Hotchkiss magazine winter 2015 by The Hotchkiss School

Thomas C. Barry P’01,’03,’05 John Coumantaros ’80, P’16 Ian R. Desai ’00 Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07 William R. Elfers ’67, Vice President John E. Ellis III ’74

EMERITI

Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16

Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82

Keith Holmes ’77

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

Nisa Leung Lin ’88

Frederick Frank ’50, P’12

Alessandra Nicolas ’95

Dr. Robert A. Oden, Jr. P’97 Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ’56, P’85

Nichole Phillips ’89 VP and Chair, Alumni of Color Committee

Arthur W. White P’71,’74, GP’08,’11

Emily Pressman ’98 Chip Quarrier ’90

Diana Gomez ’76, P’11,’12

Casey Reid ’01 VP and Chair, Communications Committee

Sean M. Gorman ’72, Secretary Edward Greenberg ’55, Ex Officio John P. Grube '65, P'00 Kevin M. Hicks, Ex Officio Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet ’85

Alumni Association Board of Governors

Tom Seidenstein ’91 Chair, Alumni Services Committee Bryan Small ’03 Sheria Smith ’01

Edward Greenberg ’55 President

David Tan ’91 Michael Thompson ’66

Kendra S. O’Donnell

Christina Bechhold ’03 VP, Chair, Nominating Committee

Thomas S. Quinn III '71, P'15,'17

Lance Beizer ’56

Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18, President

Miriam Gelber Beveridge ’86

Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08

Doug Campbell ’71, P’01 Secretary and Chair, Membership Subcommittee of the Nominating Committee

Christopher H. Meledandri ’77, Vice President

Jane Sommers-Kelly ’81 Marjo Talbott John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11,’16 Officer-at-Large William B. Tyree ’81, P’14, Treasurer Daniel Wilner '03 Stephanie Bowling Zeigler ’84, Ex Officio

Adam Casella ’06 Robert Chartener ’76, P’18 Charlotte Dillon ’10 Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian ’85 VP and Chair, Gender Committee Mark Gall ’59 Peter Gifford ’93

Carolyn Toolan ’97 EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Kevin M. Hicks, Head of School Katie Berlandi ’88 Past President, Alumni Association Dan Pullman ’76, P’14 Past President, Alumni Association Stephanie Bowling Zeigler ’84, President, The Hotchkiss Fund Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18, President, Board of Trustees

PHOTO BY JONATHAN DOSTER

Board of Trustees

HOTC HOT HOTCHKISS

C O V E R P H O T OC:O V E R P H O T O : J O N A T H A N D OJ S O TNEART H A N D O S T E R COVER PHOTO: JONATHAN DOSTER

L-r: Sage Molasky ’18, Isabella Nichol ’15, and Luis Gonzalez Kompalic ’16 performed The Learned Ladies by Molière.

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With this issue we bid farewell to Roberta Jenckes, editor of Hotchkiss Magazine since

2000.Isabella Roberta “It’s My’15, Turn,” p.63, a heartfelt remembrance of her tenure at L-r: Sage Molasky L-r: Sage ’18, Molasky Isabella Nichol ’18, ’15, penned Nichol HEAD OF SCHOOL Hotchkiss. Her knowledge of School history and the close relationships she forged over the Dr. Kevin M. and Hicks Luis and Luis Gonzalez Kompalic Gonzalez ’16Kompalic performed ’16 performed With this issue With we this bidonefarewell issue weto bidRoberta farewelJ years with the community has made her position a particularly challenging to fill. As CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER The Learned The Ladies Learned by Molière. Ladies by Molière. Hellen Hom-Diamond

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EDITOR

reflect the diverse and dynamic Hotchkiss community, I hope you will send me your H E A D O F S C HHOEOALD O F S C H O O L Wendy Carlson thoughts, news, and story ideas. Send correspondence to: magazine @hotchkiss.org.

Dr. Kevin M.Dr. Hicks Kevin M. Hicks

DESIGNERS

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WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Wendy Carlson Kevin M. Hicks Roberta JenckesD E S I G N E R S Wendy Levithan Daniel Lipman Henry McNulty Keith Moon Sarinda Parsons Wilson Divya Symmers

thoughts, news, thoughts, and story news, ideas. andSend storycorre idea

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Letters

The Hotchkiss School C Ldoes A S SnotNdisO T E SC LE ADSI TSONR O T E S E D I T O R criminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, 4 Campus Connection or national orientation in the administration of its educational policies, W R I T E R S A N DW CR O I TNETRRSI BAUNTDO RCSO N T R I B U T O R S athletics, or other school-administered 12 Alumni Names and Faces programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.

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Wendy Carlson Wendy Carlson Kevin M. Hicks Kevin M. 14 Hicks Teaching Matters Hotchkiss Magazine is produced by the Roberta Jenckes Roberta Jenckes Office of Communications for alumni, parents, members of the faculty and Class Notes Wendy Levithan Wendy 36 Levithan staff, and friends of the School. Letters and comments are welcome. Please Lipman Daniel Daniel Lipman send inquiries and comments to: The 54 In Memoriam HenryRoad, McNulty Henry McNulty Hotchkiss School, 11 Interlaken Lakeville, CT 06039-2141, Keith email to Moon Keith Moon 63 It’s My Turn magazine@ hotchkiss.org, or phone Sarinda Wilson Parsons Wilson 860-435-3122. Sarinda Parsons Divya Symmers Divya Symmers The Hotchkiss The School Hotchkiss does not School dis-does not dis-

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At Hotchkiss, we believe that education is the means by which we both discover our world and contribute to its transformation, and that our education is best pursued in the company of others, for others’ benefit as well as one’s own.

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ABOVE: During MLK Day celebrations, students, faculty, and staff gathered in Elfers Hall for the Community Voices program.

honor the gift of his example in a thoroughly modern and forward-thinking register. As Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, writes, we need to prepare our students for their future, not our past. To do so well, the School remains steadfastly committed to integrating environmental stewardship, global understanding, and civic engagement into all aspects of our lives together. Notably, Hotchkiss has cultivated a student communi-

ty that reflects the diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and ideas that characterizes both the nation and the world that our students will inherit. Additionally, we continue to improve the quality and integrity of our students’ residential experience – in part by providing our faculty and staff with the resources and training they require to meet our studen ts’ needs as they learn and grow. Equally important, we remain committed to providing our students with learning expe-

PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN DOSTER

The broad standards of excellence to which people, schools, and nations aspire are seldom achieved in isolation. We believe that lives lived mindfully in common – with one another, near and far; with the environment, locally and globally – will be healthy, consequential, and worthwhile. For the past five years, my wife, Cornelia, and I have been blessed to be part of a school that aspires to this ideal. On a daily basis, we have been inspired by our students’ creativity, lively engagement with and respect for one another, and joy – just as we have been humbled by marvelous examples of dedication to the School’s mission and purpose provided by our faculty, staff, alumni, and parents. In this light, our decision to return this July to my hometown of Pebble Beach, CA, to begin my tenure as the fourth head of Stevenson School, my alma mater, was not easy. Simply put, we both believe in Hotchkiss, and have been honored to serve all who comprise its remarkable society of friends. In such an unexpected circumstance, and through the transition that ensues, it will be comforting for some to recall that our lives and work here are influenced by traditions that have been proven over the past 123 years, and that have – owing to their inherent value – transcended each generation of leadership. For others, it will be comforting to remember that the School matures in the same inexorable way that its graduates do. For example, what Headmaster George Van Santvoord ’08 described as the School’s enduring values – intelligence, curiosity, discipline, and fidelity – are now expressed in words and actions that

riences – in and out of the traditional classroom – that are deep, challenging, and authentic. For example, I’m pleased to have worked this year with my colleagues and our faculty to introduce a centralized, standardized process by which students will now offer regular, formative feedback to their instructors about their teaching. Of course, we’re equally committed to providing our students with an excellent co-curriculum, which includes but is not limited to athletics. The co-curriculum remains integral to student life, and teaches students uniquely transferable skills about hard work, grit, collaboration, trust, and competition. In order for the School to pursue these priorities, of course, it must recruit and retain stellar faculty and staff members who will thrive in our community and relish its opportunities, and also support their continuing professional development, such that their mastery of craft in the service of our students continues to grow. I am grateful for all that has been done in the past few years to strengthen these traditions. Many people have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students are offered the opportunity to thrive. Noble and deserving young people come to Hotchkiss from across the country and around the world seeking new challenges, and along the way they earn relationships with peers and mentors that will sustain them throughout their lives. This tradition of human connection – arguably, the School’s most precious custom – is only made possible by the contributions of a remarkable and committed community of parents, alumni, faculty, and staff. I am confident that the strength of our traditions and the commitment of the people who now carry them will allow for only greater things in the future. For being able to share in this legacy, and contribute to it, we will always be grateful for our five years on The Hill.

P E T E R O ’N E I L L A P P O I N T E D I NTERIM H EAD OF S CHOOL The Board of Trustees President has appointed Peter O'Neill as the Interim Head of School for next year. O'Neill brings to Hotchkiss nearly four decades of leadership experience at independent schools, both day and boarding, and currently serves as the Interim Head at the New Canaan Country School. He served as either interim head or head of school at the following: Garrison Forest School from 1994-2014, Whitby School, Rutgers Preparatory School, and Wooster School. To read the full announcement, please visit: hotchkiss.org/interim.

L ETTERS

TO THE

From Winter 2014 I read with interest your article on Bissell, which I gather is slated for demolition. Having lived for several years in the house which is attached to Bissell on the South (and I could still draw you a floor plan of that house!) from 1936-1944, I have many memories of Bissell. I was a faculty brat (Charles and Erma (sic) Berry) who did not attend Hotchkiss (went to Salisbury) from age two. I’ll be 80 next week. I recall Bissell as the home of my sitter, Margaret Hogan, one of the ‘maids’ employed by Hotchkiss at that time. We’d roam its empty halls, which echoed with our laughter. Yes, we had a little pre-school there as well. The laundry was in operation; ‘Ben the plumber’ lived in an apartment on the first floor and had toy trains he’d show us at Christmas. The home at the other end was occupied initially by the Coolidge family, subsequently by the Bodel family. Miss Gladys Sheldon, one of the school administrative folks, lived there, HOTCHKISS M

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and I busted the windshield in her car one day with a rock. Sore tail that night. We’d ride bikes inside the ‘covered way’ which sheltered our journeys to the main campus. A great place for growing kids. Peter Gurney, Julian Coolidge, Teddy Stakely, we were all having a wonderful boyhood. The area behind had the powerhouse (my mom loved the coal dust that wafted over) and garages. All the roads were hardpa cked dirt and gravel. The movement of things within the campus (trash removal, ash dispersal, ice delivery) all took place with horse and wagon. The first truck did not come on the scene until 1946. Thanks for the memories. Charlie Berry

Corrections In the Fall 2014 issue, we misstated the class year for Hazard Knox Campbell, p.59 in Class Notes, and for Jerry Pfohl, p.14 in Media Matters. The class years for both Mr. Campbell and Mr. Pfohl should have been ’47, not ’46. A photo credit name on p.53 misstated the surname of the photographer. She is Rhonda Cullens, not Cullen.

