Fall 1998 Taft Bulletin

BU L L E T I N F A L L • 1 9 9 8 Volume 69

Number 1

SPOTLIGHT Pages Through the Ages .............................................. 2 A look at the highlights and trivia of 75 years of Taft news, editorials, and features.

A Magazine By Its Covers ........................................... 2 A history of the images and the varying formats of the Bulletin.

The Dream of a Greater Taft ..................................... 18 Over the years, the Bulletin has outlined a number of building projects for alumni and parents to see, but how many of you remember the ones that didn’t happen...at least not as they were planned?

Sports Trivia Quiz ..................................................... 21 How well do you know the history of athletics at Taft?

Take our quiz of little known facts and find out!

Faculty Then and Now ............................................. 22 Meet the new members of the faculty at Taft and take a peek at how this body has changed, or not, over the years. Statistics complied by Dean of Faculty Linda Saarnijoki.

Tafties Across America… and the World ................... 24 Where do students come from and where do Taft alumni call home? A look at the demographics of 1998 and 1958.

Generation After Generation .................................... 26 Sixty-nine Taft students today are the children or grandchildren of alumni, sometimes as many as four generations. The tradition continues.

DEPARTMENTS Around the Pond ...................................................... 28 Here’s a look at what’s happening at Taft today.

Endnote .................................................................... 32 In a 20-minute version of Foreign Policy 101, Ambassador Frank Wisner gives the Taft community a rare look at the big picture of world affairs.

The Taft Bulletin is published quarterly, in February, May, August, and November, by The Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100 and is distributed free of charge to alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends of the school.

E-Mail Us! Now you can send your latest news, address change, birth announcement, or letter to the editor to us via e-mail. Our address is TaftRhino@Taft.pvt.k12.ct.us. Of course we’ll continue to accept your communiqués by such “low tech” methods as the fax machine (860-945-7756), telephone (860-945-7777), or U.S. Mail (110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100). So let’s hear from you!

Visit Taft on the Web to find the latest news, sports schedules, or to locate a classmate’s e-mail address. www.Taft.pvt.k12.ct.us or www.Taftsports.com

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Pages Ages THROUGH THE

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ver the years the content of the Alumni Bulletin has shifted, sometimes dramatically, from generic school news, lists, and announcements, to issues of global concern and deep philosophical importance. Sometimes it is the title alone that is most interesting (as in “The Care and Feeding of Faculty Wives”). Sometimes an item is worth noting because it has a famous author, and sometimes we learn a little more of the history of our school.

What appear consistently are the voices of students, alumni, faculty, and visiting “experts.” These pages tell us about our school, about the people who were and are a part of it, and they tell us more about the individual struggles we all face in finding the right path and in becoming more perfectly human.

Here are some items worth noting: D E C E M B E R 1923

M A R CH 1924

The Taft Alumni Bulletin founded by Taft students Spencer Gross ’24 and John Goss ’24. Alumni news had somewhat regularly appeared in The Papyrus until this time.

The Bulletin outlines the growth of the school, year by year, from 17 boys and 3 masters in 1890 to 269 boys and 23 masters in 1923.

Robert L. Johnson ’14 writes about how, a year earlier, Henry Luce and Briton Hadden asked him to “link up with them in starting Time [magazine] and handle their advertisement. The idea of a news magazine was revolutionary, yet in that short time they went from a few hundred subscribers to over 35,000 and growing rapidly.” 1923 must have been a good year to start a magazine.

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Same issue—Edward Hale Bierstadt ’07 writes a stirring editorial, “The Fire Under the Melting Pot.” He begins, “We have discovered of late, to our mingled astonishment and disgust, that the melting pot doesn’t melt.... It was only during the War that the American public as a whole awoke to the fact that it had an immigrant population. Its astonishment was naive. Its panic was inevitable.” He further states, “It is probable that the mistake in all this lies in

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the American desire for standardization and uniformity. One thinks of an American as being some one definite thing.... The United States has grown into its present greatness largely through giving scope and encouragement to the individual...That is why Americanism can not truly be considered as a thing to be imposed, but rather as a spirit to be generated and inspired naturally and gradually...”

Same issue—The founding of a group named Young America is described. Taft students, along with peers from other Connecticut schools, create a constitution, which reads in part: “We, the youth of America, because of the political, financial, and moral condition of the world, the persistence of racial hatred, the disorder in our own country arising from disrespect for law, and because the aims we fought for in the World War are far as ever from achievement, realizing that the burden of national and world problems will soon fall on us, do unite to prepare for them and to promote good citizenship,... harmony..., and international understanding, goodwill, and helpfulness.”

J U NE 1925 Lanny Ross ’24 returns for his first Alumni Day, reminiscing on life in the Warren House, dinner with the King, and “grasping the fact that love for the School is more than jubilation over a football victory—that it is a background for one’s personality.”

J U NE 1926 Stillman Witt Eells ’91, supposedly the first pupil to be enrolled in “The Taft School for Boys” at Pelham Manor, NY, writes of his education and his career in the foreign service.

C O V E R S

A Magazine by Its Covers Nineteen covers from The Taft Alumni Bulletin show the evolution of the magazine’s format and emphasis over much of the last eight decades.

D E CEMB ER 1926 Mr. Taft explains how he and Harley Roberts turned ownership of the school over to a Board of Trustees. The school had become a corporation in 1912, Mr. Roberts owning one sixth and Mr. Taft the remainder. Fifteen trustees are named; five are graduates elected by alumni. Former President William Howard Taft is also on the board.

In the same issue, an athletic agreement is outlined between Taft, Loomis, and Choate that hopes to decrease the “tendency to over emphasize sports.” Rule number 1: “The captain and members of teams shall run every athletic contest after it is started, and therefore coaching by outsiders, including the team coach, shall be prohibited.” Rule 9: Players must be under 21 years old. Rule 10: No more than six games a season or four track meets.

M ARCH 1928 Mr. Taft was a man much admired by students, parents, alumni, and presidents.

Richard Hooker of the Class of 1895 wrote how, as a reporter in Washington, he once overheard Theodore Roosevelt ask his secretary of war and chosen successor William Howard Taft, “How do you think that schoolmaster brother of yours up in Connecticut, that keeper of your conscience, feels about this?”

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DECEMB ER 1923 The Taft Alumni Bulletin is first published. It is organized as a student-run publication, much as The Papyrus and The Annual are. S. Gross ’24 is the chairman, and J. B. Goss, the business manager.

Alumni news had previously appeared in The Papyrus. One quarter of the first issue is devoted to coverage of the Taft football season.

Ten most frequently chosen vocations for graduates are listed: Manufacturers (110); Brokers and Bankers (104); Business (102); Lawyers (66); Engineers and Architects (44); Salesmen (38); Insurance Brokers (34); Journalists (29); Doctors and Surgeons (23); Farmers and Ranchers (18). (See also 1997.)

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J A NUA RY 1930 Self-Service Program a Success: “A definite pride has been shown by the boys in the carrying out of their tasks...especially at meals. Efficiency and enthusiasm have characterized the whole spirit of the dining-room.... Each boy’s bedroom is his own responsibility except for sweeping and dusting.... This new cooperation has been a healthy one for the boys and certainly a heartening one for the school.” The roots of the jobs program are formed!

[The school archive is unfortunately missing all issues from 1930 until 1936.

Copies are desperately wanted.]

The first undefeated wrestling team in 1928: Standing, Robbins, Brodie, Hall, Treadwell, Bliss; Seated, Wells, Robison, O’Melia-captain, White, and Campbell.

D E C E M B E R 1928 “School cheers become stale, just as songs do, so the 1929 cheerleaders have composed a new cheer, the last one having been introduced more than ten years ago. It is on the order if the Army ‘long cheer’ and suits us very well, as the word Taft is composed of

the same number of letters as Army.

This is the cheer: T— A— F— T— Ta—aft T—A—F—T Team! Team! Team!”

1934 Class Baby William Hogarth—the first baby photo to appear in the Bulletin.

J A NUA RY 1936 Lewis Perry, famous headmaster of Phillips Exeter, pays tribute to the retiring Mr. Taft at the New York Alumni Dinner.

NO VEMB ER 1936

This photograph of an early Masque and Dagger Society production, Mr. Bob, appeared for the school’s 90th anniversary in 1980, remembering that one of the challenges of being an all-boys school was the lack of leading ladies.

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First baby photo appears in the Alumni Notes. William Guy Howarth, son of William ’34, is the first of a new trend in class notes photos that includes more personal milestones, such as weddings,

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family portraits, and of course, new offspring. Previously, class notes photos were almost exclusively of old boys returning for Fathers’ Day or Alumni Day, or press release head shots.

some interest from the boys, perhaps for such far-fetched reasons as that Van Gogh severed one of his ears. How we secure their interest doesn’t matter. The important thing is to secure it.”

FE B R U ARY 1938

A P RI L 1939

Howard Lee Davis ’95 gives career advice to current students via the Bulletin: “It has been said often that a man is successful when he has developed his potential powers and applied them to the best of his own individual ability.... The main salable asset of a business man is the use of his trained mind. To attain his full measure of success he needs also a strong and healthy body, the ability to get along with other people, common sense, integrity, and a willingness to work.”

William Harold Cawley, president of Hamilton College, speaks to the entire school on the occasion of the Cum Laude Society inductions. In his talk he defines “The Educated Man.”

M ARC H 1938 The Danbury News-Times wrote, “Mr. Taft has a rare gift. He can deal with a controversial question in a manner which provokes no controversy.” After his retirement as headmaster, Mr. Taft put his principles into action, promoting a merit system in government. He said, “The spoilsman may be a good man. Usually he is, but he is in a bad system, like a minister who falls into a sewer.” Sounds a great deal like his philosophy on wayward boys.

M ARC H 1939 In the era before antibiotics, the Bulletin notes the influence of early “lights” on a quarantine-free winter term!

