Hotchkiss Magazine | Winter 2020 by The Hotchkiss School

Coming Full Circle ALUMNI GIVING BACK

Winter 2020

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Robert R. Gould ’77, Co-President Elizabeth G. Hines ’93, Co-President Robert Chartener ’76, P’18, Vice President Raymond J. McGuire ’75, Vice President David B. Wyshner ’85, Treasurer Roger K. Smith ’78, P’08, Secretary Charles Ayres ’77 Austin M. Beutner P’20,’22 John Coumantaros ’80, P’16,’19 Anne Matlock Dinneen ’95 Elizabeth Ford P’11,’13 John Grube ’65, P’00 Nisa Leung Lin ’88 Kendra O’Donnell Carlos Peréz ’81 Thomas S. Quinn ’71, P’15,’17,’19 Christopher R. Redlich Jr. ’68 Susan Green Roberson ’87, President, The Hotchkiss Fund, ex officio Thomas R. Seidenstein ’91, President, Alumni Association, ex officio

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS Timothy P. Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16 Rhonda Trotter ’79 Rebecca van der Bogert U. Gwyn Williams ’84, P’17,’19 EMERITI

Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82 John R. Chandler Jr. ’53, P’82, P’85,’87, GP’10,’14,’16,’22 Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07 William R. Elfers ’67 Lawrence Flinn Jr. ’53, GP’22 Frederick Frank ’50, P’12 Dan W. Lufkin ’49, P’80,’82,’88,’23 Robert H. Mattoon Jr. Dr. Robert A. Oden Jr. P’97 Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18 John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11,’16 Francis T. Vincent Jr. ’56, P’85

Tom Seidenstein ’91, President Natalie Boyse ’09 Rafael Carbonell ’93 Weijen Chang ’86, P’22 Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03, VP and Chair, Gender Committee Marita Bell Fairbanks ’84 Danielle Ferguson ’97 Carlos Garcia ’77 Peter Gifford ’93 Brooke Harlow ’92, Vice Chair Caldwell Hart ’87, P’16,’20, Secretary and Chair, Nominating Committee for Membership Annika Lescott ’06 Barrett Lester ’81 Nick Moore ’71, P’89,’01,‘06 Paul Mutter ’87, Vice Chair, Chair of Nominating Committee for Awards Steve O’Brien ’62, P’87,’01, GP’17 Emily Pressman ’98 Chip Quarrier ’90, VP and Co-chair, Alumni Services and Communications Committee Charlotte Dillon Ross ’10, VP and Co-chair, Alumni Services and Communications Committee Blake Ruddock ’12 Bill Sandberg ’65 Adam Sharp ’96 Sheria Smith ’01, VP and Chair, Alumni of Color Committee Richard Staples ’74, P’10,’12 Tom Terbell ’95 EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Craig Bradley, Head of School Ed Greenberg ’55, Past President, Alumni Association Robert R. Gould ’77, Co-President, Board of Trustees Elizabeth G. Hines ’93, Co-President, Board of Trustees Susan Green Roberson ’87, President, The Hotchkiss Fund

This cartoon appeared in the Jan.27 issue of The New Yorker magazine and is reprinted with permission from Condé Nast.

WINTER 2020 FEATURES

M A G A Z I N E

A Meditation on the Continutity of Life

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Craig W. Bradley

Chapel Talk by John Dreger, Instructor in French and Latin

INTERIM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Danielle Sinclair

EDITOR

Wendy Carlson

Frederick Ammons ’94

MAGAZINE DESIGNER

Julie Hammill

From Studying the Human Genome to Creating a World-Class Wine

COPY EDITOR

Chelsea Edgar

VIDEOGRAPHER AND DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

Tyler Wosleger

Chenyu Zheng ’08

WEBSITE AND DESIGN MANAGER

Margaret Szubra

Finding a Sense of Belonging on the Road

CONTRIBUTORS

Chenyu Zheng ’08, John Dreger, Roberta Jenckes, Robin Provey, and Fay Vincent ’56, P’85

Fay Vincent ’56, P’85

A Catastrophic Accident, Then the Gift of Learning How to Live

PLEASE SEND INQUIRIES & COMMENTS TO:

The Hotchkiss School 11 Interlaken Road Lakeville, CT 06039-2141 Email: magazine@hotchkiss.org Phone: (860) 435-3122 The Hotchkiss School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, or national orientation in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, or other School-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices. Hotchkiss Magazine is produced by the Office of Communications for alumni, parents, members of the faculty and staff, and friends of the School. Letters are welcome. Please keep under 400 words. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters.

DEPARTMENTS 2 From the Head of School 4

From the Board of Trustees

Campus Connection

15 Seeking Better Paths

Honey ’90 and Jed Nachman ’91

18 Student Spotlight

Isaac Alicea ’20

39 Class Notes 61 In Memoriam 64 Parting Shot

ON THE COVER

Seniors Victoria Azzu and Cici Bu rehearse a duet for the annual dance performance held on Feb. 28 and 29. Photo: Wendy Carlson WINTER 2020

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Honeybees at Hotchkiss IFE AT HOTCHKISS OFTEN DELIVERS

PH OTO: TH E M I SCH

wonderful surprises, moments that make us pause and reflect on the natural and built environment we are fortunate to call home. One of the more noteworthy surprises this fall was a massive colony of honeybees that was discovered under the eaves in the northwest corner of Memorial Hall. This colony was revealed by the slow yet steady line of honey dripping down the exterior wall of the dorm, not to mention the everpresent bees. This is not the first instance of a hive in a dorm on campus, or even in these same Memo eaves; a major hive was removed from this corner of Memo in 2016, and another about a decade ago. No doubt several honeybee colonies have formed in Memorial Hall since it was built 97 years ago. Of course, honeybees have occupied this landscape and the campus since time immemorial. Frank Stanley ’49, P’75,’78,’85, GP’09 wrote an article in an April 1947 issue of The Record, in which

Former English instructor Robert Hawkins keeps bees at Hotchkiss

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PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

In 2013, Sam Bartusek ’15 and Jon Morgan Barth ’15 founded The Hotchkiss Apiary Society to care for the bees at Fairfield Farm.

he described how George Van Santvoord and Instructor in Math Hayward Hunter began keeping bees, in 1944, in hives set up by Monahan Gym. According to Richard Gurney’s reflection in Fay Vincent’s book, The Gift of His Example: George Van Santvoord of Hotchkiss, George Van Santvoord was “a skillful apiarist.” According to Stanley’s article, “ardent bee enthusiast” and former English Instructor Robert Hawkins was particularly knowledgeable and skillful. In the spring of 1947, a colony of 40-50,000 bees was discovered under the eaves in the southeast corner of West Dormitory, then part of the old Main Building. The colony was removed by Mr. Hawkins to the hives by Monahan. Currently, we are aware of another large colony of honeybees that has taken up residence in a white fir tree not far from the Scoville Gate. We continue to keep bees at Fairfield Farm, where many students have learned

“According to the USDA, 75 percent of the fruits and vegetables we consume require bee pollination.” the skills of beekeeping from Max Cudney P’20, master beekeeper and husband of Brenda Cudney P’20, who oversees the campus Post Office. Once the honeybee colony was discovered in Memorial Hall in September, we realized that if we removed the bees to the Farm, they would eventually find their way back to

LET TERS TO THE EDITOR

Memorial; bees have been known to travel up to 10 miles to return to a place they have previously colonized. So we contacted an apiarist in Roxbury, CT, some 37 miles away, to help out. Two beekeepers arrived and worked all day on top of a tall ladder to remove the hives, searching all the while for the queen bee. Once they found her and put her in the back of their truck, the swarm followed all the way back to their farm and moved into hives set up to receive them. The beekeeper estimated that there were 90,000 bees occupying the colony in Memorial Hall. Honeybees are protected by law and cannot be exterminated. This protection is crucial given the significant decline in pollinators worldwide. While it is hard to take a thorough census of pollinators, climate change appears to be contributing to a decline in their populations. According to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, multiple factors contribute to this decline in pollinator populations, including drought, which decreases pollen production, and warmer late-winter temperatures, which create “false” early springs that rouse the bees from hibernation, only to die in a subsequent cold snap. According to the USDA, 75 percent of the fruits and vegetables we consume require bee pollination. In addition to protecting wild colonies that are discovered a safe distance from the buildings on the main campus, we are committed to keeping a fairly large colony of bees at Fairfield Farm where, in addition to making excellent honey, they pollinate the approximately 16 tons of produce grown (and ultimately consumed) annually by the Hotchkiss community. The two beekeepers removed over 100 pounds of honey and comb from Memorial Hall in September, which was delivered to the staff in Dining Services who strained it and put it in jars. Next time you come to the Dining Hall, consider sampling the most locally sourced honey available at Hotchkiss.

Riding the Duke’s Horse I was particularly pleased reading “Hotchkiss By the Numbers” in the fall issue, which noted there are 31 dogs on campus. I am probably the only living alumnus who actually rode the Duke’s horse. As a prep in the fall of 1941 at age 14, I weighed less than 100 pounds, and Coach Fowler probably thought I would be ground to a pulp if I went out for football or soccer, so I ended up on the Woods Squad. It was led by Headmaster George Van Santvoord, Class of 1908, a.k.a. the Duke. We enjoyed many different activities, including driving around to farms to pick up potatoes or apples in the Duke’s Buick convertible, listening to his awesome display of knowledge about everything under the sun, or work on trails, or release baskets of pigeons from Mt. Riga. One day, we stopped at the Hotchkiss barn, just beyond the fourth hole, to check on his horse. I must explain that this was no ordinary horse. It was a stallion of 17 hands, blind in one eye, and retired from the track but evidently still competitive. The beast was saddled and bridled as one of the barn hands led him out and the Duke inspected him. “Would any of you like to ride him?” the Duke asked the three of us in the Woods Squad. No one spoke as we looked at each other, but I finally said yes. I wasn’t about to admit I was scared and besides, we had a couple of horses at home. The Duke’s horse looked similar, only much bigger. I was boosted up, the stirrups were shortened and I got a firm grip on the reins. I was like a flea on an elephant. That horse went where he wanted to go at his pace. He turned into his blind eye and circled steadily, and no amount of reining had any effect. The stable hand finally grabbed the halter and stopped the merry-go-round, and I made a hasty descent. I believe that moment made my stay at Hotchkiss possible. In spite of low marks, a few censures, and a sequester, I was always treated with compassion and encouragement by the Duke, and he always remembered me by name, even years later, whenever I came back to School for a visit. GEOFF CHAPMAN ’45

The Path Less Taken Thank you for your article Shaman, Scientist, and a Bit Indiana Jones about my classmate Hank Wesselman ’59 that appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of Hotchkiss Magazine. I liked the way you portrayed his remarkable accomplishments, balancing his scientific discoveries in the field of anthropology with his spiritual journey into the world of shamanism. It’s an article that current Hotchkiss students and alumni should find worth reading. It shows that graduating from Hotchkiss doesn’t mean you have to go down traditional professional paths. You can follow your passion and go on “paths less taken.” I must tell you my initial reaction when I picked up the magazine and saw the article about Hank. I pounded my hand on the kitchen island repeatedly and said aloud, “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s not often that something like this happens. A talent that might stay hidden from one’s schoolmates comes into the light. M. D. “MARK” GALL ’59

Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon College of Education

WINTER 2020

A MESSAGE FROM THE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES BY ROBERT CHARTENER ’76, P’18

Year to Date – Head of School Craig Bradley reported on several highlights of the year. On the college placement front, Hotchkiss completed one of the most successful early decision/early action rounds in recent memory with 90 percent of the Class of 2020 applying early; to date, 85 percent have gained offers of admission. The number of completed applications to Hotchkiss increased to 2,077, a 15.5 percent increase over the 1,797 applications received by this time last year. The new fall “fly-in” admission program, made possible by Christopher Redlich ’68, proved extremely popular for first-generation and low-income families with all but two students choosing to apply to Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss successfully recruited Ninette Enrique as chief advancement officer and Hope Reisinger Cobera ’88 as chief communications officer. On Feb. 18, Mr. Bradley announced a Head of School Holiday in honor of Bill Elfers ’67. For over 50 years, Bill has been one of Hotchkiss’s staunchest supporters, serving as a trustee from 1995 to 2017, and continuing his service to the School as a trustee emeritus today.

