Last Day

REMARKS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

A Brearley Union with Purpose

Welcome, everybody. Welcome…

Can we let that simple greeting settle in for a bit?

Perhaps never has that soft-sounding word carried so much meaning. Here. This afternoon.

Welcome, all, to Brearley Last Day 2021. Welcome back to the annual Last Day ceremony.

What a year we have endured. Truly an annus horribilis. And, no, these past 12 months have not been measured by five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. Not even close! It has lasted infinitely longer.

And I apologize in advance for putting that song in your head for the rest of the day.

I imagine most of these 61 seniors whom we have the pleasure of honoring at this ceremony today have certainly measured the past year, in part, by completely different metrics. Measured not so much in increments of time, but in performances postponed, contests canceled, dates denied, hugs and hellos never shared, memories deferred, cheers and shouts silenced and loved ones lost.

But let’s not forget that we were able to work together to make the best of a very trying situation. Following all protocols and respectful of the needs and concerns of our community, we were able to get back inside the classrooms (with our remote students on screen) and even recently back to the field and stage, back to a Mountain Day at a beach and a heck of a party that may redefine proms forever. This spring we’ve been slowly transitioning back to feeling like Brearley. This was truly a collaborative undertaking. Thanks to our Board, our administration, our faculty and, of course, our staff for their Herculean effort in carving a safe path back to normalcy. Thank you to all Brearley students for their efforts on behalf of the community, too.

From a hijacked junior year to at times a hybrid senior year, you have experienced something none of us could have ever envisioned at your age. Your days were upended and your resilience was put to the test. You have lived our motto of By Truth and Toil.

At Brearley, we talk of creating a precious place for our students—to challenge them, nurture them and help them imagine their future. This required an extraordinary effort from our faculty and staff this year. I am so proud of the way we have all banded together in pushing forward, and never allowing hope to be a casualty of this virus.

Despite the turmoil of the past several months, keep in mind that when we walked down the promenade this morning, you opened a door to a new beginning. And let me say once again: Welcome.

And despite having to stay six feet apart, this pandemic has definitely brought us closer together. This school became our shelter in the storm. Psychically and physically, Brearley is our community. It was our constant amidst all the chaos.

Getting back together meant we were once again able to draw from one another, challenge one another and learn from one another. We borrow from each other in so many different ways every day, and this is where those special interactions take place. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be able to gather here today in honor of all you have achieved.

In looking across the audience today, I see the personification of Brearley. This is undoubtedly one of the most eclectic and diverse classes in our history.

The litany of accomplishments, interests and aspirations is as impressive as it is varied. Sixty-one fascinating, promising and strong young people sit here before us.

They may sit before us, but they’re always on the move, Their talents are boundless, There’s nothing left for them to prove.

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You are stronger than you know. You have weathered the storm and have shown a preternatural ability to impact change.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion are something we’ll never forget, Those leading the charge can also drum, spike and set. They’re a Panoramic founder and rockin’ artist, and an UMOJA head, A Seeing in Color mentor, a Belonging at Brearley leader, and a future engineer in bio-med.

Music is always ringing through our halls and in our ears, We’ll be talking about those who performed Algernon, Ms. Fairfax and Sweeney Todd for years. And, oh, did you know, Eponine from Les Miz interned to assist small biz?

Our B-Nats singers need not one musician, Just another shelf to store their awards and recognition. One’s a three-sport athlete with the loudest cheer, While another’s a mentor to those of a younger year.

The Purple Inks’ bassist, rockin’ singers and others are all glory bound, Whether it’s singing in Sweeney or playing originals, it’s always a great sound. We never question these musicians, they always have the answer, Especially one who founded a group to Dance against Cancer.

Singing, dancing, painting, performing and more, We even have a budding screenwriter who could also easily write her own score. Many gravitate to the performing arts to get their kicks, Let’s not forget our piano-playing star who’s totally into astrophysics.

