, “Bold Construction,” which goes on to say, “Blu Homes makes prefabricated houses that unfold like a box and take just a day to erect on-site.” Bill worked with Maura McCarthy starting in 2008 to create a sustainable prefabricated hous-

Richard Fitzgerald ’81 lives in San Diego

PAGE 66

ing manufacturing business at a time when many other companies were closing their doors because of the recession. Blu Homes uses recycled-steel frames with large hinges to create homes that can fit on a standard tractor-trailer to be transported.There are currently two Blu Homes faculty residences on the Portsmouth Abbey campus!

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Theresa Paolucci and Patrick Gallagher ’81, P’15 at Ravens athletic events on Reunion weekend

Brian O’Reilly ’95 with his wife, Kiana, and children, Whit, Addie, and Tucker

Nursery & Landscape Association, has lobbied at the federal level for OSHA requirements and at the state level concerning agriculture exemptions. He is on the steering committee of the Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership and the Portsmouth Agriculture Committee.

87 I

25 TH REUNION v SEPT 28-30

Stephan Käufer was promoted from associate professor to full professor in the Department of Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College.

88 I Bill Heyer sent in a family photo and a picture of his son Ambrose’s first year of playing hockey with his old jersey number!

89 I Michael Foley is currently writing for the new CBS TV show, Unforgettable, starring Poppy Montgomery, Dylan Walsh, and Michael Gaston. He often throws in Portsmouth Abbey facts and memories; check it out on CBS! Michael used to write for the show, American Dreams, and based some

Pablo Cuellar ’97, Colin O’Higgins ’97 and Dan Hughes ’97 in Miami.

of the characters and events on his Portsmouth Abbey days.

92 I

20 TH REUNION v SEPT 28-30 Patrick Leger was spotlighted in an article called “First Field ketchup: Bottling the best of New Jersey” this summer

by The Star-Ledger for his special ketchup recipe that he and his wife, Theresa, are bottling and selling at farm markets and upscale groceries under the label First Field ketchup. It was also spotlighted in the Dining & Wine section of the New York Times in August!

The Healey Family: Megan, Grace, Rebecca, Jeremy ’91, Catherine and John enjoy lunch and some of the activities at the Ravens Children’s Carnival on Reunion 2011 Weekend.

93 I Carlton Curry shared big news: “In August I accepted the position of Executive Director of the Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.

I oversee the licensing, disciplining and regulation of 7,000 professionals statewide. The new job is busy but I took time to celebrate with sister, Crystal Curry Newland ‘97, the

Alexia Trainor ’97 and her husband, Dave, with son Patrick and daughter Mary at the beach this summer.

Ken Tambaschi’s ’97 daughter, Taylor.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 67

Amara Mulder ’99 and her husband, Matt, with their children, Micah and Eliza.

launch of The Curry Newland Law Firm this summer. Any alumni in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore, MD, area should feel free to contact me.”

94 I Melissa (Missy) Alfred Wilson is a teacher at The Hamlin School in San Francisco.

95 I Brian O’Reilly and his wife, Kiana, are keeping busy with their three children, Whit, Addie, and Tucker!

96 I Megan McCarthy was named one of The New York Observer’s “Media Power Bachelorettes” and was later named the news

editor of The Observer. www.observer.com/2011/09/megan-mccarthy-named-observer-news-editor/

97 I

15 TH REUNION v SEPT 23-25

Pablo Cuellar, Dan Hughes, and Colin O’Higgins spent New Year’s Eve together in Miami... Ken Tambaschi checked in from Northern Virginia: “I still love working with Republic National Distributing Company selling wine and living in Reston, VA. Taylor Elaine Tambaschi was born on 6/2/11 and I’m not sure where the last 6 months have gone! We’ll get her in some Abbey attire soon... Hope all are well and Carissa, Taylor and I look forward to seeing everyone at the 2012 reunion in September!”... Alexia Karousos Trainor wrote in: “Hi, my fellow alumni! I hope you are all doing well and are happy and healthy in life. I graduated from nursing school and passed my boards in February 2011 and my husband, Dave, and I had our second child, Mary, in April.

