Campus Connection

Inclusion & Equity Progress

HOTCHKISS’S COMMITMENT to a School culture that is fundamentally equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist for all members is foundational. Work to increase diversity across the School community, to correct bias in curriculum, to train faculty, and to strengthen networks of support for all community members of color has been well underway. Last summer’s nationwide demonstrations against anti-Black injustice, however, accelerated progress that spans virtually every aspect of the School.

Since the pandemic began, anti-Asian and anti-Asian American violence has increased. The mass shooting in Atlanta on March 16 that killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asia descent, was yet another moment of reckoning with the enduring reality of racism.

During an All-School Meeting on March 1, Head of School Craig Bradley emphasized the School’s values as a pluralistic learning community in which all are welcomed. On March 18, two days after the shooting deaths in Atlanta, more than 400 students, faculty, and staff gathered to discuss the experience of Pan Asians in the U.S. and at Hotchkiss, this time as part of a Community Conversation centered around anti-Asian xenophobia, racism, and intolerance.

In the days that followed, students participated in conversations led by affinity groups including Triple A (Pan-Asian students), BaHSA (Black and Hispanic Student Alliance), and de Colores (Latinx and Hispanic students). During these and many other gatherings, students continue to come together to share grief, show support for one another, and strengthen the School’s culture of knowledge and understanding.

“The engagement and maturity of our students are nothing short of remarkable,” said Director of Diversity & Inclusion Yassine Talhaoui. “I am truly in awe of the sophistication of perspective, the willingness to be vulnerable, and frankly the commitment to drive change that students are exhibiting — not only older students, but preps and lower mids as well. It is Hotchkiss at its best.”

Among a variety of other resources, the Edsel Ford Memorial Library has supplemented its existing LibGuide of antiracism resources (https://libguides.hotchkiss. org/anti-racism) with a selection of resources dedicated to racism targeting the Pan-Asian community (https://libguides.hotchkiss.org/ anti-racism/pan-asian_racism).

The groundswell of public outrage at anti-Asian bigotry comes amidst substantial progress across the School in addressing inequity. The Board Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which was established last summer and is co-chaired by Trustees Becky van der Bogert and Annika Lescot ’06, has been active in supporting the extensive work taking place across the School.

“What students experience at Hotchkiss will help shape their roles as future leaders and changemakers. Every student should feel ‘at home’ at Hotchkiss — included in the community and appreciated for the diversity of thought, perspective, and background they bring to bear. We owe it to our students and ourselves to dedicate our time, talents, and treasures to this work.”

—ANNIKA LESCOTT ’06, TRUSTEE

As a learning environment for students who will one day become leaders of an increasingly complex world, an ability to understand and navigate varied and intersectional environments is critically important. Students perform better when learning among diverse peers and from diverse faculty. They also achieve more when they have access to teachers, advisors, and school leaders who look like they do.

In the current academic year, 38 percent of Hotchkiss students from the U.S. selfidentify as students of color. Twenty years ago, this was 21 percent. International students from a variety of different racial and ethnic backgrounds account for an additional 13 percent of our diverse student body. Through a commitment to financial aid, generous gifts from alumni, outreach programs to engage talented students from all backgrounds, and other measures, the School is continuing to drive diverse enrollment.

“As a mission-driven institution, the students we teach are as important as what we teach them. Who they are very directly affects who we are as a whole, what we stand for, and the relevance of our institution.”

—ERBY MITCHEL P’21, DEAN OF ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID

As part of ensuring that all students feel safe, seen, and supported, the bias incident reporting process has been strengthened. Using a form readily available online, students have the ability to report incidents of bias. All employees have participated in implicit bias training. In addition, a careful review and assessment of institutional policies, including the employee handbook, student handbook, and disciplinary protocols has been conducted.

The Walter J. Crain Fellowship

Hotchkiss is committed to developing innovative hiring strategies to attract and retain the most capable faculty and staff. The School is pleased to announce the establishment of the Walter J. Crain Fellowship named in honor of the late Walter J. Crain P’86,’89, the first Black member of the faculty and a long-serving and beloved teacher, coach, and dean of students.

The four-year fellowship is made possible through a partnership with the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. Over the course of four years, beginning in 2021, a total of eight fellows selected for the program will have the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in Private School Leadership at the Klingenstein Center, funded by Hotchkiss, while earning a salary teaching at Hotchkiss or working in one of the School’s administrative departments. Applications for the 2021 fellowship program are currently under review.

The Walter J. Crain Fellowship has been launched with a $1 million investment from Hotchkiss. It is geared toward professionals who aspire to leadership roles at independent schools, have demonstrated a commitment to working with diverse populations, and are committed to, and effective at, supporting an inclusive learning community for all students. Fellowship program graduates will be well-positioned to pursue transformational change in the lives of students and fellow educators at schools around the world.

“The Walter J. Crain Fellowship is an important partnership that enacts the Center’s commitment to diversify the leadership pipeline in independent and international schools. Our hope is that more schools will join us to create a consortium of schools that allow for a broader spectrum of emerging school leaders to benefit from such a dynamic professional learning experience. Together, we can deeply diversify leadership throughout our schools and build leadership capacity to lead more equitable and inclusive schools in which all persons thrive,” said Nicole Furlonge, Klingenstein Family Chair Professor of Practice and director of the Klingenstein Center.

When Walter Crain joined the Hotchkiss faculty in 1970, he initiated a long and ongoing journey toward meaningful inclusion and belonging for all students, faculty, and staff at the School. The fellowship will serve as a lasting tribute to his legacy.

Walter J. Crain served the Hotchkiss community for 33 years as a teacher, coach, and dean of students.

Engagement across the Community

The Student Council on Diversity & Inclusion, co-chaired by Meghanna Annamaneni ’21 and Emily Heimer ’21, serves as a liaison between Hotchkiss students and School leadership. The Council is actively involved in driving programming, facilitating community engagements, and distributing communications.

The Hotchkiss Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Parent Network (HBPN) is co-chaired by Leah C. Gardiner P’24 and Rhonda HarrisScott P’24. This volunteer organization seeks to recognize, celebrate, and support the diverse members of the parent body of Hotchkiss. Among other initiatives, the HBPN has recently hosted several opportunities for incoming families to connect with current families for insights and guidance about choosing Hotchkiss and transitioning to school.

The Board of Governors (BOG) of the Alumni Association plays a vital role in creating programming for alumni and parents. The Diversity & Inclusion Committee of the BOG, co-chaired by Danielle S. Ferguson ’97 and Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03, vice president of the BOG, focuses on supporting and promoting Hotchkiss’s diverse and inclusive community.

PHOTO: JACK JOHNSON ’22

Students in the Outing Club gather around a campfire during a chilly weekend evening.

Black History Month

Hotchkiss celebrated Black History Month with a series of virtual events. The Board of Governors created an online series, featuring Black alumni whose experiences at Hotchkiss played a vital role in the development of their careers, lives, and interests. In addition, on Feb. 25, the BOG’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee hosted a Zoom event with a panel of Black alumni who have succeeded in creating their own powerful legacies.

Panelists included Sean Heywood ’96, a business developer of Alexa at Amazon; Natalie Paul ’03, actress and director; Rhonda Trotter ’79, a trial lawyer, partner, and Hotchkiss trustee; and Nathalie Walton ’03, CEO of Expectful, a meditation and sleep app for new mothers. The panel held a far-reaching discussion about the motivation and tools that helped to guide their professional and personal lives and how their experiences and identies as people of color have shaped their career choices.

On March 8, Hotchkiss’s Veterans Society hosted a virtual community conversation about diversity and inclusion in the U.S. military, featuring retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and physician Nick Lezama ’75 and his son, Alex Lezama ’05, a former U.S. Army captain who currently serves as an Army Reserves captain and State Department foreign service officer stationed in South Africa. “In the Army there is zero tolerance for intolerance,” Alex Lezama said. “You are with people from everywhere: every background, every socioeconomic group, and the unit you get is the unit you’re in. The military benefits from having an authoritative hierarchy, so when a commander says we will all work together and work effectively together, that’s it. The military has a very unique ability to be a driver for social change issues.”

To read more Black History Month at Hochkiss, go to hotchkiss.org/news

Film, Words, and Voices Honor the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Left to right: Leah C. Gardiner P’24, an Obie Award-winning director, holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.F.A. in directing from the Yale School of Drama; Seth Gilliam P’24 has been acting in television, film, and theatre for more than three decades; Kamilah Forbes, curator, producer, and director, is executive producer for the Apollo Theater.

The Hotchkiss community honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a series of virtual events, beginning on Jan. 17 with the screening of director Kamilah Forbes’s HBO film adaptation of Between the World and Me by author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Published in 2015, the book was written as a letter to Coates’s teenage son and recounts the author’s experiences growing up in Baltimore’s inner city and his increasing fear of violence against the Black community.

“We — all of us — are living through an incredible time of change.”

—CRAIG BRADLEY, HEAD OF SCHOOL

MLK Day activities kicked off with an opening address by Head of School Craig Bradley, who called on the community to cultivate the seeds of change.

“We — all of us — are living through an incredible time of change. It is a time during which the legacy of struggle is bearing fruit,” said Bradley. “This fruit, of course, holds the seeds of change and of future struggle. The work of anti-racism continues. The battle for anti-racism continues. The battle for fact over fiction goes on.”