Some take their talents to those less mobile Playing her oboe for homebound seniors is one senior’s style. Creativity, passion and talent are all a sign That Theodore the Bear is an inspiration—muse ursine. Virtual reality karaoke, is that a thing? It certainly is when you hear this one girl “sing.” And computer science and the visual arts—how do you connect the dots? Easy for those who love working with robots.

Our artists never cease to amaze. That we know, One in particular is equally adept with a bow. We stand in awe before a particular cityscape in pastels, And one visual artist enjoys building a set as much as laying out a magazine, she tells.

Theater Tech can get so heady, Luckily its co-head is psychologist-ready. And what’s up with Theater Tech’s myriad skills? When they’re not running the show, these kids can sew, needlepoint and tell a joke that kills.

Passion for sports and the arts we hold in such high regard, Methinks one of you can’t get enough of Avon’s Bard, While another is more than ready to draw her sword and shout “En garde!”

There are those who see things through a different lens, One’s The Beaver’s shutterbug, the other snaps pix of mock lawyers and judges playing pretend. And vision of another kind is seen near and very far, As evidenced by one who works to restore vision to those in the D.R.

Animals abound, They’re always around. Cat wranglers and Humane Society workers are always on the prowl Why even at a wolf sanctuary you’ll hear a Beaver howl.

There’s a ranch hand and a philanthropist who can act—that’s just two who make a stand, Let’s cheer the multiracial affinity club founder whose time is in such demand. Join us in saluting the Youth Action for Planned Parenthood, Not to mention Global Girls, which does so much good.

Where do they find time to tutor and teach, From 103rd Street in East Harlem to the Clarke School they reach. “Gracias” is what we hear in their rave reviews, Especially those teaching Spanish at St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s.

All politics is local, as the saying goes, That’s why our future politicos lent their talents to Brewer, Maloney and Rose. We have a rower and a sailor at home on the drink, and a Beaver coeditor who will one day soon uncover how we think.

On the field there’s a lax player with no peer, And a piano-playing runner with no fear; We boast a field hockey star who may stick to government to achieve her goals, and we marvel at a three-sport star who saw the world through NOLS.

Great reporting is a breeze for our two talented Zephyr scribes, There’s one who combines musical theater, embroidery and chorus— activities I heartily prescribe. We tip our cap to a softball star who knows her Dewey Decimal, And the chances of anyone creating something better than the Timeless app is infinitesimal.

So, there. Now you know it. These are the Brearley grads, and I’m no poet. So let me catch my breath and take a pause, As you congratulate each other with heartfelt applause.

For most, 11th and 12th grades are a blur. A steady stream of tests and applications, parties and activities that come in and out of focus. But the last half of your junior year and now your senior year has been anything but a blur. Trying to remember the shows you binge-watched last spring may be a bit fuzzy, and certainly there were blurry eyes on most morning Zoom classes, or following a Rasputin dance, but this experience has left most of us more clear-eyed and focused.

We have become more focused on what’s really important to us, and what’s important to those around us. As we gingerly walk through the losses of Covid, and frankly, 2020 as a whole, we have seen so much that was laid bare. So many things were brought to light; exposed as being unequal, unfair and unjust. Racism, inequality, injustice, to name a few.

As this all unfolded, you found yourselves facing an incredible tension: balanced on the fulcrum between pursuit of individual ambition and contributing to the common good. And as you sat at this nexus, you witnessed your fellow classmates who are members of UMOJA step forward to make a difference at Brearley; to become part of the solution to address anti-Black racism in our school. In doing so, they demonstrated principled engagement in the world. They led the way for us leaders, classmates and many other students, who joined the effort.

When I think of the Class of 2021, I’m reminded of Amanda Gorman’s gorgeous inaugural speech, which reads in part:

And yes we are far from polished. Far from pristine. But that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

The Class of 2021 this year and in the past has reached out its arms to forge a Brearley Union with purpose. You asked how we can improve and how we can be more humane. But you did more than ask, you acted.

