Isl and Ne w s
Howe Hall Dedicated
Jane MacKay Howe ’49, all four of her children, several of her grandchildren, and other Howe family members gathered with Loomis Chaffee community members in Grubbs Quadrangle for the dedication of Howe Hall on October 20. Formerly Mason Hall, the dormitory, one of the school’s oldest buildings, was renamed in honor of Jane and her husband, the late Glover E. Howe Jr. ’48, who were longtime, revered faculty members and dorm heads of the building that now bears their name.
building and strive to create a warm and nurturing space for all the residents, much as a family cares for and passes down an historic home through generations. Lori held up a T-shirt bearing the dorm slogan, “This is HOWE we do it!”
During the outdoor dedication ceremony, several Loomis community members spoke about the mark Jane and Glover made on the school and shared fond memories of living, learning, working, and teaching alongside the couple.
Senior Juliet Rhodes, a current Howe Hall resident, spoke on behalf of her classmates, peers, and fellow Howe Hall girls, many of whom observed the ceremony from the dorm’s balcony. Juliet’s aunts, Judith Rhodes Langford ’87 and Jennifer Rhodes ’88, preceded her as Loomis students, and Juliet shared the family’s story of Jane soothing her grandmother’s concerns about sending her daughters away to school and taking Judith under her wing as Judith’s dorm head and advisor.
Choosing to name the dorm in honor of Glover and Jane “makes everyone happy,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Christopher K. Norton ’76. The decision to change the name of the building was controversial, he acknowledged, but once the Howe name was determined, students, alumni, and faculty quickly and unanimously hailed the decision. Head of School Sheila Culbert gave a brief accounting of the many roles Jane and Glover assumed on the Island from 1956 until they retired in 1989. “They are the only faculty couple in the history of the school who have each served as dormitory heads in the same dormitory — Mason Hall,” Sheila remarked. Glover served as dorm head when it was a boys residence hall, and Jane was dorm head when the school welcomed its first boarding girls and housed them in Mason. Jane and Glover are inspirations to today’s dorm heads and others in the residential community, said Howe Hall dorm head Lori Caligiuri, who spoke at the ceremony. She noted that Loomis dorm heads assume the role of stewards of the
Juliet said the solid brick structure and the family of faculty and students that reside within are a dependable source of warmth, comfort, and safety. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that if one were to turn the ‘w’ in Howe upside down, it would make the word ‘home,’” she concluded. Invited to speak to the gathering, Jane said she was “humbled and a bit overwhelmed with the significance” of the occasion. She thanked the school community on behalf of the Howe family for the tribute and the celebration. She and Glover felt fortunate to play an important role in the lives of young people at Loomis, and their own lives were “enriched by the opportunity to serve others,” she said. The school will “remain part of our lives now more permanently than we ever imagined.”
Jane MacKay Howe ’49. Photo: John Groo
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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018
