48 minute read
Progress Toward Equity
The Chinese Club designed and sold pins in support of the Pan Asian community.
Supporting our Diverse Community
ACROSS THE U.S., ANTI-ASIAN
and anti-Asian American violence escalated during the pandemic. Far from being an isolated phenomenon, race-based scapegoating has extensive historical precedent during times of epidemic disease. While the true origin story of the SARS CoV-2 virus is as yet unknown, finger-pointing, prejudice, and violence are all too real.
This spring, the Hotchkiss community took steps to ensure that those on campus who identify as members of the Pan-Asian community feel safe, seen, and supported. Head of School Craig Bradley reiterated the School’s intolerance of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination in any form and spoke earnestly against ongoing violence perpetrated against Asians and Asian Americans during an All-School address in March. Several weeks later, six women of Asian descent were murdered in the Atlanta-area mass shooting.
Following this brutal event, the student Asian American Advocacy Club, which is known as Triple A, acted quickly to organize a virtual, School-wide forum. It was attended by more than 500 community members, making it one of the largest nonmandatory school gatherings of the year.
For several days after the shootings, Pan-Asian faculty members continued to hold virtual gatherings to provide space for Pan-Asian and Asian American students to safely explore their feelings. Pierre Yoo, instructor in chemistry, Peggy Hsia, senior associate director of admission, and Nora Yasumura, outgoing director of student clubs and affinity groups and prep class dean, dedicated hours of their personal time to the work.
A Month of Awareness
The month of May, during which Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage is celebrated, offered an ideal opportunity to focus on equity and inclusion for the Pan-Asian community at Hotchkiss.
The School hosted numerous campus events to honor the AAPI community, including two virtual panel discussions with professionals from the Asian American Bar Association of New York. The first addressed the legal aspects of anti-Asian hate crimes, while the second focused on careers and opportunities in the field of law. The School also sponsored its first AAPI Heritage Month guest speaker, Justine Ang Fonte, who is a wellness educator.
Students were highly engaged in observing AAPI Heritage. Triple A co-hosted a discussion with the Hotchkiss affiliate of Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting mental wellness. The Chinese Club sold buttons in support of Stop AAPI Hate, a national organization that tracks racism and xenophobia. Other student clubs also rallied in support. Hillel, which celebrates Jewish faith and culture, co-hosted meetings on Asian and Jewish intersectionality, scapegoating, and the struggles of both communities.
Alumni also took part. Yuna Hur ’14 sponsored a virtual run to raise awareness and uplift the AAPI community. (See p. 72 in Class Notes for more information.)
The Work Continues
Over the past several years, Hotchkiss’s commitment to the Pan Asian community has continued to gain strength and momentum. This is particularly evident in the School’s visibility at the Asian American Footsteps Conference (AFFC).
In 2017, a group of students attended the first AAFC Conference, which inspired them to form Triple A after they returned to Hotchkiss. Since then, the club has been actively engaged in raising awareness of intersectional equity issues on campus, and the School’s participation in the AAFC has continued to grow.
In 2019, Hotchkiss hosted the event, doubling attendance and positioning the School as a leader among peers in providing support for the needs of the Pan Asian community. Since that time, Hotchkiss has continued to send one of the largest conference delegations each year.
Outgoing co-head of Triple A, Amelia Wang ’21, said she was pleased to see that the School has been supportive in providing space for students affected by anti-Asian violence to express their thoughts and for others to listen and learn.
“There is definitely more to be done. I hope the School will be able to take more initiatives in inviting speakers of Asian descent to address intersectional Asian identities to ameliorate the community’s understanding of what it means to be Asian,” she said.
Next year’s Triple A leadership team will continue the club’s good work. Stella Ren ’22 and Amelie Zhang ’23 were elected as new co-heads. The board welcomes new members Cooper Roh ’22, Megan Ho ’23, Vivian Shi ’23, Isabella Wei ’23, Angela Li ’24, and Alejandro Zheng ’24.
Speaking in support of student engagement on campus, Pierre Yoo added that faculty members who have been working with the Pan-Asian student community will “continue to do what we need to do to make sure that the issues of the AAPI community are addressed and to make sure that students are heard.” H
ON JUNE 15, IN A YEAR that was marked by triumphs and tribulations for Asian voices in America, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Governors hosted a virtual discussion titled “The Diversity of Experience among AAPI and International Asian Alumni.” A panel of alumni discussed how their career paths have been influenced by their identities. Daniel Pai ’19, a member of the Board of Governors and an undergraduate at Yale studying global affairs, served as moderator.
“When I heard that Youn Yuh-jung had won the Oscar [for best supporting actress], I was thrilled,” said Daniel. “Growing up, I had watched her in every Korean drama I could imagine and she had finally been recognized for her decades of superb acting. Her film Minari struck a chord with me, particularly the scene of the family in church. Korean churches in America act as places of social bonding for many immigrant Koreans. I grew up in a very similar setting, and it’s also where I learned to love and serve others. I wanted to share this unique experience of Asian Americans with the alumni body.”
The alumni panelists were Yujin Lee ’05, artist and founder of Next Door to the Museum Jeju; Kylene Ramos ’08, product manager at Code and Theory; and Zubin Sharma ’09, founder and CEO of Project Potential. Lee, Ramos, and Sharma spoke of their experience at Hotchkiss, mentors who helped them along the way, and how their identities have shaped their paths and values. For Daniel, who identified strongly with the experiences of these alumni, it was a reminder of the value of celebrating diversity.
“As Yassine Talhaoui, director of diversity and inclusion at Hotchkiss, has said, ‘effect positive change for negative situations,’” said Daniel. “I am grateful to the quick work of the co-chairs of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Governors, Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03 and Danielle S. Ferguson ’97, for their encouragement and quick planning in support of this event.”
