HW THE MAGAZINE OF HARVARD - WESTLAKE I SPRING 2017
MacArthur
Geniuses Prestigious fellowships awarded to distinguished Harvard-Westlake alumni PAGE 16
HW THE MAGA ZINE OF HARVARD - WESTLAKE
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Welcome Letter Ed Hu, Head of External Relations
H & W LEGACY
3 The Westlake Staircase Exhibit 6 Harvard & Westlake Legendary Athletes FACULTY & STAFF PROFILES
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Jeanne Huybrechts Head of School Retires After 28 Years
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Retiring Faculty
ALUMNI PROFILES
12 Jacob Soboroff ’01 14 Jo Ann Schaarf Ganz ’47 16 MacArthur Geniuses Josh Kun ’89 & Ahilan Arulanantham ’90
HW TODAY
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Laura Ross New Head of Upper School
22 All in the Black-ish Family
A Conversation About Race & Television
26 Make-A-Wish
HW Makes A Wish Come True
28 Clean Water Ambassadors
Alum Supports Ongoing HW Project
HW EVENTS
30 Decades
Photography Exhibition
32 Wider than the Sky HW Poetry Festival
STUDENT VOICES (FROM THE CHRONICLE)
34 Around the World in 14 Days:
Student Experiences Over Winter Break
36 Dancers Address Diversity In ‘Love’ Showcase
38 Calling A Ban On INDIFFERENCE
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Class Notes
Gift Planning Jim Pattison, Director of Major Gifts and Senior Advancement Officer
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Class of 1948: Achieving 100% Participation Jim Stellar ’48 and George “Buddy’ Moss ’48 On the Cover:
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Sayles ’00 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHY:
Bill Youngblood, Ed Hu, Allan Sasaki, The Chronicle staff
MACARTHUR GENIUSES Josh Kun ’89 & Ahilan Arulanantham ’90
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WRITING: Bill Youngblood DESIGN: Dog Ear Design PRINTING: So Cal Graphics
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HARVARD-WESTLAKE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS AS A MERGED SCHOOL Ed Hu / Head of External Relations Dear Friends of Harvard-Westlake, HARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL celebrated 25 years as a merged school
with a gala event on May 20th on the middle school campus. Themed as 25 Years in Motion, the celebration was filled with food, fun, and most importantly, fellowship and friendship forged over the years. THE MAY 20TH EVENT was part of a year-long celebration which began last
spring with the graduation of Harvard-Westlake’s 25th class and culminates this spring with the 25th reunion of the Class of 1992, Harvard-Westlake’s first class. In this year-long celebration, students have participated in HW25 prize contests, while Throwback Thursdays on social media have shared memories from deep in the Harvard-Westlake archives. And later this spring, we’ll bury a time capsule filled with artifacts from Harvard-Westlake’s 25th year, to be opened on the school’s 50th anniversary in 2042! I expect, by then, that someone else will be penning this letter :) OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS, a remarkable community has formed around Harvard-Westlake. Our community
believes in the pursuit of educational excellence, in the values of diversity and inclusion, in the importance of living a life of integrity, and in the virtue of our institution fulfilling its public purpose. OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, led by President Rick Commons, we will advance our mission by continuing
to emphasize, in all that we do, a commitment to these four core values – community, excellence, integrity, and purpose – and we will bring you the stories of our collective successes, as well as our challenges, in the pages of HW Life. I HOPE YOU WERE ABLE to attend the 25 Years in Motion celebration on May 20th. If not, then I hope to see you
THE WESTLAKE STAIRCASE EXHIBIT
at an upcoming school event, a complete directory of which can be found at www.hw.com.
Tells the story of Westlake School for Girls
Cheers,
Ed Hu Head of External Relations
Introduces key figures in the school’s development Explains unique traditions Identifies the school as a place of academic rigor (the art of learning) Describes the intersections and merger with Harvard School Allows visiting alumnae to see their own memories in the story
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– Jo Ann Schaaf Ganz, Westlake ’47
From fashion to signage
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“Most people today don’t know that Westlake was a school, a girls school and a very fine one at that… So, it is an important idea that there will be a physical space that commemorates The Westlake School for Girls.”
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The Westlake Staircase Project includes display cases for Westlake artifacts such as dishes, banners, uniforms, and dresses that were worn by students on special occasions.
THIS YEAR
will mark the installation of the Westlake Staircase Project. Located along the wide staircase of the Hazy Academic Center on the middle school campus, and utilizing reclaimed ornamental details and wood from the original Westlake campus, the Project will feature historical photographs, displays, and memorabilia. The centerpiece of this space will be a digital, archival console providing touch-screen access to all Westlake yearbooks as well as a listing of alumnae and faculty from throughout the school's history.
Key to the success of the project was the foresight of James DeMatte, Chief of Campus Operations and Construction. At the time the historic Westlake School structures were being demolished to make room for the current middle school campus, DeMatte took the initiative to preserve and store materials, decor, and architectural details from the most significant spaces. This early effort made the framework for the installation possible. The generosity of Westlake alumnae cannot be overstated. The women of Westlake went above and beyond as they exceeded the school’s fundraising goal, raising $313,000 for the Project. Through effective planning and management, the completed installation was kept within 1% of cost projections.
Shirley Temple Black’s Graduation, 1945
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Ulf Henriksson, a Harvard-Westlake parent and CEO of The Scenic Route, the global production resource company responsible for local exhibitions at the California Science Center, the Natural History Museum, LACMA, and the Petersen Automotive Museum, led the design effort. Brittanie Kinch, who collaborated with Henriksson on the Petersen’s celebrated exhibition redesign, brought her curatorial skills to the project. Kinch started by interviewing 50 Westlake alumnae to collect stories and memories which then guided and contributed to her design. Next, she worked with Archivist Allan Sasaki to identify photographs and memorabilia which will be included in the displays. A special part of the exhibition will be the graduation dress, graduation day photograph, and diploma of Westlake School’s very own Shirley Temple Black ‘45.
An Interactive Kiosk An interactive, touch-screen display at the top of the Staircase will allow visitors to browse historical Westlake yearbooks and search a directory of all Westlake alumnae and faculty.
Photos through the years
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A glimpse of athletic history from before the merger of Harvard and Westlake.
Harvard & Westlake
Legendary Athletes years ago Greg Hilliard retired from active coaching. When he became Director of Alumni Athletics he focussed on three goals. TWO First, to strengthen the bonds between Harvard-Westlake athlete alumni and the school, as well as current teams and their coaches, by connecting with former players and inviting them to special events and gatherings on campus. Second, to honor and induct Harvard-Westlake’s championship teams and athletes into the Hall of Fame at special occasions and celebrations. And third, to research and document those athletes of note from both Harvard School and Westlake School for Girls that go back into both schools’ past. Since athletic records of the schools do not exist and eye witnesses are fewer still, Hilliard became a sleuth and tracked down this history through a wide variety of sources that documented their accomplishments in sports after graduating from the schools. The list presented here is a sample of his work to date. It is proposed that this section of the Hall of Fame be called the Legends. In the future it may also include Wolverines that went on to achieve athletic notoriety after graduation or were champions in sports not offered while they attended school, as is the case of Alex Osborne ’05, an Olympic rower, or Lucy Davis ’11, an Olympic Silver Medalist in Equestrian. Coach Hilliard's research continues. Kinter Hamilton 1877-1966: Coached track at Harvard School 19021949. Co-founder of the CIF. Considered the best coach in the area for many years. Track athletes went on to great college careers at Stanford, Cal, UCLA, and USC. He became a track official for the AAU and was
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eventually Assistant Head of School at Harvard. The small gym on the upper school campus is named after him. Sue Sally Jones-Hale ’54 1937-2003: Selected as one of the Top Twenty Polo players of All-Time. She had to wear male disguises to compete in the all-male games of the time. She was dominant because of her horsemanship and skill. She played late in her life and her daughter became one of the top players in the world as well. Ron Von Hagen ’55: Often called the Babe Ruth of Beach Volleyball. At Harvard School, he starred in four sports but volleyball wasn’t offered. He picked up the game while at UCLA and trained unbelievably hard to become the King of the Beach. He won many tournaments with many partners and is in the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Wes Parker ’58: Possibly the best fielding 1st Baseman in Dodger history. Six-time Gold Glove winner, he played 9 years with the Dodgers and made the National League All-Star team. He later acted on TV shows including The Brady Bunch and worked as a broadcaster. He is now an antique collector and dealer. Julie Anthony ’65: World ranked tennis player with a long history of competition at the highest level. She competed often at Wimbledon and all the other major tournaments. She was close with Martina Navratilova and later worked with her as a psychologist. She now runs a health and fitness center in Aspen. Roger Lyon ’67 1949-2010: All-American swimmer in high school and in college at USC. Competed in the 1967 Pan-American Games. He
Top: Dara Torres ’85
Bottom: Mary Bea Porter ’68
was the Schumacher Trophy winner for three sports at Harvard and later became a successful environmental attorney who was credited with preserving land in San Simeon around Hearst Castle. He died while piloting a group of doctors who were traveling to Mexico to treat people in poor, rural regions of the country. Mary Bea Porter ’68: Became a world ranked golfer and LPGA tournament regular. She won one major tournament and many smaller ones. She is best known for saving a young swimmer with CPR during a tournament. She heard distress sounds, hopped a fence, pulled a boy from a backyard pool and treated him. The boy survived and she went back to the tournament. She has been a LPGA official for many years. She lives in Hawaii, teaches golf, and is in the Golf Hall of Fame. Mark Harmon ’70: Played football, basketball, baseball, and rugby at Harvard. He graduated, went to Pierce College and led them to championships in football. He took his skills to UCLA and was the quarterback there for two years. He has since become one of the most recognized actors on film and television, currently starring on NCIS, network television's top show for several years running. His father was Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, and he is married to Pam Dawber of Mork & Mindy fame. John Carroll ’72: Played rugby at Harvard for coaching legend Lee Carlson ’50. He went on to play in college and for many club and international squads. He competed in Australia and New Zealand as well as Europe. He was elected to the Rugby Hall of Fame. Andy Fishburn ’73: Another King of the Beach, Andy was a top ranked beach volleyball player who partnered with many of the best and won countless tournaments. Harvard School still did not offer the sport. He was honored with selection to the Volleyball Hall of Fame. His daughter went on to star at Stanford. After getting degrees from Yale and Stanford, Andy became very successful in real estate. Kathy May Fritz ’74: Another world ranked tennis player who played and won at the highest levels. She had a great career in World Team Tennis as well. She teaches tennis in the San Diego area.
