Island News
Rachel Kort ’98 Joins Board of Trustees
T
he Board of Trustees welcomed Rachel D. Kort ’98 as its newest Trustee during its October meeting.
After graduating from Loomis Chaffee, Rachel went on to Dartmouth College, where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics. After working as an investment banking analyst at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, she earned her M.B.A. at Columbia Business School. From there, she headed to Goldman Sachs, where she worked in investment banking in the firm’s consumer and retail group. Rachel joined Hall Capital Partners in New York City in 2008, where she is now a managing director and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In 2013 Institutional Investor named Rachel one of its Rising Stars of Hedge Funds.
brilliant!
Senior Chloe Irving and her teammates from the swimming and diving team offered swim and safety lessons to 30 local children in Hedges Pool this fall. Chloe partnered with the principals at Oliver Ellsworth School and Poquonock School, both elementary schools in Windsor, to provide the lessons to children aged 4–8 years. Participants came to the pool in two half-hour shifts once a week. Each child was paired with a Loomis swimmer who taught him or her how to swim and shared water safety strategies. The Debate Society competed in the Connecticut Debate Association’s December Tournament in Simsbury. The team came prepared to argue both the affirmative and negative sides of the event’s resolution that the United States should join the International Criminal Court. Sophomore Mark Valadez and freshman Maral Asik were undefeated in the novice division of the tournament, receiving an invitation to compete at the state championship tournament. In the advanced division, seniors Ben Ryu and senior Rikuo Miura went 2-1. The student newspaper The Log has launched a web edition at www.thelclog.org. In existence since 1916, The Log continues to publish its print edition as well. Four senior leaders of The Log traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October for a conference hosted by The Harvard Crimson, the college’s daily newspaper. Log Editorsin-Chief Jamie Lee and Gloria Yi, Director of Design Anh Nguyen, and Web Editor Lily Liu attended workshops on using graphics and data effectively, improving a paper’s web presence, and keeping a newsroom running smoothly, among other topics. The Log leaders also participated in discussion groups with students from schools across New England. Senior Henry Winchester installed an energy-producing stationary bike in the Olin Fitness Center this fall. Henry purchased the SportArt bike with funds he received through a Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship at Loomis. The upright bike has a micro-inverter so that as one pedals the bike, he or she puts wattage into the grid. The bike indicates how many watts are being produced at a given pace and has a charging station so that the rider can generate the energy to charge a plugged-in phone. Loomis field hockey players took time out from practice one day this fall to conduct a skills clinic on campus for members of the West Hartford Youth Field Hockey League. Girls in grades five through eight gathered on the field hockey turf with Pelican varsity and JV players for an afternoon of drills and games.
Rachel recently served on Loomis Chaffee’s Head’s Council and as a non-Trustee member of the school’s Investment Committee. She also serves on the Montefiore Medical Center Investment Committee and on the Montefiore Council.
Advanced ceramics students this fall donated about 35 of their handmade bowls to the Empty Bowls Project, an international grassroots awareness and fundraising effort to fight hunger. This was the eighth year that students have “thrown,” decorated, and donated bowls for the local Empty Bowls Project fundraiser, held at Manchester Community College. Proceeds from the event help to feed some of the 128,000 people, including 50,000 children, served by Foodshare each year in Hartford and Tolland counties.
Rachel lives in New York City with her husband, David Pitluck, and their two children. Her brother, Eric Kort ’00, and sister, Naomi Kort ’02, followed her to the Island.
Amid the bustle around campus in advance of winter break, students, faculty, and staff took time to connect with school neighbors in celebration of the holiday season. The Community Service Choir sang holiday tunes and songs from an earlier era for senior citizens at The Caring Connection day program in Windsor. Dorms, departments, and teams collected and donated gifts on the wish lists of 25 individuals suggested by the town’s Department of Social Services. Students in the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Club collected toys and donations to ensure that children and families coping with illness would have toys to brighten their spirits. And the Loomis Health Center collected nonperishable food donations for the Windsor Food Bank.
web+ To find out more about these and other brilliant accomplishments at Loomis, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.
Winter 2017
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