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Budget – Treasurer David Wyshner ’85 presented the preliminary budget for 202021, which was discussed at length by the Board. Enrollment will be reduced to 593 from 602 at the start of the current year, and the target of 585 will be reached in the 2021-22 year. Tuition will increase by 2.9 percent to $61,730 for boarding and $52,470 for day students, which will likely put Hotchkiss at the middle of its peer schools. Our financial aid budget will grow by 6.28 percent, which increases Hotchkiss’s discount rate from 28.3 percent to 29.6 percent; we remain in the bottom half of our peer schools. (Exeter’s discount rate led at 41.3 percent this year, and the next three schools ranged from 31.4 percent to 35.4 percent.) Our endowment performance ranked Hotchkiss third among peer schools, and the overall spending rate will decrease by 0.14 percent to 3.66 percent, which excludes an additional 0.50 percent annually for the ten-year renovation plan of Hotchkiss’s four oldest dormitories that began in 2019. Teaching Chair – The Board attended an All-School Meeting at which The Edgar M. Cullman ’36 Teaching Chair was awarded to Wendy Levithan P’23. For the past three years, Ms. Levithan has chaired the Classical and Modern Languages Department, and she has been a key supporter of innovation and change at Hotchkiss. There are currently 22 endowed teaching chairs.

New Faculty Dinner – The Board enjoyed dinner Friday evening with a talented group of new faculty members. Hiring remains a top priority for the School, and Mr. Bradley meets with every candidate during the on-campus interview process. The trustees were impressed by the quality of education, depth of experience, and commitment to residential teaching of Hotchkiss’s new instructors. I was fortunate to sit with the new rowing coach, Victoria McGee, a graduate of UNC and a coach at Duke before completing graduate studies at the University of Washington. Our popular crew program began rowing on Lake Wononscopomuc last fall. Dorm Feed – Some trustees attended a dorm feed in Dana West, witnessing the devouring of vast quantities of brownies, cookies, and cakes by upper mids and seniors who hadn’t eaten in at least three hours. I was particularly impressed with two students I spoke with: one boy whose mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather had attended Hotchkiss, and another boy who had never heard of Hotchkiss 18 months ago and who had transferred from another leading school in September. In both cases, I was struck by how each student felt that he had found a home at Hotchkiss, that he truly mattered to the School, and that he was excited by the opportunities Hotchkiss offered him. We are indeed fortunate to have such remarkably talented students at Hotchkiss.

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

The Board of Trustees met at Hotchkiss on Jan. 31–Feb.1 and discussed the following:

CAMPUS CONNECTION

Hotchkiss Salutes Long-Serving Staff and Faculty

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

Hooker and Barker Awards Presented

Left to right: Head of School Craig Bradley; Post Office Supervisor Brenda Cudney P’20, recipient of the Robert J. and Candice Barker Award, and School Nurse Marian Paton P’13, recipient of the Margot Hooker Award

and faculty members were honored during the annual Anniversary Awards Ceremony on Jan. 21 during an All-School Meeting in Elfers. In acknowledging their years of service, Head of School Craig Bradley said, “I am grateful to all 322 of our employees, who collectively have provided 3,172 years of service to the School. Thank you for your dedication to this special community.” Those employees who have served the School for 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 35 and even 45 years were recognized. Bob Wood, a housekeeper, who has worked at Hotchkiss for 45 years, received a lengthy standing ovation; Pressman Andy Murphy, who has worked at the School for 25 years, was given a special tribute. Two special staff awards were presented IFTY-ONE LONG-SERVING STAFF

in recognition of outstanding contributions to the School: School Nurse Marian Paton P’13 received the Margot Hooker Award; Post Office Supervisor Brenda Cudney P’20 received the Robert J. and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Award. Danielle Shippey, director of health services, presented Paton with the Hooker Award, established in 1996 in memory of long-serving staff member Margot Hooker. Shippey praised Paton for her “calm presence and kind nature.” “She is never one to draw attention to herself — soft-spoken and always willing to help,” said Shippey, adding she is positive and professional and it’s not unusual to hear her say: “I’m so lucky to work at Hotchkiss. I love my job and I work with amazing people.” Chief Financial Officer Sandra Lynch

presented Cudney with the Barker Award, named for Robert and Candice Barker, whose four decades of service exemplified dedication to the School. As well as performing her job at a high level, “Brenda has a gracious demeanor, calm composure, and always puts other people first. She takes time in the day to make everyone feel welcome at the Post Office,” Lynch said. “Brenda is active in the Hotchkiss community, attending Hotchkiss activities, and lending a hand as well as volunteering with Development and being an ambassador for the Parents Fund,” she said. “She has enhanced the sense of community at Hotchkiss through her personal commitment, dedication, loyalty, and willingness to always go beyond the call of duty.” WINTER 2020

CAMPUS CONNECTION

Visitors

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

Lambert Lecturer William Kamkwamba Shares Uplifting Story

IN AN ALL-SCHOOL MEETING on Jan. 28, Lambert lecturer William Kamkwamba shared his poignant story of building a windmill in his village in Malawi when he was just 13 years old. The uplifting journey of hope and perseverance led to a New York Times best-selling book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written by Kamkwamba and journalist Bryan Mealer, which was this year’s All-School Read. In 2019, a film with the same title was released on Netflix. Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country often plagued by drought and hunger. In 2002, following a severe drought, Kamkwamba built a windmill to bring electricity to his family’s home.

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His neighbors thought he was crazy to undertake the effort, but with spare parts, old textbooks, scrap metal, and a lot of determination, he realized his dream. After the success of the windmill, he built a solarpowered water pump to supply drinking water in his village, and two other wind turbines, the tallest standing at 39 feet. In his humble address to the community, Kamkwamba spoke about how even as a young boy he was very curious about how things work. As a five-year-old, he used to think that the voices he heard coming from a radio were actually “little people who lived inside of it,” he said. The fascination led him to take apart a radio, which, by trial and error, helped him understand how

it worked. He had to leave his high school because his parents could not afford to pay the tuition. He educated himself by reviewing his former classmates’ homework. But once he latched onto the idea of building a windmill, he spent countless hours in the library, reading old physics and math textbooks and collecting metal scraps from the junkyard to build a windmill. When news of the windmill broke, it became a tourist attraction. A journalist visited the village, and as news of his accomplishment spread, Kamkwamba gained global recognition. He went on to become a 2007 TED Global Fellow, and was a finalist for the Tech Museum Award. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 2014 and is currently working on building an innovation center in his village to empower young people to solve local problems. Kamkwamba said that although challenges can sometimes stymie you from fulfilling your dreams, they can also strengthen your resolve. His mantra is: “Trust yourself. Believe in what you do, and don’t give up.” The first people he brought to see his windmill when he finished it were his two best friends because they believed in him from the start, he said. He hopes to continue inspiring people throughout the world to find ways to solve problems in their own communities. The Lambert Fund was established in 1981 by Paul C. Lambert ’46 and his wife, Mary, in memory of their son, Christopher ’76, who died of cancer in 1979. It was the Lamberts’ wish that the funds be used to provide a stipend for writers of prose and poetry to visit the School twice each year to work with students in the English department and offer an evening of reading for the community.

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

Novelist Rebecca Makkai: When Writing, Expect the Unexpected your writing ends up at a place you didn’t expect, novelist Rebecca Makkai told students during a lower mid English class. “If it ends up in the place you think it is going, then there is no complexity and no real discovery in it, and that means there probably isn’t for the reader either.” “You should be writing things that feel scary — scary because you don’t know where it is going.” she adds. Makkai, author of The Great Believers, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, visited Hotchkiss Jan. 16-17 as the guest speaker of the Nalen Writing Program, established in 2018 by Skip Nalen ’48, P’79, GP’13,’15. The program’s mission is to enrich and inspire students in the art and practice of writing by inviting professional writers to campus each year to help students IT’S A REALLY GOOD SIGN WHEN

“You should be writing things that feel scary — scary you don’t know where it is going.” ••• REBECCA MAKKAI

improve their writing skills. Makkai is also the author of The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. She serves on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. When she was in high school at Lake

Forest Academy, Makkai was a student of English instructor James Fornshell. “So I know you have really great teachers here,” she told students. She advised students to explore unknown territory when writing. “You should be asking questions, but not answering them in your writing. It’s not your job to tell people what to think; it’s your job to muck around in the middle of it.” Makkai emphasized 60 percent of writing is revision, and half of revision is deletion. Any word, sentence, or paragraph that can go will make your writing cleaner, she says. To lower mids who are required to write Daily Themes, which have a one-page constraint, she recommended that they write a two-page draft, then go back in and “zap it” to get rid of the excess wording. “It’s a really satisfying feeling; it’s like you are ‘Marie Kondo-ing’ your writing.”

WINTER 2020

PH OTOS: WENDY C A R L S O N

CAMPUS CONNECTION

Hundreds of Red Lanterns and Thousands of Dumplings H

O T C H K I S S C E L E B R AT E D T H E LUNAR NEW YEAR ON JAN. 25

with an evening of food, activities, and games. From its origins as an afternoon dumpling-making session, the event has grown to become a popular annual tradition, thanks to the participation of students, parents, faculty, and staff. To kick off the holiday, Virginia Osborne P’21 spearheaded the effort to string several hundred red lanterns in front of Main Building. In Asian cultures, red symbolizes good luck, joy, prosperity, celebration, happiness, and a long life. On Saturday evening, students wore red clothing, waved sparklers, and pinned red sheets of paper to their backs with Chinese characters for good luck written on them. Jessica Kim ’21 from South Korea wore a Hanbok, a traditional Korean formal dress, and her classmate Nicole Morikawa, who is of Japanese descent, donned a bright red sheath. In the Student Center, stations were set

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up for traditional paper cutting or jianzhi, calligraphy, and jianzi, a circle game played with a weighted shuttlecock. A microphone was on hand for those brave enough to sing Karaoke in Asian languages. The activities were organized by the Chinese Club, Korea Club, and Asian Culture Club. The biggest draw of the evening was the food –– and there was no shortage of it. More than 30 parents visited campus to attend, and many brought traditional Asian dishes or donated money for food and decorations. Trays upon trays of food filled Main hallway, representing a wide range of Asian cuisine, including Thai tea and cookies, Chinese dumplings, noodles, and sesame rice balls, Korean pancakes and snacks, and bak kwa from Singapore. Jean Chang P’18,’21 was instrumental in starting Hotchkiss’s first Lunar New Year celebration three years ago. The holiday is like Thanksgiving, a time for family gatherings and sharing special dishes, but

In Asian cultures, red symbolizes good luck, joy, prosperity, celebration, happiness, and a long life.

since School is in session during that time a small group of parents gathered in Harris House to make dumplings, she explained. “It was sort of under the radar, but since then it has just exploded,” she said. “Food is such a great way to start learning about a culture; it’s a natural ice breaker. Besides, who doesn’t love dumplings?”