—DANIEL PAI ’19
Through a Historical Lens, Art Students Gain an Understanding of Race and Identity
NAIMA JOHNSON ’24 NOTICED
SOMETHING STRIKING when she studied the Portrait of Maria Birch Coffing with Jane W. Winslow for her humanities art project this spring. The subject of the painting was a wealthy woman from Salisbury. Standing behind her is the faint figure of Jane Winslow, a Black girl, whose image was revealed only after the painting was cleaned and restored.
“This piece stood out to me because of the clear power dynamic displayed,” said Johnson, whose own painting, an interpretation of the 19th-century portrait, was part of the exhibit Common Ground: A Dialog in Portraits.
The exhibit, featuring prep and lowermid student work, highlights efforts by the studio art and art history program to update its curriculum by reexamining accepted narratives of art history and including more diverse content and perspectives. For the project, students studied portraits from the Hotchkiss Special Collections, the Salisbury Historical Society, the Litchfield Historical Society, and private collectors, and then created their own interpretations on canvas. Their
Portrait of My Mom by Naima Johnson ’24 was hung next to Portrait of Maria Birch Coffing with Jane W. Winslow.
paintings were exhibited side-by-side with the historical portraits in the Rotunda gallery this spring.
Johnson’s piece, Portrait of My Mom, addresses how Black people were depicted in early American portraiture.
“As a Black female in the 1840s, Jane Winslow was already viewed as inferior in America, and this portrait promotes this narrative. In my portrait, I wanted to reverse this. I wanted my work to display a Black female figure as the sole focus of the portrait. This is why I decided to paint a portrait of my mom. Not only is she a reflection of me and who I am, but I also felt that she serves as a good representation of the beauty of
Left: Painting of Mary Hale Slade Holley, 1939-1891, Artist Unknown. Slade was the daughter of a wealthy New York City merchant. At 16, she married Alexander Lyman Holley, son of Connecticut’s 40th governor and a Lakeville resident. Center: Untitled mixed media portrait by Megan Ho ’23 Right: Untitled acrylic on canvas portrait by Annie Dong ’23
Black womanhood, a narrative that was not represented in the portrait of Jane Winslow,” Johnson wrote in her artist’s statement.
To set the stage for the project, students first attended a virtual lecture by Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Associate Curator Stephanie Sparling Williams, Ph.D., a Black feminist theorist whose work focuses on American, African American, and African/Diasporic art and culture. Sparling Williams told students it is necessary to contextualize American portraiture by examining why the works were created, understanding that traditional portraiture excluded a large majority of society, and observing the stylistic evolution of American portraiture over time. She highlighted contemporary Black artists Bisa Butler and Lorraine O’Grady as examples of artists who use the history of portraiture in their work to convey more diverse historical narratives.
Above: Ellen Emmet Rand’s oil portrait of Hotchkiss Trustee Robert Scoville (1876-1937); Right: Untitled Acrylic on canvas by Grant Kloeber ’23
Scan this QR code to view a flickr gallery of images from the exhibit.
Bringing Everyone to the Table
FOOD FEEDS THE SOUL. It can also feed the mind, bringing people together in the joy of discovering new ideas and cultures. At Hotchkiss, the Dining Hall staff work not only to keep students fed, healthy, and happy, but to broaden the scope of their culinary experiences.
In Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar marks Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. This year, Ramadan was observed from mid-April to mid-May. “Our goal during Ramadan is to make it a holiday celebrated by the community as a whole,” said Mike Webster, director of Tory Hill, the School’s dining service. “Every week, students observing Ramadan invited friends who did not observe and were able to share this special celebration with them.”
Each day at sunset, those observing the holy month broke their daily fast with dates and bowls of traditional hearty soups including Moroccan Harira. Each Friday at sunset, the entire School community was invited to partake in a special meal called Iftar. The weekly menu featured foods from different Muslim regions of the world. Chebakia, which are traditional sesame cookies, lamb, and lentils, were served on Middle Eastern night. Meals from Turkey, West Africa, and Indochina featured authentic recipes and ingredients. On the last day of Ramadan, a special Eid al-Fitr meal was served.
Throughout the school year, cultural events are celebrated with traditional foods that are often prepared by dining services. In May, a variety of iced teas were served in the Dining Hall to celebrate the Thai festival Loi Krathong and AAPI month. Other celebrations recognized with special dishes include Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, and the Lunar New Year.
Another opportunity for cultural engagement comes literally from breaking bread. Challah, which is a traditional Jewish bread, is typically served on Saturdays during Shabbat and on ceremonial occasions. At Hotchkiss, Challah is a Dining Hall specialty and the highlight of the Hillel’s Friday-evening meetings. Everyone in the School is invited to the club’s gatherings, where Jewish culture and identity are often discussed and freshly-baked Challah is shared. Chef Joyce Sousa adds her own special flavors to these sweet loaves. After braiding them into the traditional six-strand loaf, she often tops them off with sesame seeds or streusel. During Passover, a Seder dinner is served in the Student Center.
Caring for a community, one person at a time
BY ROBERTA JENCKES
FROM HIS OFFICE in the Wieler Health Center, Medical Director Jared Zelman P’04 has long watched the passing stream of students and faculty coming and going from the Griswold Science Center to the Dining Hall or across to the Mars Athletic Center. One day, he noticed that Instructor in Physics Bill Fenton had an awkward gait and seemed to be limping.
“I sent him a note,” Dr. Zelman says, “and asked him if he had injured his ankle or knee and if I could help him. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘It’s neither. It’s raining. I had a hole in my shoe, and I’m limping because I don’t want to get more water in my shoe.’”
This was classic Zelman. Known far and wide, but especially on campus, for his caring and compassionate nature throughout his career, he kept an eye on everyone in his charge. When there may have been a problem, he was gentle and reassuring. A former student says, “He is one of the kindest people that I have ever met. His care helped me survive at Hotchkiss when I was managing terrifying health complications.”