Iheanyi Uwaezuoke ’91
Don Buford ’83: Professional baseball player for several MLB teams, Don followed in the footsteps of his father, all-time Oriole great, Don Sr. and his brother Damon, also a MLB star. Don Jr. has gone on to become one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. He works in Dallas, Texas. While playing baseball at Stanford, he won the Woody Hayes Award as National Scholar Athlete. Bob Scanlon ’84: Major league pitcher for many clubs for many years, Bob had starred in basketball and baseball at Harvard. After his long career, he was the beloved announcer for the San Diego Padres. He is currently in charge of media for the Padres. Dara Torres ’85: One of the greatest swimmers of all time. She played multiple sports at Westlake, but she was an All-American swimmer through high school and college at Florida State. She has earned 12 Olympic medals while competing on more Olympic teams than any other female swimmer. She has worked as a model and as a sports commentator. She is now a mother and works with the Olympic program. Al Carter ’88: One of the most decorated fencers in Harvard history, he went on to become NCAA champion at Penn. He participated in the Pan-Am Games and Olympic level competition for many years. He is now considered one of the top teachers. He owns X-Cel Academy in Northern California and nurtures the talent of fencers at all levels. Marty Holly ’89: Football star at Harvard setting many rushing records, Marty took his talents to Cal and started at tailback and fullback. He had also been a rugby, baseball, and soccer star at Harvard School. He is now a very successful attorney specializing in litigation. His brother, Langston ’87, also a great athlete in his own right, has children in our school and is a neurosurgeon at UCLA. Iheanyi Uwaezuoke ’91: Wide receiver on Harvard’s football team and basketball and track star as well, Iheanyi went on to excel at Cal for four years before becoming an NFL player. He played with the 49ers, Lions, and Panthers. Later he came back to LA to found the Books and Balls organization to aid underprivileged students.
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Wes Parker ’58
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JEANNE HUYBRECHTS integrity
[ i carry your heart with me(i carry it in ] BY E. E. CUMMINGS
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hen asked to describe her feelings about retiring as Harvard-Westlake’s Head of School at the end of this school year, Jeanne Huybrechts immediately quoted E. E. Cummings’ poem, “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in].” Huybrechts started teaching chemistry at Westlake School in 1989 and has had a leadership role in developing HarvardWestlake's culture of professional growth, its interdisciplinary studies program, and its emphasis on global education and cultural awareness. But, it's no surprise that she turned to verse to describe the complex mix of emotions about her upcoming retirement. Those who have had the pleasure of working or studying with her would not be surprised as she has selected a daily poem for many years. HUYBRECHTS, WHO IN HER ENTHUSIASM for teaching has been heard to confess, “I need my daily dose of teenagers,” began teaching simply to see if she would enjoy it. With two young children at home, teaching seemed a way to balance being a parent and having a profession. After a few years teaching chemistry at a local public high school, she learned, by word of mouth, about a position at Westlake School. Reflecting back on that opportunity, Huybrechts believes that saying yes, “was the luckiest decision I ever made.” Ultimately her relationship with the school became like family, or as she is
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here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
quick to point out, for her, “Harvard-Westlake is like a second spouse and a third child.” HER FIRST DECADE was spent in the classroom. Two years were at Westlake before the merger, followed by five years at the upper school and then two years at the middle school. During the first two years, she also assisted in blending the two science curricula in preparation for the merger of Harvard and Westlake, an effort which contributed to this successful transition. HUYBRECHTS’ FIRST ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION, as Assistant Ninth Grade Dean, opened her second decade and she would soon find herself named Assistant Head of the Middle School and Director of Studies. In each of these roles she served essentially as a counselor. As a Dean, it was with students coming to her for academic guidance and advice, and as Director of Studies, it was with faculty, guiding them toward professional development opportunities and assisting in curriculum development. In 2001, she advanced to Head of the Middle School and in 2006, she was named Head of Harvard-Westlake. Each year, she found ways to better the learning environment for students and faculty by developing curriculum and creating
special programs and opportunities. Noting the breadth of Huybrechts’ contributions as they announced her retirement to the Harvard-Westlake community, Chair of the Board of Trustees Philip Holthouse, and School President Rick Commons said, “she is much more than a remarkable doer; she is an inspiring teacher, a passionate learner, and consummate caretaker of our students, our faculty, and our school. She has elevated the institution in a myriad, indelible ways.” HUYBRECHTS MARVELS AT HARVARD-WESTLAKE'S accomplishments over the last twenty-five years: “HarvardWestlake has gone beyond its early promise. None of us then, could have imagined what the school has become!” And yet, for those who have been around since the merger, she feels that elements of both Harvard and Westlake are still evident. For example, she sees the roots of The Chronicle’s journalistic excellence going back to the Westlake Pi and the success of the Debate program stems from Harvard’s earlier traditions.
THROUGH THE YEARS Huybrechts has kept her edge by remaining engaged with students and the classroom. She notes, “I have not been a full-time teacher for more than twenty years, but I have always taught at least one academic course. In addition to being a fulfilling intellectual exercise, it keeps me intimately connected to our most important work – teaching and learning.” When asked what she found most surprising during her Harvard-Westlake career, she is quite clear, “My greatest unexpected joy was teaching at the middle school. It is such a lively and invigorating atmosphere, and middle school kids, both unfinished and unfettered, are infinitely teachable. If you want to spend time with students who ask a lot of great questions, go to the middle school.” FOLLOWING THE E. E. CUMMINGS MUSE, in retirement Jeanne Huybrechts plans to carry Harvard-Westlake’s heart in her heart, and in response the whole school will do the same.
FACULTY/STAFF
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you
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1 NINA BURTCHAELL by Emily Reola – Nina Burtchaell leaves Harvard-Westlake having made it a better place to teach and be taught. Her tireless work ethic, huge heart, sense of humor, and masterful choral teaching will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression on the Harvard-Westlake community for years to come. 2 VANNA CAIRNS by Beth Slattery – Perhaps Vanna's greatest gift is her ability to be no-nonsense with her students and families, yet deeply invested in their well-being. As a colleague, she has been our institutional historian, our logistics maven, and our communication guru while also making us laugh loudly and think deeply. The place simply won't be the same without her. 3 K AY CARLSON by retired faculty member Sue Olson – Kay Carlson is a master teacher and wonderful colleague. As an educator she holds her students to high standards because her students participate in outstanding, well-crafted lessons. She helps students and colleagues be their best whether learning math or teaching math. She spent many years working with the lacrosse team as statistician and parent-school liaison. As a department or committee member, when Kay spoke, everyone listened. 4 BEVERLY FEULNER by Kent Nealis – Beverly is the epitome of a master teacher. All students have that one teacher that they will always remember. For hundreds and hundreds of fortunate students, Beverly Feulner is that teacher. 5 JOHN FEULNER by Larry Axelrod – During the 13 years that John acted as Head of the Upper School Science Department, his
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most lasting contribution to both the department and the school stems from the leadership role he played in overseeing the design and construction of the Munger Science Building. As a classroom teacher, John also spent the last 37 years stimulating, challenging, and developing the minds of our most agile and inquisitive students, notably through his rigorous teaching of advanced Newtonian Mechanics. 6 TERRI FRANTZ by Karen Stern – Terri Frantz’s 37 year tenure at Westlake School for Girls and Harvard-Westlake School has been marked by excellence. She made major contributions to the development of the 7th and 8th grade science curricula, and has continuously refined her lessons to keep them current and engaging for her students. She went to a conference this spring, and came back inspired to develop a new lab for the photosynthesis unit, a thoughtful parting gift for her colleagues who will teach it next year. As my carpool buddy for the past decade, I’ve gotten to know Terri as a kind and generous person who cares deeply about her students, and who is unselfish with the time she gives to meet with them. Our community is richer for having had Terri here as a friend, colleague, and teacher. 7 ROSER GELIDA by retired faculty member Margot Riemer – The best words to describe Roser are: knowledgeable, meticulous, and involved. Her own students in upper-level Spanish courses have benefitted from her continuous drive to keep her courses relevant and innovative. In addition, she has always played an active role in the life of the school outside our department.
In the words of their colleagues 8 K IM HIEATT by Darlene Bible – Kim Hieatt has touched the lives of nearly 8,000 students over her 42 years at Westlake and Harvard-Westlake, as an athletic director, department chair, cross country coach, golf coach, gymnastics coach, and dedicated physical education teacher. She is fun-loving, hard-working, an avid traveler, steadfast volunteer, and a lifelong surfer and skier. Kim has a love for life that is very special, and although she is leaving us, she will undoubtedly make an impact on the world outside of Harvard-Westlake much as she has positively influenced life here at Harvard-Westlake.
11 A LLAN G. SASAKI by John Corsello – Spanish teacher, artist, archivist. Friendly, devoted, beloved. Allan has touched the hearts and lives of students, colleagues, parents and alums. Sasaki-san is a legend.
12 S TEVE SHAW ’70 by Harry Salamandra – It is a difficult task indeed to succinctly describe what Steve Shaw means to all of us in the HW community; so many words apply – loyal, kind, consummate teacher, tutor and coach, proud alumni, avid fan – both a Saracen and a Wolverine, dedicated supporter, and generous donor. Through his boundless compassion and understanding, Steve has touched the lives of thousands 9 GREG HILLIARD by Larry Klein – Greg established a pathway of students over his 30-year tenure, helping smooth their toward excellence at Harvard and then Harvard-Westlake, one journey through the high school years and enhance their grounded in integrity, hard work, commitment, and respect. educational opportunities. He had a positive impact on many He did not so much demand that from his players as model varied programs such as the Sentinel yearbook, our water polo it for them in everything he did. The “success” that followed program, the swimming program, Harvard News, the speech (and it was bountiful by every measure) was merely a byand debate program, and our basketball program. He has been product of his emphasis on all of those important qualities. an inspiration to all of us, and we will sorely miss him. 10 K AREN SALERNO by retired faculty member Vicky Goddard ’60 – Having worked with Karen Salerno for over two decades, I 13 WENDY VAN NORDEN by Larry Axelrod – Throughout her 34 years can say her contributions to Westlake and Harvard-Westlake as a classroom teacher, Wendy has been a leader for advancing the inclusion of Geoscience into the mainstream curricula of have embodied our Mission Statement: joyful pursuit of science education. Toward this end, Wendy actively contributes mathematics both in the class room and through the middle at national conferences and workshops, and she notably wrote school math club; emphasizing team work and integrity during and secured a National Science Foundation grant to design and her many years as head coach of the middle school track implement an Honors Geology course which schools across and field team; and encouraging purpose beyond ourselves the nation could use as a model for developing and integrating through her dedication to the middle school community geoscience coursework into their own science curricula. service program.