WINTER 2020

CAMPUS CONNECTION

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

Campus Wellness Dr. Lisa Damour: Stress and Anxiety are Your Friends

S PART OF THE SCHOOL’S ONGOING

student wellness programming, adolescence expert Dr. Lisa Damour spoke to the community during an All-School Meeting on Jan. 8 about stress and anxiety in teenagers — and how they can manage it. “Stress is a healthy function, and an essential part of a normal life,” she told students. “It happens when you have to adapt to a new situation, and it allows us to grow.” Damour is a psychologist and the author of The New York Times best sellers Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. She is a regular contributor to CBS News, a columnist for The New York Times, and a senior advisor to the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University. She also maintains a private psychotherapy practice, consults and speaks internationally, and serves as the executive director of Laurel School’s Center for Research on Girls. She received her B.A. from Yale University and her doctorate from the University of Michigan. “Stress and anxiety are your friends; they will always be there, so don’t fight them,” she reminded students. “In fact, they make us more durable.” “Think about school stress like a weightlifting program for your mind. Your prep year, you are introduced to the weight room; your lower mid year, you are locked in the weight room all year lifting. By upper mid year, you are stronger and more capable, and by the time you are a senior, you feel more powerful and in control,” she said. She demonstrated a technique called “square breathing,” which involves taking slow, deep breaths to reduce anxiety and stress. 10

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In the morning, Damour met with faculty members to review the transitions that teenage girls undergo from adolescence to adulthood. “Think of adolescence as a series of tasks teenagers have to accomplish that starts with

departing from childhood and ends with developing healthy adult habits,” she said. In the afternoon, Damour met with students who identify as female to talk more specifically about those transitions.

An Update on Sexual Misconduct Prevention

AST SUMMER, Instructor of English and Dean of the Class of 2021 Christy Cooper P’08,’11 was appointed as the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Coordinator. In her role, Cooper has met with students in all grade levels to discuss sexual consent, including the state laws on consent. In partnership with Women’s Support Services in Sharon, CT, she organized a training session for proctors on teen dating violence. In November, Cooper organized a visit by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which conducted two student listneing sessions and a survey to determine how effectively the School is addressing healthy relationships and the prevention of sexual misconduct. The results indicated that students understand consent, know whom they can go to on campus to report concerns, and appreciate the work done by the human development program. They expressed a desire for more training in bystander intervention, expanding programming through all four years, and more information about the effects of trauma on the brain, all of which Cooper is working to address. With Carrie Smith, head of the human development program, Cooper is planning a Senior Wellness/College Transition Day in May to address how students can keep themselves safe as they move on from Hotchkiss to the greater independence of college life. Since her appointment, Cooper has attended a summit on consent and sexual assault at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., and the Deans of Eight Schools conference, where she networked with colleagues leading this work at peer institutions.

Locke Lord continues to accept and investigate reports of historical sexual misconduct by adult members of our community. We encourage anyone with information relating to potential misconduct to contact the independent investigator, Allison O’Neil, by phone (617) 239-0729, or by email at hotchkissinvestigation@lockelord.com.

LICE GUSTAFSON REMEMBERS RIDING in the rumble seat of her mother’s car one Wednesday afternoon as Hotchkiss boys were walking into Lakeville for ice cream sodas. They waved and hollered hello to Alice as she rode past. Alice demurely waved back, for which her mother roundly scolded her. When she grew up in Lime Rock in the early 1930s, it was frowned upon for the boys to shout hello to girls, or for girls to acknowledge their greetings, said Gustafson, who turned 100 on December 15. Over the years, she has watched Hotchkiss evolve from an all-boys school, where she once attended white-glove dances as a teenager. These days, she not only waves hello to students from her seat at the gallery’s front desk, but often strikes up conversations with them. Alice has been a volunteer at the The Tremaine Art Gallery for more than 10 years. The School relies on Alice and a dozen other mostly retired members of the surrounding community to staff the gallery reception desk. “Without volunteers like Alice, we would not be able to keep the gallery open on a daily basis,” said Sarah Anderson Lock, arts administrator. “Plus, Alice’s buoyant spirit keeps us young.” The Tremaine has become a fixture Alice’s life, although she concedes her favorite part of the job isn’t being immersed in the art. Truth be told, she says, “I get to read The New York Times, cover to cover.” Head of School Craig Bradley concurs. “I see Alice most weeks when she stops by the office to pick up “her” New York Times, and we usually take a few minutes to chat. I am grateful for and inspired by Alice’s cheerful presence on campus. She is an important member of the Hotchkiss community.”

Instructor in French Wendy Levithan Receives Endowed Teaching Chair

N AN ALL-SCHOOL MEETING ON JAN. 31,

Instructor in French Wendy Levithan P’23 was awarded The Edgar M. Cullman Teaching Chair, which recognizes faculty members for outstanding teaching and commitment to academic life. Merrilee Mardon, associate head of school, dean of faculty, and instructor in economics, presented the chair, which was established in 1992 by Joseph F. Cullman ’31, in honor of his brother, Edgar M. Cullman ’36. Levithan came to Lakeville in the fall of 1998 to teach French, having completed her master’s in French literature at Indiana University-Bloomington. During her years at Hotchkiss, Levithan has served on a wide array of committees, including a curriculum review committee, a dress code committee, and the gender issues committee, among others. She has been a proponent and supporter of the Independent Schools Gender Project (ISGP). Levithan has been a key supporter of innovation and change at the School. She collaborated with her colleagues to revamp the French curriculum to include a more diverse array of voices and experiences. Along with her colleagues, she has supported broader curriculum change in the languages department to improve the cultural competencies of all our community members. Levithan was an early champion and key visionary in developing the Quebec immersion program, and she also designed and co-led two School trips to Morocco with fellow Instructor in French Sarinda Wilson P’14,’17. Wilson noted Levithan “can be self-deprecating, but I’ve found her to be one of the most articulate and clear thinkers. She has a really strong sense of sang-froid — she keeps her calm, she knows how to take time to consider an issue, thinks carefully, then acts.” For the past three years, Levithan has chaired the Classical and Modern Languages Department. One of Levithan’s early challenges as department head was the reimagining of the defunct Language Lab, which was brand new when she started in 1998 and has been refurbished as the Language and Culture Center. She is currently leading the department in post-advanced placement curriculum design, and shaping her department’s commitment to a curriculum that helps students develop cross-cultural competency.

PH OTO: M A RG A R E T S ZU B R A

Tremaine Art Gallery’s Oldest Volunteer Turns 100

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

MLK Day Speaker Annika Lescott ’06 Encourages Students to

Learn the Power of Their Own Voice S TO R Y B Y R O B E R TA J E N C K E S • P H OT O S B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N

NNIKA LESCOTT ’06 FELT THE

safety of her world rocked when, as a 12-year-old in a Brooklyn school, she witnessed the horror of the Twin Towers burning on 9/11/2001. For long afterwards, Lescott, now the senior advisor for finance at the New York City Housing Authority, felt overwhelmed by fear. “The days and months that followed were a blur,” Lescott said in her keynote address to the Hotchkiss community on Jan. 19. When her parents drove her over the bridge from Brooklyn into New York City for Saturday classes at Prep for Prep, “My anxiety and my fear rode next to me.” But, she learned, “Each time I faced my fears, it got easier.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about fear, too, she said. “One thing that we don’t often mention when we tell the stories of these great men, women, and gender non-conforming individuals that have changed history is their innate humanity,” she told her audience. King, the influential minister and activist and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was “like you and me … the recipe for each human is the same,” she said. “He faced constant retribution and was attacked by dogs, sprayed with fire hoses, jailed in Birmingham, his life and that of his family were constantly threatened.” Dr. King spoke about fear in this quote, she said: “First we must unflinchingly face our fears and honestly ask ourselves, ‘Why are we afraid?’ This confrontation will, to some measure, grant us power ... for the more we attempt to ignore and repress our fears, the more we multiply our inner conflicts ... Lescott chose to attend Hotchkiss through the Prep for Prep Program. “Looking back,” she says, “that decision 12

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“First we must unflinchingly face our fears and honestly ask ourselves, ‘Why are we afraid?’” ••• ANNIKA LESCOTT ’06

was my way of confronting fear, advocating for myself, and prioritizing self-care. At Hotchkiss I found myself, and I found a community without fear.” “I will be the first to admit, Hotchkiss was no utopia,” she said. When a popular student on campus posted insensitive content on Facebook, she responded. “At

the time, I didn’t have the right language, like micro-aggression or racially insensitive, but I used the language I had. I spoke up and learned the power of my own voice to advocate for myself and for others. You have a responsibility to each other and this community to add your voice to the dialogue,” she said. From Hotchkiss she took her voice and a strong desire to be an advocate for those who are powerless. The daughter of Trinidadian immigrants, Lescott received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina and her master’s degree from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Her career in government began when she was selected to be Presidential Management Fellow. She worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget, doing non-partisan housing policy analysis and providing strategic oversight into the $40-billion housing budget. “Public housing and other subsidized housing programs serve the most vulnerable American families,” she says. “These families are too busy working to make ends meet to be politically active. They also don’t have the political clout that money can afford. And still only one in four Americans who need housing subsidies receive them.” “I challenged myself to learn the perspective of these American families – they were from inner city and rural areas, black and white, but all economically disadvantaged. I wanted to ensure the policies I recommended truly supported them.” In those years in Washington, she worked as a civil servant under Presidents Obama and Trump. The transition between them was “one of the most difficult times of my life,” she said, adding that she considered quitting. But, she felt it was her duty to continue.

Clockwise, upper left: contemporary jazz violinist James Racine; BaHSA Co-Presidents LaJayzia Wright ’20 and Isaac Alicea ’20; students rock to a musical performance in Walker Auditorium, and learn a stepping routine in a student-led workshop.

From there, in her current position as senior advisor for finance for the New York City Housing Authority, she has, in some ways, returned home. She remains an active and engaged alumni volunteer for Hotchkiss, currently serving as a member of the Hotchkiss Alumni Association’s Board of Governors. Lescott was the first female keynote speaker the School has had for MLK Day. “Overall, I walked away from Lescott’s keynote with a message about the importance of facing one’s fears, finding common ground with those you don’t agree with, and in putting your whole self into what you do,

even when you ‘can’t see’ the results of your work immediately,” said Rachel Myers, director of diversity and inclusion and instructor in English. The theme chosen by BaHSA this year was “Keepin’ It Real.” Helping to set that tone, contemporary jazz violinist James Racine and accompanists performed prior to Lescott’s address. Racine is a faculty member at Kentucky Country Day School and the founder and executive director of the Blazin’ Strings Academy — a nonprofit after-school program for underserved youth in Louisville, KY.

Following Lescott’s address, musician Desmond Teague ’20, Kostia Howard ’20, and Sam Beutner ’20 performed “Alabama” by John Coltrane, who wrote the composition following the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four little girls. It is patterned upon the rhythms of Martin Luther King’s funeral eulogy in their memory. The following day, students participated in student and faculty-led workshops, ranging from dance yoga to pub-style trivia to conversations on the history of racism.