Send letters to: magazine@hotchkiss.org

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Wan Lin Qin ’17 looks for answers to trivia questions on Chinese culture

When is a Bearcat a Panda?

During the Lunar New Year, of course. Panda, or Xiong Mao, is the the literal translation for the School mascot, and one of the trivia questions posed to students during the “Year of the Goat” celebration held by the Chinese Club in February. The Lunar New Year is actually a 15-day celebration. Students rolled it all into one evening, sharing traditions and homemade dumplings they prepared earlier in the week .

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JOAQUIN AYMERICH has been appointed Director of Campus Safety and Security. Before joining Hotchkiss, he served as the emergency preparedness coordinator/investigator at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. He previously held a similar position at Keuka College. Prior to this, he served 20 years with the New York State Police as a senior investigator in the criminal division. Aymerich earned a B.A. in sociology from SUNY Buffalo and is fluent in Spanish.

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JODI VON JESS has been named Director of Counseling. She earned her B.A. degree from Kalamazoo College and M.S.W. from Boston University. Jodi came to Hotchkiss from South Kent School, where she served as a counselor. She also worked at Eaglebrook School from 2001 to 2004. Jodi brings to Hotchkiss considerable expertise with and training in dialectical behavioral therapy.

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JOHN BRYANT is the School’s new Director of Facilities. Bryant comes to Hotchkiss from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, where he was the assistant vice president of facilities. He has an associate’s degree in architectural technology from Hartford State Technical College, a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Central Connecticut State University, and a master’s degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

WENDY CARLSON has been appointed Editor in the Communications Office, working on the Hotchkiss Magazine, Hotchkiss Happenings, and articles for the website. She earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of Massachusetts and her M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri. Her writing, photography, and editorial work has been published in local and national media, including The New York Times.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN DOSTER

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Visitors PHOTO BY JONATHAN DOSTER

An Author, Printmaker among them

ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO REMEMBER THEIR FAVORITE POETS

n a cold evening in mid-January, Alice Quinn – executive director of the Poetry Society of America and former poetry editor of The New Yorker – spoke to a group of attentive students and faculty about the iconic poet Elizabeth Bishop’s life and work. Bishop, who died in 1979 at 68, was a winner of the National

Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award; she was also the U.S. Poet Laureate and a perfectionist who published only about 100 poems in her lifetime. Quinn, who is working on an edition of Bishop’s previously unpublished journals, pointed out that “she’s the most beloved 20th-century American poet internationally,” and that her work is a regular part of the high school literary curriculum in both Ireland and France. “Perhaps nobody embodied the diabolical effort that poetry requires more than Elizabeth Bishop,” said upper-mid Kateryna (Kate) Bolonnikova ’16 in an eloquent introduction, pointing out that a single poem could take Bishop as long as 30 years to write. After relating stories about the poet’s childhood in Nova Scotia (where, after her father died, her mother was committed to an asylum), her time at Vassar (where many considered her a genius), and her 15 years in Brazil (living with a brilliant woman architect), Quinn read some of Bishop’s best-known verse, including “One Art,” her famous villanelle. Later she informed students that Bishop had fully developed many of her ideas about poetry by the time she was 18, the same age as many in the audience at Hotchkiss that evening. “The thoughts that you’re having about the writing you like best are going to stay with you,” she said. “And articulating what it is that you love about what you’re reading will shape you as writers, as thinkers, and as human beings.”

STUDENTS LEARN PRINTMAKING FROM A MASTER PHOTO BY COLLEEN MACMILLAN

aster printmaker Anthony Kirk visited Hotchkiss as the Artist-in-Residence for three weeks in January. Kirk worked with art portfolio students, teaching them how to create large-scale pieces using a non-toxic technique. Kirk, who has been making prints since he was 18 years old, has worked with many well-known artists, including Wolf Kahn, while at Tyler Graphics and as director of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Connecticut for 13 years.. Using water-soluble crayons and Akua water-soluble inks, students painted on specially prepared paper mat board, using carborundum and polymer to create a texture similar to aquatint. From those, they made large prints that were pieced together to form four-paneled pieces. For students, the process was an introduction to a new art form. Maggie Camillos ’15 said that “working with Mr. Kirk was a completely new, raw, and exciting experience. He guided me through an introduction to printmaking with skill, attentiveness, and a contagious enthusiasm that made for an incredibly rich and memorable artistic process.”

Upper-mid Elaine Wang said the experience helped her realize that printmaking is an art form that perfectly balances creative energy with meticulousness. “It allows us to indulge in experimentation like in other art forms; meanwhile it also needs to be completed with calmness, and persistence during the printing process. With Mr. Kirk’s guidance, I have slowly started to grasp the balance between the two sentiments, and developed a curiosity for many more printmaking journeys to come,” she said.

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Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King

PHOTO BY WENDY CARLSON

Speaking Out Against Social Injustice

ABOVE: Samuel K. Roberts, an associate professor of history at Columbia University, spoke to students, faculty, and staff on Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy.

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“IF WE CANNOT MAKE OUR COMPASSION EXTEND FARTHER THAN THE CONFLICTS THAT AFFECT US DIRECTLY, SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND INJUSTICES CAN NEVER BE RESOLVED. AS THIS YEAR’S THEME HIGHLIGHTS, WE MUST LOOK BEYOND THE

Imani Majied ’15, a member of Black and Hispanic Student Alliance (BaHSA), told students, faculty, and staff gathered in Walker Auditorium January 19 to honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Hotchkiss School community joined to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday, paying tribute to the civil rights leader by speaking out against social injustice. Setting the tone for the celebration, School

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Chaplain Lou Pressman held an inspirational candlelight vigil in the Chapel on Sunday evening, which included readings and a performance by the Gospel Choir. Monday’s program began with the uplifting “Glory” lyric video, written for the film, “Selma,” shown as the audience took their seats prior to guest speaker Samuel K. Roberts’ morning address. “Each and every Martin Luther King Day has given me an occasion to rethink Dr. King’s legacy,” said Roberts, an associate professor of history (Columbia University). Roberts is also the director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia and associate professor of sociomedical sciences (Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University). “This year, I was thinking about the last year of his life. There are ways we remember King’s life that are convenient – ways that are clean and neat. We all know the ‘I have a dream’ King speech. But there were other parts of his life that were much more controversial, and I want to talk to you about that and the kind of courage it takes to stand up for one’s convictions.” Roberts referred to King’s 1967 “A Time to Break Silence” speech, which he delivered in front of 3,000 people at Riverside Church in New York City. King spoke of a common link forming between the civil rights and peace movements, an assertion that would ultimately sever the “tense but productive” relationship King had with President Lyndon Johnson, Roberts said. King argued the Vietnam War diverted money and attention from domestic programs created to aid the poor. “The war,” said King, “was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia, which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.” Despite opposition, King would maintain his antiwar position, supporting peace movements

PHOTO BY JONATHAN DOSTER PHOTO BY WENDY CARLSON

until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, one year to the day after delivering this speech. Roberts challenged students to follow King’s example by reflecting deeply about all that they think and do. Pose more questions, seek more answers, and avoid complacency, he urged. In his 1967 speech King said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” That theme would resonate in the afternoon when students, staff, and faculty gathered in the Katherine M. Elfers Hall in the Esther Eastman Music Center for the Community Voices Program. Many delivered poignant and powerful testimonies, giving voice – through music, song, and speeches – to their personal interpretations of social injustices. This year’s program, “Beyond the Bubble,’ challenged the audience to address one of three questions: • What should my response be to a perceived injustice, regardless of whether it affects me directly or not? • How am I obligated to resist injustices? • How am I of service to others within and without the Hotchkiss community? Karen Doyle Grossman, director of global initiatives, prefaced her response with a quote from King: “Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people, but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.” She spoke about the “100 days of slaughter” that took place in Rwanda from April to July 1994, which she said was “a planned systematic campaign of genocide engineered by Rwanda’s core political elite.” “And brutality and evil can begin with the smallest of transgressions. It is permitted to gain strength through our silence and inactions: Silence is acquiescence,” she added. “You will make decisions about justice every single day of your lives. You will witness injustices – however seemingly trivial or commonly accepted, in the school hallways, in the dorms, on your college campuses, and in your professional workplaces. You will even witness the injustices perpetuated against oneself. Will you shine a light on injustice when you recognize it? Or will you rationalize or wish it away? Will you locate those who have the power to stop wrongdoing and insist that

they be accountable?” Many students gave moving, highly personal testimonies of their own experiences with racism and injustice, including thoughts about recent events in New York and Ferguson. Among the students who spoke, Cady Stanton ’16 said that since coming to Hotchkiss she had become much more aware of what’s going on in the world beyond her immediate surroundings. She vowed to be more informed and less complacent. She challenged herself and fellow classmates to have both the will and awareness to speak out against injustices.

TOP: Agnes Ezekwesili ’16 (on the left) and Gloria Odoemelam ’15 (on the right) were among the students who spoke during the Community Voices portion of the MLK program. ABOVE: Students pause to observe a painting of Dr. Martin Luther King in the Main Building on MLK Day.

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ROGER LIDDELL ’63 HELPING TO ADVANCE THE SCHOOL’S GREEN ENERGY GOAL

modest-scale, non-polluting heat pump installed in the Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center this winter will be more efficient, cleaner, and cost-effective.