Same issue—Walter Rotan, a member of the faculty and a sculptor, reports on “Art at Taft.” He writes, “We are attempting to raise the standard of taste throughout the school and to create an intelligent art public by numerous exhibitions.... Exhibiting reproductions of such controversial and highly publicized artists as Van Gogh and Diego Rivera, for example, can not help but attract

J U NE 1939 Student Gift Fund—Voluntary contributions at the Saturday movie are used to buy athletic uniforms, which were previously purchased by the boys themselves.

Tree Day—Students plant over 100 white pine trees along Rockefeller Field that define the space to this day.

Same issue—The reopening of the M’Fingal Inn again makes the cover of the Bulletin. The on-going saga appears several times on the front page over the years. It was apparently a popular place for parents and alumni to stay when visiting the school. Its specific location is unknown today.

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J UNE 1936 The magazine loses its grey cover and becomes very much a “bulletin:” school news, occasional letters, many lists, alumni happenings, and virtually no feature stories.

M AY 1940 The trustees consider reducing the size of the school from 325 as the “dining room, locker rooms, and common rooms have been taxed beyond their normal capacities.”

D E CEMB ER 1940

J UNE 1945 This red and black cover marks the return of the magazine format. The photo of a boy actually sailing on the Taft pond, was “snapped” by Larry Fownes ’48, son of Hefty Fownes ’09.

“Teaching of History In a Changing World Discussed” by J.T. Reardon. “We at Taft are ‘fed up’ with the so called debunking of history. A youngster is a natural hero-worshipper and those who sneer at our great men of the past, emphasizing their weaknesses rather than their strength, are doing no great service to education or the nation.”

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A UGUS T 1946 Class Secretary Organization re-created after the war.

1947-1951 The Taft Alumni Bulletin is not published.

WI NTER 1952

Captain Barr Howard runs the mile in 4:33.6 against Hotchkiss to break the record for the second time that season.

M ARC H 1942

J U N E 1942

In his opening remarks on “The Headmaster’s Page,” Paul Cruikshank describes the role of the school in wartime and its responsibilities. “The school’s first job is to produce men fitted to help win [the war.] Whatever courses and whatever programs will assist in this job must be included in our curriculum. But the war cannot last forever, and when it is over, this nation will need men trained in the arts of peace as desperately as she now needs men trained for war.”

“Student Government at Taft” by John Morse describes the work of the monitors and other student leaders in teaching responsibility.

A U G US T 1943 Taft reports on the success of its Victory Gardens: one on Guernseytown Road, the other along Hamilton Avenue.

J U N E 1945 “The Private School and the Future” by Harry J. Carman, dean at Columbia College, outlines the benefits of independent schools, undergoing public criticism at the time, and their role in creating a utopian “World of Tomorrow.”

A P R I L 1946 The Bulletin celebrates an undefeated and untied basketball team coached by Rod Beebe and Henry Pennell. Not since 1914, long before the creation of the Bulletin, has the sport seen such a record at Taft.

Bull and Matador by Barnaby Conrad ’40 6

Fall 1998

The Taft Alumni Bulletin is revived under Livingston Carroll ’37, then a member of the faculty. For several years, class notes had been included in The Papyrus and mailed to alumni instead.

One of the features, “Vacations With Profit,” describes some of the jobs held by the 58 Taft student who worked over their summer break. All together, they earned $14,500.

Another article is simply titled, “Sex Education.” In it, the author describes the school’s work in this area, but also gives advice to alumni on broaching the topic with their children.

A reading list is included. Best title: The Stork Didn’t Bring You. Also, best-selling author Barnaby Conrad ’40 writes about the effects of his literary success after the publication of Matador: One year he pays $28 in income tax, the next $28,000. He closes with a quotation by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Nothing fails like Success!”

DECEMBER 1953 Elmore McKee ’14, an Episcopal minister for 25 years, describes his pro-democracy radio and television program with NBC. The program is called The People Act and is a sort of Voice of America, for Americans. “I felt the garments of democracy had become shopworn,” he wrote, “by much handling and wearing, that its truths had become blurred by excessive mouthing of their historic abstractions and by failure to translate the abstractions into flesh and blood on American Main Streets.”

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O CTO BER 1953

Faculty arrivals and departures have always been regular items in the magazine. Here, three couples—the Reardons, Farwells, and Sextons—all retire in 1954. The men’s combined service to the school totaled 98 years.

JU N E 1954

J U NE 1956

The Honorable Walter H. Judd explains “The Free World’s Stake in Asia,” the threat of communism, and the balance of power in the formative years of the Cold War.

Guest speaker Claude Moore Fuess counsels newly inducted members of the Cum Laude Society, and others, that their education will be of little use to them unless they can make themselves understood. That, he claims, is “The Educated Man’s Responsibility.”

OC T OB E R 1954 Dr. Robert L. Johnson ’14 appears again on the pages of the Bulletin [see March 1924], making an appeal for increased American propaganda in his article “Can We Win the Cold War?” — a fascinating look at the McCarthy era and America’s preoccupation with communism. Johnson was the last director of the US International Information Administration [now USIA] before it separated from the State Department.

M ARC H 1956 On the homefront, Mark Potter ’48 outlines his approach to teaching “Art at Taft,” a topic he revisits in the Bulletin in 1962 and several more times before his death in 1995.

O CTO B ER 1957 “Research and Freedom,” an article by Steven Dedijer ’30 [see also Winter 1996], is reprinted from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Dedijer is the former director of the Boris Kidrich Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade and of the Rudjer Boshkovic Institute in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. The New York Times called his fervent plea for intellectual liberty, which caused his dismissal from his post, “one of the most sensational articles to come from behind the iron curtain.”

Covers often marked the changeless rituals of school life. Here, faculty member Dick Achzehner captures “the arrival of one of our new boys.” This issue also begins a slightly smaller page size.

O CTO BER 1958 Few women have shaped Taft the way Edith Cruikshank did. It is a pleasure to see her incredible thoughtfulness recognized in the Bulletin.

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O CTO B ER 1959

A great cartoon by Tom Chase ’50 from the December 1956 issue.

My favorite title of all time has to be business manager M.S. Hathaway’s “The Care and Feeding of Faculty Wives.” Its subheads will give you an idea of its message: “Plays Important Role;” “She Can Be a Problem, Too;” “Children Hard on Grounds;” “Children Use Hockey Rink;” “Likened to Farm Family.”

M ARC H 1958

J U N E 1958

DECEMBER 1959

Mrs. Edgar Sanford begins her article: “My husband Ted and I are both professional people. He is a master at the Taft School and I am a ‘master’s wife.’” Her portrayal of dormitory life is both familiar to us now and unique to the days when all faculty were men and any wives they acquired were employees by association. [I believe Ted Sanford later became a headmaster. I wonder if she ever wrote about that job!]

Headmonitor Charles Yonkers ’58 looks back on his Taft career in “A Senior Reminisces.” Personal recollections and contributions by students become increasing more visible in the Bulletin around this time.

John Small coaches the first season of cross country at Taft.

Same issue—Robert Resor ’39 outlines the role of atomic power in his article “Portents of Change in Our Energy System.” It is reprinted from Trusts and Estates magazine.

DECEMBER 1960 Bob Poole ’50 writes about his summer in Africa. Knowing that Bob later made his home there, first with the Peace Corps and later with the World Wildlife Federation, makes this story all the more poignant. He traveled through Mali, Liberia, Senegal, Ghana, the Congo, Katanga, the Transvaal, South Africa, Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda. His first-hand observations of a continent in the midst of tremendous political change must have brought real vitality to his history courses at Taft.

S PRI NG 1962

The Bulletin has always been a great place to tout students’ academic and extracurricular success. At first it was dominated by football coverage, but by the 1950s, Taft debaters regularly saw the limelight, as in this photo of Wes Williams, Jan Berlage, John Lavine, and Charles Pulaski ’59.

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On an alumni trip to the West Coast, Paul Cruikshank was the guest of Mrs. Nelson Howard ’25 and Mr. and Mrs. William Perry ’37 at the Santa Anita Race Track. In the sixth race, all placed bets on a horse named “The Headmaster,” entered at 9 to 1 odds. The horse made a come-from-behind victory, and the 70th Anniversary development fund was all the richer for it.

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DECEMB ER 1960

The March 1960 issue includes this photo of Dr. Reade administering flu shots. He innolculated 350 students at a rate of one shot every 45 seconds!

SU M M E R 1962

S U MMER 1963

John R. Bergen, an English teacher and assistant director of admissions, warns Taft boys of the dangers of sports cars in his article, “Courage For the Pedestrian.”

Coach Lance Odden writes the spring wrap-up of the first varsity lacrosse season.

Same issue—George Fayan ’49, a Yale English professor, gives a Cum Laude address entitled, “The Art of Being Unprepared.” Great discoveries, he reminds us, are often a question of keeping “all our preparation from getting in the way.”

A trip to Africa by Bob Poole ’50, a member of the faculty at the time, makes headlines. The trip was funded by a Parents’ Association Summer Study Grant. Fittingly, today student summer travel grants are named in his memory.

WI NTER 1965 “Slice of Life” photos such as this one remain popular covers. The larger page size was introduced earlier in the year.

Lea and Bob Poole ’50 with daughters Joyce ’74 and Ginny ’80 in Kenya with the Peace Corps. (Photo by Sally Cruikshank Stone) Taft Bulletin

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Three members of the ski team indulge in some wishful thinking in the Spring 1966 issue: Seniors Lee Griffith, Chris Schroll, John Kleeman ’66.

FAL L 1963 In his first appearance in the Bulletin, new headmaster John C. Esty writes on “Taft and the Ever-Renewing Society.” He outlines the need for diversity and new ideas to compete with the increasing threat to private education.

SPR I N G 1964 Neil Currie ’42, biology instructor and an avid birder at Taft, recounts the activities of Len and Nellie (two mallards he purchased along with Len Sargent to add to the beauty of the pond) and other unsuspected wild life at Taft in “Notes by a Nature Lover.”

