spring
2018
MiltonMagazine
WHAT IS
REAL?
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ta ble of contents
Features
Departments
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Do the Science. Show the Evidence.
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Sam Myers ’83 leads research that quantifies the health impacts of large scale, man-made environmental change. Sam is principal research scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Planetary Health Alliance.
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10 Who’s Telling What Truth? An investigative journalist, staff writer at The New Yorker, author of two books, and winner of the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, Patrick Radden Keefe ’94 writes stories about people who would prefer he not write about them.
14 Is Seeing Believing? We all attach desires and biases to the art we see, consciously or not. Jovonna Jones ’11 is researching the history of photography, black visual culture, and the implications of that history for cultural institutions.
16 Trying to Ascertain What Happened: Bolstering the Rule of Law After serving as a defender, prosecutor and judge in New York, Mary McGowan Davis ’63 developed her expertise in international human rights and humanitarian law over many years of intrepid, global work.
20 Solo Canoe Journeys Across Massachusetts Make a Fine Point Denny Alsop ’69 canoed across Massachusetts, along the same route he took in 1988, with the same mission: to draw attention to the toxic aftermath of GE in the Berkshires.
24 They See, Snap and Share: Students on Their Devices
Across the Quad
37 On Centre
Points of View 40 Milton Mural Since 1977, the Saturday
42 Messages
Course Has Thrilled Children Every Week 34 In Sight
47 Class Notes 53 Board of Trustees
Photograph by 56 Post Script
Michael Dwyer
Mr. Millet Responds 36 Head of School How Do We Know? by Todd B. Bland
Editor Cathleen Everett Associate Editors Marisa Donelan Liz Matson Design Stoltze Design
Photography Michael Dwyer Gerry Ellis / Minden Pictures Ben Garver, The Berkshire Eagle John Gillooly Greg Katsoulis Kjeld Mahoney Photography Ilene Squires Greg White
Milton Magazine is published twice a year by Milton Academy. Editorial and business offices are located at Milton Academy, where change-ofaddress notifications should be sent. As an institution committed to diversity, Milton Academy welcomes the opportunity to admit academically qualified students of any gender, race, color, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally available to its students. It does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship programs, and athletic or other School-administered activities. Printed on recycled paper.
Students and counselors weigh in on how and why students use Snapchat and Instagram.
28 Revamping the Classic Research Project Middle Schoolers learn to locate the facts and worthwhile analysis—instead of the bunk—as they research hot-button issues.
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What is real? Alumni who must find and declare the truth as their life’s work live in rigorous times. What is the impact on their work, and on their persons, when public voices dismissively declare that the truth is fake, or that an alternate reality is true? We asked alumni who mine for the truth in different domains: How hard it is to find the truth? How difficult is it to know what’s real? And in an environment of widespread mistrust, what happens to the reality they bring forward? How vulnerable is the truth? How illusive is the truth? What, we wanted to know, is the daring part of “daring to be true”—finding it, declaring it, keeping it alive, making sure it matters?
How Do I Look? by Lucy Landau ’18
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acro s s t h e qua d
Points of View Seniors project the Milton they know to prospective students through Milton’s Instagram account. They are OBK (Orange and Blue Key) members, who lead campus tours for the office of admission and help interested students learn about the life of the School. OBK heads managed our Instagram account throughout the year, starting with a “selfie” post to introduce themselves. Do their posts give you a sense of Milton?
Jade May miltonacademy Today, my Advanced Bio class worked with bacteria and slime mold! #daretobemilton
Kalaria Okali miltonacademy I’m a section editor for the Milton Measure and tonight the Measure and the Paper join together to create Milton’s humor publication: The Shallot. #daretobemilton
Sophie Clivio miltonacademy Brigadier General Johnson was our amazing Veteran’s Day speaker this morning. He spoke to us about the importance of service, and we thank him for his service.
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Sophie Clivio miltonacademy Sit-down dinner in Hallowell!! #dormpride #hallowell #happythursday
Kalaria Okali miltonacademy Learning how to play dreidel at the JSU Hanukkah party! #daretobemilton
Velan Nandhakumaran miltonacademy Hi guys, my name is Velan and I will be taking over the Milton Academy Instagram this week!! I’m going to give you a sneak peek inside of my life at school!
I’m from
Mississauga, Canada and a senior on the hockey team residing in Forbes house. #daretobemilton #funfunfun
Emily Panarese miltonacademy Taking a break from studying with some fun slime making in Milton’s Art with a Social Conscience club!!
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Photo by Gerry Ellis / Minden Pictures M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
truth one
SAM MYERS ’83
Sam Myers ’83 As Sam Myers delivers an esteemed, international lecture, you can sense the live tension between the deep, emotional urgency of his assessment and the patient, unassailable methodology he believes must drive our response. Sam works at the nexus of accelerating environmental
homeostasis, stability in the system, that it functions almost
change and human health. He has steadfastly worked to
like a single, gigantic organism that’s also immensely
develop an engine of research that addresses complex
fragile. I started thinking about these connections between
and critical environmental questions. The evidence that
the natural world and human health and well-being.”
emerges quantifies the human health impacts of large scale, man-made environmental change. Last November in London, Dr. Richard Horton, editor-
Lewis Thomas’ concepts continued to anchor Sam during medical school at Yale and as he began his medical internship at the University of California, San Francisco.
in-chief of The Lancet, was about to start taking questions
Then, two Tibetan officials, Sam’s partners at a dinner
from the packed audience at The Academy of Medical
party, were able to convince Sam to leave his residency
Sciences & The Lancet International Health Lecture, when
for two years, and develop an integrated environmental
he momentarily diverted. “Tell us how,” he asked Sam,
conservation and health care program they had in
who had just delivered the lecture, “despite your full,
mind. They had just created a huge new national park on
traditional, medical training, and work at some of the
the North Side of Mount Everest, Qomolangma Nature
leading hospitals in the United States, you got into this
Preserve; in return for requiring the 75,000 park residents
very new discipline: planetary health?” Sam, now director
to forego some traditional activities—certain kinds of
of the Planetary Health Alliance and principal research
hunting and tree cutting—they would provide a primary
scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,
health care preventative medicine program as a benefit
explained that it all started in 10th grade.
for them, within the larger conservation effort. “They
He’d wanted to be an English teacher, but at Milton, English faculty Tom Doelger suggested that Sam read some Lewis Thomas. A physician and esteemed scientist who’d run the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York, Thomas was
wanted those living on the land to understand the benefits of maintaining this park,” Sam says. The Tibet program was Sam’s first, but not last, on-theground opportunity to work at the intersection of health and
also a brilliant writer. “Acerbic, witty, with a deep respect
the environment. After finishing his medical training at
for science, nothing flaky, but keen observation and always
UCSF, he spent six years in lower-income country settings,
curious,” Sam says. “He wrote that the more we study the
on projects that integrated natural resource management,
complexity of life on earth, the more it starts to look like a
population, and primary health care.
single organism. So many complex feedbacks maintain
Working on concrete projects in local communities led to
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two realizations: First, the connections between manage
connections between environmental change and health
ment of natural systems and human health were even more
across different fields—like infectious disease exposure
direct and critical than he had suspected. Second, villagers
and nutrition, and natural disasters and population
in these tropical communities were already keenly aware
displacement.
of these connections. They were not degrading their natural
and the ensuing ten years of research prove Sam’s contention:
had no other plausible means of feeding themselves and
Shaping crucial questions and investigating them in a
their children. Perhaps he was working in the wrong dimension of
coordinated effort across multiple disciplines is both possible and crucial. The data that the studies deliver allows
practice, Sam thought. Stepping back and thinking at
policy makers to consider strategies and interventions that
a global scale would be more valuable, as would research
really work—to save lives and resources—and mitigate the
focused on quantifying the ways in which large-scale
pace of degradation.
environmental degradation drives larger and larger burdens of disease around the world. “People were giving lip service to the idea that human well-being is tied to environmental conditions,” he says. “What was missing was an evidence base. What we needed, actually, was a science underneath those sentiments.
“We needed a new field, deeply interdisciplinary and
The first such issue Sam dove into, he says, was looking at emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and how they drive not just global climatic disruption, but also significant reductions in the nutritional value of food. “We found that the edible portion of crops grown at elevated CO2 had significant reductions in protein, iron and zinc,” Sam
said in an interview with The Guardian. “These CO 2-
tightly focused on the health effects of environmental
induced nutrient changes will drive hundreds of millions
disruption and transformation. To build such a field, we
of people into zinc deficiency, while exacerbating the
needed to start with an evidence base and a proof of
condition for billions already suffering from it.” Subsequent
concept—that these questions could be framed and answered
papers, published in August of 2017, showed similar impacts
rigorously to improve our understanding of how, where,
of rising CO2 on global risk of iron and protein deficiencies.
and why environmental changes are driving human health burdens.” Therefore, back to Harvard he went, for an MPH.
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That scan helped him surface viable research questions—
systems out of ignorance but out of desperation: They
In another study published in The Lancet in 2015, Sam and his co-investigators developed a new approach to estimating the importance of animal pollinators for human
During a clinical research fellowship with Harvard
nutrition. “We have conducted an analysis of how such
Medical School and the School of Public Health, he
declines would impact the global burden of disease by
developed a major review paper (2009) that scanned
increasing the risk of vitamin A deficiency, folate deficiency
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and low intake of fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds,” he reported in The Guardian. “In total, we found that pollinator declines could lead to over one million deaths annually and a very large global burden of disease.” Biodiversity loss is another issue under investigation:
annual meeting is this May at the University of Edinburgh.” “It’s gaining momentum.” Sam says. “People are coalescing; we have this engine of research.” Some universities, Cornell for instance, have instituted a degree program in planetary science; Sam is teaching an
the loss of access to both terrestrial and marine wildlife for
underg raduate course at Harvard, and is lead editor on
food. The concern is about the “quiet erosion of a nutritional
a first textbook for planetary health.
cornerstone as access to wild-caught fish becomes scarcer,” Sam says. “We have put together a strong team of fisheries
Not a moment too soon. “We as a species are at an interesting moment where our capacity to exploit the world’s
ecologists, economists and nutritional epidemiologists,”
resources has amplified to the extent that we are disrupting
he says, “to begin quantifying the role that global fisheries
our natural systems so much faster than we ever have before,
play in nutrient intakes and nutritional status around
and it’s astonishing,” Sam says.
the world. In this way, we can explore the extent to which sustainable fisheries management is not just a conservation imperative, but also a public health one.” With scientists from Harvard and Columbia University, Sam leads a study evaluating the impact of haze caused by fires set to clear land for palm oil and pulpwood planta tions on carbon-rich peat land in the Indonesian forest. Monsoon winds typically blow the haze over Singapore and Malaysia. According to BBC News on September 19, 2016, the study, which combined satellite data with models of health impacts from smoke exposure and readings from pollution monitoring stations, estimated that approximately
“People were giving lip service to the idea that human well-being is tied to environmental conditions. What was missing was an evidence base. What we needed, actually, was a science underneath those sentiments.”