Following his address, Forbes, executive producer of the Apollo Theater, joined director Leah C. Gardiner P’24 and actor Seth Gilliam P’24 in a panel talk on “How to Access, Persevere, and Succeed in Spaces NOT Originally Designed for YOU.” That afternoon, students worked with class deans on “Doing the Work: AntiRacism at Hotchkiss,” a workshop in which students discussed the legacy they want to leave for future students. H

Campus Diversity Events

ON JAN. 20, prior to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Hillel board members presented a video interview with Holocaust survivors Aneta and Joseph Weinreich and their adult children. The family recounted their struggle to overcome unimaginable hardship and to find hope and ultimately happiness. In light of the hatred, anti-Semitism, and Holocaust denial that exists in the world today, it is important that this inspiring story of hope is shared, Hillel co-heads, Sydney Goldstein ’22 and Simone Straus ’21 told the community.

ON FEB. 12, the Chinese Club shared an online video to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Since the holiday fell during Winter Break and COVID-19 protocols prohibited in-person gatherings, members of the Chinese Club reached out virtually to the extended Hotchkiss community to share their New Year’s wishes. Around 30 students, alumni, teachers, and their family members participated in the creation of a video, which was shared on social media. In addition, on Feb. 15, Johanna Hahn P’14, director of parent programs, hosted a virtual happy hour to celebrate the Year of the Ox. The event was open to all, while alumni and families in Asia received a special invitation. Instructor in History Tom Drake and his wife, Verena, piano instructors Fabio and Gisele Witkowski, and Ninette Enrique, chief advancement officer, also attended.

ON MARCH 11, the Hispanic and Latinx affinity group, De Colores, met over Zoom with four Hotchkiss alumni: Francisco Garcia ’07, Elle Cotzomi ’11, Brian Cintrón ’12, and Luis Gonzalez Kompalic ’16. Attendees asked panelists a variety of questions on topics ranging from their identity to their experiences at Hotchkiss and beyond. Alumni also spoke about their favorite parts of Hotchkiss and the different experiences that influenced their current and future career choices.

To read more about these events and watch video replays, go to hotchkiss.org/news.

A New Lecture Series Aims to Inspire the Next Generation of Science Leaders

For Katie Touhey Moore ’89, Rescuing Dolphins is a Collaborative Effort

AS A CHILD, KATIE TOUHEY MOORE ’89

loved exploring tide pools and estuaries along the Massachusetts coast where she spent her summers. Today, Moore rescues stranded dolphins and other marine mammals in Cape Cod in her role as deputy vice president of animal rescue at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). On March 4, she spoke to the Hotchkiss community about her career as part of the Science Connections speaker series, a program launched by the Science Department to connect STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) students with professionals to nurture an appreciation for the sciences and to educate them about new advances in science and technology.

Moore is a global expert in marine mammal rescue. She pioneered the first systematic, successful mass stranding prevention program in the world while improving the care and diagnostic process of those marine mammals. She was also part of the team that created the award-winning documentary film Sonic Sea. She has worked with partner organizations — from the Wildlife Trust of India to NASA to local communities in Myanmar — in more than 15 countries, and she regularly advises rescue efforts around the world.

As a lower mid at Hotchkiss, Moore was drawn to science. But she barely passed chemistry, and though she really wanted to take AP Biology as a senior, she was afraid she might not be up to it.

After graduating from Hotchkiss, Moore attended Wheaton College, where she took an Introduction to Biology course and aced it. “I realized it was the same textbook used for AP Biology at Hotchkiss,” she said. From then on she learned not to let anything stop her from pursuing her passion for science. She worked with Wheaton to develop an interdisciplinary program, which became her pathway to environmental management, and she went on to earn a master’s in environmental management at Duke University.

After college, her work as a volunteer counting dolphins in North Carolina led to a relationship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which helped her land a job rescuing stranded sea mammals in Cape Cod.

Every year, the organization rescues 250 to 270 sea mammals that become washed ashore in the changing tides. The average time the dolphins are held from rescue to release ranges from two to five hours, depending on how long it takes the team of 10 volunteers to lift a 600lb. dolphin out of the muddy water and secure it to a gurney. Before the mammals are transported and released back into the open ocean, the team gathers data on the dolphins. Blood analysis, heart rate monitoring, ultrasonography, auditory testing, and satellite tagging all help biologists find ways to improve the survival rate of stranded dolphins.

More recently, IFAW has partnered with NASA to explore whether solar storms and flares impact the animals’ ability to navigate, which could be one reason why so many are stranded. NASA engineers and IFAW biologists have two very different approaches, but, in science, Moore said, collaboration is key. When solving some of the global problems in wildlife rescue and conservation, it comes back to the people and connections you make with them, said Moore.

Ultimately, she adds, “to be a good scientist you need to be a good person — no matter what field you choose.” H

In 2007, Katie Touhey Moore received the Community Service Award, which recognizes alumni who demonstrate an exemplary sense of caring, initiative, and ingenuity in their volunteer and/or vocational endeavors.

Christine Angelini ’03 Seeks to Protect Our Precious Coastal Ecosystems

On March 25, Dr. Christine Angelini ’03, an ecologist with expertise in wetland, reef, and dune systems, shared her journey from Hotchkiss to her current role as director of the Center for Coastal Solutions at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Angelini’s research has focused on how the interactions of certain species can moderate an ecosystem’s resilience to climate change and influence the integration of contaminants into food webs. Atlantic ribbed mussels, for example, contribute to the recovery of nutrients and plants in salt marshes following periods of severe drought.

In her research, she collaborates with a diverse and talented group of ecologists, hydrologists, biogeochemists, geomorphologists, and engineers at the University of Florida, other U.S. and international academic institutions, and a broad range of state and federal agencies that are studying how science and engineering can help coastal ecosystems.

At the University of Florida, she also serves as an assistant professor of environmental engineering sciences and is a gender equity advocate for students interested in pursuing careers in STEM.

Angelini came to Lakeville from nearby Ashley Falls, MA, where she was the fourth of six children. Her parents instilled in her a dedication toward having a strong work ethic and a strong connection to the outdoors.

“Hotchkiss was really transformational for me,” said Angelini, who was a star hockey player and excelled in junior high school. At Hotchkiss, she continued cultivating a lifelong love of learning while also being deeply involved in athletics.

She credits former Instructor in Biology Jim Morrill P’87,’89 for encouraging her interest in science and showing her what it means to be a biologist and environmental scientist. “He took us on ‘botanical forays’ around the campus,” recalled Angelini.

“He had an appreciation for identifying organisms and their niche in the environment,” she said. He also introduced Angelini to experimentation with a memorable project where she learned about DNA extraction. She participated in a three-week student trip to Antarctica, where she had an opportunity to observe scientific field work, which further piqued her interest in biology.

Looking back, she said she deeply valued her talented peers, the School’s environment of excellence, the wellrounded guidance of her mentors, and her exposure to places beyond New England.

After graduating from Hotchkiss, Angelini attended Brown University. There she found a mentor in marine biology instructor Dr. Mark Bertness, who invited her to become part of his field lab studying coastal areas.

Angelini earned her graduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Florida, where she did extensive field work in the massive salt marshes along the Georgia coast, studying the role of the ribbed mussel in supporting and restoring the ecosystem.

Making discoveries about the natural world has been deeply satisfying for Angelini. But her ultimate goal is to move beyond just studying the environment to being more proactive in finding solutions to the large and complex problems impacting it. H

Dr. Christine Angelini’s work has been published in a variety of leading, peerreviewed journals including Ecology, Current Biology, Conservation Biology, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Nature Communications.

Hotchkiss Takes a Deep Dive Into the Solar System

BY WENDY CARLSON

IS THERE LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS?

Do stars create music? How do satellites impact the night sky?

Answers to those questions and more were part of “Hotchkiss Back to the Classroom: Astronomy at Hotchkiss and Beyond,” a virtual conversation with alumni experts hosted by the Alumni and Development Office on Feb. 7.

Roger Liddell ’63 P’98, an avid supporter of astronomy at Hotchkiss, moderated the discussion with Kevin Baines ’72, Derek Buzasi ’82, and Jeff Hall ’82 –– scientists who have all pioneered discoveries in our solar system. To view a replay visit: https://bit.ly/37tqGTv

William Fenton, instructor in physics and astronomy and director of the Hotchkiss Observatory, set the mood by kicking off the conversation from inside the observatory. The structure, built in 2015, houses a 20-inch reflecting telescope that is used in the School’s general elective and observational astronomy research courses. Fenton also advises the Astronomy Club, which holds a star party each spring and fall for the surrounding community.

Kevin Baines ’72, a principal scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, joined the Zoom event, taking the audience on a whirlwind tour of the solar system in a search for evidence of life. In the past, the focus has been on Mars, “but we’re at a stage where things have changed, and many different planets have prospects for life,” said Baines.

“The biggest advance in space science has been the idea that there are oceans in the solar system everywhere, even out to Pluto. That’s oceans of liquid water, not ice, so if you have water that is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and above, it is possible to have life — this is a big deal.”

Small pockets of ice exist on the surface of Mars, water vapors have been spotted on the moon Europa, and there are clouds in the atmosphere around Venus. Cassini, the fourth space probe to visit Saturn, has enabled the discovery that Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, is spewing liquid water into space from more than a dozen geysers.

As for musical stars, Derek Buzasi ’82, an eminent scholar at Florida Gulf Coast University’s College of Arts and Sciences, discussed how stellar oscillations, sound waves running through a star, can inform astronomers about its internal properties.

We can’t hear it with our ears, but stars are continuously performing a symphony of sounds. The biggest stars make the lowest sounds, while smaller stars have highpitched ones, and all stars have thousands of different sound waves bouncing around inside them. By listening to the music of the stars, scientists can determine the mass, the radius, age, and composition of a star.

Jeff Hall ’82, director of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ, chairs the American Astronomical Society’s committee on light pollution, space debris, and radio interference.

“We are at a moment of sea change,” he said, explaining that the space environment in the immediate vicinity of the earth is becoming more and more crowded with spacecraft performing communications, navigation, and scientific missions.

