The Hotchkiss Magazine, Fall 2010

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Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 8

P. O . B O X 8 0 0 LAKEVILLE, CT 06039-0800 (860) 435-2591 w w w. h o t c h k i s s . o r g

Lakeville, CT

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Board of Trustees

Alumni Association Board of Governors

Thomas C. Barry P’01,’03,’05

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Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88

Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82

Christopher M. Bechhold ’72, P’03, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Subcommittee for Membership

Ian R. Desai ’00

John R. Chandler, Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10

Lance K. Beizer ’56

Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07

Edgar M. Cullman ’36, P’64, GP’84

William J. Benedict, Jr. ’70, P’08, ’10

William R. Elfers ’67, Vice President

Frederick Frank ’50, P’12

Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88, President

John E. Ellis III ’74

David L. Luke III ’41

Lawrence Flinn, Jr. ’53

Dr. Robert A. Oden, Jr. P’97

Keith E. Bernard Jr. ’95, Co-chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Diana Gomez ’76, P’11,’12

Nancy Watson Symington P’76,’78, GP’00,’10

Douglas Campbell ’71, P’01

Sean M. Gorman ’72, Secretary

Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ’56, P’85

Charles A. Denault ’74, P’03, Ex Officio

John P. Grube ’65, P’00

Arthur W. White P’71,’74, GP’08,’11

Kerry Bernstein Fauver ’92

Elizabeth Gardner Hines ’93 Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet ’85 Eleanor Green Long ’76 Forrest E. Mars, Jr. ’49, P’77,’82

Seth M. Krosner ’79 D. Roger B. Liddell ’63, P’98, Secretary Jennifer Appleyard Martin ’88, Chair, Gender Committee

Peter J. Rogers, Jr. ’73, P’07, ’11

Alison L. Moore ’93, Co-chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, Vice President

Alessandra H. Nicolas ’95

Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08

Daniel N. Pullman ’76, Ex Officio

Jane Sommers-Kelly ’81

Peter J. Rogers ’73, P’07,’11, Ex Officio

Marjo Talbott

Wendy Weil Rush ’80, P’07, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Committee

John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11, President William B. Tyree ’81, P’14, Treasurer

For more information, please contact Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87, Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Programs, at (860) 435-3892, creilly@hotchkiss.org, or visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni, then click on Reunions.

Brenda G. Grassey ’80

Malcolm H. McKenzie P’10, Trustee Ex Officio

Philip W. Pillsbury, Jr. ’53, P’89,’91

Classes of 1936, 1941, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006

Meredith Mallory George ’78, P’09,’11

Edward J. Greenberg ’55, Vice President and Chair, Alumni Services Committee

Kendra S. O’Donnell

June 10 – 12, 2011

Quinn Fionda ’91, Chair, Communications Committee

GP’09,’09,’11,’11,’14, Vice President

Christopher H. Meledandri ’77

Save the Date

Peter D. Scala ’01 Bryan A. Small ’03 George A. Takoudes ’87 Jana L. Wilcox ’97

To learn more about The Board of Governors, please visit www.hotchkiss.org/Alumni/BoardGov.asp

Hotchkiss REUNION


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COVER ARTIST

Jonathan Doster

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Bonfire by the lake – see story on page 18. HEAD OF SCHOOL

Malcolm H. McKenzie EDITOR

Roberta Jenckes DESIGNER

Christine Koch, Knockout Graphics

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How do we know what we know? Very often, it’s because someone taught us. If you talk with faculty members at Hotchkiss – and there are well over 140 of them – almost always, they will tell you the name of the teacher who inspired them to teach. Unprompted, they will recall the moment when they knew that they, too, would become teachers. Sometimes their inspiration comes from a former Hotchkiss faculty member – L. Blair Torrey ’50, Bob Hawkins, George Van Santvoord ’08, as some examples. We learn from our teachers, from our peers, from our mentors. In this issue, we begin a series of short profiles of Hotchkiss teachers and learn more about the extraordinary work that is their life’s mission.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Divya Symmers Communications Writer

Extraordinary Educators: The first in a series of profiles of Hotchkiss faculty members

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WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

John R. Chandler ’53 Robin Chandler ’87 Sara Eddy ’78 Kristen Hinman ’94 Meghan Lori ’10 Molly McDowell Malcolm H. McKenzie Peter Nalen ’79 Hal Scott ’35 Divya Symmers Andrea Tufts

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Campus Connection

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Reunion

The Hotchkiss School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, or national orientation in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, or other school-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.

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Alumni Names and Faces

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True Blue

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Athletics

Hotchkiss Magazine is produced by the Office of Communications for alumni, parents, and friends of the School. Letters and comments are welcome. Please send inquiries and comments to: Roberta Jenckes, The Hotchkiss School, P.O. Box 800, Lakeville, CT 060390800, email to rjenckes@hotchkiss.org, or telephone 860-435-3122.

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Class Notes

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In Memoriam

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My Turn

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EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATORS: The first in a series of profiles of Hotchkiss faculty members

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ABOVE RIGHT: Alumni returning for Reunion in October talk with Malcolm McKenzie. Often, they spoke about the teaching giants they knew at Hotchkiss.

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“You cannot do this job unless you love it.” That’s what I said recently to the members of the Hotchkiss Class of ’60 at their 50th reunion. I was not thinking narrowly about being a Head of School, although that was certainly in my mind, but more broadly about being a teacher, especially in a boarding school, our boarding school. The hours, the commitment, the sheer volume of people and variety of matters that require moderated care and immoderate attention make the whole undertaking precarious and untenable unless undergirded by love. This is simple really, and easy once felt, but it is not often stated directly and unashamedly. In the glow of a reunion, such sentiments are understood quickly. Conversation on such occasions circles again and again, in tender lassoes, around the giants who imprinted themselves on those hearts and pliable minds being formed many years ago.

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The figures that stand out, retaining clarity and freshness, are those who loved what they did and loved the students upon whom they made such a lasting impress. They may have been either aloof or approachable, but they would always have been exacting. Some may have been charismatic, others restrained, but both types would, through curiosity, have opened new vistas. They may have been loquacious or succinct, but they certainly told a story that stuck. And they did what they did, and taught what they taught, because they loved it. Teaching was a calling, and they


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LEFT: Alumni at Reunion in October gathered for a reception in the former Headmaster’s Study in Harris House.

It is indeed the case that ‘the cultivation of intellect is an essential responsibility, and what better place to pursue that than in a school.’ Teachers here must always have a minute, and they do learn something new every day from their students. We do ‘ask a lot of them, and they meet us.’ And as we ‘aim to give students a taste for other cultures,’ we do simultaneously ‘love the infinite variability that comes from working with so many different students.’ In our new admissions film, one student says: “Love it here.” We do.

TEACHING PROFILES BY ROBERTA JENCKES

BELOW: In the Archives, group photos of Hotchkiss faculty are rarely found; this one is from 1981. Alumni memories of their teachers are rich and enduring; all speak of one or more faculty members at Hotchkiss who sparked an academic interest or encouraged them in a sport or extracurricular program. In tribute to these giants of our past, we include photos of Hotchkiss faculty throughout these profiles of extraordinary educators.

PHOTOS WITH MALCOLM MCKENZIE BY JONATHAN DOSTER; BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES

called their students to learn. Hotchkiss has always had its goodly share of such giants. They are with us right now, some looming tall already, others growing in stature. It is they who have contributed so generously to the extraordinary teaching and learning that characterizes our classrooms, and all the other areas where we learn in this boarding community. And it is they who inspire us all to stretch beyond our best in what we impart to our students and to each other. That phrase, ‘extraordinary teaching and learning,’ has become a

mantra of our planning process during the past two years. I like it on many levels: as a descriptor of what happens here; as a statement of intent; and as a target to attain. So what are the ingredients that the recipe requires? Read about a few teachers in these pages and you will discover some components, in their words. Creating an environment where ‘something good happens every day,’ is indispensable. Writing ‘is the job.’ Students do gain ‘a confidence in themselves that is inspiring.’ This is, in part, because they are treated as ‘serious thinkers’ who are offered a ‘sense of agency and empowerment.’ And ‘those moments of sudden comprehension’ occur because students inhabit ‘space to think for themselves.’

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“Mr. Marchant” GEOFFREY B. MARCHANT Instructor in English The L. Blair Torrey ’50 Chair Joined Hotchkiss: 1972 Currently Teaching: English 150 Senior elective, “Romanticism” Senior elective, “Nature” “For starters, I teach because something good happens every day. Yesterday a group of preps wrote for five minutes in their notebooks about Antigone, and then we debriefed. Honest to God, the first student says, “I found Antigone’s situation a lot like Cates’s in Inherit the Wind.” Not bad. The next kid links it to My Year

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of Wonders and an argument about one guy who wanted to leave the plague village pronto, and the priest who was advocating doing the right thing, staying and quarantining the town. Not long after we were discussing Gandhi and then Civil Disobedience, an essay which we went on to read the following week and connect to both Inherit and Antigone. Recently, three seniors made a presentation on their independent study in French Romanticism that was quintessential. They kept the class’s attention for a full hour; the session went past the bell of the first hour, and no one squirmed in a chair. They introduced me to composer Ambroise Thomas; sent me scurrying to Hamlet because of a French opera Hamlet and a drinking song in Act II;

TOP AND ABOVE: September 2010, Geoff Marchant demonstrates cider-making; L. Blair Torrey sights drill holes on maple trees in this 1981 photo, as Mary Zimmerman and Geoff Marchant look on.


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MY MENTOR Blair Torrey was my mentor, and I still quote and imitate him today; in fact, I DID so today, vis-à-vis “Tintern Abbey.” Some of it is subject matter and some our shared enthusiasm for, say, a passage in Huck Finn or Zorba the Greek. Other things pop up as happened today when seniors were reading from great papers. I told them, “I would have called Mr. Torrey and asked if he had a minute, and read part of your composition. That was always the catch phrase – ‘Hey, have you got a minute?’ – and I always did, because what followed was excellent prose read with great passion.”

THE REAL LEARNING As for writing, it IS the job. I told students recently, “Look, I could

stand on my head and teach Inherit the Wind – in fact, I might try that – but writing is my real job and your real job.” I give them a packet about writing, which centers on the whole process. In my office at home, I have a stack of corrections and revisions that I work on, and the rain and wind outside as fine companions as I plow through their deathless prose, and that is what it is all about. Writing is the real work, and I stress Writing beyond the Classroom. Also, when I hand back the first comps, I line up on the ledge of the whiteboard, the works of students I had in class, and flash on the screen pictures of them as Hotchkiss seniors. In about 10 seconds, students get it: one of them sitting here will join the ranks of published authors someday, of the line of artists that used to sit in these same seats, like Sam Lardner, who performed here last week, and Hank Kimmel, who will do classes in playwriting next spring.

COLOR PHOTOS BY JONATHAN DOSTER AND LEN RUBENSTEIN; BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES

and to the library to grab the Symphony Fantastique. It happens in soccer and baseball, too …. Like what happened last year. One of the goalies I coached said, as it was his turn to play, in the second half, “Coach, he’s playing really well; let’s not make any change.” Break your heart!

WHY I TEACH AT HOTCHKISS It’s simple. This is where I started, and like Ernie Banks with the Cubs, I will finish my career where it began.”

TOP, ABOVE, LEFT: Geoff Marchant animates an English class in 2003, and 1978 photo shows Blair Torrey doing the same.

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LAURA BARROSSE-ANTLE Instructor in Chemistry Joined Hotchkiss: 2009 Courses Taught: Chemistry (CH350), Foundations of Biology and Chemistry (SC260) “By the end of high school, I knew that teaching would be my career. I really liked being in classes, I liked explaining things to people. Then, in college my freshman chemistry teacher made it all about understanding rather than about memorizing. He wrote his tests in such a way that I felt I learned something from even the assessments. It was hard enough that it was a challenge, and so when I got it, there was a big rush. I like it here because my students are bright kids. I can go off on some side notes that are interesting to me and may be to them as well.

GIVING STUDENTS THE SPACE TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES I hope, as I think probably every teacher at this school does, that the students in my class learn to think critically and creatively. In science courses, the challenge is helping the students to learn the vocabulary and concepts that they will need to be able to think deeply about scientific information as

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well as trying to give them space to think for themselves. After every laboratory experiment, I have round-table discussions. This encourages the students to be thoughtful and active participants. They know to bring any articles that they’ve found or been given as well as their notes and the data itself. It is always exciting to see the evolution of an idea as the students make connections between their physical evidence and the chemical or biological concepts they’ve seen in class. Students who don’t always speak a lot will contribute a question. Students who are sometimes know-it-alls will be respectfully corrected as they propose an explanation, and another student points out a flaw. Sometimes a student who isn’t the originator of an answer will still contribute significantly by figuring out a different way of explaining that answer to another. At the beginning of the year, these discussions can be painful for the students, as no one wants to be the first one to say something wrong. But by the end, everyone is communicating, synthesizing data from a variety of sources, and thinking critically to get at the heart of whatever our experiment was exploring. I also coach Varsity Boys’ Water Polo in the fall and Varsity Girls’ Water Polo in the spring. I coached a little bit of rowing when I was in grad school. Coaching is defi-

COLOR PHOTOS BY COLLEEN MACMILLAN; BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES

“Dr. Barrosse-Antle”


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nitely one of the more challenging aspects of teaching here, but I have really loved coaching and getting to know this team. They are really committed athletes, and it shows in their record; they’re 8-2 right now. They’ve helped me grow as a coach, in addition to growing together as a team.