You took not only the first but many of the initial steps to Build a Better Brearley, a school where every student feels a sense of belonging. This work has not been easy, and we have felt pushback in our own community and beyond, in some cases, under the pernicious falsehood that equity and excellence are mutually exclusive. But as we all know, they stand together, which is why we strive for each individual to realize her greatest potential by challenging and understanding herself fully as a person and as an active participant in a larger place and purpose.

Class LAST DAY 21OF ’

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST ALUMNAE

(left to right)

FRONT (BOTTOM) ROW: Laura Yee, Ria Sodhi, Emma Zhu, Emma Yang, Anabel Viera, Sarah van Dyke, Alexandra Tucker, Lilly Sorkin, Maya Whites

SECOND ROW FROM BOTTOM: Eliza Ziehl, Natasha Kapadia, Charlotte Fay, Zoe Fisher, Alexandra Gottlieb

THIRD ROW FROM BOTTOM: Allison Gorman, Elizabeth Polubinski, Chimene Keys, Jacqueline (Avery) Shoates, Rachel Schreiber, Victoria Semmehack, Annabelle Hee, Julianne Huang, Augusta McMahon

MIDDLE ROW: Isabelle Clark, Aleka Gomez-Sotomayor-Roel, Sarah Nath, Ines Im, Arielle Stegman, Mariyam Khandaker, Elizabeth Torna

THIRD ROW DOWN FROM TOP: Phoebe Boultinghouse, Alexa Rosenzweig, Zara Cruickshank, Abigail Lee, Violet Mendelsund, Courtney Burnett, Ann (Crickett) Cannell, Maya Rosefsky, Sofia Kouklanakis, Francesca Edmands, Anna Falcone, Saisha Puri, Aisling Murtagh, Sylvia Shklyar

SECOND ROW DOWN FROM TOP: Eden Pollock, Emma Braunberger, Sofia Raso, Chloe Alto, Alyssa An, Mikayla Ervin, Celeste Cohen

FIRST SHORT ROW DOWN FROM TOP: Yasmin Liow, Maria Long, Alexandra Angrist

BACK (TOP) ROW: Drew Marriott, Natalie Essig, Charlotte Andreano, Olivia Marinaccio, Sydney Bamford, Sha-Emera Campbell

NOT PICTURED: Claudia Vera

UPPER SCHOOL AWARDS

Upper School Discursive Essay Writing Prize

Ladina Moor, IX

Upper School Analytical Essay Writing Prize

Rachel Smith, XI

Upper School Poetry Writing Prize

Hilary Malamud, XI

Upper School Fiction Writing Prize

Alexandra (Sasha) Tucker, XII

Juliet Whiton English Prize

Ines Im, XII

Catherine Fairfax MacRae ’96 Prize

For Excellence in Both English and Mathematics Emma Zhu, XII

Upper School History Essay Writing Prize

Grace Davis, XI

Dorothy Mills History Prize

Sarah van Dyke, XII

Ann Chalmers Greek Prize

Elizabeth Torna, XII

Ann Chalmers Latin Prize

Yassie Liow, XII

French Prize

Aleka Gomez-Sotomayor-Roel, XII Spanish Prize

Natasha Kapadia, XII

Mandarin Prize

Sofia Raso, XII

Judith N. Conant Mathematics Prize

Natasha Kapadia, XII

Frances Arnold 1893 Mathematics Prize

Lilly Sorkin, XII

Science Prize for Life Sciences

Chloe Alto, XII

Science Prize for Physical Sciences

Emma Yang, XII

Ursula Loengard Berens ’47 Art Prize

Isabelle Clark, XII

Fanny H. Phillips Dramatics Prize

Annabelle Hee, XII

Berta Elsmith Music Prize

Celeste Cohen, XII

The Brearley Alumnae Cup

Courtney Burnett, XII

Richard B. Stearns, Jr., Memorial Award

Alexandra Gottlieb, XII

Head’s Award

Maya Whites XII FACULTY AWARDS

The Class of 2018 Fund for Building, Kitchen and Administrative Staff Support

Mr. Isidro Perez Ms. Jenelle Deodath

Class of 1992 Award

Ms. Yue Tang Teacher of Mandarin

Serena Marshall Weld 1901 Award

Ms. Marisa Ballaro Teacher of Dance

Sandra Lea Marshall ’73 Award

Ms. Eileen Racanelli School Nurse

Margaret Riker Harding Lower School Fellowship

Ms. Janelle Barth Class II Room Teacher and LS DEI Coordinator

Chairs for Excellence in Teaching

Ms. Dale Emmart Head of the Art Department Dr. Sherri Wolf Head of the English Department Ms. Randi Timan Class II Room Teacher