Since 1957, the number of artificial satellites in Earth’s lower orbit has risen into the thousands. Many of them are a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers above the earth’s surface. As more companies in the private sector develop technology to access space, it is likely that there will be thousands more artificial satellites, each emitting bright light that could impact observations of the night sky, Hall said.

“It is a perfect-storm moment now: the quantity of satellites, the brightness they emit, and ability of the private sector, with financial and technological resources, to launch wherever they want, whenever they want,” he said.

Aerospace companies are working to mitigate satellites by doing things like darkening the reflective surfaces of their satellites, but ground rules have to be established for space operations, Hall noted.

In a Q and A session, Fenton addressed a question many mere mortals ponder: What is the real probability of extraterrestrial life?

Said Fenton: “For me, it’s almost the only thing to think about, whether we’re alone in the universe or not. I believe there’s life out there in lots of different ways that we cannot expect. We keep finding life in places we don’t think we’re going to find it, and I think we will continue to do so.” H

“I believe there’s life out there in lots of different ways that we cannot expect. We keep finding life in places we don’t think we’re going to find it, and I think we will continue to do so.”

—WILLIAM FENTON, INSTRUCTOR IN PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

The shaded area above is an image of the Horsehead Nebula, a star-forming region in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, and was photographed and processed by Luca Polgar ’16.

ILLUSTRATION: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

Mark Davis ’68 Takes Us to Mars in a National Geographic Special

On Feb. 18, the space rover Perseverance made its historical landing on Mars. It was an epic moment for NASA and for Mark Davis ’68, the writer, producer, and director of Built for Mars: The Perseverance Rover, a special that premiered on the National Geographic Channel following the landing. Davis worked on the documentary for two years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, following the build and the inevitable crises that are part of every Mars mission, then editing the footage in his attic studio in Newburyport, MA. After the special aired on the National Geographic Channel, the film moved to Disney +. The owner of MDTV Productions, Davis has written, produced, and directed eight documentaries about NASA’s Mars rovers, including the Emmy-winning Five Years on Mars (2008) and others for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. See p. 48 in Class Notes for more background on the film.

Introducing Hillel

BY WENDY CARLSON

At Hotchkiss, there are more than 80 clubs in which students can pursue their passions and explore new interests. The oldest, St. Luke’s Society, was established in 1891. Over the years, a plethora of new clubs have emerged, offering students everything from space rocketry to sporting clays. These clubs are open to all interested students, regardless of their backgrounds. As part of a new series, we’ll provide you with a snapshot of a club in each issue, beginning with Hillel.

NOW THREE DECADES OLD,

Hillel is open to students as well as faculty and staff members who are interested in Jewish faith and culture. Members strive to promote a community that is accepting and willing to learn more about the Jewish heritage. All members of the community are welcome at casual, weekly, non-religious Shabbat meetings.

Hillel was founded in 1990 by Aaron Oberman ’92, P’24, who was searching for ways to connect with his Jewish culture while he was at Hotchkiss.

“At that time, there were no Jewish faculty members on campus. So my advisor, Keith Moon, would drive a few of us to Great Barrington on High Holidays. He helped me organize the first Shabbat on campus. I am not an overly religious person, but I really missed the Jewish culture I shared with my family,” he said.

“So we started some fun activities, and we welcomed the whole community to participate. For our first Passover Seder, former Head of School Rob Oden, who studied ancient languages, read ancient Hebrew, which was cool – but of course, no one knew what he was saying! But we had a large number of attendees and many nonJewish students. That’s partly because we served Manischewitz,” he joked.

“We also held a huge Hanukkah party that was sort of like a casino night, with a Dreidel Spin contest that drew nearly 100 students. The winner got a dorm pizza party.”

In the years following, the club went through fits and starts. Nathan Seidenberg, instructor in history, took over the faculty leadership five years ago and started Shabbat get-togethers in the Dining Hall on Friday evenings. “I wanted a space for Jewish students to be able to congregate and talk about issues,” he explained.

“The renewed purpose of Hillel is to offer a place for students and faculty to find community, create Jewish connections, and build leadership skills. We are nonsectarian, open to anyone who identifies as Jewish and any allies,” he said.

“While I am devout, I do not want to push any one form of Judaism. We do offer access to High Holy Days services in Great Barrington each year and an annual Seder for anyone on campus. This year we found a space on campus to gather together to participate in virtual services, and we also encourage the students to lead initiatives. Beginning last year, the Hillel Board started to attend the Anti-Defamation League’s annual conference on combating hate. The Hillel leadership is actively working to create an anti-hate coalition on campus,” Seidenberg added. “I want all Jewish students to feel proud and safe about their identity at Hotchkiss,”

“Hillel, for me, not only means observance of Jewish holidays on campus, but also a measure of consistency for me to look forward to weekly: every Friday night, I know that I always have Shabbat dinner.”

—SYDNEY GOLDSTEIN ’22

Seidenberg said.

Instructor in English Carita Gardiner P’17,’20 has also spearheaded Hillel events and worked with the students in culinary activities, such as the annual latke-making workshop and dinners.

Gardiner hosted the Passover Seder at her home for years, but the event grew so large that the group no longer fit in her dining room. For the past several years (with the exception of 2020, due to COVID-19), the Seder has been held in the Rockland Room at Fairfield Farm. “In my first 15 or so years at Hotchkiss, the club was active, but about five years ago, the leadership of Nate Seidenberg on the faculty, and students Avital Romoff ’16, Eden Schwartz ’16, and Thomas Getman ’19 took the club to new levels,” Gardiner said.

“Eden and Avi organized a series of events to help non-Jewish students learn about the culture, dress, and foods of Judaism. Then, Thomas brought a

Ben Weiss ’21 and Elizabeth Oliver ’22 make latkes for a special holiday dinner.

Holocaust Remembrance Day speaker and (with wonderful help from his mother) brought the latke-making workshop and Sukkah-build to campus. Nate Seidenberg’s weekly Shabbat dinners have been truly transformational. For the first two years of the dinners, Thomas’s mother overnighted us challah from New York City every week. Now, our Dining Hall makes our challah (and it’s delicious!)”

Sadly, she added, “I do think that part of the interest we’ve had in Hillel’s activities stems from anti-Semitic vandalism that has occurred on campus in the past.” More recently, she cited the demonstrations during the Capitol insurrection in which rioters wore anti-Semitic t-shirts. “Our country clearly needs more education on what being Jewish means and on the history of the Jewish people,” she said.

To that end, in January, Hillel Board members, led by co-presidents Simone Straus ’21 and Sydney Goldstein ’22, held a virtual community event prior to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, during which they showed a video interview with a couple who survived the Holocaust and their family.

“In light of the hatred, anti-Semitism, and Holocaust denial that exist in the world today, it was important that their inspiring story of hope was shared,” said Goldstein.

For members of Hillel, the club offers opportunities to increase community awareness about topics like the Holocaust and hate crimes. But the club has also become a valuable part of their overall Hotchkiss experience. Said Goldstein, “When I first joined the School, I honestly never thought that this group of people would become one of my most valued sub-communities in my larger membership of the Hotchkiss community –– I have come to the point where I really cannot possibly imagine my time at Hotchkiss without it. Hillel, for me, not only means observance of Jewish holidays on campus, but also a measure of consistency for me to look forward to weekly: every Friday night, I know that I always have Shabbat dinner. I see some of the same people every week at Shabbat, but it also makes me so happy to see new faces of students and faculty who want to join in.” H

PHOTO: WENDY CARLSON

The Athletic Experience

— It’s Like One Big Family

Kait Perrelle Leonard ’06, pictured second row, second from left, celebrates with her teammates after winning the 2002 New England Field Hockey Class A Championships in 2002.

During an Athletics Open House in December, alumni Mario Williams ’12 and Kait Perrelle Leonard ’06 spoke about their Hotchkiss athletic experiences to prospective students and their families.

KAIT PERRELLE LEONARD ’06 is one of five siblings in a family that placed a strong emphasis on education and athletics. Her grandfather was a high school football coach and athletics director, and her father coached several sports as a high school teacher and most of her and her siblings’ youth teams growing up.

“Athletics played a major role in education. When it came time for my middle brother to enter high school, and our family discovered the boarding school world, Hotchkiss was where my family landed,” she explained.

For the next five years of her life, she spent her Wednesdays and weekends up at Hotchkiss watching her two brothers compete in soccer, ice hockey, wrestling, and baseball.

“In a way I grew up on this campus, befriended the faculty and faculty children, and made this place a home before I ever stepped foot into my Buehler 201 room my prep year,” she said.

When she arrived at Hotchkiss, she had to make the difficult decision whether to continue with soccer or play field hockey, as both were fall sports. After speaking with Co-Director of Athletics Robin Chandler ’87 on her revisit day about her dilemma, Chandler strongly encouraged her to pick field hockey.

“It was the best decision I could have ever made for myself,” said Leonard.

“The first day of preseason I was scared

to my core about the year ahead: Would I make friends, would I even make the varsity team, and what if I failed the run test? Thankfully I made it… albeit, barely! From the get-go, though, the returning members of the team took me under their wings and made me feel immediately at home. Three other preps and I made the team that year, and the four of us would eventually go on to captain the team together our senior year. Our bond on the field was incredible, to the point where after our fourth New England championship we promised to get matching HFH tattoos (we never did). But that first year, I remember being so incredibly inspired by our leaders. I felt this incredible magic among the girls, and knew I was lucky to be included in this amazing group. The HFH team gave me something so special — a family. And like any family, we had our good days and our bad days… one of the hardest memories was losing the last game ever played on the old ’49 fields (before we got artificial turf), which was the only game in four years we had ever lost at home.”