SAVORING THE “AHA” MOMENTS

Earlier this semester, we were discussing some background information that students will need to understand how atoms interact and react with one another. After going through a series of examples with the students providing more and more of the answers

with less and less prompting on my part, I finally asked the all-important question –“why?” There was resounding silence for three or four seconds, but as I inhaled to give a hint, I noticed one of the students in the back of the class looking at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. Her not terribly articulate “ohhhhh!” was much more rewarding than a glib answer from a kid for whom chemistry was second nature or who had heard the question before and memorized the answer. Those moments of sudden comprehension after struggles of various lengths are what ignited my passion for chemistry in college, and I want my students to have that same feeling.

I teach to try to challenge kids but also to help them achieve that sense of accomplishment in having understood some new concept or attained a new skill. I think chemistry is both a fun and important discipline, but I don’t expect all the students to share my feelings. I do expect them to leave my classroom better able to think analytically about problems and more confident in their ability to do so. This is not to say this is an altruistic venture on my part! I love the infinite variability that comes from working with so many different students in the classroom, in the dorm, and in the pool. I love working with smart kids and learning their enthusiasms.”

OPPOSITE: Laura Barrosse-Antle in the classroom OPPOSITE RIGHT: Chemistry teacher William Stakeley, first holder of the Donner Foundation Chair BELOW: Coaching the boys’ varsity water polo team this fall has brought challenges and many rewards.

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“Mr. Drake” TOM W. DRAKE Instructor in History Independence Foundation Chair Joined Hotchkiss: 1982 Currently Teaching: Humanities History 150 (2 sections) United States History Revolutions in the Modern World (fall semester) Imperialism and Decolonization (spring semester) LEARNING AT HOTCHKISS: “At Hotchkiss we look at our students as serious thinkers. I expect students to look at me in the same way they look at each other; I don’t want them to accept something I’ve said because ‘the teacher said it.’ I see my role in the classroom as ‘the first among equals’: I know a bit more about the topics than do my students, and it must be on the basis of that better handle on the facts, by which my view

prevails. I cannot lay claim to better interpretations simply on the basis of my role as teacher. And, of course, now that students have access in the classroom to internet resources, we can easily find more evidence during our discussions. This practice of rational discourse is at the heart of what we do in Hotchkiss classrooms. Part of my task is to give students a coherent narrative, one that doesn’t pretend to be a final answer or ultimate truth, but rather provides a grounding – a framework to make sense out of a wide array of complex developments. It’s up to us to make the world cohere for them, and we do this by using facts, the traditional tools of the historian, to build interpretations of past events. At the same time, we can’t stop at an education that emphasizes merely objectivity; it has to be about more than that when we teach young people. You can’t say, ‘Well, it looks as if war is going to break out, and there’s nothing we can do.’ We have to give students a sense of agency and empowerment – that they both individually and collectively can make choices to avert disasters and to effect meaningful change. When you work with children, you have to be committed to that.

ON LIFELONG LEARNING:

TOP RIGHT: “It’s up to us to make the world cohere for students,” says Drake. ABOVE: Thomas Stearns, well-remembered history teacher from 1944-1970

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My call to teaching stems in part from reading Dante Aligheri as an undergraduate. I studied at Lawrence University with a medievalist, William Chaney, who impressed upon me Dante’s conception of the human imperative to develop one’s intelligence to the highest degree possible. From Professor Chaney I got a clear understanding of the medieval world view. The Middle Ages are still too often dismissed as a period of decline; but in fact a civilization flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries, and the world view of that time had advantages that we now lack. Above all, it

held a belief in the spiritual essence of human beings and a cohesive definition of what constituted a civilization. Yet, equally important in terms of my call to teach, was the example of my teachers. At the fullness of their tenures, my high school teachers – mostly unmarried women, I might add – impressed upon me the seriousness of what they did and the relevance of it for a fulfilling life. There is an additional element of teaching that informs what I do today. From my experience with Dr. Chaney and other scholars of European history, I have retained the conviction that one cannot understand a culture without understanding something of its language: so French and German to a modest degree – and Czech, to a very slight degree – have been tools that I have used as a teacher over the years. Language is the idiom through which a people articulate their identity, and this identity for students needs to be seen as something that can be analyzed and documented. To do that authentically, command of the language is essential.

WHY I TEACH I teach because teachers inspired me to learn and I want to carry on that work. I teach because it allows me to connect meaningfully with others – both students and colleagues. And, I teach because it affords me the opportunity to examine ideas that interest me. For me, the cultivation of intellect is an essential responsibility, and what better place to pursue that than in a school?”


COLOR PHOTOS BY COLLEEN MACMILLAN; BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES

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LEFT: Sarinda Wilson in the classroom BELOW LEFT: Peter Beaumont, the George P. Milmine ’19 Chair, taught French from 19431977. OPPOSITE BELOW: In January, Sarinda Wilson helped students compose letters in French to children in earthquakestricken Haiti.

“Mrs. Wilson” SARINDA PARSONS WILSON The Bigelow Chair for Advanced French Instructor in French Joined Hotchkiss: 1987 Courses Taught: Accelerated Second Year French, Third Year French, Advanced Placement French Language

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“When I was in high school and college, I had such good experiences as a School Year Abroad student in France. It really was the experiential education that I had in France that made me want to be part of sharing that. Being a language teacher is so exciting. We are giving language opportunities to our students that extend beyond programs they do in the summer, or a language immersion trip during the school year, or School Year Abroad. They take their skills a little bit further, pursue them with one another, with a language club, or even with classmates in the dorm. When I was teaching 650, a tiny seminar with just two seniors in the class, we contacted one of the contemporary writers we were discovering and had several exchanges with her over e-mail. We also read poetry by a woman I know, then pastiched her work, and sent it to her. More and more, I see students taking the reins in class. They can shift from being one big group to being part of a duo or trio. They have a confidence in themselves that is inspiring. We ask a lot of them, and

they meet us. As we guide students toward language proficiency and fluency, I think the bar can be set pretty high. We’re not just reviewing conjugations and adjective forms.

READING THE FRENCHSPEAKING WORLD

Studying French was more traditional when I was a student. “French” equaled “France,” not even Quebec. So much has changed. We now read a wide selection of francophone literature; we aim to give students a taste for other cultures. So we’ll read a selection of short stories from Vietnam and Quebec and one from Gabon. By the third or fourth year, we can watch excerpts from television interviews or news, read articles from magazines, read a play by Camus. In French teaching here, everything is opened up to the francophone world. Being a language teacher is also being a language student, delighting in a crazy little grammar rule, visiting the gallery as a class, exploring something that matters to the student, and doing it in French. It’s a challenge to say, “I don’t know,” but it’s also fun. “Let’s explore that. Let’s work on that puzzle together,” I say. Exploring cultures, using language and francophone literature inside the framework of our weekly classroom


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SCHOOL YEAR ABROAD When School Year Abroad led students to Spain or France, our world wasn’t as big. It didn’t reach into Italy, China, Vietnam or Japan, as it does now. As the SYA coordinator, I work with kids who are on the brink of a potentially huge personal and academic adventure … a 15-year-old considering having a year living in China, for instance. At SYA, language just comes out of living and learning.

Through SYA you learn with local teachers, and you live with local people, but you don’t lose ground in math and English. You do it to broaden horizons. You end up learning how to apply your skills; ultimately you learn confidence. This adds a meaningful extension to my job as a language teacher. Kids need authentic experiences in the world. And the discipline and the skills that they learn as language students certainly will serve them. If you have two or three languages through which you can reach people, you’re going to have a richer exchange.”

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES

schedule, we weave our knowledge with the less tidy, less orchestrated adventures we have beyond our campus.

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CAMPUS

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NEW HEATING FACILITY AT HOTCHKISS: GREEN AND CLEAN B

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LEFT: An architect’s rendering of a near view of the planned biomass energy facility OPPOSITE: A distant view, showing how the landscape with the new facility would look from Route 41

WHO COULD IMAGINE THAT THE BUILDING OF A BIOMASS ENERGY FACILITY AT HOTCHKISS WOULD GENERATE MUCH EXCITEMENT ON CAMPUS? IT’S A NEAR CERTAINTY THAT THE BUILDING OF THE EXISTING STEAM POWER HOUSE BACK IN THE 1920S DID NOT HAVE THE SAME EFFECT.

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n fact, the age of the current facility figures prominently in the plans for a replacement. “The new facility will be much cleaner and more efficient, reducing the School’s greenhouse gas emissions by a third to a half,” says Josh Hahn, assistant head of school and director of environmental initiatives. The Hotchkiss Biomass Boiler Facility will be used for heating (medium pressure steam) purposes only. Biomass fuel to heat conversion is 80% to 82% efficient, while biomass fuel to power (electric) conversion is typically on the order of 20 to 22% efficient. “The Hotchkiss plant will be exceptionally clean-burning, with close to zero emissions other than steam. The plant will also

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have fly ash separators and an electrostatic precipitator for fine particulate matter removal, and these are beyond required standards for a plant of this nature. But energy generation, renewable where possible, is only the second priority of our overall energy policy,” Hahn continues. “The first is conservation and efficiency as a school.” Hahn described the plans for the new central heating facility as balancing the practical with the pedagogical. “In practical terms, we want to provide steam to heat the School in the cleanest way possible,” he said. “Hotchkiss’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020. In support of that, the plant will use a sustainable fuel source that is available regionally,

thereby connecting our students directly with the source of the energy. Biomass, which in our case will be wood chips, is an abundant resource in the Northwest Corner and, with particular attention focused on sustainably managed forests, has very little ecological impact. In fact, many foresters believe that managing forests can have a regenerative effect on the entire ecosystem. And we will be buying our fuel from local sources rather than sending money overseas. “The design for the new building includes a green roof, which will help with water management, and will follow Hotchkiss policies for green building construction, in particular conforming to the LEED certification process. We anticipate the building site’s being healthier than it was before construction. This includes nearby wetlands, as we will be using innovative land management practices on the building site. “Then, there is the teaching aspect. We see energy as a central issue in our students’ futures — economically, ecologically, and geopolitically. This biomass facility can provide students with a tangible example of regenerative thinking right here on campus. A school that can produce its own


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O U R S T U D E N T S ’ F U T U R E S – E C O N O M I C A L L Y,

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We see energy as A C E N T R A L I S S U E

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energy, grow food, and build soil is educating future leaders who think creatively, solve new problems, restore out-of-balance ecosystems, and give back to their own communities.” An environmental education lab Planning for the new energy facility has been underway for more than a year. All members of the community – trustees, faculty, staff, and students – have served on the committee involved in the discussions and planning. Members of the team made visits to other educational institutions to assess their programs. Visiting sites in Vermont, for example, the energy team learned that 35 schools, including two universities, are using biomass boilers. Centerbrook Architects, which designed The Esther Eastman Music Center at Hotchkiss, was selected for the new facility. Working with the campus

committee, the architects convened a series of four-hour sessions to select the most appropriate site for the building and develop a set of concepts to be incorporated into the design. “We have planned educational programs that will bring our students into forests to see the making of the wood chips, giving them a whole-system perspective. The building itself is being designed for student access, and we plan to have programs for people from the community and students from local schools who want to learn more about renewable energy. Showing young people where our energy comes from, where it goes, and how we use it is critical for enduring learning over time,” says Hahn. From the start, those working on the plans had expectations that far surpassed simply building a facility to power the

campus. Totally green design and the desire to educate and involve students in the project topped the list of the planners’ goals. An additional goal was the ability to link to the existing main steam line. “One of the central design intentions of our power house is energy agility,” said Hahn. “The Hotchkiss power house is being built with the ability to adapt to use wood chips, oil (both diesel or biodiesel), and natural gas for cogeneration capacity, if gas comes to this area in the future. We hope to exhibit solar electricity generation at the plant as well. Flexibility is a key concept for our facility and an important one for students to understand. There is no silver bullet for energy solutions, and we want to model that here and allow our students to get comfortable with the concept of limits, by seeing exactly how many resources they use in their day-to-day lives.”

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RENDERINGS: COURTESY CENTERBROOK ARCHITECTS

E C O L O G I C A L L Y, A N D G E O P O L I T I C A L L Y.

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V I S I T O R

The Heart of Writing: Pulitzer Prize-winning Novelist William Kennedy B Y

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“You have to have faith in your own intuition if you’re going to believe in your capacity to write,” declared William Kennedy, who visited Hotchkiss on September 30. “And if you believe that and act on that, you’re on your way.”

