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Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID Permit No. 36
11 I N T E R L A K E N R O A D LAKEVILLE, CT 06039-2141 (860) 435-2591 w w w. h o t c h k i s s . o r g
Pittsfield, MA
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Memories Needed Were you here in 1968? Are there memories you can share? Do you still have a box of daily themes, a diary you would be willing to lend, or letters you wrote to your parents? Were you a school photographer? Are there old black-and-white photographs in your attic? Did you register for the draft while a student here? If so, Hotchkiss Archives & Special Collections needs your help. Hotchkiss Archives and Special Collections plans an exhibit and teaching program in conjunction with the School’s Humanities Program focused on 1968 at Hotchkiss. The exhibit will open early in 2013. 1968 is a pivotal year in the Humanities curriculum, touching on issues of race, gender, Vietnam, and more. The exhibit will focus on life at Hotchkiss in the late ’60s with particular emphasis on curriculum, social life, diversity, and the effect of national and international events on students. Memorabilia may be sent to Joan Baldwin, Curator of Special Collections, via email at jbaldwin@hotchkiss.org or by U.S. mail c/o Hotchkiss Archives & Special Collections, The Hotchkiss School, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039-2141. Please no 0LVFKLDQ]DV – we are well supplied with copies.
In this Issue: The Annual Report of Giving 2011-12
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Board of Trustees Thomas C. Barry P’01,’03,’05 Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88 Ian R. Desai ’00 Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07 William R. Elfers ’67, Vice President John E. Ellis III ’74
EMERITI
Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82 John R. Chandler, Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10 Frederick Frank ’50, P’12 David L. Luke III ’41 Dr. Robert A. Oden, Jr. P’97 Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ’56, P’85 Arthur W. White P’71,’74, GP’08,’11
Quinn Fionda ’91, Vice President and Chair, Communications Committee Edward J. Greenberg ’55, Vice President and Chair, Alumni Services Committee Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16 Keith Holmes ’77 Alessandra H. Nicolas ’95 Nichole R. Phillips ’89
Lawrence Flinn, Jr. ’53
Daniel N. Pullman ’76 Ex-Officio
Diana Gomez ’76, P’11,’12
Thomas S. Quinn III ’71, P’15 Ex-Officio
Sean M. Gorman ’72, Secretary
Casey H. Reid ’01
John P. Grube ’65, P’00
Peter D. Scala ’01
Elizabeth Gardner Hines ’93
Thomas R. Seidenstein ’91
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet ’85 Eleanor Green Long ’76 Forrest E. Mars, Jr. ’49, P’77,’82 GP’09,’09,’11,’11,’14, Vice President
2012-2013 Alumni Association Board of Governors
Malcolm H. McKenzie P’10, Trustee Ex Officio
Christina M. Bechhold ’03
Christopher H. Meledandri ’77, Vice President
Mr. William J. Benedict Jr. ’70, P’08, ’10
Kendra S. O’Donnell Thomas S. Quinn III ’71, P’15 Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, President Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08 Jane Sommers-Kelly ’81 Marjo Talbott
Lance K. Beizer ’56
Bryan A. Small ’03 George A. Takoudes ’87, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Committee and Subcommittee for Awards Michael G.T. Thompson ’66 Carolyn H. Toolan ’97
Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88, President Keith E. Bernard Jr. ’95, Vice President and Chair, Alumni of Color Committee Miriam Beveridge ’86 Douglas Campbell III, ’71, P’01, Secretary and Chair, Nominating Subcommittee for Membership
John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11, Officer-at-Large
Adam Casella ’06
William B. Tyree ’81, P’14, Treasurer
Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian ’85, Vice President and Chair, Gender Committee
Daniel Wilner '03
Hotchkiss REUNION
Charles A. Denault ’74, P’03 Ex-Officio
October 26-28, 2012 Class of 1962 - 50th Reunion Class of 1967 - 45th Reunion
June 14-16, 2013
FIND UPDATES ON THE HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH The Hotchkiss website, www.hotchkiss.org, and our social media sites provide timely School news. Eleanor Green Long ’76 and John E. Ellis III ’74, the Trustee co-chairs of the Head of School search committee, are providing regular updates on the search on the Hotchkiss website. You can find this news by clicking on the button on the home page that says, “Head of School Search.”
For more information, please contact: Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87, Director of Alumni Relations, at (860) 435-3892 or creilly@hotchkiss.org. You may also visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni and click on Events & Reunions.
Classes of 1933, 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008
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HOTCHKISS
COVER ARTIST: JONATHAN DOSTER
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Malcolm H. McKenzie EDITOR
Roberta Jenckes DESIGNER
Christine Koch, Boost Studio
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What’s new? What’s different? What’s also unchanging? Fortunately for Hotchkiss, the answer to all these questions is service. The School’s first student body moved unhesitatingly in the first week of school to form an organization that had, among its charges, “caring for the spiritual welfare of the school.” Every generation since has moved in the path toward service, responding to the times in which they lived and the surpassing needs they saw. Twenty-first century students are defining new territories and identifying for themselves the places where they can help in today’s world. A different world it is, but the warming energy that moves them would be totally familiar to the St. Luke’s Society members of 1892.
CLASS NOTES EDITOR
Divya Symmers Communications Writer
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WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Dreamers & Doers: Stories of Alumni Service
Robin Chandler ’87 P.16
Molly McDowell Malcolm McKenzie Alan Murphy
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Henry Pillsbury ’54 Zubin Sharma ’09 Divya Symmers
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Campus Connection
Mark Vella ’13 Roger Wistar
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. 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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True Blue P.26
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The Annual Report of Giving
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Athletics Year in Review
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Class Notes
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In Memoriam
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It’s My Turn
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FROM
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There are many fine stories in this edition of The Hotchkiss Magazine
that reveal the power of service in action. It is heartening to note that so many in our extended family are committed to serving others in meaningful ways.
One inestimable value of serving is that it takes us outside ourselves, it assists us in entering the worlds of our fellows, it bathes us in a larger light, and so refreshes us. That should never be the motivating force for service, but it is a beneficial consequence. I remember this well from my days at Maru-aPula School in Botswana, when I used to lead a band of students every Friday afternoon to work and play with a group of disabled children. The end of the week worked well for the children, but it always seemed for us to be the worst time for that type of activity. We would often set out feeling tired and listless, but we always returned energized, filled with a vigorous optimism stemming from the children’s resilience and fortitude. What an antidote to the sometimes narcissistic, self-absorbed lives that so many of us who are ‘privileged’ lead too frequently. Travel is another quite different way of taking ourselves away from our local habitats and into other realms. Travel does not always have this effect, of course. Aldous Huxley wrote an amusing, ironic essay called “Why Not Stay at Home?” in which he depicted the wrong sort of travel as a means of confirming stereotypes and snobbery. At its best, however, travel opens windows into different, illuminating worlds. I love this aspect of journeying. When I travel, I have a special liking for visiting schools in new places, as there is always so much to learn from them. This summer I went to Botswana for five days, to the 40th anniversary of Maru-a-Pula School, where I worked for 12 years. This is a school founded in 1972 with a dual purpose: to provide a world-class education in what was then an impoverished, newly independent country, and to show bigoted South Africans that non-racial education could work effectively. Having achieved both founding goals most successfully, it has now moved on to
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Reading to students at Salisbury Central School
seek new goals consistent with its visionary initial impulses. Botswana is a country wracked by the scourge of HIV, despite the enlightened, supportive policies of its government and its capability to provide anti-retroviral medication to HIV victims. Many children are orphans. Maru-a-Pula now runs a special scholarship program that allows bright, industrious orphans to study there. Some of these scholars are now at college in the United States and elsewhere. What an inspiration. Later in July, I attended the annual Global Connections Seminar, this time in New Zealand. The seminar brings together school leaders from around the world and is hosted each year by a school in a different country. The central organizing work is done by Hotchkiss. Rangitoto College, the largest public high school in New Zealand with 3000 students, was our principal host. That school places huge emphasis on professional advancement and development for its teachers, and members of the faculty who have reduced course loads run this program. What a productive form of internal service to the school community. While in Auckland, we spent time in three other schools. Tamaki College is a relatively poorly resourced school with an indomitable spirit. It brings together harmoniously Maori, Tongan, and Samoan students with New Zealanders of European descent in ways that we could most certainly learn from. The Diocesan
School for Girls is a school of a different type, private and polished. The girls that we met, however, were confident, thoughtful, and displayed no obvious sense of entitlement. A most unusual school is the Dilworth School for Boys, founded just over 100 years ago by two Irish immigrants to New Zealand, James and Isabella Dilworth. When they died without children, they bequeathed their estate to start a school for boys ‘who were in straitened circumstances’ and whose mission would be to educate them to become ‘good and useful members of society’. Many of these boys were orphans, and today 85% of them are fatherless. Owing to the absence of father figures in their early years, pastoral care takes on a special dimension in this school. Donald MacLean, the Principal and a good friend of mine, summarized his presentation of Dilworth to the seminar delegates by saying that there are many different ways in which schools measure their successes. He added that the most telling of these for his school was that in over a century of preparing boys in straitened circumstances to become good and useful members of society, only four graduates had ever needed to apply to send their sons there. That’s worth a thought or four. We are rightly proud of our traditions and distinctive qualities at Hotchkiss. We shall preserve these, at the same time learning from and sharing with others. Fine schools around the world address similar concerns and aim for the same goals. Serving our communities small or large, while at school and for the rest of our lives as graduates, is one of the most laudable of these.
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BOOK ON GEORGE VAN SANTVOORD ’08 BRINGS NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THIS MOST UNUSUAL MAN B y
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J e n c k e s attempting. I tried not to think of how he would be reacting to each of my paragraphs. The objective was merely to illuminate what I could of his life. I was certain there was much of interest to discover and only wondered what I could find after the passage of so many years. The most obvious challenge was the fact virtually all his close friends and contemporaries were dead. Arthur Howe ’38 was therefore a superb resource. Arthur taught history and Latin at Hotchkiss in the 1940s, served as the Dean of Admissions at Yale, and headed the American Field Service in England.
THE COVER PHOTO USED IS BY ALLAN GRANT/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGE AND COPYRIGHT TIME AND LIFE PICTURES.
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he Gift of His Example: George Van Santvoord of Hotchkiss, a book four years in the making, has been published by Fay Vincent ’56. A highly readable, 148-page tribute, the book describes with insight and affection the Headmaster who guided Hotchkiss from 1926-1955 and includes anecdotes and reminiscences from alumni and former faculty members. Many of the stories affirm the powerful and lasting impression that “The Duke,” as he was called, had on students. In the Preface Vincent paints a portrait of Van Santvoord that will resonate with those with knew him: “He wanted his boys to think, and he made certain he helped them do so. … He provided direction, inspiration, and wisdom to boys at a time in their lives when he could have maximum effect.” – The Gift of His Example: George Van Santvoord of Hotchkiss, page x. Headmaster Malcolm McKenzie said of the new book, “We all need icons from our past to guide us thoughtfully into our future. This book will help do just that. Fay Vincent has done something wonderful in bringing GVS to life in this way. I thank him most sincerely for this.” Vincent, an author and essayist, the CEO of Columbia Pictures, SEC lawyer, EVP of Coca-Cola, and the former Commissioner of Baseball, credits Van Santvoord with having profoundly influenced his life and career. Hundreds of alumni knew and were influenced by George Van Santvoord, and yet, as Vincent notes, “each of us who attended Hotchkiss saw GVS differently.”
To show the many sides of this most unusual man, Vincent quotes extensively from letters, reminiscences, diaries, and other sources. Vincent was assisted in the research for the book by his classmate and friend, the late John Barrett ’56. Shortly after the book’s publication, we asked Fay Vincent for further perspective on the book and on Van Santvoord, whose life still retains about it a bit of mystery. Here is that interview: You say in the Preface, “This book is in some sense a default work. I began it in part because I had been waiting years for someone else to do it, and when time was running out I decided to do it myself.” What were your goals for the book? I was totally intimidated by what I was
Did you encounter any particular surprises in your research? I was surprised by his obvious determination to destroy much of his personal files. He burned many of his papers at the end of his life so there were no surviving letters, for example, to or from him while a student at Hotchkiss or Yale. I found no records of his academic performance at Hotchkiss or Yale and no correspondence of his while he was hospitalized after being wounded during his service in World War I. I wish there had been more of his writings, as he was so observant. He surely had his reasons for what he did. Obviously, he was very private. The surprises were the facts of his wounding and the story of his departure from his beloved Yale. One major surprise was the paucity of details about his work as a Fellow of the Yale Corporation. I could not find many of his thumbprints in the Yale archives. There’s a lovely story told by Julian Stein ’37 on page 70 about how comforting and
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RIGHT: GVS’s passport photo
thoughtful the Duke was at the time he learned of his father’s death. Did you hear from many alumni with information and anecdotes for the book? I did not hear from a large number, but the quality of their stories was high. I think those stories give a valuable dimension to the book. They make GVS human and obviously caring for his boys. What quality about the Duke originally endeared him to you? Won your respect? I quickly came to revere his immense learning and enjoy his sense of humor. I was not frightened by him. I had respect for his wide range of interests and for the intense dedication he had to “the life of the mind.” He seemed to take an interest in me, and I never wanted him to be disappointed. You mention in the book a conversation that you had some years ago with Justice Potter Stewart ’33. When you asked, “Who, other than your parents, had the greatest impact on your development,” he answered immediately, “The Duke.” What was it about George Van Santvoord that led to the influence that he had on so many people? I suspect there were many different reasons. But GVS stood tall for the nobility of each of us, while he also represented the very best traits of the learned gentleman. He preached to us of the best qualities of our nature including charity toward all, honesty, and dedication to the work at hand, and we were inspired. I believe it was his ability to make us believe in ourselves and to aim high that we later came to accept as inspirational at a vital and decisive time in our young lives. He pointed us toward proper goals. George Van Santvoord was very effective at communicating the four elements governing a well-lived life: intelligence, discipline, curiosity, and fidelity. How did he articulate this message to students? The sadness of the modern Hotchkiss is the
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absence of the chapel services GVS used on a daily basis to reinforce his basic principles. It is difficult to imagine him in a school without the chapel being at the core of school life. In that sense he was the abbot of the monastery, and the chapel was at the center of our lives. His chapel talks were fascinating events, combining wit, learning, instruction, and often some rebuke. He used the chapel and the mood of that beautiful space to set the tone for all he did. I learned how deeply religious he was as I read his correspondence and journals. He expressed concern and dismay in the 1960s and 1970s when societal upheavals led to changes to the School that he loved. What in today’s Hotchkiss would win his approval? He would be delighted by the environmental focus of the community and by the serious interest of the students in learning. He would also admire their interest in the rest of the world and the international diversity of the students.
legions of admirers. How is that treated in the book? I set out the essential criticisms of him and attempted to provide reasonable perspectives. He had his faults as we all do, and Arthur Howe was helpful in this area. Some of the criticism is fair. Some is not. But the book is my work, and I accept responsibility for the result. What are your plans for your next book? I have no plans for another book, though I write essays for a Florida newspaper and occasionally for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. As a new project, I decided to learn to play the piano at age 74. I am slow and without talent, but my goal is modest. COPIES OF THE BOOK ARE AVAILABLE AT $20, PLUS SHIPPING AND HANDLING, FROM THE HOTCHKISS BOOKSTORE.