S U M MER 1964

S PRI NG 1966

Lance Odden, chair of the ISP Committee, reports on the creation of the Independent Studies Program. Twelve years later, Barclay Johnson ’53 (still chair today) describes the evolution of the “School Within the School” he now oversees.

Sabra Johnson, Taft’s first woman member of the faculty and a well-known Vermont artist today, writes on “Making Art Relevant.”

F A L L 1964 In “East Meets West” Leonard Sargent writes about the ranch in Montana he bought five years earlier. Since then, the coveted spots on his labor force were filled by a steadily increasing stream of Taft boys who spent their breaks there.

S P R I NG 1965 Edwin C. Douglas, chairman of the Math Department and “one of the major contributors to the development of ‘new mathematics,’” writes of his work on that topic in India.

W I N TER 1966

S UMMER 1966 An Independent Studies Project by Elmer Whitepipe ’66 produces “Two Legends From the Sioux,” stories Elmer recorded and translated about Iktomi, “the most important of Sioux cultural heroes.”

S PRI NG 1967 U.S. Commissioner of Education Harold [Doc] Howe ’36 explains “What’s Wrong With Today’s Teaching.” He warns, “Vast quantities of reading that leave little time for understanding or for mature consideration pervert the educational process into little more than a breathless tour of intellectual landmarks.... Institutions that wish to improve their teaching [need] to restore the spirit of inquiry that has been snuffed out in many teachers themselves.”

Robert Penn Warren, poet, critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, visits Taft through “the auspices of the Independent Studies Program.”

—George Creamer ’70

—Carlton Sexton ’70

Wells Jacobson ’66 on Leonard Sargent’s ranch in Montana.

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These linoleum cuts from Sabra Field Johnson’s art classes appeared in the Fall 1968 issue.

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F A LL 1967

Longtime Alumni Secretary Dick Lovelace was a familiar face in many issues.

SU M M E R 1967

S U MMER 1968

William Sloane Coffin gives a Vespers on Vietnam that “was easily the most controversial talk heard by the Taft community this spring.”

Parker Mills breaks the mile record during the “Quadrangle Meet.” Harrison Salisbury, of The New York Times, gives the last of a series of lectures on Vietnam.

W I N T E R 1968

W I NTER 1969

Taft creates a program called “Human Growth and Development,” underwritten by the Parents’ Association, designed to expose students and faculty to outstanding experts in the fields of narcotics, alcohol, and sexuality. Assistant to the Headmaster Ed Douglas writes, “Most students today... seek hard facts to provide a sound basis for decision making....

They are far more conservative than they are willing to admit publicly.”

Robert K. Poole ’50 writes about reforms in Kenya as one of three looks at the Peace Corps in this issue.

SP R I N G 1968 Geoffrey Hellman ’24 writes about his thirty-eight years as a staff writer at The New Yorker. His highly popular “Mother Taft’s Chickens” from 1940 was included in the school’s 75 Years in Pictures

by Dick Lovelace.

Members of the Board of Trustees return to campus for a planning conference. Henry T. Luria ’28, Bernard Auer ’35, and E. Philip Snyder ’38 are representative of the countless alumni volunteers who devote much of their time and energy to improving their alma mater.

J U LY 1969 The Bulletin reprints the article “Complete Non-Conformist” by Mike Payette of San Francisco magazine, profiling Kate Mailliard, wife of J.W. Mailliard, Jr. ’09, mother of William ’35 and James ’42, and grandmother of William ’60, Ward ’65, and Lawrence ’71. She was the first woman individually to receive the Taft Alumni Citation of Merit.

In his class speech, “Toward a Shared Humanity,” LeRoy Rodman ’69 writes, “The rhetoric of radical change I cannot accept as more than the misdirected intellectualism of the affluent....

S PRI NG 1971 Hair! It is easy to forget how big an issue hair was, but this cover of two students [Derric Permenter ’73 and Henry Hirsch ’73, photo

by Brad Joblin ’73] with the query: Today’s Athlete: A New Breed? prompted several alumni to share their thoughts on the topic in subsequent issues.

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SPR I N G 1973 This wonderful cover illustration

by Jock Yellott ’73 was prompted by the campus visits of Art Buchwald and William Zinsser.

This photo from 1968 is all the more memorable since we probably couldn’t do it today.

I claim the insight of a too silent observer who has lived with you for four years with a detachment derived from our vastly different pre-Taft experiences.... The greater part of your energies should be devoted to making a shared humanity a reality; when this goal is achieved, we can together search for that superior existence.”

SPR I N G 1976 Barclay Johnson ’53 wrote the cover story on the Independent Studies Program for this issue that features Peggy Ramback ’76 with a new friend while doing field work for her ISP at a zoo in the Channel Islands. [Note: although the cover now reads “Taft Bulletin,” the official title inside still reads Taft Alumni Bulletin, as it will until the mid ’80s.]

WI NTER 1970 Wardell Bowie ’71, a Mississippian who came to Taft through the A Better Chance [ABC] program responds to a Papyrus editorial about a “black exodus from Taft” in his article “The Two Lives of a Black at Taft.”

F A L L 1969 Taft’s Board of Trustees issues a “Statement of Policy on Coeducation.” The policy clearly endorses coeducation at Taft, supported by the Long-Range Planning Committee as early as 1966, but leaves open both options of cooperating with girls schools and expanding our own school to admit girls. The statement calls for the faculty to present a plan by May 1970. Girls arrive in September 1971.

A photograph by Todd Gipstein ’70 from the July 1969 issue. Todd is now a photographer for National Geographic.

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F A LL 1979 Seventeen magazine models and photographers came to campus in the spring of 1971 [just months before Taft girls came in their own right] to use Taft as a backdrop for part of their August issue that year.

SP R I N G 1970

F A LL 1970

Len Cowan ’70 describes his experience at the Connecticut Junior Republic as part of a larger feature on “The Taft Volunteer Service Program,” instituted by Chaplain Philip Zaeder in 1968.

Bob Foreman ’70 outlines the recent history of theater at Taft in his article, “Bingham Auditorium: Forty Years of Play.”

Lance and Patsy Odden’s trip to China makes the cover of this issue. Despite majoring in Chinese history at Princeton, this is the headmaster’s first visit to Asia.

S PRI NG 1981 The Bulletin looks at coeducation after ten years. Student leaders Clarissa Mack ’82, Liz Lewis ’81, Mary Pye ’81, Beth Morrison ’81, Jill Bermingham ’82, and Cindy Thibaud ’81 were photographed by Bill Himmelrich ’82 for the cover.

A forgotten but picturesque tradition: Taft’s America’s Cup Model Sailboat Regatta on Fathers’ Day from the fall 1970 issue.

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WI N T E R 1971

S P R I NG 1974

S UMMER 1976

In his article “Changing Priorities: Hard Choices, New Price Tags,” reprinted from the Saturday Review, J. Irwin Miller ’27 outlines new problems facing Americans. “The vast majority of our people,” he writes, “having attained the American dream, find themselves no more contented but frustrated, increasingly suspicious, and monstrously irritated at anyone who calls attention to their unease.... We must accept a diminished private standard of living to make our public life bearable.” Mr. Miller’s 1997 Commencement address also appears in the Bulletin.

Faculty member Selden Edwards, shortly before leaving Taft for graduate school, shares his observations on the early years of coeducation. He writes, “The fact is that coeducation has been a huge success. Taft is a happier, friendlier, more bubbling and productive place since admitting girls in 1971.” He also tries to explain why that transition went more smoothly here than in other schools.

In his 1976 Commencement address “Why Change?” retiring Director of Admissions Joe Cunningham sings the praises of youth.

SPR I N G 1971 Lance Odden, Tim Lahey ’71, Larry Stone, Rick Heimbach ’71, and Tim Briney voice their opinions on “Today’s Athlete: A New Breed?” Coaches’ and students’ changing attitudes about competition and authority make this a telling account of the times.

WI NTER 1978

E. Carter Shannon ’27, John Vanderpoel ’36, and Ed Douglas (who joined the faculty in 1931) share their anecdotes about Mr. Taft in the Letters column.

John Small contributes an article entitled, “The Creed of a Teacher Coach.” His career was an exception in a field where promotions are often given in the form of administrative posts, something he believed would “take him from the places where he knows the central work of the school is done: the classrooms, the fields, and the dormitories.”

W I N TER 1976

S PRI NG 1979

After his retirement, Leslie Manning (better known as Beezer) begins to dedicate much of his time to organizing the school’s archives, now named in his honor. Without his efforts this anniversary issue would hardly have been possible.

In a Cum Laude address, Karen Stevenson ’75, Taft’s first Rhodes Scholar, says, “My friends and I have always been dissatisfied by speakers [who] define individual worth and the value of college by the length of the...

S U M MER 1974

SPR I N G 1972 Arthur Miller, William Styron, and Jerzy Kosinski speak at Taft as part of a symposium named for Matthew B. Preston ’69, who died suddenly of a heart attack the summer before. Brad Joblin ’73 photographed the visiting authors. Art Buchwald and William Zinsser speak the following year.

FAL L 1972 In his first speech to the faculty as the school’s fourth headmaster, Lance Odden emphasizes the school’s fundamental concern with the intellectual and personal growth of its students.

The Bulletin also serves as the keeper of the school’s memories. How many alumni remember playing tennis behind CPT (or the new building as it was called then) as in this photo reprinted in the Bulletin for the school’s 90th anniversary?

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. . . B Y

brag sheet.... Rarely, if ever, do they stress contributions to the community.

I would say: So what if you are a big man on campus—have you made a difference to your school community?”

SP R I N G 1980 “Making it in a Mon’s World” notes the election of Liz Lewis ’81 as the first girl head monitor.