“The thing about new technology adoption,” says Roger Liddell ’63, P’98, “is that everybody waits for ‘Fred down the street’ to buy it first. Then if it works for Fred, you go get one of your own. Hardly anyone wants to be the first to try it.” Liddell, a financial analyst and money manager, knows a thing or two about new technology: His area of professional expertise is cutting-edge energy and utility investment. He ushered Hotchkiss into a new age of lighting in 2005, when he donated 1,000 compact-fluorescent lightbulbs to replace the energy-inefficient, hence expensive, incandescent ones. Now, Liddell wants to do something on a grander scale by helping

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the School heat and cool the Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center (MAC) with an environmentally responsible, virtually nonpolluting heat pump that, not incidentally, will save Hotchkiss tens of thousands of dollars a year. In doing so, he wants to ensure that the School is a technology leader. As he puts it: “I want to make Hotchkiss the Freddown-the-street.” When it was built nearly 15 years ago, the MAC was heated by two huge boilers fueled by # 2 heating oil. Since 2012, when the School’s internationally acclaimed biomass facility came on line, those oil boilers have been used only from mid-April to midOctober and for peak-load winter backup. The result has been that during the warmer months, one of the huge boilers had to be fired up to supply the minimal heating needs of the MAC. Says Hotchkiss’ Director of Facilities

John Bryant: “Originally, the boilers were sized to completely heat that entire complex on an extremely cold day. The problem these days is that they are so large that they are way oversized for the summer needs.” It was, Liddell confirms, “an inefficient system. It wasn’t designed to be inefficient, but it became so.” Enter the Ilios heat pump, made by Tecogen of Waltham, MA Located in a mechanical room adjacent to the ice rink, it’s a remarkable example of applied thermodynamics. Working much like a refrigerator, it moves heat from where you don’t want it to where you do. “When your refrigerator is running,” Liddell explains, “you can feel warm air blowing out from underneath it; that’s heat being removed from inside and released into the air of your kitchen, thereby wasting it. Instead, Ilios captures that warmth and repurposes it into heating water.” The propane energy needed to run this efficient heat pump is a fraction of both the electricity for chillers and the oil for boilers that existing equipment would have required. “The elegance of this technology,” Liddell explains, “is that this modest-scale machine, in round numbers three feet by five feet by six feet high, will be able to supply the off-season hot water needs for the entire MAC and, as a free byproduct, will supply a considerable amount of the chilled water currently required for air conditioning.” It needs energy to do that – in this case propane, which will run what amounts to an automobile engine, but without the noxious exhaust. “Appropriately,” says Liddell, “the heat pump is driven by a highly efficient and low-maintenance Ford engine. Given the School’s connection with the Ford family, that’s a happy thing.” The heat pump was installed this winter.

OPPOSITE: l-r, Torrey Liddell ’98, Roger Liddell ’63 and Stephen LaFaille, P.E., product manager for Ilios, manufacturer of the heat pump

It is intended to work during the six warmer months. The rest of the time, the MAC will be heated by the School’s biomass facility. During warmer weather, the MAC still needs hot water for showers, sinks, and the like – known as “domestic” hot water – and heated water to keep the pool’s temperature stable. “Now,” says Chief Financial Officer John Tuke, “we’re going to have a cleaner, more efficient way to take care of those needs during that six-month time frame.” The benefits of the new system are many. “There is an inherent cleanliness to using propane, a gaseous rather than a liquid fuel,” Liddell says. “More important, the engineering of this system is so advanced that, as far as Tecogen has been able to determine, it has the world’s cleanest exhaust. The carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide exhaust levels are so low that the California Air Resources Board rates Tecogen equipment as having ‘zero emissions.’” The figure Tecogen and Liddell came up with for Hotchkiss is that a quarter of a million pounds per year of carbon dioxide will no longer be put into the atmosphere. “That’s a big deal,” he notes. Oil-burning engines and boilers also emit particulate matter; using the heat pump will eliminate that downwind pollution as well. “Getting rid of oil will not only be good for the environment,” Liddell says, “but good for people’s health. With respect to the local community, Hotchkiss will be an even better neighbor.” Also, oil burners need to have soot cleaned out regularly; that’s not the case with propane. The technology “is much more efficient than it used to be,” says John Bryant. “It makes hot water efficiently, but then also uses heat from the jacket of the engine to make even more heat, and it is extracting heat from the chilled water loop, which helps that be cooler. It’s amazing how efficient it is.” The cold water created for free by the heat

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RIGHT: Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center

pump “replaces the need for at least 12 tons of air conditioning in the MAC,” Liddell says, “and that’s electricity we will no longer need. There will be savings, but we can’t quantify them yet. After a year’s experience, we’ll have some hard numbers.” On the financial side, the School estimates that the MAC boilers have been using about $35,000 worth of oil per year. The estimate on the propane-fired engine is about $10,000 yearly. The funding of the project is a cooperative venture. Roger Liddell brought the various parties together, and will contribute significantly toward the purchase of the heat pump. Hotchkiss will pay to install it, and to hook the machine into the School’s energy management system. Tecogen will contribute its ULTRA emissions-cleaning equipment. And the Propane Education & Research Council will supply some generous funding, because the engine may be used to demonstrate the superiority of propane fuel. For Liddell, a weekend resident of the Lakeville area, demonstrating the worth of high-efficiency, environmentally responsible technology is a major goal. “I’ve been dismayed by the slow adoption of a number of wonderful technologies,” he says, “whether it is individuals in their homes or governmental entities or the Hotchkisses of the world failing to take steps that have positive economic and environmental outcomes. I have no patience with that. Where there are things that can be done and should be done now with positive economic outcomes, then do them! If you can get 10 or 20 or 30 percent

return on investment with no technology risk – everybody knows this stuff works – then why not?” Hotchkiss, he says, “is willing to be the demonstration site, and if people come to Lakeville to learn about the School’s worldclass biomass facility, they’ve got a worldclass machine with world-class emissions cleanup all right here too. It’s a nice tour.” John Tuke also sees the heat pump not just as a natural part of Hotchkiss’ emphasis on environmental stewardship and determination to be carbon-neutral in five years, but as an opportunity to educate tomorrow’s leaders by example. “I’ve been here 16 years, and I have seen the School make efforts to be sure it is living its mission,” he says. “This is a really good example. We have environmental stewardship in our mission statement. We have an opportunity to do something that would reflect and underscore that, initially at a greater expense, but over the long haul with some significant returns on investment. “If kids really observe what, as an institution, we do, this is a good teaching opportunity. The faculty have done a great job of finding ways to integrate math classes, art classes, English classes, and others into the environmental part. Being committed to the environment also helps us attract kids who want to go to an institution that’s passionate about these things.” And Roger Liddell, says John, “loves this institution; he wants it to be a better school, a leader. This happens to be his area of expertise, so we have learned a lot from Roger. He’s a good guy with a good mission.”

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WELCOME TO CAMPUS: BAECHLE AYRES HOUSE DURING THE 2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR, ONE OF THE SCHOOL’S HISTORIC “COTTAGES,” CLEAVELAND COTTAGE, WAS LOVINGLY TRANSFORMED INTO A TOP-OF-THE-LINE SMALL DORM, THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY AND CARING OF SARA

The iconic building, standing at the intersection of Routes 41 and 112 and familiar to generations of students, was fully renovated to the standards of the School’s newest dorms, Edelman and Flinn, and dedicated in a ceremony in November. The formal name of the house, the I. Christine and James Baechle and Sara and Charles Ayres House, also honors Charlie’s mother and stepfather. The historic home, part of the Hotchkiss campus for more than a century, was chosen, along with other selected locations on campus, to house students during the transitional years when the new Redlich Hall is being built. The Baechle Ayres House is home to six fortunate upper-mid girls and resident faculty member, Chaplain and Instructor in Philosophy and Religion Lou Pressman and his wife Kathy. Students living in Baechle Ayres this year report being delighted with their new home. Chloe Onbargi ’16 said, “We have all grown so close to each other and to this space that we call home. Having this house offers me a place of comfort and peace in an ever-buzzing Hotchkiss community.” Tatianna Marku ’16 said, “My favorite part about living in Baechle Ayres is that this one of a kind environment allows me to have a peek at what proctorship is like because, believe or not, we are our own proctors!” “Hotchkiss was a transformative experience for me,” noted Charlie Ayres. “Whe n Tom Edelman ’69 approached me to help with this phase of the residential life initiative, I couldn’t say no. I am in debt to the School and deeply honored and humbled to be able to support this project and to recognize my parents who made my Hotchkiss experience possible.” "With this gift, Charlie Ayres and his family have made a lasting impact on the School’s residential life program, and Hotchkiss as a whole,” observed Head of School Kevin Hicks. “This building is an exceptional example of the School’s commitment to provide superb living spaces for students and faculty members to live, learn, and grow together. The extensive renovations have brought new life to this structure, and now, it is readied to serve as a home for generations to come.” AND CHARLIE AYRES ’77.

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TOP: The historic Baechle Ayres House is being used as transitional housing while the new Redlich dormitory is under construction. ABOVE: Family gathered for a reception held last fall. Back row, from right to left: James Baechle, Sara Ayres, Charlie Ayres '77, Beck Ayres, Christine Baechle. Front: Alex Ayres.

LOOKING BACK: A Timeline of Baechle Ayres House During extensive renovations to the structure, new details of the history of Cleaveland Cottage emerged. The original construction revealed that the home dates back to the early 1700s, making it the oldest structure on the campus. To see a timeline of the history of Baechle Ayres House go to: HOTCHKISS.ORG/BAECHLE-AYRES.ASPX

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Hotchkiss in Print Inspiration in the Age of Enlightenment BY SARAH ERON’00 UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE PRESS, 2014

Sarah Eron ’00, who teaches courses on satire, the rise of the novel, and Restoration drama at the University of Rhode Island, here redefines the relationship of secularization to literary history by arguing that the inspiration typically associated with Romanticism actually began much earlier, with the imaginative Augustan literature of the early 18th century. As political turmoil awakened a new age, authors such as Milton, Pope, and Fielding revised enthusiasm “until it became a social gesture, an apostrophe to a friend or judging spectator or an allusion to the mental or aesthetic faculties of the author himself, his genius.” Articulating this literary struggle toward modernity at its inception, she examines the moment of its extraordinariness, “when it was still tied to the creative energies of inspiration, and to the revelatory powers that marked the awakening of a new age and an ethos of Enlightenment.”

Prelude Number 1 EDITORS: ROBERT C. L. CRAWFORD, FRANK GUAN, AND STU WATSON’00 SEPTEMBER 2014, PRELUDEMAG.COM

Brooklyn-based Stu Watson ’00 co-founded and co-edits this ambitious new poetry annual, with the goal of “making nothing happen through unacknowledged legislation” (per the poetic dicta of Auden and Shelley). Its aim is “to cut across the sometimes contentious aesthetic and political debates that divide the contemporary scene in order to present work representative of the true diversity of talent both in America and the broader community of Anglophone poets.” Featuring a correspondingly diverse group of poets that includes John Ashbery, John Kinsella, and Ann Lauterbach, it also features “sharp, measured, and remarkably broad essays on poetry by young writers who care deeply about its history and the contemporary scene,” says arts website Flavorwire, citing them among the “Best Literary Criticism of 2014.” Named “Best New Magazine” by British taste-makers Dazed and Confused, Prelude offers new poems and essays on its website; a second print edition is scheduled for release in 2015.