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est known for his continuing cycle of Albany novels that includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ironweed (he also wrote the screenplay for the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep P’98), Kennedy is the founder of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, so he’s used to talking to students. But not high school students, he confessed before giving a talk in the faculty lounge, still pleasantly surprised by his encounter with members of Charlie Frankenbach’s 350 American Literature class. Especially Laura Avram, an upper-mid student from Romania, whose questions about Ironweed’s implications for notions of predestination he found on a par with those posed by college students in Albany. “Or by the adults that attend my bookstore readings, for that matter,” he said. “Obviously, she thinks for herself, and she thinks in a way that most high school students I know do not. And so it was a very interesting moment.” “He was thrilled by the inquiry and gracious in his response, but would not dispel a wonderfully subtle mystery of the novel’s closing,” said Frankenbach, head of the English department, for whom having William Kennedy in class was a gift from the writing gods. “Serendipity!” he exclaimed. “Typical Hotchkiss!” The confluence of award-winning author and awardwinning book was due to seemingly random factors: a 2009 back order of Ironweed that arrived in time for this year’s class to read; the unexpected cancellation of a scheduled visiting poet; and a Manhattan party for writer Gay Talese some years ago at which Hotchkiss poet-inresidence Susan Kinsolving and her novelist husband, William, met William Kennedy and his wife, Dana.

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For 350 American Literature, the result was a refreshingly honest glimpse into the struggles and rewards of a writer’s life. “He spoke about his hometown of Albany, how he ‘met’ the characters for the novel, and told fascinating tales about the book’s title and cover art,” said Frankenbach. He also made clear the amount of work that a career in writing demands, “the dogged pursuit of a vision to be rendered into words,” a theme he continued that evening. Greeted by a capacity crowd of students, staff, and faculty, Kennedy began by reading an essay about his first short story, titled “Eggs,” written while he was in college and rejected by friends, family, and Collier’s magazine alike. A retarded orangutan could have written a better story, he admitted to appreciative laughter, but it was “the first step of a career. It proved that I’d get better because I couldn’t get worse. It acquainted me with rejection, and I didn’t die from it. And it taught me that whether they’re wrong or right, don’t trust your parents with literature.” His first job was as a sports reporter for the Post-Star in Glen Falls, NY. Drafted in 1950, he wrote for an army newspaper in Europe. Afterward, he worked at the Albany Times Union until 1956, when he moved to Puerto Rico to join a fledgling newspaper, and met and married Dana, a talented Broadway dancer. From Puerto Rico the couple traveled to Miami, where he covered the Cuban revolution for the Miami Herald. All along he continued to try and write fiction, stealing a few precious moments at the typewriter after he got home at night, or early in the morning before he left for work. When a review of On the Road came out in Time magazine in September 1957, Kennedy envied Jack Kerouac, “the freedom he had, the ideas he had, that he could go


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across the country and then write about it in this very fluid prose, and produce this document that was just starting to galvanize the country.” This was a turning point: even though the Herald unexpectedly offered him a prestigious opportunity to write a regular column, he decided to quit. “I wanted to go back to Puerto Rico, where we had had such a good life, and I wanted to become a beach bum and write a novel. And that’s what I did.” Supporting his wife and new baby with a part-time job on a newsletter, he finished the novel and “it was awful.” So he started another one, this time while working as managing editor of yet another start-up paper. It, too, was rejected. “I was constantly discouraged,” he said, in answer to a student’s question about how he kept writing. “I mean, that was the question I asked myself constantly: How am I going to be discouraged today?” But, he added, “The decision I made was that ‘I’m not going to quit. I believe in the material. Give me a little time and I’ll figure it out. That was my code phrase to myself, always.” Eventually he stopped receiving rejection slips that were splotched by editors’ coffee stains, and began getting notes that were encouraging about his writing. In the early sixties, after moving back to care for his elderly father, he wrote a series of stories about Albany’s neighborhoods and its horrific slums for the Times Union, which earned him his first Pulitzer nomination and eventually formed the basis of his 1983 nonfiction book, O Albany: Improbable City of Political Wizards, Fearless Ethnics, Spectacular Aristocrats, Splendid Nobodies, and Underrated Scoundrels. “It was the terminus for the Erie Canal, which made the city a major departure point in the westering of the nation. It was very much part of the Civil War. In the Revolution, Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton were always in and out of the city. It had a rich history that fascinated me.” Going on to investigate the history of his own IrishAmerican family, he was surprised to discover how deeply they were entwined with the Democratic political machine that ran Albany from the 1920s to almost the end of the century. The more research he did, the more he became intrigued by the city’s wealth of colorful characters, including notorious bootlegger Jack “Legs” Diamond. From this emerged his novels Legs (1975), Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (1978), Ironweed (1983), Roscoe (2002),

William Kennedy

and a host of others in the epic cycle that James Atlas described as “one of the greatest resurrections of place in our literature.” As the years went by, a number of literary honors arrived as well, among them a MacArthur Fellowship in 1983, then a National Book Critics Circle award, and the Pulitzer for Ironweed in 1984. Kennedy was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1993, the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, and in 2009 he became the first recipient of the Eugene O’Neill Award for lifetime achievement by the Irish American Writers & Artists. None of it came easily, he reminded his Hotchkiss audience. He rewrote Legs six times. Ironweed was rejected 13 times, in a roundelay of editors and publishers that makes its own riveting story. “Writing is a ridiculous profession,” he summed up, with a smile. “If you realize how hard it is and how probably unrewarding it’s going to be and you still want to do it, that’s the test that you’re really a writer.”

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RIGHT: Preps make new friends at the weekend’s events. BELOW: Bales of hay provide convenient staging for a group photo.

PREP FOR THE PLANET WEEKEND

Harvesting vegetables, pressing cider, and feeding chickens kept the attention of Hotchkiss’s newest students on a beautiful Sunday shortly after the beginning of school. On the weekend of September 11-12, the prep class enjoyed a fun introduction to the School’s Fairfield Farms and the work that goes on there. Their visit to the farm on Sunday was preceded on Saturday night by a bonfire at the lake at sunset and performance by a world-class drummer. On Sunday, all the preps and several student leaders gathered in the morning for the walk to the farm. Once there, they worked in groups on their assignments: harvesting vegetables and potatoes; collecting and burning debris; feeding and moving the chickens; picking apples and pressing cider with Instructor in English Geoff Marchant; and clearing trails. After a barbecue lunch, the students returned to campus, with a new appreciation for autumn’s bounty.

UPPER LEFT: In the evening, a worldclass drummer entertained. LEFT: Students and members of the faculty and staff harvested a good crop of vegetables. FAR LEFT: A beautiful scene at the lake on a pleasant September night

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N O T E W O RT H Y Confucius Classroom to boost Chinese Studies at Hotchkiss

In a move that will add considerably to its celebrated Chinese language program, Hotchkiss has been invited to affiliate with the prestigious Confucius Institute Headquarters international division (Hanban) in Beijing. In early November, President of the Board of Trustees John L. Thornton ’72, P ’10,’11 signed an agreement with Xu Lin, Counsellor, the State Council of The People's Republic of China, on behalf of the School that will bring an exchange teacher to campus in early 2011. As part of this relationship, which permits Hotchkiss to designate a “Confucius Classroom,” the School will also receive a library of Chinese books, software for Chinese curricular development, and computers with Chinese keyboards. “As a national school on a global stage, our participation in the Confucius Classroom project establishes a benchmark,” says Manjula Salomon, assistant head of school and director of global initiatives. “We currently have about 110 students studying Chinese language and culture. The Confucius Classroom designation will underwrite activities

that will enhance our curriculum. Our exchange teacher, Ms. Zheng Wei, who will be at Hotchkiss for two years, represents a new generation of teachers who have been trained to teach Chinese as a foreign language.” Kevin Hicks, associate head of school and dean of faculty, looks forward to welcoming the new teacher, with whom he and others at the School have spoken extensively via Skype. “Zheng Wei is rightfully excited about coming to the United States generally and Hotchkiss specifically. She’s thrilled at the prospect of working under the supervision of our marvelous Chinese teachers, Jean Yu and Ken Gu. She’s keenly enthusiastic about the rich variety of activities that make New England boarding schools so special, and is eager to contribute her energy and expertise to the mix.”

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JIWEON KIM ’11: THE POWER OF ONE

PROFILE

ONE MORNING IN HER PREP YEAR, JIWEON KIM SAT IN WALKER AUDITORIUM,

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UNIVERSITY. THAT SPEAKER WAS ANDY CUNNINGHAM, ROBERTSON SCHOLAR AND ORGANIZER OF A PROGRAM TO BUILD A SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN KENYA CALLED THE WOMEN’S INSTITUTE FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (WISER). “HE WAS SO YOUNG AND CONFIDENT

ABOUT

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REMEMBERED

JIWEON.

s a result of Cunningham’s speech, Hotchkiss became a partner school to WISER, committing to raising $1,000 per year for an individual girl’s scholarship, and Jiweon became an enthusiastic supporter of Hotchkiss’s WISER effort. Last year this unassuming teen raised almost $10,000 for WISER on her own, after embarking on a philanthropic journey that led her from public speaking in subways to presentations in corporate board rooms to running her first marathons. WISER is a non-profit NGO working to build the first girls’ boarding school and research center in the Nyanza province’s Muhuru Bay in Kenya. This province has the country’s highest HIV and malaria infection rates. It is also Kenya’s poorest area due to its political isolation. Gender inequality is the norm, with girls suffering the most. WISER’s mission is to create a replicable model for generating gender parity in education, health, and community leadership in the global south. Money raised by partner schools not only funds scholarship but also supports WISER’s goal of improving educational, economic, and health outcomes for girls; creating gender allies in boys; and promoting community-wide enhancements in health and development. (http://wisergirls.org) As Jiweon Kim rose from prep to senior, so WISER grew at Hotchkiss. Jiweon’s schedule and other activities such as The Record and swim team often conflicted with WISER activities, but she stayed committed. During her upper-mid year, the group decided that each person would speak to his or her own middle school about the WISER mission as Andy Cunningham had once done at Hotchkiss. The only problem for Jiweon was that her family had moved from Michigan to Korea, so she would not be able to visit her alma mater. That small obstacle led Jiweon to create her own fundraising strategies. “What could I do in Korea to bring other people into the WISER effort?” she asked herself. This question piloted an endeavor that would be marked by courage, rejection, creative problem solving, personal growth, and amazing accomplishment. Working with WISER enabled Jiweon to continue a philanthropic journey that actually began when she was a child. “When I was a young girl, my Mom saw a television story

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By Andrea Tufts

about a teacher who gave her students fifty cents each to use in a meaningful way. All the students came back with the fifty cents, because they didn’t know how to spend it. My Mom is into giving and donating, but she understood that this needed to be cultivated in people. My brother and I took the subways to swim practice, so before each trip, my Mom would give us a dollar each to give to someone who needed it more than we did.” Inspired by this memory, she decided to try the Seoul subway as a potential venue for raising money for the girls of Nyanza Province. Dropped off there by her father, she held a simple shoebox plastered with photos in her hands and a 30-second speech in her mind. “I walked up and down the first subway car, giving my speech, and going around with the box. The passengers all looked up, but then looked back down. That first car was a complete failure,” said Jiweon. But in the next car, people started to give her money. “I became more confident as I got more encouragement from the donors who told me ‘Good job! Keep going!’ It felt good to rise above the embarrassment. I realized, it doesn’t matter if I get cold shoulders.” She went back to the subway six or seven times more, including on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, days when people tend to be more generous. She also learned a lesson: If one person on the car gives, it inspires others to give. To test this theory, sometimes Jiweon’s father would come and pretend to be an unrelated passenger on the train. If no one gave after hearing Jiweon’s speech, he would make a donation, and cause a chain reaction of giving. Jiweon raised 298,513.20 KRW or $248.00 on the subway, which she found to be a meaningful venue not just because of its access to large numbers of possible donors. “I got over my fear of standing in front of people. They were forced to listen to me, even if many didn’t look at me. I felt I could put them in a moral dilemma as they decided whether or not they should give, or even just to think about WISER.” Another significant event occurred when she ran into a passenger from Kenya, a woman who knew Muhuru Bay and spoke with Jiweon for 15 minutes about the problems WISER was trying to remedy. The woman thanked Jiweon for her efforts, and commended her. For Jiweon, the woman’s praise “was one of the top five things I have heard in my life. To hear it from her really hit it for me.” At the suggestion of Dr. Manjula Salomon, assistant head of school and director of global initiatives, Jiweon also reached out to large companies and organizations in Seoul. “I thought I had it all planned out. I found big-shot contacts online and sent emails to dozens of people. I got nothing back,” she admitted. As her parents watched from the sidelines, encouraging her to