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RETIRING FACULTY& STAFF
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profiles
Top left: On the news set at MSNBC. Photo: MSNBC.
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Bottom left: Jacob Soboroff with Border Patrol Officer Wendi Lee on the Otay Mesa in the San Diego sector of the US - Mexico Border. Photo: MSNBC. Right: Soboroff’s portrait from the 2016 MSNBC election ad campaign. Photo: Art Streiber | MSNBC.
Alumni Q&A
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hen Jacob Soboroff ’01 graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2001, he headed to New York University intent on becoming an actor. The events of September 11th, which occurred during his first week in college, abruptly changed his ambition. Transformed by the crisis, he eventually worked as an aide in New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office and earned both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Masters of Arts in Political Theory and Philosophy from NYU. Engaging his political interest as a journalist, he was a founding host and producer of HuffPost Live, the live streaming network of The Huffington Post. Today, he is a correspondent for MSNBC. Soboroff is also a member of the board of Why Tuesday, a nonpartisan group working to increase American voter participation. His talk about increasing American voter turnout placed him on the main stage at TED 2012. At Harvard-Westlake, Soboroff gives credit to Ed Hu, his Dean, for keeping him focused on his education when his father ran for Mayor of Los Angeles and narrowly lost. He also points to acting teacher Ted Walch, who with his simple words “tell a story,” gave him a philosophy that applies both to acting as well as to his career in journalism.
HW: Your “first upload” is posted online and Huell Howser makes an appearance. Howser had a remarkable ability to put people at ease and make them feel free to share their stories. Clearly you both enjoyed the moment. From your intro to that piece, it seems that you admire his ability. JS: Huell Howser is my TV idol and a broadcasting legend. When I think about Huell, the way he talked to people and told a story, whether it was about a park or a museum or an old lady, all the while holding that stick microphone, and sometimes with only a few long takes in a half-hour episode – in his words,“Amazing.” What he was doing was just so simple that it was revolutionary. In the world of fancy cameras and
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technological tricks, he was an original guerrilla journalist, just a dude, talking to people in ordinary settings – it was remarkable TV. If I can bring a tiny piece of Huell Howser and his “realness” to MSNBC I’ll consider that a win.
HW: Your segments on the Ohio heroin / meth crisis where you talked to inmates in the penitentiary, or conversations with vets about their experiences or talking with Canadians about their healthcare all demonstrate a flowing, candid conversational approach. How did you develop this technique to ease your subjects into sharing their stories? JS: Thanks. That’s the idea. We go for the
absolute minimum set-up. And that comes from my journalism mentor, Mitch Koss, who is just an incredible guy. Mitch made his name at Channel One TV in the 90’s by working with a couple of young journalists named Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling, amongst others. No surprise, they worked with small cameras, their style was fluid, and they told stories both stateside and abroad that took viewers along for a journey. The philosophy Mitch espouses is to shoot whole scenes, not B-roll – conversations, not interviews. It’s a style that is basically experiential. Who has a normal conversation under panel lights while sitting in chairs perfectly angled to each other? Nobody.
HW: How do you develop, plan and shoot each story? JS: Mitch works with us from idea to completion from inside the LA bureau while Aarne Heikkila, a veteran NBC News producer who has become my other half, and I travel the country. There is absolutely no way we could execute what we’re doing without Aarne and our veteran NBC News crew of Dana Roecker and Robert Colvill. These guys have made what we do a science – Dana’s primary camera is an Osmo, a tiny
little thing that has the look of a Steadicam, but literally allows us to squeeze into corners to talk to people. Aarne, in addition to everything else he does, shoots the second camera using a DSLR. Rob runs audio out of a sound bag strapped to his chest – he always looks like he’s playing the piano on that thing. And of course, we use a Huell-Howser style stick mic so we can run around and stay in the moment without having to stop and reset.
HW: Unlike other reporters, your stories focus on the personal impacts or conversations that are influenced by policy issues. How did this approach come about? JS: When I was interviewing for this job, I said to Andy Lack, the NBC News Chairman, and Phil Griffin, the President of MSNBC, that I wanted to do stories that added context to what we see on television day in and day out. There’s enough of straight political coverage, and frankly, other people are better at breaking down the news of the day from Capitol Hill, or Wall Street, or where ever else than I am. I’m genuinely curious about what is going on across the country, outside the so-called “bubble.” And that’s exactly the job I have. Chelsea Handler has said that her new show is like the college education she never had. I went to college and this is better!
HW: Is it frustrating to tell news stories in this crazy “fact free” or “fake news” season? JS: It’s not as frustrating for me as it must be for the political correspondents. A mantra of ours is to tell the “factson-the-ground” as we see them. So, we actually have the opportunity to put what the politicians say up against what we’re actually seeing in real life, talking with real people – whether it’s what actually happens on the border, or with opioid addicts, or seeing how healthcare really works.
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JACOB SOBOROFF ’01
HW: What do you think the long-term political impact of this era will be? JS: It’s a reality show and we’re just living in it. I hate to say it, but the more kinds of media we have access to, the more competing and fact-free narratives we’ll be fed. Which is why I think the type of “facts-on-the-ground” journalism I’ve been so lucky to get to do for NBC has a place now more than ever before. How do we balance “reality” as the politicians present it with what’s really going on? We go show it! HW: What piece of your HW experience do you carry with you? JS: All the times I got in trouble were worth it. I’ll just leave it at that. Ask Ed Hu.
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Boston Harbor at Sunset; 1850–55 Oil on canvas 24 x 39 1/4 in. (61 x 99.7 cm); No inscription found Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr., in honor of the museum’s 25th anniversary.
“Collecting [art] was a wonderful discipline....”
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or Jo Ann Schaarf Ganz '47, and her husband, Julian, the Northridge earthquake on January 17, 1994 was a wake-up call. Checking both their home and their art collection following the temblor proved how very lucky they were; nothing had been damaged. However, when they surveyed their 19th century American sculptures, they realized how close they had come to losing some significant pieces. From the objects’ dislocation on their bases, one even hanging almost half-way off its pedestal, they could see how the marble artworks had vibrated and wobbled around during the quake. Nothing had toppled over or been broken, but the evidence was clear that the earthquake risk to this part of their collection was very real.
THIS SEISMIC EVENT prompted the Ganzes to
begin distributing their art to museums that could properly care for it. By the summer of 2008, the final pieces of their collection were shared in significant gifts to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. So, what started as a simple art purchase by a young, married couple ended as generous acts of patronage to several of the country's most prestigious art museums. “IT WAS NEVER OUR INTENTION to become collectors,” Ganz
says, “We really blundered into it and felt our way along.” The first purchase occurred during a layover in New York on a trip to Europe in 1964. It was there that the Ganzes acquired a portrait by Robert Henri entitled Dutchman I, which had hung at the seminal 1908 exhibition at the MacBeth Gallery along with works by a group of artists known as The Eight. This show of American urban realism, which outraged many of the New York’s art critics at the time, came to define the body of
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JO ANN SCHAARF GANZ ’47
work now known as the Ashcan School. A little surprised at themselves for making this bold acquisition, it would be three years before they bought another piece of art. By the end of that decade, however, their small yet noteworthy collection of early 20th century American paintings was shown at LACMA. In ensuing years, as their collection evolved, it was shown at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1973) and the National Gallery of Art (1981-82). DURING THE OVER FORTY YEARS that the Ganzes collected, more than 300 works of art passed through their collection. Ultimately, they found their passion in works of 19th century American landscape, still life, and figure paintings with a primary focus on the years between 1850 –1875. This included works by Winslow Homer, Raphaelle Peale, and Fitz Henry Lane. Of the fifty-two pieces that made up their final collection, none of the Ashcan School works or their first painting remained. “WE’VE OFTEN BEEN TOLD that few people today collect art
the way we did,” Ganz offers. Together, they slowly acquired paintings while at the same time educating themselves by visiting museums and small college collections. Among the many out-of-the-way destinations they visited, one was the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum in Vermont to view the Domes of Yosemite, a 10'x15' canvas by Albert Bierstadt, who is noted for his western landscapes. Ganz explains that it was all about, “seeing everything we could see, reading everything we could read and getting to know the scholars, the dealers and fellow collectors personally. It was a long slow process and it gave us a chance to grow.”
FOR MANY YEARS the Ganzes not only lent out pieces from their collection to museums for exhibitions, but they also regularly opened their home to visitors including donors, collectors, and scholars connected with museums outside the Los Angeles area. While receiving these delegations could be stimulating and enjoyable, the preparation was also demanding. The first note Ganz wrote explaining that their collection had been dispersed still stands out in her mind; it was sent to the Frick Museum in response to their request for a visit. In a way, the posting of that letter marked an end to their era as collectors.
LOOKING BACK Ganz says it best, “Collecting was a
wonderful discipline. As it turned out, there were so many benefits that we hadn’t foreseen – friendships made, wonderful knowledge gained and the great pleasure of looking at beautiful works of art and knowing what we were looking at.” Ganz concludes with two keys to how they collected successfully. First, they grew to know and trust themselves and, second, they did it together. Ganz concludes, “We never bought anything that we did not both agree on… and there were no ‘his’ or ‘her’ paintings in our collection.”
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excellence
MacArthur Fellowships awarded to Josh Kun ’89 & Ahilan Arulanantham ’90
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his past fall, Josh Kun ’89 and Ahilan Arulananthum ’90 were named Class of 2016 MacArthur Fellows. MacArthur Fellowships, or Genius Grants, are one of the most prestigious awards that an individual can win in his or her field of professional pursuit. In the thirty-six years since the MacArthur Fellows Program was established, just 965 Genius Grants have been awarded. In 2016, twenty-three fellows were named, two of whom are alumni of Harvard School.
THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
supports creative individuals, effective institutions, and influential networks contributing to making the world more just, more verdant, and more peaceful. OFTEN KNOWN BY THEIR POPULAR NICKNAME, MacArthur Genius Grants, the awards provide unrestricted fellowships of $625,000 paid over five years to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for selfdirection. The awards are not sought or applied for; instead, fellows are nominated by a committee specifically selected for this purpose by the foundation’s board. According to the
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foundation, there are three criteria for the awards that Kun and Arulananthum received; exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate their future creative work. THE RECOGNITION IS INTENDED to encourage recipients
to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations. Instead of being a “lifetime achievement award,” the foundation sees the fellowship as an investment in an individual’s originality and his or her potential to benefit all of human society. Harvard-Westlake congratulates Josh and Ahilan for their well-deserved honors. Top: Josh Kun ’89; Bottom: Ahilan Arulananthum ’90. Photos: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
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The MacArthur Foundation recognized Ahilan for his litigation of a series of landmark cases through which he expanded the access that immigrant detainees have to legal representation.
JOSH KUN ’89 IN SEPTEMBER, when the awards were announced, Josh Kun’s photo was the lead on page one of the Los Angeles Times above the headline ‘Cross-cultural guru’. Over all of this year’s California recipients, including two from Caltech and other leading researchers from Stanford and the Scripps Institute, Kun was selected by the newspaper to exemplify this year’s class. The Times featured him for his ability to recognize, explore, and explain the cross-cultural connections that are both so present and so clearly define life in the Golden State. JOSH IS CURRENTLY A PROFESSOR at the USC Annenberg School
for Communication and Journalism and director of the Popular Music Project in the Norman Lear Center at USC. He received a B.A. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. The MacArthur Foundation recognized him as “a cultural historian exploring the ways in which the arts and popular culture are conduits for cross-cultural exchange. In work that spans academic scholarship, exhibitions, and performances, Kun unearths and brings to life forgotten narratives through finely grained analyses of material and sonic manifestations of popular culture.” HIS RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS have provided comprehensive
comparative studies that complicate our assumed understanding of the evolution of racial and ethnic identity in America. Among
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his publications that have revealed this complexity in our culture are Audiotopia (2006), a comprehensive comparative study of African American, Jewish American, and Mexican American music, And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl (Co-author, 2008), a close reading of 400 Jewish music album covers, Songs in the Key of Los Angeles (2013), a companion to an exhibition and performance at The Los Angeles Public Library about the library’s collection of Southern California sheet music from the 1840s to the 1950s, and To Live and Dine in LA: Menus and the Making of the Modern City (2015), which explores taste – and political, economic, and sociological undertones of eating – as points of entry into urban history. AMONG HIS MANY ONGOING PROJECTS, he has engaged cultural
studies of the U.S.-Mexico border where he has demonstrated how communities that may have historically been seen as separate actually have much in common. Along this same line, he was coeditor of Tijuana Dreaming: Life and Art at the Global Border (2012). Kun has curated exhibitions at the Getty Foundation, the Museum of Latin American Art, the Skirball Center, and the Grammy Museum and in 2005 he co-founded the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation which focuses on Jewish American Music. “I WOULDN’T BE DOING ANYTHING TODAY without my experience
at Harvard,” Josh offers. He points to Debbie Reed’s English class, which was tough, but helped him develop a sense of intellectual rigor, and Allan Sasaki’s Spanish class, which opened the crosscultural portal. Beginning his very long bibliography is a regular column he penned while at Harvard called Kun’s Tunes. This literary endeavor first allowed him to explore local music and culture.
Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
AHILAN ARULANANTHAM ’90
his uncle, aunt and cousins came to live with his family as refugees of the civil war that raged back home. This event proved to be life shaping.
CURRENTLY, Ahilan Arulanantham is
ARULANANTHAM RECEIVED B.A. DEGREES from Georgetown
Director of Advocacy and Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and is also affiliated with the Immigrants’ Rights Project. The MacArthur Foundation recognized Arulananthum for his advocacy and successful litigation of a series of landmark cases through which he expanded immigrant detainees’ access to legal representation and limited the government’s power to detain such persons indefinitely. Since courts traditionally characterize deportation proceedings as civil cases, defendants do not have many of the rights guaranteed to criminal defendants. These include the right to counsel and the right to ask for release on bond. As a result, immigrants going through deportation hearings often have to represent themselves in these complex proceedings and they can be detained for months or even years. SERVING AS AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY has been a long
held goal with roots in his own childhood experience. The U.S. born child of political immigrant parents from Sri Lanka, Arulanantham remembers the period in the early 1980’s when
University and the University of Oxford, Lincoln College, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He was an Equal Justice Works fellow with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and an assistant federal public defender in El Paso, Texas. Additionally, he has been a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and the University of California, Irvine, School of Law. His critical work in immigration law has focused on challenging indefinite detentions in Nadarajah v Gonzales (2006) and the class action suit Rodriguez v Robbins (2013). He has also watched out for particularly vulnerable populations within the immigrant community, especially children and those with mental disabilities.
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Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
H ARVARD -W E STL A K E
The MacArthur Foundation recognized Josh as “a cultural historian exploring the ways in which the arts and popular culture are conduits for cross-cultural exchange.”
profiles
OVERALL, AHILAN'S OBJECTIVE is to help bring U.S. immigration law out of the 19th century and into the 21st century and to help the courts and U.S. citizens to view American civil liberties as basic human rights. Ultimately, Arulanantham would like to see the way immigrants are viewed, as well as how their legal proceedings are handled, become much more closely aligned with the values our country stands for and that we espouse.
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LAURA D. ROSS New Head of Upper School ON
July 1, 2017, Laura D. Ross becomes the New Head of Upper School at Harvard-Westlake. Guided by the Head of Upper School Search Committee, whose members included Terry Barnum, head of athletics, Jeanne Huybrechts, head of school, Liz Resnick, interim head of upper school, Beth Slattery, head of upper school deans, Larry Weber, head of upper school English department, and Jon Wimbish, head of middle school, Ross was selected from nearly 80 applicants. Following a round of 16 preliminary interviews, she was one of eight finalists to visit campus and meet with the upper school community. In announcing her selection, President Rick Commons said that “Mrs. Ross stood apart for her inspiring educational vision and broad experience in secondary and higher education, and a notable ability to engage faculty, staff, students, and parents in meaningful dialogue.” CURRENTLY THE HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL AT GREENHILL SCHOOL IN DALLAS, Ross has been recognized for her impact on
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the climate and the culture of the school. Her focus – establishing best practices for teaching and learning, especially on the well-being of students and faculty. Ross believes that, “human connection and community is at the center of the learning process.” She describes herself as a structures and systems person, with her guiding question being, “How do you create and reinforce a healthy learning community?” In today’s competitive world, she also pays attention to the red zone, that fine line between pushing students to discover their limits without pushing too far and overloading them. Ross feels that thriving is the goal, not striving. She sees this perspective as essential to teaching students that learning is a process of life-long engagement as opposed to one that is merely transactional. A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NATIVE, Ross grew up in Santa Barbara, where her mother was the business manager and soccer coach at a local independent school and her father, an attorney, advised independent schools as part of his practice. Ross became
an accomplished athlete and played on the varsity soccer team at Wesleyan University in Connecticut where she also sang in the school’s gospel choir. After college, Ross earned an Masters in Education at Stanford, went on to become Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission and Director of Transfer Admission at Columbia University, and was Director of College Counseling at St. Stephens Episcopal School in Austin before beginning her tenure at Greenhill. WHEN ROSS BEGAN COLLEGE, her intended major was English. She switched to religion, however, after taking a few classes and becoming fascinated the interplay between spirituality and meaning in her own life. This switch in focus did have its humorous side, as Ross explains, “I grew up in a family that ‘golf on Sunday’ was the extent of family religion.” The decision, however, proved to be a foundation for future studies, and it shaped her perspective on teaching. She has
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“Human connection and community is at the center of the learning process.” an ongoing interest in the lived experience of students as they learn and has continually worked to help students reflect on their own experiences. She teaches them to take a step back to gain perspective, set life goals, and cultivate a broad interest in others. Toward this end, she has taught classes in World Religions, Creating Effective Social Change, and Mindfulness and Meditation. COMING TO HARVARD-WESTLAKE represents something of a homecoming. Once again, Ross and her husband, Greg, will be close to both of their families and daughter Casey (age 12) and son Graham (age 9) will be able to enjoy more time with their grandparents and cousins. The Ross family enjoys the outdoors, especially hiking. So, Ross is happy to return from the north Texas flatlands to the Southern California mountains, and will get a daily workout walking the many steps of the upper school campus.
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Norman Lear & Kenya Barris in Conversation about Race & Television ON
LOOKING BACK TO HER CHILDHOOD in the 1960s, Neisser opened the evening by describing her family’s viewing habits and the responses to those rare occasions when African-Americans were seen on network television. Through a series of slides, she introduced the audience to those black actors who were able to break through into the American consciousness during that decade. Then she turned to the evening’s discussion by playing several DURING HER INTRODUCTION, Cheri Gaulke, video clips from All in the Family, The Jeffersons head of the upper school visual arts department, and black-ish. The final two segments were viewed described how the idea for the evening’s discussion back-to-back – first George Jefferson’s direct use of Kenya Barris and Norman Lear the N-word and then black-ish ’s bleeping out of the came about one night in September as she watched the CNN series The Seventies. The episode on Media had a same word while spending the entire episode exploring its meaning. segment from All in the Family in which Archie Bunker used a A GENERATION APART, both Norman Lear and Kenya Barris certain word and she exclaimed out loud, “You couldn’t use that said that authenticity was the key to telling the stories they did with word on TV today.” Gaulke then remembered a recent episode of such clarity and directness. black-ish with an intergenerational discussion about the use of the WHILE LEAR INITIALLY BASED All in the Family on the British N-word in which the word itself was never uttered. Show ‘Till Death Do Us Part,’ his own experience with a father HER REFLECTIONS ABOUT the portrayals of race on TV, that he very charitably described as a “rascal” and who regularly especially in regards to African-Americans, and questions about called Norman, “the laziest kid I ever met” or “the stupidest how things differ or remain the same, spurred Gaulke to reach kid I ever met,” clearly found voice in the outbursts of his lead out to Harvard-Westlake parents Norman Lear P’13 and Kenya character, Archie Bunker. But it was Lear’s own desire to know, Barris P’19 who agreed to the discussion without hesitation. understand, and tell the stories of people he met which helped Facilitating the conversation was Winifred White Neisser, whose him to populate his television world with the likes of George 34-year career in Hollywood included a 14-year tenure as an Jefferson and Maude. Both characters went on to lead series executive at NBC and 19 years at Sony Pictures Television. based on their own storylines. These people were real; “I know Neisser retired from Sony in 2014 as Senior Vice President of these people,” he explained. To illustrate his creative process, he described to the audience the regular train stop at the 125th Television Movies and Mini Series. WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 11TH Harvard-Westlake welcomed the community to a stimulating conversation about race and television, past and present. Two pivotal creative forces in the industry, Norman Lear, the creator of All in the Family and The Jeffersons, and Kenya Barris, creator of ABC’s hit show black-ish were at the center of the discussion.