Leadership Matters BY ANNE ACKERSON AND JOAN BALDWIN, HOTCHKISS SCHOOL CURATOR OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ALTAMIRA PRESS, DECEMBER 2013

Co-authored by two former museum directors who believe leadership in North American history and cultural heritage institutions has reached a precarious point, Leadership Matters looks at why being “self-aware, authentic, courageous, and visionary” is necessary for success. “In too many cases, good governance and good leadership don’t flourish, and we wanted to know why,” explains Hotchkiss Curator Baldwin, who served as director for several house museums, and as director of education at Hancock Shaker Village, before coming here. Featuring interviews with department heads, presidents, directors, and CEOs, the book lists museum leadership’s top myths (“and why they’re wrong”) along with 10 “simple truths.” It also details an agenda for individual and organizational development. “Leadership Matters lays out the basis for a collaborative, creative, non-hierarchical approach to leadership in an accessible, engaging matter,” writes Ford Bell, president of the American Alliance of Museums. “There is not a better book on non-profit leadership anywhere.”

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Raffi Williams ’07: A Rising Star for the RNC

Raffi Williams hasn’t lost his trademark laugh, nor his love of sports (he plays roller hockey in front of the White House) BY DANIEL LIPPMAN ’08

AFFI WILLIAMS ’07 HAS COME a long way from being the brash hockey and lacrosse player that he was at Hotchkiss during his three years there; now his playing field is American politics, where he battles Democrats on television as a top spokesman for the Republican National Committee (RNC). But what have not changed since Hotchkiss are his signature hearty laugh that you can hear from a distance and his love of a good time. I’m constantly learning a lot ... and it’s easy to His father, Juan Williams, is a well-known start conversations when you walk in the room liberal Fox News commentator and forand say you’re from the RNC,” he said. mer NPR journalist, and their family in As one of the few young black Washington, D.C. still has weekly Republican rising stars, Williams Sunday dinners where they debate has also been featured as one of the news and politics and catch Forbes’ The Hill newspaper’s 2014 “50 up on their lives. But the younger Most Beautiful” people in D.C. Williams said he became a conand been profiled by Yahoo News, servative because he “was raised BuzzFeed, and named on a “30 to be fiscally responsible, to put under 30” list for Forbes magazine. family first, to be fully responsible At Hotchkiss, where he was the head for your actions, and my dad’s very of the seersucker-focused Fashion Club and religious; so at the end of the day ... my values also ran the radio station, Williams figured out checked more boxes with the Republicans.” that there was more to life than sports and Williams is deputy press secretary for the that you should “always open yourself up to RNC in Washington, D.C., working primarnew experiences.” ily with conservative and youth media to get “I also became a much better writer once the Republican viewpoint out there. He also I came to Hotchkiss, and that’s something writes two daily newsletters for the media and I use everyday in my [job],” he said, adding Republican allies. that “the ability to have a conversation “I’m surrounded by some of the best with anybody about anything was something Republican communicators in the business, so

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I learned how to do at Hotchkiss.” His favorite teachers included Tom Woelper for his comparative government class as well as Damon White, the varsity hockey coach and instructor in English. “He was relatable to me; he was my advisor as well so he also kept an eye on me; he appreciated my eccentricities while making sure I got my stuff done,” he said. He attended Haverford College, where he majored in anthropology, because he was engrossed by ethnographies and wanted to understand what motivates people and how people establish communities. For his college senior thesis, he went back to Hotchkiss several times to study the assimilation process of Chinese students to Hotchkiss, focusing on their social lives and how they acclimated to the School; the major takeaway was that students from a better economic family background did much better assimilating because of their shared cultural experiences. After college, he hit his stride when he became communications director for the re-election campaign for Michigan Republican Rep. Dan Benishek, which meant trying to get lots of media attention for the congressman and shaping a narrative to win the tight race, which he did. After nine months in rural Michigan, Williams was happy to be back in the nation’s capital, where he now plays soccer and roller hockey in front of the White House every week. “What a weird ‘D.C.’ thing to do. You’re messing around on roller blades in front of the house of the most powerful man in the world.” DANIEL LIPPMAN ’08 IS A RESEARCHER/REPORTER FOR POLITICO IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AND CAN BE REACHED AT DLIPPMAN@POLITICO.COM

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RAFFI WILLIAMS

Hats off to two Hotchkiss millennials who made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of “young game changers, movers, and makers” for 2015.

Raffi Williams ’07, deputy press secretary for the Republican National Commttee, was named for Law and Policy, and Isabelle Kenyon ’05, associate with Burch Creative Capital, was named for Retail and E-Commerce.

Globetrotting with Isabelle Kenyon ’05

An alumnus’ speech spurred Isabelle Kenyon to travel to China, and the rest is history BY HENRY McNULTY

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ISABELLE KENYON

EARING AN ALUMNUS SPEAK AT School more than a decade ago launched Isabelle Kenyon ’05 into an international career in investment banking and retail. Since then, “globe-trotter” doesn’t begin to describe her 10-year odyssey. She has accomplished so much, and shown so much promise, that she made Forbes magazine’s elite “30 under 30” list for 2015, which annually focuses on up-and-coming young people in business, science, healthcare, entertainment, and other fields. It all started, though, in the spring of 2005. “When I was in my senior year at Hotchkiss,” she says, “I met Clark Randt (Class of 1964), who was the Ambassador to China, when he got the Alumni Award. I remember that in his talk, he told everyone we should be focused on China.” She took his advice. After Hotchkiss, Kenyon went to the University of Pennsylvania. “At Penn, I became obsessed with China,” she says. Her major was East Asian studies, with a concentration in Chinese: “I studied abroad in Beijing, and I knew I wanted to do something involving that part of the world.” She also spent time at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. After she graduated from Penn in 2008, Kenyon interned at the financial services firm Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong, doing investment banking, mergers, and acquisitions. Unfortunately, Lehman soon and unexpectedly declared bankruptcy.

Undeterred, she and her mother, Jane Kenyon, opened a high-end consignment and antiques shop in Princeton, N.J. The store, called jane, follows sustainable and green practices. Its credo is Forbes’ “to reuse what others no longer need, to rethink what we already have, to revitalize these things and, in doing so, our lives.” The Kenyons still own jane, although it is now managed by others. In 2010, she moved back to Hong Kong to work for Barclays, the British banking and financial company that had acquired Lehman Brothers’ core business. “When I was with Barclays,” she says, “I was working for a lot of retailers, and I realized how much I really loved retail. I was fascinated with the whole process, and in particular how to open stores. At the time,

Walmart was opening two stores a week in China, which I found amazing.” She began to read about entrepreneurs who were starting new ventures, “and the name J. Christopher Burch, of Burch Creative Capital, came up,” she says. “I met him while he was speaking at a conference in Singapore, and I told him – if you’re ever hiring, keep me in mind.” In the meantime, she moved to London to work with the e-commerce firm Viagogo, which sells tickets to sports, theater, music and other live events. In early 2013, she was a consultant to the investment firm EquaLife Group in Nairobi, Kenya. Then, in the middle of that year, Chris Burch called to offer her a job, so Kenyon returned to the United States to work with him evaluating new venture investments. “Chris owns several brands, and I work with them on operations, business development, strategic review, business plans, and so forth,” she says. One of her major efforts has been the launch of Trademark, an American company featuring women’s and men’s apparel and accessories. Another of her projects is the E. D. by Ellen Degeneres line of home décor. She now both lives and works in New York City. Besides Ambassador Randt’s 2005 talk, what else about Hotchkiss prepared Kenyon for a career at the cutting edge of entrepreneurship? “Everything!” she laughs. “The way Hotchkiss taught me to express myself, all of my Hotchkiss friends who live all over the world and make it so easy for me to live or work there, the most incredible faculty – everything.”

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Dogsledding, anyone?

BY INSTRUCTORS IN FRENCH WENDY LEVITHAN AND SARINDA PARSONS WILSON

Bundled up from head to toe, 30 students, accompanied by instructors John Dreger, Wendy Levithan, Sarinda Parsons Wilson, and Library Director Rob Hilliker, traveled to Québec to practice language skills, experience the culture and history, and test their ability at “du traîneau à chien.” (That’s French for dogsledding.)

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Winter in Québec can be bitterly cold, but as Cécile, our hearty 75-year-old host, said, “La neige, ça peut réchaffer, tu sais.” (The snow can warm you up!) She was right. We were blessed with blue skies and charming evening snowfalls with temperatures that danced around freezing during most of our four-day visit. But we had plenty to do to keep us warm. Our students had been preparing for the trip since November, and they were eager to learn about Québec’s history and culture firsthand. They were also looking forward to a two-hour visit with the students they had corresponded with in French, and who, in turn, had responded enthusiastically in English. We began offering this trip in 2000, and have continued to offer it annually, taking 15 to 20, third-year French language students each year. This was our 13th trip to Québec, and with 30 students it was by far the largest group we’ve ever taken. When we first proposed this trip, the goal was to make it an integral part of our curriculum. We had just revamped the French 350 course to include a broader range of Francophone culture and literature. We also knew that even our less confident students were ready to put their classroom work into action in a richly authentic setting. And, Québec is just a few hours up the road. No need to fly all the way to France. The moment the coach bus pulled out of Main Circle, our journey en français began. We insisted the students speak French the moment they step onto the bus, and the very

PHOTOS BY ISABELLE-GAGE MARSHALL ‘16 AND NAOMY PEDROZA‘16

OPPOSITE: Students tested their mettle in outdoor winter, including dogsledding. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Freddy Espitia ’16 was bundled up against the cold; Even during group activities, speaking French was the rule during the four-day trip; The Canadian flag. W i n t e r

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rare lapse is punishable by lost points and time in the front of the bus in a tête à tête with one of us. Students knew in advance that two elements of this trip would be non-negotiable. Every student who signed on for the trip was fully aware that he or she would be graded on his or her fidelity to the French-only language pledge, and everyone stayed with host families who speak little to no English. The round-the-clock language pledge is often a game-changer for many students. Most of our voyageurs had to dig deep to communicate only in French for four days, but it became easier and easier in just the span of four short, but intense days. As one of our students, Hannah Pouler ’16, said: “This intense language portion of the trip drastically improved my speaking and listening skills. Upon returning, I found it

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was hard to speak English: I would catch myself saying ‘merci’ and ‘bonjour’ to my friends in the hallways.” Lower-mid Alexandra Hubbard-Gourlay wrote in French: “French is easier now, and I think in French. I wish we could have stayed longer. Even when we were tubing or dogsledding, it was fun, but we were also speaking French, like the Québecois students we met at the school ... I also like that I was able to understand the guides in the museums, even when they spoke faster. After this trip, I have more confidence in my French, and I think I will speak it more in class.” The students also discovered that Québec is a strikingly beautiful city where history, music, cultural traditions, and certain events parallel some of what they experience in the U.S., and at Hotchkiss.