SP R I N G 1981 Robin Dayton Blackburn [Osborn] writes on “Women in Independent Schools” after co-chairing two conferences on the topic. This issue of the Bulletin also celebrates ten years of coeducation.

FAL L 1982 “Taft Educational Center: Teachers Teaching Teachers” outlines the summer program created by Ed North that had its genesis in the science workshops he ran since 1975.

W I N T E R 1983 The Honorable Ralph K. Winter ’53, a federal judge, speaks at the fall induction of the Cum Laude Society. His subtitle, “When Some Things Go Wrong, It’s for the Best,” describes how our political system is as much a product of serendipity as of planning.

“Instances of brilliant political thinking ending in disaster abound in history....

Sometimes, however, things go right because they go wrong.”

In the same issue, former English teacher and Bulletin editor Chan Hardwick (today headmaster of Blair Academy) writes an insightful profile of Larry Stone and his leadership of the 8-0 Erickson League Champion football team, called “I Watch My Boys

Play Football.” Chan’s 1984 profile of Patsy Odden and her ice hockey team, “In Pursuit of the Undefeated Season,” is equally beautiful. Both coaches had a number of championship seasons ahead of them.

The Bulletin reprints a Papyrus editorial by Heather Weidemann ’83 on The New York Times’ recent scrutiny of the campus. As a number of prep schools had been hard hit in the media lately, she wrote, “If we seriously contend that Taft fundamentally differs from Choate and Hotchkiss, we must take risks to reinforce our positions. Allowing the Times reporter to examine us honestly was a risk. It is a tribute to Taft that we overcame our ‘stage fright’ and made ourselves vulnerable to the judgment of another.” The Bulletin also reprinted the Times article; it was glowing.

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F A LL 1984 New buildings always make news.

This blueprint-style cover outlines the renovation of the old gyms into the Arts and Humanities Wing.

S P R I NG 1985 Dr. Cheves Smythe ’60 writes on the United States’ responsibility to developing countries. He had spent the last three years in Pakistan, on leave from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where he was also the first dean.

SPRING/SUMMER 1986 One of the most often requested Bulletin articles is Lance Odden’s “Taft and the Gender Issue,” his Mothers’ Day address of that year, with an introduction

by Monie Hardwick, who headed the coeducation committee.

A PRI L 1987 The revival of the volunteer program at Taft prompts this cover.

A P RI L 1987 In the cover story, English teacher and frequent Bulletin contributor Willy MacMullen ’78 describes the resurrection of the Volunteer Program at Taft under Mary Johnston.

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SUM M E R 1992 This photo of Taft’s new crew team is one of my favorites, in part because it was so much fun for me to shoot. Jonathan Gyurko, Todd McDonald, Brooks Fisher, Rich Ferraro, and Todd Barnes, all ’92, are the able oarsmen.

This beautiful photograph helped mark John Small’s retirement in 1987.

J U LY 1988

WI NTER 1991

Julie Reiff takes on responsibility for producing the Taft Bulletin. [Do you really expect anything after this to be objective?] My first article: Bob Poole ’50 Fellowships. Also in my first issue, a tribute by the headmaster to my late father-in-law, Al Reiff.

The Bulletin gets a makeover. A profile of tennis player Barbie Potter ’79 includes a sketch by her father, Mark ’48.

F A L L 1989

WI N T E R 1994 A special issue on the Arts won Taft a bronze medal in the national CASE [Council for Advancement and Support of Education] recognition program. The cover photograph captures Justin Poon ’95, Kate Harding ’97, and Mabis Chase ’95 at practice.

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The school’s Centennial celebration begins in earnest with the Convocation ceremonies in October. Three university educators address the school community: Doc Howe ’36 (Harvard), Frances Fergusson (Vassar), and Harold Shapiro (Princeton).

S U M MER 1990 A special issue of the magazine, “Celebrate a Century,” is published as a memory book of the landmark year.

S UMMER 1991 Ron O’Connor (P ’91) urges graduates to experience the Third World in his Commencement address, one of several memorable talks he has given on campus.

F A LL 1991 David Armstrong ’65 paints a beautiful watercolor of the school, “Vespers at Taft,” that graces the cover of this issue. Sadly, David died in August 1998. A tribute appears in the Alumni Notes on page 43.

WI NTER 1992 Jonathan Bernon’s memorable Vespers talk on teaching appears in the debut of the “Vespers” column at the back of the magazine. [Today, the column is called Endnote, since Vespers has changed to Morning Meeting—which is a terrible

. . . B Y

name for a column. The more generic name also opened the possibility of including letters, poetry, and other items of a thoughtful nature.]

SP R I N G 1992 Andy Taylor ’72 gives an entertaining yet highly moving talk at Vespers about homophobia.

W I N T E R 1993 This international issue includes the first of six in a series of department profiles, this one on the Modern Language Department. Rick Doyle also takes his video class to Norway to film on location. The story is told through excerpts from Brian Crane ’95’s journal.

W I N T E R 1995 Alfred Gilman ’58 wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and tells the Bulletin, “My parents picked out one school...Andover. I applied there and was rejected. Taft took a chance where others wouldn’t.... Taft taught me a lot about how to think, how to be a student the rest of my life, how to go on learning the rest of my life. The foundation I got there has carried me through until now.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

W I N T E R 1996 The Bulletin remembers World War II with reminiscences by Cordy Wagner ’43, Steven Dedijer ’30, and Paul Cruikshank. I regret that I didn’t include the Varian Fry ’26 article, finally published in Summer 1998.

SU M M E R 1997 Jonathan Gyurko ’92 and Molly Simmons ’96 send us vivid images, in words and photos, of their work at Tiger Kloof school in South Africa. Bill

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Zuehlke’s science class does some exciting field work. J. Irwin Miller ’27 and Dan Trombly ’97, the first day student elected head monitor at Taft, give memorable Commencement talks.

1997 The new Taft Alumni Directory is published and includes an index by profession. Some of the most popular careers: Law/Law Enforcement (364 alums); Education (357); Health/Human Services (226); Finance (217); Advertising (198); Consulting (165); Real Estate (136); Manufacturing (126); Journalism (124); and Engineering (119). Things have changed some since March 1928.

WI NTER 1995 It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (pharmacologist) to know that if an alumnus (Dr. Alfred Gilman ’58) wins the Nobel Prize, you put him on the cover!

W I NTER 1998 A revamped news section debuts in three parts called Around the Pond, Sport, and Alumni in the News.

S P R I NG 1998 Most of the Around the Pond section is dedication to “The Latest Adventures in ISP,” a program still directed by Barclay Johnson ’53.

S U MMER 1998

F A LL 1998

Have you forgotten already? If you’d like to read any of the articles in depth, all issues from 1996, 1997, and 1998 can be found on-line at http:// w w w. t a f t . p v t . k 1 2 . c t . u s / h o m e / alumnioffice/taftbulletin/. If you’d like an earlier article, contact me and I’ll hope I can find it!

How do you represent 75 years of a publication in one image? You don’t.

Instead we tried to give you an inside look at the process, by pulling together some of the tools editors have used over the years to put the magazine together. The technology has changed in many ways since 1923, but the strength of the written word, and the increasing availability and importance of photographs, are still paramount. Of course this is an ideal representation. My desk has never looked this nice or this clean!

—Julie Reiff Reiffj@taft.pvt.k12.ct.us (see inside front cover for mail and phone)

—Julie Reiff Taft Bulletin

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The Dream of a

Greater Taft

Visions of the school that changed along the way.

By Julie Reiff

H

orace Taft’s vision for Taft was always ambitious. In his quest for a better school, he continuously sought better facilities for his students and his faculty. That search led him first from the Red House in Pelham Manor to the Warren House in Watertown, to the construction of a small brick gymnasium and a handsome main building [now Horace Dutton Taft Hall] and then, before he retired, to construct a suite of modern buildings beginning with a new infirmary [McIntosh House], a service building for the live-in staff [Congdon House], along with Charles Phelps Taft Hall.

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The first four buildings of this plan by architect James Gamble Rogers were completed by 1930, but the fifth—a Gothic chapel—was never built.

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What few know of are the other dreams that never turned into brick and mortar. When Horace Taft looked for a new home for his school in 1892, he looked first to Litchfield, CT, and would have built his “better” school there had not the owner of the land died and the heirs reneged on the deal.

His plan for a modern suite of buildings in 1926 also included plans for a gothic chapel beyond Bingham.

His motives for choosing not to build it

are still largely unknown, although the crash of 1929 may have had something to do with it. [CPT was under construction when the market fell.]

In 1941, under Headmaster Paul Cruikshank, the Parents’ Association conceived a plan for revised athletic facilities that included five football fields,

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two soccer fields, four baseball fields, four hockey rinks (three of them on ponds), and twenty tennis courts. Numerous improvements came of this plan, including Rockwell Baseball Field, but the overall plan was obviously scaled back.

Interesting as well is the process in-

“What few know of are the other dreams that never turned into brick and mortar.”

This ambitious plan from 1941 originally called for the creation of five football fields, four hockey rinks, and twenty tennis courts.

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volved in making these decisions. When the Hulbert Taft Jr. Library was in the planning in 1966, a number of locations were considered. It is hard today to imagine it anywhere other than where it is.

And finally, some dreams just take longer to achieve than others. When the Arts and Humanities Center was created in 1986 out of the old gymnasiums, plans were also put forth for a major dining room renovation—a project now in the works.

As Carl Sandburg wrote, “Nothing happens unless first a dream.”

Right: It is challenging to imagine the library anywhere other than where it is today, but in 1966 the choices weren’t so clear.

Below: 1984 plans for the transformation of the old gyms into the Arts and Humanities Center also included preliminary plans for a new dining hall facing the pond.

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sports T R I V I A

Q U I Z

Test your knowledge of Taft athletics and see how well you score!