“However, through the ups and downs — banana bread Fridays, Monday and Thursday team conditioning, beautiful November sunsets and rainy Bearcat weather, I learned the value of hard work, passion, and support.”

Before coming to Hotchkiss, she had never touched a lacrosse stick. She played a year on the JV team, and eventually when someone asked her to play goalie, she found a way to break into the varsity lineup her lower-mid year.

She also tried out for varsity ice hockey every year, but never made the team.

“Ultimately, though, my Hotchkiss athletic experience was not defined by the level of team I was on, the playing time I got, or the championships I won. It was about the people with whom I spent my time and traveled each season,” she explained.

“From the inspiring words and heartfelt passion that Robin instilled in all of us, to the camaraderie and sense of being part of a team that flowed through each and every girl on our roster, I will cherish every single moment I spent on the ’49s. I still do each day as a coach. I will always remember the lighthearted practices of JV ice hockey; I will remember the trips to Florida with the lacrosse team, running through the Disney parks, playing in the sweltering heat, and of course the dreaded conditioning, which ultimately brought us all closer together. But most of all I remember what each program taught me. I learned how to play for the girl on my left and on my right, to work hard day in and day out to help my team succeed, how to put the team before myself, and how to become a leader, no matter what my age, skill level, or experience.

“I learned that it is the little things — asking how someone’s day was, learning about their life, connecting beyond the lines of the field — that make the most impact in any team experience. These are values I bring with me through life and onto the field each day as a coach.”

Leonard went on to play field hockey and lacrosse at Princeton. On her official visit there, she remembered noticing how similar the field hockey team dynamic was to her Hotchkiss team: the traditions, the people, and the coaches. “I knew it was the place for me — not because of the level or success of the program, but because of the heart and soul of it. Without that knowledge and experience at Hotchkiss, I’m not sure I would have ended up wearing orange and black,” she said.

After college, Leonard spent five years working and coaching at the collegiate level, but for her it just wasn’t enough time with her players. She knew she needed to come back to a community where she could make a more significant impact on the students she coached and lived with. When she had the opportunity to return to Hotchkiss as associate director of admissions and to coach field hockey, “it felt like I was coming home.” she said.

AS A YOUNG BOY GROWING UP

in Jamaica, Mario Williams ’12 was obsessed with soccer. Some of his fondest childhood memories are of captaining teams and winning many championships and sharing those experiences with his teammates.

“Memories of long trips for games on cramped buses, tense playoff matches in the pouring rain, and dancing happily in the locker room back home all bring a smile to my face,” he said. Williams first learned about Hotchkiss when a coach who was looking for skilled soccer players — leaders and scholars who

Kait Perrelle Leonard ’06, associate director of admission, dorm parent, and head coach of the varsity field hockey team, is in her fifth year as a faculty member.

Mario Williams ’12 and co-captain, Mohammed Rashid ’12, celebrating winning the New England Class A boys soccer championship during their senior year (Fall 2011)

would be a good fit for the School — came to watch a “combine,” where athletes compete to showcase their soccer ability.

“I played really well that day, and as they say, the rest is history. I was on a plane to Hotchkiss to begin school in Lakeville the following August. Of all the kids who had participated in that combine, only a handful were offered opportunities to attend Hotchkiss, and of those three or four students who were encouraged to apply, I was the only one who did. Applying and attending Hotchkiss was one of the best decisions of my life,” he said. Hotchkiss offered Williams access to resources that he never dreamed of having back home in Jamaica.

“There were only a few artificial turf fields in Jamaica when I was a kid, and having access to a field with stadium lights was rare. I still remember my first Fridaynight game under the lights on Sprole turf, the sideline bursting with students in blue and white, horns blasting loudly. Over the course of my three years at Hotchkiss, I was a member of teams that won multiple New England championships, Founders League titles, and other accolades, but being a part of the athletics program and a student at the School meant much more than the trophies. It meant school spirit and pride in wearing the shirt on match days. It meant having the setting and support to challenge myself each day to be better. It also meant that I was in a place where there was an appropriate balance of academics and athletics, so I could spend the necessary time deepening my love for a sport that I had learned to appreciate from such a young age.” He still keeps in touch with his former teammates. “They reach out to me often, in my capacity as a coach of the team, as they are constantly trying to find ways to reconnect with the program,” he commented. On Taft Day in 2019, when Hotchkiss faced its athletic arch-rival, several of Williams’s former teammates sent motivational statements to the current team members to pump them up for the game. “It was an amazing gesture and highlights the lasting impact that the program has on you. Once you are a part of the team, you are forever connected, and there is a very special quality about the institution that keeps people coming back,” Williams explained. After graduating from Hotchkiss, Williams attended Franklin and Marshall College, where he was a member of a team that won a Centennial Conference soccer championship and became an NCAA Elite Eight finalist. Hotchkiss’s dual focus on academic rigor and athletic achievement helped Williams to adjust well to life as a college student-athlete. The culture of athletic leadership and high athletic standards also prepared him to immediately be a leader on the team.

“I certainly had healthy respect for more experienced members of the team, but I understood my purpose in the program, had a strong sense of belief in myself and my abilities, and gave it my all to help support my teammates each day. My experiences in the Hotchkiss soccer program molded me to be a purposeful, driven, and caring teammate,” he said. “Being a member of sports teams here is not only about finding a route to college or being a ‘star player.’ It’s about family.”

“I always impress on my players to care deeply about wearing the Hotchkiss jersey. Many players wore the shirt before them and accomplished great feats and put in significant time and energy to do so. I expect that they will also give it their all to achieve their personal goals and help the team to accomplish its overarching goals. But that starts with being present and caring deeply about the program and what it stands for,” Williams explained.

“Whether I am in the classroom or on the training field, I also encourage my students to be ambitious. Think big! I never thought as a child growing up in Jamaica that my athletic and academic abilities would enable me to attend an outstanding institution like Hotchkiss, or that I would have the privilege of being able to work daily with some of the most talented educators I’ve known and teach incredibly brilliant students. To be a student-athlete at Hotchkiss is to have limitless ambition and to identify an opportunity, work hard to be able to reach out to it at arm’s length, and then seize it.”

Today, Williams carries the lessons he learned on the field as a Hotchkiss soccer player to his professional life as a coach and teacher. H

Mario Williams ’12 is in his second year of teaching environmental science at Hotchkiss, where he is also the head varsity soccer coach and assistant coach of varsity track and field. Williams is originally from Jamaica, where the majority of his family still resides. Mario prepares to control the ball as his former teammate, Vincent DiMichele ’11, looks on (Fall 2010).

“Once you are a part of the team, you are forever connected, and there is a very special quality about the institution that keeps people coming back.”

—MARIO WILLIAMS ’12

Senior Parents Gift, A Hotchkiss Tradition

THE SENIOR PARENTS GIFT campaign is a long-standing tradition at Hotchkiss that provides families with an opportunity to celebrate and honor their graduates with a legacy gift that meets a high-priority need of the School. Each year, a special project is chosen by the School. Senior parents join together to raise the funds for the project, which is typically completed during the summer after Graduation. A commemorative plaque listing the names of each graduate is installed in a prominent location in or near the location of the project. Some examples of gifts include the brick sitting wall in the Main Circle (Class of 2005), the Lobby of the Griswold Science Building (Class of 1998), and the EFX Lab (Class of 2017).

This year’s project is the Class of 2021 Performance and Wellness Center in the Mars Athletic Center (MAC).

Since the opening of the MAC in 2002, the landscape of athletics has changed dramatically. Once primarily the provenance of athletes who played on sports teams, the MAC now serves the needs of a much broader population of students and adults in the community. Both individuals and teams are embracing the global trend toward more holistic athletics programs focused on wellness, performance, and strength and conditioning. This trend has resulted in significantly increased demands for a variety of spaces in the MAC. The Performance and Wellness Center will support the building’s use as a community hub for these activities and a place for students, faculty, staff, and the local community to connect through healthy, active endeavors while being supported by highly trained professionals. The Performance and Wellness Center will include two cardio fitness spaces for spinning, ergometer training, yoga, and other activities; a multi-functional room for wrestling in the winter and enhanced fitness space during other seasons; state-ofthe-art fitness equipment; an indoor turf workout area; performance technology such as heart rate monitors and other biometric tracking systems; sophisticated video and sound systems; ventilation updates and new windows, among other enhancements.

“It is exciting to announce the Senior Parents Gift project to the senior families each year and work with the committee to raise the funds to complete the project,” said Johanna Haan P’14, director of parent programs at Hotchkiss. “The graduates enjoy coming back to campus during their Reunions and finding their names on the class plaque. Hotchkiss is deeply grateful to our senior families for supporting this special tradition.” H

For more information on the Senior Parents Gift, please contact Johanna Haan, Director of Parent Programs, at jhaan@hotchkiss.org or at 860-435-3121.

Touché

En Garde, Lauren McLane ’23 Has a Fearless Flèche

BY WENDY CARLSON

LAUREN MCLANE ’23 WAS NINE

YEARS OLD when she first caught a glimpse of masked fencers lunging and locking blades at a small studio next to her local supermarket in Singapore. She was instantly mesmerized and begged her mother to let her take classes. It turned out she was a natural, and she soon began winning regional, then national, and finally international competitions –– and she hasn’t looked back since. Before she started her prep year at Hotchkiss, McLane had already won first place in four consecutive national competitions for Hong Kong in both 14Y and 17U categories, and also placed first in the Division 2, North America Cup. Having received an athletic scholarship from the Hong Kong government to train with the national team, she also had the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in three regional competitions. At 14, she finished as the top-ranked 17U women’s athlete for the Asian continent in the Épée, one of fencing’s three disciplines. Upon arriving at Hotchkiss in the fall of 2019, McLane had to work hard to adapt to a new fencing environment. “I began the season with a top-eight result (out of 289 athletes) in the fall of 2019, representing Hong Kong in a 17U European championship in Budapest. But when I arrived in the U.S., I really struggled to adjust to a new training schedule as well as the U.S. fencing approach, which is more focused on aggressive blade work and adjusting the angle of the blade,” she explains.