100,000 people died prematurely in 2015 due to fires across three countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore). “This modeling allows us to quantify the impacts of scenarios the Indonesian government actually has under
More than anything, Sam has realized the center of gravity he sought. “My dream has always been to see
consideration,” Sam explains. “We can say, ‘If you
the world recognize that how we manage and take care of
continue business as usual, this is how many people die.
our planet’s natural systems is intimately related to our
If you protect the peatlands from fire, this is how many
own health and well-being. This is starting to happen under
lives you save.’ It directly connects natural resource
the framework of planetary health. There is still so much
management decisions to health outcomes for policy makers,
to do, but the seed is planted and the plant is starting to grow!
and that’s really important.” Developing an evidence-based, transdisciplinary field
“We scientists need to connect science and society. We have to ask the right questions in the first place, engaging
focused on the human health impacts of accelerating
policy makers and practitioners to find out what research
environmental change is “critical to our future,” Sam says.
is most useful to them,” Sam notes. “Then, we have to find
In 2014, this field was christened “planetary health.”
the language that resonates for average Americans.” Sam
The Rockefeller Foundation and The Lancet created their
believes that scientists need to help people understand that
Commission on Planetary Health and asked Sam to
more careful management of our planet’s natural systems
serve as a commissioner. In 2015, the Commission released
is not only an environmental priority but an urgent public
its report, “Safeguarding Human Health in the
health priority. When people understand that their own
Anthropocene Epoch.” At the same time, the Rockefeller
health and their children’s futures are at stake, that’s when
Foundation announced its support for an organization
they demand action.
that Sam had conceptualized: The Planetary Health
Despite the odds, Sam is optimistic. “I am hopeful that
Alliance. Launched early in 2016, the Alliance created a
humans have enormous capacity for innovation, courage
center of gravity for the emerging field of planetary
and imagination. It will take all three to rethink our place
health; its first global meeting occurred in April 2017, at
in the world and construct a new narrative in which we
Harvard Medical School. “Our first meeting drew 350
conserve our planet’s natural systems as part of taking care
people from 25 different countries,” Sam says. “Today,
of each other and ourselves.”
1,600 people get our newsletter. In less than two years, we have well over 90 institutional members, and our next
by Cathleen Everett
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truth t wo
PAT R I C K R A D D E N K E E F E ’ 9 4
Who’s Telling What Truth? Patrick Radden Keefe ’94 If this story were to begin the way Patrick Radden Keefe’s stories in The New Yorker do, the first sentence would roll an explicit nugget of juicy fact your way. Craving a few more details, you’d slide right into the second sentence, and you’d be hooked. The title might have been what caught your interest and
will be published in 2019. Patrick received a Guggenheim
arrested your casual page-flipping—something like “The
Fellowship and fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson
Family that Built An Empire of Pain,” or “Solving the
International Center for Scholars, the New America
Mystery of the Lockerbie Bombing,” or “Anthony Bourdain’s
Foundation, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and
Moveable Feast.” By the end of the first paragraph, you
Writers at the New York Public Library.
would be bound to continue Patrick’s deep dive into an intriguing and often startling world. Patrick is an investigative journalist, a staff writer at
in the secret, in excavating—sometimes looking at something
The New Yorker magazine. He has written about the trial
that is actually right out there, but not really all that well
of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; the vast
understood,” he says. While Patrick was studying for the
hedge-fund scandal rooted in the relationship among a
bar exam in 2005, for example, a criminal trial happening
doctor, a trader and the billionaire Steven A. Cohen; and
a few blocks away, in downtown Manhattan, piqued his
the power tactics of Carl Ichan as President Trump’s friend and official advisor. Patrick received the National
immigrant economy in Chinatown. “I was so distracted by these really colorful stories about this amazing woman.
Writing in 2014 for “A Loaded
The Feds were throwing the book at her for being a human
Gun,” and was a finalist for
smuggler, but in Chinatown she was considered a hero
the National Magazine Award
because she had helped so many people. I pitched that story
for Reporting in 2015 and 2016.
to The New Yorker as an article, and they took it. That was
He has written two books:
my first piece for them.” Patrick had completed Yale Law School after having
The Chinatown Underworld
taken a leave to complete his first book, on surveillance and
and the American Dream, and
electronic eavesdropping. While writing the book he’d
Chatter: Uncovering the
published stories in Slate and New York Review of Books. This
Echelon Surveillance Network
first New Yorker story about Sister Ping and the immigrant
and the Secret World of Global
economy in Chinatown ultimately became his second book.
Eavesdropping. His third book, Say Nothing, about the IRA,
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interest. The defendant, a woman known as “the snakehead,” would eventually center his second book about the
Magazine Award for Feature
The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of
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His writing often elucidates people and processes that are hidden in plain sight. “I’m interested in the unknown,
“Many times, subjects I’m looking at are not by them selves sort of sexy or engaging; a lot of times they can be
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of any government regulation that constrains his companies,” is still setting his targets at 80 years old. He assisted President Trump in assembling the administration’s cabinet secretaries and agency heads. Often, inter views with Trump in Trump Tower were followed immediately by interviews with Ichan, “just down the street.” The inveterate power broker disrupted an industry and aggrandized the profits at a refinery he owned, as he brandished his role as special advisor to the president on regulatory reform. He announced his exit from the administration as a resignation. The White House claimed he never had an appointment, despite press releases to the contrary. Patrick says he imagines “the reader who’s just gotten onto the subway, magazine open, folded over a bag, and then they’ve got three stops . . . or it’s 10:30 and the person’s just gotten into bed and they’re going to be asleep in five minutes. Sometimes the story you’re telling is the one that person might skip, like about corruption in the mining sector in West Africa.” Patrick’s ambition is to tell a story Photos by Ilene Squires
quite dark,” Patrick says. “Often my work is digging and
that is gripping and seductive in a narrative manner, so
trying to bring things to light that aren’t necessarily in
readers will engage with something they hadn’t, or wouldn’t,
the public realm. That involves finding stories, finding the
otherwise—about the workings of an underground
people who are characters so that you can present your
economy, or insider trading in the hedge fund world, or
subject as a narrative.” With that approach, Patrick has
about corruption right under our noses.
brought some memorable people to the forefront. For example, Sister Ping, “short and stout, with cropped black hair, wide-set, dark eyes, and a hangdog expression . . . ,”
questions is whether people at the heart of the story “will play ball at all,” as he puts it. Most people, he finds, want
spoke almost no English, had little formal education, and
to tell their story. If he shows that he takes them seriously
wore the simple clothes of a Chinese peasant. She was an
and asks good questions, by and large people tell him
ample foundation for revealing the immensely profitable
interesting things.
international business enterprise she ran, which inspired both condemnation and praise. The Brooklyn-born brothers, psychiatrists and great
“With my investigative work, however, I often write about people who don’t want me writing about them.” An unwillingness to be interviewed crops up frequently. He’s
philanthropists, Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler,
made “something of a specialty” of “the write around,” a
bequeathed to their heirs an immense fortune and the
method for writing the story without access to the person
legacy of “leaving the world a better place.” The source of
at the center. He fans out to people around the figure in
their wealth is less well-known. They were the architects
question, talking with relatives, neighbors, co-workers and
behind the development of OxyContin in 1995 and, perhaps
employees, partners, opponents, officials, biographers,
more importantly, the comprehensive and successful
subject experts, scholars. He researches books and articles,
strategic marketing program aimed at changing the
financial statements, legal decisions, court documents
prescribing habits of doctors across the country. OxyContin,
and communications, until it’s possible to build the story
the often-abused opioid painkiller, “has reportedly
accurately. Writing stories about the drug lord and business
generated some $35 billion in revenue for the family firm:
captain Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is a case in point:
Purdue Pharma,” Patrick wrote. Carl Ichan, the restless corporate raider, “pugnacious deal machine, all avarice and swagger,” and “voluble critic
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For Patrick’s storytelling style, one of the biggest
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“Cocaine Incorporated” starts in Los Angeles with El Chapo’s wife, Emma Colonel, delivering her twins, “a pair of heiresses,” and moves forward and backward in time to
document the development of a nimble, opportunistic and
that the opioid epidemic is awful, but that it has nothing to
global enterprise.
do with them, Patrick muses. Perhaps they feel they set
Sometimes Patrick’s interviews with individuals
out to create something critically needed by patients, and
throughout a person’s world provoke a willingness to
the trajectory didn’t play out as they’d hoped. “But their
engage. In his story, “A Loaded Gun,” Patrick explores
reactions, when the first signs start coming that they may
the story of Amy Bishop, an associate professor of biology
have created a monster, tweaking and revitalizing the
at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who shot six
marketing plan—I don’t think they reacted the way one
colleagues, killing three, in February 2010. She had shot
would want them to,” says Patrick.
and killed her younger brother, Seth, at their Braintree, Massachusetts home in 1986, but was never charged with a crime by Braintree police. In the course of research Patrick talked with scores of people, including friends of Amy, Seth and their parents, about the Braintree incident. Ultimately, Amy’s mother and father came around. Amy’s mother, Judy, was present when her son was killed. Perhaps the Bishops grew progressively more interested in telling their own story, Patrick surmises. Finally, Amy herself reached out to Patrick, in a number of phone calls from the Tutweiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama, where she is serving a life sentence.
“Often my work is digging and trying to bring things to light that aren’t necessarily in the public realm. That involves finding stories, finding the people who are characters so that you can present your subject as a narrative.”
When the subject of a story does agree to talk, Patrick’s task is to calibrate what he or she says, cross-check it, evaluate its veracity, and determine the degree of over- or understatement. Carl Ichan agreed to talk with Patrick,
Immediately following the online release of “Carl Ichan’s Failed Raid on Washington,” either Ichan resigned
for instance, but insisted that everything he said was off
and stepped away, or the White House fired him,
the record.
depending on which source you believe. That confluence
Often, Patrick is interested in denial: individual denial,
of events—months of research, exhaustive and broad-
family denial, institutional denial. “How do you tease
based interviews, the story’s online exposure of influence
that out when you’re talking to somebody who’s actually
and corruption, and then the end of Ichan’s insider role—
invested in the denialist narrative?” The Harvey Weinstein
was both bracing and ultimately validating, according to
story, which other New Yorker reporters broke this year,
Patrick. It felt like “a very concrete form of efficacy.”
is an example of this dilemma. Denial was widespread, complex and has yet to be unpacked. “The Loaded Gun,” Patrick feels, is, more than many others, a story about denial. He sees the tendency for
“On the one hand, business is great for journalism and investigative journalism in particular,” Patrick says. “The New Yorker subscriptions have continued to increase since November 2016. On the other hand, in certain
compassion on the part of the Braintree police chief—
moments you wonder about the utility of it in a world in
feeling that Judy Bishop, having lost her son at the hands
which people could just dismiss something as ‘fake news.’”
of her daughter, had suffered enough and they ought to
Writing for The New Yorker affords the luxury of enough
leave well enough alone—as a totally human reflex, with
time to thoroughly dig in and take the story wherever
disastrous results 24 years later. Regardless of evidence
it goes. Patrick considers himself an empiricist. Free from
that’s hard to square with their conviction, the Bishops
the constraints and timetable of a quick turn-around
state assuredly that what happened to Seth in their kitchen
column, he can talk to plenty of people, read “a ton,” dig up
was an accident. “I know. I was there,” Judy Bishop says.
files and put pieces together. “The magazine has a reputation
Patrick was most eager, in researching “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain,” for Sackler family members
for veracity, for putting a ton of investment into every word. You have editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, in my
to talk with him, but they refused. “I was pretty sure that
case lawyers, also, poring over every detail. Both the
they had a story to tell. Not because I think that they’re
White House and Ichan ran away from this pretty unholy
necessarily good, or that they don’t bear some real responsi
relationship. I don’t know that it’s going to work out that
bility for the opioid epidemic, but more because I’m pretty
way again with any of my pieces any time soon, but it was
sure that whatever they’re telling themselves, they believe.
encouraging that it did.”