Zelman demurs. “I’m lucky,” he says. “My gratification comes from helping people and making a connection with others. I tend to be gregarious. It’s somewhat in the genes and in the nurturing I had growing up. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers who helped me, especially in the medical field. I have a good work ethic — who knows how you get that?”
He attributes his caring for others to the influence of his mother, who lived to age 108. His father, who was a thoracic surgeon, died when he was just 13.
A California native, Zelman earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California-Riverside. Along the way, he got a job riding in an ambulance and worked night shifts as an orderly at the local hospital. Then, following his mother’s encouragement to “go do something, have some adventures,” after a residency at the University of Maryland Hospital in family practice, he went to Appalachia to practice medicine. He also delivered babies and worked in the emergency room there.
“I loved it,” he says. “I thought I would stay one year, and I stayed five.” At about this time he was introduced to Pamela Chassin, also a doctor, and they married in 1983. He worked in hospitals in Maryland as chief of staff, as director of the Emergency Department, and as a team physician for high school athletic teams.
Both Jared and Pamela had liked the rural life of Appalachia. When the time came to settle on a place to live, after some consideration and thoughts about California or New York, they decided on the Northwest Corner. First they moved to Baltimore for his emergency medicine training, and Zelman was then recruited to be the director of the Emergency Department at Sharon Hospital. Emergency medicine at that time had recently become its own specialty, and Zelman became board-certified in the field.
“I always thought I would be a physician,” he says, “although at that time, we didn’t have the specialty of emergency medicine. People used to take turns to be on call. That’s how it was. People with insight said, ‘No, it has to be a specialty.’
“I was drawn to the field. It fits with my adrenaline, and the breadth of the work I do.
“I think I’m a late bloomer, and the older I get, the more curious I get. There’s a lot of teamwork in emergency medicine. The challenge is to be able to manage a chaotic scene efficiently — ‘How many rooms do I have?’ and ‘How many ambulances are coming in?’ — while also giving each patient your full attention. You have to be able to hone in and have some emotional intelligence to figure out what the agenda is. ‘Is the visit here for pain relief?’ ‘Does something need to be fixed?’ ‘Do they have a special need to be heard and cared about?’ I like to think of this as the standard of caring.
“Emergency medicine is challenging, exciting, and frankly it’s a young person’s field,” he says. When he was approached by the headmaster of Millbrook School in
survive.” —FORMER STUDENT
neighboring New York about becoming the school physician, he accepted the post. In 2004, he was appointed medical director at Hotchkiss while still working in the emergency room at Sharon Hospital.
“I know how lucky I have been to be here, with all the resources that we have, and to work with the wonderful team that we have in the Health Center. From the leadership of former Directors of Health Services Nancy Bird and Quincy McLaughlin, and now to current Director Danielle Shippey, I have been with the best. It was not difficult giving up a directorship of an emergency room to work with such capable people, professionals who are efficient and show such attention to detail and concern for our patients. Our nurses are nurturing and precise. I cannot say enough how much I respect and love them. Besides the nurses, Cay Hosterman, our nurse practitioner, is absolutely outstanding, and this year with COVID we were fortunate to have physician assistant Emily Durocher help us out weekly. Rounding out the all-star team are the topnotch counselors.”
Zelman didn’t spend all of his time in the Health Center. He was an enthusiastic spectator on the playing fields, cheering on the Bearcats, and ever-present on the sidelines at home football games. He enjoyed going to student programs and performances, and he and Pamela were long-supporters of regional theatre.
“I like to watch the kids,” he says. “When a student is in the Health Center, I can say, ‘Hey, weren’t you in a game or performance?’ It’s an icebreaker. And I like when I’m walking on campus and the kids will call out, ‘Hey, Dr. Zelman!’”
Dr. Zelman introduced members of the Hotchkiss Medical Society to such activities as the Emergency Medical System Case Review at Sharon Hospital. (The cases are discussed without reference to patient names.) With others on campus, he created a comprehensive concussion management program integrating academic support and help for students to return to athletics post-injury.
In the broader community, he continues to be known for his energetic presence as a 30-year member of the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service, including past service on its board. Radio listeners in the area tune in for his daily one-minute segment on Robin Hood Radio (WHDD-FM) on health and medical topics, a program for which the doctor has been “in” for 25 years. For five years before that time, he hosted a monthly half-hour program on health on WKZE-FM in Sharon. He received the Emergency Physician of the Year Award from organizations in Connecticut and New York in 1999 and 2001. From 1998-2005, he served as clinical instructor in emergency medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
“His skills go far beyond medicine,” Head of School Craig Bradley said in a campus email that applauded Zelman’s contributions, adding, “We all looked forward to his annual Tick Talk with anticipation each spring.” Zelman smiles at this mention, noting that sometimes a little humor helps the learning process. “Initially, the talk was probably pretty didactic. It’s gotten sillier over the years — I get positive reinforcement.”
More seriously, he visited the hospital regularly to check on students or make calls to families to provide reassurance. Don Wilson ’11 remembers from his own experience at Hotchkiss how Zelman’s caring for him made a world of difference.
“After graduation,” Wilson says, “I went from Hotchkiss to Princeton. I’m not sure if Dr. Zelman knows this, but he played a critical role in my college admission process. My personal statement was about medical challenges I had overcome and how those experiences informed the kind of person that I wanted to become. Dr. Zelman — his empathy, intellect, and kindness — was the model I used in that story. To this day, I am still trying to live up to his example.”
At no time have Zelman’s leadership and acumen been more evident and more prized than in the last two school years. He originally planned to retire in 2020, but, as Head of School Bradley noted, “He generously offered to delay his retirement in light of the COVID-19 challenges we faced and also to ensure a smooth transition for the next medical director.”