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give it more time, her relentless “cold calling” finally paid off. She met with Kim Soon Ok, president of the Korea Business Women’s Federation, which was very receptive to WISER’s mission. They donated 1,300,000 KRW or $1,080, and Ms. Ok opened the door for Jiweon to meet with another group of women in the Seoul Rotary Club. “Going to the meeting was a really big honor for me, and I had to practice my Korean a lot,” said Jiweon. Transforming her 30-second subway speech into a professional PowerPoint presentation, she explained the desperate social, cultural, and economic situations in Muhuru Bay, and what Hotchkiss students have done to help. She showed pictures from a mission trip to Muhuru Bay taken by Hotchkiss students last spring break. A YouTube clip of WISER students gave a human face to the population benefiting from the school. She also included an ODP graph, which compared giving trends between Korea and other countries of similar economic growth. This was important because Korea is the only country that has gone from requiring help to rebuild post-war to a nation able to stand on its own and give, within a span of just 50 years. However, the amount of overseas development assistance Korea gives is low. Spurred on by Jiweon’s presentation, the Rotary Club women gave a generous $913.62 to the cause, with a pledge of a yearly contribution. “This got me really fired up!” said Jiweon. This success led to a meeting with the husband of one of the members as well as contacts at several other small businesses. They all caught Jiweon’s passion for helping the girls of WISER and became donors, giving an additional $3,242.52. Greatly encouraged, Jiweon pulled family members into her effort by organizing a 30-day phone relay in which she called relatives, explaining WISER’s mission and asking for money, and they in turn called other relatives, which raised another $503. She also figured out how to use her own specific interests: “It was on my bucket list to run a marathon. I’ve always been a swimmer, and I can’t run.” Nevertheless, she enlisted as a runner in a marathon benefiting Korean foreign war veterans, organized by Run for Loves. “I ran it, walked a lot, and died the next day,” said Jiweon. But she opened another door for herself and for WISER. She became an intern with Run for Loves. At Jiweon’s suggestion, WISER became the beneficiary of the next race. “A lot of planning went into it, and the actual day went really well. A big part of the money ($3737.54) came from them,” said Jiweon, who kicked off the race with her presentation. She also ran in the race, her second 10K in just a few months. The day before leaving Korea to return to Hotchkiss, Jiweon and her mother waited in a bank as the money she’d raised was

converted from KRW to dollars. Until that moment, she admitted, she had no idea how much it was. But at the final count, even with $200 lost in the exchange, she learned that a grand total of $9,813.00 would be sent to WISER. “I almost passed out in the bank!” she said happily. Back at the beginning of summer, Jiweon Kim had only a vague idea of what she wanted to do with her life, although she hoped it would be something she was passionate about – something like Andy Cunningham has with WISER. As she wrote her college applications, she remembers yearning for “something more concrete” in the areas of study and career choice. Today, everything has changed. She’s had an opportunity to speak with a public policy professor about how she can weave together her interests in public policy, international relations, and sociology. And this fall, she is engaged in an independent study course on educational inequalities in China. Meanwhile, her work for WISER has not gone unnoticed. In September she was selected to receive the School’s prestigious Frank A. Sprole ’38 Social Service Prize. She has also been presented with one of the Round Square organization’s top honors, the King Constantine Medal, which is given for unusual and outstanding service work that supports and promotes the ideals of internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service. “WISER helped me really love what I am doing, and know what I want to do,” said Jiweon. “This is what people call passion. I don’t want to stop doing it.”

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SAVING

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STUDIO

S T U D E N T S H E L P P R E S E R V E F O R M E R A R T T E A C H E R T H O M A S P. BLAGDEN SR. ’29’S STUDIO

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elicate watercolor landscapes were everywhere, along with cabinets overflowing with texts, some historic, many exquisite, all containing varying forms of inspiration. Cans of paintbrushes were placed at regular intervals throughout the arched studio, and the light filtering through arabesque windows illuminated an adjacent wall of black-andwhite photographs. It was a literal cathedral of art. And there we were, carrying crates, cardboard boxes, and an enormous roll of bubble wrap, about to disrupt its gentle chaos. Our AP Art History class stood in awe at the doorway as the light fell across a whitewashed wall. To the untrained eye, the room might not have seemed as exquisite as it did to us. But we could see its hidden beauty as it unfolded, layer by layer. We spent our last days as a class packaging the studio of the late Thomas P. Blagden ’29, whose mark upon Hotchkiss cannot easily be quantified. It was Mr. Blagden whose direction helped the art department at Hotchkiss become strong and well-established. In his ardent search for beauty, he supported all art. He was a sought-after teacher, and anyone who has walked through Main and admired the art displayed along its walls can appreciate this tradition that he began. His innovativeness and personal capacity as an artist adorn the school even today. A pair of landscapes that he painted still hangs on either side of the portrait of Maria Bissell Hotchkiss in the Dining Hall, and speaks to his deep adoration of the School. Last winter, a group of us came across another piece of his legacy engraved upon a marble bench cloistered away by a trio of pines. The juxtaposition of the words “what the heart once had is never lost,” and the jewel-like local landscape, became a viewfinder into his world. Our acquaintance with Blagden’s romantic disposition was further enhanced as the layers of mountains blued into view. The subsequent visit to Mr. Blagden’s studio, not long after his death, unveiled other captivating elements. The antlers that graced the doorframes and the antique books on the work of John Singer Sargent and Edouard Manet intrigued some of us. For others, including myself, it was the mass of abstract works that filled the room with their effortless swirls of blushing pastels. The realization soon came that we were not only packing up the room of a noteworthy Hotchkiss figure but preserving a life dedicated to the collection and creation of art. The amount of inspiration in this 1,000-square-foot space was palpable.

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Tom Blagden ’29’s studio was a beautifully converted garage at his home just down Rt. 112. Our vision, for now, is to create a functioning studio/teaching space out at Fairfield Farms. One section or room would be a recreation of Tom’s studio space, complete with his art monographs, sketchbooks, and opera records. Ideally this new space would look out over the fields and across to Tom’s house, and the magnificent hilltop field he circumnavigated almost every day. Charlie Noyes’78, Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Dept.

TOP: AP Art History students help to move artworks from the studio of the late Thomas P. Blagden, Sr. ’29. ABOVE: In the studio, students found beauty and inspiration in every corner.


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MEDIA

m a k e rs

Hotchkiss Alumni in Print Morality Without God? BY WALTER SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG ’73 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS $24.95

Professor of practical ethics at Duke University (formerly at Dartmouth), Sinnott-Armstrong is also co-director of the MacArthur Law and Neuroscience Project and co-investigator at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. In Morality Without God?, he argues that God is not only not essential to morality, but that moral behavior should be utterly independent of religion. In a clear and conversational style, he “establishes a moral framework rooted in avoiding harm [as] opposed to a theistic morality whereby questions of right and wrong are decided by God’s command,” according to Publishers Weekly. Rigorous in argument but respectful in its treatment of alternate views, the book “provides a much-needed model for the discussion of religion in a pluralistic society,” said another review.

The Marriage Benefit: The Surprising Rewards of Staying Together MARK O’CONNELL, PH.D. ’73 LITTLE BROWN & COMPANY $23.99

Mark O’Connell’s latest book describes common problems encountered by married couples and tells how to reap the benefits of long-term emotional commitments. A psychotherapist with more than 25 years of experience, O’Connell – who is also a clinical instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School – uses “wonderfully revealing” anecdotes to show how patients have dealt with issues such as infidelity, diminished sexuality, and the search for authentic meaning. One reviewer summed up The Marriage Benefit this way: “Both robustly clinical and intensely personal, Dr. O’Connell’s patients speak about their pain and their dilemmas. Their therapist helps them to see what has ripened between them and what has withered, what can be altered and what can be nurtured. He tells us what staying the course with another has to offer and how it promotes optimal development.”

The New Western Home BY CHASE REYNOLDS EWALD ’81 (PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUDREY HALL) GIBBS SMITH $30

Selected by Library Journal as one of the “Best How-to” books of 2009, The New Western Home showcases 13 remarkable structures “that sit lightly on the land” in a range of decorating styles that together prove high end doesn’t have to mean overbuilt. From gently repurposed rural and urban buildings (a former cigar factory turned into condos) to high-country hideaways located completely off the grid, they demonstrate that environmentally responsible and regionally appropriate design can embrace sustainable cutting-edge materials, while also preserving the region’s past. With gorgeous color photos of western landscapes, this is armchair travel and home-envy at its best. Chase Reynolds Ewald is an editor at Western Art & Architecture magazine and the author of six previous books, including New West Cuisine (2008).

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REUNION

2010

Reunion 2010: June 11-13 LEFT: Alumni from all the classes gathered Saturday night at a reception on the lawn behind Harris House. BELOW: Tom Trethaway ’77, cohead of humanities and social sciences and instructor in history, gave a talk entitled, “Harmonious Society: Why Democracy Won’t Work in China.”

RIGHT: At the annual meeting, held in the Chapel, D. Roger B. Liddell ’63 presided, and Malcolm McKenzie provided an overview of School life.

FAR LEFT: Catching up at the reception were, from left, Yohsuke Yamakawa ’05, Jules Valenti ’05, and Laura Kerr ’05. LEFT: Winning a Hotchkiss Poetry sweatshirt for reciting a poem, impromptu, were, from left: Ian Desai ’00, Harry Lewis ’70, Malcolm McKenzie, Heather Wick ’00, and Doug McPherson ’05.

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2009-2010 Hotchkiss Fund Awards and Reunion Class Giving THE ARMITAGE AWARD

Named in honor of Thomas W. Armitage ’25, this award is presented annually to a Hotchkiss alumnus for distinguished service to The Hotchkiss Fund. Thomas S. Keating ’69, P’06,’09 THE MCKEE AWARD

to the unrestricted Hotchkiss Fund earns the Class of 1978 Award, named for the class that currently holds the record. In the 2006-2007 Fund Year, a record 118 donors in the Class of 1978 made unrestricted gifts to The Hotchkiss Fund.

CLASS OF 1949 – $4,555

Marvin J. Deckoff, Lead Agent and Tucker H. Warner, Class Agent Peter Bulkeley, James D. Dana , Arthur B. Hudson, Theodore S. Jadick, William K. Muir, Reunion Agents

CLASS OF 1978 – 103 DONORS

THE CULLINAN CHALLENGE AWARD

Named in honor of Hugh and Judy McKee P’78, ’80, ’84, ’89 in recognition of their tireless work for The Hotchkiss Fund, this award is presented annually to a Hotchkiss parent for distinguished service to The Hotchkiss Fund.

Arthur E. de Cordova III, Lead Agent Peter W. Hermann, Douglas W. Landau, Susan Myers Torrey, Class Agents

Established by the Class of 1967 and awarded annually to that class among the youngest fifteen classes that achieves the highest participation in The Hotchkiss Fund.

Elizabeth and Robert H. Clymer III ’70, P’11, P’14

Awarded annually to that reunion class contributing the largest amount of unrestricted money to The Hotchkiss Fund. On the occasion of their 40th Reunion, the Class of 1949 raised $255,619.

THE CLASS OF 1932 AWARD

Awarded annually to that class having the highest percentage of contributors to the unrestricted Hotchkiss Fund. The Class of 1932 was the first class to achieve 100% participation. Only classes with ten members or more are eligible. CLASS OF 1939 – 100% PARTICIPATION

Edward W. Cissel, Stephen K. Galpin, Class Agents CLASS OF 1949 – 100% PARTICIPATION

Marvin J. Deckoff, Lead Agent and Tucker H. Warner, Class Agent Peter Bulkeley, James D. Dana, Arthur B. Hudson, Theodore S. Jadick, William K. Muir, Reunion Agents THE CLASS OF 1978 AWARD

That class with the largest number of donors

THE CLASS OF 1949 AWARD

CLASS OF 1949 – $245,982

Marvin J. Deckoff, Lead Agent and Tucker H. Warner, Class Agent Peter Bulkeley, James D. Dana, Arthur B. Hudson, Theodore S. Jadick, William K. Muir, Reunion Agents THE CHARLES GULDEN JR. ’53 VOLUNTEER

CLASS OF 1996 – 41%

Elizabeth Morris Haselwandter, Ashley H. Wisneski, Lead Agents William P. Copenhaver, Carolina Espinal de Carulla, Jane Fleming Fransson, Sarah P. Hall, J. Welles Henderson, Paul K. Nitze, Mattathias H. Oberman, J. Javier Rodriguez, Adam M. Sharp, and William P. Woodbridge, Class Agents THE CLASS OF 1963 AWARD

Established in honor of the Class of 1963 and awarded annually to that class that demonstrates the greatest improvement in class participation and total dollars raised.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Presented annually to the class whose average unrestricted Hotchkiss Fund gift is the highest among all classes with ten or more donors. The prize recognizes the outstanding achievements of our Hotchkiss Fund volunteers.

CLASS OF 1970 – 21% INCREASE IN PARTICIPATION; 21% INCREASE IN DOLLARS RAISED.