If there was ever a time to tell your story, if you have one, now is the time.” Perhaps they feel totally misunderstood,
by Cathleen Everett
SPRING 2018
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truth thr ee
JOVONNA JONES ’11
Is Seeing Believing? Jovonna Jones ’11 The artist Carrie Mae Weems broke the rules when she created her famed photography series, “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried.” The 19th-century daguerreotypes of slaves in the American South Weems photographed had been commissioned by Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, who in 1850 sought to prove racial inferiority and create a taxonomy of African slaves’ body types. The daguerreotypes are kept in Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, which restricts reproduction of its exhibits. Violating Peabody policy, Weems reframed the images for her exhibit, positioning them with others depicting black people in American history. Ultimately, she provided
attached to images,” Jovonna says. “Images exist in the real
a visual record of the violence that buttressed slavery and
world, but they’re also really politically fraught, as well
institutional racism. Harvard threatened to sue Weems
as politically generative, because people create images for
over her use of the images, which she welcomed—it would
specific reasons. I started thinking about this while taking
open a conversation about who owned art and history.
photography with Bryan Cheney at Milton. He focused on
No lawsuit materialized.
all these philosophical aspects of photography.”
Jovonna Jones ’11 is a doctoral student in African and African-American studies at Harvard. Her research homes
ABOVE
Photo by John Gillooly RIGHT Photos courtesy of Jovonna Jones
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Jovonna began exploring the deep meaning of imagery in a Milton photo lab. “We always have a set of desires
As consumers, we attach desired outcomes and biases that affect how we interpret art or information—whether
in on questions such as those raised in the controversy over
consciously or not, Jovonna says. Photos can also be
Weems’ work: Who owns history? How do we find truth in
weaponized, used to lie to or degrade people. They can be
images? Jovonna is researching the history of photography,
interpreted in ways that distort reality as well as the
black visual culture, and its implications for cultural institu
photographer’s intent.
tions, from places like the Peabody to individual families.
“Objective truth doesn’t necessarily exist in a general
“Questions about property ownership intersect with
sense,” she says. “We can talk about facts, empirical things
those about who owns the record of a violent, racist past.
that we know to have happened, and quantitative, mea
The person who created this terrible imagery was part
surable things, but when people talk about truth, it is so
of Harvard, but Carrie Mae Weems, a black woman artist,
wrapped up in our associations and what we want from
has a real connection to the people who were exploited,”
that information. The difficulty comes from the emotionality
Jovonna says. “The legal process involved in a breach of
attached to it.”
contract cannot resolve or rationalize these more nuanced issues about race and history and violence.”
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In college at Emory University, Jovonna majored in African-American studies and minored in philosophy.
During a brief stint in an MFA program for photography,
and would read voraciously while her older siblings did
she decided to change course and pursue her doctorate.
their homework. During rides to Milton in the morning,
One motivation was studying the mugshot photo of Sandra
Jovonna would read her papers to her encouraging father,
Bland, a Chicago woman who died in police custody after
a preacher and educator.
a traffic stop in Texas. When the photo was released to the public, it opened up
For Jovonna, family photos were the key to understand ing her family members during the time before she
speculation that Ms. Bland was already dead when she
existed; photos wove together narratives and enriched
was brought to the police station. Video released later of her
her understanding of her family history.
inside the station debunked the rumors, but the photo’s impact lasts, Jovonna says. “Even though she was alive, what people were feeling when they first saw that image is still valid,” she says. “The framing around how people present and react to images is crucial.” Jovonna’s research focuses on the form and aesthetics of
“Being the youngest, and not having known these people in my family during those times—the photographs became, and still are, the ways that I’m locating myself in a past that didn’t factually exist for me,” Jovonna says. The power of those photos may have sparked Jovonna’s academic career. She looks to imagery to answer important
photography in relation to how the medium has been used in
questions about how people of color are rooted and repre
different institutions. While in graduate school—under the
sented in the past, in a society, in a culture: oversimplified
tutelage of art historian Sarah Elizabeth Lewis—she intends
at times, overlooked at others, but always there.
to focus on photographs of black childhood at the turn
Reading James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time at Milton,
of the last century. Photos can show a vibrant life for black
along with several Toni Morrison novels, sparked her
families, depicting joyful moments and celebrating growth.
interest in the relationships between institutions of the
They can contrast, or at a minimum, expand the mainstream
world and people’s inner lives, both social and political.
historical records of black Americans in the beginning of the
Later, she discovered the writing of black women intellec
last century, so overwhelmed by images and chronicles of
tuals and academics—Audre Lorde, Sylvia Wynter
suffering during the Jim Crow era.
and Angela Davis, for example—which helped Jovonna
“By learning about children and the figure of the child, during any time period, we can juxtapose children’s lived
understand that black women have a well-earned place, not only in organizing and community building, but
experiences with the social, cultural, and political burdens
in scholarship. She sees a future in education—her dream
children sometimes face,” she says. “I’m interested in black
job would be leading the Smithsonian’s new National
childhood in the early 20th century, because those children
Museum of African American History and Culture.
were living a paradox: How are you supposed to take on your role as the ‘American future’ when racism actively stops you and your family at every turn?” Jovonna has always been a seeker, a mindset celebrated
“What I’m realizing every day,” she says, “is that it is a revolutionary act for me as a black woman to be a scholar: to feed and declare my mind, not just that it exists, but the richness of what my mind contains and seeks.”
in a family committed to learning. The youngest of four, Jovonna tagged along when her mother returned to college,
by Marisa Donelan
SPRING 2018
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16
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
truth four
M A RY M CG OWA N DAV I S ’ 63
Trying to Ascertain What Happened Bolstering the Rule of Law
Mary McGowan Davis ’63 Mary McGowan Davis has consulted, taught and mentored judges, prosecutors and defenders in countries where governments or legal systems are often described as “transitional,” such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and Rwanda. She has also served on United Nations Human Rights Council entities concerned with discerning fact and assuring justice. Mary’s expertise in international human rights and
York during that period. These were the years of the crack
humanitarian law developed over more than 20 years of
cocaine epidemic. Not only would we try cases during the
intrepid, global work. Her legal career began conventionally
day, but we would sit in the arraignments, which were going
enough, in New York during the 1970s, where she was a
24/7, 365 days a year.”
legal aid lawyer representing indigent defendants in criminal appeals. She moved on to be an Assistant U.S. Attorney
After 13 years as a judge, Mary was attracted by the growing field of international law. She retired from the bench in 1998 and headed to Columbia with intentions of getting an LL.M. (master of laws), but instead audited
Victims from both sides really wanted the world to listen to them. “They wanted to speak to me, as a representative of the international community.”
international law courses and immediately began helping students in a human rights clinic. They were serving papers on Li Peng, then the Deputy Premier of China, in connection with the repression of protestors in Tiananmen Square. “I knew the state department would exercise their right to intervene,” she says, “but still, the students served him, and we did the motion papers, and that was—I think—fun for the students.” In 2000, Mary and her husband, Fred, began working
for the Eastern District of New York. In 1986, New York
with the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
City Mayor Ed Koch appointed her as a judge to the criminal
(ICTR), which was seated in Arusha, Tanzania. Fred Davis
court and she subsequently served on the New York
organized advocacy trainings for the prosecutors at the
Supreme Court. She heard felony cases—“mostly drugs,”
ICTR, and he and Mary made many visits to the Tribunal
Mary says, “but also murder trials, and rape, sexual violence
between 2000 and 2010 with a team of U.S. judges and
and robberies. There were many violent robberies in New
lawyers, and Canadian lawyers. Mary also spent a major
SPRING 2018
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part of 2001 working on a project for Trinity College, Dublin, documenting the growth of international criminal
Law for two successive terms, the second as its chair. The Committee of Experts’ role was to see whether the
procedure at the Tribunal. In the courtrooms, she would
Israeli and Palestinian authorities were implementing
observe, then detail and interpret, the procedural rulings
the Goldstone Report’s recommendations—that is, leading
delivered by the judges during the course of the trials.
their own in-depth investigations and taking legal actions
Beginning in 2010, the UN tapped Mary for roles related to investigations of potential violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law during conflicts in
to hold individuals accountable for alleged war crimes and human rights violations. Then, Mary served as Commissioner, and later chair,
Gaza. She served on a UN Committee of Independent
of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014
Experts in International Humanitarian and Human Rights
Gaza conflict charged with determining whether the parties involved in the conflict had committed violations of human rights or humanitarian law in conducting hostilities. Pursuing these goals was not easy. The Israelis, for example, pledged noncooperation— with the Committee of Experts and the Commission of Inquiry—because their position was that all investigations that originate in the Human Rights Council are biased. Mary and the other independent experts were able to go to Gaza City once in 2010 to interview many people who themselves, or whose family members, were victims of the Israeli strikes and mortar attacks. Their second attempt in 2011 to visit Gaza was unproductive, as they were barred from entering Gaza through Israel, or through Egypt, due to the fall of the Mubarak government. Then, as a Commissioner, Mary was also prevented from reaching Gaza through Egypt because of the security situation in the Sinai. She and her colleagues interviewed Palestinian witnesses via Skype and video conferencing. “I viewed my role as chair of the Commission of Inquiry to try to be balanced and fair,” Mary says. “Both sides have to abide by the same standards in the way they conduct hostilities. It’s hard for people to understand, but we had to apply the same legal standards to the alleged conduct on both sides.” Assessing military activity is very difficult; things like intent, military advantage, the reasonably projected number of civilian casualties, all matter. The Commission concluded by identifying potential violations—based on interviews, opinions of military and other
18
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
experts, IT investigators, videos, testimony—Mary explains, but “it’s hard without an ability to talk with one side, to ask, ‘Was that a mistake? Why did that bomb drop on a house with 18 people?’ It is very hard to do a thorough job if you can’t physically enter the country.” Interviewing survivors of violence was “devastating,” Mary says, and she was continually impressed by the empathy and graciousness that victims expressed toward people on the other side of the conflict. “An Israeli mother whose four-
“These lawyers truly believed that the moment was favorable for their country to make the transition to a society governed by modern laws rather than tribal customs. I respect them enormously.”
year-old was blown apart by a mortar, a Palestinian mother whose child was torched in retaliation for the kidnapping of three Israeli kids—both women expressed feelings for all mothers, that no mother should ever go through this.” As the Dare to Be True speaker at their 50th reunion
One of Mary’s most poignant memories, one she shared
in 2013, Mary told her classmates about listening to a young
with her classmates at reunion, was of “the little girls
Palestinian man describe “the bomb that came out of
who appeared in front of the mobile justice court in Eastern
the night and destroyed his home, killing 20 of his family
Congo, which the UN has called the ‘rape capital’ of the
members. . . . Israeli families highlighted their own fears,”
world, to testify to the crimes committed against them.”