Mary and her brother, Patrick (who is 3 years old), actually have the same birthday! I’m staying home right now with the kids and

Leslie Heller ’98, Alexandra Riordan ’97, Ann Marie Forbes ’96, and Lori Goodrich ’97 posed at Alexandra’s baby shower for her son Francis in September 2011 in North Providence, RI. PAGE 68

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Kate Homes ’00 at her cooking class in Newport

enjoying every second of it. We moved to Barrington, RI, about 6 months ago and are really enjoying our new home. I attended Kim Taylor’s wedding in September and it was absolutely amazing. She looked beautiful, as always, and it was the nicest wedding. In any case, I hope you are all doing well and enjoy your holidays and New Year! Best, Alexia.”... Kim Taylor Hirshfeld has been very busy this year. She is MetLife’s director of sports marketing. Kim negotiated MetLife’s cornerstone sponsorship of New Meadowlands Stadium, the home of the NFL teams, the Jets and the Giants, in 2008 and continues to manage the relationship and building activation between MetLife and the NFL teams. Kim was named one of the Forty Under 40 in 2011 by Sports Business Daily for her role in the sponsorship deal by MetLife and her ongoing work to support the MetLife Central Activation system, which focuses on a loyalty card program for football fans and has made the MetLife corner of the stadium incredibly vibrant and full of activity.

Kim started with MetLife in 2003 and manages the company’s sports blimp program as well. On top of her busy work schedule, Kim married Jeffrey Hirshfeld this fall, with many Abbey friends in attendance.

98 I Leslie Heller attended the September baby shower of Alexandra (Krol) Riordan ’97 with friends Ann Marie Forbes ’96, and Lori Goodrich ’97... Ann (Elliot)

Sedgwick shares: “I married Jonathan Scott Sedgwick on December 28, 2010, in Kensington, Maryland. My brothers were among the groomsmen. My parents, Bill ’72 and Mary Elliot, were also in attendance.”...

Jason Weida and his wife, Kyley, recently moved to Marblehead, Massachusetts. He joined the law firm Jones Day in Boston as a corporate litigator focusing on issues and appeals... Tristan Mouligné took the top spot in the 20-boat PHRF Double-Handed Class of the 2011 Bermuda One-Two Race in his Quest 30, Samba, completing the 122-nautical-mile Nomans Course in just over 21 hours. Tristan and his brother, John Jay ’01, competed together and took first place overall on corrected time! They also won the Ida Lewis Distance Race with Tara Winston’s ‘98 husband, Ted. “It was a good summer for Samba and crew! Two wins in only our second season owning the boat.”

99 I Amara (Murray) Mulder checked in to share: “My big news is the birth of our daughter, Eliza, now 4 months old. Her brother, Micah (2 years old), loves to tell her stories and hold her. For the last month, my brother, Ethan Murray ‘01, and his wife, Shannon, have been visiting from Costa Rica, where they live with their two year old son, Owen, and their 4-month-old daughter, Samantha. Needless to say, Sam and Eliza have been having fun drooling

Tristan ’98 and John Jay ’01 Mouligne during the 2011 Bermuda 1-2 race.

together while Owen and Micah learn to share their toys with each other. Matt, my husband, is taking care of the kids while I finish up the last year and a half of my residency program in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Once I’m done, he plans to teach middle school and I plan to practice primary care.”

00 I Kate Homes was back on Aquidneck Island this winter to hold a cooking class and demonstration at Forty 1º North, a hotel in Newport. She taught her 20-person class how to make a traditional New England holiday dinner. Alumni Alexandra Mouligné, John Jay Mouligné ‘01, and Kate Rooney-Sams ’98, and Kate’s Third Form houseparent and Senior Admissions Associate, Geri Zillian P’95, were all there to cheer her on and learn some new recipes. Kate is running a booming business in New York City called Kate’s Carried Away, a personal in-home chef service where Kate will help any family build healthy menus each week and come into their home to prepare all of their meals...