Mr. Van Santvoord had his critics as well as
Author Fay Vincent ’56
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Taking a bow: The Green and Clean Biomass Central Heating Facility
Biomass
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By Roberta Jenckes
Those of us who worked O N T H E P L A N N I N G F E E L E S P E C I A L LY P R O U D O F T H E B U I L D I N G ’ S
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A MUCH-AWAITED DEBUT OCCURRED MIDSUMMER, WHEN THE
SCHOOL’S BIOMASS CENTRAL HEATING FACILITY WAS COMPLETED ON SCHEDULE AND ITS TRADEMARK GREEN ROOF ACHIEVED FULL, VERDANT EFFECT.
ALL PHOTOS BY JONATHAN DOSTER
The School began commissioning the facility’s two Messersmith boilers for the first time in July, ensuring they are ready to run at peak efficiency when the plant first goes into use for heating in the fall, according to Director of Environmental Initiatives and Assistant Head of School Joshua Hahn. The most recent and unquestionably most visible element in the School’s “green” building program, the 16,500-square-foot heating facility aligns with Hotchkiss’s commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral campus by 2020. It merges beautifully with the surrounding landscape, with its low profile and the sloped green roof. Constructed wetlands, called bioswales and rain gardens, will enhance the currently degraded ecosystem at the site as part of the landscape design. “Those of us who worked on the planning feel especially proud of the building’s educational components, which are unique,” said Hahn. “The facility was built with student access and multiple curricular connections in mind. And we also focused on the educational value of making our energy use transparent to the entire community who live and work at Hotchkiss.” The facility is one of only three LEED-certified power plants in the country. It was designed by Centerbrook Architects of Centerbrook, CT, designers of the School’s award-winning Esther Eastman Music Center. Planning and construction of the biomass facility have taken place over the last three years. BUILDING WITH SENSITIVITY TO THE ECOLOGY AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
ABOVE: The facility’s stack disperses emissions that are mostly steam, reducing ground-level pollutants to almost zero.
The Central Heating Facility will burn wood chips, a form of biomass, instead of #2 heating fuel oil (diesel). Using locally sourced wood chips from sustainably managed forests, the
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LEFT: The building blends into the landscape. MIDDLE LEFT AND RIGHT: The attractive façade, and colorful roof, planted with sedum, a low-maintenance succulent that captures 50 percent of storm water BOTTOM: Truck bays for deliveries of wood chips into a 17,500-cubic-foot storage bin
School will reduce its carbon footprint by about 45%. And the dollars that have been spent on oil to heat the campus (the cost of approximately 375,000 gallons of home heating fuel annually) will now remain in and around the greater Lakeville community. “We think that money for fuel is better spent here in the Northwest Corner,” says Hahn, “and so we worked hard to create a system that utilized local and renewable resources, rather that finite fossil fuels brought in from great distances.” The facility’s notable green roof, serpentine-shaped, is planted with sedum for both aesthetic value, allowing the building to blend with the surroundings, and ecological value, by capturing more than half the storm water that falls on it and protecting nearby wetlands from the associated erosion and pollution. The building will exhibit a high level of energy efficiency in heating, cooling, and electrical systems. Inside, wood is used in multiple forms to further connect visitors to the forestry process and the primary natural resource the building exhibits. Large curved beams made from laminated
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RIGHT: A view of the exterior from the southwest BELOW RIGHT: The two biomass boilers create steam heat for the campus at a pressure of approximately 60 psi, to burn fuel at greater efficiency. BOTTOM: The facility will reduce the School's carbon footprint 35 to 45 percent.
wood from certified forests provide the aesthetic backdrop for the plant and support the green roof at less cost than steel trusses. Furniture and other displays utilize local products so as to further support the regional forest economy. The design of the plant intentionally incorporates spaces for viewing and touring by student groups and members of the community. One of the most significant aspects of the boiler system’s design is the inclusion of a sophisticated emissions control apparatus called an Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP). “The ESP is not currently required for plants of this nature,” says Hahn, “but we felt it was extremely important to include it so that we demonstrate the cleanest possible system. After the chips are burned in highly efficient combustion chambers, the remaining fly ash is captured by the ESP, which charges the particles and then attracts them to metal plates. The plates are then discharged and the ash, reduced to the consistency of fine baby powder, is removed in barrels. These barrels of ash will likely be brought to the Hotchkiss farm and also be available for gardens, thus completing the circle and providing food for the School’s dining hall.” The new plant replaces a Central Heating Facility from the 1920s, which was nearing the end of its useful life and needed to be replaced. In keeping with a School energy policy that encourages the use of renewable energy whenever possible, several options were explored. Woody biomass, in the form of wood chips, was deemed the most appropriate fit for the Hotchkiss campus. You can tour the new biomass facility at: W W W . H O T C H K I S S . ORG/ABOUTHOTCHKISS/ENVIRONMENTAL-INITIATIVES/ENERGYGREEN-BUILDING/GREEN-ENERGY/INDEX.ASPX.
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Graduation
GRADUATION 2009 The PromiseCoflass a New Day of 2012
Celebrating the Achievements of a Remarkable Class
TOP: The procession of seniors is applauded by members of the classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015.
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ABOVE: Malcolm McKenzie and Board President Jean W. Rose ’80 lead the faculty. OPPOSITE: McKenzie addresses the class.
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The 120th Hotchkiss commencement ceremonies on June 1 saw diplomas awarded to 177 graduates. It was a perfect spring day, made only better by the contributions of a talented group of speakers and performers. Senior Angela Chen and history instructor Julia Wu Trethaway performed piano duets by Gabriel Fauré, Bercuese and Les Pas Espagnol from Dolly Suite, op. 56. Head of School Malcolm McKenzie’s opening remarks touched on the changes that have taken place at Hotchkiss over the decades, specifically within the student body. “When we enrolled half of you as
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preps,” he said, “it was already clear that the Class of 2012 was going to be the most diverse in the history of our school.” This graduating class’s rich mosaic has shaped the tenor and spirit of the entire school community. McKenzie spoke of Julia Wu Trethaway, the seniors’ indefatigable class dean, and her commitment to this change. Trethaway had taught the class as preps a hand signal that was a mystery to others until just weeks before graduation: the fingers of both hands joined overhead with palms facing outward to shape the letter O, standing for open heart and open mind.
ALL PHOTOS BY JONATHAN DOSTER
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THEY WORK BEST WHEN THEY ARE OPEN …
McKenzie explained, “Hearts and minds are like parachutes: They work best when they are open.” A few weeks earlier, he had asked students what they thought their strength was. A large number answered “diversity.” When asked, what is diversity? A favorite reply was, “It’s different ways of thinking and enjoying and learning from that.” He commended the students for “creating this climate of care that made it possible to express your authentic selves.” School presidents Jack Shanley and Meaghan Kachadoorian addressed the crowd with a cadenced banter set to music – a well-presented message of remembrance combined with looking ahead. Their presentation was followed by keynote speaker Charles H. Frankenbach
III, co-head of the English department. Who could be better to speak on the power of this community, and place? Literary imagery, carefully constructed phrases, humor, and poetry were interwoven into a deceptively simple message: Carry Hotchkiss with you wherever you go and whatever you do. Frankenbach shared with the graduates an excerpt from “Making Strange,” a poem by Nobel Prize winner and visiting poet (spring 2010) Seamus Heaney: Then a cunning middle voice came out of the field across the road saying, ‘Be adept and be dialect, tell of this wind coming past the zinc hut, call me sweetbriar after the rain or snowberries cooled in the fog.
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Hearts and minds are like parachutes,
But love the cut of this traveled one and call me also the cornfield of Boaz. Go beyond what’s reliable in all that keeps pleading and pleading, these eyes and puddles and stones, and recollect how bold you were when I visited you first with departures you cannot go back on.’ A chaffinch flicked from an ash and next thing I found myself driving the stranger through my own country, adept at dialect, reciting my pride in all that I knew, that began to make strange at the same recitation. Frankenbach advised the graduating seniors to heed their “inner voice” – the voice inside that urges us along. Be in
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…hold that sense of history AND YOUR TIME IN
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touch with localities, self, and others but then go beyond. Go beyond what’s reliable, he advised them. Frankenbach touched upon a number of Hotchkiss locales, including Furnace Village, now known as Salisbury. “When you walked out just now, there was a good chance you took a step on that beautifully worn, cupped step, that granite step that has remained from the original school building,” he said. “Think about how many have done so, since the start of this school.” He urged the graduates to hold that “sense of the history of this school and your time in it…by carrying it with you in your own recitation, in your own words, words you must speak to yourself before you share with others.” He later spoke about what he carries from his own past: At Gettysburg College I took a sociology course from a man named Wade Hook, a South Carolinian intellectual wizard who had me, utterly, at ‘Take your seat, son.’ I
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had done pretty well in the class, early on, and had developed a keen sense for sociological inquiry into the material at hand. I, in turn, asked this searingly precise question one day: ‘Dr. Hook, is this gonna be on the test?’ “His response, I now know, figured largely into my becoming a teacher: ‘Charlie, your limitations, as suggested by
TOP LEFT: Malcolm McKenzie with Mohammed Rashid
ABOVE LEFT: Seniors enjoyed the program and a beautiful day.
TOP RIGHT: The Graduation speaker with his daughter, Carla Frankenbach ’12
ABOVE RIGHT: Co-Presidents Jack Shanley and Meaghan Kachadoorian spoke to the class.
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ABOVE: Graduates share the thrill of their brand-new diplomas. ABOVE RIGHT: Dean of Residential Life Jen Craig congratulates Hannah Anokye. RIGHT: Frankie Brown’14 hugs Alondria Cazad '12, left, and Elise Liu after the graduation exercises.
THE EXULTANT, OF THE POSSIBLE AROUND YOU …
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…keep a sharp eye and ear FOR ANY SIGN OF .
your question, are troubling to me. Knowledge is cumulative; therefore all tests, quizzes, and classes shall be as well.’ That he delivered these words with a glint of eye and faintly wry smile helped me to begin to…get it. He wasn’t talking about tests and quizzes. He was talking about how I was to take on all of it, in school and beyond. He eventually taught me how to eat grits in exacting terms. Frankenbach urged the graduates to “keep a sharp eye and ear for any sign of the exultant, of the possible around you, always, even at 4:17 in the afternoon, on a street corner or anywhere, in Memphis, San Fran, DC, Gnawbone, Indiana, or Lakeville, Connecticut.” TO SEE A VIDEO OF GRADUATION, OR READ THE REMARKS BY CHARLES FRANKENBACH OR THE SCHOOL PRESIDENTS, GO TO THE HOTCHKISS TODAY SECTION ON THE WEBSITE, WWW.HOTCHKISS.ORG.
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Hotchkiss Alumni in Print From the Dress-Up Corner to the Senior Prom: Navigating Gender and Sexuality Diversity in Pre-K to 12 Schools BY JENNIFER BRYAN ’79 ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD EDUCATION, MARCH 2012
Cited by reviewers as a “must read” and “long overdue resource” for teachers and parents interested in the subject of gender stereotyping, From the Dress-Up Corner to the Senior Prom is a practical exploration of the increasingly complex world of gender and sexuality in the 21st century. Jennifer Bryan, a psychologist with more than 28 years of experience in educational communities, takes readers into classrooms, administrative meetings, recess, parent conferences, and the annual pep rally to witness the daily manifestations of gender and sexuality diversity at school. She provides a coherent framework for understanding and invites readers to use a contemporary heart/mind perspective as they consider the true developmental needs of elementary, middle, and high school students. The book includes thoughtful questions and models of dialogue, as well as numerous accessible lesson plans and strategies. At its heart, though, are the evocative stories from teachers, students, and parents that Bryan has listened to over the span of her career.
A City Consumed:Urban Commerce, the Cairo Fire, and the Politics of Decolonization in Egypt BY NANCY Y. REYNOLDS ’85 STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, JULY 2012
Sixty years before the protests of Tahrir Square, the great Cairo Fire that burned the city’s downtown stores and businesses is remembered as an act of anti-colonial protest that led to the Egyptian military coup of 1952. Nancy Reynolds, an associate professor of history at Washington University in St. Louis, explores the decades leading up to the fire to show that the lines between foreign and native in city space and commercial merchandise were never so starkly drawn. She explains how consumer goods occupied an uneasy place on anti-colonial agendas for decades, with nationalist leaders frequently railing against commerce as a form of colonial captivity, yet simultaneously expanding local production and consumption to anchor a newly independent economy. A City Consumed “gives a vivid new explanation for how ordinary Egyptians turned shopping and commerce into politics. More broadly, its story opens a fresh perspective on the economic and cultural changes that so profoundly reshaped the Middle East in the mid-20th century.”