she said. “Rockets rain down on them daily from Gaza while
Mary had traveled eight hours from Bukavu out into the
sirens sound, children scream, and they anxiously watch
bush where, she said, “under an open-sided tent on a remote
the skies.” Victims from both sides really wanted the world
hilltop, a most remarkable court session was in progress,
to listen to them. “They wanted to speak to me,” Mary says,
organized by the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law
“as a representative of the international community.” Mary also worked continually with a raft of NGOs,
Project. For hours in the broiling sun, throngs of villagers stood patiently and attentively, babies on their hips, chickens
such as International Senior Lawyers Project, the
and goats wandering through the crowd, while the
International Bar Association, the Open Society Justice
diligent and sensitive Congolese judges and lawyers tried
Initiative, and the International Legal Foundation. Each
case after case of alleged rape and sexual violence.”
was concerned in particular ways with protecting human rights, building the capacity of the legal institutions, and ensuring open, stable societies. She spent the better part of 2004–2005, for example, in
In recent years, Mary worked in Tunisia, where judges in that country were working to establish a truly independent judiciary. Here, as the stresses of being a new democracy were playing out, and as Mary and her colleagues
Kabul, Afghanistan, where she had to be evacuated twice for
were collaborating to think through some of the challenges
security reasons. “It was an exciting time,” Mary says. The
to judicial independence, she was “frequently called on to
Afghans had adopted a new criminal procedure code modeled account for America’s own failings as a society professing on Italian law. She mentored public interest criminal defense
allegiance to the rule of law.” She was referring then, in
lawyers, arguing, “You need to have a strong defense bar
particular, to the United States’ falling short of its obligations
to have a system that truly delivers justice.” Among her team
for investigating, prosecuting, and making reparations
members that year were a family court judge and mother
for alleged acts of torture, both international and domestic.
of six; two or three former district attorneys; and an older,
“All courts are trying to find out what happened, or what
distinguished, Shariah-trained lawyer and authority
is happening,” Mary says. “They just go about it in different
on Afghan law. “It was a great office,” Mary says, “and these
ways.” In countries around the world, in situations fraught
lawyers truly believed that the moment was favorable for
with both danger and fragile opportunity, Mary has helped
their country to make the transition to a society governed
develop the kind of rigorous legal procedure capable of
by modern laws rather than tribal customs. I respect them
hearing those who need to be heard, and rendering justice.
enormously.” Mary counts this year as one of the most rewarding of her legal career.
by Cathleen Everett
SPRING 2018
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20
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
truth fi v e
BY DENNY ALSOP ’69
Solo Canoe Journeys Across Massachusetts Make a Fine Point You don’t walk your dog along the river in my town, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. You don’t eat fiddleheads from its banks in the spring. You don’t wear your golf shoes into the kitchen. You don’t eat dairy, wild game and produce from our flood plain, the Housatonic River flood plain. If you canoe, you avoid contact with the water and fine silt, and as your neighbors succumb, as their dogs present tumors, you worry. When I was a Class III student at Milton in 1962, Rachel
the soil. Following the ascendancy of Jack Welch to
Carson’s Silent Spring was our environmental wake-up call.
chairman and CEO of GE in 1981, the Pittsfield plant closed,
We were all very aware of what she said about DDT, and back
leaving in its wake 13,000 unemployed people and an
home in Stockbridge, I watched what happened to the birds
environmental catastrophe.
after our gypsy moth infestation was sprayed
On January 13, 2016, Governor Charlie Baker trumpeted
with that insecticide. Today, General
the move of GE’s global headquarters from Fairfield,
Electric’s polluted legacy continues to wreak
Connecticut, back to Massachusetts. “It’s an ecosystem we
havoc upon the Berkshires—in the form of
are confident we will thrive in,” said GE Chairman Jeff
a potential $10 billion PCB toxic liability.
Immelt. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh likened GE’s arrival
Meanwhile, Massachusetts officials celebrate
to winning the lottery: $145 million in tax incentives for
the mega-corporation’s continued develop
all the GE jobs. “Do the math,” cried the mayor.
ment, now in Boston. A sort of alternative GE reality emerged, where GE’s influence
Two weeks later, Immelt announced that GE was backing away from its multimillion-dollar cleanup of PCBs
and money has, for instance, made the PCB
in the Housatonic River watershed. GE’s take from our
cancer risk disappear, environmentalist
Commonwealth, facilitated by Walsh and Baker, would
Tim Gray explained in The Berkshire Edge.
be $758 million.
In 2016, I canoed across Massachusetts,
More than before, it was time to “Dare to be true.”
the same route I took in 1988, with the
I decided to repeat the 1988 journey I made across
same mission: to draw attention to the toxic
Massachusetts, Canoe For Clean Water. It would have
aftermath of GE.
impact, but it was a perishable gift. I was 69 years old.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts was a “company town” for GE
My wife, Nina, thought I was crazy. OK, but she married
beginning early in the 20th century. For decades until they
me. I went to see Tim Gray and Benno Friedman of the
were outlawed by the federal government, polychlorinated
Housatonic River Initiative (HRI), and Judy Herkimer of
biphenyls (PCBs) seeped from GE’s manufacturing plant into
Housatonic Environmental Action League. They are the
SPRING 2018
21
Initiative. The first TV crew appeared at the kitchen door.
A man pressed the front page of The Springfield Republican to the plate-glass window. “That’s you!”
Who invited them? The canoe was white like an old plaster cast except for the bold letters of Housatonic River Initiative, and a Mohican turtle symbol traced onto either side of the bow. I chose the turtle, a water animal, to symbolize “Turtle Island,” an indigenous name for North America, indicating the earth, all life, and the importance of water. A blank slate at the beginning of the journey, the canoe would carry
core activists who have fought for the cleanup of the
the indelible marker messages inscribed by scores of
Housatonic River on a daily basis, over the past 30 years.
people I would encounter: “Speak truth to Baker” was one
Tim, Benno and Judy agreed to support the trip. When you decide to move, a journey takes on a life of its own. Which canoe to use? The old canoe I had built in 1988
March 21, the word was out along the river. The canoe
for the first trip was stashed in the hayloft of the barn—
on wheels, my knapsack packed, I led a motley band of
I went and pulled it out, dusted it off. Nina could see that
drum-beating family, friends, activists and local press to
I had made up my mind, so she laid a tarp over the dining
a beautiful curve of river near the Connecticut border for
room table and the old canoe came in through the window.
the launch, Connecticut also having been affected by the
Friends of the river appeared.
PCBs dumped in the Housatonic. We had a small ceremony,
I mixed cloth and glue to mend a puncture. We made stencils and, using leftover house paint, painted in black letters on both sides of the canoe: Housatonic River
All photos by Ben Garver, The Berkshire Eagle
22
message. “Massachusetts Dreamer,” said another. Had our politicians in Boston even heard of the Housatonic River?
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
and I was off. What a relief to be off, to have crossed the line from planning into journey. Just as science requires real
observation, this river is my primary source, my lab. It
with eighth-graders who carried the canoe overhead,
was the canoe, the pulse of the distant drums, and
chanting, “we are water,” and we celebrated the restoration
whatever came next. A snow squall circled me. I began
of the Blackstone riverbank with city councilors and the
poling upstream through the beautiful valley toward
Mass Audubon Society.
the abandoned GE factory that had poured the poison into
Traveling alone by canoe made me vulnerable and
the river. I begin to feel the riverbed with each push of
accessible. I felt the tension of people who stepped forward
the pole—a physical connection to watershed, mud, gravity,
silently in suburbs to sign the canoe. The Maynard Police
the slope on which we live. I experienced my river, gathering
Department honored the spirit of my journey with hot
beneath me, informing me.
coffee and pastries, and by keeping an eye on the canoe as
The route swallowed days. I portaged to an elementary school. Third graders from the Muddy Brook school
I retraced my steps. By the time I arrived in Concord, the canoe was no longer
lifted the white canoe over their heads—I was so amazed!
white, but multicolored with magic-marker messages
They carried it back to the brook for which their school
of support. I rode it to the Charles, the profile of my journey
was named. The brook became a swamp, where I became
about to rise. WBUR did a 10-minute interview beside the
confused. I followed beaver channels, a stream back
canoe on the bank of the Charles River.
to the river. Four days I ascended the Valley, poled through the most poisoned oxbows and lagoons, to the site of an HRI press conference in mixed sleet and snow near the GE plant. Survivors spoke movingly about the suffering, the cancer, their disappeared medical histories, of the thousands of jobs that left Pittsfield. I described the landscape I had just seen. Swollen feet pushed the canoe on wheels over the height of land to the headwaters of the Westfield River. The river,
Cars slowed along Memorial Drive in Cambridge, blowing their horns, drivers waving. A bicyclist rode across the grass to offer me a candy bar.
white water in 1988, was dry! I walked down channels of rocks instead of kneeling through rapids. I found myself camped beside a radio tower, the irony
Cars slowed along Memorial Drive in Cambridge,
of silent snowfall on its rusted steel on an island outside
blowing their horns, drivers waving. A bicyclist rode
of Springfield. A press conference was scheduled at the
across the grass to offer me a candy bar.
wastewater plant on the mighty Connecticut River the next
I approached the finish the next day at noon. Would
morning. Journalists from TV, radio and print showed
anyone hear our attempt to hold accountable those in
up in spite of a blizzard. I thawed out with Tim, Benno, Judy
power? I saw the first still photographer, then a television
and Nina, and my sister Suzette, Milton ’62, in a blessedly
grip lugging a heavy tripod. Tim, Benno and Judy waved
warm restaurant. A day or so later, I was again warming up, in a pizza
me to a dock beside the Esplanade. Nina and her band of banner-makers braved the wind. Six of the third graders
shop above the Chicopee River. A man pressed the front
from the Berkshires had talked their parents into driving
page of The Springfield Republican to the plate-glass window.
them three hours to the finish.
“That’s you!” he shouted. The story was detailed, clashing, gripping; the reporter’s dueling paragraphs switching
They hefted the canoe. I heard one whisper to her friend in awe, “I found my signature. It’s almost worn off.” They
point of view, from Tim to Immelt, to me, to a spokesman
carried the canoe of many colors over their brave heads
for Governor Baker. Unnerving, but energizing.
once again! “We are water, we are water,” the chant resumed.