“I learned that it is very hard to look stylish when it is -25 degrees outside,” Cahleb Derry ’16 wrote in his journal. “Yet, our neighbors to the north warmly welcomed us and shared with us a different perspective on world events. Under the guidance of a terrific guide, Jean-Philippe, we were able to solidify our knowledge of Québec’s beginnings by taking walking tours of the Old City, visiting Québec’s Parliament and viewing multiple exhibits at the Musée de la Civilisation and the Musée des Beaux Arts.” Students also learned French while doing. “They (and we!) snow-tubed on ‘Everest’ and ‘La Tornade’ at a winter snow park, and tried snowshoeing. We line-danced to local folk music, played spoons, and tasted traditional Québécois cuisine: la pâte de viande, a delicious meat pie; les fêves au lard, local baked beans; patates frites, and most of it seasoned with locally-harvested maple syrup.” Every year, the linguistic challenge of this trip is heightened by the wintry backdrop. We deliberately schedule this trip during the winter to add a level of challenge and to nurture in our students an appreciation of the link between climate and culture. Being there in winter means that students can try some new winter activities. In addition to snowshoeing and tobogganing, we discovered dogsledding in the snow-covered countryside. After a quick lesson, each pair of students took turns riding and guiding beautiful, wooden sleds drawn by teams of five eager Huskies and Malamutes. We learned that “mush” is just a myth. Le frein, le frein! (the brake! the brake!) turned out to be a lot more useful! Year after year, students return, having gained a new level of comfort with the French language. They share jokes, thoughts, smiles – all in French. What else do they gain? Confidence, friendships, and insights galore. Even more importantly, they gain a deeper knowledge and understanding about a neighboring, but surprisingly foreign region – and often, develop the readiness to venture further with language, and in exploring the world.

Messages from the Alumni Association

Want to Get Involved?

All alumni are a part of The Hotchkiss School Alumni Association. The Board of Governors of the association work hand-in-hand with the Alumni Relations team in Lakeville to create programs and build platforms to connect alumni to each other, and to the School, and foster a lifelong love of learning. How can you get involved? Contact Caroline Sallee Reilly â&#x20AC;&#x2122;87 (860) 435-3891 or creilly@hotchkiss.org.

Fairfield Farm-to-Table: A sustainable Culinary Experience

This July, Hotchkiss Summer Portals is offering the first Hotchkiss summer program designed exclusively for Hotchkiss alumni and parents. Participants will learn about the philosophy and practices of sustainable agriculture and how they lend themselves to tasty culinary experiences. For years, Hotchkiss has held a steadfast commitment to environmental stewardship, informing both pedagogy and practice, especially in the dining hall. The Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 800-acre Fairfield Farm (including the recently completed Farm Building classroom) provides both a unique educational environment and a resource for our School and students. Space is limited, learn more here: www.hotchkiss.org/portals/farm.html.

The Hotchkiss Alumni Career Network The Hotchkiss Alumni Association is pleased to introduce the next generation of trusted web-based career networks: the Hotchkiss Alumni Career Network. Alumni seeking advice will be able to connect on the cloud to alumni advisers for career conversations, resume critiques, and/or mock interviews. This is replacing the Career Connections function on Alumnet. Hotchkiss alumni are doing amazing things, and you can learn from them! Keep an eye out for e-mails featuring this new platform. Or, check it out at Hotchkiss.evisors.com.

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The Tremaine Art Gallery was the stage for “Hotchkiss in 50 Objects,” an exhibit featuring 50 objects related to the School’s history.

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A canoe, a bowl of wood chips, and Chairman Mao...

Hotchkiss in

Objects What does a canoe have to do with the history of Hotchkiss? A lot, as it turns out. This canoe has a story, a slice of history, that brings the Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past to life. by Wendy Carlson PHOTOGRAPHS

JONATHAN

DOSTER

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The canoe is a touchstone

of the community’s deep connection to its natural surroundings.

IMPLY TITLED “CANOE, 1914,” the 14-foot boat — stripped of its original red paint and badly weathered — was included in the “Hotchkiss in 50 Objects” exhibit this winter at the Tremaine Art Gallery. It was the largest object in the exhibit, and arguably one of the larger items the School has acquired over its 123-year history.

Other objects — a box of political buttons depicting Chairman Mao c. 1978, a large bowl of wood chips — seem curiously out of place alongside a Hotchkiss signature blue letter jacket, field hockey stick, and track uniform. But like the canoe, each of these has a place in the timeline. Custom-built by Old Town Canoe Company, a Maine manufacturer dating back to the late

1890s, the canoe was used for student recreation on Lake Wononscopomuc. It was housed in the School’s historic boathouse, a structure designed by architects Rossiter and Wright in 1916, the same firm that renovated Main Building in the early 1900s. The School’s sailing program did not begin until the 1930s, and the boathouse served as a recreational building where boys could borrow canoes and paddle on the lake on warm summer days. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Archibald MacLeish ’11 might have drawn inspiration from canoeing on the lake for his first published poem, “The Song of the Canoe," which appeared in The Hotchkiss Record in 1911. In its faded and weather-worn simplicity, the canoe is a touchstone of the community’s deep connection to its natural surroundings — and one of the few tangible, surviving objects that date back to the School’s early origins. So when a phone call came from the canoe’s owner last October asking if the School would be interested in acquiring it, the decision fell, in part, to Curator of Special Collections Joan Baldwin. Baldwin, who has extensive museum

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PHOTOGRAPH (JOAN BALDWIN) BY WENDY CARLSON

Curator of Special Collections, Joan Baldwin, chose objects from among hundreds stored in the collections. (Above, right) Olympian Pythian Gymnastics Medal, 1918.

(Clockwise from top) Glass Lantern slides, c. 1920. Used by Headmaster Huber G. Buehler and members of the Hotchkiss faculty in their all-school lectures. Scrapbook, 1965-1967. Made for Hotchkissâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Greater Opportunities Program. Golf Team Jacket Button, c. 1900. The wool jackets had a velvet trim, embroidered pocket and stamped brass buttons. Golf has been played at Hotchkiss since 1896.

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A 1670 first edition of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan was chosen over the page from the Gutenberg Bible.

experience, was appointed to the newly created position in 2012, having previously worked both in the library in various capacities and in Archives for 20 years. She is familiar with the School’s history, and once she was able to verify through registration records that the canoe was sold to Hotchkiss and the School agreed to acquire it, she knew it would be a natural fit for the exhibit. In “Hotchkiss in 50 Objects,” Baldwin wanted to push the boundaries of how history can be told. The canoe was just one example of how an object can provoke us to ponder its relationship to the past. For Baldwin, the fundamental challenge in curating the exhibit was choosing items from among the 2,000 objects and 800 rare books in Special Collections that relate not only to the School’s history, but also represent its extended community.

I (Above) Leviathan, first edition, second printing, 1670, gift of George Van Santvoord ’08, Headmaster, 1926-1955; (Left) Mao Buttons, c. 1978, made of aluminum, plastic, porcelain and bamboo, gift of Thomas Trethaway ’74 and Julia Wu Trethaway. School Pennant, 1905, felt with felt letters. During the School’s early decades banners and pennants were a staple of dorm decoration. (Opposite page, top) Medal, 1910, silver, awarded by the Hotchkiss Musical Association.

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T WAS A DAUNTING TASK. THE Collection has every T-shirt the School ever made, dating back decades. From among the hundreds, Baldwin selected a Taft Day shirt from 1999, stamped with an invitation for a reception inviting individuals interested in purchasing The Taft School property, a spoof ad that Hotchkiss students designed and placed in the Waterbury Republican. Another T-shirt in the exhibit, also from 1999, was stamped with the words, “The Future is Now,” which signaled a campaign to provide campus-wide Internet access. Baldwin drew selections from among piles of rare books, papers, photographs, and scrapbooks — some of which had never been publicly displayed. A 1670 first edition of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan was chosen over a page from the Gutenberg Bible. Included in the exhibit was Maria Bissell’s velvet-covered Bible, dated 1848, a gift to her from future husband Benjamin Hotchkiss, which saw the light of day for the first time in many decades. Next, Baldwin trolled through pennants, trophies, awards, and medals for those that rep-

resented the School’s storied academic and athletic achievements. And, there was no end to the memorabilia to sift through. Scraps and scatterings, which could have been tossed away at some point in time, became visual footnotes in a chapter of the School’s history. Among those pieces exhibited: a wallpaper scrap c. 1913 that was included in a letter to Headmaster Huber G. Buehler as a sample possibility for the newly renovated library;

IBM Punch Cards from 1971; bundles of card stock scribbled with students’ notes from 1995. Each of these objects spoke to a moment in time. As Baldwin wrote in her description of the exhibit: “History can seem like a trail of dates stretching endlessly into the past, dates surrounded by documents explaining what happened and why. That trail is also crowded with objects, each with a story.

To understand Hotchkiss, to really know what kind of place it is, we must study the objects that make up its past, and interrogate them in order to understand the place we live, learn, and work.” As for the canoe, its story is not over, yet. The goal is to have it restored to its original condition, creating yet another entry in Hotchkiss history. To view more of “Hotchkiss in 50 Objects”exhibit visit: www.hotchkiss.org/specialcollections/50objects.html

take five with SUSAN HOWE

Curator of Special Collections Joan Baldwin Talks with Poet Susan Howe about how objects inspire creativity.

HOWE IS A PRIZE-WINNING AMERICAN POET, SCHOLAR, ESSAYIST, AND CRITIC who spoke at the School during the exhibit in January. Howe’s artistic practice incorporates the observation and illumination of the archived or historical object as a generator of stories and a catalyst for memory. She is the author of several books of poetry and criticism, and a seminal biography, My Emily Dickinson.

Baldwin: What is the first museum or

archive you remember going to, and what was the occasion?