1. Until 1971, Taft’s Cheerleaders were: a. girls imported from Westover b. Taft boys in white letter sweaters with megaphones c. faculty wives d. none of the above; there were no cheerleaders

6. Intramural athletics were originally divided into three clubs named: a. Alpha, Beta, Gamma b. Red, White, and Blue c. Names of Indian tribes

2. Barr Howard ran a mile in 4:33.6 in what year: a. 1929 b. 1942 c. 1961

7. Before ice hockey, Taft’s pond was used for: a. ice fishing b. ice polo c. ice dancing

3. 1966 Championship Lacrosse Team lost only to: a. Hotchkiss b. Choate c. Yale JV d. Andover

8. Which team has won the most consecutive New England Championships? a. girls’ soccer b. girls’ ice hockey c. girls’ lacrosse

4. Taft had its first undefeated soccer, football (and untied), and baseball teams in what years, respectively: a. 1929, 1930, 1931 b. 1949, 1950, 1951 c. 1969, 1970, 1971

9. The official Taft School color(s) is/are: a. red and white b. dark red and navy blue c. just red

5. Alice Comiskey ’80 and Pam Briggs ’80 went on to become co-captains of the varsity ice hockey team at what college/university (and were the cover of that school’s alumni magazine, along with seven other of their alumni daughters on the team): a. Williams b. Brown c. Harvard d. Princeton

10.The first sport to be played on Alumni Day was: a. baseball b. golf c. tennis

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Then & Now fa c u l t y

Then… 1968 Total Faculty 54 (1f 53m) Teaching 44 Non-teaching 10

Average age of all faculty = 34 Median years of teaching experience = 9 Median years at Taft = 6 15 faculty hold master’s degrees 1 holds a doctorate 7 are Taft alumni Faculty received undergraduate degrees most often at the following schools: Yale 10 Harvard 6 Princeton 5 Bowdoin 4 Amherst 2 Arnold 2 Hamilton 2 Syracuse 2 (and many others) 44 faculty live on campus.

26 faculty live in dorms or have dorm responsibilities.

39 faculty are married.

There is 1 faculty couple (both work at Taft).

15 of 15 single faculty live in the dorms.

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New faculty: Peter Bogue, Jessica Clark, Nadia Metina-Belknap, Alicia Brandes, Matt Blanton, Mark Gwinn, Mark Traina, Molly Williams, Karen May, Lisa Jackier, Olivia Tuttle, Rebecca Loud, Valerie Klein, Garrison Smith.

New Members of the Faculty for 1998-99 Matthew W. Blanton

M. Alicia Brandes

Camp Family Teaching Fellow Dartmouth College, BA in Mathematics and Psychology At Dartmouth, Matt was active in volunteer activities, tutoring mathematics at a prison and coaching youth soccer. He was also a member of the Dartmouth varsity soccer and ski teams.

Spanish University of Connecticut, MA in TESOL A native of the Dominican Republic, Alicia taught there for five years before coming to the United States. She taught for two years in the Waterbury public school system and for the past two years at Cheshire Academy.

R. Peter Bogue

Jessica A. Clark ’94

Teaching Fellow in Mathematics Yale University, BA in Political Science Peter has distinguished himself for the last two summers as an intern and teacher in the Taft Summer School. He was a varsity athlete in baseball at Yale and spent two summers working in the community and media relations departments of two major league baseball teams.

Teaching Fellow in Biology Dartmouth College, BS in Biology After Taft, Jess went on to a successful career at Dartmouth, keeping up an active athletic and extracurricular life while maintaining a strong academic program. She looks forward to returning to teach biology at Taft, where her interest in math and science began.

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Mark M. Gwinn

Nadia Metina-Belknap

English University of New Hampshire, MA in English Mark comes to Taft after two years as a teacher and college advisor at Noble and Greenough School. He has also been an admissions counselor at Bates College, his alma mater, and has worked for four summers in the St. Paul’s Advanced Studies Program.

French Aix-en-Provence, MA in Linguistics Before moving to the United States, Nadia trained in France for teaching linguistics and communication and in teaching French as a foreign language.

Lisa F. Jackier Photography Center for Creative Studies, BFA in Photography Lisa has taught photography and computer graphics on a full-time basis at Trevor Day School in New York and on a part-time basis at summer camps and in other school settings.

She has also been active in many extracurricular programs ranging from theater to athletics.

Valerie E. Klein Teaching Fellow in Math and Economics Amherst College, BA in Mathematics, Economics A double major at Amherst, Valerie also served as a tutor and residential counselor. In the summers she has worked at summer camp and in the Summerbridge Program, an enrichment program for urban children.

Rebecca L. Loud History Harvard University, Ed.M After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, Rebecca taught both in an international school in Venezuela and at the George School. An avid outdoorswoman, Becca has led summer outdoor challenge programs in Costa Rica, and as a student of Latin American history and culture, has been active in developing health programs and services in Central America.

Karen J. May Learning Specialist Southern Connecticut State, MS in Special Education Karen has worked as a learning specialist for the Woodbury and Southbury public systems for twelve years and has also served as a local Board of Education member. She comes to Taft to develop the program and facilities of our new Oscarson Learning Center.

Eric M. Norman ’81 Business Office University of Connecticut, BA Eric has worked in business after graduating from Taft and the University of Connecticut.

He will be an assistant to Rick Wood ’72 in the Business Office.

Garrison W. Smith Biology Yale College, BA in Psychology Garrison has most recently been teaching at Northfield Mount Hermon after completing his two-year mission for the Mormon Church. He has coached youth hockey, baseball, and been on the varsity crew and ice hockey teams at Yale.

Mark K. Traina Carpenter Fellow in History Wesleyan University, BA in History During his successful career as a student and athlete at Wesleyan, Mark has worked for the last three summers teaching first as an intern and then as a full-time teacher at the St. George’s summer program.

Olivia S. Tuttle Director of the Annual Fund University of Colorado, BS Olivia has worked in the Development Office for several years and has recently taken over the reins of the Annual Fund.

Molly R. Williams Mailliard Fellow in English Princeton University, BA in English Molly’s English major is complemented by a certificate in pre-med. At Princeton she served as a residential advisor for two years and as an Outdoor Action leader and rock climbing instructor as well as a four-year member of an a cappella singing group.

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Then… 1978 A brief update: Average age = 38 Experience at Taft = 8.5 years Experience teaching = 12.2 years Number of master’s degrees = 55 Number of doctorates = 6

Now… 1998 Total Faculty 114* (51f 63m) Teaching Faculty 87 (37f 50m) Non-teaching 27 (14f 13m) Median age of all faculty = 38 Median age of teaching faculty = 36 Median years of teaching experience = 12 Median years at Taft = 7 69 faculty hold master’s degrees 2 hold doctorates 22 are Taft alumni Faculty received undergraduate degrees most often at the following schools: Yale 9 Middlebury 7 Princeton 6 Amherst 5 Bowdoin 5 Harvard 4 (and many others) 85 faculty live on campus.

46 faculty live in dorms or have dorm responsibilities.

79 faculty are married.

There are 22 faculty couples (both work at Taft).

25 families with children live on campus; 7 live in the dorms.

21 of 34 single faculty live in the dorms. *11 are part-time faculty

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Geographic Distribution of

Then & Now students & alumni:

31/123

1/2

0/12

WA

MT

1/5

ND 1/0

0/0

28/55

MN

2/2 10/33

1/2

SD

4/52

OR

1/12

ID

1/1

WI 0/1

1/2

6/17

0/0

WY

1/0

5/18

IO

5/10

NE

0/0

0/0 83/138

IL

1/11

NV

9/11

2/13

UT

0/0

38/167

CO

0/0

2/3

6/14

KS

22/36

MO

2/0

1/3

162/528

CA

3/17

5/10

OK 5/36

13/60

AZ

NM 1/3

0/0

4/8

AK

2/0

2/0 6/9

MS

0/1

49/119

In 1924, only four students came from outside the U.S. and only 16 of 268 came from west of the Mississippi. By 1958 that picture had changed dramatically, and continues to.

Alumni today live in every state in the nation and over 48 foreign countries.

Nor have alumni ignored the national trend to move southward. California, Florida, Texas, and North Carolina have many more alumni now, while Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky have fewer. Oregon is perhaps the biggest winner, increasing its alumni population thirteen-fold in forty years!

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TX

5/8

14/45

LA

3/3

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International Representation: 1958* 1998

1998 Alaska Hawaii Puerto Rico Virgin Islands

6 alums 16 alums 8 alums 2 alums

26/98

NH 2/0

22/102

ME

1/1

27/145

VT 2/13

90/68

MI

198/600

721/1084

5/NA

MA

NY

97/106

10/17

138/199

PA

156/115

OH

21/27

IN

31/80

RI

6/9

801/1128

8/2

CT 189/220

1/0

NJ

6/11

WV

27/25

0/0

KY

14/23 58/172

VA

5/6

DE

40/95 3/5

DC

1/4

80/218

16/27

3/1

3/0

Student Body other than U.S. Bahamas Bermuda Botswana Bulgaria Canada China Cuba Dominican Republic England Germany Hungary India Japan Korea Mexico New Zealand Norway Panama Romania Saudi Arabia Spain Taiwan Thailand United Arab Emirates Venezuela Vietnam TOTAL

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Number of alumni living in foreign countries:

79

336

unknown

48

Total number of alumni:

3,352

6,911

Total boarding students:

313

442

Day Students:

31

109

Total Students:

344

551

1

1 1 2 1

1

5

43/132

21/61

MD

17/126

TN

NC

5/3

3/2

0/4

18/55

SC 5/12

AL

0/0

Number of foreign countries with alumni:

1/7

22/122

GA

3/3

68/304

FL

4/7

Key

Number of girls:

0

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Number at upper left = alumni Number at lower right = students Numbers in gray = 1958* Numbers in black = 1998

Number of boys:

344

302

*Information is from the October 1958 Taft Alumni Bulletin.