“I had to work for months to reconstruct my fencing style with my new coach to whom I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude for his dedication, patience, and confidence in me. The hard work finally paid off when I took top 16 (of 271) in the 20U category at the Junior Olympics in Columbus, OH, in February 2020.” Due to an ankle injury she suffered last spring and the cancellation of the competitions due to COVID-19, McLane has not had as much opportunity to compete. And because of the offcampus travel restrictions, she had to find new ways to train.

To improve her footwork and agility, this winter she joined the JV squash team, and last fall she joined the girls cross-country team to improve her speed and endurance.

“Pushing through workouts and up the punishing ‘Cardiac Hill’ with teammates tested my physical limits. I am truly grateful

PHOTOS: WENDY CARLSON

to coach Brodie Quinn ’10, director of athletic performance and fitness, for inspiring and supporting me through his awesome strength-training workouts, which he tailored to help me recover and continue to build from where I left off last spring,” McLane says.

The popularity of fencing as a women’s sport in Europe, the U.S., and in Asia has soared over the past few decades, says McLane.

“Contrary to the popular belief that men’s fencing is more entertaining because of its physicality and thereby draws a wider audience, I’ve observed that in Hong Kong and the U.S., where women’s Épée is stronger than men’s, there is actually a wider audience for women,” she adds.

Historically, fencing was primarily a men’s sport, practiced by the aristocracy as a civilized mode of dueling and as a highly regarded military discipline. Back then, tips actually drew blood when they struck an opponent instead of setting off an electrical wave transmitted to a scoring box, as in the modern version of the sport.

Fencing has three disciplines –– Foil, Épée, and Sabre, which differ in their rules, targets, and purpose.

McLane explains: “Sabre is the slashing sport and targets the waist up, as its intended purpose was training cavalry. Foil is a dueling sport, historically ‘to the death,’ hence focused on targeting the vital organs of the torso. Both Foil and Sabre are governed by ‘priority’ or ‘the right of way,’ a decision criterion used to determine which fencer receives the touch. Épée (which is what I fence) is also a dueling sport but has the objective of ‘drawing first blood’ rather than ‘dueling to the death.’ Also, in Épée, the entire body is targeted, including the extremities. Finally, in marked contrast to Foil and Sabre, in Épée there is no ‘right of way,’ so whoever hits first, scores. Épée’s absence of priority and wide range of targets lend it, in my opinion, to being a more dynamic, tactical, and endurance-based game.”

Fencing has taught McLane the value of determination, commitment, selfdiscipline, and humility. It has also made her more resilient.

“It gets my adrenaline going and challenges me in unexpected ways. Even when you’re exhausted and think you have nothing left, if you can pull yourself together to persevere, to focus, and to continue to take risks, you can overcome even your most unfortunate circumstances,” she says.

One of her favorite touchés is called the flèche, which is an explosive running attack toward your opponent’s chest. “I like to flèche because it allows me to make the most of my speed and strength. When well-executed, the flèche can be disarming, because it is exceptionally fast and nearly impossible to defend,” she explains.

“So much of fencing and competitive sports in general comes down to an athlete’s mindset,” she adds.

“The best athletes are never content. They always want to improve. I tend to fence my best when I am the underdog, and need to work 150 percent to keep up with my opponent. To stay focused, one of the mental cues I use is the idea of ‘one touch at a time.’ Finally, as I realize there are always factors beyond my control, I try to just give 100 percent to those things that are within my control. Even if I lose, I will have learned what I need to work on next so I can be prepared for another day.”

Looking ahead, McLane says her goals are to fence at the NCAA collegiate level and to compete again for a World Championship title. She had this opportunity when she was 14 and qualified to represent Hong Kong in the 17U category for the World Championships in Torun, Poland, in 2019. Although COVID-19 derailed the 2019-20 season, McLane has been training hard and is looking forward to competing again in 2021.

Beyond racking up her victories, McLane enjoys fencing because it has allowed her to make friends all over the world. Although fencing is an individual sport, McLane says it is important to support one another as a team.

“It has been an honor to represent Hong Kong and the U.S. Some of my greatest joys and fondest memories have been training and competing with fellow team members,” she says. H

“It gets my adrenaline going and challenges me in unexpected ways.”

STAYING GLOBALLY

When COVID-19 struck last winter, Hotchkiss responded quickly and cancelled all international travel programs to ensure the safety of the entire community. Hotchkiss Magazine spoke with David Thompson, director of international programs, to learn how students are engaging in virtual exchanges with their peers from around the world.

Can you share with us the value of ‘virtual’ international experiences?

We have been fortunate that during the pandemic Hotchkiss students have had access to a range of opportunities to engage with global issues. Although one can’t deny the impact of immersing yourself in a culture and geography different from your own, these virtual experiences do provide the awareness, connection, and understanding that dialogue with people from different locations and cultures can create.

Through Round Square and the Global Education Benchmarking Group in particular, our students have participated in virtual conversations about current events with peers from around the world, attended weekend-long conferences on the U.N. Sustainable Development goals, participated in a two-week virtual exchange to Morocco, and connected with students in Algeria, Iraq, and Yemen.

Why is this type of interaction important?

While our students have not been able to directly engage with different landscapes, they have connected with their peers around the world and engaged in conversations about global issues, guided by world-class academics and foreign service professionals.

Fifteen students spent a Saturday attending a summit on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event featured a total of 201 students from 29 schools in six countries, working in teams. Two of our students had this to say about the experience:

“This was an excellent experience in intercultural communication, teamwork, and project management. I developed great skills in working with a team of unfamiliar people to accomplish a difficult task in a limited-time environment. I learned a lot not only about my groupmates, but also about myself as a leader, team member, and individual,” said Jack Johnson ’22.

Parth Jain ’24 added, “This experience was unforgettable. Before the SDG Summit, I had never attended a conference or a large event on a global issues topic. But ever since I first learned about the SDGs in seventh grade, I have admired them as a convenient blueprint that we can use to make the world a better place. So, when I heard about the chance to attend the Envoys SDG Summit, I jumped on the opportunity!”

Can you share some of the new ways Hotchkiss students have been able to interact in their remote learning studies?

The partnership with the American Academy of Diplomacy that was facilitated by Bob Beecroft ’58 has allowed students to take a deep dive into international relations. In addition to the virtual visit by the former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, students participated in a virtual conference hosted at Monticello titled “Does Europe Still Matter?” and attended a panel discussion on careers in diplomacy at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

Can you give me a snapshot of the range of travel programs the School has offered over the years, the participation rate, and why they are a vital part of a Hotchkiss education?

In accordance with Hotchkiss’s Mission Statement, the School strives to create an environment where students can “discover and fulfill their potential as individuals fully engaged in our world.” In addition, our travel opportunities offer students a chance to make use of the skills and mindsets that they develop and refine here on campus.

The experience of the Class of 2019 provides a good overview for the range and quantity of opportunities available to a Hotchkiss student. In the four years that they were on campus, they had 80 different Hotchkiss-run international travel opportunities to take advantage of, and indeed, nearly 50 percent of the class traveled at least once with the School.

Students went on exchanges to partner schools in countries such as Colombia, India, Germany, Peru, and South Africa for periods as brief as three weeks or for a marking period, or spent their upper mid or senior year abroad through School Year Abroad’s programs in France, Italy, and Spain.

Through our membership in Round Square, students had the chance to represent the School at annual global and regional conferences, as well as to participate in conversations with students at other schools and contribute to a research project done in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The biggest impact on students may

CONNECTED

have been through the faculty-run travel programs. One of the hallmarks of our International Programs is that the travel we do is connected to the curriculum and co-curriculum. In recent years we have had travel linked to humanities classes, to language study, to the development of science research skills, and for teambuilding in a variety of sports.

The stories that students bring back from their travels enliven class discussions, walks to practice, and dorm feeds. College-age alumni report that their Hotchkiss travel experiences influenced not only their college choice but also their classes, activities, and friend groups.

Can you explain the “world at Hotchkiss” and why this is important?

One of the great advantages of the boarding school model is that we can intentionally assemble a microcosm of the larger world — in 2020-21 our students came from 36 states and 27 countries and territories outside the U.S. Given such a diverse community of students and adults living, working, playing, and creating together, there are myriad opportunities to learn from each other in both formal and informal settings.

Poet-in-Residence Susan Kinsolving has run a Chapel program for a number of years that she calls “The Voices of Hotchkiss.” This is a moving experience where languages such as Twi, Ga, Turkish, or Arabic, among others, are celebrated. Students read poems in their native language, followed by other students reading English translations of the poems. Everyone learns by listening to the meter and rhyme of the pieces, and for those students whose languages are otherwise never spoken in public at the School, it is a powerful, affirming experience of being seen.

A student commented how the flags in the Dining Hall, which represent the students, staff, and faculty present at the School each year, create opportunities for “unforced learning.” Instead of being asked to use geography in an assignment, discussions of the flags and the people and cultures and history that they represent come up naturally while one is sharing a meal with friends.

So whether it is comparing independence movements in a history class, or walking to practice and talking about an important holiday, or sharing a favorite snack from home, or giving a Chapel talk about a current event, our community is enriched by the diversity of cultures, histories, and geographies that we are lucky to have.