Howe: I went to museums all my life. The

first archive I explored as a scholar working on manuscripts was the Houghton Library at Harvard University. I was there to look at Emily Dickinson’s fascicles. I later worked on other archives there.

Baldwin: At what point in your work as

a poet did ephemera and objects first serve as inspiration?

PHOTOGRAPH (SUSAN HOWE) BY WENDY CARLSON

Howe: When I was a painter studying at

the Boston Museum School, I already was using collage in my work. I was very inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell. He used objects and ephemera as part of his sculpture. Another important influence in this regard is Marcel Duchamp.

Baldwin: It’s hard to browse in archives the

way you can move through the stacks of a traditional library. Do you request material from particular writers ahead of time?

Howe: Usually you write a letter to let the

research librarians know what manuscripts or objects you want to see. That saves time when you get there. But each collection has its

particular protocol for the hoops researchers must go through to gain access.

Baldwin: It’s winter in Connecticut. Do you have a guilty reading or listening pleasure?

Howe: Every evening after dinner I watch something on cable television. I love Netflix, HBO, and Showtime. Streaming has opened a whole new world. Often these days, TV is more interesting than the cinema. I loved Breaking Bad and Homeland and am now glued to a British series called The Fall. I don’t feel guilty. I think these series are terrific. Interesting writing, excellent acting. Baldwin: Do you visit museums as frequently as you do archives? Which are your favorites? Why? Howe: More frequently than archives. I love the Met, MoMA, the (Isabella Stewart) Gardner Museum in Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Yale University Art Gallery is excellent. But the best museums I have visited in the past few years were in Berlin. They are incredible and never as noisy and crowded as the Met can be. But the Met has a wonderful collection of textiles hidden away in the building. It is only for research on textiles or for the objects used to produce

clothes and materials from all over the world. The Antonio Ratti Textile Center there is a wonderful resource.

Baldwin: Sometimes beginning poets write

from a place that’s all too personal. Can you offer any advice about utilizing remnants from the past by young or beginning poets?

Howe: I would look to the place you live in or

one that you did live in as a source for what is inside yourself. Because there is a spirit of place. It is part of who you are. Or research another writer you admire, or an event in history in which you are particularly interested. You will find that even following a word in the dictionary may set you on a path in your own writing that you would never have imagined.

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GABE POLSKY ’98

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING

To a Theater Near You Gabe Polsky’s documentary Red Army is a story of friendship, loyalty, and patriotism. By KEITH MOON ★ PHOTOGRAPHS By WENDY CARLSON

OMENTS BEFORE RED ARMY

began at the Toronto Film Festival in September, the woman sitting next to me leaned over to whisper, “I’m a little worried. I don’t really like hockey.” We’d met a few minutes earlier—she, probably in her 70s, the wife of a trustee at Ryerson University, where the screening was being held, and I the former Hotchkiss advisor to the movie’s director,

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Gabe Polsky ’98. The auditorium was jammed full, and we had perfect VIP seats: an eager graduate school intern had seated us next to each other, midway back and right in the middle of the house. But this was no safe place to be overheard with a line like that — an anti-hockey comment in downtown Toronto just as the lights were dimming. And as Gabe himself pointed out in his introduction, this was no ordinary crowd.

Keith Moon, on the right, with Gabe Polsky â&#x20AC;&#x2122;98 at Hotchkiss for a special screening of Red Army in January. On left, Polsky signs a movie poster.

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“It’s one thing to show this movie at Cannes or Telluride, but I am humbled and honored to show it here in Toronto in front of the best hockey coach in history, Scotty Bowman, the best defenseman in history, Paul Coffey, and of course the best hockey player in history, Wayne Gretzky,” said Gabe from the stage, a look of awe on his youthful face as he mentioned “The Great One”, as if he’d forgotten for a minute that we were all actually there to see him and his movie.

This page: (from top to bottom), key players in the Red Army team; Polsky on far right on location in Moscow; Polsky with his camerman while filming Russia.

★★★★★ movie though, that my new friend’s concern was utterly unwarranted. Clever, fast-paced, touching, and stunningly researched and edited, the documentary film, Gabe’s first, follows the careers of Soviet-era hockey players — Fetisov, Larionov, Kryutov, Kasatanov, Makarov, Kozlov, Konstantinov, Fedorov, and Tretyak — from their earliest tryouts among thousands of aspirants for national fame to the agony of the 1980 Olympic Games to the dissolution of the USSR to the unlikely reassembly of the heart of the Russian team as Detroit Red Wings and Stanley Cup champions at the end of their careers. But Gabe’s film is about men, not sports, with a particular focus on the beguiling team captain, Slava Fetisov. This is a film about mentoring, friendship, loyalty, patriotism, and patience as much as it is about blue lines, penalty boxes, and power plays. In the finest style of the 20th-century Russian literary great, Mikhail Bulgakov, Gabe’s movie sharply contrasts the ambitious, unforgiving, and two-dimensional Soviet power system with the spectacularly brave and perseverant lives of artists — in this case, hockey players — who wanted to live full, meaningful lives. As Hotchkiss Instructor in Film Ann Villano put it, “Red Army is not only historically significant, but also it has heart and above all, was beautifully executed. I could not have selected a better film to demonstrate to my documentary students how this medium can be entertaining, visually creative, and poignant all at once.” As the movie drew to a close in Toronto and the credits rolled (including special thanks to “Hotchkiss Varsity Hockey”, its

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“Red ARmy is not only historically significant, but also it has heart and above all, was beautifully executed.”

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES; POLSKY FILMS/SILVIA ZEITLINGER (2)

RED ARMY IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A HOCKEY

Gabe interviews Red Army team captain, Slava Fetisov.

former coach Jeff Kosak, and Gabe’s good friend and teammate, Ryan Constantine ’98), my Ryerson University friend leaned back over to say, “Wow — that was fantastic! I loved it. I even think I like hockey now!”

★★★★★

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) POLSKY FILMS/SILVIA ZEITLINGER

GABE CAME TO HOTCHKISS FROM CHICAGO

in the fall of 1995, a somewhat insistent and even brash lower mid who very much had hockey on the brain. “I don’t really remember too much about my first year,” Gabe said on a walk around campus last week. “I lived in Tinker, but that’s all sort of a blur. But I loved hockey.” He joined the boys varsity hockey team a year after Hotchkiss had last won the New England championship and was among the very first of the children of Russian immigrants who would populate Hotchkiss more and more over the next two decades. (Hotchkiss currently has seven native Russian speakers on campus, including two students who live in Moscow.) Gabe, a fluent Russian speaker, took a Russian language

course mainly to improve his spelling. Where Gabe really started to feel at home, though, was in his next year in Dana West, an upper-class dorm where he could come and go with more freedom and where he met his good friend Ryan Constantine. “I had this old VHS tape of the1987 Canada Cup, and I was obsessed with how the Russians played hockey,” said Gabe. “I used to sometimes take Red Card [a day-long excuse from the infirmary] to go back to the Dana common room and watch the tape again and again.” As Constantine, now a Ph.D. and M.D. working as a resident physician at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics in Salt Lake City, said, “I don’t how many times we watched that thing — over and over and over again. But that’s the thing about Gabe: he’s always so passionate.” Gabe would draw out x’s and o’s to help his teammates follow the Soviet plan: “He wanted us all to understand the system,” said Constantine, “He wanted to be those players.” Red Army is on a slow rollout across the country and the world this winter, opening in places like New York in January, Madrid and

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Polsky talks to Hotchkiss hockey players in Harris House after the screening.

“Gabe’s accessible nature made him an inspiring guest; the emotion he displayed showing the film at Hotchkiss, his alma mater, was touching and certainly made an impression on all of us.” 28

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Paris in early February, and San Francisco, Boston, and Charlotte later in the month. But Gabe brought the movie to Lakeville on January 31 for a special screening just for Hotchkiss students, faculty, and staff. Last year in October, Gabe brought his first movie, The Motel Life, a film he made with his brother, to Hotchkiss to show to film students. “Like his current documentary, Motel Life is a unique story of brotherhood with a dark, foreboding tone,” said Villano, who hosted last year’s event. “Both films are also stories of perseverance and deep loyalty. It is no surprise to learn that Gabe is friends with the highly esteemed filmmaker, Werner Herzog. I can't help but think about what these two filmmakers have in common: an ability to find beauty in darkness and to delight in the small, quirky

moments of everyday life. And like most successful filmmakers, the stories that they relate to and choose to tell are reflections of themselves. At a relatively young age, Gabe shares with us his own take on what brotherhood, intense drive, and loyalty look like.”

★★★★★ First stop on campus on January 31, of course, was Schmidt Rink for a rousing 4-0 Bearcat victory over Deerfield Academy. “After the game, Gabe came into the locker room to say hello,” said Sumner Erbe ’16. “While the team seemed a little star-struck at first, Gabe's encouraging and funny words reminded us that he was once one of us, and that he still has that Bearcat in his blood. It was also inspiring

UPPER RIGHT: COURTESY OF THE MISCHIANZA

Top: Polsky (center) pictured with Hotchkiss varsity hockey teammates; Polsky and Keith Moon pose during a photo session. Frederic Letourneau ’15, listens to Polsky speak after the screening.

to see the impact the hockey team has had on an up-and-coming film director.” By 7:30 p.m., the doors to Walker Auditorium were opened, and nearly 500 audience members, specially dressed on a Saturday to walk Hotchkiss’s own Red Carpet, filed in for Red Army’s New England debut. Many Hotchkiss students had the same reaction my Toronto neighbor had. As Audrey Roh ’17 said after the screening, “In the trailer it said that the movie was for people who ‘don't give a damn about sports.’ I walked into the theater as one of those people, and walked out feeling like nothing could be more important than hockey. The movie was stunning in every aspect; the story is what gave the movie its potency.” Senior Ben MacShane agreed, “The house was absolutely packed, there was an energy and

excitement coming from varsity players and those interested in the politics of the movie or the filmmaking aspects as well. Gabe's accessible nature made him an inspiring guest; the emotion he displayed showing the film at Hotchkiss, his alma mater, was touching and certainly made an impression on all of us.” The special nature of the evening was not lost on Gabe, who said from Chicago this week, “I’ve been invited all around the world with Red Army and have had a tremendous time sharing the film with people. But all I can say is that the energy at Hotchkiss was something entirely different. It was palpable, and I could feel the verve and the energy and the bubbling souls of the students. There was a bond we shared, as I could imagine what I would have felt if I were a student.”