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

Hotchkiss Announces Two New Appointments NINETTE ENRIQUE ,

the School’s new chief advancement officer, officially began her tenure at Hotchkiss on February 3, 2020. As chief advancement officer, Enrique will lead the strategic and operational vision for the Alumni and Development Office. A key component of that vision will be an ambitious campaign, which will help the School meet its strategic priorities of expanding access and strengthening community life. In this role, Enrique will work closely with the Head of School, the Alumni and Development team, the Board of Trustees, alumni and parent volunteers, and faculty and staff to build upon Hotchkiss’s connections and inspire philanthropic investment in the School and its mission. An accomplished and respected advancement leader, Enrique comes to Hotchkiss from St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, CT, where she served as director of development for 17 years. Enrique oversaw key operational functions, including capital campaigns, major giving, annual giving, alumni and parent relations, development communications, planned giving, and prospect research. She has been praised for establishing a collaborative office culture that is both mission and resultsdriven. More than 81 percent of the total contributions received in St. Luke’s 91-year history were given during her 17-year tenure. Prior to joining St. Luke’s School, Enrique held advancement positions at both the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich and the East Asian Institute of Columbia University. Enrique notes, “A Hotchkiss alumnus said to me that Hotchkiss is about excellence. I completely agree. From the moment I walked on campus, the dynamism of the students and faculty was palpable. What an exciting concentration of minds and interests in a stunningly beautiful location. The alumni I have met are impressive and memorable in their wellroundedness, intellectual engagement, and volunteerism. I am thrilled to join the Hotchkiss community and combine my deep love of philanthropy and belief in the power of education to change the world.” Enrique holds a B.A. in English with minors in political science and Japanese studies from Williams College, where she also played field hockey and lacrosse. She completed her M.A. in history at Columbia University and earned an East Asian Institute Certificate from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

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HOPE REISINGER COBERA ’88

has been appointed chief communications officer, effective March 30, 2020. As chief communications officer, Cobera will be responsible for developing and executing an ambitious, forward-looking communications strategy to deepen Hotchkiss’s engagement with all of its constituents and support the School in achieving its strategic priorities. Her role will include oversight of Hotchkiss’s internal and external communications and publications, social media presence, website, leadership communications, and public profile. Cobera will work in close partnership with the head of school and stakeholders across the School and the community. Cobera joins Hotchkiss from her own communications consulting firm, through which she worked with a variety of corporate clients since 2017. Previously, she led client and internal communications for the wealth management division of the U.S. subsidiary of UBS, a multinational investment bank and financial services company. Throughout her career, Cobera has led communications strategy, driven marketing efforts, developed social media approaches, and coordinated crisis responses in a variety of roles at UBS, TIAA, and IBM. Cobera, a member of the Class of 1988, also brings the invaluable perspective of a Hotchkiss graduate. “I’m really excited to come back to campus to be part of writing the next chapter for our school,” said Cobera. “Hotchkiss is a special place. This is where I learned how to ask questions, how to think, how to reason, and how to channel curiosity into productive work. Hotchkiss is also where I made my very best friends. It will truly be a privilege to work with Craig, the Board, the faculty and staff — and the entire community of students, parents, and alumni — on shaping Hotchkiss for the future.” Cobera holds an A.B. in English from Columbia University and an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

SEEKING BETTER PATHS

True-Blue Bearcats Honey and Jed Nachman, Classes of 1990 and 1991, respectively, came to Lakeville from very different backgrounds. But at Hotchkiss, they found common ground. Now, their children — Olivia, an upper mid, and Carter, a prep — are following in their footsteps. B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N

Honey and Jed at Senior Dance in 1990

N 1987, MARJORIE “HONEY” TAYLOR

as a lower mid on a full scholarship. As a kid growing up in balmy Palm Beach, New England with its harsh winters might have been the last place she imagined she would end up attending high school. But her life took a turn when her father was diagnosed with colon cancer when she was only seven years old. Up until then, the family had lived comfortably. Her father co-owned a popular restaurant in Palm Beach, but shortly after he sold ARRIVED IN LAKEVILLE

the restaurant to launch a career in real estate, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Without medical coverage, all of the family’s income went toward his treatment. He managed to beat cancer the first time and was building a good business, but a few years later, the disease returned with a vengeance. He died when Honey was 11. By then, “We had no money left, and no family to help us,” says Honey. “My parents had sold our house in Palm Beach to pay the bills, and we rented an apartment in West Palm Beach, barely getting by with the help

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“I CAN NAME AT LEAST 10 HOTCHKISS TEACHERS WHO HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON ME, WHILE I CAN’T NAME A SINGLE COLLEGE PROFESSOR IN THE SAME WAY.”

of many incredible friends,” Honey recalls. One of those friends was her godfather, who enrolled her in Palm Beach Day School, where his children attended, and covered her tuition. She thrived there, and because so many of her peers went on to attend boarding school, she and her mother flew to New England to look at Andover, Hotchkiss, and St. Paul’s. “Hotchkiss was by far our favorite,” she recalls. “We applied for financial aid, and I was admitted with a full scholarship.” At that point, her mother was working at a retail job, making $18,000 a year. Her godfather continued to help by covering the costs of books, allowance, and transportation for Honey back and forth between Lakeville and Florida. Still, “As an only child, it was a big deal for me to leave home,” she says. “I now recognize how incredibly selfless my mother was to let me leave her all alone to pursue an education that frankly didn’t even exist where we lived. She wanted the best for me and believed that a Hotchkiss education would give me the wings to grow that I might not have had otherwise,” Honey told parents in an address to new parents and students 16

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Honey’s Hotchkiss planner

during Orientation Week last fall. When she arrived at Hotchkiss, it was a shock, culturally and academically. Having never seen snow, let alone experienced a northeast winter, she had packed all the wrong clothes. While all the other kids had kitted out their dorms with matching bedspreads, pillows, bean bag chairs, tapestries, and posters, Honey’s dorm room walls were woefully bare. “I arrived with one trunk with a few skirts, a couple pairs of flats, some blouses, a couple of sweaters, a comforter, pillow and sheets, and that was about it,” recalls Honey. Caroline Keresey Price ’89, a friend of

Honey’s from Palm Beach Day School, took her under her wing and helped her navigate boarding school life. She knew Honey’s situation at home and made her feel like she belonged at Hotchkiss just as much as anyone else. Her instructors, too, helped her find her place and set her on a successful academic path. “I can name at least 10 Hotchkiss teachers who had a profound impact on me, while I can’t name a single college professor in the same way,” Honey says. “At Hotchkiss, Robert Barker, then an instructor in history, was my advisor and

he was so warm and caring; he helped me lighten the pressure I put on myself. I felt every bit of the burden of being a full-scholarship student and not wanting to disappoint everyone who had helped me get to Hotchkiss. I was determined to work hard and take advantage of everything Hotchkiss had to offer. I was on the soccer and tennis teams, a head tour guide, co-president of SOCO (Social Committee), business manager of the Record and an editor of the Misch.” When she was a senior, she met Joseph “Jed” Nachman, then an upper mid. Jed had strong family connections to the school: His father, Joseph “Jody” Nachman, graduated in 1964, and his brother, William, “Billy,” was a member of the Class of 1993. They started out as friends, but they soon became inseparable. The words Honey wrote in her Misch senior blurb to Jed proved prophetic: “You have given me the best senior year possible. We have more memories than I could ever imagine…..I LOVE YOU so very much, hold on to everything we have, and who knows, someday we may return to Hotchkis as husband and wife.” Their relationship continued longdistance throughout college: she at Vanderbilt, where she studied communications with a minor in English, and Jed at the University of ColoradoBoulder, where he majored in economics and finance. After graduating from college, Jed landed a job in San Francisco and Honey in New York City. With so much distance between them, it seemed likely they might drift apart, but then things quickly got serious. “We had a pact that if either of us was becoming serious with someone else, we would let each other know about it,” recalls Jed. “Well, Honey called me one day and told me she was going to visit the family of someone she was dating. I was living in San Francisco at the time, and she was in New York. I told her not to go on the weekend. I quit my job a few months later and moved to New York, and the rest is history.” They married in 2000 with a huge contingent of Bearcats in attendance. After 9/11, the couple moved to D.C, then to the Bay Area, where Jed is now chief operating officer of Yelp and Honey

is a realtor in Marin County. When they started a family, they kept their strong connections to Hotchkiss. Aside from being involved parents and alumni, they regularly volunteer by hosting admission receptions on the West Coast, supporting students through the Nachman Family Scholarship Fund, and by contributing each year to The Hotchkiss Fund. “The fact that I had a full financial package when I was a student and now we’re able to support Hotchkiss’s goal to increase financial aid to deserving applicants and students, is huge to me. I wish my parents were alive to see that we are paying it forward all these years later,” says Honey. Jed is elated that their kids are carrying on a family tradition. “I think it’s great and pretty unique that all four of us have that shared Hotchkiss experience; it’s rare to have an entire family attend the same school, especially one that is so transformational.” The couple have also been active advocates for Hotchkiss on the West Coast. “I think there’s been an uptick in students from the Bay area looking to attend boarding schools. It used to be that students graduated from Hotchkiss went to East Coast colleges and pursued careers on the East Coast, but in the Bay Area, we’re seeing a generational thing, where Hotchkiss parents have settled in the area and are looking to have their kids

have the same boarding school experience they had,” Jed says. For Jed and Honey, Hotchkiss will always have a special place in their hearts, and not only because they met there. “I would not be who I am today if I had stayed in West Palm Beach,” says Honey. “Most obviously I would not have met Jed, but also I would not have been enlightened and educated by some of the best teachers in the country. We stay involved because we both feel lucky to have received the education that our children are now receiving.” As true-blue Bearcats, they’ve watched the School change over the years. “To be honest, Hotchkiss today is much kinder and gentler than it was when I walked through those halls. It was a little more sink-or-swim in my day. Don’t get me wrong –– I am grateful for the grit and perseverance that it took to graduate from Hotchkiss, but as a parent, I am also grateful to the Class of 1964 and its contribution to create the Teaching and Learning Center. I would have benefitted from the center in a big way,” says Honey. As for their children,“Olivia has just returned from a semester at the Island School in Eleuthera, The Bahamas, where she researched marine life and studied sustainability and the effects of tourism on its natural habitat. “The combination of the Hotchkiss academic rigor and 100 days of experiential learning with no technology, scuba certification, completing a halfmarathon, and a 48-hour solo on a remote island makes for a pretty robust high school education,” Honey says. Carter, a prep, lives in Coy, the same dorm that Jed, and his father before him, stayed in. “Everything is the same when I return to campus — the blinking red light, the lake, the woods,” says Jed. “It even smells the same to me when I walk into Coy. Maybe it’s the wood combined with the dirty gym clothes,” he jokes. When Honey returns to Lakeville, she never misses an opportunity to walk in the woods, and she still get butterflies when she pulls through Scoville Gate. “It’s just surreal for me to walk through the halls now with my own kids and see the school from a parent’s perspective.”

Honey and Jed as students at Hotchkiss WINTER 2020

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

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An Alumnus and His Son Share the Gift of Service Isaac Alicea ’20 Follows in the Footsteps of His Father, Andre “Dre” Alicea ’93

S TO R Y B Y R O B E R TA J E N C K E S P H OTO S B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N

“We are a family of faith, and I look forward to seeing how Isaac will continue to pour into others as he gets older.” ••• ANDRE “DRE” ALICEA ’93

HEN ISAAC ALICEA ’20 STEPPED UP

to become the director of a student program serving elementary school students of color last fall, he had only to look to his father, Andre “Dre” Alicea ’93, for inspiration. In 2006, Dre joined the board of Men To Men Mentoring, Inc. in Wayne, PA, “to be a positive force in the lives of young men.” The nonprofit’s mission is “to revitalize our communities, one at a time, by empowering men to reach their full potential as leaders in their home, society and workplace,” Dre says. Nearly 15 years later, Men To Men is still going strong, sponsoring events such as a men’s breakfast, summer camping trip, and a winter weekend. The success of the program has had a profound impact on Isaac. “From a very early age, Isaac was taught to appreciate the things that we had and to help others in any way possible,” Dre says. “As a member of our Men To Men Mentoring Program, Isaac spent many weekends partnering with a local church to help feed and clothe the homeless. I believe that this experience showed him how vulnerable we all really are. As part of our annual camping trips, he saw that we would bring young men who didn’t have fathers at home. He noticed how important it was to make an investment of time into someone’s life. We are a family of faith, and I look forward to seeing how Isaac will continue to pour into others as he gets older.” Dre’s interest in community involvement dates back to his years in Lakeville. “I attended Hotchkiss as a member of the Albert G. Oliver Program (currently called Oliver Scholars Program), a NYC non-profit that matched high-achieving