Politics and the Art of Commemoration: Memorials to struggle in Latin America and Spain BY KATHERINE HITE ’79 ROUTLEDGE, NOVEMBER 2011
The Frederick Ferris Thompson Professor of Political Science and Director of the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program at Vassar College, Katherine Hite is the author of When the Romance Ended: Leaders of the Chilean Left, 1968-1998, as well as works on the politics of memory. Her latest book explores relationships among art, representation, and politics through memorials to violent pasts in Spain and Latin America. Drawing from curators, art historians, psychologists, political theorists, and holocaust studies scholars, as well as the voices of artists, activists, and families of murdered and disappeared loved ones, Politics and the Art of Commemoration uses memorials as conceptual lenses into deep histories of political struggle and suggests that these commemorative practices are innovating powerful forms of collective political action. Memorials can convey national unity, a sense of overcoming violent legacies, a commitment to political stability, or the strengthening of democracy. They also represent fitful negotiations between states and societies symbolically to right wrongs, to recognize loss, and to assert distinct historical narratives.
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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
2012-2013 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS President Katheryn Allen Berlandi '88, Vice Presidents Keith E. Bernard Jr. '95, Chair, Alumni of Color Committee Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian '85, Chair, Gender Committee Quinn Fionda '91, Chair, Communications Committee Edward J. Greenberg '55, Chair, Alumni Services Committee George A. Takoudes '87, Chair Nominating Committee Secretary Douglas Campbell III, '71, P'01, Chair, Nominating Subcommittee for Membership Christina M. Bechhold '03 Lance K. Beizer '56 Miriam Beveridge '86 Mr. William J. Benedict Jr. '70, P'08, '10
NEW MEMBERS NAMED TO BOARD During the annual meeting of the Alumni Association this June, seven alumni were nominated and approved to serve on The Hotchkiss School’s Alumni Association Board of Governors: Miriam Beveridge ’86, Adam Casella ’06, Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16, Keith Holmes ’77, Casey Reid ’01, Michael Thompson ’66, and Carolyn Toolan ’97. The Board of Governors (BoG) is comprised of 25 alumni and is responsible for the general supervision of the affairs of the Alumni Association. In coordination with the Alumni Relations Office, the BoG strives to advance the School’s mission of a lifelong love of learning, responsible citizenship, and personal integrity. We congratulate the new members, but would be remiss if those rotating off of the Board were not thanked for their tireless service to the School: Chris Bechhold ’72, P’03, Kerry Fauver ’92, Brenda Grassey ’80, Roger Liddell ’63, P’98, Jennifer Appleyard Martin ’88, and Wendy Weil Rush ’80, P’07. Each year the Board of Governors is tasked with recognizing fellow alumni for particular achievements through the awarding of the Community Service Award and the Alumni Award. This is a tall order with over 9,500 living alumni from which to choose and so the BoG welcomes and appreciates your input. The School’s website has the most up to date information on the awards process, and the nomination forms for both the Community Service Award and the Alumni Award can be found at www.hotchkiss.org/alumni/alumni-recognition/index. And finally, if you are interested in getting involved with the School as a volunteer in any way, please contact Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87 at (860) 4353892 or creilly@hotchkiss.org.
Adam Casella '06 Charles A. Denault '74, P'03 Ex-Officio Caldwell Hart '87, P'16 Keith Holmes '77 Alessandra H. Nicolas '95 Nichole R. Phillips '89 Daniel N. Pullman '76 Ex-Officio Thomas S. Quinn III '71 Ex-Officio Casey H. Reid '01 Peter D. Scala '01 Thomas R. Seidenstein '91 Bryan A. Small '03 Michael G.T. Thompson '66 Carolyn H. Toolan '97
ABOVE: Photographed at the May meeting were these retiring members of the B.O.G., from left: Roger Liddell, Wendy Weil Rush, and Chris Bechhold.
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A commonplace task in libraries is taking books out of circulation. An unusual occurrence is when the staff decides to incorporate those books back into the library as furniture designed by students; this is exactly what Barbara Doyle-Wilch, director of the Edsel Ford Memorial Library, proposed to Brad Faus, instructor in art, this past school year. It all started with Ms. Doyle-Wilch’s arrival last summer as the new director of the library, when she began to comb through the School’s extensive collection and remove out-of-date materials. The library staff came up with a large collection of old books that went into storage for later disposal. At the same time, the newly created chess area in the upper level of the library was causing complaints from students; the people playing chess were too loud and disrupted the quiet study atmosphere in the RIGHT: the designer OPPOSITE: Winning design in the library competition for a chess table made from old books
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evenings. The need for a new chess area and for a new life for the old books came together when Pamela Simon, a cataloguer for the library, suggested to the library staff that the library use the old books to build a new chess table. Immediately Ms. Doyle-Wilch was very enthusiastic about the project, and “all of the other staff members gravitated towards the project.” Along with the many changes and improvements that she has made to the library, Ms. Doyle-Wilch has wanted to bring more student involvement into the library. This started with buying and loaning many pieces of student artwork and placing them in various parts of the library, and through the existing conversation with the art department she suggested that the architecture class on campus have a contest to build the table. Mr. Faus loved the idea, both because of the unique idea for the table and because it would be a real-world scenario for the aspiring architects and designers of his architecture class. The students would propose designs to the library staff, and only one would be selected, similar to the process that the Hotchkiss administration uses to select the architecture firm for new campus buildings. This is the first project of its kind for the architecture class, and Mr. Faus was keen to take a break from the usual open-ended design problems the class usually tackles and apply those design skills to something tangible and real. Ms. Doyle-Wilch reflected, “I hope that this is the beginning of using the talents of the students more completely in the library.” Mr. Faus troubleshot the idea and came up with an assignment, which he proposed to the class as a mid-term project. The element of friendly competition excited the
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class, but it also encouraged each student to do his very best. When school reconvened in January, the posters were sent off to the Physics 350 class for evaluation of structural integrity and general practicality. Mr. Faus had a special connection to that class already as mentor to Jesse Young, a new science faculty member teaching that class. After learning about pressure and how structures bear weight, the class evaluated each design and sent them back. Following the return of the posters, the architecture class met the library staff in a lecture hall, and each student had the chance to propose his or her design to them and answer any questions they might have. Enthusiastic about the process, one student in the class, Eilen Mena ’13, remarked, “The difference is that it’s real. It’s for somebody.” While the real-world implications of the project added some stress, she said, she would like to see more projects like this one because it forced her to take more things into consideration and work longer on each detail, such as the practical aspects of the design and the usability. Following the class’s presentations, the library staff brought the posters back to their offices and voted for a first-place, second-place, and third-place winner. The winners were announced in front of the entire school a few weeks later, along with a small presentation of each design, and Ms. Doyle-Wilch presented each winner with a small cash prize. Joseph Harris ’14 won first place, Eilen Mena ’13 won second place, and Brian Cintrón ’12 won third place. While the competition set some people up for disappointment, Mr. Faus emphasized that the process is great preparation for working in a design or architectural firm; even if you have a fantastic idea, you still might not be chosen. Eilen liked the process as well because it reinforced her plan to major in design in college and showed her that it takes much more than simply imagination to create a great design – it takes a lot of thought and care as well. She was enthusiastic about Joseph’s design because he incorporated the school colors and the school seal into the chessboard, and planned to use mostly encyclopedias, which directly relate to education. The tables will be built by Ms. Doyle-Wilch’s husband, a former furniture maker, along with guidance from each student. Joseph’s table will be placed in the library, and Ms. Doyle-Wilch hopes to auction off Brian and Eilen’s tables for charity.
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Dreamers Doers: T
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STORIES OF ALUMNI SERVICE he new school was just a few days old, when on October 23, 1892 the St. Luke’s Society was founded. The 1893 Hotchkiss Annual (predecessor to the Misch) reported: It was some time before a suitable name was selected for the society, but finally “St. Luke’s Society” was decided on inasmuch as the 18th of October, the day on which we came to Lakeville, was St. Luke’s Day. Founded as a religious society, St. Luke’s held as one of its charges “caring for the spiritual welfare of the school.” Over its long and vigorous life since, however, service has evolved as its mission. Its work has been supplanted by the initiatives of individual students, faculty, and staff and group charitable drives of all stripes. Service at Hotchkiss comes alive in the pages of its history, where we find students rushing to help fight a fire in town, ambitious fund drives for war relief programs, and students who put their lives on hold to serve their country. … And the list goes on. On these pages are the stories of recent alumni who imagined a path to service and followed that path, and a storied tradition.
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ALECA HUGHES ’08 Leading the Way in Service, Academic Excellence, Athletics
arn a bachelor’s degree from Yale · Play NCAA Division I hockey, taking the ice every game · Maintain a high GPA, be a leading scorer and captain of your team · Make the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team for four years in a row · Organize events that have added more than 3,000 names to the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be The Match Registry and raised more than $50,000 for cancer research and patient care · Start a nonprofit foundation that supports these and other similar initiatives. As a result, receive your team’s awards for leadership and academic excellence, Yale’s Meyer Humanitarian Award, the ECAC’s Mandi Schwartz Scholar-Athlete Award, the ECAC-Hockey East Sarah Devens Award, the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, and the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, whose past winners include Tim Tebow and Mia Hamm. Now, do all of that while one of your closest friends is battling, and
Photos of Aleca courtesy of Yale University Sports Publicity Department
By Molly McDowell
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Above Right: Aleca Hughes coaching and encouraging local children on the ice
ultimately succumbing, to leukemia. For Aleca Hughes ’08 it was business as usual. Hughes was a freshman on Yale’s women’s ice hockey team when her teammate and mentor, junior Mandi Schwartz, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. “I remember our coach called us down to the rink for a meeting, not a practice,” says Aleca.
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“She told us Mandi had been diagnosed with cancer. Everyone was so shocked. There was silence, and then a flood of tears.” Hughes and her teammates sprang into action, determined to help Schwartz find effective treatment. “I thought, ‘Okay, we can do this,’” she says. “We divided up the country into sections and started researching doc-
PHOTO 1: WW1 Aviator D. Campbell ’13, center PHOTOS 2-3: Hotchkiss students helped area farmers in the war effort. PHOTO 4: WW1 U.S. Department of Labor poster
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tors and practices that treated the kind of cancer that Mandi had.” As Mandi began treatment at home in Saskatchewan, Hughes, her teammates, and the Yale field hockey and football teams organized and ran a National Marrow Donor Program Be The Match donor drive on their campus in hopes of finding a perfect bone marrow match for Mandi. Although they were unable to do so, they did register 1,500 new donors.
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Mandi ultimately received a stem cell transplant from umbilical cord blood. After a 100-day window, such a transplant is considered a success. Mandi’s body rejected the transplant on day 86. She chose to forego further treatment beyond palliative care and passed away on April 3, 2011. “I remember the conversation we had after the news,” said Aleca. “She was at peace with it. A few days later, I had to tell our whole team that she
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passed. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Mandi had exemplified the kind of person Aleca wanted to be and what she wanted to do with her life. “I want to make a difference as a person of action,” she says. “Mandi was a person of action, not just words.” Organizing Yale’s four donor drives – now called the Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive – satisfied that need for action. Aleca recalls, “Hosting donor drives was something tangible we could do to help. It’s just a cheek swab with a QTip. You enter a database, and there’s a slim chance you will be someone’s match. If you’re a match for a bone marrow transplant, you have the chance to save someone’s life.” Out of the more than 3,000 potential donors registered through Aleca’s efforts, at least six have been someone’s perfect match – a remarkable statistic. Aleca also organized annual “White Out for Mandi” nights at Yale’s Ingalls Rink: women’s hockey games for which admission is free, but donations to the Mandi Schwartz Foundation are accepted, and white “White Out for Mandi” t-shirts are sold. The Bulldogs also find donors to make attendance-based pledges for the event. So far, these events have raised more than $50,000. “That’s just who Aleca is,” says Hotchkiss Athletic Director and Hughes’s former field hockey and ice hockey coach Robin Chandler ’87. “The work that she’s done and the recognition she’s received for it are not surprising at all.”
Left: Hughes talking to participants at one of the four marrow donor registration drives she organized at Yale
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Chandler describes her as passionate and grounded, and possessing a strong work ethic that was already ingrained when she arrived at Hotchkiss her prep year. “She wanted to be tested in class and on the field, and was constantly looking to better herself,” she says. Even with such an intense focus on academics and athletics, Aleca always made sure to thank the bus drivers who ferried her teams to away games, clean up the locker room, encourage every one of her teammates to push themselves harder, and provide empathic leadership as a proctor. As one might expect from a person of her character, Aleca quickly credits others as part of her success: “I had outstanding coaches – Coach Chandler, Bones [Amanda Bohnsack ’98], Mr. Cooper, Mr. Virden, such great mentors who really helped mold me into the person I am today.” She is similarly humble regarding recognition she’s received for her efforts on behalf of her teammate – efforts that have made a difference far beyond the confines of a friendship, a team, or a school. “Winning those awards brought me a sense of joy because it’s something that is shared with so many people,” says Aleca. “There are the people who do the hard work at the Mandi Schwartz Foundation. Most importantly, I shared those awards with Mandi’s family.”