Lastly, what does the future of travel programs look like for the spring and fall?

In conversations with colleagues at peer schools, the consensus is that we will not plan to resume travel until the spring of 2022. To get started, many schools are looking into local and domestic travel with a focus on outdoor activities. With this in mind, I can imagine a number of opportunities to take our growing Outdoor Program off campus, as well as to give the students who are involved in Fairfield Farm a chance to learn from other farming programs in our region. H

HOTCHKISS IN THE WORLD

2015–2019

80

PROGRAMS 413 students and 76 adults traveled on Hotchkiss programs, exchanges, and international Round Square and debate conferences.

22

AMERICAS

31

EUROPE

10

AFRICA

3

MIDDLE EAST

15

ASIA & THE PACIFIC

46%

of the Class of 2019 traveled on at least one international program. Peer school average is 38%.

$104,510

IN GRANTS given to members of the Class throughout their four years. Forty-eight students in the Class received at least one grant to support international travel.

NETFLIX’S MEGAHIT,

Bridgerton v

BASED ON NOVELS BY JULIE COTLER POTTINGER ’87

Suddenly Corsets are in Vogue, Tea Sets and Big Hairdos, Too

BY WENDY CARLSON

JULIE COTLER POTTINGER ’87 began penning her first romance novel as a teenager before she arrived Hotchkiss and finished it at the end of the summer of her lower-mid year. On her Harvard application, where she was asked about the book that had the most meaning in her life, she chose to describe her experience writing her novel, Standing Ovation, and having it rejected by a New York publisher. At the time, she had no idea that the rejection would just be a blip in the path of her successful career as an historical romance author, whose bestselling novels would be adapted into the gangbuster Netflix series Bridgerton.

Pottinger’s novels have been on the New York Times bestseller fiction list for years, but 2020 was a year like no other for the Seattle-based author. Her eight-book series about the Bridgerton family was optioned by Shondaland in 2017. Season one, based on The Duke and I, began streaming on Netflix on Christmas Day. Bridgerton is Netflix’s most successful series debut of all time, and it has reached the streaming service’s number one position in 76 countries. An astounding 82 million households watched it within the first 28 days of streaming.

Not surprisingly, a second season of Bridgerton is already in the works. The series has also garnered much media attention for its race-conscious casting, soundtrack of orchestral arrangements of pop songs, astounding costume design, rich period decor, and like all good page-turners, its steamy sex scenes.

This might all seem an unlikely turn of events, considering Harvard alumna Pottinger, who writes under the pen name Julia Quinn, majored in art history before setting her sights on becoming a doctor. After graduating from Harvard, she took two more years to complete her pre-med requirements. Then she sold her first book, Splendid, at the age of 24, the same month she was accepted to Yale School of Medicine. A few months into her studies, she realized that writing, not medicine, was her true calling, and she withdrew from Yale to dedicate herself to a career as a novelist.

Castle Howard featured in the series as Clyvedon Castle, the Duke of Hasting’s home

Netflix adapted Julie Pottinger’s early novels beginning with The Duke and I. The series premiered on Christmas Day, and quickly became one of the platform’s most successful series debut of all time.

Her decision proved auspicious. Since then, her novels have been translated into 37 languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List 18 times, with several of her books reaching number one on the mass market paperback fiction list. In the United States alone, there are over 10 million copies of her books in print, with more flying off the press since the Netflix series debut.

Adapted from Pottinger’s earlier novels, the Netflix series tells the story of the wellrespected Bridgerton family, which includes eight siblings and their widowed mother. In the novels, set against the backdrop of Regency England, each of the siblings finds true love — eventually. The Netflix episodes are narrated by a scandal-sheet writer named Lady Whistledown (voiced by Dame Julie Andrews), whose true identity remains a mystery up until the eighth Netflix episode.

The series captures the romance and drama of London society life you’d expect in a period piece. Except the casting is radically different from the book. The leading characters, the prosperous and handsome Duke of Hastings (portrayed by Regé-Jean Page) is Black, and his “faux” escort, the beautiful and eldest Bridgerton daughter, Daphne (portrayed by Phoebe Dynevor) is white. Queen Charlotte is mixed race, and the witty dowager Lady Danbury is Black –– all diversions from the character descriptions in the original novel. But those are changes Pottinger is delighted to see.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she says. “The creative team started with an intriguing historical nugget — that many historians believe that Queen Charlotte was of mixedrace. Then thought: What if this had been an accepted fact? What if she used her position to elevate people of color into the aristocracy? What would society look like then? And yeah, the historical accuracy police are going to say that we didn’t have Black dukes, but you know what? I’m pretty sure we didn’t have quite so many aristocrats with ripped abs and perfect, white smiles, either. And when it comes right down to it, Bridgerton isn’t a history lesson. It’s a show for a modern audience.

Bridgerton isn’t a history lesson. It’s a show for a modern audience. And I think it’s important to invite as much of that audience to see themselves in the story. Because that’s the point of a romance novel, that we all deserve a happy ending.”

— JULIE COTLER POTTINGER ’87

And I think it’s important to invite as much of that audience to see themselves in the story. Because that’s the point of a romance novel, that we all deserve a happy ending.”

The female characters featured in her novels also depart from the often stereotypical damsels in romance novels. While the women are constrained by societal norms, in Bridgerton they act with far more agency; they are sharp, witty, humorous, and calculating.

Pottinger, who has been dubbed a contemporary Jane Austen, considers herself a feminist because she gives her heroines 21st-century attitude — spunk, if you will — and often puts them in modern social dynamics. “In some ways, portraying a healthy relationship in literature is the most revolutionary thing you can do,” she wrote to her fans on her website.

Since the Netflix debut, Pottinger has been inundated with requests for public appearances, book signings, and media interviews. There has been no end of Bridgerton posts on social media as platforms jump on the bandwagon of the series’s success. Fashion sites are now advertising puff-sleeved sweaters, pearl and crystal-hinged earrings, corsets, gloves, empire-waist dresses, and gravitydefying “big hair” dos, and a whole host of housewares have materialized — delicate china tea sets, flowing drapery, classic chandeliers, caned furniture, regal patterns and fabrics, antique mirrors, brass handles, marquetry tables and chairs, damask wallpaper, fourposter beds… and the list goes on.

“Every day something new and amazing happens, and I’m just smiling so hard that I just break out into spontaneous laughter. It’s insane and

When season one of Bridgerton was being filmed in London last year, Pottinger visited the set and met the cast members. From top to bottom: Pottinger with Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury; with Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington; with Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton; and with Regé-Jean Page as Simon Bassett a.k.a. the Duke of Hastings.

wonderful,” Pottinger said.

In addition, adapting Bridgerton to the screen has elevated historical romance novels to a highly respected and extremely popular position on a livestream platform, something critics note has been a long time in coming.

It all began in 2017, when Pottinger’s literary agent approached her with an offer from Shondaland to produce a series for Netflix. Nearly three years later, the final filming of the series wrapped up in February 2020, just before the pandemic came into full force. But in the world of romance novelists, Pottinger has long been a well-known contender. Her novels have been in the literary limelight for more than a decade. As of February of this year, The Duke and I holds a secure number one place on the New York Times bestselling fiction paperback series.

In 2003, she enjoyed the rare honor of being profiled in Time Magazine, an accomplishment few romance novelists have achieved. In 2005, Publishers Weekly gave To Sir Phillip, With Love a rare starred review, and later named it one of the six best mass-market original novels of the year.

In 2007, she won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for On the Way to the Wedding and again for 2008 for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. When she won in 2010 for What Happens in London, she became (at the time) the youngest member, and she remains one of only 16 authors to be inducted into the Romance Writers Hall of Fame.

Each of her last 19 novels has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with Mr. Cavendish, I Presume hitting number one in October 2008. First Comes Scandal was on the Times list in April 2020.

Since the release of the Netflix series, Pottinger’s books have vaulted back onto the bestseller list. Most recently, she had ten books on the USA Today Bestseller List and five on the New York Times list.

And this summer, she will release her first graphic novel, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, which is based on story snippets that are peppered through her novels.

Pottinger is still in touch with several of her Hotchkiss teachers, but her friendship with Geoff Marchant P’93,’07 stands out.

“Our continued correspondence is one of the great joys of my life,” she says. “I even returned to Hotchkiss in the mid-

Pottinger’s daughter, Zoe, currently a junior at Brown, has her hair styled for her role as an extra. Above, Pottinger looks through bolts of fabric. On right, she climbs aboard a carriage used in the filming.

Every day something new and amazing happens, and I’m just smiling so hard that I just break out into spontaneous laughter. It’s insane and wonderful.”

2000s to guest-teach some of his classes. It was a terrifying thrill. I have new respect for teachers, most specifically their lesson-planning. I really didn’t know what I was doing, but Mar was there by my side, this time teaching me how to teach. And I must have done okay, because he still sends me home-tapped maple syrup from his farm in Vermont!”

As for the medical career she chose not to pursue, interestingly, her husband, Paul, is currently the director of the University of Washington’s Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Clinic. H

Simon, Oliver, Edward, and Vilma at Edward’s graduation from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School, Miami, a few days before Oliver suffered the onset of headaches and two weeks before he died.

HOW LOSING A SON INSPIRED AN EFFORT TO FIGHT PEDIATRIC CANCER

BY SIMON STRONG ’77

We were supposed to be at Lake Tahoe, after a glorious spring term when our younger son had graduated from our beloved Miami elementary school, and his brother, Oliver, had finished a jubilant first year as a middle-schooler, discovered his love and talent for the saxophone, and been re-selected as goalkeeper for a top Florida soccer team. Instead, one week after the onset of headaches that had curtailed Oliver’s tennis camp, and 36 hours after he had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, my wife Vilma and I were in a hospital room about 20 meters away from where, at dawn on June 18, 2015, he had just passed away on a trolley. Through a fog of utterly indescribable torment we begged his oncologist for answers. “What caused this?” we asked. Amid her own tears, she replied: “It’s the environment.” And so our odyssey began.