African American and Latino students with independent boarding and day schools. I was able to attend Hotchkiss on a full scholarship, and my life was fundamentally changed. I was the first member of my family to attend college, and it allowed me to provide a better life for my children. Without the Oliver Program, I would have never known about schools like Hotchkiss. “The impact that a non-profit organization can have on the life of a young adult was something that I learned firsthand. One of the unique requirements of the Oliver Program was that each year we were required to perform community service. While we were the recipients of the generosity of the Oliver Program, they taught us how to pay it forward and help others where we are able to do so.” Dre and his wife, Corie, and their children: sons Isaac ’20 and Isaiah and daughter Liliana ’18, live in King of Prussia, PA; he is an information technology professional specializing in systems engineering. At Hotchkiss, Isaac, who is also a scholarship student, carries on his father’s legacy of serving others. Last year, he joined a mentoring program run by the Northeast Community Center in Millerton, NY, that brings students from the St. Luke’s Society, and Café and MoCaH – the affinity groups at Hotchkiss for students of color – to the Webatuck School in Amenia, where they work with students of color in grades foursix once a week. “I decided to join the program because I was recovering from a shoulder injury that I suffered during the football season which had limited my participation for the WINTER 2020

PH OTO: C A RO L INE KENN Y-B U RCHFIEL D ’ 7 7. P ’08,’ 10,’ 18

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

wrestling team. I had set a goal to become more involved in community service that year and saw the program as the perfect opportunity to get out of the trainer’s office and achieve the goals I set for myself,” he says. “In the beginning, there were no initial goals other than to introduce the idea to the younger kids that people who looked like them could be successful in the educational system.” Isaac enjoyed the experience, and when he became the director of the program this year, he began to explore ways to improve it. “My experience growing up through the Men To Men program was the chief inspiration for introducing a curriculum to the mentorship program this year. I wanted to be able to share the lessons I learned growing up with the Webatuck kids, who wouldn’t have the opportunity otherwise,” he says. “Teaching these kids how they should carry themselves and equipping them with a moral code will not only help them overcome some of their daily insecurities but will also be fruitful for the communities that they live in.” Isaac designed activities that help kids build an appreciation of service, kindness, and integrity. He regularly does a “sympathy vs. 20

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empathy” exercise with the young children, where he describes a situation they might observe or experience one day and then asks them to think about how they might respond. One recent scenario went like this: “Summer is so close that the air smells of fun and freedom. But standing between you and your freedom is the Putnam County annual ballet performance. After learning the steps and practicing all spring, you could do the dance in your sleep. When the day of the performance comes, you find yourself standing backstage, peeking through the curtain to see that the whole town has come. When it comes time to perform, you overcome your nerves and move in sync with the beat and melody of the song. But as you began your favorite move, one that you had practiced and nailed countless times, you stumble and fall to the floor. The crowd lets out a unified gasp. You struggle to get back up to continue your dance and find the beat once again. Before you are able to, the song ends, and your performance has ended… How would you feel in this situation? As a friend, how would you comfort a friend after his performance?” Isaac’s creative leadership has not gone unnoticed. Hotchkiss Coordinator of Volunteer Programs, Caroline Kenny-

“Teaching these kids how they should carry themselves and equipping them with a moral code will not only help them overcome some of their daily insecurities but will also be fruitful for the communities that they live in.” ••• ISAAC ALICEA ’20

Burchfield ’77, P’08,’10,’18 says Isaac has infused more purpose into the program. “Our first year we focused on STEM activities, but Isaac has designed a more directed curriculum to help students develop skills to cope with the challenges of growing up, especially when you look or feel different from others,” she says. Kathryn Atkins, youth program coordinator for the Northeast Community Center, can attest to the program’s growing success. “Isaac’s brought such thoughtful energy to this program. He has had great experience in a mentoring program with his father, and he wanted to bring that here.” While the kids benefit greatly from it, Isaac and the other participating Hotchkiss students have found mentoring very rewarding. Helping to guide the younger children brings a sense of personal enrichment, and for Isaac a deeper connection to his faith. “I truly believe in Proverbs 27:17, as it states, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another,’” he says.

PH OTO:

In addition to designing a mentoring program, Alicea celebrated Black History Month by creating an interactive barbershop installation in Main Building, where students could sit in one of three barber chairs and reflect on artwork by alumni of color. “Barbershops serve a unique role in the African American community. They are a place where members of the community gather to talk about sports, politics, neighborhood issues, and many other relevant topics. They serve as a safe space for many in the community, where we are free to connect, empathize, and learn,” Alicea said in his artist’s statement. “One essential theme of the exhibit is the concept of mirrors and reflections. At

each station in a barbershop, a mirror is used as a tool for the barbers to evaluate their work. When we look into mirrors, we see reflections of ourselves. Likewise, when we study African American history, we are truly analyzing American history. By substituting the mirrors in this exhibit for the artwork of African American alumni, we are given the opportunity to experience the work as reflections of the Hotchkiss community. When members of the community look into these pieces, they are reminded that all alumni, including those of color, are instrumental in laying the foundation of what Hotchkiss is today. “What started as a servile occupation, African Americans barbershops grew into entrepreneurial ventures. Segregation in

the first half of the 20th century meant Black barbershops became community safe havens where people could find mentorship, discuss politics, and establish an identity that would help promote Civil Rights activism. “By bringing a piece of my culture to Hotchkiss, I hope to create a tradition that inspires my peers to have pride in their own identity. With the exhibit, students will be exposed to an aspect of culture that may be familiar or completely foreign to them and will motivate them to do their own research about black history. By turning the campus into my canvas, I hope to leave a legacy that will inspire the community to embrace their identity.”

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A MEDITATION ON THE CONTINUITY OF LIFE J O H N D R E G E R, I N S T R U C T O R I N F R E N C H A N D L AT I N,

“G

RANDFATHER DIES, FATHER DIES, SON DIES.”

This, believe it or not, was the answer given by a Zen monk to a wealthy man asking for a motto aimed at celebrating and fostering prosperity in his home. When the wealthy man objected, the monk answered simply that if his son or grandson should die before him, then untold suffering would be brought upon his home and family. And so, as long as the natural sequence of life and death were maintained, then he should be satisfied with whatever else might come to him. This idea was shared with me by my friend Michael Lipson, whose son Asher Lipson, Class of 2007, died five years ago today of a rare cancerous sarcoma. Asher’s memorial service was held here in the Hotchkiss chapel, and I was honored that his parents were here when I first gave the talk, since this talk is dedicated to Asher’s memory. If you know who I am it is probably as a teacher of French. But I also teach Latin, having retained a lifelong fascination with the Greeks and Romans. So, at the precocious age of 45, I began a Ph.D. in Classics at the City University of

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New York in 2012. My favorite professor at CUNY has been Professor Jinyo Kim, a specialist in Homer. I participated in two of her seminars, first on the Odyssey, then on the Iliad. At the first meeting of the Odyssey seminar, she asked which of the people in the class preferred the Iliad to the Odyssey. Most of the hands, including my own, went up. Gently nodding her head, she didn’t share her own opinion or comment directly on that of the group. But she told us that, in her view, whereas the Iliad is the supreme tragic epic, the Odyssey was not so much “comic” as much as it was, as she put it, “a meditation on the continuity of life” in contrast to the Iliad, where the inevitability of death is central. She also talked about how sophisticated and complex a work of literature the Odyssey is, and the variety of techniques Homer uses in telling the story. Among the techniques mentioned was “retardation of the plot.” I didn’t quite know what she meant at the time, but it was intriguing enough to leave me coming away from that first meeting with the question of what role “retardation of the plot” might play in a meditation on the continuity of life.

Even if you haven’t read the Odyssey, you may know its premise: Odysseus has been away from home for 20 years, ten of them at war, and then ten of them trying to get home. His life has been put on hold for a long time, so the notion of retardation, of delay, is there even before the story starts. Now, who can tell me in what chapter or “book” as people in the Classics business call them, Odysseus first appears? Book V. So not only is the story based on a life in a state of retardation, but the appearance of the main character, one of the most famous in world literature, does not occur until you’ve read quite a bit of it. Next question: where is Odysseus when we first see him? On Kalypso’s island. At the very beginning of Book V, Athena goes to Zeus and says that he should help Odysseus finally get home, that he has suffered enough. Zeus agrees, and sends Hermes to summon him home. When Hermes gets to Ogygia, Kalypso’s island, he goes to her lair looking for Odysseus, but he is not there, he is, we are told he is “επ᾽ἀκτῆς κλαιομενος” “On a promontory weeping ...” by the sea. But here’s a question: why would Hermes need to go ask Kalypso where Odysseus is? He’s a god, he doesn’t have to go through

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

D E L I V E R E D T H E F O L L O W I N G A D D R E S S D U R I N G C H A P E L L A S T FA L L .

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anyone and he knows full well where to find him. But that’s exactly what he does, and when he finally finds him, we hear again that he is on a promontory—”επ᾽ἀκτῆς, the Greek is the same —” racking his soul and weeping” by the sea. So even after the delayed appearance of the main character for the first four chapters, when we are told we are going to finally see him, Homer extends the delay just a little longer, playing on our own desire to see the famous Odysseus, who is himself in such a state of longing to get home that he is weeping. Here, then you have another instance of retarding the plot, a device Homer uses time and again to get us to the point when Odysseus finally arrives home. Right around the beginning of Professor Kim’s course, I received a somewhat surprising phone call. My wife was pregnant with our second child, and the call was from the nurse midwife at the local hospital. This was a twofold surprise, first because at that point we still used our land line regularly, but even more so since I was not the one who would be giving birth. So, I told her to try our home number, and hung up. But despite my plans to stay longer at my office, for the next 15 minutes or so I had a feeling that something was up, so I went home. When I got there, Rachel was coming downstairs crying; the midwife had told her, in a very maladroit way, that the genetic screening we had had done early on in the pregnancy showed a very high likelihood of genetic anomaly in the fetus. I should explain here that genetic testing is typically offered to prospective parents beyond a certain age, because of an increased likelihood of genetic anomalies in children of older parents, which at 36 and 46 was the case for both of us. I did recall having the testing done, but I have to admit that, when asked if we were interested in it, my attitude in responding was a little like I’d been asked if I wanted fries with my burger; there was no mention of any specific risk, as far as I recall; it was just to “make sure everything was ok,” given our respective ages. I never imagined anything would come of it. Of the many things I was to learn in this

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process, one was that “quad screening,” as it is called, only deals with probabilities. You find out that something might be wrong, but you don’t know for sure, and you don’t know what the problem might be. So, after finding out that we had a one in two likelihood of an anomaly — the highest possible odds — we underwent genetic counseling, which only served to exacerbate our fears. For example, there is an anomaly that causes Tay-Sachs disease, which in some cases leads to the child living for only two to three years, and suffering enormously in the process. Moreover, it only occurs in Ashkenazi Jews, which was the case on my wife’s side. It is extremely unlikely, but still possible. The only way to get a certain diagnosis is amniocentesis, a process whereby a long needle is inserted into the mother’s belly to extract a small amount of fluid from the amniotic sac surrounding the fetus. We had this done shortly before we went on a trip to Mexico we had planned months earlier, before we even knew Rachel was pregnant. We hesitated about even going, but decided to do so, agreeing that we would ask the doctor to give us the results after we got back. I don’t recall how much conjunction in time there was between the amnio and our discussions in Professor Kim’s seminar of another main character in the Odyssey, Penelope. But it’s hardly surprising that the sudden prominence of amniotic fluid in my imagination would direct my interest to the mother of the family. Some readers are understandably not enamored of Penelope as a character; the loyal wife waiting for

“It’s not her weaving but her unweaving that, symbolically, keeps life going.”