ALANE MASON ’82 Community Service Award Winner HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2012 AWARDS PRESENTATION lane Mason ’82 is a vice president and executive editor at W. W. Norton & Company, the New York publishing company. In addition, she is the founder and president of Words without Borders (www.wordswithout borders.org), not-for-profit organization that translates, publishes, and promotes international literature. Alejo Escallón ’12, wrote the following in his introduction for Alane Mason: “What exactly about this enterprise, about translations, makes Ms. Mason one of our honorees today? How exactly do translations create a social change? “It is a generally accepted belief that literature is a sound reflection of society. Indeed, the correlation between literature and society is so strong, so inextricably linked, that a great thinker, Johan Wolfgang Goethe, put it in the following terms, ‘the decline of literature indicates the decline of society.’ Thus, good foreign literature – and here I am quoting Ms. Mason ‘can give us a glimpse of the heart of foreign places.’ Obviously, the significance of comprehending ‘the heart of foreign places’ is immense …
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“Translation isn’t only a tool to access the ‘heart’ of a foreign culture, but also it’s a tool to recognize that within those distant and different cultures there is great diversity; that within Latin-American, or Middle Eastern, or African or Asian culture, there is not one truth that defines society, but in fact, many. Consequently, this diversity, this great cultural depth, cannot be expressed by one event, or one stereotype. Thus translations don’t only allow us to access superficially foreign cultures, but also allow us to see their huge diversity.
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Above: The founder of Words without Borders, Alane Mason, with Malcolm McKenzie
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“Within this framework, translations have an incommensurable value in our society. How fantastic would it be if people could understand that, inside of those veils that seem to control cultural exchanges between the American and foreign cultures, there is in fact an outstanding cultural depth; that with Latino cultures, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of different languages, ethnicities, and most importantly, millions of opinions; or that within Middle Eastern cultures there is no one thought about their religions and their relations with the rest of the world, but in fact many. ….”
EXCERPTS OF REMARKS BY ALANE MASON AT THE CEREMONY Thank you, Alejo, thank you, Malcolm McKenzie, and thank you to the Alumni Association Board of Governors responsible for this award. … First of all, it should go without saying that Words without Borders could not exist without the possibilities for networking that were opened up by the Internet in the 1990s. Suddenly, you could communicate with writers and translators all over the world at any time of day or night. Before you went to bed, you could send queries on a manuscript to a translator on the other side of the planet, and have an answer the next morning, and format and publish the work the same day. The idea of an online magazine for literature in translation was kind of an obvious one; I was by no means the person best suited to pursue it. There were and are many other people in New York and elsewhere who know more about translation than I do. I
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was just the person who had the idea at the right time, and critically, was already embedded through my work in publishing in a network of incredible people who were able to provide the knowledge, contacts, and other resources such a project would need to be born. I happened to be the person the idea used to reach the network. Incidentally, beware: ideas can do that. They can force you to spend hours and weekends with them until they come to fruition. One idea led to another, as I thought about why such a project might actually be viable, even necessary. In the late ’90s, “globalization” was the buzzword on everyone's lips. Yet globalization was clearly a one-way street in which a second-rate American first novel could be published in a dozen countries, while prize-winning, important writers from other countries could not get translated into English. In general, the economic structure of publishing no longer supported literature in translation. Wouldn’t it be great, my idea said to me, to open up a space where literature from all the world's languages – including the non-European languages to which we had so little access – could be published in good translations, where readers could at least begin to get familiar with new foreign writers, where editors might fall in love with some they would find a way to publish against the odds, where casual readers could travel and where travelers could learn more about the places they were visiting, through literature? All these ideas were very exciting to me but also very time-consuming. I
spent a lot of time talking about them to various people – including, crucially, an unsung hero of international education in the humanities named Earl Shorris, author of a book called Riches for the Poor. Earl had the insight that the difference between the education rich kids got, and the education poor kids got, was in the humanities, and specifically, in the use of the Socratic method. His idea was to start an organization called The Clemente Course in the Humanities, which began teaching high school dropouts in one of the poorest neighborhoods of NYC, with such success that it had now spread to underprivileged communities all over the globe. I asked Earl how he had gone from having a great idea to making it a reality. He – true to his Socratic principles – gave me no answers, but a stepping stone, a critical node in the network: he hooked me up with Bard College, which would be the fiscal sponsor for my grant proposals. ….. In addition to a network of advisors like these, I had to build a network of funders, and a network of translators and others with connections to writers in far-flung places. But people just responded to the idea. Material from Iran flowed in – I had had no idea how rich a literary culture there was in Iran, even under the mullahs. Books might be banned one day, given prizes the next, then banned again, but there were lots of them, lots of wonderful writers and dramatists and a robust channel of communication through translators who, like my Hotchkiss classmate Amir Farman-Farma, had
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come to the U.S. as children or teenagers after the Khomeini Revolution, but still maintained a connection with the country and the language. Material from Iraq was challenging – the U.S. was invading the country at the time – and many writers had already fled the country under Saddam Hussein, who, though he fancied himself a novelist, was not exactly a patron of free expression. ….. But not all the work on Words without Borders was so heavy. We had fun with literature from Argentina, women writers from Turkey, international noir, GLBT writers around the world, a food issue, and so on. Thanks ultimately to a network of web-innovators, translators, authors, professors, and others with connections to far-flung places, Words without Borders has gone on to publish over 1100 pieces from 111 countries and 90 languages. …. But I want to ask you all a question: is a network also a community? We use the word “community” a lot in the online world, but I want to suggest that community means something different – that a community, by definition, takes you beyond your social network, maybe even beyond your comfort zone. … Studies now show that reading literature can actually make people more empathetic, and that, of course, is the ultimate mission of Words without Borders – to broaden our sense of who our community might be. Journalism might be able to tell you what’s happening somewhere else, but I think only literature can provide a way of understanding what
it might feel like to live in a very different place, to see from another pair of eyes. ….. I do sometimes think that, my classmates and I, with our elite educations at one of the best secondary schools in the country – weren’t we meant to go on to help lead our country and make it better? We graduated with a network, but did we understand what it might mean to have a community? What have we done? What has my generation done? It shouldn’t be just the especially altruistic who are involved with “community service” or the especially generous who come up with the funds to support it. Our entire network needs
to start thinking about how best to serve the larger community. You have a tremendous amount to work with, just by being here. …. What I think matters is whether you have a sense of community that values others in your network not as a means to your own individual ends, but as your cohort in some larger endeavor; that is capable of seeing community as a world beyond your own network – that can imagine those people, over there, as part of us. Each of you must now do a work of translation: of translating the circumstances of your upbringing and your education into a life. I hope your generation will truly “Think Differently.”
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Above: Alane Mason holding the award, with Malcolm McKenzie
PHOTOS 1-2: Hotchkiss hosted Special Olympics skaters, 1985, 1989, respectively. PHOTO 3-4: In Peru on a Round Square International Service Project
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GISELA ALVAREZ ’93 Community Service Award Winner HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2012 AWARDS PRESENTATION
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isela K. Alvarez ’93 is the senior project director at Advocates for Children of New York and has worked there for more than a decade, even before receiving her J.D. from New York University School of Law. In 2001, she created the Domestic Violence Project there to ensure that children who had been exposed to family violence received necessary services and appropriate education in New York City public schools. In 2002, she founded a nationally recognized model project to improve educational outcomes of children in the child welfare system, training and providing technical assistance to caseworkers. In 2005, she founded and directed Advocates’ Robin Hood Project, which helps meet the educational needs of children whose families are served by the Robin Hood Foundation. In introducing the award winner, senior Katherine Rich noted that Alvarez sees her current work as a melding together of past projects. To quote Alvarez, Rich said, after all the things she’s done in the past, she’s “figuring out how all the pieces fit.” “She recognizes the answers to the problems she’s working on aren’t
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easy,” Rich said to the assembled audience in the Katherine M. Elfers Hall of the Esther Eastman Center, “but answers are there. In education advocacy, you can make a broad impact and help children to succeed, and you are not only helping the child, but you are helping the family, the school, and the community. Her work gives young people the opportunities and skills to live the lives they want to lead, not the lives they have to lead.”
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD SPEECH Thank you, Hotchkiss. Thank you, Alumni Association Board of Governors. This is an incredible honor. So many alumni have had distinguished careers, and it means a lot to be honored by such extraordinary people. I spend most of my days focused on the little day-by-day details, victories, and disappointments. It’s been years since I’ve thought about where I am
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now, why I chose this path, and what’s next. It’s fitting that I have the opportunity now, in the place where I first learned to be my own person and forge my own way ahead. I learned so many fundamental skills here – how to try completely new things like painting (moderate success) and JV basketball (spectacular failure), how to learn about who I was and who I wanted to be, and how to navigate worlds familiar and completely foreign. Hotchkiss gave me a solid foundation for learning about myself and the world. If you choose to go into public service – and I hope you will – there will be a time in your life when you’re asked these questions over and over. You’ll have to apply for what will seem like too many things – graduate school, fellowships, jobs, grant applications. Then, after a few years, they’ll pretty much leave you alone, and you can focus on doing the work.
Above: Shown at the ceremony are advocate for children and families Gisela Alvarez, center, with Katherine Rich ’12, who introduced her, and Malcolm McKenzie.
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But, knowing that’s what’s ahead of you, it’s probably best to have an answer ready. Let me suggest a way to find yours, based on how I got to mine. • Don’t be afraid to take a little leap
I went to a public middle school in the Hudson Valley. I had had about two skiing lessons before I decided to join the Ski Club … mostly because my friends were doing it. I remember the first few times on a lift, just before you get to the top, when you have to know exactly when to hop off (I was a little shorter then) – too late and you end up in an embarrassing tangle with a bunch of skiers coming right at you. I remember the approach to the top, when the lull of the ride up gives way to anxiety and anticipation, last-minute calculations and hesitations, and, finally, that moment when you decide to jump. At Hotchkiss, I was a shy girl who wrote a lot of poetry. When I went to Harvard, I decided to take that jump; I decided to do something that absolutely terrified me. With nothing but my instincts and a lesson plan, I found myself in front of a fifth-grade classroom; I had to perform. From this, I learned an entirely different side of me and developed an entirely different set of skills. I also learned that the look on a child’s face when he is totally engaged in a lesson and thinking in ways he’d never thought before is positively electric. • “Make the Road by Walking”
(Antonio Machado, Selected Poems) This concept even made it into my wedding vows. In college, I took a class with William Julius Wilson, the sociologist who studies urban poverty. At the time, he was deeply worried for our country. He thought we were heading in the wrong
direction, but he kept trying to think his way out – to come up with just the right policies to set us on the right course – and he couldn’t. He became a little depressed. I was also taking a class with Marshall Ganz, who had dropped out of Harvard in the ’60s to become a civil rights activist. After working on voter registration in the South with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Marshall spent decades as a labor organizer, sitting in migrant workers’ living rooms, listening to their stories and their problems, asking them to create their own solutions, and working with them to make those solutions happen. Marshall taught me that you don’t always have to know exactly where you’re headed – that action can reveal the path forward. I asked Marshall to come speak at Professor Wilson’s last class of the spring semester – a potluck dinner. That night, as Marshall talked to us about his life, I saw an expression on Prof. Wilson’s face that I hadn’t seen all year. It was hope. • It’s not about You
In law school and at Advocates for Children, I work with parents who have been deemed neglectful, and maybe even abusive, and lost their children to foster care. It’s easy to blame these parents, but when you get to know them better, you realize that you don’t have their answers. Over 10 years ago, I worked with a woman named Laura, who lived in East Harlem. She had gone to college and had once held an administrative job in a hospital, but her husband died, and then her boyfriend was imprisoned for murder. Her children fell apart. Two daughters were on drugs
and on the street, and the other three – a daughter and two sons – were placed in foster care. Two of them ran away from foster care and went back to her on their own. When I met her, she was caring for one son, her daughter, and three of her grandchildren on her single person’s food stamp budget; they ate sweet potatoes for every meal, and she would not eat at all. She would proudly say that she’d learned to live “on a piece of dust,” but she refused to talk about the past. I became obsessed with understanding what had happened to her – poring over court transcripts and asking her questions that she politely declined to answer – thinking that I couldn’t help her until I understood how she got to where she was. After reading accounts of tragedy after devastating tragedy, I realized I would never really know. I decided to simply ask her what she needed now. She asked me to help her youngest son – who was 16 at the time – learn how to read. Now, Roger owns his own apartment and makes a good living as a doorman. Recently, when I asked after his mother, he said that she had been homeless, but was now living with a relative. She had also taken in two more of her grandchildren. I’m sure you’ve been told that you’re lucky. What people mean by this is: Hotchkiss gives you choices that few people on this earth have. Enjoy this opportunity to learn, grow, and explore in this wonderful community. Dare to do things that scare you, and discover what you truly have. Take opportunities to roll up your sleeves and learn by doing. Listen, even when you’ll never understand. Then, make your choices wisely.
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PHOTOS 1-4: Accompanied by faculty, students recently completed service in Guatemala, Ecuador, and Zambia, among other countries.