Molly McCarthy won the women’s race for the 2011 Citizen’s Bank Newport Pell Bridge 4.2-mile run on Sunday, November 13, with a time of 25:19... Leah Murphy and her husband, Chris, are moving to Izmir, Turkey, because Chris’s engineering firm is opening a plant to manufacture wind turbine blades. Meanwhile, Leah enrolled in a distance learning program through the Frontier Nursing University to become a family nurse practitioner. She is hoping to find opportunities in Turkey to volunteer as an RN while she works on her master’s degree... Pat O’Neill is performing on Broadway in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, which stars Harry Connick Jr.

01 I Kate Kearney ran (and finished) the San Diego Marathon this year!.. Paul Ritter received his master’s degree in history from Providence College in May 2011... Paul

Yoon shares, “In May, I graduated from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education with a master’s in administration.

I also recently moved to Florence, MA, with my family, and am working as an assistant principal of academic affairs at the High School of Commerce in Springfield, MA. Finally, my son, Noah, is about to turn one on January 4, 2012.”

02 I

10 TH REUNION v SEPT 23-25

Lt. Mike Erwin is serving in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer in Yolosuka, Japan with his wife Angelica... Kelly Olson Pereira wrote in: “Finished a B.A. in foreign language at Roger Williams University. Got married this past February 26th. Still deciding what to go back for my master’s in... Guess I still can’t answer the question, “what do I want to be when I grow up??”... Jonathan Pitts-Wiley’s original play, When Mahalia Sings, played to standing room only houses at Mixed Magic Theatre in Pawtucket, RI, this fall.

Jonathan was also the artistic director of Mixed Magic Theatre’s 100th Birthday Celebration of Mahalia Jackson, a world famous gospel singer... Ali Macdonald did all of the graphic design work for the celebration... Johnny Wright is currently an MBA candidate at IE Business School in Madrid. The intensive 13-month program ends December of 2012, at which point he plans to return to San Salvador and join his family’s business firm.

Paul Yoon ’01 sent in a picture of his one-year-old son, Noah, at Christmas time.

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 69

Sarah Taddei ’09 and Olivia Simone ’09 visited Alaina Andreozzi ’09 in London this fall and took a snapshot in front of Parliament.

03 I Julia Egan is living in Brooklyn, NY, and recently completed an internship with fashion designer Derek Lam... Evan Piekara is attending Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business... Dan Rheault is the marketing manager at Netage Solutions, a provider of CRM systems to the alternative assets industry. He lives in the North End of Boston.

04 I Sean Galvin and Joanna (Lanz) Stevens ’07 were interviewed by the Newport Daily News this summer about their summer dream jobs. Sean was a pedicab driver in Newport and Joanna was the Sachuest Beach lifeguard captain in Middletown.

Both have been spending the last few summers on Aquidneck Island enjoying the summer experience at the beach and with tourists. Stephen Miller let us know: “In August, I moved from Washington, D.C. to Brooklyn, NY, to begin the City and Regional Planning masters program at Pratt Institute. Class kept me from the Abbot’s Reception in December but I heard it was nice! In September, I had a drink and caught up with Charlie Baum, Alex Noble, Connor McGlynn and Eamon McGlynn (2004 FTW!). Glad to see the Beacon is still going strong, as well.”

05 I Jose Soriano just finished his first semester at Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He hopes to one day work in Poverty, Juvenile, or Education Law... Ruprecht von Weichs shared, “In March, I graduated

with a bachelor´s degree in economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. I’m currently studying law in Berlin, Germany, and scheduled to take the first state exam in October 2012.”

06 I After graduating from Marquette University in 2010, Jamie Cannarozzi joined Teach For America. She is currently in her second year of teaching grades K-3 in a two room, K-8 school, on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She would love to hear from any Abbey grads out that way! Carolynn Taddei just completed her first year at Deloitte and Touche Accounting Firm in Boston. Carolynn passed her CPA exam!...