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generation

AFTER

GENERATION

New Boy Sons and Grandsons of Alumni—1968 “Among the new boys this year are thirtyfour new boy sons and grandsons of alumni. Pictured here are (first row, from left) Dwight Ely (Matthew ’36), Peter Luria (Mortimer ’34), John Spafford (Bart J. Shaw-Kennedy ’41, stepfather), Sam Miller (Samuel ’43), Biff Bermingham (Eldredge ’43), Bob Snyder (Robert ’43, Sherman Perry ’06), Joe Morningstar (Thomas ’44), Lee Loughridge (Charles ’45, Paul ’12), Steve Knowlton (Joseph ’36), Chan Wheeler (Robert ’38).

(Second row, from left) Alec Smythe (Cheves ’42), Bob Phelan (Ellis ’09), Jeff Miller (William ’39), Ricky Braun (Enrique ’36), Larry Mailliard (James ’42, J. Ward ’09), John Weyerhaeuser (John ’43), Bill Caulkins (John ’42), Hal Taft (Henry ’43, Walbridge ’02), Dunny Sheldon (Bayard ’39), Tedd Herrlinger (Edward ’46, Roth ’22).

(Third row) Scott Gibson (Joel ’47), Fred Stoughtton (Frederic ’34), John Pollak (Henry ’40), Rick Pennell (Edward ’39), Trip Hart (Walter ’42), Giv Goodspeed (Edward ’40), Carlisle Peet (John ’46, John ’11), Hank Folsom (Henry ’46), John Hyland (John L. Purvis ’44, stepfather).

Not pictured are David Bacon (Benjamin ’48), Henry Clay (Henry ’35), David Farwell (Sumner ’33), Steven Green (Bradley ’41), Rick Heimbach (Richard ’41), Daniel Hull (Daniel ’34).”

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All alumni offspring now at Taft Students Grandfathers, Parents Matthew J. Aleksinas ’02 ....................... Michael J. Aleksinas ’72 Marc A. Aleksinas ’02 ............................ Michael J. Aleksinas ’72 Blake F. Alspach ’01 .................................... Bruce E. Alspach ’71 Bailey S. Barnard, Jr. ’02 ............................. Bailey S. Barnard ’63 Ryan R. Barry ’01 ............................................ Robert J. Barry ’59 Tyler J. Bessette ’02 .................................... Chad P. Bessette ’74 Emily F. Blanchard ’00 ........................... Dudley F. Blanchard ’44, Kirk F. Blanchard ’68 Blair M. Boggs ’02 ........................................... Edwin P. Boggs ’40, George T. Boggs ’65 Sarah E. Bromley ’02 .......................... Dexter B. Blake ’33 (step), Arthur F. Blake ’67 (step) Leland E. Candler ’00 .............................. Joseph B. Candler ’23, Henry E. Candler ’54

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New Children and Grandchildren of Alumni—1998 Among the 69 students (listed below) at Taft this year with an alumni parent or grandparent are 25 new boys AND girls (pictured front, from left): Sam Ladd, Cassidy Morris, Alix Thompson, Sarah Bromley, Blair Boggs, Faith Rose, Abby Kell, Brookfield Fitzgerald. (Second row) Ted Thompson, Colin Read, Marc and Matt Aleksinas, Samuel Stark, James Cavazuti, and Walter Gussenhoven. (Third row) Tim Monahan, Reina Mooney, Bailey Barnard, Tyler Bessette, Nick Fisser, Will Schatz. Not pictured are Ryan Barry, Charles Erdman, Diana Wardell, and Robert Wyckoff.

James E. Cavazuti ’02 .............................. Edward J. Cavazuti ’70 Victor W. B. Chu ’01 ........................ Cassandra Chia-Wei Pan ’77 Lauren B. Chu ’99 ....................................... Alexander F. Chu ’66 Eleanor S. Cooke ’99 ......................................... Lloyd B. Taft ’40 Christina M. Coons ’00 ............................... Robert H. Coons ’41 Charles S. Erdman ’02 .............................. Frederic P. Erdman ’71 Julia M. Feldmeier ’99 .......................... Robert H. Feldmeier ’39 Nicholas Fisser ’02 ......................... Michael Schiavone ’59 (step) Brookfield A. Fitzgerald ’01 ........................ Duncan G. Burke ’61 Colin M. Graham ’01 ....................................... Marshall Clark ’40 Jocelyn E. Green ’99 .................................. Bradley H. Green ’41, B. Gordon Green ’65 Walter J. Gussenhoven ’02 ................. John W. Gussenhoven ’65 Samantha H. Hall ’00 ........................... John F. O’Brien ’37 (step) Michael D. Hogan ’00 ................................. W. Daniel Hogan ’63 Abigail M. Kell ’02 ......................................... Laura Gieg Kell ’73 Arthur E. Kimball-Stanley ’00 .......................... Chase Kimball ’21 Mary Samantha Ladd ’01 ........................ Delano W. Ladd, Jr. ’44 Delano W. Ladd IV ’99 ............................ Delano W. Ladd, Jr. ’44 Craig M. Levy ’01 ........................................ Geoffrey W. Levy ’65 Bradford C. Little ’99 ................................... Donald C. Little ’37, George F. Little II ’67 Emily J. Lord ’99 ......................................... John M. Lord, Jr. ’63 M. Peter Madsen III ’00 ............... Frank A. Thompson, Jr.’35 (step) Timothy D. Monahan ’02 ................................. Robert G. Lee ’41 Reina E. Mooney ’02 .................................... Laird A. Mooney ’73 Cassidy A. Morris ’02 ............................ William G. Morris, Jr. ’69 Whitney E. Morris ’99 ........................ Lawrence B. Morris, Jr.’35, Lawrence B. Morris III ’65 David J. Morris III ’99 ............................ William G. Morris, Jr. ’69 K. Christine Murphy ’01 ......................... Dudley F. Blanchard ’44 B. Keely Murphy ’00 .............................. Dudley F. Blanchard ’44 Curtis S. Nagle ’00 ........................................ Frederick Nagle ’62 Julie A. Pailey ’00 .................................... William J. Pailey, Jr. ’57

*Hillary A. Peet ’00 ........................................... John C. Peet ’11, John C. Peet, Jr. ’46, J. Carlisle Peet III ’70 Michael J. Petrelli ’00 ............................ Joseph V. Petrelli, Jr. ’56 Anthony T. Piacenza ’01 ................... Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75 Emily J. Piacenza ’00 ........................ Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75 Frank C. Pickard IV ’00 ............................... DeVer C. Warner ’08, DeVer K. Warner ’32 Christina C. Porter ’00 ................................... Grant A. Porter ’69 Margaux E. Powers ’00 ............................. Michael S. Powers ’69 Colin J. Read ’02 ........................................ Jonathan R. Read ’74 Faith C. Rose ’02 ............................................... Peter B. Rose ’74 William A. Schatz ’02 ........................... Eugene W. Potter, Sr. ’17 John E. Scholhamer ’99 .................. Charles F. Scholhamer, Jr.’61 Timothy A. Shaheen ’00 .......................... Michael E. Shaheen ’58 Jessup W. Shean ’00 .................................. Edward E. Shean ’43, E. Townsend Shean ’66 Freeland W. J. Shreve ’99 ....................... Brandon W. Shreve ’64 Veljko Skarich ’99 ............................................ Stevan Dedijer ’30 Edmund S. Smith ’99 ................................. John McG. Smith ’68 Laura L. Snyder ’00 .............................. William B. Snyder, Jr. ’41, W. Bunker Snyder, Jr. ’68 Samuel B. Stark ’02 .................................... Lillie Barroll Stark ’79 Laura I. Stevens ’99 .......................... W. M. Pickett, Jr. ’44 (step), Richard A. Stevens ’69 Virginia Stevens ’99 ........................... Carleton H. Stevens, Jr. ’36 William W. Strumolo ’01 .............................. Tom R. Strumolo ’70 Alexandra M. Thompson ’00 .......... Melish A. Thompson, Jr. ’64 Ted S. Thompson ’02 ............................ Frederick W. Squires ’28 Constantina M. Tseretopoulos ’01 ..... C. Dean Tseretopoulos ’72 Jan W. Tudor ’99 .................................... Thomas S. M. Tudor ’64 G. Corydon Wagner IV ’01 ............... George C. Wagner, Jr. ’13, G. Corydon Wagner III ’43 Diana D. Wardell ’01 ......................... Charles W.B. Wardell III ’63 Robert P. Wykoff ’99 ............................ Edmund P. Livingston ’07

*Four generations of alumni Taft Bulletin

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AROUND THE POND

pond Woelper Around the World A trip to Vietnam last March whetted the travel appetite of history teacher Tom Woelper, who is spending this school year on sabbatical. He is currently traveling around the world studying primarily nonWestern cultures before beginning studies at Columbia Teachers College in January.

The list of sites Tom visited last spring is impressive: Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, ancient Cham ruins, and a tour of the DMZ, among many others. “As an historian my grasp of Vietnamese culture and history made a quantum leap forward. As an American I was forced to look beyond my own cultural blinders, and as a person I was invigorated by the vitality, sensualness, and courage of the Vietnamese people. The obsession with the Vietnam War is purely an American obsession. I hope that relations will continue to normalize.”

Tom continues his travels through Asia while on sabbatical this year “with a couple of side trips—such is the benefit of purchasing an around-the-world ticket.” He spent time in Italy at the end of August and went on from there to visit former faculty member Jen Bolz Wallace in Beirut.

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Tom Woelper with Andrea Baier and Steve McKibben in Vietnam, while Tom was traveling on the Davis Fellowship.

He planned a nine-day trek in Katmandu and a five-day overland trip from there to Tibet. From there he takes a month to make his way across China, including a cruise down the Yangtze River and a visit to the Terra Cotta soldiers in Xi’an. From Beijing he travels to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to spend some time with former faculty members Gordon and Emily Jones at Ake Panya International School. He has left a little extra time open in his itinerary, perhaps to

visit Laos, Burma, or return to Vietnam.