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ZUBIN SHARMA ’09 Learning to Define Success and Value in Meaningful Service By Zubin Sharma “I slept and dreamt that life was a Joy. I woke and saw that life was Duty. I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy” – Rabindranath Tagore his quote from Bengali scholar Rabindranath Tagore reminds me of the encouragement that Hotchkiss provides us to unite our work with our passion. Throughout our lives, we are constantly asked what we want to be when we grow up. As five-year-olds, it is joy that drives us, so we covet the jobs that seem most interesting and fun: astronauts, actors, NBA players, and so on. As we get older, we realize the statistical improbability and difficulty of successfully entering one of these professions, so we adjust our aspirations accordingly, which often creates a gap between our duty and joy. Yet, why must it be so? Ask current students or alumni why they went to Hotchkiss, and they will likely mention “opportunity.” At the core of “opportunity” is freedom of choice: the absence of constraints in any activity or work we seek. In spite of these circumstances, many
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Above Right: The author, Zubin Sharma, with children at one of his social entrepreneurship locations in India
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A HISTORY OF SERVICE:
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former students fail to connect their work with their passion for two reasons: narrow societal definitions of value, and an inability to fit one’s passions into these limited understandings of value. Hotchkiss teaches students to become global citizens and engage in international development through the various programs it offers. However, although alumni retain these values, they are often diluted by narrow definitions of value that exist outside the walls of Hotchkiss. Although we celebrate Gandhi, MLK, and Nelson Mandela, these activists are less prominent in our history books than the rich and powerful aristocratic families, and more recently, capitalists. Similarly, the media celebrates and focuses on the wealthiest members of society. As a
result, it is natural that we often define success monetarily. However, Hotchkiss both advocates and is structured around a broader definition of success and value, including athletic, artistic, social, and academic dimensions. As we grow older and are forced to make decisions about where we want to work, it is important for us to remember these aspects, and for us to measure our prosperity using more inclusive metrics. It is difficult to define success and value more broadly as long as we apply simplified, binary classifications to define life and work. For example, the non-profit sector is constructed both linguistically and psychologically as the antithesis to the for-profit sector. I might see my duty and joy as the empowerment of underprivileged chil-
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dren through education, but under current classificatory schemes, my work is called “not-for-profit.” Yet, I do not seek to not create profit, rather, I seek to primarily create social, rather than monetary, profits for society. I do not mean to suggest that for-profit companies do not create social benefits for society, but rather, that their principal aim is to create financial value. In any case, defining the sectors in monetary terms exacerbates the job selection process for students with a broader definition of value. However, over the past few decades, especially in the years since the inception of the 2008 global financial crisis, a new organizational breed that uses market-driven solutions to social problems has emerged. These organizations, dubbed social enterprises (SE), exist in the grey area between traditional for-profit and non-profit organizations, thereby incorporating aspects of both. This hybrid structure lends itself to the more inclusive terms with which Hotchkiss has taught us to understand value and success. Over the past two summers, I have worked for two SEs. The first organization, Husk Power Systems (HPS), uses retrofitted World War II generators to gasify rice husks in Bihar, India, the poorest Indian state, in villages that the government considers too remote to supply with electricity. As rice husks are one of the few items that resourceful Bihari villagers had heretofore not found a use for, husks are a cheap fuel for the company to use. HPS’ power has supplanted the alternative source of light, kerosene, as it is cheaper and does not have adverse respiratory effects like
kerosene does. Apart from the financial and health advantages, HPS’ services have important intangible benefits, namely: a sense of freedom in terms of no longer having to live by the rise and fall of the sun, and a sense of dignity as a result of having access to a modern amenity. Thus, working for an organization which creates transformative social good through a renewable energy source, while also being financially viable, combines several facets of my definition of value. The second organization I worked for is called Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). IIX recognized a mismatch between SEs looking for capital to scale up, like HPS, and investors looking to invest for impact. As a result, the firm has set up Impact Partners, Asia’s first private platform for SE, and will be launching a social stock exchange called Impact Capital this coming year to create a liquid capital market for SEs in Asia. IIX has also realized that, given the nascence of the industry in which it is working, stimulating more investment activity would require advocacy and research. Thus, IIX has a non-profit partner called Shujog, which has various programs to engage the community, including informal monthly chats, SE and impact investing workshops for banks and corporations, and an annual forum. Through these programs, the organization hopes to create a new paradigm, which rejects the historical bifurcation of social and financial value. Given the tremendous amount I have learned from these two internships, I felt compelled to contextualize
these experiences within the question of “what we want to be when we grow up.” Firstly, I urge all current students and alumni to remember the comprehensive understanding of success and value that we learned at Hotchkiss. Secondly, in the case that existing systems do not accommodate for an inclusive set of ideas and goals, rather than settling for a suboptimal equilibrium, we should aim to build new frameworks that do. Finally, we should reject the determinism of being “grown up”; regardless of what we have done in the past, we can always realign our work, personal lives, and communities to reflect a more holistic conception of value. Just as Tagore proposes, doing so will allow us to unite our duty with our joy.
Above: Equipment used to gasify rice husks in Bihar, India, the country’s poorest state, populated by villages that the government considers too remote to supply with electricity
ZUBIN SHARMA '09 IS A RISING SENIOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, DOUBLE-MAJORING IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND SOUTH ASIA STUDIES. THOSE INTERESTED IN FURTHER DISCUSSING TOPICS RELATED TO SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT ARE INVITED TO EMAIL HIM AT ZSHARMA@SAS.UPENN.EDU.
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PHOTOS 1-4: Students, faculty, and staff work on local Habitat for Humanity initiatives, including a single-family house in nearby Canaan. This page, students undertook service learning projects in Botswana.
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Philip W. Pillsbury Jr. ’53: Diplomat, photographer, correspondent, and friend –‘That’s our Phil’ BY ROBERTA JENCKES
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The superlatives in the Senior Poll next to
Philip Pillsbury Jr.’s name in the 1953 Misch speak volumes: “Done Most for Hotchkiss,” “Most Influential,” “Most Likely to Succeed,” “Most Popular,” etc.
Almost 60 years later, as he retires following three terms on the Hotchkiss board of trustees, the praise for him is equally extraordinary: “Phil’s been terrific on the Board. If there’s anybody who really pays attention and really tries to make comments that will be helpful, it’s Phil.” FORREST E. MARS, JR. ’49, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
“In 14 years of working with boards, I’ve never met anyone else like Phil Pillsbury. There are few people that have a way of making people feel special. That’s really a gift, and he has it.” RACHAEL BEARE, FORMER DEAN OF ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID
“What is unusual about Phil is the degree of the engagement he maintains with all of us, whether it is with students or adults. In this modern world, where we don’t have time for old-fashioned courtesy and thoughtfulness, he connects in a way that is really intimate. That’s the type of work he did in the U.S. Information Agency, fostering relationships that are based
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OPPOSITE: Phil Pillsbury’s page in the 1953 Misch RIGHT: Nina and Phil Pillsbury, as hosts of a Washington Coast-toCoast reception
on shared ideals of human understanding and of friendship among nations.” VERENA DRAKE, INSTRUCTOR IN HISTORY AND ART HISTORY
“For any trustee walking with Phil down the main hallway, it can be a most humbling experience as students and faculty members greet Phil in a most familiar manner while merely nodding to the person walking with him.” RUSTY CHANDLER ’53, TRUSTEE EMERITUS AND LIFELONG FRIEND
What could be the secret to such universal admiration? Did Phil Pillsbury take a Dale Carnegie course at the age of eight? Was he born with double genes for kindness, industry, and keen memory? Is this the legendary Midwestern friendliness at work? Was this lifelong diplomat born for government service? Some insights into this remarkable man come via his brother, H E N R Y P I L L S B U R Y ’ 5 4 . Asked to reflect on Phil’s tenure at Hotchkiss, Henry, freelance writer and former executive director of The American Center in Paris, writes:
PLUMBER H’53 Philip and I started Hotchkiss together in 1950, he a Lower Mid, I a Prep. He became popular with alacrity: Father had endowed us with an outsized grasp of worldly matters, and Philip could be counted on to come up with the facts. More significantly, his combination of intelligence, ostentatious skill in Spanish (after only a year of it at Blake), good nature, fairness, optimism, hockey prowess, and cheerful goofiness made him a class leader for life. He was friendly to everyone – my classmates included – and an enemy of baiting, as I learned when he caught me tormenting anyone.
His class took to calling him Plumber – “Let's ask Plumber” – with the corollary that those guys called me Little Plumber. He approached life, the known parts and the unknown, with equanimity. This confidence led to some droll incongruities: he failed his first Daily Theme – remember those? you had to cover an issue completely in one short page – with the humiliating grade of 50. “I thought it was a good idea,” he told me. His topic: HUMAN NATURE. In hockey, as a Minnesotan he enjoyed an advantage of ice-time over the others; he naturally took to doodling the puck about the ice with no particular purpose other than play. His first game, against South Kent, saw him
skating in loops, outsmarting everyone, with little eye on the goal. Free spirit. Pure pleasure. Coach Tom Hall was exasperated. But not the next issue of The Record, which reported, “Phil Pillsbury gave a demonstration of stickhandling no one will ever forget.” That casualness notwithstanding, the next year we won the Housatonic League by beating Taft with a goal I put away from Philip’s set-up. STRIVING: During his Upper Mid year Philip embarked on setting some eating records. The most notorious: 23 pats of butter in one supper, 11 of them stacked on a single cookie. METHOD: He came up with the idea that exam luck depended on inked fingers. Monday S u m m e r
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RIGHT: the hockey squad: front row, l to r, Pillsbury, P., Lapham, Capt. Chandler, Arneill, Manager Aswell; and top row, Pillsbury, H., Gillespie, Buck, Boyden, Wierdsma
morning in exam week he would dip his fingers in a jar of Script ink, green or purple, up to the first knuckle, and then for six days write his copy (eat his meals, dress himself) with uniformly ghoulish phalanges. HONESTY: The Duke sent Philip, president of the St. Luke's Society, to a good-deeds convention at Choate. Philip went enthusiastically enough. But during the subsequent account which he gave, at the Duke's request, to the School in Chapel, his words were forced, his smile frozen. You could tell that he had encountered more solemnities and prayer than he had appetite for. “So that was my trip,” he concluded. “It was fun.” Pause. The Duke, sitting behind him, had gone grey. Philip blurted, “But I wouldn't want to have to go again.” He was one of the Duke's favorites, a predilection which the Headmaster evidenced on the slant. “Have you seen the Dramat's rehearsals?” the Duke once asked me. “No, Sir.” “Your brother is playing one of the women.” “Oh.” “He looks ghastly.” I didn't know what to say and just waited for the Duke to wrap it up. Which he did. “Ghastly ... But, now, we think that's good, don't we?” Those piercing eyes. “After all, Phil is who he is.” There was never any doubt that the two boys from Wayzata, MN, would apply to Hotchkiss. Their father Philip, a member of the Class of 1920, determined that it would be
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so. “I went to a very fine day school in Minneapolis, the Blake School,” Phil says, “and I could have continued there. But my father said, ‘The debate’s over; you’re going to Hotchkiss.’” At Hotchkiss, he learned from Richard Gurney “the love of English lit and American lit” and began memorizing favorite works. “I’ve memorized an enormous amount of stuff,” Phil says. He still enjoys remembering Wordsworth’s hauntingly beautiful 208-line “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.” Delaney Kiphuth and Howard Taber also feature in his Hotchkiss memories. “Mr. Taber, who taught physics, was important because I had a terrible time with physics. He coached me and helped me to get that passing grade that I had to have in order to graduate. He was very compassionate. “Mr. Kiphuth, in a simple coaching decision, bolstered my self-esteem in the eyes of my peers. I have never forgotten this. It demonstrates succinctly the fundamental role that athletics can play in the physical and mental development of a young boy.”
Acting in Richard III and Little Boy Blue, a musical, taught him “to stand in front of an audience and not be afraid.” And he was elected president of the St. Luke’s Society as an Upper Mid. “The concept of service has always been here at Hotchkiss,” Phil says. “It is one of the nice common strains that extend back in a school that’s changed enormously in so many ways. That concept of service was relevant then and certainly is relevant today. After Hotchkiss, I was chairman of the Yale Charities Drive, which was a huge job my senior year at Yale. That came right out of my experience in the St. Luke’s Society.” It was at Hotchkiss that Philip cultivated two other interests that have evolved into lifelong passions: photography and languages. “The first camera was an old Voigtländer,” he recalls. “Taking photos really began at Hotchkiss. Now I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 slides. They tell the story of what I’ve done. They’re also convenient for recall when I forget something. I know that there’s a picture that will give me the name of a place or a person. So photography has been a big inter-
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est of mine.” Mastering foreign languages has been another favorite pursuit. “I saw what a language can do in terms of interpersonal relationships for the first time on a cruise that I took with my parents in Latin America,” he says, “and I saw the lights go on in someone’s eyes when I spoke Spanish to them. Italian I took just because I loved the sound of it. I – with an Anglo Saxon personality – feel unburdened when I speak Italian … because it lets all things go, you know.”
MAKING FRIENDS FOR AMERICA THROUGH THE USIA After graduating from Yale, Philip Pillsbury lived abroad for a year while earning a certificate from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris of the University of Paris. But in his time abroad, he observed an emerging antiAmericanism. This bothered him. He wished that these critics knew the facts about America. While studying for a Master’s degree at George Washington University, he heard about an opportunity to take the U.S. Foreign Service exam. He took the exam and began working in 1959 for the United States Information Agency (USIA). He chose to work in cultural affairs, focusing on the American libraries, English teaching, exchanges of students and scholars, and presentation of lecturers abroad. After six years, he returned to the U.S. with the plan to work in international business, probably for the Pillsbury Company, founded by his great-grandfather. From 1967-1970 he directed the opportunity employment program for the Minneapolis Urban League. That experience with the Urban League has informed all of his adult life, he says, adding “It was hard to tell ‘America’s story to the world’ without having firsthand experience as to what was going on in the country at that time.” He needed to be in the U.S. in that period to see the history-making free speech, antiwar, and civil rights movements of the
‘All the Best, Phil’ In May, a different kind of initiative was launched by some faculty members. “Many of us wish to acknowledge the long years of service given by Phil Pillsbury ’53,” the note read. Faculty and staff members were encouraged to stop by the Deans’ wing and fill out a postcard to be mailed to him. “It was very dear. I really POSTCARD COLLECTION: appreciated that,” Pillsbury said, from above, from adding that he planned to thank Chantilly, “Le château”; every one of the 60-plus senders. The postcards that made their from Thailand, the mask way to him in May probably repof Hanuman; from resented a fraction of the number Florence, “Palazzo Pitti”; that he has sent to people at and from Paris, art by Hotchkiss over the years. “I Giovanni Bazzi remember the first time I received one of the famous Phil Pillsbury postcards,” said Instructor in English and Spanish Keith Moon. “He was somewhere wonderful and happened to spot a book that reminded him of a conversation about Russia we'd had weeks earlier. He had all the details just right in the postcard, and it pushed our ‘conversation’ forward in exactly the right manner and context. Only later did I learn that this was true for many, many of us on the faculty, scores of postcards coming from all over the world on every topic under the sun, from a man who has never lost sight of the fact that teachers are in the business to learn as much as they are to teach.” Phil developed this habit from observing his father, Philip W. Pillsbury Sr. “He would arrive at a place and buy a bunch of postcards and stamps, and send off 10 or 20. He would sign them ‘All love, Father,’ or ‘All love, Phil,’ for friends. That’s where I picked up on it. “I enjoy it. Students would sometimes write back and say ‘thanks for the card.’ It speaks to the society we live in, I think. I like putting real handwritten words on a card that might be quite colorful,” he said.