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Street Station in Harlem during his early days commuting from Connecticut to New York City. Lear, looking out from his seat and into the nearby tenements, would notice the vignettes of life framed by the windows and imagine what stories those scenes might tell. BARRIS ON THE OTHER HAND found inspiration for blackish by looking at his own children. He described it this way, “I felt they were a little less black than when I was growing up. Then I looked at the white kids, the Asian kids, and the Jewish kids [that were their friends] and felt they were a little more black than I remember other kids being, so there was an “ish” on both parts.” Barris saw today’s youth culture blending, one side in a subtractive way and the other in an additive way. Barris recognized that he was the dinosaur. This insight and perspective spurred the show’s creation. Reflecting back on his own childhood, Barris remembers that “I was raised by television.” With a single working mother and suffering from childhood asthma, he immersed himself in stories on the screen, in books, or simply looking out the window and imagining. He pointed to Norman Lear, Spike Lee, and Woody Allen as the reasons he is doing what he is doing right now, “because they each spoke their voice.” And then he explained what has become his mantra, “If you really tell your truth, and you’re specific and you’re honest, it really does reach everyone.” NEISSER OBSERVED that each creator and their respective stories were framed by the different generation gaps in their own lives.
MOVING ON to a conversation about the use of language on television and the role of network practices and standards in reviewing program content, Lear, Barris, and Neisser talked about the video clips that opened the evening’s discussion. Interestingly, Lear remembered that when Archie Bunker or George Jefferson used the N-word, he never received comment or was censored. Lear conjectured that It may have been that there was less sensitivity to the word’s use in the seventies or because it was used in an authentic cultural context that was not derogatory. He noted that dialogue which contained sexual innuendo or implied sexual relations outside of marriage defined his censorship battle lines. On the other hand, for black-ish, the use of the N-word became a negotiation with the standards and practices staff over how many times it would permitted in the episode. Then, while watching an early edit of the show with the word bleeped out, Barris realized that more attention was drawn to the word by removing it than by leaving it in. As a result, the N-word was never spoken once throughout the entire show even though the whole story was about the appropriateness or inappropriateness of its use and by whom it was used.
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Moderated by: Winifred White Neisser
THE EVENING CONCLUDED with a question and answer session with the audience. Responding to a question about telling different kinds of stories on television, Barris summed up the evening this way, “[Untold stories] are the best stories. Honestly, I don’t know that I want to hear a story I’ve heard a million times.” His advice, “Don’t go tell a story you don’t know about, but find your place in whatever story you tell.”
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FOR FOUR YEARS, student volunteers at Harvard-Westlake’s upper school H ARVARD -W E STL A K E
campus have participated in the Bridge to a Brighter Future program, which provides “virtual tutoring” in mathematics to students at Valor Academy Middle School in Panorama City. Results of the program are inspiring. Valor students who were tutored by Harvard-Westlake students as part of Bridge to a Brighter Future demonstrated substantial growth in their math proficiency, significantly outperforming their peers who were not tutored.
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Leighton Kaba, a young leukemia survivor, is declared princess for the day at Harvard-Westlake upper school.
past November, students on the Upper School Community Council, in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, arranged a celebration to make five-year-old cancer survivor Leighton Kaba’s dream of visiting Disneyland a reality. Leighton overcame leukemia through a combination of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant from her sister. Following the successful surgery, she became eligible for a wish through the foundation and she chose her dream of going to the Magic Kingdom.
Above: Leighton meets her fairy godmother, Natalie Musicant '17 . Below: Matt Thomas '17, Cate Wolfen '17, and Natalie Musicant '17 announce Leighton's granted wish for a trip to Disneyland.
TWO MONTHS IN THE PLANNING, the entire upper school student body participated in the gala in the Taper Gym. The Kaba family was greeted outside the assembly by Natalie Musicant ’17 who played the role of Leighton’s fairy godmother. Inside awaited the student body with Head Prefects Cate Wolfen ’17 and Matt Thomas ’17 dressed as Queen and King. Following the granting of a series of wishes, including the release of pink and purple balloons and the whole audience putting on Mickey Mouse ears, Musicant revealed to Leighton that her family would be traveling to the Happiest Place on Earth. Students then lined the path from Taper Gym to the quad as Leighton was paraded through campus in a horse drawn carriage.
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“LEIGHTON’S REACTION MADE ALL OUR WORK WORTH IT, and seeing her so surprised and happy was more than I could have asked for,” Community Council member Natalie Choi ’18 said. “All the students were really thrilled and there was great energy,” said Taylor Kalman of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. “I think that if it wasn’t for the support and dedication of the Make-A-Wish team at Harvard-Westlake it wouldn’t have been such an amazing experience, and it truly was one of the most heartfelt wish reveals I’ve ever been a part of.”
wishes really do come true!
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Clean Water Ambassadors
would have the lasting impact to combat the poverty and add to the financial stability of those he was documenting, he packed 12 water filter systems in his luggage. These he delivered in-person to ASPIRE Rwanda, a local non-profit organization. With this act of kindness his program was born.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEED CWA ADDRESSES CAN NOT BE OVERESTIMATED.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF NEEDS to which CWA responds. First are the disaster relief situations where filters need to be placed in the hands of those whose regular water systems have been interrupted. In such cases, the speed of delivery is critical. For these situations, filters are delivered through established NGOs or governmental relief channels. Second is the regular, ongoing clean water program. To meet this need, CWA works through different channels including the Peace Corps, NGOs, or local governments as may be most appropriate to local cultures and their customs. By working through groups with established presences in different countries, CWA has no on-the-ground operations costs. Building a network of local Ambassadors in the countries that CWA serves has proved to be a key to its success in providing clean water solutions in both crisis and ongoing situations.
IN
March 2014, while Cole Kawana ’16 was still in 10th grade, he launched Clean Water Ambassadors Foundation (CWA), a California 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Through the end of last year, CWA had delivered over 330 hand-held water purification systems, providing up to 33,000 people in 18 countries on four continents with access to clean drinking water. Today, Kawana is majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in social entrepreneurship at USC, a specific course of college study with roots directly tied to this program he started at Harvard-Westlake.
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THE INSIGHT, WHICH LED to the life-saving results that have touched so many, began in a summer film class taught by Cheri Gaulke. On a trip to Rwanda with the school that summer, he created a film titled, “The Kindness of Strangers.” The premise of his film, as he describes it, “was to subvert the tendency of film makers to leave the place they visited unchanged.” From Cole’s point of view, outsiders travel to foreign lands, collect incredible stories and offer little more than souvenirs in return, maybe baseballs, caps, t-shirts or candy. Looking for something, which
Changing Lives KAWANA HAS PERSONALLY delivered filter systems to three countries, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Fiji. Along the way, this endeavor has changed his life. Kawana says, “I have discovered my altruistic side and have come to treasure the joy of doing good for others.” He continues, “My worldview has become more global and more enriched.” Finally, he concludes that the stories he receives regularly from filter recipients or Ambassadors, “are what make my day, my week, my everything… it is the greatest feeling!”
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SIMPLE IN ITS EXECUTION, the organization’s mission responds to one of the world’s most daunting problems, namely, how to get clean water to the 780 million people world-wide who need it. The lack of potable water is a killer, too, as 5,000 children die each day from water-borne diseases. The single point filtration systems Kawana selected, which utilize a microfiber technology like that used in kidney dialysis, filter out 99.999% of all dirt, bacterium, protozoa, and cysts. Each filter is able to provide 100 people with daily clean water for up to five years. Hand-held and gravity operated, the filters can be used by anyone, anywhere.
INITIALLY, CWA WAS A PERSONAL PROJECT. A family friend, who is a CPA, guided Kawana through the specifics of incorporating, filing for non-profit status. He did fundraising through film festival winnings and small person-to-person fundraisers. Now, he coordinates with a group of upper school students who have continued the program at Harvard-Westlake. This group helps to support the work of CWA by selling CWA-branded water bottles. Beyond campus, Kawana has established a group of official Ambassadors including the USC Shoah Foundation, Pepperdine University, Go Campaign, Network for Africa, Gabriel House Mexico, and General Welfare Pratisthan Nepal, among others. Fundraising has also expanded as he now looks to large private donors to fund CWA's work.
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ART STREIBER ’80
Decades
Three of the most talented photographers working in Los Angeles today claim Harvard-Westlake as their alma mater. “DECADES,” an exhibition featuring their work, was on display in the Feldman-Horn Gallery this spring.
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he show presented images created by Matt Sayles ’00, Michele Asselin ’90, and Art Streiber ’80. Photography teacher Kevin O’Malley described the exhibition as “groundbreaking” since it was the first alumni exhibition to display work by a graduate from each of the three schools at the same moment that they are all top, in-demand working artists. This was also only the fourth exhibition of alumni photography in Harvard-Westlake’s 25 year history.
The first half of the exhibition focussed on editorial portraits of celebrities and notables that the artists have made on assignments, both in studio and on location, for publications and organizations including Time magazine, Vanity Fair, GQ, People, The New York Times Magazine, the Oscars, and the Grammy Awards. The second segment of the exhibition was a series of portrait images specially conceived by the artists featuring members of the Harvard-Westlake community. Streiber and Asselin photographed a cross-section of seniors from the Class of 2017. Asselin worked in the school’s professionally equipped instructional
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photo studio on campus, while Streiber traveled around the greater Los Angeles area photographing members of the senior class in their own personal spaces. Sayles photographed a selection of alumni from all three schools at locations throughout Southern California. January Parkos Arnall ’96, a photographic artist herself, has volunteered her talents to curate the exhibition. Currently she is the curator of public practice at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and until this March was an associate curator at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. With a BFA in Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MFA in Photography and Art History from Temple University, and a PhD in Cultural Studies and Museum Studies from the Claremont Graduate University, she has curated exhibitions across the country. She is also a co-founder of the Oculus Photographic Arts Group in Philadelphia, which has organized invitational traveling exhibitions for graduate-student artists nationwide.