Finally, Tom will fly to Sydney, Australia, to visit another former faculty member, Chris Shepard. On the way back to the U.S., he will fly to San Francisco to visit the Head-Royce School and the University High School for some preliminary field work before beginning his studies at Teachers College, where he will pursue a master’s in education in the Private School Leadership Program.

AROUND THE POND

Lance Odden with Ambassador Frank Wisner

Guest Speakers

Eight Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the Gaden Jangste Monastery in southern India came to Taft in late September to perform “mysterious deep-voiced chanting” and to answer questions about Buddhism, Tibetan culture, history, mores, practices, life in exile, and, of course the Dalai Lama.

The monks were on a tour of the United States to raise funds to support their monastery.

Drums Along the Main Hall

Among the outside speakers to address the Taft community this fall were (in order of appearance) Joseph Reckford ’77 on “Why read the Bible?,” Career Ambassador Frank Wisner (page 58) on “The World in Crisis,” Rabbi Eric Polokoff on “Sukkot and the Jewish High Holy Days,” and artist/ activist Kwame Anku, who spoke to the assembled student body and to the the full faculty about new ways of looking at the real issues of our times. Other fall speakers included the director of the Ohio Dept. of Corrections, Reggie Wilkinson; writer-performer George Sanchez; Nobel laureate Dr. Alfred Gilman ’58, and Ambassador John McCarthy.

Four Hungarian musicians gave demonstrations of unusual percussion instruments from Africa and Asia on November 4 in a concert and workshop visit that was as enriching culturally as it was musically.

The Amadinda Percussion Group, named after a Ugandan percussion instrument, is made up of four musicians from the the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.

Their repertory consists of classical, jazz, and world music. Formed in 1984, the group has won prizes at the International Festival of Music in Darmstadt and the Seniors Nell Cooke and Jillian Giardina formed the AIDS Awareness Program Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Com[TAAP] to help educate the school community about the spread of AIDS among petition in Rotterdam. They have taken youth (in the U.S. half of all new infections occur in people under 25). part annually in the Budapest Spring FesAfter a lengthy application process that began last November, according to tival and the International Bartók-New Chaplain Michael Spencer, Taft has been chosen to host two large sections of Music Festival. the quilt at the end of April. As part of the NAMES project, the quilt is sent to For their work in presenting Hunschools across the country which applied and were accepted as host sites. In garian music, Amadinda was decorated preparation for the visit, TAAP is planning a creative series of educational events with the “Order of Merit of the Hungarand inviting outside speakers. Other schools and churches will be invited to ian Republic Officer’s Cross” by President participate as well. Árpád Göncz in 1997. The group has The AIDS quilt was formed in 1987 and panels have been added continureleased six compact discs and was called ously since then. The entire quilt now covers an area larger than 25 football “the most dazzling percussionist you fields. “The quilt is a traveling memorial to those who’ve died from AIDS,” says might hear this side of Bali” by the LonMichael, “and a powerful symbol of awareness and compassion.” don Guardian.

Taft to host AIDS Quilt

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Annual Fund Kickoff On October 6, Taft kicked off the 1998-99 Annual Fund with two events for class agents. The luncheon at The Harvard Club of New York was hosted by Annual Fund Chairman Jeff Levy ’65 and brought together 35 dedicated agents. Drummond Bell ’63 was the host of a cocktail party that evening at The Country Club of Fairfield for those class agents who live in Connecticut.

Victoria Love Salnikoff ’85, Virginia Sisson ’84, Sam Bloom ’84, and Ed Fowler ’84 at The Harvard Club.

George Hampton ’60, Kelly Hughes ’82, and Holcombe Green III ’87 in New York.

Jay Greer ’50, Annual Fund Director Olivia Tuttle, and John Renwick ’40 at the New York City luncheon.

Drummond Bell ’63, Bryan North-Clauss, Rachel Bell North-Clauss ’92, Margaret Fitzgerald ’93, and Scott Frew ’70 in Fairfield.

Melissa Chesman ’89, Kristina deKoszmovszky ’90, Scott Reiner ’90, and Tim Rasic ’90 at The Harvard Club.

Dylan Simonds ’89, Margaret Fitzgerald ’93, Sherrard Upham Cote ’73, and Reese Owens ’73 at The Country Club of Fairfield.

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Summer Workshops for Teachers July 1999 One and Two Week Workshops Featuring: All Advanced Placement Subjects, Library Science, Internet, Graphing Calculators, Computer Applications, & Others.

CEUs & graduate credit available.

For catalog call (800) 274-7815 Email: TaftEdCtr@taft.pvt.k12.ct.us http://www.taft.pvt.k12.ct.us or write to David Hostage, TEC Director 110 Woodbury Road Watertown, CT 06795-2100 USA

June 27-July 31

The Taft Summer School 1999

The Taft Educational Center

A Five-Week Enrichment Program For information, contact: Penny Townsend 860-945-7819 or Summer School Office 860-945-7961 The Taft Summer School is also adding study abroad programs this year in Nantes, France; Córdoba, Spain; and Dublin, Ireland.

Some alumni children and grandchildren at the 1998 summer session: Front row: Javier Fernández (Eladio ’60), and Estela Besosa (Francisco ’67). Back row: Bogdan Jovanovich (Gerard LeRoux ’56), Becky Oliver (Henry Hillman ’37), Dan Taft (Lloyd ’73), Tony Piacenza (Jean Strumolo ’75), Summer Wies (Rick ’71), Amanda Folsom (Peter ’62), and Cassidy Morris (Bill ’69). Jack Gross (Tom ’69) is not pictured.

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The World in Crisis —By Ambassador Frank Wisner The Economic Crisis Let me start with a word of reflection on the economic crisis that is sweeping the world today. I would like to take you back to summer last, 1997, when the banking system in Thailand collapsed followed shortly thereafter by a similar financial collapse in South Korea. The causes are now clear. The overextension of credit, notably including credit extended by foreign banking institutions, credit extended to investments that had less and less profitable returns, produced less and less for higher and higher inputs of capital, and the lack of proper banking regulation. Thai and South Korean banks, who were not properly supervised, did not maintain adequate reserves, did not report accurately, and were candidates for bankruptcy.

The crisis, when it occurred, was aggravated by the phenomenon of hot money.

Money that had been put into stock exchanges was taken abroad, not only by foreigners, but by Thai and South Koreans.

The crisis that began in those two countries spread rapidly throughout Southeast Asia.

It hit Indonesia, knocking that country’s economic prospects to pieces.

It spread from there to the Philippines and finally to Hong Kong, where the overpriced property market collapsed, stopping Hong Kong’s growth as a major economic center for the first time in several decades. The crisis highlighted the weakness of the Japanese economy. Japan was in the midst of a decade long, slow motion recession and banking crisis. The Japanese economy had not registered growth. Its system has shown an inability to reform. The very fact that Japan’s growth had slowed and Japan was not importing from the rest of Southeast Asia served to aggravate the crisis in the rest of Asia.

That crisis, which began as a disruption of the financial system, has moved from there to a very severe economic meltdown with political consequences. By economic meltdown, just imagine the nations that I’ve 32

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referred to in the last several minutes which were registering 6 to 8 percent rates of growth in 1997, 1996. Today they are contracting at the rates of 6 to 8 percent. Think back as well to where we were a year ago, and think where we are today. There is a new president in Korea, Kim Dae Jong, who would not have reached the prominence of his present position absent the economic crisis. Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for thirty years, is no more. Mahathir, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, is in my judgment on the ropes.

Thailand has changed its political horses, but the consequences are even deeper.

You’ve seen the effective elimination of wealth and the destruction of a generation of middle classes throughout Southeast Asia, rising unemployment and illegal immigration. As we sit here today, there is no end in sight. I cannot yet say with confidence that even Thailand and Korea, which have followed their agreements with the International Monetary Fund, have shown with any confidence that they will emerge from the present crisis in a year or two. Capital has retreated, coming back to this country and to Europe, capital needed to grow economies in Asia. In fact, in 1998, we will see about half the capital moving abroad to emerging markets that we saw in past years. The return of capital from Asia and Asian economies has had an extraordinary effect on our own stock market, boosting prices beyond real values and therefore causing market turbulence here.

Asia’s recovery has been delayed, and the Japanese recession has been deepened. Each of these economies are important commercial partners of the United States.

The crisis, however, has not stopped at Asia’s gates. It has gone on beyond. It first hit the Russians, who were beginning to show the prospect of economic growth. In the fall of 1997, Russia spent her reserves and initially resisted the onslaught of the Asian Flu.

By May and June, however, the second round hit, and the Russians finally caught it.

The Kiriyenko government fell. Russian growth fell to zero. The ruble collapsed, moving from six to the dollar to about twenty to the dollar today and looking at thirty to forty by the end of the year, with inflation rising, equity markets destroyed, and, perhaps most serious for all of us, the collapse of the post-communist transition in Russia.

And from Russia we’ve now seen the crisis strike in Latin America—the weakest economy of all, the almost overextended Venezuela. But it hasn’t stopped there. It has moved on to Brazil. Brazilians have thrown $30 billion of reserves to preserve the currency value. The result is that Brazil teeters on the verge of being the latest victim of the Asian Flu—a matter of dramatic importance to the United States for there is no economy in the emerging series of economies in the world that we’ve taken a larger stake in than Brazil’s.

World growth therefore is off. The IMF at the beginning of the year predicted 3.5 percent and now is talking about a 2 percent rate of growth. The IMF itself has been weakened by the crisis. Its reserves are depleted and its policies questioned. Even our faith in our economic game plan is in question. People are now taking action to reintroduce capital controls so that monies will flow less freely in the future than they have in the past. That’s understandable. The crisis is unusual, even if we haven’t felt its full fury yet in the United States. It has spread with extraordinary rapidity, demonstrating that the globalization of the world economy is for good ends and for bad outcomes. And it has had a striking effect so far in its depth and its extent. Commodity markets are way off. If you look at the price of oil and gas today, we are back in the early 1970s. Agricultural products, timber, basic minerals are all way, way off. The crisis has had a global reach. Only the United States and Europe have been exempted so far. Our Canadian and Mexican friends have been buffeted.