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RIGHT: A photo of Phil and Nina taken by their seven-year-old granddaughter, Serena (daughter of Philip Pillsbury III ’91)
time with his own eyes before attempting to interpret it for others. During those three years he realized that the business world really wasn’t for him. “I stayed close with the Pillsbury Company and its traditions, but the foreign service was what I loved doing. From then on I was a better officer for what I had experienced in Minneapolis, from the people I would never have met, had I not had the Urban League job,” he observes. By chance a last-minute opening came about in the American Consulate in Lubumbashi, Republic of Zaire. The agency needed a French-speaking officer with African experience, right away. In 1970 he and wife Nina left for the assignment in Zaire. “I had a wonderful career,” he says of the assignments that took him to Madrid, Florence, Bamako, Antananarivo, Lubumbashi, Tehran, Turin, and Buenos Aires, and elsewhere around the globe. In Mali and Madagascar, he learned to speak Malagasy and Bambara. “It was a fundamental key to get into the culture of the country, more so than French,” he says. “As soon as people realized that I spoke more than a few phrases of Malagasy or Bambara, something deeper opened up in them, and it gave me entrée. This is what a joy language can be, not as a utilitarian tool, but for a better understanding of the human condition. “That interpersonal relationship is the most important aspect of the job and the most time-consuming. It takes time to help people to get to an understanding of why the U.S. is pursuing a certain policy.
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American foreign policy sometimes suffers because of a failure to see people not as they are but as we wish them to be. You’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and it just doesn’t work.” Phil twice received the Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Information Agency. When Phil and Nina Pillsbury returned home in the mid-1980s and settled in Washington, they joined the close-knit diplomatic community in D.C. They also very quickly became involved with Hotchkiss, as their daughter Caroline, a member of the Class of 1989, enrolled, followed by their son Philip, Class of 1991. In 1991 former Headmaster Robert Oden asked Phil and his cousin Gay Lord, a long-serving Trustee of the Board and wife of Charlie Lord ’52, to serve as co-directors of the Celebration of the Hotchkiss Centennial. Over many years Phil has assisted the Admission Office in speaking with prospective students from the D.C. area, and Phil and Nina have hosted Hotchkiss receptions at their home. In 1997, Phil joined the Board of Trustees. “It was exhilarating to be part of the Board,” he says. “Every meeting’s agenda is chock-full with issues, major and minor, that
have to be gone over. What’s most impressive about the Board, I find, is the presence of such a group of fine minds – business people, philosophers, scholars – all coming together to cover issues that have a longterm impact for the School. You don’t get that kind of group anywhere else. “What I’ve loved most of all is coming to know faculty, students, and staff. Serving on the Board’s Student Life Committee has been important to me, and I’ve enjoyed my work on the Hotchkiss Archives. Teresa Oden (wife of Rob Oden) started the work on the Archives, and I’ve helped with that and assisted financially. The Ambassador Program has been very gratifying, and I hope to continue to bring ambassadors to Hotchkiss. There’s a generous supply in Washington.” With his accustomed modesty, Phil Pillsbury deflects praise for his work, saying sincerely that the School is a place where he consistently has received much more than he has given. But, his many, many friends on campus and in the alumni and parent community know a special gratitude for this kind-hearted Minnesotan who for so many years has “Done Most for Hotchkiss.”
The Hotchkiss School
Annual Report of Giving 2011-2012
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Message from the Head of School
September, 2012 Dear Friends, I often wonder if Maria Hotchkiss had any inkling of the profound impact of her generosity. Could she possibly have imagined what she was starting? She would most certainly be pleased that the members of her extended family have chosen to perpetuate her legacy. Her school is thriving, as witnessed in this Annual Report of Giving. The phrase “pay it forward” comes to mind. We need only to look to the stories in the pages of this report to underscore the connections between Hotchkiss, its people, and their support for our school. When John Coumantaros ’80 established a scholarship this past year, he named it for his late classmate Bradford S. Benedict, 32 years after their graduation and departure from Lakeville. John found this way to honor their friendship, meaningfully and deeply. Last October, the Class of 1961 gathered for their 50th reunion, and despite the aberration of a fall snowstorm, an authentic spirit of camaraderie was both obvious and unmistakable. The story of the Class of 1961’s time together provides us with a wonderful example of the depth of the long-term relationships developed here. Leading the effort this past year to replant the allée of trees stretching from Garland to Baker, to establish a permanent pathway
flanking the seventh fairway, was Henry Flint ’65, whose philanthropic family has a long and deep relationship with Hotchkiss. Read about the legendary Robert Hawkins, recently deceased, who gave to us his entire professional life in an effort to teach prep students the very best English. Generations of graduates owe much of their success to “the Hawk.” Our extended connection to the School is a reciprocal gift. Hotchkiss provides us with skills, opportunities, and profound lessons of enduring value. In return, we give back by donating our time, our expertise, our networks, and our financial support. And of course, and perhaps most important, we share the knowledge that we have accumulated along the way. As I venture at the end of this academic year from the familiar here in Lakeville to the uncharted in becoming the founding head of a new school in Beijing, I shall take with me the many things that I have learned from this remarkable place and its people. I know you will continue to sustain the inspiring legacy that is Hotchkiss. Steward her well, and thank you for “paying it forward.” With all best wishes,
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Report of Gifts July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012 (unaudited)
12% 27%
The Hotchkiss Fund
$ 4,902,994
Restricted Current Use
$ 1,459,568
Restricted Endowment
$ 9,015,248
Unrestricted Endowment
$ 482,913
50%
8%
Property, Plant, and Equipment $ 2,252,232 ___________________________________________________
Total Gifts
3%
$18,112,955
Giving Societies July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012 • ALL CASH GIFTS TO THE SCHOOL
GIFT LEVEL
Head of School’s Council
DONORS
$50,000 or more
Leadership Council $25,000 – $49,999
The HOtchkiss Fund
TOTAL GIVEN
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$ 806,980
$13,004,601
44
$ 911,930
$ 1,254,301
St. Luke’s Society $10,000 – $24,999
117
$ 1,125,847
$ 1,514,312
Maria Hotchkiss Society $5,000 – $9,999
159
$ 711,023
$ 890,342
The 1891 Society $1,891 – $4,999
265
$ 527,831
$ 603,071
3,525
$ 819,382
$ 895,462
Olympians 1st – 5th Reunion $250 – $4,999 Pythians 6th – 10th Reunion $500 – $4,999
Blue & White Society Up to $1,890
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The Hotchkiss Fund Overview of Results
Total Raised $4,902,994 (New Record) Alumni Participation 39%
Highlights and Achievements
The 2011-12 Hotchkiss Fund came to a triumphant close on June 30, exceeding its $4.7 million Donors DOLLARS goal and setting a new record of $4,902,994 in unrestricted gifts. This resounding achievement is Alumni 3,089 $ 3,220,409 a tribute to the leadership of The Hotchkiss Fund President, Tom Quinn ’71, P’15, and the dedication, enthusiasm, and generosity of the School’s Current Parents 424 $ 1,297,544 alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends. Many volunteers worked tirelessly on behalf Current Grandparents 35 $ 41,518 of Hotchkiss, calling classmates or parents and encouraging their participation. And participate Parents of Alumni 296 $ 215,237 they did! Alumni participation increased to 39%. Current parents set a new participation record of 78%. Of special note, our 15 youngest Individuals, Corporations, alumni classes climbed to 30% participation, up Foundations, and Organizations 125 $ 128,286 from 25% last year. Congratulations to all! Every year, thousands of alumni, parents, and Total 3,969 $ 4,902,994 friends support the School by donating to The Hotchkiss Fund. This collective commitment is one of the School’s foremost strengths. Thank you for participating in the Hotchkiss legacy of philanthropy.
Armitage Award Rebecca M. McIntosh ’86 is the recipient of the Thomas W. Armitage ’25 Award, given annually to a member of the Hotchkiss alumni body for distinguished service to The Hotchkiss Fund. Becky has served as lead agent since she graduated in 1986. She was Co-Chair of the Class of 1986 25th reunion effort. Her hard work, along with that of the reunion committee, resulted in a new 25th reunion class participation record which still stands today. We extend our sincere thanks to Becky for her long term commitment to Hotchkiss and dedication to The Hotchkiss Fund.
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The Hotchkiss Parent Fund Overview of Results
Total Raised $1,297,544 Current Parent Participation 78% (New Record)
Highlights Under the outstanding leadership of Parent Fund Chairs Jan and Stefan Ford P’11,’13, and with the dedicated outreach from our 64 Parent Fund Volunteers, the Parent Fund achieved a new record of 78% parent participation (a 7% increase in the number of donors over last year). This is a direct reflection of the confidence of the School’s parent body in the Hotchkiss educational experience. The School is most grateful for the generosity of each and every donor – a warm thank you to all. Special congratulations to the parents of the Class of 2015, who set a new record for class participation of 88%!
Class dollars
Donors
Participation
2012 $257,844 112 66% 2013 $344,075 124 79% 2014 $494,323 107 80% 2015 $201,302 81 88% Total $1,297,544
78%
These numbers do not reflect gifts from parents who are also Hotchkiss alumni. Alumni parents fall into the alumni category.
McKee Award Bruce and Bobbi Langer P’05,’08,’12 are the honored recipients of the McKee Award this year. 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. Having served as parent fundraising volunteers for seven years, the Langers demonstrate an extraordinary level of commitment to Hotchkiss. Their dedication has been passed along to their children, who volunteer for the School as alumni class agents. Hotchkiss is fortunate to have the Langer family in our community.
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Faculty Fund
Rule One: Two main clauses joined by and, but, for, neither, nor, or yet are separated by a comma. Rule Two: Two main clauses not joined by and, but, for, neither, nor, or yet are separated by a semicolon.
Iconic Hotchkiss English master Robert Hawkins made sure that each student who passed through his classroom knew and practiced Rules One and Two. Decades later, hundreds of alumni can still recite those rules from memory. Excellent teaching was the cornerstone of “The Hawk’s” presence on campus, the legacy he left upon his retirement from Hotchkiss in 1988, and the legend that lives on since his death in January 2012. Exacting, fair, quietly encouraging of even the most struggling of his students, and relentless in his pursuit of the perfectly written paragraph, he exemplified a standard of instruction to which the most committed teachers aspire.
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In 1998, upon Mr. Hawkins’ retirement, John N. “Jack” Conyngham III ’44, P’75,’78 spearheaded the effort to establish the Robert Hawkins Fund, which underwrites costs for faculty travel and enrichment – a fitting honor. Since its establishment, a large number of Hotchkiss faculty members have received grants from the fund to pursue learning around the world. When Hawkins died in January 2012 at age 88, many of his former students and colleagues made memorial gifts to the Robert Hawkins Fund or the Faculty Scholarship Fund (which provides financial aid to students). It is a proper tribute to a man so committed to both the craft of teaching and the success of his students.
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Committee On Conservation and Environment
The trees of Hotchkiss define its campus as much as its Georgian architecture and spectacular views. Native species punctuate the landscape, providing shade for peaceful study or quiet reflection. The stately elm allée along the drive from the Scoville Gate to the Main Building remains a cherished image in the memories of generations of Hotchkiss alumni. The School’s commitment to environmental stewardship has placed a renewed focus not just on the upkeep and replacement of campus trees, but on a full-on restoration of the campus’s historically significant plantings. This past spring, the Committee on Conservation and Environment (CC&E) achieved a long-term goal, replanting the allée stretching from Garland and Dana to Route 112. Thanks in large part to the generosity of Henry Flint ’65 and Toni Hennike P’13 (who made a gift in honor of her husband Pat Spillman P’13’s birthday), 23 red maples now line a path that guides students down the hill to a safe, single point of passage across the road to the Baker athletic facilities.
Brad Faus, chair of the CC&E and program director in art and design, says, “With this restoration we acknowledge and retrace the history of our campus as well as provide a tree-lined walk to Baker. Seasonal color will be stunning.” Faus adds, “The advent of an early spring brought the right set of circumstances for the School to purchase larger trees at a competitive price, increasing caliper size to between five and a half to six inches, a trunk diameter that allowed for an immediately striking planting. Without an actively engaged and supportive group of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends we would not have had the opportunity to enhance this gently sloping western part of campus.” The Committee on Conservation and Environment strives to support our academic mission, ensure integrative planning and design, promote stewardship, enhance the campus experience, and reinforce community.
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“To walk down Main corridor now after classes is positively thrilling,” returning alumni wrote in a letter to their classmates. “The kids sit (or sprawl, actually) in clusters, so obviously enjoying themselves that it could make an old graduate kind of sad, if it didn’t make him so happy.”