Those who follow us will reflect on the Build a Better Brearley initiative as an essential step forward in Brearley’s promise to be a beacon for girls of adventurous intellect and diverse backgrounds in our city. There is an outcry against a number of independent schools such as Brearley that the steps we have taken to meet the call to become an antiracist school go beyond the purview of a school. That it is a political or economic statement; that some fear it is divisive. We are in the early days of this work and this debate, like many others Brearley has faced in its long history, will persist, and we will listen, discuss, learn and grow as a community through it.

That said, the engagement of Brearley students to learn how to create an inclusive community is now an essential part of being a member of this community; student-driven programming is at an all-time high and BIPOC and Jewish students are coming together in solidarity under the Brearley Student Diversity Leadership Council, another student-proposed entity. In this way, all aspects of Brearley’s rich and varied diversity now have a piece of the foundation that is being reset to hold the full weight of our community. We are proud of this work that with community input will morph and deepen for years to come.

You have engaged in what John Lewis called “good trouble”—pushing for social change no matter the obstacles or pushback. “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America,” is how the late Representative Lewis said it. You stood up and spoke out—and now we stand before you and applaud your willingness to ignite change. Brearley is better because of you.

As this year like no other draws to a close, I am reminded of a darkly humorous poem from the Beat poet Gregory Corso, “The Whole Mess … Almost.” Like all of you, the poem’s protagonist has just suffered through some life-changing, traumatic event. As he rushes up the stairs to his New York City apartment, he is hell-bent on purging his life of those “things” that no longer hold value to him; ridding his existence of disappointing abstractions, artificial societal norms and worthless attributes. In his mad rush, he tosses out the window Truth, God, Love, Hope, Beauty, Charity and Death. Worthless, useless and senseless all to him now.

Hoping to be spared their demise, Truth tries extortion, Love tries bribery, and the others try reason before being cast out the window. All have been tossed … though he thinks twice about Beauty before eventually telling her to “move on.” Suddenly, he realizes all that is left in his apartment is Humor. It’s an ambiguous ending, and it’s not entirely clear what Humor’s ultimate fate is, but my takeaway for you today is that Humor is often the only thing left in the wake of upheavals. Laughter is an elixir we can all tap in times of trouble. We all need more laughter now. Humor is one thing that I hope will never leave you, for through laughter we connect with each other. And when we connect as humans we recommit to each other and the hope for our individual and collective future.

And I hope you know that Brearley, too, never leaves you.

So, as I leave you today, I want to remind you that you are stronger than you know. You have weathered the storm and have shown a preternatural ability to impact change. You have just begun to change the world.

Yeats may have said “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire,” but it was Greta Thunberg who admonished us to “Act like your house is on fire.” I know you will continue to act with passion and urgency, and to challenge all that is not right and work to fix what’s wrong. Brighten the world with your wisdom and passion. Soften its edges with your kindness, compassion and empathy. And heal it with your adventurous intellect and your diversity of thought.

And as you travel along your life’s journeys, I know you’ll always be met with a warm and embracing Welcome.