I reached the Blackstone River. I canoed under the Mass
A small circle formed around them, parents, curious
Pike again to reach abandoned mills, Worcester’s ruins of
joggers, The Boston Globe, gray-hairs, our eyes and minds
the industrial age. I squeezed through a four-foot diameter
meeting, melding.
culvert in three feet of water under Route 290. In Worcester, where the river went underneath a former factory, I met
by Denny Alsop ’69
SPRING 2018
23
a t m i l t o n
They See, Snap and Share Students on Their Devices
Many adults scroll through, watch or share hundreds of posts, feeds, photos and videos every day. Posts can provoke emotions from joy to intense sadness, and some deliver misinformation or lies. These personal habits among adults lead them to worry about how social media affects the lives of their teenagers. For a status check from the point of view of today’s teen
say. It’s also a way to stay connected with siblings at college
practitioners, students shared their views about social
and just families, in general. “Seeing someone and what’s
media, particularly Instagram and Snapchat, their two most
going on in their life on the other side of the world is great,”
popular social media platforms. In addition, Lisa Morin,
says one student. “Even if it may have been edited, it’s still
director of counseling, and Elihu Selter, clinical psychologist
happening and you can appreciate that.”
at Milton’s Health and Counseling Center, relayed their
Both Lisa and Elihu say social media can be good for
experiences as professionals who encounter the impact of
introverted teens, because it’s an easy, and sometimes safer,
kids’ digital lives every day.
way to make connections. “It gives them an opportunity
Ninety-two percent of teens report going online daily, including 24 percent who say they go online “almost constantly,” according to a 2015 study (ages 13–17) from the
to practice talking with someone, without having to do it in person, so that can be a valuable tool,” says Elihu. As an open forum for expression, social media can
Pew Research Center. In many ways, students are more
facilitate activism and organization advocating causes and
savvy about social media than adults. They know how to use
beliefs, which many students, especially at Milton, embrace.
the apps, they speak the language and they understand the
“Students can connect with each other in ways we
unspoken rules. They are also aware of the pitfalls and the
couldn’t when we were growing up,” says Elihu. “They can
problems, but this doesn’t mean they are immune to them.
participate in movements and engage in ideas and processes,
“The original point of something like Facebook made total sense: to connect with people you haven’t seen in years,”
and social media used this way is quite amazing.” “Milton encourages you to express yourself and your
says one Milton student. “But now we go to school with the
opinions and I definitely see that a lot on social media,
majority of people on our social media; so you’re not trying
especially on finstas*,” says one student. “Everyone’s just
to connect with people you haven’t seen in a while. Today,
talking about how they are feeling and why.”
posting is more like pretending you’re something you’re not
Many teens get their news on social media. Snapchat
for people you see and talk to every day. People get wrapped
is often their first news source for breaking stories.
up in it.”
Mainstream news outlets all have Snapchat “channels” and students can choose to follow some and receive alerts.
The Upside
24
Students also value accounts that explore issues such
Social media is a great way to remain in touch with friends
as body positivity, which can counter those that promote
from previous schools, camps, teams and clubs, students
the “perfect” body. “Following them is really great,” says
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
SPRING 2018
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one student. “It’s not that I have huge issues, but it just makes
“When I had Snapchat, I was all for it. I was loving it.
me smile to see that there are people doing that in the world.”
Then when I took myself out of it, I realized that it probably
What might surprise some adults is that phone calls are still valued. “If I get a phone call, I’m going to pick it up,
wasn’t the most beneficial thing for me,” says another. “I rarely come across a student who does not have any
because to me, a phone call means ‘right now, I need to talk
social media, but there are some who say, ‘No I’m not
to you,’” says one student.
getting into that.’ Or others actually shut it off at night. But
“I have a couple friends on medical leave right now. I’ll
that’s even more rare,” says Lisa.
text them during the day but I’ll call them in the night to actually have a conversation,” says another. Most students who spoke have a limited number of social
Lisa and Elihu explain that because their frontal lobes are
media accounts. They also take breaks from using them or
still developing, teenagers are susceptible to acting on
completely stop using certain accounts for various reasons;
impulse, a dangerous tendency when it comes to social
although everyone mentioned knowing students who are
media. But also concerning are trends the counselors see
“addicted” to social media. “I stopped using Snapchat the summer before freshman
26
The Challenges
in overall person-to-person communication. “How we communicate and the depth of our communica
year because I found I wasn’t interacting with my family
tion has changed and I wonder how that translates into
and friends as much as I wanted. My sister was going to
friendships,” says Elihu. “Relationships don’t have as much
college and so it was let’s focus on time with her before
depth to them, and I worry about that because this is the
she leaves.”
first generation to experience this. The art of talking has
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
been lost in so many ways. Does social media affect the way fully get to know somebody? When my children, who are 6 and 8, are teenagers, what will life look like for them? Students share this concern. “I worry the most about little kids who are growing up with this system and how they’re going to learn to distinguish real facts.” Most students are aware that many photos and posts are manipulated, staged or carefully selected. “People aren’t going to necessarily post the negatives in their life,” says one student. “They’re showing their highlights. You are seeing or posting the cool things that are worth sharing. You don’t see just ordinary things on social media. It’s kind of an alternate reality; you’re not always getting the full picture.” “Everyone is so addicted to praise,” says another student. “Everyone’s fishing for compliments, for ‘likes,’ it’s a neverending obsession. It’s damaging to your self confidence and welfare.”
references, and joking—particularly racial and gender jokes. As for getting news and information on social media? “You can like or follow whoever you want, celebrities,
Elihu says this can especially be a problem for “students
politicians or people in your friend group,” says Lisa. “You
who might feel marginalized, ostracized or depressed. They
basically curate what you want so your social media input
already feel, ‘Everyone is doing okay but me.’ They spend
becomes an echo chamber. You are not learning to have a
their weekends scrolling through these posts and say, ‘Wow,
discussion with someone who disagrees with you.”
everyone seems happy all the time. I’m not good. Here’s all
“People talk about how we seem disconnected from one
the evidence that everyone else is great.’ So it’s really hard for
another even though we’re more connected than we’ve ever
them to get out of that bubble of thinking their life is difficult,
been,” says Elihu.
because it looks like everyone else is doing well. Getting them to see that these posts are not necessarily real life is
The Future
a huge challenge.”
Educational institutions are all wrestling with this reality—
Students who understand the pitfalls or understand
figuring out how to help students set boundaries, navigate
that some things might not be real reached that realization
the social dynamics of being a teenager online and evaluate
through hard experience. “One of the biggest issues is that
the constant stream of feeds funneling information.
you don’t know who’s behind the screen all the time,” says
Milton Academy has contracted with The Social Institute
one student. “You may think you are Snapchatting your
to work with students for the next two years. The Institute’s
friend, but it may be somebody else using their account and
approach is to empower teenagers to use social media in
telling you things. That was really confusing and upsetting
positive and constructive ways. Instead of focusing on
to figure out at first. It violates a sense of trust between the
what teens should not do, the focus is on how to use social
you and your friend.”
platforms to do good. The Social Institute will work
Lisa points out that social media is 24/7 and shutting out the noise is hard for students. “Before social media, if you
through student assemblies, parent presentations and small workshops with student leaders.
had a fight with a friend or were being picked on at school, and you went home or back to the dorm, that would be a
by Liz Matson
break. But today there is no break, because online it’s still happening. There is no healthy way to shut it off.” Elihu notes that with one upsetting post, a student could be “done for that day. They check out. Sometimes that one image can destroy you for a week, if not more.” Students said some of the most upsetting posts involve bullying, sexual
*Finsta: fake Instagram, more popular with girls. Typically a finsta is a second account limited to a smaller group of friends. Students said they can post more freely and be their true selves on finsta accounts. Their main Instagram accounts have more followers, and they post less often and more selectively.
SPRING 2018
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M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
a t m i l t o n
Revamping the Classic Research Project
How should Middle Schoolers probe for facts? As Neha Modak ’22 grew, her annual visits to India slowly unveiled the harsh realities facing girls and women in parts of the subcontinent: systemic inequality, sexual violence, abuse and murder. She needed to learn more. So Neha, an eighth grader at the Middle School now, dedicated her seventh-grade year to investigating Indian women’s issues and presenting them to her classmates. “I think it was shocking to some people,” she says. “We hear about sexism in the United States, but we don’t
groups in India, and continually checked her statistics. A simple Google search of “gendercide in India” results in wildly varying analyses and statistics. Some argue it is not based in misogyny, but rather with an eye toward population control; the numbers of gendercide deaths
necessarily hear about girls in other countries being
and dowry killings vary by tens of millions in news reports;
killed or aborted simply for being girls.”
and signs of improvement differ across regions. With only
Each student in Grade 7 completes an extensive research
a cursory glance, it might be difficult for someone, especially
project called Choosing to Participate. Social studies faculty
someone relatively new to extensive research, to get the
member Steven Bertozzi helps students select a topic that
full picture.
interests them, develop a thesis and write a research paper
“I think it takes, especially for a controversial subject,
that includes supporting facts as well as counterarguments.
a lot of digging to find information that’s just the facts.
The project parameters encourage students to identify
The truth is something that’s questionable and can be easily
and reach out to experts in the field they’re studying and
challenged,” Neha says. “I did a lot of cross-referencing,
interview them, or at least correspond with them. Then,
and I made sure to get updated statistics and facts from
students take “action steps” toward solving problems they
reputable sources.”
uncover. They present their findings in a gallery at the
Cox Library is set up for the students to research their
end of the school year. Past topics have included wrongful
projects: Middle School librarian Beth Reardon has built
conviction, gender pay disparities in sports, dress codes,
a resource site where students can search databases to find
immigration, child labor and fair trade.
credible, scholarly resources and primary sources on
For Neha, researching the topic of gendercide—the
their topics. At the outset of the project, Beth prepares the
killing of a specific group based on gender—proved
students with help on search terms and tips for finding
challenging, but not impossible. It is a hot-button issue,
opposing viewpoints.
and its severity varies depending on class and geography.
The term “fake news,” often derided as a dismissal of
She decided to focus on infanticide and sex-selective
unfavorable—but factual—reporting, has had an interesting
abortion, practices that have removed millions of girls
side effect for younger researchers, Steven says.
from the population. She relied on reports from reputable international human rights groups and women’s rights
“They very much want to talk about news stories and ask questions about what the objective truth is about certain
SPRING 2018
29
topics,” he says. “There is this huge media focus on the
Scarlett Bridgen ’22 set out last year to quantify the
differences between objectivity and subjectivity that’s
effects of bullying on LGBTQ+ students. She sent an
given the students this heightened awareness about
anonymous survey to Upper School students asking them
checking their sources and searching for the truth. They’re
to share their experiences, and compared their responses
already on alert in a way that I think kids, even just
with current national studies on bullying. During her
a few years ago, weren’t.”
research, she found online reports with questionable sources
In class, Steven’s students are studying World Wars I and II, including the contemporary news coverage and propaganda that shifted perspectives during that time. “They’re learning how to consume information with
and tiny research sample sizes. “I read things that claimed that not many kids face bullying for their gender or sexuality, that it’s not a bigger deal than bullying in general, or bullying in the past,”
an eye toward how trustworthy it is,” he says. “When
Scarlett says. “But for every one of those I saw, I had 10
something seems to oversimplify a complex issue, what is
more credible sources that said otherwise. Looking
the end game? Is it propaganda? To what extent are we
at suicide statistics and rates of depression and anxiety
subjected to propaganda, or to ‘fake news’ messages trying
among LGBTQ teens, the problems became clear.”
to influence our behavior?”