After graduating from Williams College and spending the year teaching high school math in California, Kayla Elliot moved back to MA for graduate school this fall at Tufts University in a dual master’s degree program in Biomedical Sciences and Public Health... Perry Markell is on the District of Columbia Team in Training Triathlon team, raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. She will be competing in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, FL, on April 29. For

Julia Driscoll ’06 and classmate Beatrice Merz ’06 enjoy their lobster at the New England Clambake at Reunion 2011.

PAGE 70

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

details, or to help, visit satriathlon.com (http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/anttry12/pmarkell) or contact Perry directly at Perrymarkell@gmail.com. “Thank you all for your support!”

07 I

5 TH REUNION v SEPT 23-25 Jennifer Gerlach graduated from Stonehill College cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree... Michael Gorman received his B.A. in Spanish and his B.S. in economics from the University of Rhode Island...

Brendan Kinnane is living and working in Ddegeya, Uganda, as a Minerva Fellow with Union College. Brendan graduated from Union in spring 2011 and is spending nine months in Uganda working at the Engeye Health Clinic. You can follow his life and work at brendankinnane.tumblr.com...

Chris O’Reilly received his B.S. in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island... Caitlin Silvia was named to the annual Dean’s List at Union College in the 2010-2011 academic year. She graduated in the spring of 2011 with a degree in psychology... Joanna (Lanz) Stevens writes: “I recently got married! On August 20, 2011, in Bayport, NY, I married James Stevens, chemistry teacher at St. George’s School. Fellow alumnae Mary Chegwidden and Laura Dobbs were present for the best party ever! James and I met while working as lifeguards at Second Beach in Middletown. We now live in a dorm on the

Casey Hogan ’10 and the rest of Northeastern University’s Entrepreneurs Club’s Executive Board, of which she is an assistant director of the Entrepreneurs Immersion Program.

St. George’s campus and I am working at the school’s library and going to school for my nursing degree.”

08 I Brianne Rok returned from a week-long service trip in Ecuador this past October, where she lived in an invasion community and volunteered with orphaned children and elderly citizens living with leprosy.

She participated with a group of fellow Villanova University students on the Rostro de Cristo Catholic retreat and service program.������������������������������ Brianne was named to the Villanova University Spring 2011 semester Dean’s List...Liz Dennis and Danny Caplin ‘10 performed in The Cripple of Inishmaan at Providence College in November... KK Behan wrote: “I have spent my final fall semester of college (ouch) in Seville, Spain, studying and traveling abroad for the semester. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Spain and also my visits to other countries, including England, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. However, as much as I love traveling to other countries, I am always happy to come home to my host family with whom I live with in Spain.

We have grown to be a happy little family, sharing meals������������������������� and��������������������� engaging in intriguing conversations pertaining to our many cultural differences, politics, and life in general. They do not speak or understand English, so I have certainly improved my Spanish, as I am forced to converse solely in Spanish while living under their roof. I hope to continue my studies in Spanish and to one day become fluent. As well as my Spanish professors at Providence College, I thank Señor, in particular, for motivating

me to continue with this beautiful language that is becoming quite predominant in the United States. Without a doubt, my knowledge of the language will help me while looking for a job in the upcoming years.

Thanks, Señor, and to my other Portsmouth Abbey Spanish teachers! I hope all is well at Portsmouth Abbey. Go Ravens!“

09 I Alaina Andreozzi wrote in: “This semester has been very busy. I studied abroad in London, England, through Fairfield University, and Kayla Bowers also studied in London doing a theatre program. A bunch of alumni got together Thanksgiving weekend in London including Kayla, myself, Sarah Taddei (who studied in Seville, Spain) and Olivia Simone (who studied in Florence, Italy). Merritt Bauer also studied in Seville but was unable to meet up with us.

Olivia plans to continue her study abroad experience in Rome, Italy, spring semester.

It was a very exciting fall for us!.. Also, Susan Skakel studied in Cape Town fall semester and Elena McCarthy leaves for Barcelona to study abroad for the spring semester. Lots of traveling!”...