We couldn’t resist at the end of the night a brief trip to Dana West: Gabe, his fiancée, and I piled into the common room to see the spot where Gabe’s obsession with Red Army was truly born. Glad to have seen it, Gabe acknowledged the visit wasn’t without its mixed feelings. “I felt like an old man. In general, when you get older things seem smaller than when you’re young. “ But Hotchkiss continues to keep him fresh in his career, and we might yet get another movie premiere out of Gabe: “I’m working on a book that I read at Hotchkiss called Going after Cacciato, by Tim O’Brien. I adapted it and will try to get it made. Another great book I adapted is called Butcher’s Crossing. God help me get them made. They’re both power works about the heart of man.” That sounds just about right for Gabe Polsky.

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Be It Resolved, Bearcats Rule Hotchkiss Debate 1893 to 2015

Winning isn’t always the end goal; students enjoy the camaraderie as much as the competition. WRITTEN

AND

PHOTOGRAPHED

TANDING JUST OVER FIVE-FEET TALL, ANGELA XIAO ’17 hardly seems intimidating. But when she shifts into debate mode, this lower mid transforms into a formidable contender. Pressing her hands down on a school desk and leveling her eyes on the judge, she delivers her words in rapid-fire succession with the self-assurance of a trial attorney. When her eight-minute speech is over, she is nearly breathless. Paula Russo, head of humanities and social sciences, and David Conti, instructor in classics, both act as judges in practices, offering advice to

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by Wendy

Carlson

Xiao and other students who attend Speech and Debate Club meetings twice a week. They critique how students present themselves physically (no slouching, hand-wringing, swaying, or standing on tiptoes); oratorically (no “ums” or “ahs”); and, they find weaknesses in the logic and structure of their arguments. Russo typically ends the review with her favorite mantra: “Know the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.” As novices in the club, Xiao and her teammate, Jack Otterson ’17, are eager to improve. They strive to sharpen their critical thinking and public speaking skills, which are key to winning debate tournaments.

Co-captain Alexander Brown â&#x20AC;&#x2122;15, makes a celebratory leap after Hotchkiss wins first place in a home debate in January.

Winning aside, they are clearly passionate about the art of debating. “Debate is one of the reasons I came to Hotchkiss; I know the team has been historically strong,” said Xiao. “And, I just really enjoy it.” Over the years, the team consistently has won regional events and has sent students to international and world championships, continuing to build on Hotchkiss’ long tradition of great orators.

HE FIRST DEBATING CLUB, The Areopagus Society, started in 1893, two years after Hotchkiss opened. At that time, the School placed great importance on public speaking, awarding the student giving the best English oration a prize of $25 in gold. By 1908, The Areopagus Society evolved into the Agora and Forum societies, two interscholastic teams that met Saturday evenings for formal debates. Some of the School’s accomplished alumni — Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Archibald MacLeish ’11 and Time Inc. founder, Henry Luce ’16 – were debaters. Archival images show them dressed in stiff black dinner coats and ties. One could imagine them in head-to-head debate in the dim light of the wood-paneled headmaster's study with a roaring fire as a backdrop. But, in fact, early posters indicate debates were held in the chapel. By the 1920s, the two societies had dissolved, and a new debating organization, The Debating Union, emerged. The Triangular Debates, consist-

Angela Xiao ’17 in action during a recent debate.

1914

1907 The subject for debate: “Resolved that: The further restriction of immigration is undesirable.”

1897 The Oratorical Competition awards $25 in gold to a Senior who writes and pronounces an English oration in the best manner.

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1911 1910

1913 Admission tickets to a debate sold for 25¢.

1923 In March, The first issue of Time magazine is produced by former Hotchkiss debaters Briton Hadden ’16 and Henry Luce ’16 (pictured far left in 1916 Debate Team photo above).

1924

ALL INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES AND THE MISCHIANZA

A Scrapbook of Hotchkiss debating highlights

Archibald MacLeish ’11, pictured on the right in the 1910 and 1911 debate team photos, poet laureate of the U.S. and the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes.

ing of teams from Hotchkiss, Taft, and Choate, became the most important events of the year. In the 1930s, Potter Stewart ’33, who would become a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and William Scranton ’35, who later became governor of Pennsylvania, honed their skills debating at Hotchkiss. Longtime Headmaster George Van Santvoord ’08 would often challenge students during informal discussions, debating with them seemingly nonsensical topics. Should Mickey Mouse be allowed to have a driver's license? Should Lake Wononscopomuc be stocked with fresh-water sharks? Over the decades, the popularity of formal debating would wax and wane, reaching a low during World War II and then slowly rebounding afterward. In 1968, the debate team took on the faculty to debate whether Hotchkiss should admit girls. The students, who sided against it, won. By 1973, debating lost momentum at Hotchkiss and only 10 boys out of 350 students participated that year. “When I was at Hotchkiss there was no debate team,” recalled John Reed Jr. ’81, P’12, ’14, ’18, who with his siblings established the John S. Reed ’35 Speaking Fund in 2002 to honor their father on his 85th birthday. The fund is one of four endowed funds that support what is now the Speech and Debate Club, making it financially feasible for students to compete regionally and internationally, and to attend the Yale Model United Nations, a four-day international relations simulation for high school students held annually on Yale

Co-captain Russell Clarida ’15 holding one of many Hotchkiss debate trophies.

University’s campus. This year, Hotchkiss Model UN team, a 20-member group, won Best Large Delegation for the second year in a row. Currently, the team competes in the Debate Association of New England Independent Schools (DANEIS), which includes about 30 schools. “So we’re fortunate to have those funds that allow us to be competitive,” said Conti. The exposure students gained from traveling can be as valuable as the content they learn from from practicing and researching, especially at Internationals and in the final World Championships, he noted. Two students — Alex Brown ’15 and Will

Cassou ’17 — both qualified to compete with the American team at the World Championships to be held in Hong Kong this April. Today's team represents a diverse crosssection of students with differing athletic and academic interests, with most gravitating to debating for the camaraderie as much as the competition. Co-captain Russell Clarida ’15, who is also captain of the varsity sailing team, is as passionate about sailing as he is about debating. “The one great thing about debate is that it’s not exclusive. Anyone willing to keep up with current events and issues and come to the meetings has

1953 Former Hotchkiss debater William Warren Scranton ’35 (pictured far left in the 1935 group photo) is elected Governor of Pennsylvania.

1933 Potter Stewart ’33 was a member of the Debate Union. In 1958, he was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, an office he held until 1981.

1955 1941

In December, the entire School gathers around the radio to hear President Roosevelt announce that the U.S. is at war. Hotchkiss debating reached a low during World War II, then slowly rebounded.

1935 The subject for debate: “Resolved that: The Savage Man is happier than the Civilized Man.”

1956-1961 The Piel Cup is engraved with the results of the Triangular Debate between Hotchkiss, Taft, and Choate beginning in 1921. This sterling silver bowl is believed to have been given in memory of John Joseph Piel ’36.

1950

1936 Henry Ford II ’36 was a member of the Hotchkiss Debate Union. He later became president of the Ford Motor Company

Winston Lord '55, a Hotchkiss debater, became a United States diplomat and leader of non-governmental foreign policy organizations.

1945 James Alexander Linen III ’30 becomes publisher of Time magazine. He was captain of the Angora Debating Team while at Hotchkiss.

1962 Hotchkiss debates an all-girl school, Westover, for the first time.

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a really good chance to succeed in it,” he said. “It’s also super team-oriented. We go on these really long bus rides to competitions, so everyone on the team becomes very close,” he added. In the past, debating traditionally attracted students interested in law or politics, giving them an opportunity to cut their oratorical teeth. Hotchkiss follows the parliamentary format, which emphasizes persuasiveness, logic, and wit. Each two-person team takes a side, government or opposition, on a given resolution and is given only 10 minutes to prepare. Then, each team member has eight minutes to speak.

ONTI, WHO HAS BEEN coaching for three years, stressed that the great thing about speech and debate is that anyone can do it. “There are no requirements. They don’t have to be good in math or science. All they have to do is talk,” he said. Not all competitions at tournaments involve debating. In Interpretive Reading, students read passages from a published work, much like an actor does. After-Dinner Speaking requires students to write and perform speeches designed to entertain and inform. And, in Impromptu Speaking, students select one topic from a choice of three and have two minutes to prepare a threeto-five minute speech delivered without notes. InKyu “(Jimmy)” Chung ’14, now a freshman at Yale, said Hotchkiss’ strong reputation in de-

bating was one of the reasons he chose to attend. His prowess in public speaking earned him first place in the After-Dinner Speech category at the World Championships in Lithuania last year. Coming in, some students have little experience in either debating or public speaking, and others have taken debating in summer programs like the one offered in Hotchkiss Summer Portals. During the school year, the team meets twice a week for hour-long sessions, during which novice and advanced students have opportunities to practice speaking and work on building a case as well as how to refute and how to summarize under the guidance of Russo, Conti, and the captains. “Sometimes we’ll have up to 40 students at practices,” said Conti. But practice is demanding and time-consuming. Before events, the team will meet for hour-long practices five nights a week. Working with students, Conti often refers to Cicero, Lysias, and Demosthenes when teaching them to argue persuasively. Conti and co-advisor Paula Russo emphasize the importance of rhetoric in building a case. “We teach students to build a sound, logical argument, then bring in the rhetoric, and grab them by the heartstrings,” said Conti, adding “as Cicero says, ‘leave them crying.’ ” He credits the team’s success in the last decade and beyond to Kate Vavpetic, former Associate Dean of Faculty and a debate coach, who along with her husband, Joe, jump-started

David Conti, Debate Coach

the debate team after a period of dormancy. “In 2000, the debate team had basically been defunct for years, so we revived it,” recalled Vavpetic, who is now Head of Senior School at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA. Under Vavpetic’s guidance, Daniel Wilner ’03, now a Hotchkiss trustee, was ranked the first-place speaker overall at the World Public Speaking and Debating Championships in South Africa. Debating provided crucial training for Wilner at Harvard, where he studied philosophy, and at Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. The Vavpetics invented “The V Theory,” which has become a trademark of the Hotchkiss debating format. The “V” stands for the way the system worked, for victory, and — at the time — for Vavpetic. “First, you articulate the first principle — the

1979 1963

1968 Hotchkiss students take on the faculty to debate whether Hotchkiss should admit girls. The students argue against it and win.

Hotchkiss opens its doors to girls. Female students become active members of the debating team.

1971 Hotchkiss wins Williams College Prepatory School Debate Tournament.

1966 Charles Woodruff Yost '24, diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to the UN, receives the Alumni Award. He was a member of The Debating Union, School Debating Squad, and Alumni Oratorical Contest.