Frank E. P. Conyngham, Reunion Gift Committee Chair William J. Benedict Jr., Robert H. Clymer III, Seth L. Pierrepont, Thomas P. Randt, William C. Smart, Reunion Gift Committee Members CLASS OF 1985 – 13% INCREASE IN PARTICI-

RIGHT: Class agents presented their checks to Malcolm McKenzie at the annual meeting. Shown are, from left: front row — Dick Egbert ’45, Hal Scott ’35, Malcolm McKenzie, Blair Childs ’45; middle row — Katha Diddel ’75, Jasen Adams ’90, Bob Clymer ’70, Jennifer Mugler Peterson ’80, Parky Conyngham ’70; and, back row — Tom Nickerson ’85, Peter Rogers ’73, Tobey Terrell ’50.

PATION; 398% INCREASE IN DOLLARS RAISED.

Thomas M. Nickerson, David B. Wyshner, Reunion Gift Committee Chairs Julia Moore Burke, Frankie Cruz, George R. DelPrete, Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian, Matthew W. Finlay, H. Price Headley, Richard W. Higgins, Stephen C. Hough, Elizabeth L. Johnson, Deirdre R. Lord, Bernard J. Park, Damon H. Smith, Gordon W. Wright, Reunion Gift Committee Members THE CLASS OF 2008 AWARD

Established in honor of the Class of 2008, whose Senior Gift to the School was an attempt at 100% participation in The Hotchkiss Fund. They achieved 77% participation with 137 donors, and this award will be given to any senior class that reaches 77% participation. The award remains with the Class of 2008 – 137 donors. F a l l

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REUNION

2010 William J. Benedict III, Emily V. D’Antonio, Hilary W. Hamilton, Elizabeth M. Langer, Emily M. Myerson, Katherine K. Oberwager, Alison R. Reader, Class Agents

2009-2010 Volunteer Challenge Results First place – three winners This challenge was designed to motivate the younger classes, and 1996 rose to the challenge. Class Agents Biz Morris Haselwandter, Will Coperhaver, Carolina Espinal de Corulla, Janie Fleming Fransson, Sarah Hall, Welles Henderson, Paul Nitze, Matt Oberman, Javier Rodriquez, Adam Sharp, Ashley Wisneski, and Will Woodbridge put in a tremendous effort. They brought in 114 gifts, increased class participation by 14% and raised more dollars than ever before. 1996

ABOVE: In an a cappella performance on Friday evening, from left: Fred Ollison ’55, Bill Woodrow ’65, Pete Erbe ’55, Ed Greenberg ’55, and Stuart Dorman ’95. RIGHT: Former choral teacher Al Sly at the keyboard

ABOVE: Enjoying a quick visit were, from left, Jock Conyngham ’75, former Director of Alumni Relations Bill Appleyard P’88, and Bob Bolling ’75. BELOW: Members of the Class of 1985 catch up.

1 9 7 8 Class agents Sue Torrey, Peter Hermann, Doug Landau, and Ty de Cordova chose to seek gifts from classmates who had not yet made a gift to the 2009-2010 Fund. 49 percent of the total number of donors in the class made a gift during the challenge period.

Seated: Rob Wharton ’85, Lane Bruns ’85, and Joe Morford ’85 with his daughter, and, standing: David Johnson, Gibby Wright ’85, Mike Hall ’85, and Liz Longstreth Johnson ’85

1 9 5 5 Toby Terrell, Pete Nelson, and George Piroumoff were determined to win and worked overtime in their quest to bring in the highest number of gifts during the monthlong challenge. They acquired gifts from classmates who had not made a gift in ten or more years or had never given to the Fund, and made additional contributions themselves. Their hard work increased class participation by ten percent during the challenge.

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earns second place and gets the award for the highest number of new and renewed donors. Under the leadership of Mark Geall, class agents Eli Bishop, Adam Leven, Jen Martin, Carter Neild, Matt Poggi, and John Tortorella raised class participation by over 9% during the challenge, acquiring the most donors in the last 20 years.

1988

Third place tie 2 0 0 6 Henry Blackford, Adam Casella, Haley Cook, Lizzie Edelman, Lincoln Foran, Nika Lescott, Lindsay Luke, and Anna Simonds increased participation for the Class of 2006 to 33%, the highest since graduation. 1 9 9 0 Jasen Adams, Bre Collier, Thad Constantine, Gib Dunham, Chip Quarrier, Derek Rogers, and Kate McCleary Walton reached new records in both donors and dollars for the Class of 1990.

BY THE NUMBERS Longest distance travelled — 16,164 miles Age range — 3 months to 93 years Total attendees — 675 Lobsters consumed — 400 Dorm rooms used — 355 Hockey rinks used for a soccer game — 1

2009-2010 Hotchkiss Fund Alumni Results by Class CLASS 1935 1945 1950 1955 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

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Second place

CONTRIBUTIONS $21,037.91 $22,885.00 $72,560.68 $172,650.00 $71,326.00 $38,719.15 $25,700.00 $100,712.00 $263,212.00 $40,591.38 $23,720.00 $10,498.00 $2,188.00

DONORS 9 29 32 45 44 54 58 35 76 65 47 51 50

PARTICIPATION 82% 66% 53% 69% 47% 68% 50% 26% 53% 49% 28% 30% 28%


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A Selected List of Class Reunion Authors HENRY ALFORD ’80

CHINGIS K. GUIREY ’40

JOHN HOLLIDAY PERRY ’35

How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth)

Through the Year with George Van Santvoord /by George Van Santvoord

Methanol: Bridge to a Renewable Energy Future / John H. Perry, Jr., Christiana P. Perry ’83

NEW YORK: TWELVE, 2009 JOHN G. AVILDSEN ’55

Annie Hall / United Artists Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman; produced by Charles H. Joffe; directed by Woody Allen SANTA MONICA, CA: MGM HOME ENTERTAINMENT [DISTRIBUTOR, 1998]

JOHN H. HAUBERG ’35

Recollections of a Civic Errand Boy: The Autobiography of John Henry Hauberg, Junior Introduction by Ralph Munro PACIFIC DENKMANN CO.: DISTRIBUTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS, C2003 FIROOZEH KASHANI-SABET ’85

GARDNER BOTSFORD ’35

Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804-1946

A Life of Privilege, Mostly

PRINCETON, NJ: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1999

NEW YORK: ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, 2003 JOHN BOURDEAUX ’91; JOHNSTON BOYDE ’90

You Don’t Know Jack [interactive multimedia] BERKELEY, CA: BERKELEY SYSTEMS, C1995 CHRISTOPHER CUDAHY CLOW ’95

Catastrophobia: The Truth behind Earth Changes in the Coming Age of Light/Barbara Hand Clow; illustrations by Christopher Cudahy Clow

LANHAM, MD: UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA, C1990 JONATHAN PLACE ’65

How to Save a Million NEW YORK: GROSSET & DUNLAP, C1982 WILLIAM ROBERTS ’40

A Few Small Candles: War Resisters of World War II Tell Their Stories /edited by Larry Gara & Lenna Mae Gara KENT, OH: KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS, C1999 WILLIAM WARREN SCRANTON ’35

DOUGLAS H. KRAMP ’80

Living with the End in mind: A Practical Checklist for Living Life to the Fullest by Embracing Your Mortality/Erin Tierney Kramp and Douglas H. Kramp with Emily P. McKhann NEW YORK: THREE RIVERS PRESS, C1998 BENJAMIN W. LABAREE ’45

America’s Nation-time, 1607-1789

William Warren Scranton, Pennsylvania Statesman / George D. Wolf UNIVERSITY PARK: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS, C1981 BELA P. SELENDY ’85

One Second before Sunrise /produced by Horizon Communications OLEY, PA: BULLFROG FILMS, C1989

ROCHESTER, VT: BEAR & COMPANY, C2001

NEW YORK: NORTON, [1976] C1972

CHEO HODARI COKER ’90

ESKO LAINE ’80

Unbelievable: the Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.

As Time Goes By: [music from the films] / die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker

NEW YORK: THREE RIVERS PRESS, C2003

EMI, P2004

VICTOR CORCORAN ’70

STEVEN H. LONSDALE ’70

Maverick

Animals and the Origins of Dance

NEW YORK: VANTAGE PRESS, 2006

NEW YORK, N.Y.: THAMES AND HUDSON, C1981

LONDON BOSTON: ROUTLEDGE & K. PAUL, 1982

FRANK CRUZ ’85; KEVIN JOHNSON ’95

WILL PHILLIPS ’55

JONATHAN WALSH ’80

Be the Dream: Prep for Prep Graduates Share Their Stories/compiled and introduced by Gary Simons

Responsible Managers Get Results: How the Best Find Solutions—Not Excuses / Gerald W. Faust, Richard I. Lyles, Will Phillips

Abbe Prevost’s Histoire D’Une Grecque Moderne: Figures of Authority on Trial

KIRA SHERWOOD ’90

CHAPEL HILL, NC: ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, C2003

More Irish Folk Tales for Children / Sharon Kennedy CAMBRIDGE, MA: ROUNDER, P2001 GRAHAM VULLIAMY ’65

Popular Music: a Teacher’s Guide/Graham Vulliamy, Edward Lee

BIRMINGHAM, AL: SUMMA PUBLICATIONS, C2001

NEW YORK: AMACOM, 1998 STUART WATSON ’00; AUSTIN BARNEY ’01

Refraction mirage

DEBORAH E. DONNELLEY ’80

PETER MATTHIESSEN ’45

In the Company of Sisters: Portraits and Reflections

Shadow Country: A New Rendering of the Watson Legend

OAK PARK, IL: D. DONNELLEY, C2003

NEW YORK: MODERN LIBRARY, 2008

W I L L A R D F . E N T E M A N ’5 5

ARCHIBALD MCCLURE ’40

Retirement 101: How TIAA-CREF Members Should Deal with the Dramatic Changes in Their Pensions

Why Are We Here?

Making a Landscape of Continuity: The Practice of Innocenti & Webel/Gary R. Hilderbrand, editor

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: CALIFORNIA PUBLISHING COMPANY, 2000

CAMBRIDGE, MA: HARVARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, C1997

NEW HAVEN, CT: REFRACTION MIRAGE RECORDS, 2005 RICHARD C. WEBEL ’70

MADISON, WI: UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS, C1992

WILL MCMILLAN ’80

CHARLES MCC. WEIS ’40

ANDREW FROTHINGHAM ’70

If I loved you/Bobbi Carrey & Will McMillan

Last Minute Speeches and Toasts

NOWANDTHEN PRODUCTIONS, 2004

Boswell in Extremes, 1776-1778 / Edited by Charles McC. Weis and Frederick A. Pottle

FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ: CAREER PRESS, 2001 JOHN LUKE GALLUP ’80

Is Geography Destiny?: Lessons from Latin America /John Luke Gallup, Alejandro Gaviria, Eduardo Lora PALO ALTO, CA: STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; WASHINGTON, DC: WORLD BANK, C2003 WHITNEY GANZ ’75

Clyde Scott: Paintings from the Robert and Rea Westenhaver Collection/by Deborah E. Solon CARMEL, CA: WILLIAM KARGES FINE ART, 1999 ANTHONY N. GARVAN ’35

Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial Connecticut NEW HAVEN, CT: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1951

JEREMY MONTAGU ’45

Origins and Development of Musical Instruments / Jeremy Montagu

NEW YORK: MCGRAW-HILL 1970 MICHAEL WINTHER ’80

Songs from an Unmade Bed/ Mark Campbell

LANHAM, MD: THE SCARECROW PRESS, 2007

GHOSTLIGHT, 2006

HILARY MULLINS ’80

EVANS WOOLLEN ’45

The Cat Came Back

Building for Meaning: The Architecture of Evans Woollen/WFYI Indianapolis

TALLAHASSEE, FL: NAIAD PRESS, 1993 J. CHRISTOPHER MURAN ’80

Self-relations in the Psychotherapy Process /edited by J. Christopher Muran WASHINGTON, DC: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, C2001

INDIANAPOLIS, IN: SPELLBOUND PRODUCTIONS, 1994 IAN WOOLLEN ’75

Stakeout on Millennium Drive SHREVEPORT, LA: RAMBLE HOUSE, C2005 LLOYD ZUCKERBERG ’80

The Search for Negotiated Peace: Women’s Activism and Citizen Diplomacy in World War I

Jose´ M. Allegue: A Builder’s Legacy/by Christine G. H. Franck with photographs by Karen Dombrowski-Sobel

NEW YORK: ROUTLEDGE, 2008

LUNENBURG, VT: STINEHOUR PRESS, 2002

DAVID S. PATTERSON ’55

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ALUMNI

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The Hon. Peter Hall ’66: True to his judicial calling

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BY MOLLY MCDOWELL

Friends and colleagues of the

Honorable Peter W. Hall ’66 describe him as hard-working and dedicated, naturally impartial,

extraordinarily conscientious, and very intelligent.