Bryan Abraham ‘08, Shane McComiskey, Pat Lohuis ‘10 and Garrett Behan ‘11 sent in a picture (left) taken on October 28 from their hockey victory for Catholic University of America against the University of Maryland, 7-3... Kasey

Geremia will be graduating this spring with her bachelor’s degree in economics from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL... Ben Lichtenfels is the teaching assistant this year for the friar phage hunters HHMI laboratory at Providence College. He is a junior at PC and majoring in biology. According to the friar phage hunter blog: “Using his experience in the lab and with his passion for biology, Ben has committed to the task of helping sixteen freshmen along their journey to find, isolate, purify, and characterize mycobacteriophage.”... Charlotte Papp is a sophomore communications studies major at the College of Wooster and took part in the National American Miss Pageant in Anaheim, CA, this November. She represented Massachusetts at the national pageant and had a wonderful time... Sarah Taddei spent her summer at Boston College working for the Office of First Year Experience as an orientation leader. She just finished studying abroad in Seville, Spain, along with fellow alumnae, Merritt Bauer and KK Behan ‘08.

10 I Ethan DaPonte was named to the 2011 All-Landmark Conference Men’s Soccer team... Quent Dickmann was named to the Dean’s List at Villanova University for the 2010-2011 academic year... After a semester abroad and two semesters in Boston, Casey Hogan has begun her first co-op job through Northeastern. She is working full time with Service Heartbeat, creators of the Mobile Heartbeat smartphone application that is redefining clinical communication in

Shane McComiskey’ 09, Pat Lohuis ‘10 and Garrett Behan ‘11 and Bryan Abraham ‘08 at Catholic University

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

PAGE 71

Cindy Ruiz ’10

Massachusetts hospitals. Casey has also joined the Executive Board of Northeastern’s Entrepreneurs Club as assistant director of the Entrepreneurs Immersion Program.

After her co-op, she hopes to go abroad again to travel and take summer classes... Niamh Lehane was named to the spring 2011 Dean’s List at Salve Regina University...

Leo Makowski was named to the spring Dean’s List at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth... Cindy Ruiz just arrived from a semester abroad in London, England! “It was the most wonderful 4 months I could have ever imagined. I was lucky enough to live in the beautiful South Kensington, in the center of the city. In the time I was abroad, I was able to travel to France, Spain, Greece, and the Netherlands. It was time of incredible adventure, new experiences and travel. I would not trade it for the world, and I can’t wait to return.”

11 I Shannon Mulholland has settled into Rollins College and enjoyed her first semester of college life... Christopher Waterman entered Basic Cadet Training at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, this summer, in preparation to enter his first year at the Academy. He has now finished his first semester and is loving school!

Christopher Waterman’ 11 and Phil Lozier Youngberg’ 11 celebrated Thanksgiving together in Jamestown, RI, during their first semesters at the U.S.Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy, respectively.

PORTSMOUTH ABBE Y SCHO OL 11 TH ANNUAL

SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNA MENT JUNE 4, 2012 CARNEGIE ABBEY GOLF CLUB

Our tournament’s mission is threefold: S To build a greater endowment that continues to fund scholarship opportunities, supporting a Portsmouth Abbey education for qualified students S To recognize the excellent education that a Portsmouth Abbey School student receives during his/her tenure at the School S To have a great day on the links with our Portsmouth Abbey family and friends.

How can you help?

3

3 3 3

Play in the tournament as an individual or sign up a foursome Become a sponsor of the event Donate a silent auction item Don’t play golf? Join us for the post-tournament reception!

Save the date and watch for your invitation this spring!

Want to help? Need more information?

Contact Fran Cook by phone at 401- 643-1281 or email her at fcook@portsmouthabbey.org. or check our website at www.portsmouthabbey.org PAGE 72

A portion of the fee is tax-deductible

MISSION STATEMENT The aim of Portsmouth Abbey School is to help young men and women grow in knowledge and grace.