FOR DECADES I HAVE WORKED

as a reporter, author, and corporate investigator, researching and writing for some of the highest-profile media and publishing houses in the English-speaking world, and more recently for some of the best-known investigative companies.

In the weeks following Oliver’s death, as I groped for meaning and truth, I learned for the first time that cancer was overwhelmingly triggered by environmental factors — even if the actual mechanisms were deeply complex and barely understood.

That first revelation was best crystallized in a World Health Organization (WHO) paper I stumbled upon. Subsequently, I found it in the work of UC Berkeley’s professor of toxicology, Dr. Martyn Smith (now on our scientific advisory panel), focusing on the key characteristics of carcinogens, also published by the WHO. It confounded my own prior assumptions as well as those of most of my friends and acquaintances. To the extent I had ever thought about cancer at all — like many of us outside the healthcare profession, I preferred to avoid dwelling on illness — I had always seen the disease broadly as a matter of bad luck and, to use a very British adjective, dodgy genes. The revelation that cancer was environmentally-driven was empowering, if enraging. It meant that, at least in theory, cancer was a preventable disease. And that if we as a species ceased to poison our planet — global warming being just one consequence of human pollution — we could cease to poison ourselves. Yet it took time for my appreciation of the integral, and at some level ineffable, relationship between human beings and our physical environment to take center stage.

That should perhaps not have been the case. At Hotchkiss, as an English-Speaking Union exchange student arriving in senior year, I was privileged to take a nature writing course with Blair Torrey, during which we studied Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and spent many an hour penning our observations and reflections in the School’s magical woods. I should have dug deeper and searched out Dillard’s literary and spiritual progenitor, Henry Thoreau, not just another transcendentalist but a far more acerbic critic of environmental pollution and degradation. That would come later (and Ralph Waldo Emerson, too). Still, a seed was sown. And there was a through-line. As part of our contemplation of nature, we did spend precious time at Succor Brook. Years later, on a sweet June afternoon, Oliver and his younger brother, Edward, laughed and splashed beside its rocks during our Class of 1977’s 35th reunion weekend. With savage synchronicity, in writing this article I realize the class reunion fell on the same month and day that Oliver spent his final night at Miami Children’s Hospital, three years later. My second revelation in the weeks that followed our son’s death was that the pediatric cancer rate has soared nearly 50% since 1975. It is the leading cause of death in children and teenagers, other than accidents. Bafflingly, the data staring at me from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website had attracted not a single media mention. One pediatric oncologist even denied it was true, until I showed him the data. Why had it increased so much?

At the same time, wherever I looked, I was being reassured about the five-yearsurvival rate, averaging 80%. Less commonly reported was a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finding that more than 95% of childhood cancer survivors had a chronic health condition by the age of 45 — because of the cancer itself, or more commonly, its treatment.

Seeking to explore how I could drive awareness as well as research into prevention — instead of focusing on detection, diagnosis and treatment, like other charities — I turned to a statistics professor in Florida who had authored papers on pediatric cancer clusters. A few phone calls later, an excited cancer epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School connected me to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, ironically the beating heart of the global oil industry driving most of our pollution.

For several years Baylor, part of Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest pediatric cancer center, had been administering an epidemiological questionnaire to in-patients, focusing primarily on lifestyle and genetic factors. Baylor’s Professor Michael Scheurer, director of the Childhood Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program, was excited to launch a web-based study to reach a wider

Oliver’s friends and family in Miami at a “Light the Night” rally of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

range and a much larger number of families — volume being critical to identifying meaningful environmental associations — on a shorter timeline.

And together with input from a former CDC toxicologist, Dr. David Brown, whom I had encountered because of his work on the health impacts of fracking as well as the carcinogenicity of the diced-up, used vehicle tires deployed on artificial sports fields, we developed a questionnaire that interrogated broader environmental exposures.

Our role in the study, named TheReasonsWhy.Us, is to recruit its participants. They sign up at our website of the same name. We transfer their basic data to Dr. Scheurer’s team, who follow up with the online questionnaire. This bifurcated approach enables us to focus freely on communication and community outreach and Baylor to focus solely on the study itself.

We launched TheReasonsWhy.Us in 2020. It comprises a family questionnaire covering diet, neonatal practices, medications, and infections, as well as sports, leisure, and other personal and consumer activities. Once the data is collected, Dr. Scheurer’s team will assess exposures to key toxicants. That will involve multiple datasets including air and water studies, exposure to pollution, and the collection and analysis of baby teeth — which record when certain toxicants, including metals and pesticides, penetrate our bodies.

As a result of our expanding grassroots community outreach and some key media coverage (The Guardian, Environmental Health News), so far around 600 families have signed up from 46 states, as well as from several other countries. Modest this might seem, but by comparison the hugely ambitious National Children’s Study tragically collapsed in 2014 after spending $1.2 billion and managing to recruit just 5,000 pregnant mothers.

To be successful, to find the answers our families seek, and for Baylor’s study to yield the evidence we all need to identify and to control the toxicants imperiling our children’s health (the pediatric incidence of most other non-infectious illnesses and conditions has also surged), it is critical we drive our numbers into the many thousands.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, a legendary pediatrician, thanks to whose crusading efforts lead was removed from gasoline and who is professor of biology and director, Global Observatory on Pollution and Health, Boston College, has joined our scientific advisory panel. He says: “We must support strong research programs like this that include epidemiological and toxicological studies. Very large participation is crucial to obtain the data we need to design evidence-based programs for disease prevention in children. Research into cancer prevention must be funded on at least an equal level with research into cancer treatment. We must strengthen state and federal laws to better protect our children — and we must enforce those laws.

“Pediatric cancer is the canary in the coal mine for human health. Health effects may be gross and obvious, such as cancer or death, or they may be subtle, such as delays in development or impairment of immune function. There are more than 85,000 manufactured chemicals in use in America today. Only a handful have been tested for safety or toxicity. Children are more vulnerable because of their greater environmental exposure pound for pound than adults, coupled with the exquisite vulnerability that is a consequence of the rapid and incredibly complex growth and development of their organ systems. And the physiological effects are cumulative and long-term.”

The scale of our ambition for TheReasonsWhy.Us, the key project of our non-profit The Oliver Foundation, sometimes overwhelms. But we are garnering the support of the world’s most eminent pediatric and cancer scientists, including Dr. Margaret Kripke, former chief academic officer at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Kripke served multiple terms on the threeperson President’s Cancer Panel, where she produced the groundbreaking 2009 report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now. At the same time, we are no longer quite so alone in our prevention-focused, paradigm-shifting mission. In 2020, even as the first of our families began to take the questionnaire, more than 60 groups focused on environmental health, and comprising scientists, business leaders and policy experts, formed the Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative. This led to a report (Childhood Cancer: Cross-Sector Strategies for Prevention) calling for “chemical producers, manufacturers, and retailers to turn off the tap on toxic chemicals and replace them with viable, safer alternatives that people can access regardless of their economic status.”

And we have demonstrated proof of concept. Splitting the recruitment of families affected by pediatric cancer from the execution of the study itself has opened the doors to the volume and diversity of data critical to the study’s success. And Dr. Scheurer describes the response rate by our families upon Baylor’s outreach to them as “unprecedented.”

Yet, reaching the Hispanic and AfricanAmerican communities who suffer the brunt of environmental injustice is a major challenge. With regard to the Hispanic community, my Colombian wife Vilma’s role as a reporter for Univision, the biggest Spanish-language news network, is a godsend.

Our key objective is recruitment — for which we are looking to design and execute a comprehensive and inclusive communications strategy that inspires and embraces affected families across the USA and across the world who seek not only answers, but also change.

Our participating families are extraordinarily brave. Some have lost their children; some are supporting them during the anguish, and financial uncertainty, of treatment; and some are blessed to have children in full remission. What we all have in common is the hope our contribution will lead, one day, toward a cleaner world in which we humans prove ourselves more worthy stewards of our planet — and are blessed in turn with healthier lives. As a family, Vilma, Edward, and I feel blessed that Oliver — a deeply empathic and compassionate boy already passionate about social injustice — has gifted us this chance to serve. H

Simon Strong is CEO of Tenácitas International, a business intelligence and corporate investigations firm. He lives in Miami, FL, with his wife, Vilma, and son, Edward. He also serves as executive director of The Oliver Foundation, www.thereasonswhy. us. Brett Pierce, class of ’77, who was Oliver’s godfather, also serves on the Foundation’s board.

Through the Lens

Peter Reiss ’89 Documents the Vaccine Revolution

PETER REISS ’89 IS EXECUTIVE

producer of The Vaccine: Conquering Covid, which premiered on D+, Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel in February.

The documentary, which is available to stream on D+, has been described as a timely, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel special dedicated to the cutting-edge science behind creating vaccines.

Set against the backdrop of a rising global death count and a pandemic that left the world on edge, the special goes behind the scenes of the race for a vaccine and offers interviews with the world’s leading doctors involved, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Along with Fauci, it features Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. John Mascola, director of vaccine research at the National Institutes of Health, as well as interviews with scientists from leading pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer.

Since scientific data on COVID-19 is changing so rapidly, “the film focuses on how the vaccines have been developed in record time and why they are safe,” said Reiss.

The race for a vaccine has revolutionized the process involved in creating a vaccine, following a timeline that many considered impossible. In what would become one of the most extraordinary scientific accomplishments in a generation, the early development of the COVID-19 vaccines not only has given the world reason to hope an end to the pandemic is near but also that life may soon return to normal.