Students in their tween and early teen years are sponges for what they hear at home, on the news, on social media and in school. The jumble of information sometimes results in confusion over the difference between fact and opinion, between news reports and commentary, says Sonya Conway, Grade 6 dean and social studies faculty member. Teachers have to clarify misconceptions, while also allowing students to form their own opinions. “As teachers, we hope to guide students through the process of learning to listen well,” Sonya says. “We hope to get students to a place where they can listen and be open to multiple perspectives, without thinking this means that they have to change their own.” by Marisa Donelan
Photos by Michael Dwyer
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Peer Coaching Builds Savvy News Consumers During the 2016 presidential election, Willa Dubois and Bodhi Becker felt growing frustration over the reactionary consumption
stop people from running with their outrage.” Fathom’s founding members hope to expand beyond Milton’s campus with other
It’s easy to fall prey to confirmation bias— seeking sources that confirm established opinions—especially when you’re just starting
of news among their peers and the adults
high school students referring to curricula
to learn about an issue. The Fathom educators
in their lives. Working over winter break, Willa
established by the group. Willa and Bodhi
want students to be able to form positions
and Bodhi, both class of 2020, devised a plan
envision a structure like that of Amnesty
based on multiple, and even opposing, sources.
to promote early and thorough understanding
International’s student groups: local
of social issues and politics.
organizations guided by the central group’s
They founded Fathom, an independent
Peer education is critical to the message, say Willa and Bodhi. Too often, young people
mission and principles. At Milton, the
hear messages about media consumption,
organization designed for middle school
curriculum is established by a board, and
particularly social media, from adults that err
students—taught by high school students—
then taught by a group of Upper School
on the side of abstinence: social media is
to learn about personal bias, media bias,
students to Middle School students. In the
full of untruths and bias, so kids should avoid it.
fact-checking, sources and opinions as they
fall, Fathom volunteers started with sixth-
consume news.
grade students and had plans to expand to
media. They’re going to use social media,”
local public middle schools.
says Willa. “We want them to recognize oppor-
“A lot of what I see is something I call ‘screaming into space,’ where, regardless of which side you’re on, you read a news story or
“If we can teach students to really look
“We’re not teaching kids not to use social
tunities to learn more. If they see something
for the truth, and not simply parrot things
on Facebook that interests them, they
something online and react to it with outrage
that reinforce their opinions, then I think we’re
shouldn’t simply react, but they should dig
and anger,” Bodhi says. “But the story may not
going to see people who are willing to look
into it and see what other sources are
have all the context you need for an informed
at all sides and break some of the gridlock we
saying on the issue. We want this to be a
opinion, or it might just be untrue. It doesn’t
see now on political issues,” says Bodhi.
life-long skill.”
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31
c l a s s r o o m
Since 1977, the Saturday Course Has Thrilled Children Every Week Twelve fourth graders crowd around a skeleton splayed out
schools in the greater Boston area, participate in five sessions
on a lab table, feeling their own collarbones as their teacher
during the school year. They are selected by their own
guides them through their upper skeletal system. It is a
teachers and administrators who know which students
Saturday morning in the Pritzker Science Center and this is
would excel and enjoy an advanced educational environment.
“Blood and Guts,” one of many fascinating hands-on classes
Students start in fourth grade and two of the sessions are
offered at the Saturday Course. In Ware Hall, another class
devoted just to them. They can continue to participate
of fourth graders are so engrossed watching their “Trial
in the program until eighth grade. The format has largely
Court” teacher discover “evidence” on a fellow student that
remained unchanged: two courses with a snack break in
they stretch their bodies over their desks for a better
between on five or six consecutive Saturdays per session.
view. This all happens within the first hour of the first day;
Students rate their top choices for classes on the registration
students are fully on board and energy is the vibe. “Now
form and find out their placement that first morning.
the magic is happening,” says Kristan Burke, director of the Saturday Course, who has already had a busy start to the morning, welcoming 277 new students to the program. The Saturday Course began in 1977; it was the brainchild
“For 40 years, the recipe has worked really well,” says Kristan, who started with the program as a teacher in 1994. “Parents really need programs for their children who are academically motivated to experience instruction that
of then-Lower School Principal Elizabeth “Betty” Greenleaf
they’re not getting in their schools. This program provides
Buck, who found inspiration at an education conference in
that spark of interest for students seeking more.”
England. The idea: use the physical and academic resources of Milton Academy to benefit students from surrounding communities. Today, 1,000 students, representing 100 public
The core recipe may remain unchanged, but other changes have occurred over the years. “It’s certainly larger, as far as the number of students, but larger can be better because you’re serving more students,” says Gary Shrager, Lower School dean, who spent 32 years with the program and until this year co-directed with Kristan. “But as we grow, we need to make sure we are still doing a great job, so we never change certain things. We still have small classes. We still have dedicated and creative teachers. We just went out and found more of them!” The teachers, who return year after year to spend their Saturday mornings with the students, are critical to the program’s success. Many are public school teachers who enjoy teaching outside of curriculum requirements. A few are current and former Milton Academy teachers and a few are public school principals who enjoy being back in the classroom. One is a working actor, one is an archaeologist, and one is a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts. This varied group of educators meet early for a lively breakfast in Greenleaf Hall before students arrive. Dedicated former students, now in high school and college, return to help out as interns. “The core of the Saturday Course is the great relationships
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Gary Shrager makes them laugh (Kristan Burke in background) at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Saturday Course. Photo by Greg Katsoulis
science curriculum into underserved schools in his area. The Saturday Course decided to partner with him to bring his book, The Learning of Science Begins with Why?, to life. Kristan traveled to India in August to visit some of the that form in the classes. This happens because we have great, fun kids who all want to be here. They like doing
schools. Lakshya’s book includes science experiments that “work well because of their accessibility and inclusion of
extra academic work with teachers who love this kind of
inexpensive, everyday objects.” The plan is for Saturday
stuff,” says Gary. “As a teacher, you’re not pulling teeth
Course students to experiment, analyze and share the results
or saying ‘please pay attention.’ There’s none of that. You
with their peers from Ballabgarh, India.
just put the stuff out there and they gobble it up. Within minutes of the first class, they’re starting to work. I learned
This partnership shows how a program that sticks to its roots can also adapt, explore and change.
quickly that if I want the students to meet each other, I have to figure out how to do that in different ways because they just want to start doing stuff. They’re really hungry for it.” Another unchanged aspect of the program is no grades. There is no structured assessment of students. Instead, students do the assessing and fill out evaluations for each class. Gary says, “We read every single one of these and learn from them. We look for trends and make changes based on them.” In the fall, the Saturday Course celebrated its 40th anniversary in Straus Library with current and former teachers and administrators gathering to reminisce and celebrate the success of a program of unusual longevity. “When I started, there used to be programs for what they then called ‘gifted and talented’ students in all sorts of schools,” says Gary. “For a variety of reasons, almost all of them are gone, mostly because of money.” Both Kristan and Gary say the support of Milton Academy has been crucial to the success of the program.
“I definitely think there were ‘good old days’ of the
Use of the School’s facilities allows the Saturday Course
Saturday Course, but I’m happy about our growth because
to keep tuition low and ensures that any recommended
we reach more students that need this kind of programming,”
child can attend, regardless of family resources. This year, the Saturday Course branched out beyond
says Kristan. “As the world has changed in 40 years, so has children’s awareness of the world around them, and so has
greater Boston to India. Lower School Principal Racheal
their capacity to take in more than maybe we all did growing
Adriko introduced Kristan to a former student from her old
up. So that is a challenge and we try to adapt. We’ve also
school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lakshya Kaura, a
embraced technology more and our course offerings reflect
young science teacher now living in Ballabgarh, Haryana,
that. I see a great future ahead, because this kind of program-
India, was working on a science education book to bring a
ming will always be vital to kids.”
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33
in sight
PHOTO BY MICHAEL DW YER
head of school
BY TODD B . BL AND
How Do We Know? These are challenging times for discerning truth. We know that facts and data—proof and substantiation—matter as we determine what to believe. But how do we find an element of truth in situations that lack clarity, are ambiguous, or are deeper than what meets the eye? How do we choose to position aspects of our life that are neither all good nor all bad? Whether you’re looking at individuals, or institutions like Milton, that are multifaceted and complex, universal truths cannot always be easily deduced. They may not even exist. Groups of people, whether organizations, political parties or schools, are defined by the collective actions of heroes or villains in the moment: decisions, responses, successes and failures. Acknowledging ambiguity or nuance is not a symptom of being soft, weak or undiscriminating, rather it is acknowledging the state of our lives. Proclaiming simple realities when you confront a highly complicated set of circumstances is problematic. I always advise students to “be very careful of simple solutions for complex problems.” This is not to say that ambiguity is the only state. Some claims are indeed lies and others are truths. Good and evil do exist. Some life situations and relationships are healthy and others are unhealthy. What are these situations in your life? My hope for everyone is that you are able to connect your life to good and healthy entities. At this time, we need to be both optimistic and pragmatic, both idealists and realists—a challenging proposition. As a School, Milton needs to help our students navigate this balance and teach them how to discern reality. What about Milton? We are a School that takes pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion; yet, we continue to grapple with the inevitable conflicts that arise in diverse communities. Our mission and power is derived from
thousands of friendships, hero teachers, transformative
the appropriate close relationships between students and
moments, acts of generosity, undying humility, diversity
teachers; yet, the School has had to confront chapters in
of all kinds, and noble efforts. These are all defining. Yet,
our history when some teachers abused students. I hope
we are imperfect and must own up to our human frailties
that we, at Milton Academy, strive for a fair and honest
and hundreds of well-intentioned mistakes. Aiming for
assessment of what is humanly possible. To stay true
perfection without a sense of honesty and humility can
to who we are, we must be committed to our principles
lead to a life of sadness and disappointment. Never ever
and at the same time stay open-minded and alert, not
give up on a person, a family, a school or any organization
complacent or self-satisfied. So much is achievable when
important to you, because you recognize an element of
an individual or institution strives to be at its very best,
imperfection. Instead, we should all work toward changing
even with imperfections.
what we can for the better, as well as honesty and awareness
Milton is an amazing institution: the sum total of
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M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
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in all relationships.
/MiltonAcademy1798
@Milton_Academy @miltonacademy
on centre Festival Rolls Out Red Carpet for Milton Film Club When George Luo ’18 wrote his first screenplay at the end
accepted in several film festivals. Over
of his freshman year at Milton, he rounded up about 20
Columbus Day weekend in 2017, six
people who said they’d be interested in helping him make
members of the club went to New York
the film. Over that summer, interest fizzled, and George
City, where the 20-minute drama was
never made the movie—which is OK, he jokes, because
an official selection of the All American
“it was probably the worst screenplay of all time.” A few more attempts failed; it was hard to manage the process alone. So, during Class III, George and some friends founded the Hollywood Filmmaking Club, which has lent structure to film projects, he says. Last year, the club, which includes actors and students
High School Film Festival, an event that honors the best of high-school films from across the country. “It’s a big festival,” says performing arts faculty member Shane Fuller, who advises the club. “It was cool to see the
interested in directing and writing, worked together
students taking on the project as their own and doing
to make George’s film, Under the Wound, which was
all the work. They did all the scheduling, filming, casting, lighting and editing. The film itself is terrific. The attention to detail is really great.” Under the Wound explores the damage that unfurls from a single lie. George wrote and directed it; he had been inspired by a critically acclaimed Danish film called The Hunt. After early missteps in making movies, George felt motivated to learn everything he could in film classes. Shane’s advanced filmmaking class created a film called Abstraction, which was accepted into several festivals; George, Conor Greene ’18, and Joey Leung ’17 won the best cinematography award at the Hotchkiss Film Festival in the spring. The All American High School Film Festival is an opportunity to hear from established filmmakers, visit a college fair with a focus on film programs, and absorb the work of other student artists. “I know that there are films that are better than mine, and I want to watch them,” George says. “I know that my next project has to be better than the previous one. That’s the standard I’ve set for myself. And I think for people our age, watching great films that are created by young people is excellent motivation.”
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on cen t r e , con t.