Class of 2021

COLLEGE DESTINATIONS

Barnard College (1) Bowdoin College (1) Brown University (1) Carleton College (1) Colgate University (3) Columbia University (7) Cornell University (3) CUNY Macaulay Honors College (1) Dartmouth College (2) Emory University (1) Georgetown University (1) Harvard College (4) Howard University (1) Kenyon College (1) New York University (1) Northwestern University (2) Occidental College (1) Princeton University (1) Rice University (1) Smith College (1) Stanford University (1) Trinity College (1) Tufts University (1) Tulane University (1) University of Chicago (6) University of Michigan (1) University of Pennsylvania (3) University of Richmond (1) University of Southern California (1) University of St. Andrews (1) Wake Forest University (1) Wesleyan University (1) Williams College (1) Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1) Yale University (2)

Co-heads of Self-Government

by Drew Marriott and Aisling Murtagh

Bah! Humbug! Ebenezer Scrooge, the principal character in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, coined this wonderfully expressive exclamation of displeasure. You could say that we ourselves became Scrooges, adopting his signature curmudgeonly attitude, as we thought about what the year had in store. Welcome to A Covid Carol.

Past. The ghost of Brearley past teaches us some important lessons in leadership: Embrace new organizational structures, come up with new traditions, continually reevaluate your rules and guidelines, act based on a thoughtful set of values, critically examine those values as a part of everyday life, and most importantly, stay true to your mission.

Present. Our role as the USSG co-heads has been dramatically different from what we expected: We worked to continue the time-honored mission of governance while in a virtual realm that the framers of Upper School Self-Government never could have imagined. Throughout this school year, we took on some new initiatives: the virtual club and course fairs, online town halls, USSG lunches and a new USSG structure. Future. It is a new school year, Brearley is absolutely lost without Drew and Aisling …. Just kidding. Sort of. So much of what the School and USSG has done this year has been with an eye toward the future. The Brearley Student Diversity Leadership Council has made its debut in this future school year. Under Alicia and Taryn’s leadership, Upper Schoolers have a strong support mechanism for their collective efforts to Build a Better Brearley. And the new USSG co-heads, Josie and Emily, are hard at work. They have a team of 14 representatives under their purview, and have welcomed delegations from affinity groups to Self-Government.

Closing. Our year was difficult and different, but as equally as it was wacky, it was worthwhile. We hope you have all taken some lessons from the ghosts of Brearley Past, Present, and Future. Our challenge to you all, the valiant characters of our Covid Carol, is a simple one: Keep these lessons in your hearts, and honor them even when Covid seems like the distant past. Remember that where we have come from as a community intrinsically shapes where we are in the present, and understanding our past is critical to directing our school toward a brighter future.

Above: Drew Marriott and Aisling Murtagh.

Class XII Speakers

by Sha-Emera Campbell and Celeste Cohen

As a group, constant and unexpected change has become our norm! New building, new schedule, new grade head—oh wait, did you hear exams were just canceled? I bet we’ll be back in school by May—I mean by June … well certainly by the fall; we’ll definitely have a normal senior fall! Oh, how wrong we were. But really, this class has an incredible amount of resilience.

In many ways, we have an advantage going into this next phase of our lives together. We’ve had our taste of separation and isolation. Over the past year, there were times when Manhattan and Brooklyn felt as far apart as California and Scotland, so the hours of practice on Google Meet and Zoom will undoubtedly suit us well when we’re actually scattered across the country and the world. So even though we couldn’t physically gather this year, we couldn’t just sit on a bus and spend the night at Camp Jewell, we couldn’t see each other every morning in homeroom, and we couldn’t all stand in line together on Dumpling Day—we have found connection in a shared experience. There are only 61 people who know what it’s like to be a Brearley senior in 2021. Each of our Brearley experiences has been both totally different and sometimes uncannily similar. The two of us won’t pretend that we have had the same experience or that all 61 of us will stay best friends for the rest of our lives—but there is no doubt that we have all made it through this insane year thanks to each other.

We hope everyone in this graduating class knows that the bond formed over the past four or eight or thirteen years is unbreakable and will continue to strengthen as we continue on the next chapter of our lives.

This year especially, we want to thank the health staff for working so hard to collect our saliva and keep us healthy. We are so grateful to everyone who made it possible for us to come into school this year and allowed us to gather in person for this day.

Congratulations to our classmates. You all create a lovely light wherever you go. We are looking forward to basking in it together soon.

Above: Sha-Emera Campbell and Celeste Cohen.