AROUND THE QUADS Planning for the Norton Family Center for the Common Good began in earnest last school year as Al Freihofer ’69 met with then-seniors Brianna Malanga, Daniel Trompeter, and Samson Chow and then-junior Nicholas Miceli. Photo: John Groo
Centering on the Common Good
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HE Norton Family Center for the Common Good opened on campus this fall, creating a forum that caters explicitly to fostering the best self and the common good, ideas that are central to the school’s mission. “We are trying to bring out the backbeat to the culture of Loomis Chaffee in just a more obvious way and make it readily apparent,” says Al Freihofer ’69, director of the center and a former Trustee of the school. The center is named after the Norton family, a three-generation family of Loomis Chaffee alumni who believe in the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship. Among the center’s first projects was the creation of the Common Good Seminars, a mandatory series for all freshmen. The weekly seminars began in November and will continue through the end of the school year. In future years, the seminars will run during all three terms. The small, discussion-based seminars engage students in conversations about a variety of topics, in a range of disciplines, and from varying perspectives. “The freshman course is aiming to develop a fluency in the idea of the common good,” Al says. “It’s an expression of what the school already does and shows how all areas on campus work together toward the shared common good. In literature, it’s a great piece of writing that causes introspection; in mathematics, it’s data from which you extrapolate information and make an informed decision. We see it in teachings from history, and in science it can be discussing how we contribute negatively and positively to the environment.”
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“Everything we are doing is modeling what we are trying to teach, which ultimately is the power of the common good put forth by the best self,” he adds. “The terms common good and best self are often in tension with one another in today’s culture. It’s figuring out how to be your best self and work toward the common good, which can sometimes be painful. We are constantly told that being our best self is striving toward material success. Sometimes you have to forgo the materialistic and completely engage in service directly to the common good in order to reach it.” The Norton Center’s advisory board, a nine-member group of faculty, developed the initial series of seminars organically. The group solicited input from the full faculty, who offered suggestions based on areas of their expertise as well as areas of passion that lend themselves to promoting the best self and the common good. The course will continue to grow as new ideas come into play for topics of discussion. Al says the teachers of the seminar are embarking on a learning experience quite like the students as they cooperate to continually improve and develop the curriculum. And as the course continues to evolve, the center hopes to involve upperclassmen in the process to make sure the course reflects the common good that exists within the school culture.
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We aren’t pushing a definition of the common good. We are pushing an open-mindedness that everyone has his or her own beliefs of what the common good is.
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— Al Freihofer ’69, director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good “We aren’t pushing a definition of the common good. We are pushing an open-mindedness that everyone has his or her own beliefs of what the common good is,” Al explains. “My definition of common good may be drastically different from yours, and that becomes a point of discussion.” Eight faculty members are teaching the 10 seminar sections. They are Woody Hess, English teacher and associate head of school; Eric LaForest, history teacher and assistant director of the Norton Center; Michael Donegan, dean of sophomores and director of student activities; Mary Liscinsky, dean of student life; Elizabeth Parada, Spanish teacher
and director of multicultural affairs; Patricia Sasser, dean of juniors; Ned Parsons, English teacher and dean of faculty; and Al, who also teaches English. Woody, Eric, Mike, and Mary also are members of the advisory board along with Fred Seebeck, English teacher and dean of freshmen; Nick Pukstas, Latin teacher and associate dean of faculty; Dennis Robbins, head of the Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion Department; English teacher Phyllis Grinspan; and history teacher Rachel Engelke. For more information about the Notron Family Center for the Common Good go to www.loomischaffee.org / commongood