Grounded in the Catholic faith and 1500-year-old Benedictine intellectual tradition, the School fosters: Reverence for God and the human person Respect for learning and order Responsibility for the shared experience of community life

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL ANNUAL FUND

BOARD OF REGENTS

Right Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B. Abbot and Chancellor Portsmouth, RI Mr. John M. Regan, III ’68, P ’07 Chairman Watch Hill, RI Mr. Thomas Anderson ’73 Gwynedd Valley, PA Sr. M. Therese Antone, RSM, Ed. D. Newport, RI Mr. W. Christopher Behnke ‘81, P’12, ’15 Chicago, IL Dom Joseph Byron, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Dom Francis Crowley, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Mr. Stephen M. Cunningham ’72 Greenwich, CT Mrs. Kathleen Cunningham P ‘08, ‘09, ‘11, ‘14 Mr. Tim Cunningham ‘74 Dedham, MA Mr. Peter Ferry ‘75 Fairfield, CT

Dr. Timothy Flanigan ’75, P ’06, ’09, ’11 Tiverton, RI

Mr. Alejandro J. Knoepffler ’78, P ’12 Coral Gables, FL

Mr. Peter S. Forker ‘69 Chicago, IL

Ms. Devin McShane P’09, ’11 Providence, RI

Dom Gregory Havill, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Rev. Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B. Creve Coeur, MO

Dr. Margaret S. Healey P ’91 New Vernon, NJ

Mr. Ward Mooney ‘67 Boston, MA

Dr. Gregory Hornig ’68, P ’01 Prairie Village, KS

Mr. James S. Mulholland, III ’79 Sudbury, MA

Mr. M. Benjamin Howe ’79 Wellesley, MA

Ms. Deborah Winslow Nutter Medford, MA

Rev. F. Washington Jarvis Dorchester Center, MA

Mr. Barnet Phillips IV ‘66 Greenwich, CT

Rev. Dom Damian Kearney, O.S.B. ‘45 Portsmouth, RI

Mr. Robert A. Savoie P ’10, ’11, ‘15 Bristol, RI

Mr. Charles E. Kenahan ’77, P ’12 Swampscott, MA

Mr. Rowan G.P. Taylor P’13 New Canaan, CT

Mr. Peter Kennedy ‘64, P ’07, ‘08, ‘15 Big Horn, WY

Mr. Samuel G. White ’64 New York, NY

Mr. Edward G. Kirby ’83 Jamestown, RI

Very Rev. Dom Ambrose Wolverton, O.S.B. Prior Portsmouth, RI

Cover: Tim Ludington ’73 backpacking this past summer at Dorothy Lake Pass in the Northern Yosemite Wilderness. Read Tom Anderson’s ’73 profile of Tim on page 43.

Three of the hallmarks of a Benedictine education are stewardship, hospitality and community. Gifts to the Annual Fund nurture these traditions in the lives of Portsmouth Abbey’s current students.

For more than 80 years, alumni, parents and friends have supported the School with gifts to the Annual Fund. Continuing the tradition with your own gift deepens your sense of connection with the past and direction for the future of the entire School community.

Please consider making a gift to the Annual Fund today; visit www.portsmouthabbey.org/annualfund for more information.

Not sure if you’ve given this year? Visit the online Donor Honor Roll: www.portsmouthabbey.org/DonorHonorRoll

285 Cory’s Lane Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871 www.portsmouthabbey.org Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 3 Portsmouth, RI

P ORT S M O U T H

A BB E Y S C H O O L PORTSMOUTH ABBE Y SCHOOL

and Members of the Diman Club (alumni from all classes prior to 1962) This is your reunion year!

Please join us for another memorable weekend!

We have a fantastic line-up of events for the entire family!

Login to the Alumni Community from the Abbey website for more information on the schedule of events, accommodations, golf outings, class dinners, babysitting and to see who is coming to Reunion ’12!

WINTER BULLETIN 2012

Classes of: 1942 - 1947 - 1952 - 1957 - 1962 - 1967 - 1972 - 1977 - 1982 - 1987 - 1992 - 1997 - 2002 – 2007

Reunite ~ Reminisce ~ Celebrate Questions? Contact Fran Cook at (401) 643-1281 or fcook@portsmouthabbey.org

SEPTEMBER 28-30 WINTER BULLETIN 2012