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50th Reunion
Last October’s freak snowstorm adorned Lakeville with an unseasonable backdrop for the Class of 1961’s 50th reunion, held October 27 – 30, 2011. The weather – and loss of power to campus – spurred the sort of creative problem-solving and camaraderie among the 35 returning class members and their guests not seen since the days of attempting to thwart former Headmaster Bill Olsen’s no-radio rule. Although a few attendees left campus ahead of the storm, many classmates bunked together when the roads became impassable, some even bedding down in Harris House. Saturday’s class dinner required some improvisation; the dedicated Hotchkiss staff rearranged the Dining Hall to accommodate the Class of 1961. Even the students pitched in to ease the weather’s effect on the weekend, with boys from Edelman Hall taking up brushes and scrapers to clear snow from the cars of visiting alumni. While the weather created a once-in-a-lifetime experience, reunion guests had ample time to participate in Hotchkiss traditions. During Friday Auditorium, the Class of 1961 stood, linked arms, and – joined by the students – sang “Fair Hotchkiss.” The enduring legacy of the Hotchkiss experience was not lost
on the weekend’s visitors, even as that experience has evolved over the past 50 years. “To walk down Main corridor now after classes is positively thrilling,” returning alumni wrote in a letter to their classmates. “The kids sit (or sprawl, actually) in clusters, so obviously enjoying themselves that it could make an old graduate kind of sad, if it didn’t make him so happy.” The Class of 1961 created an enduring legacy of its own to commemorate its 50th reunion by establishing the Class of 1961 Scholarship. This fund not only celebrates the class; it supports the School’s primary fundraising initiative and helps make possible a Hotchkiss education for a new generation of students.
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Reunion Highlights 2012 449 alumni returned to campus – a new attendance record!
1942
70th Reunion
40th Reunion
5th Reunion
9 members of the Class of 1942
36 members of the Class of 1972
104 members of the Class of 2007
65th Reunion
35th Reunion
30 members of the Class of 1947
31 members of the Class of 1977
1947 1972
And the award goes to...
1977 2007
The Class of 1987 (25th reunion) received the Class of 1963 Award for greatest improvement in class participation and total dollars raised for The Hotchkiss Fund and the Class of 1978 Award for the largest number of donors (85) to The Hotchkiss Fund. The Class of 1947 received the Class of 1986 Award for the highest participation rate in a reunion class, with 82% participation in The Hotchkiss Fund. The Class of 2007 received the Cullinan Challenge Award for the highest participation among the youngest fifteen classes, increasing from 24% to 43%.
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Young Alumni – Upwardly Mobile Thanks to an anonymous match designed to encourage both participation and giving, the Class of had a 25% increase in number of donors and a 79% increase in dollars.
1997
2002
Not to be outdone, the Class of increased class participation from 24% to 31% and increased dollars 54%.
2007
increased class The Class of participation from 24% to 43% and increased dollars 5%.
Let’s set the “Giving” Record Straight The Class of 1977 has set reunion giving records for their last four reunions: 20th, 25th, 30th, and 35th. We look forward to their 40th Reunion in 2017!
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Class Giving Summary Results July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012 • ALL CASH GIFTS TO THE SCHOOL
C LA S S P E R C E N T O F THE HO TCHKISS D O NO RS T OT A L (ALL F UND S) DOL L A RS Y EA R PARTICIPATION F UND
CL A S S PERCENT OF T HE HOT CHKIS S D ON OR S TOTA L ( A L L F U N D S ) D OLLA R S YEA R PARTICIPATION F UN D
1931
50%
$1,871
1
$1,871
1964
32%
$40,772
22
$43,939
1932 (80th)
80%
$10,902
4
$10,902
1965
46%
$35,168
42
$66,924
1966
41%
$21,900
33
$21,900
1967 (45th)
31%
$82,316
23
$83,766
1933
75%
$13,367
3
$13,367
1934
38%
$1,916
3
$1,916
1935
82%
$30,135
10
$31,135
1968
24%
$41,080
21 $2,058,700
1936
40%
$5,913
2
$5,913
1969
50%
$63,318
43
$290,857
60%
$21,771
48
$50,380
1937 (75th)
40%
$8,565
7
$737,682
1970
1938
60%
$30,054
10
$255,054
1971
49%
$107,511
35
$110,511
1939
100%
$4,516
18
$5,416
1972 (40th)
52%
$84,132
50
$115,981
1940
29%
$5,275
5
$5,275
1973
33%
$32,421
30
$35,921
36%
$69,726
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$227,726
1941
37%
$13,230
9
$18,330
1974
1942 (70th)
59%
$17,680
17
$18,680
1975
41%
$45,712
47
$45,712
1943
48%
$5,276
14
$176,376
1976
45%
$52,697
53
$54,397
1944
77%
$25,201
25 $6,046,701
1977 (35th)
37%
$158,715
53
$179,415
59%
$169,909
83
$233,112
1945
51%
$18,515
22
$273,515
1978
1946
36%
$7,975
16
$20,011
1979
28%
$73,089
45
$90,626
1947 (65th)
82%
$44,300
45
$49,300
1980
27%
$117,305
37
$207,305
1948
36%
$11,338
20
$31,458
1981
36%
$170,632
57
$362,476
53 $1,376,657
1982 (30th)
39%
$129,523
59
$160,963
1949
100%
$165,001
1950
48%
$44,998
28
$64,498
1983
35%
$80,450
50
$140,400
1951
40%
$9,760
27
$10,810
1984
31%
$81,875
46
$146,875
1952 (60th)
46%
$18,285
28
$23,485
1985
39%
$53,158
55
$65,458
42%
$60,606
60
$60,945
1953
68%
$69,101
40
$98,951
1986
1954
66%
$21,069
40
$50,998
1987 (25th)
59%
$123,858
85
$123,858
1955
65%
$44,331
40
$150,881
1988
41%
$43,055
62
$43,055
1956
42%
$26,800
34
$76,940
1989
41%
$49,158
58
$50,825
39%
$23,618
51
$23,618
1957 (55th)
77%
$41,694
53
$50,249
1990
1958
70%
$45,829
50
$189,037
1991
36%
$33,389
52
$37,056
1959
47%
$33,125
41
$57,437
1992 (20th)
35%
$38,264
49
$38,264
1960
43%
$92,401
30
$117,451
1993
34%
$10,795
56
$11,795
$207,735
1994
23%
$5,835
36
$5,835
1995
28%
$17,325
46
$17,925
1996
40%
$21,463
64
$22,663
1961*
49%
$35,122
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1962** (50th) 1963
52%
$47,728
39
$56,853
*The Class of 1961 celebrated their 50th reunion in October 2011. This comprehensive total reflects gifts and pledges to The Hotchkiss Fund, restricted funds, and planned gifts raised throughout their reunion campaign.
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**Members of the Class of 1962 will celebrate their 50th reunion this October. Their 50th reunion totals will be included in the 2012 – 2013 Annual Report of Giving.
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C LAS S P E R C E N T O F THE HO TCHKISS D O NO RS T OT A L (ALL F UNDS ) DOL L A RS Y EAR PARTICIPATION F UND
1997 (15th)
28%
$29,060
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$29,060
CL A S S PERCENT OF T HE HOT CHKIS S D ON OR S TOTA L (A L L F U N D S ) D OLLA R S YEA R PARTICIPATION F UN D
2005
27%
$2,660
47
$2,660
1998
23%
$7,960
37
$7,960
2006
40%
$5,675
66
$6,175
1999
23%
$8,260
40
$8,410
2007 (5th)
43%
$3,433
74
$3,433
2000
28%
$8,910
47
$18,910
2008
40%
$6,486
70
$6,486
2001
27%
$6,140
39
$6,205
2009
29%
$3,216
52
$3,316
2002 (10th)
31%
$7,963
50
$7,963
2010
19%
$2,310
34
$2,310
2003
33%
$12,996
53
$13,991
2011
28%
$3,000
51
$3,000
2004
30%
$7,361
53
$7,361
The Town Hill Society — Making a Commitment to Hotchkiss Since the founding of the School, generations of Hotchkiss alumni, parents, and friends have recognized and appreciated the transformational academic experience that is unique to Hotchkiss. A growing number of the extended Hotchkiss family have expressed their gratitude by joining the Town Hill Society through the establishment of a charitable trust, revocable trust, or simply by including Hotchkiss in their wills. As many did before them, members of the Town Hill Society ensure the School’s future and enable this circle of philanthropy to continue through the years.
We are fortunate to report that in fiscal year 2011-2012, Hotchkiss received $1,109,651 in realized planned gifts from 10 individuals. The Society also welcomed 10 new members, representing alumni, current parents, and former parents. These resources provide critical support for the School’s efforts to maintain the high-caliber student experience that Hotchkiss has offered since its inception. We are deeply grateful to all of our alumni, parents, and friends whose generosity helps Hotchkiss to thrive.
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Scholarship
True, longtime friendships are as rare as they are cherished. John Coumantaros ’80 was lucky enough to have enjoyed such a relationship with Brad Benedict ’80. The two friends met while enrolled at The Buckley School as primary school students and matriculated to and graduated from Hotchkiss together. Benedict died in 2008. “Brad and I were very, very close,” says Coumantaros. “He was a truly loyal friend and steadfast individual. When he passed away, I wanted to do something to commemorate him in some meaningful way.” In March 2012, Coumantaros decided to establish the Bradford S. Benedict ’80 Scholarship at Hotchkiss to pay tribute to his lifelong friend. He felt that a named scholarship would be most fitting: “a continuous form of helping people, and a more personal way to re-
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member Brad.” Benedict helped make the challenges of Hotchkiss a shaping experience for Coumantaros as well as others in their class. Coumantaros says, “Brad’s close friendship during those formative years at Hotchkiss is something that will always stay close to my heart, and I hope that this memorial scholarship will make a Hotchkiss education possible for a young recipient who embodies some of the qualities such as steadfastness in friendship, valor, and integrity that were so admirable in Brad.” Alluding to classical history to emphasize the depth and reliability of Benedict’s character, he adds, “If we were marching side by side in a Spartan phalanx (which was often the case), I’d want Brad on my flank.”
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Student Summer Travel
“Travel programs are enhanced by what our students learn in the classroom, and the classroom experience is enhanced by student travel.”
David L. Thompson, Director of International Programs
In the 2011-2012 school year, more than 50 Hotchkiss students received grants for travel programs on six continents. These grants, from nine endowed and three current-use funds, averaged $2,000 per student. For Hunter Davis ’12, her visit to Russia, made possible by the Garrett Goodbody ‘63 Global Understanding Fund, fulfilled a dream first inspired by a second grade project. “We had to construct a Russian trunk…. Concurrently, we learned a general history of Russia,” she says. “Through middle and high school, my interest in Russia did not diminish. This fall semester, I took both Russian literature and a Cold War history class…. [And] I realized that my dream of going to Russia could actually come true due to Hotchkiss’s incredible travel program. “In my ten days there, I learned an extraordinary amount about the rich history, architecture, and culture of a truly fascinating and unique place,” she continues. “Taking this trip has only intensified my fascination and will surely impact how I approach my college education.”
Jayshawn Anderson ’12 is another remarkable beneficiary of Hotchkiss’s travel grants. “Jayshawn was in my office researching travel opportunities the first week of his upper mid year,” Thompson says. “He was very proactive.” Anderson’s enthusiasm did not flag once he received funds from the Anderson Family Global Understanding Fund (no relation) for a service trip to Ecuador. Not only did he request and receive an additional grant to return the summer after graduation; his relationship with his host family is so close that they chat with each other over Skype weekly. Inspired by his experiences, Anderson will spend his upcoming gap year in Brazil participating in service learning. “Thanks to the generosity of our alumni and parents, we are able to award international travel grants to our students every year,” Thompson adds. “The benefits of such travel, which often includes language immersion and community service opportunities, cannot be undervalued. A comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live today is a critical part of a Hotchkiss education.”
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Revenues and Expenditures 2011-2012
The current economic climate certainly challenges the fiscal management of the School’s budget. However, as always, the School takes great pride in being careful stewards of its funds. The 2011-12 operating budget was just over 40 million dollars. Charitable giving allows Hotchkiss to continue to provide an outstanding education.
Percentage of Total Revenues 50% 40%
43%
38%
30% 20% 10%
12%
2%
3%
0 Net Tuition
Authorized Endowment Utilization
The Hotchkiss Fund
Restricted Current use
Fees & Other
2% Auxiliary Enterprises
Percentage of Total Expenditures 60% 50%
55%
40% 30% 20%
20%
10% 0
education and student services and general institutional
General administration
16% Plant Operations
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3% Auxiliary enterprises
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S P O RT S
news
The 2011-2012 Athletics Year in Review COMPILED BY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ROBIN CHANDLER ’87
The Fall’s Champions: Varsity Field Hockey & Varsity Boys Soccer B Y
R O G E R
Fall Season Wrap-Up: V A R S I T Y BOYS CROSS COUNTRY:
6-2
2nd in Founders League 3rd at New Englands
W I S T A R
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: 6-1
Founders League Champions 5th in New Englands FIELD HOCKEY:
14-0-0
New England Class A Champions Western New England Champions Founders League Champions #1 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-Finals: Hotchkiss 2, Milton 0) (Semi-finals: Hotchkiss 1, Taft 0) (Finals: Hotchkiss 2, Greenwich 1) For head coach Robin Chandler and the varsity field hockey team, their 2-1 victory over archrival Greenwich Academy capped a remarkable run that has seen Hotchkiss field hockey teams win ten consecutive New England titles. The two teams played to a scoreless first half, but the Bearcats jumped ahead early in the second half off a penalty corner. Shannon Cherpak ’13 tipped in a rebound off a shot by Ally Chute ’12. Cherpak added the game-winning goal later in the half. The title runs have not come without suspense. Each of the last two years, the team has been pushed to penalty strokes, including this year’s dramatic 1-0 victory over Taft in the semifinals. Like last year, the outcome came down to the final stroke, with Samantha Sandler ’13 providing the decisive goal against Taft. During their decade of dominance, Hotchkiss field hockey teams have recorded five unbeaten seasons and a combined record of 160-5-5 over that stretch. For the boys soccer team, the road to the title came somewhat more easily, with a 2-0 victory over Andover in the finals at NMH. The team endured its own semifinal struggles, needing overtime to beat Taft 2-1 in the semifinals held at Hotchkiss. In the finals, the Bearcats relied on its trio of offensive stars for both goals. Isaac Normesinu ’13 scored the first goal at 20’, with assists from Mohammed Rashid ’12 and Mohammed Moro ’14. Normesinu would return the favor, assisting on a goal by Rashid at 78’ to clinch the victory. The win is the team’s third title in the last four years, with wins in 2009 and 2008. Coming off a semifinal loss to Kent last year, the Bearcats stormed through the regular season, with losses only to Brunswick and South Kent.