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These are the very qualities that have enabled him to rise through the ranks of the U.S. legal system before his 2004 appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, representing Vermont. According to Judge Hall’s dear friend Sam Howe ’66, these traits are inherent to Hall’s being and are not learned. “Pete’s one of those special people who felt the call early on to go out and make a difference in the world. The sense that he had this clear vision of purpose in his life was frankly a little irritating,” recalls Howe, laughing. He expanded on that thought when recalling the September 24 ceremony during which Hall accepted the Alumni Award. “One thing that struck me that night was that one of our classmates who had not seen Pete in a very long time commented that he returned to Hotchkiss to honor him,” he said. “They were never close friends, and in fact this classmate said he had kind of a rough time at Hotchkiss because he wasn’t part of any group or one of the cool guys. But he came back to honor Pete because he was one of the rare people who didn’t judge him and seemed to be accepting of who people were.


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OPPOSITE: Judge Hall gives the 2010 Alumni Award address. RIGHT: On stage from left are: Malcolm McKenzie, Sam Howe ’66, who introduced Judge Hall, and Alumni Association President Katie Allen Berlandi ’88.

This classmate’s comment was a very powerful statement about who Pete is and has always been.” Howe describes Hall’s reputation at Hotchkiss as a teenager as being much the same as it is now, as a judge on the second highest court in the U.S. “He paid attention to the rules and regulations; probably a lot of people thought he was a little too earnest and not much fun, but that’s part of the strong backbone he’s always had, and certainly part of what drew me to him, alongside our family connection,” he says. About that family connection … Judge Hall is not the first Alumni Award honoree in the Hall-Howe lineage; Howe’s grandfather, Arthur Howe Sr. ’08, distinguished scholar and former president of the historically black college, Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), won the award in 1932. Thirty-seven years later, Arthur Howe Jr. ’38, received the award for his work as president of the American Field Service student exchange organization. Howe Jr. also taught at Hotchkiss with Peter Hall’s father, Thomas Hall. It was during this time that then-toddlers Peter and Sam began their friendship (despite a sandbox incident that involved Sam’s trying to feed sand to Peter, and Peter’s retaliating by biting his friend), a friendship that was interrupted by the Hall family’s move to Vermont, and resumed when Peter and Sam lived together as lower mids in the room in Coy that had once served as Peter’s nursery.

Hall believes that the most important aspect of his Hotchkiss education was not any set of facts or dates that had to be memorized for class, but rather, the writing skills gained from instructor Robert “The Hawk” Hawkins’s English classes. “My prep English class with

ABOVE: Peter Hall speaks to students in James Marshall’s class, “Constitution and the Supreme Court in Contemporary American Politics.” F a l l

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LEFT: Peter Hall with his lifelong friend, Sam Howe OPPOSITE: Shown with Peter are his sister Maro Hall, left, and his mother, Emily Paine.

Bob Hawkins imparted what was acceptable, and my ability to write necessarily became stronger,” he recalls. “That class gave me the basics for good writing, and the daily themes we wrote as lower mids helped me become more efficient and skillful in my writing.” Strong writing skills are essential for a successful judicial career, Hall emphasizes. In his Alumni Award acceptance speech, he referenced a presentation U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave at Middlebury College. He said, “In describing for the students there how opinions are crafted, [Roberts] explained that the rationale of an opinion – the reasoning by which one moved from the facts of the case and principles of law that the Court has already articulated to then determine what principles should apply to the facts at hand and perhaps what new principles must be announced – has to ‘write.’ Put another way, if you cannot explain in some logical way how you reached the decision you did, then you may not have reached the correct result.” A strong foundation in writing is only one of the traits that Judge Hall brings to the federal bench. In a 2004 speech given at Hall’s induction as circuit judge for the United States

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Court of Appeals, the Honorable William K. Sessions III referred to the event as “a celebration for Peter, but also a celebration for all of us who practice law in Vermont because Peter represents the absolute best in the way people practice: the level of civility and skill, and dedication, and a sense of balance.” He continued, remembering his first legal interactions with Hall. “[In 1978] I was this young, eager defense lawyer, and he was an Assistant United States Attorney…. What I observed at the beginning is the same thing I observe today. He had a sense of balance, of compassion, of understanding…. And you knew that you were treated fairly. The person whom you represented was treated fairly. And you had a sense that this is the way the justice system was in fact to work.” The Honorable Jon O. Newman ’49 (winner of the 1980 Alumni Award), Hall’s colleague as senior judge on the Second District Court of Appeals, echoed Sessions’s sentiments, stating, “In the [six] years he’s been on the Court of Appeals, he has already distinguished himself as one of our ablest judges. He does excellent work, he’s extraordinarily conscientious. In all respects, he’s an ideal judicial colleague.”

Hall is quick to give credit to those who have guided him. As a student at Cornell Law School, he was inspired to become a prosecutor, thanks to Professor G. Robert Blakey, a noted expert in organized crime. “He said to us as we were analyzing a fairly complex criminal procedure issue, ‘You cannot all be brilliant. What you can be is “craftsmanlike”; strive to be craftsmanlike in reaching the resolution of the problem confronting you.’ And by that I think he meant that we should not shirk our training, but seek to master the tools of our trade – no shortcuts.” Throughout his legal career – from clerking for U.S. District Judge Albert W. Coffrin of Vermont, working as U.S. Attorney, working in private practice, and sitting on the Second Circuit’s bench – Hall developed a reputation for not only his intelligence and diligence, but also for his egalitarianism. While speaking this fall in Hotchkiss’s perennially popular course, “Constitution and The Supreme Court in Contemporary American Politics,” Hall stressed the importance above all else that solid academic performance plays in his hiring decisions for clerkships. “There’s a lot of brilliance that’s not at Yale and Harvard,” he said. “It’s also important to hire clerks who are smarter than you,” he added, chuckling. His measured, open-minded approach in his legal and judicial career has been noted many times by his colleagues and friends. During his speech given at Judge Hall’s 2004 Circuit Court induction, the Honorable Paul L. Reiber, now Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, said, “If there is anyone who possesses the qualities of an excellent judge, it’s Peter Hall. He’s a lawyer


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who, in private practice, had a reputation for his willingness to take on disadvantaged clients, including people whose problems seemed beyond any possibility of success. And at the bar, Peter was a master of the art of handling a case, applying practical wisdom and deliberativeness, and guiding clients toward the resolution of their problems, an approach that embraced the traditional ideals of this profession.” Hall describes his philosophy as being very simple: “When one practices law, the Golden Rule and the converse of that which I believe is ‘what comes around goes around’ are the things that probably should guide how you live your life but certainly must guide how you practice law.” He cites his parents and his mentors, such as Judges Niedermeier and Coffrin as exemplars of this philosophy. “My parents showed tremendous respect to everybody, no matter what his or her station in life. And whether or not you liked Niedermeier or Coffrin’s decisions, you always felt you were treated respectfully.” Hall finds that the cases that have moved him the most are the ones in which the moral and ethical decision lined up with the correct legal decision. In a pro bono custody case involving a birth mother who had lost all contact with her son in violation of her visitation rights, he tells this story of “seeing the law work the right way”: “I was able to help reunite son and birth mom, but I was only a piece of that. Several judges who were sitting on family court followed their instincts and made the absolute right decisions, foster parents came in who may have originally appeared to be suspect because they seemed to have lined up with the adoptive mom who

was in jail at the time, but who did – and it was an act of faith, these were faithful people – did absolutely the right thing and started working on reuniting mother and son. That to me was the system and a whole bunch of other things working correctly. I wasn’t paid a penny for that work, but the rewards stuck with me.” Another memorable case for Hall was the last case he had before he left private practice to become a U.S. Attorney. An older gentleman succumbing to Alzheimer’s had given a large farm to a land trust that was going to preserve it. Distantly removed relatives surfaced only to dispute his competence at the time he made his gift. “The court system in

its determination that the gift was a valid gift, that the donor was competent and understood fully what he was doing and had been planning to do this and this was the result of a thought-out decision and no pressure, that came out exactly right,” he said, adding, “It was a nice result to hear about as I began my new position.” As a U.S. circuit judge respected and admired by his colleagues and mentors both, Hall perfectly embodies the qualities one expects in an Alumni Award recipient – through personal achievement, he has brought honor and distinction to himself and Hotchkiss, and the bench is made that much better by his presence on it.

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Julia Zhu ’87: Choosing the road ‘less traveled by’

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Three families have inspired Julia Zhu ’87, a founder and President of Redgate Media Group in China, since her earliest days: her blood relatives in China, from her renowned scientist and professor grandfather

Zunyi Yang (among his protégés is Chinese premier Wen Jiabao) to her young son; her

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American family, the Steins; and the family that is the Hotchkiss community.

A G A Z I N E

Through the inspiration, love, support, and encouragement of these three families, Zhu was given the confidence and drive to pursue her goals. In the 1930s, a Ph.D. student named Zunyi Yang from Tsinghua University befriended Jerry Stein, a Yale undergraduate, as they undertook research together at the Peabody Museum. Yang completed his degree in 1939 and returned to China, where he would become a founding member of what is now known as China University of Geosciences. The next 40 years brought the Sino-Japanese War, Chinese civil war, Cultural Revolution and the Cold War; Yang and Stein lost the contact they had sworn to maintain. It wasn’t until 1980, when Jerry and his wife Sylvia had the foresight to look up Yang with the help of Yale in advance of a trip to China, that the two friends tearfully reunited. Zhu’s grandfather and Jerry Stein seamlessly resumed their great friendship. Five years later, this friendship brought Zhu to the U.S. as a student at a time when U.S.-China relations had just relaxed post-Cold War, and very few Chinese high school students traveled here. “My grandfather’s half-century friendship with the Steins brought me to this country, and Jerry suggested with great


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enthusiasm that I apply to Hotchkiss after I expressed my desire to improve my English and go to college in the U.S.,” says Zhu. The Steins gave her much more than advice about schooling. “They took me in as a family member and opened up a whole new world for me. They taught me important values that have given me the drive and relentless spirit to excel through my academics and career. They are the reason I went to Hotchkiss and eventually became a naturalized American citizen.” Zhu entered the School as a postgraduate after attending Torrington High School the year before. She remembers her time in Lakeville as very productive and memorable. “I tried to take as many classes as I could, because they were all so fascinating to me. I also participated in many different musical and dramatic activities,” Zhu recalls. “I felt like a kid in a candy store!” English instructor John Perry had a particularly meaningful impact on Zhu. “He was such an exciting and analytical teacher, and was patient with me as a foreign student,” Zhu says. “I took two of his classes: English Literature and ‘The Godfather and Mafia Culture in America.’ To date, the ‘Godfather’ movies remain my favorite films, and I still remember his lectures every

time I watch them.” Perry also inspired Zhu to apply to Wesleyan University. “He introduced his Wesleyan experiences to me and wrote a recommendation letter for me. I took his advice and attended the school, and I loved it.” After graduating from Wesleyan, Zhu spent five years in the business world before attending the Yale School of Management. She joined Chase Securities’ investment banking division after earning her M.B.A. Her success in that position enabled her to request a transfer to Hong Kong, where she joined its media and telecom team. “Media has been my longtime passion,” Zhu says. “I looked for a path that combined my personal interest with my experience in business and finance. I found a great match at STAR TV Group, [a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.].” Her business development and strategic investment responsibilities for STAR TV and News Corp.’s foray into China provided her with insight into the entertainment industry’s business operations at a key point in China’s history. During Zhu’s time at STAR TV, the Chinese media market was undergoing fundamental changes. In 1980, when Yang and Stein reunited, China had a 100-percent centrally-planned economy. Barely 20 years

OPPOSITE: Julia Zhu, president of Redgate Media Group in China TOP LEFT: Julia with her grandfather, Zunyi Yang TOP RIGHT: The Steins with Zunyi Yang ABOVE: The Steins and Zunyi Yang reunited after more than 40 years

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LEFT: Chinese Premier Wen

PHOTO: CHINA XINHUA NEWS AGENCY, COURTESY JULIA ZHU

Jiabao with Zunyi Yang

later, the free market system had been implemented in a meaningful way, and China was a new member of the World Trade Organization. However, its highly fragmented media market couldn’t support highquality and efficient services with the ability to enable advertisers to gain exposure in multiple markets across the country. Because of strategic and political reasons, large, multinational companies were unable to adopt local media practices to gain traction. It was amid these economic and regulatory changes that Zhu, along with two other seasoned media executives, saw the opportunity to start a Chinese media and advertising company: Redgate Media Group, of which she is Group President, General Manager,

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and Co-Founder, overseeing the group’s M&A business development activities and day-to-day operations. The company launched in 2003 aiming to become a leading national diversified media company. Seven years later, Redgate works with worldwide brands including Bulgari, Gatorade, and Evian as well as with leading Chinese companies to launch and carry out advertising campaigns through television, the Internet, billboards, print media, public relations, and event marketing. Through all these channels, Redgate’s work reaches nearly 200 million consumers in more than 40 Chinese cities in the world’s second largest advertising market. “It has been a very intense seven years for

me,” says Zhu. “The learning curve has been steep but rewarding. I’ve been responsible for setting up our legal and operation structure, hiring, making strategic acquisitions, and integrating them into the Group. I also maintain our relationship with the government, which is crucial for running a sustainable media company in China.” Zhu emphasizes that no matter how demanding a career, time for family is essential. “I would not have been able to run Redgate without my husband’s understanding and support, and the love of our wonderful four-year-old son” she says. This balance has made an impact on her leadership role at Redgate: “Even though most of my direct reports and colleagues are men, I feel a sense of responsibility to give guidance to our female employees and to young women who aspire to be business leaders. I want to share the importance of working hard on both career and family life, and my belief that these two elements should not be mutually exclusive.” When Zhu speaks of the success she’s achieved, she describes her accomplished, modest grandfather as “everything I aspire to be.” The Steins have been “the guiding light in my life since I arrived in America.” And Hotchkiss “taught me that there are all kinds of possibilities in life, and that I can excel in whatever I set my mind to … I learned to make my own decisions with accountability and to take control of my fate. This spirit has helped me overcome many challenges throughout my career.” She says, “There have been many challenges I encountered at different stages of my career. They all boiled down to the choices I made for myself. Each time I made a change, I chose the path that was newer and more intriguing, yet with uncertainties and challenges. I always enjoyed the process of reinventing myself and pushing my own limits. All of this is possible because I had the support of my families.”