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MATT SAYLES ’00
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MICHELLE ASSELIN ’90
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While O’Malley has taught three of the show’s four principals, the idea for the exhibition began at Matt Sayles' wedding reception. Streiber and O’Malley were seated next to each other and when the possibility of an exhibition came up, Streiber told O'Malley, “Let’s do it!” Everything proceeded from there. O’Malley explains that trying to schedule these busy professionals to sit down for the first planning meeting proved a real challenge, but once started, these working sessions, “have been some of the most enjoyable moments of my entire teaching career.” He describes all four as outrageously funny, brilliant, talented, and creative. “Art Streiber, Michele Asselin and Matt Sayles are three outstanding visual artists who are at the top of their games,” says O’Malley. “People will enjoy the insight and subtlety these three bring to documenting the rich, famous, and powerful. It will be more of a revelation for all of us when they turn their cameras on Harvard-Westlake.”
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Claudia Rankine, this year’s keynote speaker, is a 2016 MacArthur Fellow, 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry winner, Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University, and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
On Saturday, April 22nd, Harvard-Westlake hosted its third annual young
people’s poetry festival, Wider Than The Sky. The day-long event was held on the upper school campus. It featured a keynote address, poetry workshops, and an open mic opportunity for all attendees. The festival was free to all Los Angeles area students and focused on the participation of public and charter high school students from the Los Angeles Unified School District. Through the support of The Poetry Foundation, free transportation was arranged to and from any public schools or community centers that wished to send students. Claudia Rankine, this year’s keynote speaker, is a 2016 MacArthur Fellow and recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. A poet, essayist, playwright, and the editor of several anthologies, Rankine is presently the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University and a chancellor of the Academy of
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American Poets. All attendees received a copy of her book length poem, Citizen: An American Lyric, which she graciously signed for students following her address.
Each group of visiting students was greeted, guided, and hosted by student ambassadors, all poetry enthusiasts from Harvard-Westlake.
The day began with breakfast, followed by a welcome from master of ceremonies, Kat McGill, founder of Say Word. Then students participated in two 45-minute workshop periods. Writers that led workshops included Danez Smith, Jennifer Espinoza, Dave Eng, Wendy Ortiz, Yazmain Watkins, and Steven Reigns, among others. Following the lunch break, students attended the keynote and book signing. The day’s event concluded with an open mic session during which students shared their work.
Now an established and growing event, Wider Than the Sky ’s keynote speakers in its first year were Douglas Kearny and Sharan Strange. Last year, it was the National Book Award winner and Young People’s Poet Laureate Jacqueline Woodson. Each year Harvard-Westlake has invited all Los Angeles area high school students to attend and participate.
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Wider Than The Sky
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Around the World in14 Days: Student Experiences Over Winter Break By Danielle Kaye and Sabrina de Brito on February 2, 2017 Students at the Shemshak Elementary School in Iran. Photo printed with the permission of Nicole Bahar ’18
Eitan Sneider ’17: New Year’s in Cuba
abroad to perform community service or gain exposure to other
On the day that Eitán Sneider ’17 arrived in Havana, his Cuban taxi driver explained that he makes 30 times more than an attorney does.
cultures. Some opted to celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s abroad as well. Nicole Bahar ’18: Teaching English in Iran When the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1979, many of the nation’s universities shut down, forcing those about to attend college to put their plans on hold. Nicole Bahar’s ’18 mother was one of those people. Instead of leaving for university, Bahar’s mother worked as a ski instructor in the nearby mountain village of Shemshak, where Bahar said she formed meaningful connections to the town and its residents. Decades later, Bahar and her mother returned to Shemshak during winter break in order to give back to the community, which Bahar said gave her mother a sense of purpose in a time of uncertainty. They taught English and donated educational resources to the underprivileged Shemshak Elementary School. The school is one of the only co-ed institutions in Iran. Once the revolutionary regime came to power, it imposed laws requiring gender segregation in education. “I think it’s an important cause,” Bahar said. “Especially since we’re coming from a school with so many opportunities, it’s great to give back to other schools that don’t have those resources.” Bahar said that she wanted to help ensure that the co-ed school had the resources to produce successful students. Before traveling to Shemshak, Bahar and her mother also visited family in the capital city, Tehran.
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This revelation was Sneider’s first insight into the combination of traditional Cuban culture and increasing foreign influence, given the recent restoration of U.S.-Cuban relations.
Sneider’s family was eager to visit Cuba before the impact of tourism overshadowed authentic Cuban society, he said. He said that decades-old cars were mixed with modern taxis on the streets of Havana. “You don’t really see homeless people there when you’re walking around, but you also don’t really see people living a lavish lifestyle,” Sneider said. “Everyone is content and super happy.” On New Year’s Eve, Sneider experienced two aspects of Cuban culture: music and hospitality. He was struck by the generosity of an employee at his hotel in Havana who offered to save him and his family a table at the popular restaurant Sociedad Cultural Rosalia de Castro without asking for a tip. “I’ve traveled quite a bit, and Cuban people are, of everywhere I’ve been, the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Sneider said. At the fully-booked restaurant, Sneider joined dozens of Cubans for a show about the history of Cuban music. A live Cuban band and various singers performed Cuban songs from various eras.
Sophia Dienstag ’17: College Apps on a Boat Sitting on a boat in the middle of the Galapagos, Sophia Dienstag ’17 squinted at her computer screen, trying to make out the blurry letters on a college application. She began to worry that something was wrong with her eyes, only to discover that blurry vision is a side effect of the seasickness patches that she was wearing. Dienstag wore the patches throughout the duration of her family boat trip in the Galapagos Islands, Dec. 22 – 31. Although she could not escape college applications, she said she enjoyed engaging with the natural beauty of the South American destination on hikes and snorkeling adventures. “There were a few villages on some of the islands, but mostly, there’s no human interference,” Dienstag said. “We saw a lot of blue-footed boobies nesting in the cliffs and sometimes you could see them start to do a special mating dance.” Dienstag also spent a couple of days in Quito and walked along the equator, located just outside the city. On Christmas Eve, she ate traditional Ecuadorian food at the oldest hotel in Ecuador’s capital Quito. “It’s really different than any other trip I’ve done,” Dienstag said. “But make sure to bring some seasickness meds.” Catherine Crouch ’19: Shrimp and Shrines in Japan Catherine Crouch ’19 was enjoying sushi with her family at a traditional Japanese restaurant in Tokyo when the chef, a live shrimp in hand, asked her, “Raw or boiled?” Repulsed by the idea of eating a live animal, Crouch responded with a confident “boiled.” The chef, however, ignored her preference, insisting that she try the raw shrimp.
“I couldn’t say no because of their culture,” Crouch said. “You can’t just turn it down, especially at a small sushi tasting like that. So I just took a deep breath and ate it. It was so bad. It moved in my mouth.”
Crouch said that she loved exploring Tokyo and Kyoto during her week-long trip to Japan during winter break. She was particularly impressed by the cleanliness of the cities and the politeness of the Japanese people, she said. Crouch said that visiting the Fushimi-Inari shrine in Kyoto was one of the highlights of the trip. She also said she enjoyed participating in an authentic sushi-making class with her mom. “It’s an insanely beautiful country,” Crouch said. “Every part of it, whether it’s metropolitan or an old shrine, is just beautiful.”
Danielle Kaye ’17 is a 12th grader at HarvardWestlake. In addition to being a Features Editor on The Chronicle, she is a ballet dancer and a Criminal Law and Advocacy student. Outside of school, she volunteers at Project for the Innocent, where she assists lawyers by researching criminal cases. Sabrina de Brito ’17 is a senior who is Presentation Editor on The Chronicle. She is a Peer Support Leader, an avid psychology student, and a fencer. In her personal time she volunteers for Project for the Innocent.
STUDENT VOICES
During winter break, many students and their families traveled
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Photo: Jenny Li ’19
A dancer pretends to spray paint “hope” across a wall while another is occupied by the report of a terrorist attack.
Dancers Address Diversity In
‘Love’ Showcase By Jenny Li on March 5, 2017
Students and faculty danced in response to recent global events at the Upper School Dance Concert March 3-5 in the Rugby Auditorium. “In difficult times, we need one another. This is our way of giving back to our community,” director and Performing Arts Teacher Cyndy Winter said. “Our means is dance, and our goal is to provoke thought.” The show is inspired by Fred Rogers’ part in the ‘90s television show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and follows the dancers as they face pertinent issues, such as hate and violence, guest performer Maija Wainwright ’19 said. Like Rogers, who changes into his cardigan and sneakers in his theme song while speaking about love and
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honesty, dancers also put on red sweaters and sneakers as the scenes evolve during the performance. “I think Mr. Rogers, especially right now, just teaches us important things about human decency and overall kindness that we should all take with us,” Wainwright said. “It’s is basically inspired by what’s going on in the world now, and our take on what we need as people in response.”
“The performance allowed for a unique form of expression about recent events,” guest performer and Upper School Dean Celso Cardenas said.
Photo: Jenny Li ’19
A dancer spray paints a wall during a number about societal issues of hate.
“Dance is an incredible art form that has the ability to express so many emotions, and I felt it was the perfect vehicle to emote what many people are thinking and feeling at the moment,” Cardenas said. “The message of this year’s show is very much in line with my own outlook on society. It is about leaning on one another and keeping hope alive.” The dancers began working for the show since the beginning of the school year and began weekend rehearsals after winter break. Students had the opportunity last week to purchase roses and write a note for the dances for their work. The performance was successful and helped reflect not only their hard work, but a united response towards pressing issues, company member Chloe Zoller ’17 said. “It was so special to be a part of a concert that conveyed such an important message,” Zoller said. “I hope everyone was impacted by both our dancing and the meaning behind it as well.”
“The performance helped audience members connect and unite under the ideas of love and peace,” Carly Burdorf ’19 said. “It was an inspiring and eye-opening show with a powerful message,” Burdorf said. “It made me sad that so many atrocities go on everyday, but it is incredible that some still have hope. I really enjoyed the dancing and the story.” Jenny Li ’19 is a 10th grade student. She is a Layout Assistant and Staff Writer for The Chronicle. She is an accomplished writer, who in 2016, won Quill and Scroll’s National Award for opinion and feature writing as well as the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards’ National Gold Medal for critical essays. She’s spent three years volunteering with Poetic Voices, an organization that promotes creativity in under served communities.
STUDENT VOICES
Photo: Sophie Haber ’18
Henry Platt ’17, Eric Gredonia ’17, Upper School Dean Christopher Jones & Caroline Cook ’19 perform in a piece about love.