“It’s been a year not doing what I love, which is clinical care,” Zelman says of the time necessarily given to administration and constant attention to the evolving COVID situation. “But we’ve met the goals we established. The students were able to be in school. Through our testing program and attention to our practices, we kept the community safe. A lot of really good people worked really hard to make this happen. I like that when I looked out the window, I could see the kids interacting.”
Danielle Shippey was one of the many people on campus working with Zelman in this demanding and rewarding year. “Jared worked tirelessly with the Health Center team, nurses, counselors, and support staff to ensure the coordination of care for all students,” she says. “Throughout the pandemic, his dedication to the care of our community was nothing short of amazing to witness. He has remained focused on the science and reviewing research that would help us take the next step forward.”
Students on the Mischianza staff recognized his extraordinary service by dedicating the 2021 yearbook to Dr. Zelman and Class Dean Christy Cooper P’08,’11.
While he will be missed daily at Hotchkiss, Zelman will continue to live in Lakeville and be involved with the School. He looks forward to more time riding his bicycle, gardening, indulging the family’s dogs, and, with Pamela, enjoying time with their daughters Joanna ’04 and Allison, son-in-law Max, and grandson Caleb. H
Zelman parades through campus during Last Clap for retiring faculty.
Meet “Dr. Zach”
Hotchkiss Appoints New Medical Director
DR. ZACHARY McCLAIN was appointed the School’s medical director, effective July 1. He succeeds Dr. Jared Zelman P’04.
McClain has been an advocate for the health and well-being of children and adolescents since he began his career teaching middle school in New York City. There, he witnessed firsthand the barriers young people face in getting a good education and the effects that stress, discrimination, and adversity can have on their development. It was through teaching that he came to value what he describes as “the brilliance, love, and resilience of adolescents.” Since then, he has committed his career to advocating for young people. Before coming to Hotchkiss, he was a general pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
McClain received his B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Chicago. After his teaching experience, he completed medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
In his work at CHOP, McClain provided medical care to adolescents, focusing on resilience, respecting individuality, supporting physical and emotional development, and empowering teens to take ownership of their health and life decisions. His expertise spans a full spectrum of adolescent health including primary care, reproductive health, eating and feeding disorders, medical management of depression and anxiety, care for LGBTQ youth, care for youth living with or at-risk for HIV, and gender identity development issues.
McClain served as the program director of the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program at CHOP where he was responsible for the educational, clinical, and program development of the next generation of leaders in adolescent medicine. His work also included supporting program directors throughout the University of Pennsylvania community to strengthen clinical and educational experiences for fellows. He served as medical director for the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Training Program, funded through the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and he was the youngest member on the board of directors of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. He continues to work with the society.
Beyond medical care, McClain is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ youth. He educates parents, community members, and medical providers on the unique healthcare needs of this community. He has written many peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and most recently co-edited Reaching Teens: Strength-Based, Trauma-Sensitive, ResilienceBuilding Communication Strategies Rooted in Positive Youth Development, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ definitive textbook on communicating with adolescents. This multimedia resource integrates a traumasensitive model with the core belief that identifying, reinforcing, and building on inherent strengths can facilitate positive development among young people.
McClain, who goes by the nickname “Dr. Zach,” has been working in the Health Center at Hotchkiss for the past two years as the School’s visiting medical doctor.
“I love the mission of the School and Health Center, the medical staff, and, most importantly, the youth,” he said. “I am continually impressed by the energy, strength, and enthusiasm of the students at Hotchkiss. As I step into my role as the new medical director, I am excited to delve deeper into the Hotchkiss community and check out the concerts, sporting events, and activism taking place on campus. I’m ready to be a Bearcat!”
McClain lives in Falls Village, CT, with his partner, Tony, and his dog, Scrappy. H
—JARED ZELMAN, MD, RETIRING MEDICAL DIRECTOR
GOLF HAS ENJOYED A RENAISSANCE DURING THE PANDEMIC. In 2020, according to Golf Datatech, rounds of golf played in the United States grew by nearly 14 percent over 2019. Students embraced golf in significant numbers at Hotchkiss too, heading to the School’s nine-hole course to play competitively or just for fun. This spring, more than 60 students tried out for the golf teams. The boys’ season ended in triumph with a low score of 181 — a record on the home course. The girls’ and boys’ teams both finished 3-2 for the season.
What students and faculty may not realize is how lucky they are. The roughly 3,000-yard, par-35 course is a key feature of the campus, encircling the School and providing stunning views of Lake Wononscopomuc and the surrounding Berkshire-Taconic mountains. In 2020, Golf Magazine ranked it the 27th-best nine-hole course in the world. In 2019, Golfweek placed Hotchkiss as the 29th-best campus course in America, one of only two prep schools on the list.
When golfers walk onto the first tee near Sprole Field, they are touching a piece of art and history. Each round connects players to the early days of the School, to golf’s “golden age of architecture,” and to Charles Henry (“Josh”) Banks, Class of 1902. Banks played an instrumental role not only in golf at Hotchkiss but also for some of the finest courses in the country.
On campus, the sport dates back to a time when players wore knickerbockers, long puttees (also known as socks), and a coat and tie, no matter the temperature. The School’s first course was a crude six holes. In 1897, an article published in Harper’s Round Table, a magazine for teenage boys, described the course as primitive and not suited for learning the sport. In 1911, Robert D. Pryde, the golf coach at Yale, designed a new nine-hole course, but it, too, fell short. More than a decade later, Josh Banks would step in to help lead the School’s effort to create a new course. It would be designed by famed golf architect Seth Raynor. And nearly 100 years later, it remains a gem of a course.
The Hotchkiss golf course was ranked 25th in North America in the book The Finest Nines, North America’s Best 9-Hole Courses by Anthony Pioppi (2018) .