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TRUE BLUE

se rv i c e , l o y a lty, a n d lo ve

The Andrew K. Dwyer Foundation

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BY ROBERTA JENCKES

This story begins at Hotchkiss, but like so many,

develops strong roots in the world outside the School.

One of a family with many Hotchkiss members, Andrew made friendships extravagantly while he was at Hotchkiss – across all four classes and without regard to social strata. “Everybody just loved Andrew,” says Associate Head of School John C. Virden’64, who was his advisor. “He had a wonderful bonhomie, a great attitude about life, and a smile on his face about ninety-nine percent of the time.” When Andrew died in an automobile accident in January 2003, the sadness and sense of loss weighed heavily in many hearts. But Andrew’s family, including father Andy Dwyer ’66 and mother Cindy Dwyer, sisters Elly Rice ’97 and Nancy Eaves, found one way to make something valuable – Andrew’s spirit and vitality – into something lasting: The Andrew K. Dwyer Foundation. In February 2003, his family (Cindy, Andy, Elly, and Nancy) and friends – his cousin Chris Brooks ’01, Nate Thorne ’01, John Hyland ’01, and friend from childhood Jake Grand – collaborated to launch the foundation; its programs would support children in need. Today the foundation has about 2.5 million dollars in endowment and makes gifts totaling about $150,000 each year. Its major fundraiser takes place in the fall – “Doggday” is an annual golf outing, tennis tournament, and dinner with a live auction. (“Dogg” was Andrew’s nickname at Hotchkiss. Everyone knew Andrew as “Dogg.”) “My son Andrew was such a sweetheart, with a wonderful sense of humor,” says Cindy

Every piece of it, every action, every gift and call to service has a home in one person: Andrew K. Dwyer ’01.

McKenna ’03 run the committee, but all the members support the foundation. The committee members offer ideas for the foundation’s programs supporting education. “The trustees established guidelines for our programs. We had to choose something that we felt Andrew would approve of. And we all had to be a part of it. It was not going to be a gift we would give once. It was something we would continue to support. Trustees of the foundation are individually committed at each of these schools, providing their time and dedication in addition to the foundation’s support.”

PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS AND ANSWERING WISHES

ABOVE: Andrew K. Dwyer ’01, when he was at Hotchkiss

Dwyer, “just a kind, kind young man. He had tons of friends, many of them from Hotchkiss, who have become involved in the foundation. The kids have been just incredible and their families, too. Hotchkiss has not only given them a great education, but also it has opened up their hearts. “We set up the Andrew K. Dwyer Foundation Committee in 2004, because so many of Andrew’s friends wanted to support the foundation. Sam Jackson ’01 and Lisa

The foundation supports five independent schools: The Waterside School in Stamford, CT; the East Harlem School at Exodus House; the Bronx Preparatory Charter School; Harlem Academy; and Brooklyn Jesuit Prep. Each school serves low-income children and helps the students develop academic excellence, moral integrity, courtesy, and a commitment to their future and their community. In tribute to Andrew’s many interests, the foundation supports a variety of programs outside of education – a swimming program, soccer, basketball, and volleyball teams. Andrew loved golf and was an excellent golfer, so The First Tee was a perfect scholarship since it teaches golf to inner-city children and encourages education, voluntarism, and F a l l

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TRUE BLUE

se rv i c e , l o y a lty, a n d lo ve

integrity; the foundation awards two Andrew K. Dwyer scholarships to a First Tee recipient each year. For The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Pediatrics Spring Prom, the foundation helps with the party and provides tuxedos for the evening. “The foundation supports the Prom because Andrew loved to dress up for the Hotchkiss dances,” notes Cindy Dwyer. Also, the foundation donates to the Sloan Christmas Party and gives gifts, including Ipods one year, to the children. The foundation also provided a grant to help fund the Adolescent Depression Awareness program of Johns Hopkins University and has underwritten the cost of making an ill child’s wish come true through the Make-a-Wish Foundation of the Hudson Valley. “We have a scholarship at the Calvin Hill Day Care Center in New Haven, where Andrew’s dear Yale friends, Nate Thorne ’01 and Tony Bellino, volunteered,” says Cindy. “This year we presented scholarships to two students whose parents are the children of police, fire department, and EMT workers in the area where we live. At the East Harlem School, where Chris Einhorn, Chris Brooks, and John Hyland – friends of Andrew’s from Hotchkiss – are involved, we have programs, including the very successful ones held at Hotchkiss with the varsity lacrosse boys’ and girls’ teams.”

John Hyland ’01: “Andrew was my best friend, but the incredible thing about Dogg is that there are probably a dozen people who would say the same thing. To this day, I continue to have many close friends whose sole connection that I share with them is that they were friends with Andrew from other places besides Hotchkiss. The success of our foundation is a huge testament to Andrew and all of the people that he touched during his lifetime. “My connection to the East Harlem School is really as a board member of the AKD Foundation. Dede Brooks, Chris’s mom and Andy’s sister, is the head of the Board at EHS and first introduced us to the school. EHS is a middle school for grades five through eight (the lacrosse players are in seventh and eighth), and many of the kids go on to boarding schools. “The lacrosse outreach program with EHS students last spring came about when Mr. Burchfield (Hotchkiss Instructor in English

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LEFT: Varsity Lacrosse Coach Chris Burchfield

their school and teach them a little about their sport really made the day a huge success.”

Varsity Lacrosse Coach Chris Burchfield:

and Varsity Lacrosse Coach Chris Burchfield) called me about a year or so ago and asked me how the Hotchkiss lacrosse team could be involved with our foundation. I told him about the newly formed EHS lacrosse program, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Andrew was a varsity lacrosse player at Hotchkiss as were most of our large group of friends, and many of us played in college. The sport and the team were a very important part of our Hotchkiss experience. For the EHS kids, the day at Hotchkiss was the first time many of them had been to a boarding school and seen lacrosse played at a high level. “The EHS players broke into groups for tours of the school by Hotchkiss lacrosse players. Pat Redd Johnson from the Admission Office then spoke to the students about the process of applying to a school like Hotchkiss, which was great because she is very familiar with EHS. The students then had lunch with the Hotchkiss players, watched the Bearcat victory over Northfield Mt. Hermon, and then participated in a clinic directed by the Hotchkiss players and coaches. Former Varsity Co-captain Lindsey McKenna ’10, former Varsity player Lisa McKenna ’03, Elly McKenna, and Varsity Girls Coach Anna Traggio organized a similar day for the EHS girls’ team to spend a day at Hotchkiss with the Bearcats’ girls’ team. Lisa and Lindsey are Andrew’s cousins, and Elly is his aunt. It was a special day for all. “I was very proud to be a Hotchkiss alumnus that day. ‘Burch’ did a great job organizing the day, and the enthusiasm and friendliness of the Hotchkiss players to show the EHS kids

“Andrew loved his athletic experiences as a Hotchkiss student. He was so fulfilled by the camaraderie, the opportunity to play for Hotchkiss, and when he wasn’t actually suiting up, he always supported others as a spirited fan. Involving the lacrosse team only seemed natural. It honors Andrew’s legacy. “The EHS boys were so gracious and so eager; theirs was an unbridled enthusiasm. Whatever we may have shared with them, they more than matched simply through their spirit. They gave us quite an emotional lift!”

John Hyland ’01: “I never thought I would be so involved in the nonprofit world at such a young age. My involvement in the foundation has made me a much more well-rounded person and has provided a great balance with my professional career. I have also learned how easy it is to make a difference very close to home. “I think our work with the foundation has introduced others to volunteer programs. For example, Chris Einhorn, a classmate and teammate at Hotchkiss who also helped organize the lacrosse day, serves on EHS’ Young Volunteers Committee and devotes more time directly to the school than I do. My wife, Emily Bohan Hyland (’02), volunteers as a tutor at EHS one afternoon a week. Another friend, Beth Schmidt (’02) did Teach for America in Los Angeles, and we helped her with the logistics of sending a few of her select students to participate in camps, internships, and other activities over one summer. These were all opportunities that they would not have been able to experience otherwise. Beth is now devoting herself full-time to starting a nonprofit organization with this very idea at wishbone.org.”

Beth Schmidt ’02 “I knew Andrew from my time spent at Hotchkiss. He was soulful, spirited, charismatic, and most genuinely interested in others. I feel as though the Andrew K. Dwyer Foundation rep-


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RIGHT: Seen on the day of the lacrosse outreach program with East Harlem School are: back row, fifth from the left, wearing a cap, John Hyland ’01 and next to him, on his left, Chris Einhorn ’01. BELOW RIGHT: In her former classroom in Watts, Los Angeles, Beth Schmidt ’02, fifth from the left, is shown with her students.

resents his memory well, as it really exemplifies what it means to be alive – to serve others with passion, to believe in a hope greater than ourselves, and to feel unified in a spirit of global citizenship. “I taught tenth-grade English at Locke High School in Watts from 2007 to 2009 through Teach for America. I was attempting to teach my students how to effectively navigate a research project during my first year of teaching. After my first ‘research project’ assignment, I think maybe six kids handed it in successfully. “Then, I thought about how I could create something that would be meaningful; so, I talked to Cindy Dwyer about my idea and assigned a research project for students to research an out-of-school program of interest within the greater Los Angeles region, collect data about the program, analyze what the benefits would be in participating, and pitch it to me in an essay. The winners would get to actually go do the program. Almost every single student handed in that paper. This made me realize that students are empowered to control their own destinies when given the opportunity to do so. Seven students were selected from the essay entries, and these students participated in programs such as the UCLA Stem Cell Science Program, the UCLA Mock Trial Institute, the USC Trojan Football Camp, the Redondo School of Music, the New York Film Academy, and the Hawthorne Drum and Bugle Corps. “All seven students who participated graduated high school; all seven went on to either a two-year or four-year college. Many of the donors who funded these programs still follow up about these students and ask how they can help. “Wishbone.org was born from my ‘test

model’ in Watts through the Dwyer Foundation. After I realized what a game changer the out-of-school program experience was for my ‘at-risk’ students, I decided that I had to broaden the outreach and bring this model to an online platform. “Wishbone.org strives to bring opportunity to ‘at-risk’ high school students through direct sponsorship of after school and summer programs via online donors. “My work through Teach for America has made me redefine my notion of community. We are all community. We must break down the barrier of tolerating ‘them’ because we are ‘us.’ It is all ‘us,’ and it is possible for every one of ‘us’ to have remarkable educational resources in this country.”