FOOTBALL: BOYS SOCCER:
1-6 13-3-1
New England Class A Champions Western New England Champions Founders League Champions #2 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-Finals: Hotchkiss 3, Berkshire 1) (Semi-finals: Hotchkiss 2, Taft 1OT) (Finals: Hotchkiss 2, Andover 1)
UPPER LEFT: Varsity Boys Soccer won its third title in the past four years. ABOVE: Varsity Field Hockey teams have won 10 consecutive New England titles.
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S P O RT S
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GIRLS SOCCER: VOLLEYBALL:
WATER POLO:
J U N I O R
9-6-2
GIRLS JV BASKETBALL:
11-2
7-8
BOYS THIRDS BASKETBALL:
10-3
#8 Ranking in N.E. Tournament (Quarter-finals: Hotchkiss 0, Choate 3)
BOYS JV HOCKEY:
5-6
GIRLS JV HOCKEY:
7-4-2
BOYS JV SQUASH:
11-2
GIRLS JV SQUASH:
3-5
3-6
V A R S I T Y
A N D
T H I R D S
JV BOYS CROSS COUNTRY:
2-5
JV GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY:
5-2
Spring Season Wrap-Up:
JV GIRLS SOCCER:
8-2-1
V A R S I T Y
JV BOYS SOCCER:
2-9
BASEBALL:
8-9
BOYS THIRDS SOCCER:
0-7-2
BOYS GOLF:
14-11-1
JV FIELD HOCKEY:
7-0
THIRDS FIELD HOCKEY:
5-2
JV VOLLEYBALL:
8-5
JV FOOTBALL:
1-5
5th in Founders League GIRLS GOLF:
BOYS LACROSSE:
8-7
GIRLS LACROSSE:
10-4
SAILING:
20-8
Winter Season Wrap-Up: V A R S I T Y BOYS BASKETBALL:
13-11
Tri-State League Champions (5th straight year) GIRLS BASKETBALL:
13-9
BOYS HOCKEY:
9-13-3
GIRLS HOCKEY:
11-5-4
BOYS SQUASH:
14-8
5th Place at New Englands GIRLS SQUASH:
New England Fleet Racing Champions Connecticut State Champions SOFTBALL:
1-11
BOYS TENNIS:
16-1
Founders League Champions Southern NE Tournament Champions Kingswood Invitational Champions NE Class A Champions (QuarterFinals: Hotchkiss 4, Loomis 0, SemiFinals: Hotchkiss 4, Choate, 0; Finals: Hotchkiss 4, Exeter 3 GIRLS TENNIS:
6-4
4-3
2nd in Founders League Championship, 8th at New Englands; Jack McCarthy ’13, Founders League Champion in Diving (3rd straight year); Jack Shanley ’12, Founders League Champion, 200 Freestyle; Zack Katz ’15, Founders League Champion, 100 Breaststroke 2-6
WRESTLING:
14-2
J U N I O R
V A R S I T Y
BOYS JV BASKETBALL:
A N D
BOYS TRACK:
GIRLS TRACK:
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5-2
3rd in Founders League 5th in New England 19-6
3rd at NEPSUL GIRLS WATER POLO:
0-4
J U N I O R
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T H I R D S 8-6
V A R S I T Y
JV BASEBALL:
48
8-1
3rd in Founders League 5th in New England
ULTIMATE FRISBEE:
GIRLS SWIMMING:
14-0
Kent Invitational Tournament Champions Founders League Champions NE Class A Champions (Semi-Finals: Hotchkiss 5, Andover 1, Finals: Hotchkiss 6, Greens Farms 2)
8th Place at New Englands BOYS SWIMMING:
6-9-1
3rd in Founders League
A G A Z I N E
T H I R D S 7-6
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The Spring’s Champions: Varsity Girls Tennis, Varsity Boys Tennis & Coed Sailing B Y
R O G E R
W I S T A R
The girls varsity tennis team completed its undefeated 2012 season with a win over Greens Farms Academy in the N.E. championship tournament. After losing two of the three opening doubles matches, the Bearcats (14-0) responded with a dominating effort in singles, sweeping all five completed matches to take the title 6-2. The win provided the final exclamation point in the careers of this year’s senior class. In the past four years, the girls varsity tennis teams have won three N.E. titles, three Founders League titles, two Kent Invitational titles, and finished with an overall match record of 47-2. The boys varsity tennis team ended its season undefeated in tournament play by winning the 2012 N.E. Class A Championship, the team’s third title since 2008. The day started with the team collectively focusing on the championship match. The one unknown was the strength of our Exeter opponents. Exeter had defeated Dexter (4-0) to reach the final out of the East side of the draw. Dexter had handed the Bearcats their only loss early in the season. The #1 and #3 doubles teams won their matches to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead going into the singles. The team carried that momentum into the singles round with Ford Traff ’12 winning at #2 singles 6-2, 6-2. Alejandro Escallon ’12 won at #5 singles 6-3, 61, and Austin Holmes ’15 won the last match being played at #6 singles 7-5, 6-3 to secure the 4th and final point, giving Hotchkiss its 3rd title in five years. In addition to the N.E. Championship, this 16-1 team finished first in the Founders League and won the Kingswood Invitational Tournament and the S.N.E. Tournament. The varsity sailing team brought a host of new faces to the 2012 N.E. fleet championships, but returned to Lakeville with a familiar prize – the team’s second consecutive title. The team, featuring co-captains Charlotte Belling ’12 and Connor Astwood ’12, as well as Casey Klingler ’14, Christina Fallon ’13, and Jack Gerli ’13, defeated St. George’s 74-87 in an exciting day of sailing that came down to the final races. Both of the top two teams, as well as Cape Cod Academy and Tabor Academy, advanced to the national fleet championships in
BOYS JV GOLF:
9-10
BOYS JV LACROSSE:
7-4
GIRLS JV LACROSSE:
4-5
BOYS THIRDS LACROSSE:
4-2
GIRLS THIRDS LACROSSE:
6-2
BOYS JV TENNIS:
9-1
GIRLS JV TENNIS:
4-4
BOYS THIRDS TENNIS:
8-0
GIRLS THIRDS TENNIS:
2-3
Seattle. Hotchkiss won largely on the strength of a consistent effort from both boats. Although St. George’s narrowly edged out the Bearcats in the A division by the score of 28-31, the Hotchkiss B boat won its division by four points over Greenwich, beating St. George’s by 16 points to secure the title. The Hotchkiss A boat, consisting of skipper Astwood and crew Belling for most of the day, produced consistently excellent results. The team recorded two first-place finishes and no finish worse than seventh on the day. Kemper, who skippered the B boat with Fallon for most of the day, also had a successful day. The pair raced together for the first six races and finished sixth or better in every race, including one win.
UPPER LEFT: The Varsity Sailing team with the trophy TOP: The championship Girls Varsity Tennis team ABOVE: Boys Varsity Tennis Team won its third title since 2008.
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IT’S
MY t u rn
Connecting to a past that is rooted in moist, warm earth
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BY ALLEN COCKERLINE
We join together for common purposes – schools, teams,
companies, organizations. We work together toward common goals, just as tribes did and in many places still do.
We form larger tribes: political organizations,
When I was young, I loved farms, and more specifically, I loved cattle and growing things. I had the good fortune to be under the tutelage of two farmers who gave me their time and understanding, one a grower, Vera Carter, and the other a dairy farmer, George Blaisdell. They were both born in the 1890s; so they weren’t just old-school, they were old. They taught me things sometimes through stories of their experiences but most often through work, which was the way they learned from their forebears. They amazed me with all they knew and how they came by it. They grew up with horsepower when it had hooves; they learned the art of farming, although it was never expressed as such. They saw incredible changes in their lifetimes. The knowledge they possessed came from a continuum of knowledge passed down from one generation to another. It has been said that a good horseman in 1900 had very much the same skill set as a good horseman in Roman times. Not much changed for many hundreds of years. Tools were refined; varieties of crops changed and developed; but the basic skills that built civilization were fairly constant for the farmer. It wasn’t till these old farmers were gone for many years that I realized I was the link to this past, to the continuum, (of course, the continuum now has a touchscreen). This is not
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sports fans, religion – still tribes, though.
something that is exclusive to farming. All businesses develop and morph from one thing to another, but for me it has always been very literally grounded in the soil, the magic that is moist, warm earth. And now I find myself among a new tribe. This small group who work together toward common goals, all of us coming from our individual places, different backgrounds or circumstances … and it has been fun, challenging, exciting, boring, hot, cold, messy, beautiful, frustrating, and productive. It is what we know as farming. Hopefully at the end of each season, it will prove out to have been worth it. I hope I can convey to you
some of what I got when I worked beside those who came before so that you in turn, can pass it on when the time comes. Know, too, that what I get from you is of equal if not greater value. Allen Cockerline, part of a team that works at the School's farm, gave this chapel talk in February. He helps in the oversight of the farm’s operation and works with the School on its educational programs, including the Fairfield Farm Ecosystems and Adventure Team. With his wife Robin, Allen raises healthy, grass-fed beef at their Whippoorwill Farm in Salisbury. They sell their meat at their farm shop on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
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Board of Trustees Thomas C. Barry P’01,’03,’05 Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88 Ian R. Desai ’00 Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07 William R. Elfers ’67, Vice President John E. Ellis III ’74
EMERITI
Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82 John R. Chandler, Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10 Frederick Frank ’50, P’12 David L. Luke III ’41 Dr. Robert A. Oden, Jr. P’97 Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ’56, P’85 Arthur W. White P’71,’74, GP’08,’11
Quinn Fionda ’91, Vice President and Chair, Communications Committee Edward J. Greenberg ’55, Vice President and Chair, Alumni Services Committee Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16 Keith Holmes ’77 Alessandra H. Nicolas ’95 Nichole R. Phillips ’89
Lawrence Flinn, Jr. ’53
Daniel N. Pullman ’76 Ex-Officio
Diana Gomez ’76, P’11,’12
Thomas S. Quinn III ’71, P’15 Ex-Officio
Sean M. Gorman ’72, Secretary
Casey H. Reid ’01
John P. Grube ’65, P’00
Peter D. Scala ’01
Elizabeth Gardner Hines ’93
Thomas R. Seidenstein ’91
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet ’85 Eleanor Green Long ’76 Forrest E. Mars, Jr. ’49, P’77,’82 GP’09,’09,’11,’11,’14, Vice President
2012-2013 Alumni Association Board of Governors
Malcolm H. McKenzie P’10, Trustee Ex Officio
Christina M. Bechhold ’03
Christopher H. Meledandri ’77, Vice President
Mr. William J. Benedict Jr. ’70, P’08, ’10
Kendra S. O’Donnell Thomas S. Quinn III ’71, P’15 Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, President Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08 Jane Sommers-Kelly ’81 Marjo Talbott
Lance K. Beizer ’56
Bryan A. Small ’03 George A. Takoudes ’87, Vice President and Chair, Nominating Committee and Subcommittee for Awards Michael G.T. Thompson ’66 Carolyn H. Toolan ’97
Katheryn Allen Berlandi ’88, President Keith E. Bernard Jr. ’95, Vice President and Chair, Alumni of Color Committee Miriam Beveridge ’86 Douglas Campbell III, ’71, P’01, Secretary and Chair, Nominating Subcommittee for Membership
John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11, Officer-at-Large
Adam Casella ’06
William B. Tyree ’81, P’14, Treasurer
Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian ’85, Vice President and Chair, Gender Committee
Daniel Wilner '03
Hotchkiss REUNION
Charles A. Denault ’74, P’03 Ex-Officio
October 26-28, 2012 Class of 1962 - 50th Reunion Class of 1967 - 45th Reunion
June 14-16, 2013
FIND UPDATES ON THE HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH The Hotchkiss website, www.hotchkiss.org, and our social media sites provide timely School news. Eleanor Green Long ’76 and John E. Ellis III ’74, the Trustee co-chairs of the Head of School search committee, are providing regular updates on the search on the Hotchkiss website. You can find this news by clicking on the button on the home page that says, “Head of School Search.”
For more information, please contact: Caroline Sallee Reilly ’87, Director of Alumni Relations, at (860) 435-3892 or creilly@hotchkiss.org. You may also visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni and click on Events & Reunions.
Classes of 1933, 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008
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Memories Needed Were you here in 1968? Are there memories you can share? Do you still have a box of daily themes, a diary you would be willing to lend, or letters you wrote to your parents? Were you a school photographer? Are there old black-and-white photographs in your attic? Did you register for the draft while a student here? If so, Hotchkiss Archives & Special Collections needs your help. Hotchkiss Archives and Special Collections plans an exhibit and teaching program in conjunction with the School’s Humanities Program focused on 1968 at Hotchkiss. The exhibit will open early in 2013. 1968 is a pivotal year in the Humanities curriculum, touching on issues of race, gender, Vietnam, and more. The exhibit will focus on life at Hotchkiss in the late ’60s with particular emphasis on curriculum, social life, diversity, and the effect of national and international events on students. Memorabilia may be sent to Joan Baldwin, Curator of Special Collections, via email at jbaldwin@hotchkiss.org or by U.S. mail c/o Hotchkiss Archives & Special Collections, The Hotchkiss School, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039-2141. Please no 0LVFKLDQ]DV – we are well supplied with copies.
In this Issue: The Annual Report of Giving 2011-12
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