a husband off on his famous adventures, including numerous sexual escapades such as one with Kalypso that is the implied backdrop of the first four books. Penelope, by contrast, she doesn’t seem to do much. In fact, her main action consists in inaction, in stalling. As you may know, during Odysseus’ absence from Ithaka, other young men on the island have become suitors for Penelope’s hand in marriage. Penelope has explained to them that she can’t make a decision about which one of them to marry until she finishes something she is weaving. Early on we find out that she has been holding them off for three years, until one of them finally figures out that she has been unweaving each night what she had woven during the day in an effort to put off the day of decision. As a plot device, this seems a little ridiculous, especially for a book considered to be one of the great classics of world literature. But it does serve a number of purposes. First, it underscores the collective stupidity of the suitors, who are frequenting Odysseus’ home on a daily basis to feast on the food and wine stored up there. By the same token it shows their greed, since once Penelope makes a decision, their daily feasts will come to an end. But while this gets to the why of Penelope’s weaving and unweaving, to fully understand it, you need to think too of

what she is weaving: a funeral shroud for her father-in-law Laertes. In other words, she is not only staving off an unwanted marriage, she is staving off death. She is retarding the plot in order to maintain the continuity of her family’s life. And it is not her weaving but her unweaving that, symbolically, keeps life going. This pattern of action is even embedded into her name, which, although not quite a palindrome, is almost the same forward and back if you reverse the individual syllables: Pe-nelo-pe / Pe-lo-ne-pe. (If you think this is a coincidence, then I would encourage you to take Greek and study the Odyssey in the original, where, as Professor Kim pointed out to us, you will find this kind of word play on every page.) So, with lots on my mind, including Penelope, we left for Mexico after the amnio was done but before we had the results. But in one of those marriage-enhancing moments of miscommunication, we each thought that the other was going to contact the doctor to say we didn’t want the results until we got back. So, a few days into our trip I received a second strange phone call while we were on the beach, this one from my father-in-law. Now if the odds of the nurse midwife from the local hospital calling me were low, the odds of my father-in-law calling to chat were infinitesimal. As soon as I saw the number on my phone, I knew what the call was about. Since we had not apprised the doctor of our desire to wait until we got back to get any information, he had called my in-laws, asking them to contact us so we could get the results. So, after getting off the phone with her father, I handed it to Rachel, and she made the third and most dramatic call of this story. She greeted the doctor, then quietly listened to what he had to say. She echoed the essential bit of information “Trisomy 21,” the genetic anomaly in which a third copy of chromosome 21 appears in a person’s DNA, colloquially known as Down Syndrome. She listened a little more, said a couple of things I can’t remember, and ended the call. And

there, on a promontory beside the much resounding sea, we took our fill of tears. Up until that point the idea of having a child with a disability was still abstract. Now it was real. And so, we were to come home confronted by the need to reevaluate our decision to have a second child. Certainly, our concern over the cognitive impairment that characterizes DS was our greatest concern. They say children don’t come with a user’s manual, and this was clear to us in the challenges as well as the many joys of raising our first child. Would we even know what to do with a child with special needs? Moreover, the life of a person with DS is complicated by diminished cognitive functioning, and it

“Up until that point, the idea of having a child with a disability was still abstract. Now it was real.”

was sad to imagine our child confronted with a significant difficulty that most others do not have to surmount. But there is also the fact of parental narcissism. I think all parents in some way desire for their children to resemble them, and children with DS in many ways do not. The most obvious dissimilarity is physical, but the intellectual disparity seemed to be the most daunting. We live in a world that values intellect highly. We are, in fact, sitting in a space at an institution that makes intellectual prowess a condition of coming through its doors. Also, my wife and I put a lot of stock in brains. We had both gone to Harvard and found out on our first date that we had both won the senior thesis prize in the German

department (as did someone else in this room). When we got married, we semiconsciously assumed that our own children would have a similar education, and would be interested in things like languages, literature, and art in the same way that we are. All of these considerations added up to a need for us to at least reevaluate our decision to have a second child. We spent the remainder of the week trying to enjoy ourselves, which we did, but also absorbing the shock of the news. When we had the genetic testing done, we were not trying to screen for a child that we might choose not to have. But now we were thrust into the position of having to reconsider whether or not having the baby would be the right choice for us. And as I also mentioned, we were there with my family, who were, unsurprisingly, incredibly loving and supportive. But of the many, many reassuring things my family said to us, the words I remember the most came from my brother-in-law. He and my sister have struggled enormously with their son, who was born with a combination of disabilities that is truly unique, baffling the dozens of professionals whose help they have sought in addressing my nephew’s needs. Anyway, I had a moment alone with Carlos and we were quietly just letting things sink in, when he said to me, “There are many lives.” By this I took him to mean not just that no one life is more valid than another, which is true, but in its generality might obscure its more relevant corollary, namely, that lives not corresponding to our ideals of accomplishment, status, and wealth — the kinds of lives that you are all here to pursue — are in no way inferior to the ones that do. But in fact, I want to make an even stronger claim, the support for which necessitates a brief detour through the world of dreams with Dr. Freud. In coming back from Mexico, I was also coming back to the Odyssey, and to Penelope, who was, for me, beginning to emerge as the most interesting character in the book. I have already mentioned what she is weaving and why she is unweaving it. But to truly appreciate her importance one needs to consider the question of when she did her

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“I know what Patrick does for our family, and I believe he does it for his community too, and that the world is really better off for having people with DS in it.”

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

unweaving. That she does so at night is first of all, obvious. The suitors go home at night, and so she can undo her work in secret. But the fact that she unweaves at night points to a simple question: what happens at night? People sleep. What happens when they sleep? They dream. Now, what gets unwoven in dreams? Rationality. The laws of time, space and logic get thrown out the window, leaving us with images that are weird, irrational, bizarre, “retarded.” But as Freud demonstrated, the apparent irrationality of dreams is often illusory, that they are in fact “hyper-rational” and the images that arise in dreams often are literally packed with meaning. People often think that Freud’s theory amounted to a kind of one-to-one correspondence, that if you dream this it means that. But that’s not quite right. I’m sure all of you have had dreams in which we encounter people and sometimes things that are combinations: “It was my dead uncle Bob, but also my proctor from prep year, who was wearing my brother’s Nintendo t-shirt ...” Freud concluded that this particular phenomenon as “condensation,” which amounted to a kind of creative short-hand that could express certain things more economically than rational thought. Interestingly, the original German term for condensation is “Verdichtung,” a compound of the German word “Dicthung” which means “poetry.” Freud believed that, like poetry, dreams gave access to a part of ourselves that was closed off from rational, waking thought. In other words, what seems at first glance strange and incomprehensible is the product of a higher kind of thinking, a subtler form of weaving. What looks like a breakdown of reason is in fact a moment of creative insight. An apparent inferiority can mask a deeper superiority. Before my son Patrick’s birth in 2012, I had heard that families of people with disabilities often described them as a gift. And to be honest, this struck me as a way to put a happy face on a disappointment. It was hard for me to see what might be positive, not to mention a gift, about having a child with a disability, other than the need for the family to pull together to confront a challenge. But I can tell you now

with certainty that there is more. I could cite several things to support that claim, but I will limit myself to one. Despite being Catholic, we begin every dinner in our home with a kind of hippy grace that my older son brought home from his time at the Rudolf Steiner preschool. “Earth who gives ...” And at the end we join hands and say a blessing. Patrick usually leads us in it, using a combination of speech and sign language.

This has become the most important ritual in our family. But what’s interesting about Patrick is his heightened awareness of the importance of this moment. Although he doesn’t do it as often as he used to, for years he would interrupt dinner for us to hold hands again and say the last line of the blessing; and not just once, but sometimes three or four times. And he still will ask that we say it if any of us are around the table, sometimes even if we are

not eating. On a practical level this does retard our progress through our meals. But on a deeper level, Patrick’s desire to repeat this act, one that might devolve into an empty gesture for more “normal” people, raises its significance more fully into our awareness. And in the case of our family, this retardation of progress on one level has served to weave us together on a much more fundamental one. The first adult in the Hotchkiss community with whom Patrick spent any significant amount of time is my language department colleague Ana Hermoso, who once babysat him for an afternoon. When we came by her house afterwards to pick him up, I could see that, as Ana does with everything, she got it. She got Patrick’s unfiltered affectionateness and enthusiasm for life and, which expressed itself especially in his repeatedly giving kisses to her dog Pepsi. The afternoon that Ana spent with Patrick was five years ago was during Asher’s memorial service, which was an extended testimony to Asher’s brilliance, creativity, and stomach-splitting sense of humor. But one anecdote that has stayed with me and that I would like to share was told by his mother, Holly. If I recall it correctly, she said that not too long before his death, Asher was still undergoing chemotherapy as a palliative measure. One day they were getting ready for his appointment and Asher was late. Holly went out to the car to wait for him, and she was mad about his being dilatory. “No wedding without the bride,” Asher responded as he got into the car. After my talk on Thursday, his father told me another story about Asher’s final days. They were sitting together at the hospital with tubes connected directly to Asher’s tumors emitting a froth yellow fluid. His father remarked that it looked like beer. Asher then said, “Yeah right, cancer beer. Drink cancer beer; live, a little.” Now I have nothing against the photos over in the MAC of former Hotchkiss athletic stars who went on to play division one sports. I was as tickled as anyone when, during the 2016 NCAA tournament, Charles Barkley referred to Makai Mason, Class of 2014, as a “baaaad little man.” But

if you are looking for images of heroism, I would suggest that you need look no farther than the example of a brilliant 25-year-old Harvard grad laughing and making others laugh in the face of his own death and very real suffering. But what is the style, the distinguishing characteristic, of Odysseus’ heroism? Traditionally it is his cleverness that sets him apart, his ability to deceive his adversaries and find his way through the most difficult of situations. But I want to suggest here that something else sets him apart, namely his tears. When we see Odysseus weeping on the shore of Ogygia, he is not trying to escape some horrible prison. In fact, he has been through countless trials, and is now living a “perfect” life with a goddess whom he acknowledges to be more beautiful than his wife, and who has offered to make him immortal so that he can stay with her there forever. But by the time we get to him at the beginning of Book V, he has seen the hollowness of this perfection and wants to get back to his real life. He wants to get home. By contrast, the tears we shed on that beach in Mexico were, if not un-heroic, un-Odyssean. The life we had woven for ourselves in our imaginations — with smart-like-us children who would go to all the right schools and hold forth wittily on various topics in various languages — was being unraveled, unwoven. Our expectations of perfection, or our version of it at least, were being undone. We were crying out of fear of a flawed future and the dangers we imagined it would entail, whereas Odysseus longed for his life as it was, with all its flaws, and with all the dangers he would encounter getting back to it. The dramatic pinnacle of the Odyssey comes when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, wins a contest arranged by Penelope to see who is strong enough to bend and string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through the hole of 12 axe heads stood upright on a table. But of greater interest to me is the denouement, less than 100 lines before the end, when the families of the suitors decide to try to take revenge on Odysseus and Telemachus. In getting ready

to defend themselves, Odysseus exhorts Telemachus to fight bravely and to make him proud; Telemachus in turn responds enthusiastically that he is ready to do so. There too is Laertes, the grandfather, who in response to their exchange proclaims: “What a day this is for me, dear gods, indeed I am very happy ἦ μάλα χαίρω. My son and grandson υἱὸς υἱονὸς τʹ, are quarreling over who is the bravest.” One could read this as a moment of macho chest thumping, or even “toxic masculinity.” But the potential for violence is quickly defused when Athena intervenes and tells them all to make peace. And remember too that this moment, in which grandfather, father, and son are reunited, was made possible by Penelope’s weaving and unweaving of her father-in-law’s funeral shroud, her retardation of death in the service of the continuity of life. So why am I telling you all this? Trisomy-21 occurs in approximately 1 in 800 pregnancies. There are 600 of you, and while some of you will choose not to have children, many of those who do will choose to have more than one child. You also belong to a demographic group that will postpone having children in order to pursue your careers. So, the odds are that one or two of you will get this news one day. And you will have the option of not having that child. Now as I said, I don’t just believe, I know what Patrick does for our family, and I believe he does it for his community too, and that the world is really better off for having people with DS in it. But at the same time, I can’t stand here and say that I don’t think you should have a choice in the matter. In fact, I believe that our having the choice allowed us to welcome Patrick into the world as joyously as we did. But if some day you do get this news, there are two things I would say. First, there are many lives, no one more valid than any other. And second, as the son of my father and the father of my son — of both my sons — I will say this: ἦ μάλα χαίρω Indeed I am very happy.