Andy Dwyer ’66 “What I find exceptional is the commitment of young people’s time and how they really have gotten invested in the foundation, whether as

board members or volunteers. One of the wonderful things about Hotchkiss is having the feeling that you were extraordinarily lucky to go there. And that is the ethos of this foundation. It is significantly weighted toward Hotchkiss kids, who give us ideas about what to do. And this creates a life of its own. Every year we give away more money and have more people giving us ideas about what to do. “When you’re involved in something at the start, you’re not sure whether you’re going to have great momentum. This has really taken root. If we take all the people who have participated in foundation activities, it’s well over a thousand. “There’s no question that the energy really starts with people’s affection for Andrew and his ideals. As an alumnus, I take great pride in how many Hotchkiss kids are right at the center of this – boys and girls who have made such a huge difference. It’s a great credit to the school.” F a l l

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S P O RT S

news

The 2009-2010 Athletics Wrap-up COMPILED BY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ROBIN CHANDLER ’87

Fall Season:

JV GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY:

5-1

JV GIRLS SOCCER:

12-2-1

JV BOYS SOCCER:

1-10-3

4-3

BOYS THIRDS SOCCER:

1-11-1

5th in Founders League 9th at New Englands

JV FIELD HOCKEY:

8-2-2

THIRDS FIELD HOCKEY:

1-6-5

JV VOLLEYBALL:

13-2

JV FOOTBALL:

3-4

V A R S I T Y BOYS CROSS COUNTRY:

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: 8-0

Founders League Champions 4th in New Englands FIELD HOCKEY:

13-2-1

New England Class A Champions #4 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-finals: Hotchkiss 1, Nobles 0) (Semi-finals: Hotchkiss 2, Andover 0) (Finals: Hotchkiss 3, Exeter 2 OT) FOOTBALL:

Winter Season: V A R S I T Y BOYS BASKETBALL:

Tri-State League Champions New England Class A Champions #4 Ranking in NE Tournament (Quarter-finals: #4 Hotchkiss 77, #5 KUA 56) (Semi-finals: #1 Tilton 76, #4 Hotchkiss 65)

7-2

Erickson League Champions New England Class A Runners-Up #1 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Finals: Hotchkiss 14, Exeter 20 OT) Alex Amidon ’10 – NEPSAC MVP BOYS SOCCER:

16-3-1

Founders League Champions New England Class A Champions #1 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-finals: Hotchkiss 3, Exeter 2) (Semi-finals: Hotchkiss 3, BB&N 2) (Finals: Hotchkiss 2, Kent 1) GIRLS SOCCER:

7-6-3

VOLLEYBALL:

13-5

GIRLS BASKETBALL:

13-6

BOYS HOCKEY:

11-13-2

GIRLS HOCKEY:

12-4-3

9th in New England BOYS SQUASH:

WATER POLO:

J U N I O R

8-7

V A R S I T Y

JV BOYS CROSS COUNTRY:

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13-5

2nd in Founders League GIRLS SQUASH:

7-5

8th Place at New Englands BOYS SWIMMING:

New England Class A Runners-Up #3 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-finals: Hotchkiss 3, Deerfield 0) (Semi-finals: Hotchkiss 3, Andover 1) (Finals: Hotchkiss 1, Choate 3)

18-7

2-4-1

3rd in Founders League Championship, 5th at New Englands; Jack Pretto ’10 was NE Champion in the 100-yard backstroke and set a new NE and School record with a time of 49.82. New School Record: Jack Pretto ’10 set a new School record in the 200yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.76. New School Record: Jack Pretto ’10 set a new School record in the 100-


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LEFT: The 2009 New England Championship Varsity Field Hockey Team BELOW LEFT: Varsity Football Coach Danny Smith with the captains of the 2009 Erickson League-winning team BELOW: Coach Bill Markey, left, with the Boys Varsity Tennis Team after winning the New England Championship

yard backstroke with a time of 49.82. New School Record: Tyler Bulakul ’10 set a new School record in the 100yard butterfly with a time of 50.97. GIRLS SWIMMING:

1-6

WRESTLING:

9-4

Spring Season: V A R S I T Y BASEBALL:

5-11

BOYS GOLF:

10-12

8th in Founders League GIRLS GOLF:

J U N I O R

V A R S I T Y

BOYS JV BASKETBALL:

A N D

6-8

GIRLS JV BASKETBALL:

6-6

BOYS THIRDS BASKETBALL:

2-8

BOYS JV HOCKEY:

3-9

GIRLS JV HOCKEY:

10-2

BOYS JV SQUASH:

8-4

GIRLS JV SQUASH:

4-6

2-12-2

6th in Founders League

T H I R D S BOYS LACROSSE:

7-7

3rd in Founders League New School Record: Derick Raabe ’10 Most Career Points for a Long Stick; Previous record of 15 was held by Andrew Irving ’07. GIRLS LACROSSE:

10-4

2nd in Founders League 2nd in Western New England F a l l

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news

SAILING:

15-1

BOYS TRACK:

5th in Founders League 4th in New England New School Record: Alex Amidon ’10 in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.64 seconds; The previous record of 10.7 was set in 2003 by Xang Chareunsab ’03.

2nd in NE Fleet Championship 3rd in NE Team Championship SOFTBALL:

2-10

BOYS TENNIS:

13-0

Founders League Champions Southern NE Tournament Champions Kingswood Invitational Champions NE Class A Champions Founders League Champions New England Champions

GIRLS TRACK:

11-0

GIRLS WATER POLO:

J U N I O R

LEFT: With Coach Ron Laurence standing by, members of the Boys Cross Country warm up before beginning their run.

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15-10

New School Record: Most Career Points: Ben Smith ’10 with 122; Previous record of 101 was also set by Ben Smith ’10.

2nd at Kent Invitational Tournament Founders League Champions NE Class A Champions

ABOVE: At the Donosti Cup competition last summer in Spain, the Girls Varsity Soccer team advanced to the semifinals.

3-4

4th in Founders League 7th in New Englands ULTIMATE FRISBEE:

GIRLS TENNIS:

3-5

0-10

V A R S I T Y

A N D

T H I R D S

JV BASEBALL:

0-10

BOYS JV GOLF:

1-10

BOYS JV LACROSSE:

10-4

GIRLS JV LACROSSE:

8-3-1

BOYS THIRDS LACROSSE:

11-0

GIRLS THIRDS LACROSSE:

2-4-1

JV SAILING:

3-2

BOYS JV TENNIS:

7-4

GIRLS JV TENNIS:

7-2

BOYS THIRDS TENNIS:

3-4

GIRLS THIRDS TENNIS:

3-4


133917_42_45:tmatters 12/14/10 8:03 AM Page 45

A MESSAGE TO ALUMNI f ro m t h e B o a rd o f G o v e r n o r s o f t h e A l u m n i A s s o c i a t i o n LEFT: Alumni and parents attend a workshop during Volunteer Leadership Weekend. BELOW: Current parents talk with Director of The Hotchkiss Fund Electra Tortorella.

V O L U N T E E R

L E A D E R S H I P

W E E K E N D

On September 24-25, 2010, The Hotchkiss School hosted 140 alumni and parents for its annual Volunteer Leadership Weekend. The program, reinstituted three years ago after a brief hiatus, has three primary goals: • Recognize and thank volunteers for their service to Hotchkiss • Provide an opportunity for volunteers to learn about the School today from students, faculty, and staff • Provide a forum in which volunteers can connect with other alumni and parents who give of their time to the School. This year’s program began on Friday afternoon with meetings of the Alumni Association Board of Governors. On Friday evening, volunteers attended the presentation of the 2010 Alumni Award to Judge Peter W. Hall ’66 (see page 28). The Alumni Award, which recognizes individuals who, through personal achievement, have brought honor and distinction to themselves and the School, is the highest honor bestowed upon a Hotchkiss alumnus/a by the Alumni Association. Saturday’s events began with student and faculty panels designed to provide a sense of what it is like to live, teach, and learn at Hotchkiss. These were followed by a discussion about admissions and college advising with Rachael Beare,

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, and Rick Hazelton, Director of College Advising. The morning concluded with workshops focused on information and skills specific to the various volunteer positions represented among attendees. Lunch and a question and answer session with Head of School, Malcolm McKenzie, capped the Volunteer Leadership Weekend program. Volunteers, who give willingly and generously of their time, play a vital role in the success of Admissions outreach, Reunions, The Hotchkiss Fund, and other areas of the School. If you would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit W W W . H O T C H K I S S . O R G / A L U M N I / VOLUNTEERING/INDEX.ASPX. To read the reflections of two alumni volunteers – Maude Kebbon ’87 and Marvin Deckoff ’49 – who attended Volunteer Leadership Weekend, visit W W W . H O T C H K I S S . O R G / ALUMNI/INDEX.ASPX.

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IT’S

MY t u rn

On Growing Up BY PETER NALEN ’79 FOR JACK NALEN ’13

W

Yes, everyone notices how you’re changing and growing physically. But few know the emotional or intellectual changes that may have occurred over the last year. Sometimes even you don’t recognize them. It’s tough to see or recognize these things, because they are more “felt” than rationally “thought.” Some of the internal changes may be as simple as things you used to like but don’t anymore (waking up earlier than 10 a.m.). Other changes are not even changes, but just a recognition and comfort in those things that stay the same, like eating Skittles®. Some are harder to detect and communicate. Maybe it’s a keener interest in history and how we got here, or an appreciation for the constancy found in math or physics. It’s okay to change, but what is imperative with the change is the ability to recognize and accept them and let them take you wherever they may lead. It’s tough because they may lead you to new, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable places, places you or those who may influence you have never been. It may even take you to places that your current friends don’t want to go, putting the closeness of that friendship at risk. On the flip side, suppressing them or not letting them express themselves may lead to regret at what could have been, what new experiences you could

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BLOG ENTRY:

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Welcome home after your first year away. “Wow, you’ve grown!” “Look how big you got!” “Your hair looks darker.” “You’re so much taller.”

have, new places you could explore, new friends that you could meet. Other changes are even harder to detect; these are emotional changes. How you feel in situations or around certain people. These include ideas that you were told or believed were true that are not – from “you’ll get cramps and drown if you swim right after eating,” to “there are only certain people with whom you should hang out.” Be true to your core, it’s a good one; trust your gut, as it will usually be right; make decisions based on what you can do or could do. Not what you should do. Should takes away your freedom. Don’t be imprisoned by should or have to. Don’t just survive with what you think others think you should do; thrive on what is right for you. Be true to your inner self, and you will be true to those around you. Because if you do not recognize and take care of your whole self (physical, intellectual, and emotional), you will not be able to take care of anyone else. Posted by Peter at 1:32 AM THIS BLOG ENTRY BY PETER NALEN ’79 FOR HIS SON JACK, A LOWER MID AT HOTCHKISS, FIRST A P P E A R E D O N “ V I R T U A L H O T C H K I S S ,” A B L O G B Y AND FOR THE HOTCHKISS COMMUNITY AT HTTP://VIRTUALHOTCHKISS.BLOGSPOT.COM/. JACK’S GRANDFATHER IS CRAIG NALEN, CLASS OF 1948.


133917c 12/14/10 8:11 AM Page 2

Board of Trustees

Alumni Association Board of Governors

Thomas C. Barry P’01,’03,’05

EMERITI

Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88

Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82

Christopher M. Bechhold ’72, P’03, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Subcommittee for Membership

Ian R. Desai ’00

John R. Chandler, Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10

Lance K. Beizer ’56

Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07

Edgar M. Cullman ’36, P’64, GP’84

William J. Benedict, Jr. ’70, P’08, ’10

William R. Elfers ’67, Vice President

Frederick Frank ’50, P’12

Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88, President

John E. Ellis III ’74

David L. Luke III ’41

Lawrence Flinn, Jr. ’53

Dr. Robert A. Oden, Jr. P’97

Keith E. Bernard Jr. ’95, Co-chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Diana Gomez ’76, P’11,’12

Nancy Watson Symington P’76,’78, GP’00,’10

Douglas Campbell ’71, P’01

Sean M. Gorman ’72, Secretary

Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ’56, P’85

Charles A. Denault ’74, P’03, Ex Officio

John P. Grube ’65, P’00

Arthur W. White P’71,’74, GP’08,’11

Kerry Bernstein Fauver ’92

Elizabeth Gardner Hines ’93 Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet ’85 Eleanor Green Long ’76 Forrest E. Mars, Jr. ’49, P’77,’82

Seth M. Krosner ’79 D. Roger B. Liddell ’63, P’98, Secretary Jennifer Appleyard Martin ’88, Chair, Gender Committee

Peter J. Rogers, Jr. ’73, P’07, ’11

Alison L. Moore ’93, Co-chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, Vice President

Alessandra H. Nicolas ’95

Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08

Daniel N. Pullman ’76, Ex Officio

Jane Sommers-Kelly ’81

Peter J. Rogers ’73, P’07,’11, Ex Officio

Marjo Talbott

Wendy Weil Rush ’80, P’07, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Committee

John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11, President William B. Tyree ’81, P’14, Treasurer

For more information, please contact Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87, Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Programs, at (860) 435-3892, creilly@hotchkiss.org, or visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni, then click on Reunions.

Brenda G. Grassey ’80

Malcolm H. McKenzie P’10, Trustee Ex Officio

Philip W. Pillsbury, Jr. ’53, P’89,’91

Classes of 1936, 1941, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006

Meredith Mallory George ’78, P’09,’11

Edward J. Greenberg ’55, Vice President and Chair, Alumni Services Committee

Kendra S. O’Donnell

June 10 – 12, 2011

Quinn Fionda ’91, Chair, Communications Committee

GP’09,’09,’11,’11,’14, Vice President

Christopher H. Meledandri ’77

Save the Date

Peter D. Scala ’01 Bryan A. Small ’03 George A. Takoudes ’87 Jana L. Wilcox ’97

To learn more about The Board of Governors, please visit www.hotchkiss.org/Alumni/BoardGov.asp

Hotchkiss REUNION


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