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“...Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
F R O M
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Calling A Ban On
Illustration by: Anna Gong ’18
By Saba Nia on February 23, 2017
When my parents moved to the United States after graduating from high school forever ago, they never expected to not be able to visit their first home. My mom made the conscious decision to move here at 17, amid the turmoil of the Iran-Iraq war. My dad moved here before the Iranian Revolution to go to school. When the revolution broke out, and then later the war, he became an American citizen and stayed. He was 16, my age, when he last saw his home soil.
Sure, marginalizing Iranians and Iraqis and Yemenis and Libyans and Syrians and Sudanese and Somalis might foster intolerance at home and abroad, but there’s a worse side effect. Banning these citizens is now a reality, one that could normalize this behavior in the future.
This ban is nothing like those atrocities and the hundreds of others I didn’t have enough room to list. But it stems from the same deplorable indifference that convinces someone he’s more human than someone else.
In other words, worse than joining in this bigotry, some people will choose to accept and ignore this new norm; they won’t partake in discrimination, but they sure won’t stand up to it.
Indifference is worse than war, is worse than bullying, is worse than crime. Indifference is what blinds people to the problems that need to be addressed, deafens hard truths that need to
And it was at 16, after over a decade of imagining that soil, that my country, our country, with a flick of an unconcerned wrist, dashed those dreams. This is not an anti-Trump rant. No, this isn’t even an anti-prejudice rant or an anti-hate rant. This is simply a human being calling out indifference.
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And this is not the first time, or the last. This ban is nothing close to the internment of Japanese-American citizens or the genocide of Jews, gypsies and the physically and mentally handicapped during World War II, or the Holomodor under the Soviet Union or the Armenian, Greek and Assyrians genocides in 1915 or the Rwanda genocide in 1994, or our own mistreatment of minorities and members of the LBTQ+ community and, let’s not forget, the millions of natives that died in the United States, across the Americas, and all over Africa and Asia every time a colonial power wanted a new shiny piece of land.
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heard, shackles their feet and hands to a sense of selfimportance so large it drowns out the voices of compassion and empathy and, dare I say, reason.
do unto you,” if we are brave enough to go against to status quo, the general opinion, the trendiness of nonchalance, we can make sure indifference won’t prevail.
This is not a Trump ban. No, this isn’t even a prejudice ban or a hate ban.
My parents used to tell me to not be too vocal about my ideas, especially if they would ruffle some feathers. I always wrote it off as a side effect from living under an authoritarian king, a radical revolution and then an oppressive regime where the opposition was picked off one by one.
This is an indifference ban. An avoiding-the-headlines ban. A well-I-can-just-hide-on-myphone ban. A caring-is-dumb ban. A well-this-only-appliesto-big-world-problems ban. Indifference is not limited to foreign policy or cultural issues or diplomacy. It’s something we have to address everyday on an individual basis. Allowing friends to talk behind other friends’ backs is indifference. Laughing at a joke at someone’s expense is indifference. Excluding others and treating them with little consideration or completely no respect is, you guessed it, indifference. We have the opportunity to be active members of our community. We don’t have to march or go to rallies or protest, but if we try to preserve ethics, if we try to uphold the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have them
Rejecting indifference doesn’t seem so great if you get punished for doing the right thing. But when you are part of a larger entity, a nation, a team, a family, one person’s loss is everyone’s loss. And we can be wary and cautious and a little anxious, but we can never forget that we have strength in numbers, strength in justice, strength in ethics, strength in humanity. Our blood and bones and dreams and sorrows unite us more than any flag or faith or party. We can come together and make a difference, but only if we are willing to. I will not be indifferent.
Saba Nia ’19 is a sophomore at HarvardWestlake. She is a Layout Assistant and Staff Writer for The Chronicle. She is an artist and athlete on both the Field Hockey and Swim teams. Outside of school she has volunteered with the Special Olympics.
STUDENT VOICES
INDIFFERENCE
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CLASS NOTES
Class Notes is a regular feature in HW Life. Notes are submitted by alumni. If a decade/class year is not included in the notes, this means alumni from those years did not submit any updates. If you have news you’d like to share with the alumni community, you can submit it via the alumni website, http://alumni.hw.com, in the password protected Alumni Community section. If you need help with your username or password, please contact Anne Pyle at apyle@hw.com. Alphabetically: Lu Capra ’55 and Chatty Collier ’55
HARVARD CLASS NOTES
IN MEMORIAM
1940s Ron Vogel ’44 writes, “I turned 18 in May of 1944, so I went down to the Navy recruiting office and enlisted. I was deferred until 3 days after graduation. I went on board the Battleship West Virginia BB48 and stayed on her until the end of the war.”
1950s David Wark ’52 writes, “I retired from the University of Minnesota in 1995, and am still practicing retirement until I get it right. In the meantime, I am still seeing clients and writing professional articles, between visits to our wonderful grandkids.”
WESTLAKE CLASS NOTES
1950s Chatty Collier ’55 writes, “Last October, I visited Lu Capra ’55 in upper Michigan. We hadn’t seen each other since the end of our junior year. Her father directed my father in 4 movies. Naturally, we had a great time and never stopped talking and laughing!”
1960s
Jim Isaacs ’76 writes, “Forty-two members of the Harvard Class of 1976 attended our 40th reunion organized by Reunion Chairman, Wes King ’76.”
Patti Willis ’63 writes, “In 2016, I enjoyed a tasty bowl of Viviane Peter Tallman’s ’64 homemade nettle soup high above the pounding Pacific surf on the Oregon Coast. Agenda items were offspring, books, herbs, old friends, and memories.”
1980s
1970s
Ian Taras ’83 writes, “Nick Rose ’83 and I, co-presidents of the Harvard Hockey Club from 1980 to 1983, are still huge LA Kings fans and we are sharing season seats!”
Valeri Wanglin Young ’72 writes, “I am working in Sales and Marketing for Hilton Worldwide in Beverly Hills. My son, Alexander, is in account management at the advertising agency J Walter Thompson in San Francisco.”
1970s
Hans Poh ’84 writes, “I’ve been at DC Children’s Hospital for 14 years as pediatric urologist, and enjoying my work very much. That said, my greatest accomplishment is my son, Sebastian, who is now 3 years old and a tremendously funny little person.”
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Jim Mitchell ’48 Jeffry Behlendorf ’65 James Lawrence ’65 Austin McIntosh ’68 Charles Donnelly ’79
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1980s Allison Baker ’85 writes, “This fall, I celebrated my 50th birthday with several
of my Westlake friends including Jana Hillman Gustman ’84, Shelly Wolfberg ’85, and Laurie Lindop ’85 along with our former teacher and coach Kim Barber Hieatt. I’m pretty sure that I was the first of my Westlake ’85 classmates to get my driver’s license and also the first to turn 50!”
1990s Laura Roberts Kavanaugh ’90 “My little travel business, Tuscan Travel Group, that sends vacationers to beautiful villas in Italy was recently featured in Modern Luxury Silicon Valley Magazine. Having fun with that, and enjoying time with my kids Kate & Eve and my husband Bob.” Leah Sanders Rodda ’90 “My husband, two cats and I moved to Stamford, CT. It’s my first time living on the east coast and so far it’s been wonderful. I’d love to hear from any nearby class of ’90 alums who live in the area or in NYC, which is less than one hour by train from me.”
IN MEMORIAM Susan Straith Wiser ’59 Phyllis Barry ’62 Kenya Boone ’90
HARVARD-WESTLAKE CLASS NOTES
1993 Gregory Kim writes, “I never imagined in high school that I'd live in the OC, but now I live in Newport Beach with my wife, Lily, and daughter, Audrey, eight years
Alphabetically: Allison Baker ’85, Jana Hillman Gustman ’84, Laurie Lindop ’85, and Shelly Wolfberg ’85 (along with former teacher and coach Kim Barber Hieatt)
old. Love it down here and maybe we'll move back to LA if my daughter has the opportunity to be a Wolverine.” Vishnu Menon writes, “I moved back to Los Angeles after several years in New York and San Francisco. I run the West Coast office of the same private equity fund I’ve been working with for years and lead our investments in growth stage technology companies. I’d love to reconnect with HW alumni in LA.”
1996 David Moore writes, “I starred in the West Coast premiere of The Aurora Theater’s ‘Safe House’ and had a major role in The Marin Theater Company’s production of August Wilson’s ‘Gem of The Ocean.’ I am a Resident Artist with the San Francisco Shakespeare Company and performed this summer in Shakespeare’s ‘Winter’s Tale.’ Also, I am a part of the Education and School Visit Programs of numerous Bay Area and Oregon Theater Companies.” Ashley Rosen writes, “I received the Prosecutor of the Year Award for the California Narcotics Officers Association, Region 3 and was promoted to a coordinator position at work.”
1997
2005
Melissa Goldberg writes, “I just moved back to Los Angeles after 6.5 years in London and I am getting reacquainted with the city.”
Tamara Weston writes, “We are expecting our first baby and future Wolverine this summer!”
2000 Michael Gross writes, “Big news! My wife Besse and I, along with our 18 month son Bo, have recently returned to California from abroad. We’ve been living & working in London for the past 3 years. We’re settling in San Francisco for the next while and looking forward to being closer to HW and the various school events. Go Wolverines!”
2001 David Neinstein writes, “I worked for Bisnow, which was sold for $50 million to Wicks Group. I stepped down as COO upon the sale of the company.”
2002 Megan Ferkel Earhart writes, “I am an attorney at the boutique estate planning firm, Hoffman, Sabban & Watenmaker, APC.” Liza Kaplan Glucoft writes, “I recently started my own company where I am a Digital Showrunner, Producer, and Director.”
Patrick Whitman writes, “I was recently accepted to Duke University’s Physician Assistant program and will be moving to Durham in July 2017 until my end date of August 2019.”
2006 Angelica Baker writes, “I sold my first novel ‘Our Little Racket’ to Ecco Books for publication in June of this year. It was named to Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten titles in literary fiction for the Spring of 2017 and Entertainment Weekly listed it as one of their 23 Most Anticipated Books of 2017.” Derek Staahl writes, “I am entering my second year of reporting and anchoring for the CBS affiliate in Phoenix and its sisterstation, 3TV. I earned two Emmy nominations in 2016 along with another proud distinction – my hair was named ‘Second Runner-Up’ among Arizona newsmen.”
2007 Alex de Castro‐Abeger writes, “I am moving to Nashville, TN to start my residency in Ophthalmology at Vanderbilt Eye Institute. Any alumni that are visiting should definitely get in contact.”