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From Studying the Human Genome to

CREATING A WORLD-CLASS

WIN E S T O R Y B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N â&#x20AC;¢ P H O T O S B Y M AT T M O R R I S

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Frederick Ammons ’94 had no idea he would become a wine grower in Napa Valley when he was an undergraduate studying molecular biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. But a proclivity toward working outdoors and a love of science piqued his interest in the industry. A fifth-generation Coloradoan, Ammons was 14 years old when he started his own business selling hay on his family’s farm outside of Denver. Ammons and his sisters — Virginia, Class of 1994, and Mary Cloud, Class of 1997 — raised sheep and competed in 4-H shows. Early on, Ammons developed an appreciation for the importance of the soil in cultivating crops, which would set the foundation for his career. “I really came full circle, returning back to the land,” said Ammons, who, since 2013, has been the winegrower at Rudd Estate, a 46-acre estate in Napa Valley. At Hotchkiss, Ammons took an interest in biology and chemistry, which deepened under the tutelage of Instructor of Biology James Morrill. At the University of Colorado Boulder, where he earned a degree in biology, he focused on studying the human genome.

As an undergraduate, he spent most of his time holed up in the windowless basements of the laboratory buildings. “While I loved the concept of primary research, I missed the outdoors, that connection to the seasons, and just the physical work itself, the reward you feel after you’ve finished building a fence or a haystack,” he said. He soon figured out a way to merge his two passions. “I bought my first and only issue of Wine Spectator, went to a liquor store and tried to find wines that scored high, and picked out what was my first bottle of wine,” he said. Around the same time, he remembered that a Hotchkiss classmate, Ben Wilkerson, had an uncle who owned a small winery in California. “I recalled him telling me that he hired people during the crush season, when grapes are harvested, and I asked if I could work there

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after graduating from college in 1998. I started in August and worked through harvest. I was exposed to winemaking; but more importantly, I learned it was truly a craft, and I decided that I needed to pursue an education in it.” Ammons enrolled at the University of Bordeaux’s Institute of Oenologie (Vine and Wine Science) and became one of a handful of Americans, at that time, to earn a master’s degree in winemaking. When he was in France, Ammons worked at various vineyards, including Château Boutisse and Château Pape Clément, and studied the influences of seasonal variations on vintage and terroir. When he returned to the States, he headed for Napa. He worked at a number of vineyards, including the Napa Valley Reserve, Opus One Winery, and Seavey Vineyard, before coming to Rudd in 2013. Today, Ammons, his French-born wife, Marie Laure, and their two children Louis, 11, and Margaux, 13, live in Calistoga in northern Napa. Marie-Laure also holds degrees in winemaking from Burgundy and Bordeaux Universities. She works for Melka Estate, which has vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. Ammons is quick to point out that he is not a grape grower, a title often given to those in the wine industry whose sole focus is to cultivate and harvest grapes. He is a wine grower, which includes a broader knowledge of agricultural practices, the environment, varietals –– virtually every aspect of the wine making process. “It sounds obvious, but truly great wines are made in the vineyard, not in the winery; it’s an agricultural endeavor that begins with the soil,” said Ammons. Rudd Estate is located in Oakville appellation, a narrow slice of land that runs through the Napa and is known for producing grapes for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. From the rocky, red soils of Rudd’s vineyards come grapes for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Rudd also has vines on 12 acres at a 1600-foot elevation in the Mount Veeder appellation that produce grapes for white varietals including Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Sauvignon Gris in addition to the classic reds (Cabernet 30

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Ammons has been a wine grower at Rudd Estate since 2013.

Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot). Producing a top wine has become more challenging with ever-growing competition among wineries in Napa and Sonoma — each is home to more than 400 wineries, many of which produce internationally heralded wines. “In farming, there’s a tendency to

always look over the fence at what your neighbor is doing, but I’m trying to look more globally, at what growers are doing in France and Italy,” Ammons said. Recently, he removed eight acres of Malbec and replaced them with field selections of Cabernet, which in years to come, will produce grape varieties

Producing a top wine has become more challenging with ever-growing competition among wineries in Napa and Sonoma — each is home to more than 400 wineries, many of which produce internationally heralded wines.

Winemaking tools include barrel fermentation, stainless steel fermentation, and concrete tanks.

that better express the terroir, or the characteristics of the land, which is essential in creating a world-class vineyard. Climate change is yet another concern. So far, Rudd has been spared from the wildfires that have ravaged parts of northern California over the past few years. “I do feel lucky that we are close to the Bay, because it has a cooling influence, creating huge buffering effects when its extremely hot,” he said. Part of the replanting decision was to move to more drought-tolerant rootstalks. “I think that excessively irrigating vines is not the best use of a valuable resource. Besides, dry farmed vineyards are more expressive of the site,” he said. To wean the older vines from irrigation and help manage the evoprative demand on hot days, Ammons installed misters to cool the air and increase the humidity around the vine canopy during heat spikes. This uses less than 1/15th as much water as

The 20,000 square feet of caves at Rudd Estate is where the wine’s texture is refined, and natural tannins work at their own speed to refine the characteristics of the terroir.

irrigating and does not “short circuit” the vine’s interaction with the soil. Since he has been at Rudd, Ammons has helped remodel and re-engineer the winery, built a new wine growing team and a company culture, obtained organic certification, and developed a strategic plan for the next decade. He also likes to kick back with a nice glass of wine, which he likes to think of as nourishment for the body and soul. “My first chemistry instructor at Bordeaux taught us that wine is the most hygienic drink in the world, and it’s nutritious. “While I was a little surprised to hear that from an analytical chemist, I was sure I was going to enjoy the class!” “I like that concept of wine as nutrition, but I also think of it as nutritious for the spirit: for conviviality, for communication, and for friendship,” he said. In the end, Ammons said, so much of what you think of as your favorite wine has more to do with timing and the moment you tasted it. He recalled his first visit to Burgundy, home to Romanee-Conti, considered one of the greatest wines of the world, as well as the most expensive of Burgundy. He and a colleague wound up in their underground cellar in the late afternoon, where they had to identify vintages from unlabeled bottles. It was just an incredible education and experience for Ammons, and a great introduction to Burgundy, where he returns every year for the annual tasting among producers in the Recontres Henri Jayer. Then, there are always surprises, like the $14 bottle of wine he purchased at a grocery store back in 2006 that blew him away. It was a 2004 Cabernet Franc from Chinon, France, Ammons recalled. “It was full of vitality, and intriguing in every way. It had everything I was looking for in a wine,” said Ammons. “This year marks my 22nd vintage and I never stop learning, exploring, and experimenting, which makes this such a great career.”

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Chenyu poses near a boutique Airbnb in Suzhou, China near the Tai Lake. M AGA ZINE

FINDING A SENSE OF BELONGING ON THE ROAD B Y C H E N Y U Z H E N G ’08 • P H OT O S B Y FA N C H A O M E N G

Chenyu Zheng ’08 graduated from Princeton with a B.A. in Economics and a certificate in Environmental Studies. She is a writer, speaker, and visual artist. She currently runs her own media studio in China, where she collaborates with conscious and sustainable lifestyle brands. She recently published a popular travel book in China, 606 Days Without a Lease, about her experience staying with different Airbnb hosts around the world, which led to her own journey of self-discovery.

N 2006, I FLEW OVER THE PACIFIC,

arriving at Hotchkiss with two suitcases, weighing 100 pounds combined. As I struggled to carry them up to the third floor of Wieler, my dorm supervisors, Dana Bohan and Meredith Hayes, lent me a hand. At that moment, I felt at home. Still, I felt quite different from my classmates. I grew up on a college campus in Wuhu, China, a small city nestled along the Yangtze River. When students greeted me with, “Hey, what’s up?,” I responded with the stiff phrases I had learned from my textbooks: “Fine, and you?” In the beginning, I could not understand half of what people were saying during Auditorium. I had to drop levels of science and math classes. “Why did I torture myself to come to this unknown world?” I wrote in my diary. But the community at Hotchkiss embraced me, and my self-imposed box gradually opened up. Upon my arrival, Murong, another student from China, rode a scooter to my room and brought snacks from Chinatown. I remember Instructor in

Chemistry Dr. Kirby ’s smile, the extra sessions that Ms. Perkins provided to help me catch up in English literature, and my classmates cheering for me at cross-country meets. Fast forward a decade later. In October 2015, I found myself carrying two suitcases again, flying from Shenzhen to Los Angeles to work for a tech startup in Venice Beach. Relocating to a mega city with over 60 neighborhoods, and having to search for a rental apartment and settle down right away, was daunting. The initial loneliness that I experienced at Hotchkiss returned, but only for a while. I was eager to explore the city, and I thought: Why not do that by staying at different people’s homes through Airbnb? It was not the first time that I had embraced the idea of a homestay. Back at Hotchkiss, the International Office matched me with a host family, Jean and Bill Gallup P’79,’80, GP’12. Jean worked in the Deans’ Wing at Hotchkiss, and Bill was a local physician. Hosting has long been part of their lives. For more than 30 years, they have welcomed more than 70 backpackers and international students. During my time with

A page from Chenyu’s travel journal, with sketches of different places she stayed

them, I was invited to partake in their daily routines, whether it was making bread from scratch or bird-watching. The Gallups taught me what it means to welcome strangers with a warm heart. Ever since, living with locals has been my preferred way to experience different cultures. A quick search on the Airbnb website turned into an hour research project. In the end, I came up with a long wish list that included a renowned photographer’s house near the Venice Canals, a pilot’s all-vegetarian household in Santa Monica, and a vintage camper off Abbot Kinney Avenue, a milelong stretch of popular shops, restaurants, and galleries located in the heart of Venice. From my office in Venice Beach, I ventured out, staying in Airbnbs in 15 neighborhoods. From Monday to Thursday, I stayed within a 15-minute commute to work. On weekends, I explored from Pasadena to Lincoln Heights. Each new place allowed me to experience the WINTER 2020

A treehouse nested on a 100-year-old oak tree in Burlingame, CA Chenyu strikes a tree pose in front of a 1955 Vintage Crown “canned ham” trailer in an artist compound in Joshua Tree, CA. The yoga pose represents the characteristics of of trees — courage, strength, and stability in the fact of uncertainties.

neighborhood and get to know my hosts by sharing coffee or breakfast with them. Their homes were more than a place to sleep; they were places that opened my eyes to alternative lifestyles. I slept in a treehouse, a trailer, and a yurt in locations that included the oceanfront and the desert. I absorbed every detail about the places I stayed: fridge magnets, family portraits, and bookshelves, all of which revealed the personality of the homeowner and from which I learned that a home is an expression of the soul. In Lincoln Heights, I stayed in an indoor treehouse with a fashion designer named Isa. Upon arrival, I was greeted with mint tea from her garden and cookies from Chinatown. Her home is both her working studio and living loft. She brought me to a “Burner” artist party, where I met people who have been going to Burning Man, a cultural festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, for the past decade. Half a year 34