Meet Adrian Anantawan, Milton’s New Music Department Chair Adrian Anantawan has toured the world as
and Vancouver, and at the United Nations.
a violin soloist and performed on some
Audience members have included Pope John
of its most prominent stages, but this year
Paul II and the Dalai Lama.
in more forceful, meaningful ways.” Adrian hopes to eventually increase student performers’ repertoire choices and explore
He received his undergraduate degree
different genres of music in classes, but noted
adventure: being a house parent to the boys
from the Curtis Institute of Music and earned
there is a strong foundation in place at Milton.
of Forbes House.
graduate degrees from Yale University
marks the beginning of a different kind of
“I think it’s important for the students to
and the Harvard School of Education. His
have a say in the work that they’re presenting
young men talk about things that are really
first teaching job was at the Conservatory
to people,” he says. “I do think we’re going
intellectual, at the same time they’re really
Lab Charter School, a K-8 program in Boston.
to have at least a year where we’re just doing
having fun, is wonderful,” says Adrian, Milton’s
When Don announced his plans to retire at
minor tweaks and sustaining a culture that
new music department chair. “Getting to
the end of the 2016–2017 school year, Adrian
has been the legacy for Don Dregalla for the
know them is a highlight.”
jumped at the opportunity.
last 35 years.”
“Sitting down at a dinner table and hearing
Adrian takes the baton from Don Dregalla,
“Positions like this are hard to find in music
He also plans to continue his advocacy
who retired last year after more than three
education, because people love working at
for music education for people with physical,
decades of teaching music at Milton. Adrian is
schools like Milton. These positions rarely open
cognitive and emotional disabilities, both
teaching the Middle School strings and winds,
up,” he says. “It was very happenstance.” Adrian credits mentor Indu Singh, Milton’s dean of
strengths, not weaknesses,” he says. Adrian, who was born without a right
teaching and learning,
hand, started playing the violin at his parents’
with helping him
encouragement.
to acclimate to life at Milton. The School
“I think we started with the idea of me playing the recorder, but I didn’t have enough
has been accom
fingers. So, we thought maybe I could study
modating of the
voice? But I didn’t have a great voice,” Adrian
performance schedule
says. “Trumpet? It’s too loud. I think we
that he has had in
chose violin not because it was necessarily
place for more than a
the most practical instrument to adapt to
year, so he was able
one hand, but my dad loved it and played a
to go on a tour through
bit when he was younger. And I just loved
Asia in the fall.
the sound. The adaptations came afterward.”
He describes his teaching style as
Musicians with physical disabilities, especially when they’re just starting out, learn
one of modeling
that finding adaptive instruments can be
skills, not just in
prohibitively expensive, but Adrian believes
the technical aspects
that the music world can be more inclusive.
of music theory or
Increasing representation of different abilities
Upper School orchestra, Chamber Orchestra
performance: “One of the big things in music
and general music in the Upper School.
is modeling what listening looks like, how
Born in Canada, Adrian has been playing
at Milton and beyond. “Music should be a point in which those differences are actually
it feels, and what it means to have a dialogue.
in music can help. “Sometimes, we need to look for precedent,” he says. “And that requires research, but it
the violin since he was 10, and he performed
I’m much more interested in finding out
also requires people who are in this field with
professionally for the first time at 15. He has
where their interests might lie, versus pre-
physical disabilities and are producing music
performed at the White House, in the opening
scribing things for them to think about. I want
to really get out there and demonstrate that
ceremonies of the Olympics in both Athens
to give them the tools to express themselves
journey for others.”
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HUBweek’s Girl Hackathon Draws Milton Girls Milton students mentored middle- and elementary-school students at HUBweek’s Girl Hackathon, a Boston event that encourages young girls to develop a love of computer programming and coding. Jessica Wang ’18, Charlotte Moremen ’19, Amaya Sangurima-Jimenez ’19, and Jen Zhao ’19 served as hackathon mentors. It’s not a
show off. There were some fun glitches that
is something creative and collaborative and
competition; it’s a chance for girls to explore
are part of the process in demonstrating what
driven by what you envision, instead of
the possibilities of coding in a collaborative
they built,” she adds.
something out of a textbook.”
and supportive setting, and to be proud
Girls’ interest in programming continues
What’s exciting about girls learning programming at younger ages is that they don’t
of their creations, says mathematics faculty
to rise at Milton. This year, a group of Upper
member Emily Pries.
School girls are mentoring students in the
have any preconceived notions about what the
Middle School, which now teaches coding at
programming world is “supposed” to look like.
“The girls from Milton pushed the teams to think about different methods,” says Emily. “They identified the challenges the teams
all grade levels. “It’s really exciting to see,” says Emily, who
“A segment of the programming world explicitly prides itself on being a boys’ club,” she
faced and helped them think about where
started teaching at Milton this year. “Having
says. “There’s a mindset that they have this
in the code they could find solutions.
coding in the geometry classes is a good way to
secret knowledge, but the reality is that anybody
show what coding actually looks like, which
in the world can be a programmer. Anybody.”
“It was a chance for the younger girls to
Reaching New Heights, on a Bike Clocking in at a minute over four hours, Chris Mehlman ’18 placed third out of 650 riders in the Vermont 50, a grueling 50-mile mountain bike race that involves an elevation climb of 9,000 feet. To put his amazing finish into context, the top two riders are well-known veteran winners on the mountain bike race circuit. Chris says he started mountain biking in fifth grade, but didn’t start racing until his Class III year. He started with races in the New England High School Cycling Association. This led him to Back Bay Cycling Club (B2C2), a competitive cycling team based in Boston, where he has a coach. “What I enjoy about biking is that it’s a big challenge both mentally and physically,” says Chris. “The training is hard, but I love having goals and something to drive me on. I also love how scientific biking is; it’s a nerdy sport. There is a lot of complex data in the training.” Chris says the Vermont 50 is such a popular race, the 650 spots fill up in five minutes once the registration opens online. Another Milton Academy community member, Middle School Principal Will Crissman, an avid biker, finished third in his division. As Chris starts the college search process, he is also thinking about his biking options for the future. There is collegiate cycling, but Chris says he “might want to continue cycling outside of college and see where I can get to.” In the summer of 2017, he competed in his first nationals in West Virginia and finished 19th in the country.
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milton mur al
A C U R A T E D G A L L E R Y O F A R T S , L E T T E R S A N D D E S I G N B Y M I LT O N A L U M N I
olivia ames hoblitzelle ’55 Author, Aging with Wisdom
frankie shaw ’00 Actress and Showrunner, SMILF
Drawing on her own experiences as well as stories and
Frankie Shaw was nominated for a Golden
studies about aging from other cultures, Olivia Ames
Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a
Hoblitzelle explores the ways readers can nourish
Television Series Musical or Comedy, and her
their inner lives and spirit even as their bodies age
show SMILF was nominated for Best Television
and faculties diminish. She offers guidelines in seven
Series Musical or Comedy. She created the
areas for being attentive to the gifts that grow more
Showtime comedy series, which is based on the
valuable with age: spiritual orientation, practice of
2015 short film of the same name which she
silence, practice of mindfulness, practice of stopping,
wrote, directed and starred in and which won
finding the sacred in the commonplace, meditation,
the Short Film Jury Prize for Fiction at the
and the practice of gratitude. She also shares the stories
2015 Sundance Film Festival. Her struggles to
of six “wayshowers,” individuals whose stories
work as an actor and be a single mother are
illustrate aging with compassion. Olivia’s book invites
the loose inspiration for SMILF. She serves as
inspiring reflections on finding beauty in aging, facing
the series’ showrunner and, true to her feminist
death with dignity, and rejoicing in earthly blessings.
roots, each episode is directed by a woman. In the show, her character, Bridgette Bird, is a smart, scrappy, young single mom trying to navigate life in South Boston with an extremely unconventional family. She struggles to make
samuel harrington ’69, md Author, At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life Most people say they would like to die quietly at home. But aggressive medical advice, coupled with an unrealistic sense of invincibility or overconfidence in our health care system, results in the majority of elderly patients dying in institutions. Many undergo painful procedures instead of the more peaceful death they deserve. At Peace outlines active and passive steps that older patients and their health care proxies can take to ensure loved ones live their last days comfortably at home and/or in hospice when further aggressive care is inappropriate. Informed by more than 30 years of clinical practice along with Dr. Samuel Harrington’s own experience with the aging and deaths of his parents, he describes the terminal patterns of the six most common chronic diseases; how to recognize a terminal diagnosis even when the doctor is not clear about it; how to have the hard conversation about end-of-life wishes; how to minimize painful treatments; when to seek hospice care; and how to deal with dementia and other special issues.
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M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
ends meet, which leads her to impulsive and at times immature decisions. Above all, Bridgette wants to make a better life for her son. SMILF takes on motherhood, co-parenting, and female sexuality through a raw and unfiltered lens.
linda carrick thomas ’79 Author, Polonium in the Playhouse: The Manhattan Project’s Secret Chemistry Work in Dayton, Ohio At the height of the race to build an atomic bomb, an indoor tennis court in one of the Midwest’s most affluent residential neighborhoods became a secret Manhattan Project laboratory. Polonium in the Playhouse presents the intriguing story of how this most unlikely site in Dayton became one of the most classified portions of the Manhattan Project. Weaving Manhattan Project history with the life and work of the scientist, industrial leader and singing showman Charles Allen Thomas, Polonium in the Playhouse offers a fascinating look at the vast and complicated program that changed world history and introduces the men and women who raced against time to build the initiator for the bomb.
beka sturges ’90 Landscape Architect, The Clark Art Institute The December 2016 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine featured a 26-page spread on a project Beka Sturges completed at the Clark
amy kurzweil ’05 Illustrator, Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir
Art Institute, an art museum and research
Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir, Amy Kurzweil’s debut,
principal of Reed Hilderbrand, served as
tells the stories of three unforgettable women. Amy
project landscape architect and manager
center in Williamstown, Massachusetts. An award-winning building expansion led to an opportunity for a new landscape design for the museum’s 140-acre site. Beka, an associate
weaves her own coming of age as a young Jewish artist
for the project. Beka leads the firm’s office in
into the narrative of her mother, a psychologist, and
New Haven. Always working to achieve
Bubbe, her grandmother, a World War II survivor who
spatial power by shaping the land, she aims
escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto by disguising herself
to demonstrate the cultural and environmental
as a gentile. Captivated by Bubbe’s story, Amy turns
value of landscape. Since opening the office
to her sketchbooks, teaching herself to draw as a way to
in New Haven, she has also led projects for
cope with what she discovers. Entwining the voices
Yale and Brown Universities. According to
and histories of these three wise, hilarious, and very
the article, Beka “has made a study of Japanese
different women, Amy creates a portrait not only
architecture and culture, [and] likens it to the
of what it means to be part of a family, but also of how
‘hide and reveal’ of traditional Japanese design,
each generation bears the imprint of the past.
which is incorporated into the site design and
A retelling of the inherited Holocaust narrative now
architecture at the Clark.”
two generations removed, Flying Couch uses Bubbe’s real testimony to investigate the legacy of trauma, the magic of family stories, and the meaning of home. With her playful, idiosyncratic sensibility, Amy traces the way our memories and our families shape who we become.