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Bennett Givens writes, “I just passed the California Bar and currently work at Richards, Watson & Gershon in Los Angeles.” Nick Greif writes, “Cat Stevens ’07 and I got engaged in February 2016.” Nicolas Patonai writes, “I am in the third year of my Residency of Anesthesia at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. I live in Prairie Village, Kansas with my wife, Mary.”
2008 Stephen Adamson writes, “I graduated from Stanford in 2012 and lived and worked in San Francisco for a year before returning to Los Angeles. I worked at the entertainment media start-up MoviePilot in Venice Beach for a couple of years and I now work for Fullscreen Media in Playa Vista.” Dorothy Etra writes, “I am engaged to Daniel Katz!”
Michael Kaplan writes, “I am currently an Associate Producer for 60 Minutes on CBS.”
2011
Eli Stein writes, I am getting married in August 2017!”
Hilary King writes, “On Friday, November 4, I graduated from the San Francisco Police Academy! I received an award for having one of the highest scores in the physical fitness test.”
2010
2012
Jake Staahl writes, “After a year of playing professional volleyball in Sweden, I am now working as a software engineer for YouTube and living in San Francisco.”
Austin Hopp writes, “I am currently attending Columbia University School of Engineering and will obtain my Masters in Financial Engineering in May 2017.
2009
I am happily living in New York City and enjoying life!”
2013 Jordan Elist writes, “I started off 2016 studying abroad in Madrid for five months. Beyond countless class visits to the Prado Museum and 3 p.m. siestas, I had the opportunity to travel across Europe. While readjusting back to the real world was a bit of a struggle, I had an incredible learning opportunity through a two-month internship with JP Morgan’s equity capital
markets team in San Francisco. Finally, just last week, I finished my second-tolast semester at USC, where I’m putting the finishing touches on my senior thesis, consulting local non-profits, and playing pick-up basketball on a weekly basis.”
IN MEMORIAM Eric Lederman ’00
GIFT PLANNING
IT’S TRUE: GIVING CAN MAKE US HAPPY. By Jim Pattison Aristotle and his fellow Greek philosophers may seem to be an odd point of reference for our present day situation; however; their search for truth (and how it leads to beauty and happiness) and what they discovered are worth our consideration.
TWO STORIES: TELLING THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH ... AND FACING THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MAKES US HAPPY. STORY 1 – An executive takes his first real vacation in ten years. The first day of the trip, he gets a text from his assistant that states simply, “Your cat died.” He looks at this short message in shock and immediately calls his assistant. He says, “Why in the world did you send me a text that says ‘Your cat died’?” The assistant replies, “What do you mean ... your cat did die.” The executive replies, “But don’t just blurt it out like that in a text. When you’ve got bad news, for cryin’ out loud, break it to a person gradually. Be more diplomatic. You’ve ruined my whole vacation.” The assistant asks, “Well, what should I have done?” The distraught executive responds, “Prepare me for it a little bit. I mean, you could’ve sent me a text that said, ‘Your cat’s on the roof’ and then maybe an hour later one that said, ‘Your cat fell off the roof’ and then maybe a little bit after that, ‘Your cat’s at the vet,’ and then a few hours later it’s more likely that I’ll be ready for a text that says ‘Your cat died.’ But please break it to me more gently when you’ve got news like this.” “OK, I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful,” the assistant says. Three days later another text comes. It says, “Your mother’s on the roof.”
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STORY 2 – The past Headmaster of Roxbury Latin School in Massachusetts started out his clerical career in Cleveland. He was earning $4,000 a year, working long hours ... and read in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that garbage collectors were earning $12,000 as starting pay. He went to the Senior Warden and complained: “I just read in the paper that garbage collectors in this city earn $12,000, work 8 hour days, and generally have just a high school education. Here I am, with three advanced degrees, working 12-15 hours each day, and only earning $4,000!!! It just doesn’t seem right.” And the Senior Warden “impaled” (to use his exact word) him with the rejoinder, “Well, then, maybe you’d like to be a garbage collector.” An absolute truth about ourselves is that we want to be happy. We want our children to be happy. But what does it mean to be happy? Aristotle suggests there are actually four levels of happiness. The first (translated by Augustine into Latin as “laetus”) is the happiness of a good meal or seeing something that is pleasant or exciting. There is an immediate gratification revolving around some external stimulus. We go to a nice restaurant, hear a concert, see a game ... and we’re happy. The second (“felix”) is the happiness we feel when our ego has been gratified. It may result from a commendation for doing a good job, enjoying a good reputation or having a “good name,” but revolves around others thinking well of us personally. A sports team wins a game, everyone cheers ... and we feel happy about the day. The third (“beatitudo”) is the happiness we experience when we witness the joy of someone else. It may be another person’s success, or when a person receives a gift from us and we have
that inner feeling of satisfaction that we’ve made someone else happy. The person may know we were the cause for that success or the gift; nonetheless, the other person is happy and we’re happy for them. The highest (“gaude”) is the happiness that results from doing things that are completely self-less. We know that something is the right thing to do and we do it – and it makes us happy. It is the happiness of seeing the unconditional horizon of a person’s curiosity, creativity, spirit and achievement being realized. An example of this is a person who helps another by enabling that person to become self-sufficient through a gift or help in gaining a skill or finding employment.
though, is when we arrive at the point in our lives when we make a legacy or transformational gift to the school – which not only dramatically improves the school but also has a huge impact in our own life. Bequests and large gifts can be the means to unleash the potential of each individual at the school in ways that border on the unimaginable. It might be surprising – and even a little odd – that something Aristotle said many centuries ago would have relevance to presentday Harvard-Westlake. But think about it as decisions are made regarding the support you provide to many worthy institutions. Giving can make us happy. (And no texts about your mother being on the roof! )
WHAT DOES GIVING HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS? There may be an immediate sense of gratification by making a gift that results in a receipt or nice note of appreciation (maybe even an invitation to the Headmaster’s Reception); or if a large enough donation is made, a room or building can be named after us, satisfying our ego gratification. We might even achieve level three happiness by establishing an endowed fund that provides financial assistance to a student who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend Harvard-Westlake. The highest level of happiness,
Jim Pattison is Director of Major Gifts and Senior Advancement Officer. For more information on making a charitable gift to the school, he may be reached at jpattison@hw.com or 818-487-5471.
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Class of 1948
“It’s great to be aligned with” a winning organization!” – George “Buddy” Moss ’48
Jim Stellar ’48 established the school’s first independent fund. Jim sees the Stellar Family Scholar Endowment as “a payback for the school’s generosity when my family needed help.” George “Buddy” Moss ’48 is now the largest non-trustee alumni donor and has endowed two faculty chairs in English, one on each campus, and a financial aid Scholar Endowment.
Jim Stellar ’48 and George “Buddy” Moss ’48
THE CLASS OF 1948: ACHIEVING 100% PARTICIPATION hen World War II started, Jim Stellar, Harvard ’48, was W living in San Marino and attending the community’s elementary school. Automotive manufacturing and sales were suspended for the duration of the conflict, so his father, a manager at Packard Motors, took a position managing an industrial medical practice which supported the 250,000 workers that had moved to Long Beach to build Liberty ships. The influx of so many families to the area, as both California Ship Building Corporation and Douglas Aircraft geared up war production, severely impacted housing and community resources. Jim, along with his older brothers, soon found themselves headed to severely overcrowded local classrooms scheduled in double sessions. To their parents, this situation was unacceptable. SEEKING A SOLUTION, the Stellar family contacted Jim’s uncle, Fr. Clarance Parlour, the Rector of St. Mark’s Parish in Glendale, and arrangements were made for the three boys to attend and board at Harvard School. To assist the family, who like the entire nation were living under the tight constraints of wage and price controls, three scholarships were provided. In 1942, the three brothers joined a school community of 205 boys of which over a third were boarders. Instead of potential standing room only academics, each benefitted from the one-on-one attention that could only be achieved in classrooms where 10 to 12 students interacted closely with their teachers. JIM RECOGNIZES AND DEEPLY APPRECIATES the educational
opportunity that Harvard School provided him and his brothers. His oldest sibling, Robert, graduated from Occidental College, entered the Episcopal ministry, received a Doctor of Divinity degree and was eventually elevated to a Canon in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Richard, the middle brother, attended USC and then graduated with the first class of the UCLA Medical School and established
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a practice locally. Jim served in the US Navy and graduated from the University of Arizona, which he attended on doctor’s orders because of his reaction to the worsening Los Angeles smog, before embarking on a successful career in business and investment. STELLAR RECOLLECTS first being drawn back into the life of his alma mater at his thirty-fifth reunion, but it was attending Tom Hudnut’s installation as Head of School that grabbed his attention. Hudnut challenged the alumni to get involved and proposed the creation of alumni scholarship funds. He heeded the call and established the school’s first independent fund. Jim sees the Stellar Family Scholar Endowment as, “a payback for the school’s generosity when his family needed help.” To date this fund has supported eight students. GEORGE “BUDDY” MOSS, Jim closest classmate and life-long friend,
took up the challenge too. Moss is now the largest non-trustee alumni donor and also has endowed two Chairs in English, one for each campus, and a financial aid Scholar Endowment. Together they encouraged and led the Class of 1948 to 100% participation and support for each of the last eight years. Jim sees it this way, “It doesn’t matter whether you can give $25, $250 or more annually, it’s the participation rate that counts. When the school is seeking large donations or grants, the percentage of alumni support is always evaluated…so, just participate!” Besides, he adds, “it’s great to be aligned with a winning organization!” THE CLASS OF 1948 which once numbered thirty-nine, is now only
nine. Several years ago one member, Wally Schmidt, established a tontine of sorts, a fine bottle of scotch which is kept safe in the school archives. One day, when only two classmates remain, Jim says, “they will open it up and raise a toast to the Class of 1948 and to Harvard-Westlake.”
The Class of 1948 which once numbered thirty-nine, is now only nine. 45
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3700 Coldwater Canyon Studio City, CA 91604 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Postal regulations require Harvard-Westlake to pay for each copy of this magazine that is undeliverable as addressed. Please call the Office of Advancement (310-288-3308) or email advancement@hw.com to notify us of any changes of address. Include both the old and new address. Parents of alumni: If the graduate to whom this magazine is addressed no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Office of Advancement of the new mailing address.
Students at Valor Academy Middle School in Panorama City receive “virtual tutoring� via video chat and screen sharing software from Harvard-Westlake students at the upper school.