Josh Banks’s Deep Connections to Early Hotchkiss
Banks arrived in Lakeville from nearby Amenia, NY, in 1898, and his love of Hotchkiss endured until his death in 1931. As a student, Banks was a leader on campus and a star athlete, playing football, baseball, and track. In June 1902, just before his graduation, The Hotchkiss Record declared Josh the best athlete Hotchkiss had ever produced. Although there is no mention of his playing competitive golf as a student, in time he would become an avid player.
Like many Hotchkiss boys of the time, Banks went on to Yale. After graduating, he was convinced by then-headmaster Huber Buehler (1904-24) to forgo a job with a railroad and instead return to Hotchkiss. On July 25, 1906, Banks accepted the job as an instructor in English.
Once at Hotchkiss, Banks also began working with Otto Monahan, director of athletics. He became a fixture of campus life, and in 1918, the graduating class dedicated the Mischianza to him. In 1920, Banks became the first executive secretary of the Hotchkiss School Building and Endowment Fund. In this role, he was responsible for the alumni relations and fundraising efforts that ultimately led to the construction of a new golf course.
Pictured above: Banks as a student in the 1902 Misch (top) and then later as part of the English faculty in the 1923 Misch (bottom) Banks wrote to Headmaster Buehler regarding his career.
Hotchkiss and Golf’s Golden Age of Course Design
Talk of designing a new course was brewing. Scott Probasco, Class of 1911, wrote in the Hotchkiss Bulletin that “in playing the course in 1923, I found it considerably shortened and mutilated by construction of houses and roads, and felt it was not suitable for boys trying to learn the best kind of golf.”
Probasco put forth a challenge — he would provide $3,000 for course improvements if the School could raise an equal amount. After Banks formed a committee to raise the funds and oversee the work, the project grew even more ambitious. Hotchkiss needed a first-rate course. That meant finding more money and a top architect.
Banks set to work, and the Hotchkiss community raised nearly $30,000 (approximately $450,000 in today’s dollars) to fund the new course. Legendary architect Seth Raynor was engaged as designer.
Raynor was a protégé of Charles Blair Macdonald, and the duo were producing courses that were not only celebrated in their time but remain leading courses
today. As of 2020, 14 of the top 100 U.S. courses were designed by Macdonald and Raynor, according to Golf Magazine.
“Macdonald’s formula was to use tried and true concepts from the greatest golf holes in Europe and the British Isles. Macdonald felt if you used a combination of highly regarded holes, you could create an ideal or classical golf course,” explains Bret Lawrence, a golf historian and frequent golfer at Hotchkiss.
Seth Raynor, who was a Princetoneducated engineer, brought Macdonald’s design ideas together with fundamentals of engineering. He designed and executed angles, widths, and varying options wellsuited to a course’s landscape.
In the spring of 1924, Raynor laid out a new nine-hole course for Hotchkiss, and construction began. Like other Raynor layouts, the Hotchkiss holes drew inspiration from the great holes of the British Isles: a Leven (current second hole), Alps (current third), Short (current fifth), Long (current seventh), and an Eden (current eighth). Anthony Pioppi, a golf historian who is currently writing a book on Raynor, notes, “The green complexes on the current first, second, third, fifth, sixth, and eighth holes are testaments to the fact that Raynor delivered a quality product. The ridges, spines, knobs, and pockets are classic Raynor features.”
During this time, Josh Banks became closely acquainted with Raynor. “Banks had a seemingly innate ability to understand and implement Raynor’s plan,” explains long-serving Hotchkiss golf pro Jim Kennedy. “He created plasticine models of the putting greens and their surrounds, which he later used in his role as the superintendent of the overall construction.”
Banks was so adept in this new position as construction overseer that Raynor recruited him to join his growing business. Banks embraced the Macdonald/Raynor design principles and, as an experienced fundraiser, was skilled at managing relationships relevant to new projects. In the summer of 1925, just as the course was opening, Banks left Hotchkiss to begin a new career as Raynor’s partner in course design.
In January 1926, Raynor died unexpectedly from pneumonia. Within a week, New York newspapers reported that Josh Banks would continue to carry out his work. Banks went on to help complete many hallmark Raynor courses, stretching from Fishers Island Club in New York to Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, and then built more than a dozen of his own. He also worked with Macdonald at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, NY.
For many years, Banks lived with his family in Salisbury. In 1929, he was lured
The Hotchkiss golf team in 1929 wore knickbockers and long puttees.
back to campus to build two holes to replace those demolished by the construction of Rt. 112. Banks drew on elements of the famous Road Hole from the St. Andrews course in Scotland for what is the ninth hole today and the equally well-known Redan at North Berwick in Scotland for the current first hole. Today, these holes are arguably the toughest on the course.
Sadly, this work proved to be some of his last. Suffering from lingering health issues and depleted by extensive travel, Banks fell ill after returning from a business trip to Bermuda. He passed away in March 1931, just shy of his 51st birthday. He is buried in Salisbury.
Preserving the Banks Legacy
Banks wrote about his work in a sevenpiece series in The American Golfer in 1930. In those articles, he described the process for selecting land, finding the right architect, and adapting tried and true concepts to the natural topography. Today, the ideals embodied by Banks’s work are back in fashion. Tom Doak, currently one of the most celebrated golf architects, wrote, “While I’m a fan of many different architects, and have consulted in restoring the work of several, I feel most at home on the courses of Charles Blair Macdonald and his more prolific associates, Seth Raynor and Charles Banks.” Indeed, restoration of the remaining Macdonald, Raynor, and Banks courses attracts significant attention in the golfing world.
Banks’s contribution to Hotchkiss is substantial. As the first director of the endowment, he helped generations of students through fundraising. He also oversaw the design and execution of a top-notch golf course that has ensured the enduring legacy of the sport on campus.