Filming the documentary in the midst of the pandemic was challenging, said Reiss, who interviewed Fauci via Zoom.

“We developed strict COVID-19 protocols to be able to get him on camera without his mask. He couldn’t have been nicer, and I was shocked at how open he was about threats on his life and his family,” said Reiss.

“For all the people we interviewed, the camera crew and production staff had to have been PCR-tested within three days.

“If the interview was inside, like the Fauci interview, we set up a remote camera system in a hotel room with lights the day before. The camera can be controlled remotely from another hotel room. The interviewee then comes into the room with the remote camera system in it and sits down and takes off the mask, and we start the interview. I am piped in on Zoom asking the questions remotely, but the camera is recording the interview.”

The film also details the heroic efforts of early trial volunteers, including Jen Haller, a Seattle resident who became the first person in the United States to receive the Moderna vaccine. Viewers hear firsthand accounts from those at the forefront of the pandemic as well as from leaders such as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who details the strategy behind successfully rolling out and distributing the vaccines to the masses and the hurdles leaders are facing along the way.

“With everything the world has been through over the last year, the public craves an understanding of what is happening and what is yet to come,” said Nancy Daniels, chief brand officer, Discovery & Factual. “We are proud to present this deep-dive into the COVID-19 crisis to Discovery audiences, detailing the work of thousands of men and women around the world who are proving there is hope on the horizon.” Reiss described compliance with COVID19 protocols for filming people without masks as the most challenging part of producing the film.

Before venturing into documentaries, Reiss worked as a journalist for ABC News and NBC News. He credits his interest in documentary filmmaking to Lou Pressman P’98, former chaplain and instructor of religion and philosophy at Hotchkiss. “He nurtured my love of philosophy, which has been the foundation of my academic and professional career, by nurturing curiosity and perspective,” Reiss said.

“I put a lot of work into this, and I want to share it with everyone I know, as it is the story of our lifetime,” Reiss said.

Reiss’s production company, The Woodshed, partnered with Glass Entertainment Group to produce The Vaccine: Conquering Covid. Peter Reiss, Nancy Glass, Eric Neuhaus, and Jon Hirsch were executive producers, alongside Caroline Perez and Lindsey Foster Blumberg for Science Channel and Discovery. H

Peter Reiss owns The Woodshed, which produced The Vaccine: Conquering Covid.

“With everything the world has been through over the last year, the public craves an understanding of what is happening and what is yet to come.”

—PETER REISS ’89

‘Our Family Name is on the Line Every Day’

Bill Ford ’75, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and the great-grandson of Henry Ford, is an elder statesman in an industry where C.E.O.s come and go.

BY DAVID GELLES (Reprinted with permission from The New York Times)

WITH THE CORONAVIRUS RAPIDLY

disrupting American life in mid-March and organized labor pressuring carmakers to ensure worker safety, Bill Ford reached out to the competition.

Mr. Ford, the executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, brokered a conference call with the leaders of General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, the United Auto Workers and key Michigan politicians. The result was an unprecedented decision: The Big Three automakers temporarily suspended production throughout North America.

Cars and trucks have been rolling off the assembly line again for months now, but Mr. Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, still faces myriad challenges. The pandemic has forced Ford and other manufacturers to revamp production processes to promote social distancing. Tesla has made electric cars mainstream, leaving Ford and other legacy carmakers scrambling to stay relevant. And this year, Ford was the lone American automaker to defy President Trump and commit to adhering to California’s stringent fuel efficiency standards.

Mr. Ford is an elder statesman in an industry where C.E.O.s come and go. He joined the company in 1979, became a board member in 1988 and was chief executive from 2001 to 2006. Since then he has been executive chairman of the board.

Though Ford is worth just a fraction of Tesla, Mr. Ford says he is optimistic about the future. The company is introducing an electric Mustang sport-utility vehicle and an electric F-150 pickup truck, and Volkswagen selected Ford as its partner to develop self-driving cars.

This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.

How did you make the decision to shut down production?

If you think back to March, there was so much we didn’t know about the virus, about how it was transmitted. In that kind of uncertainty, we had to make sure that our employees were safe. Given what we do, and that in manufacturing people by definition are very close together, we just didn’t know enough to be able to provide a safe working environment. So we decided to shut down. And then we spent the next eight weeks while we were shut down figuring out: What does a safe start-up look like? How can we ensure our employees’ safety? Fast-forward all these months later, and everything we put into place really paid off because while COVID-19 has run rampant around the world, our plants have been exceptionally safe.

Bill Ford Jr. ’75, executive chairman of the board of Ford Motor Company, was the 2018 Alumni Award recipient.

“I feel like I’m working for my children and my grandchildren. Values matter.”

What do you believe will be the lasting impact of the pandemic on your business?

One of the things that we certainly hadn’t thought about back in March was the fact that cars and trucks in some ways are the ultimate personal protective equipment. So people that hadn’t owned a car or truck and were reluctant to get into either public transport or a shared type of transportation decided they really wanted to have their own vehicle. When we were back in March, we actually thought that sales were going to be hit hard throughout the pandemic. But what happened was we had a bleak month or two, and then everything kind of roared back and has continued strong. That was something that I think we hadn’t foreseen as we went into this.

Last year you broke with President Trump and decided to stick with California’s tougher emission standards. You’ve publicly characterized that decision as a practical one, saying it would be too hard to make two versions of the same product. But at a personal level, what did you think of the president’s efforts to relax emission standards, which of course were part of a much broader rollback of environmental protections during this administration?

I didn’t like it. Very early on we decided to stand with California, and there weren’t many who did. In the end it was ourselves, Volkswagen, Honda, Volvo and BMW, and we were the first to raise our hand. It was just something that I felt was very important. We knew it was the right thing to do.

The president wasn’t very happy with me, and I heard about it. But that’s OK. If you have the right values and you stick with them, then you have to be willing to take whatever comes your way.

I just firmly believed that taking a step backward was absolutely the wrong thing to do. We had also committed to the Paris accord. And why? Well, I feel like I’m working for my children and my grandchildren. Values matter. It just made no sense to me, as someone who cares deeply about the environment and as a business leader, whichever way you looked at it.

Are there ways in which the Trump administration’s policies have helped the company over the last four years?

There were a lot of things that were good. The focus on the American worker and making things in America was really a good thing. I found the president was easy to engage with. He was usually available and was willing to listen. From that standpoint, there were absolutely some positives.

The biggest thing for our industry is certainty. We can deal with almost any reality as long as we have certainty. But when you have uncertainty, given the lead times and the heavy investments that we have as a company, it becomes really hard to operate. I remind our employees of this all the time. We’ve been around for 117 years and we’ve operated around the world in every possible political climate, from the most liberal to the most restricted. So we’re pretty good in terms of trying not to get too buffeted by any short-term politics. If we do that, we’ll never make progress.

So what do you hope to see from the Biden administration, beyond a real, vigilant effort to stamp out this pandemic?

One thing I do really want to work with him on is infrastructure and the electrification of our industry and the build-out of the infrastructure that’s needed. When people talk about infrastructure, they often think about railroads and seaports and airports and roads. Those are all really important. But there’s a future-looking infrastructure as well, a smart world, if you will.

Explain to me how Ford can have a market capitalization of $36 billion or so with more than $100 billion of revenue, and Tesla can have a $550 billion market cap with sales of less than your market cap. What does this say to you about how investors are valuing car companies today, and what they expect the next several years to hold?

Well, I believe they’re making a mistake in how they value us. They may be valuing Tesla exactly correctly. I have no idea. But I really believe that we have the opportunity to show not just Wall Street, but individual investors, that this is a company that has a tremendous future.

Tesla has been able to make electric vehicles mainstream in a way that no one previously had. How was it not Ford or G.M. or Chrysler that did that?

It wasn’t just us. It was also Toyota, Honda, you name it. We were pushing hybridization and plug-in, and they went right to electric. I give Tesla full credit for being the pioneer and really blazing the path for all of us. But now the game is on. In five years, let’s see where we all stand.

Do you believe the industry in some way should have been more proactive in trying to lead the way to a future where fuel efficiency really mattered to people?

I would say we’ve been doing that. I mean, we didn’t go to all-electric, but we were pushing hybrids hard and with great success. We feel like the infrastructure is going to be out there soon, and we can really push hard on electrification. We’re taking our biggestselling vehicles and our most iconic vehicles, the F-150 and the Mustang, and we’re electrifying them. So we’re putting our chips into the middle of the table, and I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do.

How does your meditation practice impact your work?

It gets you out of your own head. If I’m really stressed about something, or I can’t see something clearly, I have a couple of ways of sort of clearing my head. One is to play ice hockey. The other is to meditate. When you’re in a position like mine for a long time, I’ve seen so many people whose egos have just run away with them. Meditating brings you back to the fact that at the end of the day, you’re no different than anybody else. The minute you start believing any of the kind of hype around yourself, you’re in real trouble.

This year the whole country has been reckoning with the legacy of racism. To what extent have you and the company addressed the anti-Semitism expressed by Henry Ford?

Do you feel compelled to make up for everything your great-grandparents did? What’s important is how we’re acting today. So is it something I’m aware of? Yeah, absolutely, as part of my family’s history. But is it something that I feel lingers today? No, I don’t. Not in the least, and I want to make sure there’s no sign that that’s ever coming back.

How do you see your role in both, as a leader of the company and the family?

Most of the people who are involved with the company — our employees, our dealers, even government — like the family involvement because they know there’s someone accountable. I’m not going to disappear with a golden parachute somewhere. I’m here through thick and thin, and my reputation’s on the line every day. Our family name is on the line every day. H