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1980 Malcolm Baldrige ’40, a member of The Debating Union while at Hotchkiss, becomes U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

1988 Hotchkiss Debate Union member and former vice president of General Motors C. S. Harding Mott ’25 receives the Alumni Award.

1990

ALL INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ARCHIVES AND THE MISCHIANZA

1974

Businessman and venture capitalist William Effers ’37 is the recipient of the Almuni Award. While at Hotchkiss, he was a member of the debate team.

phrase or word that sums up the over-arching value of your case. Then, using an inverted pyramid (V-shape!), you add supporting facts and evidence, then tug at the judge's heartstrings, and end by linking back to the first principle,” she said. Working this format, Hotchkiss has built a strong overall team, which puts them at an advantage when competing against other teams that don’t have a unified structure, said Clarida. The structure also helps students develop the skill of thinking critically in a logical, organized, and disciplined way, which is beneficial later on in their lives, regardless of what career path they take. “I don’t think debating led me directly towards journalism. I’d attribute that to my love of writing,” said Caroline Chen ’08, a healthcare reporter for Bloomberg News who took first place at the world championships while an upper mid at Hotchkiss. “Being on the debate team taught me how to organize my thoughts, craft a logical argument, and clearly articulate my point of view, skills that I think are useful in any career,” she added. When Alexander Brown ’15 joined the debate team as a prep, he thought he might interested in pursuing law. But four years later, he’s considering a career as an advocate for the economically underprivileged. On a deeper level, he added, “the long-lasting friendships, the travel experience, and the opportunity of competing with a very cohesive team — all of it has really given me the full Hotchkiss experience.”

2001 Kate Vavpetic, (pictured at right) debate coach, jump-starts the debate team after years of dormancy.

2002 Daniel Wilner ’03, Rhodes Scholar and Trustee, launches Hotchkiss on the international stage winning first place in the World Individual Public Speaking and Debating Championships in South Africa.

2009 2015 The UN Team wins Best Large Delegation at the Yale Model UN for the second year in a row.

2013

ENCORE LA VICTOIRE FOR MODEL UN REPRESENTING FRANCE, HOTCHKISS TRIUMPHS!

OR THE SECOND YEAR IN A row, the Hotchkiss Model UN team won Best Large Delegation at Yale University’s Model United Nations in New Haven January 21-25. This year over 1,700 students participated, making this the largest event in the 41 years Yale has hosted a Model UN. “We took 20 kids and an unprecedented 12 of them won awards (five more than last year),” team captain Alexander Brown ’15 said. “With the combined success of all the members of our team, we were able to take home Best Large Delegation out of about 90 schools from around the world who were in attendance,” he said. The conference is consistently challenging, and each member’s experience depends on his or her committee. Some committees, such as the General Assemblies, can have more than 100 people in them, while the Specialized Committees and Regional Bodies had only 15-20 people. “All of our delegates represented France, so we had to study French policy on certain issues. Resolutions that my partner and I passed included one that would regulate nuclear energy facilities as well as one that would stop all trading of weapons to South Sudan,” Brown said. Commenting on the team’s success, coach David Conti said students “throw

themselves into preparing for this event in their spare time.” “It was great to see their hard work recognized. In every committee I saw, Hotchkiss students were front and center, leading policy discussions.” Students recognized for their individual performance in committee work included: Will Cassou ’17, Jesse Godine ’17, Sophia Wang ’16, Cecily Craighead ’17, and Milo Goodell ’16, who all received Honorable Mention awards. Angela Xiao ’17 and Agnes Ezekwesili ’16 were named Outstanding Delegates in their committees. Five students, including captain Alex Brown ’15, received the highest recognition for committee work, Best Delegate. Other Best Delegates were Luis Gonzalez Kompalic ’16, Nico Ciolfi ’17, Jack Chrysler ’16, and Anne Elizabeth Sidamon-Eristoff ’16. Brown and Chrysler won for their participation in one of the most competitive committees, the Group of Eight. Sidamon-Eristoff was recognized for her work on the Security Council, a very competitive group selected by application from interested delegates. Model UN dates back to 1927 when Harvard University invited nine colleges to a simulation of the League of Nations – a decade after the organization was created following World War I. — Wendy Carlson W i n t e r

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Ref lections from the Editor’s Desk BY ROBERTA JENCKES

Beyond reporting on the visits of world-class speakers and performers, for me, the great joy of work on the magazine has been in sharing the stories of Hotchkiss people – alumni, students, faculty, staff, and parents.

HEN I WANT TO BE TRANSPORTED BACK

to the summer of 2000, I take a ride in the elevator of the Main Building. For reasons unknown to me, the smell of the elevator (it’s a good smell) reminds me of my first days at Hotchkiss. It’s as much of a lock, scent-wise, as erasers and book bindings in the library of my youth.

I came to Hotchkiss from Trinity College in Hartford, where I had edited the Trinity Reporter magazine and oversaw the college’s publications. On Wednesday, July 26, 2000, I arrived to a sleepy Lakeville campus. My work on the Hotchkiss Magazine and on the usual summer publications — BluePrints and Names & Faces — proceeded slowly. I wondered why many of my phone calls went unanswered. When the campus suddenly filled with people five weeks later, I had my answer. Fortunately, Head of School Skip Mattoon was around to counsel me, as was Erin Reid, who wrote Class Notes and other articles for the magazine. Former Instructor in English Robert Hawkins quickly became a friend, and, as a proofreader of the magazine, a great resource. My first office at Hotchkiss (to be followed by three more) was in the basement, next door to the Drama faculty office, and so I soon got to know occupants Sarah Tames and Joel Brehm. Once school started, I enjoyed seeing the students who were theatre stars, gathered in the nook under the stairs in the Main Building. Talking, laughing, emoting … My memories of that first year are crystalclear, as is the way with new beginnings. From there, the images emerge into a moving kaleidoscope. But a look through recent volumes of the Hotchkiss Magazine, my constant companion and muse for these years, introduced some order. A headline for “Curtain up on Lakeside Story” retrieved an image of W i n t e r

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My memories of that first year are crystal-clear, as is the way with new beginnings. From there, the images emerge into a moving kaleidoscope.

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“These days in the hallways, Forrest,” Head of School Skip Mattoon said in hisHOTCHKISS remarks, “a new phrase has entered the student lexicon. Kids will say, ‘Hey, Joe, where you headed?’ and the answer will be ‘I’m going to Mars.’” In 2008, during a fierce winter snowstorm, we celebrated the 100th birthday of the Hotchkiss Dramatic Association, a party complete with cake, ersatz champagne, and costumes. Nobel Laureates Wole Soyinka and Seamus Heaney visited in spring 2010, again occasions for bliss. Responding to a student question about when he began writing poetry, Heaney said, “I didn’t start to write in earnest until I was in my 20s. I was shy of poetry. I didn’t think I had the gift for it.” Beyond reporting on the visits of worldclass speakers and performers, for me, the great joy of working on the magazine has been in sharing the stories of Hotchkiss people– alumni, students, faculty, and parents. Within this extended community — at Lakeville and around the world — are people whose accomplishments, innovations, and service contribute significantly to our world. When we can share this news, help to connect people, and offer content that is stimulating and occasionally even provocative, we can feel that our work here has been done! HOTCHKISS Thanks to all of the wonderful alumni authors and class agents who have contributed so much to the magazine in the years I’ve been here and whose writing helps to bring the magazine to life. Thank you also to colleagues and contributors, especially Erin Reid P’01,’05, writer Divya Symmers, and designer Christine Koch of Boost Studio. And now, over to you, Wendy! M

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UPCOMING EVENTS ON CAMPUS

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In the Tremaine Gallery

From September 6 through October 8, 2011, in recognition of the events of 9/11 ten years ago, the Tremaine Gallery will host the exhibit,“The City Resilient: Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz.” On display will be photographs taken by Meyerowitz in the days immediately after September 11, 2001 and published in his book, AFTERMATH: World Trade Center Archive (Phaidon Press, 2006). Although the Ground Zero site was closed by the city of New York after the attacks, with the help of the Museum of the City of New York and city officials, Meyerowitz was able to obtain unlimited access. He worked at the former World Trade Center site for nine months, day and night, using a large-format view camera. The resulting photographs are extraordinary in their detail. More on his work can be found at: http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com. FROM THE OFFICE OF ALUMNI AND PARENT PROGRAMS: Tuesday, September 13 Day Parent Reception

Tuesday, September 27 State of the School Webcast with Head of School Malcolm McKenzie Thursday, October 13 Parents Weekend Cocktail Reception Friday and Saturday, October 14-15 Parents Weekend

Friday through Sunday, October 28-30 (opening reception on Thursday, October 27) The Class of 1961 50th Reunion

Friday and Saturday, November 04 - November 5 Volunteer Leadership Weekend

For details of these events and more, view the Alumni Web calendar at www.hotchkiss.org/alumni/events-reunions/index.aspx.

surprised students in Walker Auditorium applauding heartily at the conclusion of a surprise faculty performance. One of my favorite events, the Esther Eastman Music Center dedication, appeared in the April 2006 issue, in a feature on music at Hotchkiss. At that event, we marveled collectively at the stunning views afforded by the glass walls of the Katherine M. Elfers Hall. Since then, many visitors and guest performers have expressed appreciation for those views, often observed in changing light during a performance.

ATER THAT YEAR, IN THAT same space, jazz trombonist (and several times Trombonist of the Year) Roswell Rudd ’54 performed when he received the Alumni Award. I remember speaking with him after the performance about my 10-yearold niece’s interest in the trombone. In that case, he said, I must learn the trombonist’s handshake. He took my hand and guided my arm back and forth in a sliding motion, as I laughed uncontrollably. There was another dedication that year, one with much laughter and celebration, of the Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center.

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11 INTERLAKEN ROAD LAKEVILLE, CT 06039-2141 (860) 435-2591 w w w. h o t c h k i s s . o r g

ROBERTA JENCKES RETIRED IN JANUARY 2015 AS EDITOR OF HOTCHKISS MAGAZINE AFTER 14 YEARS.

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Reunions June 12-14, 2015

Classes of 1935, 1940, 1945, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010

September 25-27, 2015 Class of 1965 - 50th Reunion Class of 1955 - 60th Reunion

For more information please contact: Megan Denault â&#x20AC;&#x2122;03, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, at (860) 435-3114 or mdenault@hotchkiss.org Visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni (click on Events & Reunions)

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Photo by Anne Day P'09,11,13