The core design of the Hotchkiss course, which will turn 100 in 2025, remains largely unchanged from 1930 when Banks last worked on it, but there have been a
The nine-hole golf course provides stunning views of Lake Wononscopomuc.
few modifications. Holes were reordered to their current sequence in 1933. At that time, the golf house that used to stand behind what is now the eighth tee, then the starting hole, was rolled down the hill to its current position. As new buildings and roads emerged, in 1935 the seventh hole acquired a slightly different shape and a new green, as did the fourth hole in 2004. When the Mars Athletics Center was built, a tee was removed from the second hole, which can no longer be played as a par-four.
Unlike many other Raynor and Banks courses, the Hotchkiss nine retains much of its authenticity and its original features, and this has attracted a loyal following among devotees of golf’s golden age of course design.
Countless alumni return time and again.
Banks’s contribution to Hotchkiss is substantial.
Nick Moore ’71, P’89,’01,’06 lives locally and plays the course frequently with fellow alumni including his brother, David Moore ’72. He noted that the Hotchkiss course can be enjoyed by serious golfers and beginners alike. It is also one of the few Raynor-designed courses that is open to the public for a modest $30 fee.
As much as it is respected and beloved, in years to come the course will need renovations. This work will be critical to ensuring its preservation for future generations of students and as a lasting tribute to Charles Banks, one of Hotchkiss’s unsung heroes.
Looking for more?
Seidenstein credits golf historian Anthony Pioppi, local golfer Bret Lawrence, and the Hotchkiss Archives for their help in writing this article. He cites George Bahto’s book, Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald; and Anthony Pioppi’s website, theaposition.com; and golfclubatlas.com, which features discussions on golf architecture. Learn more at thefriedegg.com. H
Charles “Josh” Banks
June 3, 1881
Fall 1898 Charles Henry Banks born
Banks enters Hotchkiss
June 1902
June 1906 Banks is graduated from Hotchkiss
Banks is graduated from Yale
July 1906 Banks decides to return to Hotchkiss as a teacher after previously accepting railroad job September 1920 Banks becomes head of Hotchkiss School Building and Endowment Fund
August 1925 Banks leaves Hotchkiss to work with Seth Raynor
January 1926 Raynor dies, and Banks carries on Raynor’s work March 20, 1931 Banks dies and is buried in Salisbury Cemetery
The progression of THE HOTCHKISS GOLF COURSE 2
October 1923 Scott Probasco 1911 pledges initial funds to build new Hotchkiss course, to be matched by other donors October 1923 Seth Raynor retained to develop new course May 1924 Course construction begun August 1925 New nine-hole course opened (Par 37; 3,312 yards) September 1930 Two new holes designed by Charles Banks (current holes nine and one) under construction to accommodate the building of Rt. 112
April 1933 Hotchkiss moves the golf course shop from behind the current eighth tee to current position and adopts current sequence of holes September 1935 Seventh green moved and rebuilt to accommodate new entrance to the school
Imagine you’re picnicking at a table next to the Yellowstone River on a sunny summer day. Suddenly aware of a disturbance, you turn only to see a mass of heaving, snorting, splashing creatures swimming forcefully, inexorably, and directly at you. Retreating to cover is not an option; you’re already becoming engulfed in a powerful mass of animals whose soft grunting and collective rumbling and scrabbling hooves momentarily drown out the sounds of birdsong and rushing water.
They pass by so closely you could reach out and touch their prehistoric-looking leathery sides. Then they move on, ignoring you, singularly focused on staying with the herd, following their leader to some unknown destination.
This actually happened to me one day. I was chaperoning some guests from the nonprofit educational guest ranch I ran in Wapiti, WY, through the park, and we’d stopped for lunch. You always expect to see bison in Yellowstone, maybe even feel them brush up against your car on the road during one of the park’s famous ‘bison jams,’ but you don’t anticipate them practically running you over when you’re eating a sandwich at a picnic table. I can’t say this moment was when I became fascinated with bison, but it was one of the reasons that when I was offered a chance in 2019 by my longtime publisher, Gibbs Smith, to collaborate on a book about bison, I immediately accepted.
I have been writing about art, design, food, travel, traditional craftsmanship, rustic style, and the American West for more than 25 years and have authored 14 books. But writing about these charismatic icons of the plains was a bit of a departure –– albeit a welcome one.
Bison are creatures of contradiction. They may look like a cartoonist’s vision of a prehistoric animal, with their dense, humped, compact bodies on overly short legs; their curved horns and jaunty beards; their robe’s worth of fur (impossibly luxurious in places, but in others hanging off their bodies in ragged strips); and those ageless, knowing eyes. But bison are nimble, fast, and strong. They’re capable of sprinting 35 miles an hour, clearing fencehigh obstacles, fording glacier-fed rivers with their calves during the height of spring run-off, and — as anyone can witness by watching the warning video on Yellowstone National Park’s website — tossing a tourist with a mere flick of their massive heads.
The animals are tough, durable, resilient, and smart. They have matriarchal leaders who employ the strength of the group to protect its young. And they evolved over millennia in perfect adaptation to life on the Great Plains. These evolutionary strategies include a metabolism that slows down in the winter so they need less forage, and a habit of walking into and through storms instead of drifting with them, which prolongs exposure.
The immense size of the herds and their patterns of movement and intermittent grazing behavior actually helped shape the grassland ecosystem itself. Yet in a short couple of decades late in the 19th century, these iconic creatures barely survived an assault that took their numbers from an estimated 25 to 60 million to fewer than 1,000. Bison came within a horn’s width of disappearing forever, and this makes their comeback all the more remarkable.