We have to ask ourselves whether we’re headed into a recession worldwide or something worse.

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The World’s Political Crises The crisis that I have described so far is basically economic in nature. Let’s remember it is unique in another way. At the same time economic storms are blowing around the world we’re facing an unprecedented number of political crises, any one of which would have consumed entirely the attention of policy makers in normal times, or if we were still in the Cold War, would have led to a deep aggravation in the old Soviet-American confrontation. Let’s think about several of them.

Kosovo. The latest outbreak of the disaster that Europe has faced since the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Kosovo, where there could well be an American air attack. The crisis has its origins in Serbian nationalism, which goes back to 1912 with the retreat of the Ottoman Empire. But it didn’t take on its present form until Milosevic took control of Serbia and went back to Kosovo and announced the rebirth of the Serbian nation at the expense of minority peoples throughout the Yugoslav federation.

Serbs and Albanians watched Bosnia collapse in violence. Both drew their own lessons. I would argue wrong lessons. The Albanians concluded that if they resisted Serbian occupation, then one day the outside powers would rally to their defense.

The Serbs drew another lesson. If they acted with brutality quickly enough, it would take the West time to make its mind up; and they could achieve their goals before the United States and its allies would respond with force. The result was the Kosovo Liberation Army emerged seeking independence for Kosovo and in its wake Serbian repression began.

Our response has been slowed in part because Serbia for so many decades has been

a ward of Russia’s. Therefore the Security Council has been unable to reach a decision with the threat of a Russian veto. Britain and France have been unwilling to see NATO involved absent a Security Council resolution. But so horrible have circumstances become that the possibility of American armed intervention in Kosovo to stem Serbian repression is a real possibility.

But let’s go south for a second to the Congo, where in my youth one of the early crisis of the Cold War broke out.

This is Africa’s second largest nation, touching on a dozen nations around it.

Today you see virtually a full-blown war involving five African nations in addition to the Congo. Uganda and Rwanda on the side of the rebels; Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia on the side of the new Congolese government. And what lies ahead? A massive civil war with foreign intervention, a disintegration of the Congo or, an agonizing meltdown that can only harm Africa’s prospects, political and economic, in the years ahead.

Travel with me for a moment then to the Middle East. What do we see? A commitment of the United States to achieve peace between Arabs and Israelis but a challenge to the peace process. We are arguing over a 13 percent transfer of land to the Palestinian authority. An agreement has been hard to reach. The failure to reach it, has resulted in a crisis of confidence between the Netanyahu government and the Palestinians. Once again radicalized Arab opinion is radicalized and complicated the prospect of moving to the final status settlement that must take place if the Palestinians and Israelis are to live in peace and if there is to be a prospect of peace between Israel and Syria.

“As Americans we must be ready to do the hard jobs. To engage in preventive diplomacy to try to warn off crises or to engage in diplomacy to cure crises when they have broken out. We can’t hang back and say it’s the job of someone else.

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And look at the Gulf, where Saddam Hussein today is trying to kick down the doors of his prison. United Nations authority is at issue as Saddam has blocked the UN arms inspectors, and is challenging the Security Council. United State opposition to Iraqi behavior has divided us from the Arab masses, pitting us in the Security Council against France and Russia. The prospect, if we’re not successful in rebuilding a consensus in the Security Council and in finding common ground with Arabs, is to see a rebirth of Iraqi élan, seeing Saddam walk free on the regent’s stage again.

And Korea. Perhaps the missile that was fired over Japan carried a satellite, but let’s remember a missile which carries a satellite can carry a warhead. Japan is today profoundly uneasy. The missile crisis masks another crisis in Korea—the threat of North Korea building a nuclear capability. We’ve discovered in the last several weeks a major underground facility where Korean nuclear developments can take place despite the fact in 1995 that the United States brokered agreements between Korea, Japan, and the world at large to end North Korea’s nuclear preparations. Let’s remember as well North Korea is a heavily armed nation in serious trouble. We have soldiers facing the North Korean Army.

Russia’s meltdown has also been good reason to catch our attention and to give us cause for concern. Political instability at the Russian center will have its effects along Russia’s periphery. It will have an effect on Russia’s foreign policy which is almost certain to become more assertive.

Instability in Russian, the nation that holds the largest number of missiles and weapons of mass destruction, has got to be a subject of worry for all of us.

India and Pakistan, where there occurred three wars in fifty years. The recent nuclear tests remind us of the risks we run.

Two nations side by side, now nuclear armed. Two nations whose communications are poor. The command and control systems for nuclear weapons are virtually absent. There is fundamentalism stalking in Pakistan—spillover from Afghanistan.

Not a happy prospect.

We stand today with an economic crisis Taft Bulletin

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and a series of political crises. We stand, unfortunately I would add, at a moment in which leadership in the world is sadly lacking. We face new and untested leaders. A new chancellor has just come to power in Germany. His party has not been in office for nearly two decades. He has no experience of governance. Throughout Asia we have seen new leaders emerge. Other leaders of longer standing are on the ropes. I can feel virtually confident that Japan’s Prime Minister will not be in office a year from today, and the Russian president is in his final cycle. Here at home, as all of us know, we’re experiencing our own constitutional crisis. The president’s attention is diverted from pressing matters of economics and politics in the world.

The Road Ahead Let me draw some broad lessons from where we stand and where we might be headed. I won’t try to pretend to you there are pat solutions to the economic meltdown and political crisis I’ve tried to describe. For indeed there are none. We are in a period of profound transition. The shifting, if you will, of the great tectonic plates of the world’s economics and political order. The end of the Cold War’s Ice Age has brought upon us an outbreak of regional and ethnic tensions that we never would have imagined once we thought we’d set aside the tensions of the Cold War. We’ve also seen the globalization of economics where shock waves felt in one country are translated into financial flows to another country.

And we’ve seen many of the institutions on which we count to contain the world’s disorders—the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations—in trouble, atrophying for lack of support. We, as Americans and citizens of the world, need to rethink where we in the world want to be in the year 2025 or beyond. And we’re going to have trouble frankly as Americans doing so if our public debate of the great issues we face is as underdeveloped as I feel it is today. If our media is as flaccid as I find it and if our sense of public service is weakened. Too little hard thinking is taking place about the choices America must make in the world, for we are—America is—the indispensable nation.

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But we’re not alone as a nation, we live in a time of partnership. The United States cannot do what it wishes in the world without taking the views of others into account. We cannot indulge ourselves in the mindless pursuit of moral crusades. The practice of sanctions against eighty nations around the world is bitterly resented. At the same time we refuse to pay our bills to the United Nations and to the IMF. We will be seen and we will be forced to pay the price of arrogance if we’re not careful.

Partnership means many things. In the first instance, I suggest, it means a respect for the balance of power. It means a respect for the interests of the great nations of the world: Russia, China, the Europeans, Japan, and the great emerging new nations of India and Brazil. We have to be engaged with each one, be sensitive to their ambitions, be able to work with those great nations if the world’s order is to be maintained. Partnership also means paying what one is due to pay. Catching up with our arrears to the UN, settling the IMF quota payments, passing a fast track trade agreement so that we can continue to see trade expand and begin to work our way out of the current economic crisis.

As Americans we must be ready to do the hard jobs. To engage in preventive diplomacy to try to warn off crises or to engage in diplomacy to cure crises when they have broken out. We can’t hang back and say it’s the job of someone else. And when it comes to it and force is required we have to be prepared to use the force that we have.

We may not know all the answers today to the economic crisis, but we know much of what needs to be done. We know that banking regulation and transparency are as important abroad as at home and worth working for. We know that we have to deal with capital controls and phase them in where they’re right. The wrong ones must be opposed. Open trade is critical. Increasing aggregate demand in the world today, particularly urging Japan forward to a path of recovery, notably in banking reform. To try to help Russia negotiate debt packages with her many creditors, providing strong support for Brazil, and supporting the IMF and the

World Bank in the roles they have to play.

But above all, we are the indispensable nation. Our economy can be a significant engine of growth, and this puts huge responsibilities on us, and on Alan Greenspan and the choices he makes in designing interest rates for the United States. Our military forces are the ultimate force of dissuasion. Our diplomacy can be the essential ingredient in peace.

Some weeks ago I retired from the diplomatic service of the United States. In so doing, in my letter of resignation to the president and in my farewell to my colleagues in the American diplomatic service, I said that I believed that public service is the highest of all callings. I believe that today, and I leave that thought with all of you as we go into an exciting, challenging, and very difficult world. For each of you, in the choices you make in life, there is a hugely exciting prospect before you in public service whether you follow in the military, in education, in diplomatic service as I did, or in the many other callings. I put before you the case that at no time in my lifetime has the challenge of public service been greater.

Ambassador Frank Wisner follows Admiral William Crowe as the second of the Admiral Raymond Du Bois Fellowship speakers. The remarks above were delivered at Morning Meeting on October 5.

A roommate of Headmaster Lance Odden’s at Princeton, Frank Wisner decided early that he wanted to pursue a career in the foreign service, taking up Arabic as early as his sophomore year. “He has gone on,” said Lance, “to be the most distinguished foreign service officer in our generation.” He retired this past year as the ranking member of the foreign service, having served as ambassadors to Zambia, to the Philippines, to India, and most notably to Egypt during the Gulf War. “It was Frank Wisner,” he added, “who kept Mubarak’s hand steady at the helm of the Arab group that supported the United States at that time. Many people think that the outcome of that entire war might have been different if we had not, in one of the rare instances, had an ambassador who was fluent in Arabic.” His son, David, is a member of the Class of 2000 at Taft.