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later, Isa gifted me a ticket to Burning Man and shared her survival guide to make my first experience go smoothly. Yet, some experiences were less positive. The four-year-old daughter of recently divorced parents said to me: “Leave. You are not welcome here.” Looking back, I am thankful for those moments that did not go well. That is the beauty of life: the ups and downs, empathy and conflict. I was experiencing a full spectrum of humanity. People often ask how I could afford it. I saved my salary for this life experiment. In addition, as a blogger in China, I had written a guide, “How to Use Airbnb,” with practical tips about how to pick neighborhoods and increase your acceptance rate as a foreign guest. I threw in my referral code. When summer travel kicked in, the guide went viral, and my Airbnb account accumulated enough credit to fund some of my stays. In April 2016, when it was time to

“I slept in a treehouse, a trailer, and a yurt in locations that included the oceanfront and the desert. I absorbed every detail about the places I stayed: fridge magnets, family portraits, and bookshelves, all of which revealed the personality of the homeowner and from which I learned that a home is an expression of the soul.”

move to Silicon Valley for a dream job, I started to question my decision, because I had fallen in love with Los Angeles. The kindness and sense of inclusion my hosts showed made me feel at home. I can name that secret staircase in Echo Park, explain the obscure snacks in Erewhon market, and describe the flourishing art scene in Chinatown. This journey changed the way I live. I treasure simple moments in life and became a minimalist, which means I’m down to one suitcase instead of two with only three sets of clothes and two pairs of shoes. At the

same time, my understanding of “home” has deepened: Home is not only a place to stay; it is also an extension of our soul and manifests who we are. Regardless of our race, language, or culture background, people who are curious and open-minded will find each other. The Internet makes it so much faster. A Buddhist belief is that similar hearts attract. In 2017, after 606 days of my urban nomad experiment, I was facing a difficult choice of staying to work in Silicon Valley or going back to China to ramp up my own media brand and

“This journey changed the way I live.” realize my dream of writing a book. I went back to visit my Hotchkiss host family, the Gallups. On my journeys, I kept a journal with notes from hosts that I carried in my backpack everyday. Jean wrote in my notebook: “You have grown to be an interesting, positive, energetic, and receptive young woman. Others writing in this journal often speak of these qualities and your passions that have become infectious. Please follow those passions — they will lead you to a happy and rewarding life.” On the Metro North ride from Wassaic to New York, I teared up reading Jean’s notes, and her words strengthened my courage to follow my heart. I moved back to China in October 2017 and spent another year and a half reflecting and writing 606 Days Without a Lease, which which is enjoying wide readership in China. The most rewarding part is the weekly notes and photos I receive from female Chinese travelers about the courage and strength they’ve gained. I feel grateful to Hotchkiss, where I learned the value of community, where I first learned that a home is not just a house, but a place where we feel a sense of belonging. Now when people ask me, “Where will you live?” I say: Where there are palm trees because to me palm trees carry my spirit. They are tall and bend with the wind, but they never fall. They represent resilience, strength, and grace.

Chenyu’s artwork and adventures can be found on her instagram at @chenyuz A page from Chenyu’s host book. On this page, Kitty, her host at a mushroom dome Airbnb in California, left a note along with a feather from her rooster Jasper. WINTER 2020

A Catastrophic Accident, Then the Gift of

B Y FAY V I N C E N T ’56, P ’85

This article was published in The New York Times on Dec. 7, 2019 and is reprinted with permission.

Late in the afternoon on Dec. 10, 1956, when I was an 18-year-old freshman at Williams College, my roommate locked me in my fourth-floor room as a prank. I went out on the ledge outside my dorm window to escape, fell off and broke my back. I was paralyzed, and my life was never the same. Each year when Dec. 10 looms I think back to that day of my personal infamy, when my life changed in a few seconds. The horror of the injury is tempered by the memories of those who helped my recovery and by the small joys of learning to walk again. But there is no way to ignore the effects of my youthful error of judgment. I spent about five months in the hospital after several operations to rebuild my back. I was paralyzed from midchest. I was encased in a Stryker frame so I could be rotated onto and off my back every two hours, day and night. It was a tough time. Slowly, with support from family and with fine care, I began to regain the use of my legs. I had been a football player, and my youth and fitness helped. When I was able to walk a bit with crutches I was sent home to continue physical therapy. 36

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Soon after I got home to New Haven, Conn., I was stunned one afternoon when the renowned Yale swimming coach, Bob Kiphuth, surprised me with a visit. I was the son of a former Yale football star, so I knew him slightly. I had once been a part of a small group of aspiring athletes who worked out briefly one summer under his direction. He was Bob to everyone. He was a small man with a leonine head, a booming voice and a commanding presence. He also had a ready smile, a sense of humor and a wide range of knowledge. In the swimming universe he was a worldfamous expert who had been the Yale coach since the 1917-18 season and pioneered the use of strength training in the sport. At Yale and in the Olympics he had stunning success with his methods. His Yale teams won more than 500 dual meets and lost only 12 times

in 42 seasons. He coached a United States swim team at five Olympic Games. Now he was in my home to ask how he could help with my recovery. He suggested I come to the Yale gym that summer to exercise under his direction. If I made a determined effort with his help, my legs might improve. If I did not make that effort, I would never know whether intense effort might have proved helpful. Medical wisdom at the time posited that a patient with my injury might recover from the nerve damage over the course of two years. That summer of 1957 he opened the Yale gym for me every day. Daily, he took me to a large workout room that had rubber mats. Along the walls were wooden exercise bars to which were attached rows of pulley weights. Bob favored the repeated use of pulleys with light weights attached. His swimmers would do sets of hundreds of pulls to build strength. He rarely explained the purpose of what he asked me to do. He gave orders crisply, and I obeyed. He also never told me how long a session would last. Pacing myself was thus impossible. He seemed to know when I was exhausted. At first, the slightest drills were depressing because I was so weak. I had trouble even getting onto the floor mat. I could barely bend from the waist. I could not stand on

PH OTO: J IM COM MEN T U CCI/G E T T Y IM AG E S

Fay Vincent was the commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1989 to 1992.

one leg. Any effort left me panting and bathed in sweat. Bob watched closely but said little. He urged me on and counted as I did the repeats of exercises. His mantra was “Faster” or “O.K., but push yourself.” He was never harsh, but he was demanding. Somehow he made me want to do better to please him. He strolled around the room and seemed distant, but he missed very little and he kept counting. My injury left my arms with normal motion, and Bob had me use the pulleys for dozens of pulls. He also had me use the pulleys to move my legs. I quickly built up my arms; my legs were the problem. I struggled to do a deep knee bend or to bend from the waist. When I improved a little, Bob would praise the results but insist “we could do better.” Over the summer, I threw the medicine ball endlessly with his son, DeLaney, the Yale athletic director, whom he dragooned into working out with me. I did leg lifts and walked a little while he preached that pies and cakes were for “fat boys.” Some days I wanted to give up because I was not making much progress. But Bob pretended not to notice my slumping shoulders. He

“Bob taught me the priceless lesson of determination even in the face of poor odds. I simply had to keep working hard even if progress seemed uncertain.” simply bellowed his directions louder. Many days were grim reminders of how badly damaged I was. If I seemed down he would begin to talk about a political or Yale problem, or a local New Haven issue, to distract me. Bob taught me the priceless lesson of determination even in the face of poor odds. I simply had to keep working hard even if progress seemed uncertain. Sometimes Bob gave brief sermons on why the health of the body was so vital. He wanted me to do my best with what I had — though he never acknowledged my limitations.

We slowly grew to realize my improvement would be limited. Then he subtly helped me realize I would have to accept what could not be changed. The summer slid away, and so did my dream of ever running or shagging flies in the outfield or playing football. The physically active life had to surrender to the life of the mind, to Gershwin and Beethoven and to reading and things visual. I would never run but I could think. I headed back to college at the end of the summer. I did four years of academic work in three to make up for lost time. As years passed, I was able to walk, though I had only a low gear. Bob stayed at Yale and in 1963 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died in 1967. I became a partner in a top law firm, the chairman of Columbia Pictures and the commissioner of Major League Baseball. My success reflected my time with him. Churchill warned the Dunkirk retreat could not be viewed as a victory and so too I resist the conclusion my accident had benefits. Yet that summer with Bob Kiphuth was a magnificent gift.

WINTER 2020

BOARD OF GOVERNORS The Board of Governors is an engagement board comprised of alumni volunteers who strive to advance the Alumni Association’s mission, its members’ lives, and the School’s priorities. As ambassadors, they serve to promote an informed, representative exchange of information between alumni, the School, and other stakeholders. They are also charged with drawing attention to the accomplishments of Hotchkiss community members in order to inspire future and current alumni.

A diverse group of alumni and parents spanning different decades, ethnic groups, and nationalities attended the Alumni of Color networking event in New York on Feb. 12. They heard from faculty members about the challenges and opportunities the School faces in continuing to build a diverse and inclusive community in earnest. Many were inspired to give of their resources in a variety of ways in support of Hotchkiss.

PH OTO: JA R A L D WAT S O N ’ 10

Alumni of Color Networking Event a Success

From left to right: Kerry Lynch ’09, Cameron Hough ’09, Rachel Schroeder Rodgers ’09, and Cameron Willis ’09

PH OTO: JA R A L D WAT S O N ’ 10

The Watson Experience

From left to right: Faculty members, Richard Davis, Annie Hall, and Maggie Crain; alumnus presenter, Robert Kuhn ’75; and Board of Governors members, Weijen Chang ’86, P’22 and Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03

On Feb. 19, alumni from multiple decades enjoyed an engaging discussion in New York on the evolution of Watson Hall into an all-gender dorm, as well as other ways Hotchkiss is striving to support all students today. A panel, including Robert Kuhn ’75 and faculty members Maggie Crain, Richard Davis, and Annie Hall, updated alumni on continuing efforts to support diversity and inclusion not only for students currently at Hotchkiss, but in the workplace and at institutions Hotchkiss alumni attend.

WE’VE UPDATED THE HOTCHKISS ALUMNI APP! a lu m n i

The Hotchkiss Alumni App, previously powered by Evertrue, has moved to a new provider: Graduway. The new app provides many of the same features as the previous one, and we expect to roll out new features in the months to come, including opportunities for job postings and career networking.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE NEW APP USING THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:

FOR iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ graduway-community/id1457549791

FOR ANDROID: https://play.google.com/store/apps/ details?id=com.graduway.hotchkissalumnet

Once you’ve installed the Graduway Community app, search for “Hotchkiss” in the organization field. That will bring you to the Hotchkiss Community.

FOR WEB BROWSERS: https://hotchkissalumnet.org

For security reasons, your previous Hotchkiss Alumni App credentials have not been transferred to the new app. You can register as a new user by linking your Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn accounts or using your email and a password you create. If you have any questions or trouble during the process, please email Alumnet@hotchkiss.org

PARTING SHOT

Radio Free Hotchkiss The new exhibit on the second-floor Rotunda in Main Building traces the roots of WKIS from underground operations to Schoolsanctioned sound. It explores the role of the radio at Hotchkiss from early attempts to broadcast national baseball games in the 1920s, to the 1960s’ “pirate” station in the basement of Coy that flowed through the dorm’s radiator pipes, to the creation, with the School’s support, of WKIS. The photo above shows DJ Richie Staples ’74, P’10,’12, a current member of the Board of Governors, spinning platters for the fans in radioland. The exhibit runs through June 15.

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19801940 601950 1985 1960 200 REUNIONS 1990 1975200519551970 1990 1945 2000 JUNE 12–14, 2020 CLASSES ENDING IN 0 OR 5

Registration is now open! Visit www.hotchkiss.org/alumni (Events & Reunions) For more information, please contact Rachel Schroeder Rodgers ’09, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, at (860) 435-3124 or rrodgers@hotchkiss.org.

CLASS OF 1970: SAVE THE DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 25–27, 2020.

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

11 Interlaken Road Lakeville, CT 06039-2141 (860) 435-2591 HOTCHKISS.ORG

PERMIT NO. 36 PITTSFIELD, MA