As photographer Audrey Hall set about
examining a life’s worth of bison images and planning trips to capture new photos, I began my research. I read multiple books on the subject and scoured historical references, but I also wanted to include current voices in the narrative to help illustrate that the bison are not some vestige of the past but play an important role in the future of the West. Accordingly, we obtained contributions from a variety of leaders around the region: former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell; the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s director Kirk Johnson; Patagonia-founder Yvon Chouinard; and Montana’s former Poet Laureate Henry Real Bird, among others. I also spoke to dozens of people involved with bison on various levels — policymakers and artists and industry executives and range biologists — in an attempt to get my arms around the current political status of bison, the part they play in increasing biodiversity, and the crucial role they fulfill in traditional culture.
In this pursuit I relied on the experience of people like George Horse Capture Jr., a guide and interpreter of native culture on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation; Shawn Henderson, the manager of the bison herd of the Quapaw tribe in northeast Oklahoma; and Emmy Award-winning costume maker Cathy Smith, who grew up in South Dakota’s Black Hills amongst the Lakota Sioux.
I visited with Dr. Ian Thompson, tribal historic preservation officer of the Choctaw tribe, who with his wife, Amy, founded a family farm, Nan Awaya Heritage Farmstead, seven years ago. The name refers to the tribe’s creation story, in which the people were given rules for how to live in balance with the land and with other people. When the couple bought their property, Ian Thompson said, “It was almost nothing but ragweed and goatweed. The land was so heavily grazed that certain keystone plant species
Chase Reynolds Ewald ’81 pictured (standing) with photographer Audrey Hall
were gone. It was out of balance.”
The farm’s goal, he said, is “to heal our land, support our community, and bring to light the traditional knowledge of our Choctaw ancestors. One tool we have for doing that is bison.”
Thanks to letting their property lie fallow for a year and then introducing bison and carefully managing their movements, the land is bouncing back. The Thompsons now count 120 species of native prairie grasses and forbs. “When you think about indigenous cultures,” explains Thompson, “they’re based on 15,000 years of living on the land. They contain timeless insights that can help modern people have a higher quality of life. Food is the most direct connection between
people and the land. Societies managed to live on the land without degrading it for thousands of years. In 200 years of industrial agriculture, we’ve obliterated it in huge chunks in the world. Our goal is to connect our farm with the broader cultural revitalization and hopefully get people interested in indigenous foods and in doing things that bring balance and sustainability to the community.”
Ron Brownotter, who is of LakotaYanktonai descent, works toward this goal every day. He runs 600 head of buffalo over 20,000 acres on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation on the border of North and South Dakota. After two decades of bison management, his land is flourishing. “We have birds, insects, snakes, coyotes, badgers, deer, skunk, even wolves and moose, prairie dogs, eagles, and hawks,” he said. Brownotter finds the ultimate fulfillment in raising bison. “I describe it like putting on a glove; it fits my hand. My culture, the land, the buffalo, are all mixed together. My mission today is to bring them back and be a help to my community, my family, the reservation as a whole—and to know that the buffalo have returned.” With settlement, this majestic animal—the largest land mammal native to the U.S., once numbering 40 million—was all but wiped out, slaughtered at the rate of one creature every 30 seconds for 40 years. ”
SALLY JEWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
It was a humbling experience to speak to so many passionate people willing to share their knowledge. Audrey Hall’s art photographs, largely taken on solo trips during the pandemic, showcase the majesty and timelessness of the animal in all seasons and all types of terrain. I did my best to illustrate their significance and their importance — and not just to people of the West. Bison represent an important part of our shared history, stand as a symbol of the wilderness still intact across large swathes of the continent, and play a key role in a healthy plains ecosystem.
As Former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell writes in the book, “For millennia, the American bison shaped the landscapes of North America and the cultures of many American Indian tribal nations. With settlement, this majestic animal — the largest land mammal native to the U.S., once numbering 40 million — was all but wiped out, slaughtered at the rate of one creature every 30 seconds for 40 years. In shaping our landscapes, this amazing creature, brought back from the brink of extinction, can once again lead us on a path toward a more sustainable future.” H
Audrey Hall’s art installation, Bound Bison, was created in the spiritually iconic landscape of the Blackfeet Nation in collaboration with a small group of tribal members. It serves as a talking point about the nature of citizenship, patriotism, freedom, conservation, and racial identity.
Interested in learning more?
BISON: WHERE TO OBSERVE
One could argue that the most iconic views of bison in the wild are found in Yellowstone National Park: bison crossing the Madison River; bison coexisting with elk and wolves; bison grazing by Yellowstone Lake while whorls of steam vent from the ground around them. But for those interested in getting off the beaten path, the vast American Prairie Reserve (APR) in north-central Montana gives visitors a true sense of what it must have been like to encounter bison on the open plains prior to the influx of ranchers and farmers throughout the West. (It’s not easy to reach the APR, but once you’ve arrived you can enjoy accommodations ranging from campgrounds to luxury yurts.)
Bison can also be viewed on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, in numerous other parks in the U.S. and Canada, and on tribal lands such as those of the Blackfeet, whose bison herd grazes against a spectacular, snow-draped mountainscape on the edge of Glacier National Park.
BISON: WHAT TO READ
There are many excellent books on bison, but one of the most engaging and interesting is Buffalo for the Broken Heart by Dan O’Brien. O’Brien is a writer and writing teacher by profession, but his narrative explaining how he turned a broken-down cattle ranch near the South Dakota Badlands into a thriving bison ranch with replenished biodiversity would be both gripping and educational even without the beautiful prose.
In Re-Bisoning the West: Restoring an American Icon to the Landscape, Kurt Repanshek tells the bison story from their Ice Age ancestors right up to the complicated landscape that determines their future today. Michael Punke’s Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, The Battle to Save the Buffalo and the Birth of the New West describes the decimation of bison in the U.S., the movement to save them, and the birth of the modern conservation movement.
Hotchkiss Announces New Appointments
Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87 Named New Co-chairs of Alumni Association
D.BROOKE HARLOW ’92 is the chief commercial officer for Managed Funds Association. She works with the founders and executive managers of the world’s largest and most sophisticated alternative asset management firms. In 2021, she led a benchmark diversity, equity, and inclusion survey with Goldman Sachs of both the fund manager and investor community, which has served as an important milestone for both communities. In 2020, she founded the MFA Women’s Investment Salon, a network for senior female investment professionals and founders. Prior to joining MFA, Harlow was managing director of communications and public affairs at Highbridge Capital Management.
Harlow graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in American Studies, was a Rotary Scholar, and studied at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, as part of the Master’s in International Relations program. During her tenure on the Board of Governors she has served as vice chair, secretary, and chair of the Nominating Committee for Membership. She lives in New York City with her two daughters.
PAUL MICHAEL MUTTER ’87 is senior managing director with the Cantor Fitzgerald family of companies, where he leads commercial client engagement. He oversees several businesses related to OTC trading within BGC Partners. Mutter has 30 years of investment banking and securities sales and trading experience, including 20 years with Goldman Sachs. He previously served as managing director with Goldman and a member of the inaugural One Goldman Sachs CrossDivisional Client Coverage Team. Prior to Goldman, he was an investment banker focused on corporate finance with ABN AMRO in Europe.
Mutter has served the School as a class agent, reunion committee member and chair, event host, and event committee member. He joined the Board of Governors in 2015, most recently serving as vice chair and chair of the Nominating Committee for Awards. Beyond Hotchkiss, he served as vice chair of the Board of Books for Kids, is a volunteer and officer of Friends of Finn Square, and is a volunteer and event chair for various community and charitable organizations.
He earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business. He and his wife, Caroline, reside in New York City, and Windham, NY, with their two sons, Tiger and Dax. Mutter and his wife are both USSS Level 200 certified professional ski coaches.
Harlow and Mutter will serve three-year terms on the Board. Read their welcome message on page 75.
John P. Khoury ’95 Named New President of The Hotchkiss Fund
JOHN P. KHOURY ’95’s two-year term became effective July 1, 2021. Khoury has previously served Hotchkiss as an event host and committee member. He is the founder and managing partner of Long Pond Capital, LP. Long Pond (named for Long Pond at Hotchkiss), a value-oriented investment management firm in New York that focuses on investing in real estate and real estaterelated companies. Prior to founding Long Pond in 2010, Khoury was co-portfolio manager at Wesley Capital Management, a New York-based real estate hedge fund. Previously, he served as a senior analyst at DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners where he focused on real estate acquisitions throughout the U.S. He began his career at Lazard Frères in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.
Khoury graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics. He serves on the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood Foundation. He and his wife, Breanna, have two children, William and Valerie. Breanna is pursuing a degree in psychology at Columbia University. The Khourys live in New York City.
Hotchkiss welcomes Peri and Neda Navab P’24 as the new Chairs of the Hotchkiss Parents Fund
PERI AND NEDA NAVAB P’24 are excited to lend their expertise in fund raising as the new chairs of the Hotchkiss Parents Fund. The Navabs live in New York City with their son Nicholas, a junior at Avenues School, while their youngest son, Thomas, is a rising lower mid.
“Hotchkiss has already been an incredible experience for Thomas, despite the restrictions of the past year. The sense of community and camaraderie at Hotchkiss, even from afar, has sustained us through his first year away from home,” Neda said.
Peri and Neda moved to the U.S. in 1980 from Iran, and settled in New York City and Nashville, TN, respectively. Coming from Iranian and Greek heritage, they focus on supporting educational endeavors both at home and abroad. Peri attended Syracuse University and graduated from Harvard Business School in 1996. Neda completed her education at the University of Tennessee and The Portfolio Center, Atlanta. For two decades, Neda worked at several global advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson and The Sterling Group. Peri is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of PITCO Foods, Inc., distributors and marketers of consumer goods to the convenience and grocery retail industry in Northern California. The Navabs have worked together to advance the missions and financial sustainability of several non-profits including New York Common Pantry, Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, Winsome Wishes for Kids, and the African Dream Academy, among others. In addition, Neda has served on the boards of Brick Church School, New York Common Pantry, Winsome Wishes for Kids, and Central Park Conservancy’s Women’s Committee.
SHIH-WEI PENG AND
DIANA PENG, parents of Jonathan ’22, are the new chairs of the Senior Parents Gift Campaign. A long-standing tradition at Hotchkiss, the Campaign provides families with an opportunity to celebrate and honor their graduates with a legacy gift. Each year, a special project is chosen by the School as a worthy goal, and senior parents work to raise the funds to complete it.
This year’s chairs, who live in Belvedere, CA, have demonstrated exceptional experience in organization and fundraising. Diana Peng is chief logistical officer of the Peng Family household, a position she has held since 2003. Diana also has served as vice president of Deutsche Bank Private Banking (formerly Bankers Trust) in San Francisco and vice president of Citibank Private Bank in Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in finance, marketing and real estate.
Shih-Wei Peng is a member of the Office of Development at Stanford University. He joined Stanford University following a long career in the finance industry in Asia and San Francisco. Most recently, Shih-Wei was based in Hong Kong and served as the regional head for Asia ex-Japan at Man Group. Prior to Man, he was a managing director at SAC Capital (Point72) and BlackRock. He was a principal at Quellos Group, which was acquired by BlackRock in 2007. He started his career at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. He earned undergraduate degrees in English (Honors) and economics from Stanford University.
Diana and Shih-Wei were trustees at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA, and continue to serve on its Advisory Board. In addition to Jonathan, they have a son Andrew, 15, who is a sophomore at Branson.