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m e s s a g e s Craig Steven Wilder
“Institutions that promote the pursuit of truth and knowledge need to be honest about themselves,” Professor Craig Steven Wilder told students. Professor Wilder, an MIT history faculty member and author, was this year’s Heyburn Lecturer. In researching and writing his latest book, Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities, Professor Wilder revealed nearly universal connections between the earliest American educational institutions and slavery. Professor Wilder received his bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, and a master’s, master of philosophy and Ph.D. from Columbia. In addition to Ebony and Ivy, he is the author of A Covenant with Color: Race and Social Power in Brooklyn; and In the Company of Black Men: The African Influence on African American Culture in New York City. His has written essays for Slavery’s Capitalism and wrote the inaugural essay in the digital journal New York History. In 2004, Columbia University awarded Professor Wilder the University Medal for Excellence during its 250th Anniversary Commencement.
“The most important decision you make as a student is not about the history of the institution but the fit between your personality and the institution. Your decision is a personal, three-dimensional one, and not some grand statement about American history. The way it’s going to make the greatest impact is if you thrive in that institution.”
Irene Li ’08
Focusing on two goals—creating a better place to work, and a better
way to source food—Irene Li shared her mission for responsibility operating her popular Boston restaurant. Irene owns the Mei Mei Street Kitchen and Restaurant, where she balances environmentally sound kitchen practices, the use of fresh, local ingredients, and ethical
“I’m not a church-going person, but I
labor practices. Irene has collected accolades from publications
imagine that people who go to church
such as Eater, Bon Appetit, Boston Magazine and the Improper Bostonian,
feel the way I felt about going to the
and was named a semifinalist by the James Beard Foundation in its
farmer’s market every weekend.”
Rising Star Chef of the Year awards for three years in a row. In 2017, Zagat named her one of its “30 Under 30.” Mei Mei began as a food truck in 2012, then as a restaurant in 2013, and includes a successful catering business as well as its own line of sauces for retail sale.
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milton.edu
/MiltonAcademy1798
@Milton_Academy @miltonacademy
Kedra Ishop
The differences we bring to institutions strengthen those institutions and our relationships within them, says Dr. Kedra Ishop, the vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Michigan-Ann
Arbor. This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Speaker, Dr. Ishop reviewed legal battles for racial and ethnic inclusion in higher education, from Plessy v. Ferguson, a 19th-century Supreme Court case that ruled public institutions may be “separate but equal,” to modern legal challenges to university admissions processes. Dr. Ishop serves on multiple national and international committees and advisory boards related to university diversity, affordability, assessment, admissions and enrollment. She holds three degrees from the University of Texas-Austin, where she began her career in admissions: a B.A. in sociology, a master of education in higher education administration, and a Ph.D. in educational administration.
“Who you are matters. The color of your skin matters, your economic background matters, your sexual identity matters, your political affiliation matters, and we should do our work to try to craft the diverse environments we are seeking. We are no longer using these things to keep people out, but to bring them in.”
Richard F. Johnson
Veterans Day speaker, Army Brig. Gen. Richard F. Johnson P’19, encouraged students to ask themselves two questions: “What inspiration can I draw from the service of veterans?” and “How will I serve?” Brig. Gen. Johnson is the Land Component Commander, Massachusetts Army National Guard. He is responsible for training, readiness, and force development for a formation of over 6,000 soldiers, and serves as a Joint Task Force Commander and Contingency Dual Status Commander in domestic security and natural disaster response operations. He is a highly decorated veteran of four combat deployments: as a platoon leader in Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, company commander in Afghanistan in 2009–10, and as a senior
“In a world that’s fraught with peril and those that would do harm, your veterans have been the guardians of freedom and the protectors
combat advisor with the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan in 2012–13.
of peace and humanity. Celebrate their service
Brig. Gen. Johnson is a senior executive fellow at the Harvard Kennedy
and sacrifice by making your own contribution.
School. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College and the U.S. Army
Find your future, decide how you will serve,
Command and General Staff College. He completed the National Security Management Fellowship at Syracuse University and holds graduate degrees in criminal justice and public affairs from the University of Massachusetts,
and pay the best tribute that you can to those who have served you.”
and he was a national security fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
SPRING 2018
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m e s sage s, con t.
“Many people are suffering in silence, and it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s OK to talk about mental illness. There is no shame in seeking treatment, and a diagnosis is not the end.”
Hakeem Rahim
Mental health advocate and spoken-word artist Hakeem Rahim, this
year’s Talbot Speaker, shared his story as part of a presentation to destigmatize mental illness, encourage students to reach out when they’re hurting, and to be supportive friends when someone they know needs help. Mr. Rahim received a psychology degree from Harvard and later received a dual master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. In 2012, Mr. Rahim began openly sharing his journey with mental illness. He has testified in front of the House of Representatives and Senate, and has shared his story with over 60,000 students. In 2016, he launched the I Am Acceptance College Tour Campaign. He is a TEDx speaker and a member of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance’s national board. Mr. Rahim is the President and CEO of I Am Acceptance Inc, a nonprofit committed to building a platform based on values of community, wellness, and acceptance. He is also the founder and CEO of Live Breathe, LLC.
Ron Smith
In works that explore the intersection of ubiquitous moments in history and intimate, personal narrative, poet and Bingham Visiting Writer Ron Smith asks, “What is my place and what keeps me in it?” A native
of Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Smith is the author of Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery, Moon Road, Its Ghostly Workshop and The Humility of the Brutes. A distinguished poet and critic, his work has appeared in many periodicals, including The Nation, Kenyon Review, New England Review and The Georgia Review, as well as several anthologies. He holds degrees from the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University, and has studied at Bennington College, Worcester College at Oxford University and the Ezra Pound Center for Literature in Merano, Italy. Mr. Smith was selected as an inaugural winner of the Carole Weinstein Poetry Prize in 2005, and now serves as a curator for the prize, and he was Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2014–2016. He teaches at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia and as an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond.
“The number-one job of any writer, in any genre, is to tell the truth.”
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M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
milton.edu
/MiltonAcademy1798
@Milton_Academy @miltonacademy
Robert Trestan
Young people have the power to stem the tide of antiSemitism and other hateful incidents, said Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Boston Office. Mr. Trestan spoke to Class II students at the invitation of the Jewish Student Union. Prior to joining the ADL, Mr. Trestan served for more than a decade
“Just because I’m part of a
as director of civil rights at the Boston Housing Authority
marginalized group here in
and previously worked as an assistant public defender
America, doesn’t mean I don’t
in Naples, Florida. He received his J.D. from the University
represent the face of colonization and oppression in another
of Miami School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Trent University.
part of the world. I was seeing through the wrong lens.”
Kristina Wong
Kristina Wong performed her one-woman show, “Wong Street Journal,” a humorous account of armchair activism and a life-changing service trip to Uganda. Her visit to Milton was sponsored by the Hong Kong Distinguished
“The most powerful thing
Lecture Series. Ms. Wong’s most notable touring show,
you have is your voice.
“Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” examined the high
Speak out. If you do it
rates of depression and suicide among Asian-American women through a fictionalized version of herself. She has been a commentator for American Public Media’s
collectively, you can make a huge difference.”
Marketplace, PBS, VICE, Jezebel, and the Huffington Post. She has appeared as a guest on Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” and “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.”
“Arts and imagery model for all of us what we can become. We can’t become what we can’t imagine.”
Sarah Lewis
“The arts are not just ephemeral,” says Harvard Professor Sarah Lewis. “They carry real weight in the real world.” Professor Lewis was the Margaret A. Johnson Speaker this year. An assistant professor in Harvard’s Department of Art and Architecture and the Department of African and African American Studies, Professor Lewis works at the nexus of visual representation, racial inequity and social justice. Professor Lewis is the guest editor of the landmark “Vision & Justice” issue of Aperture, now required reading for all incoming freshman at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is author of The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery. She has been the keynote speaker at a range of events and institutions, including TED, SXSW, the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Federal Reserve Bank.
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NAME: Sherry Bingham Downes ’58 G ’13 ’14 ’14 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: I’ve worked as a public high school history teacher, a political researcher for Maine Senator Edmund Muskie, a staff researcher at the Peace Corps, a fundraiser and more. My other equally demanding and fulfilling career was bringing up three outstanding sons and helping my second husband in his career as chaplain, school headmaster and church rector. FAVORITE MILTON MEMORIES AS A STUDENT: I discovered a wonderful group of young women in Hathaway House, who are still among my closest friends. I also met classmate James Edward Bland, who, after four years of courtship through college, became my first husband and the father of my sons. FAVORITE MILTON MEMORY AS A GRANDPARENT: I went to a science lab with my granddaughter, Emily Bland, and was impressed with the facilities and rigor of the academics. I was also struck by the easy relationship she had with a male laboratory partner. We could only talk to our boy classmates on the weekends, although notes passed by the crossing guard during the week were permitted. MY MILTON ROLE MODEL: Ruth Jaeger taught Latin and German; she was demanding but fair. WHY I SUPPORT MILTON: I had the most wonderful education I could ever imagine. We were privileged to be at Milton at a time when people wanted women to be homemakers. We were taught our minds were good and that we should go on to do great things. I included Milton in my will years ago—it’s easy to do and ensures support of an institution I love.
For more information on supporting Milton, contact: Mary Moran Perry, Director of Planned Giving 170 Centre Street Milton, MA 02186 617-898-2376 or mary_perry@milton.edu
class notes 1935
1949
1956
▼ Connie (Bradley) Madeira
John Hewett is keeping busy
Susan Becker Hussein is mostly
turned 100 on December 31, 2017.
as the treasurer of his local Rotary
retired and traveling, but also
She celebrated her birthday with
Club Foundation, and he serves
enjoying her minor role in editing
more than 40 family and friends
on the search committee of his
Historical Archaeology. Her seven
in her hometown in Maine.
church, United Church of Christ
grandchildren range in age from
Attending the party was Connie’s
in Greensboro, Vermont. He
6 to the mid-30s, and Susan is
great-granddaughter, Althea,
also keeps track of his three
beginning to wonder when or if
who was born in September of
grandsons’ very busy and very
great-grandchildren will appear.
2017—there are nearly 100 years
productive lives. Rupert Hitzig enjoys a yearly
between them! While at Milton, Connie played field hockey,
Michael Henderson published his
visit from Ted Robbins and his
basketball, tennis and baseball.
13th book, A Harvest of Friendships,
wife, Caroline, who travel from
She shared through her daughter,
A Story of World War II Child
Vermont to Los Angeles, where
Lisa, that back in those days,
Evacuees, American Generosity, and
Rupert lives. It has been a 15-year
girls played hardball, not softball.
British Gratitude. It is available
tradition and they have great fun
After Milton, Connie married
in the United States and the UK.
reconnecting. Rupert is directing
and raised four children. She continued to fulfill her love
a documentary shot in London and Liverpool, as well as monthly
of the outdoors and athletics as
1951
one-act plays. His greatest joys in
a competitive sailor and ski
Andrew Ward and his wife have
life are his two sons, their wives,
instructor, active into her 80s.
been enjoying the golf weather in
his wife of 47 years and their
Georgia, despite hurricanes in
grandson, a hockey star for the
recent years. He enjoys FaceTime
Junior Kings.
and weekly phone calls with granddaughters up north.
1957 Robert Fuller Jr. and his wife
Michael Henderson ’49
moved to a continuing care
published his 13th book,
▼ Rosamond van der Linde
community in Potomac, Maryland,
A Harvest of Friendships,
published her second book,
10 minutes away from his wife’s
The Land of No Laws: The Saga of
daughter and her husband. Their
Evacuees, American Generosity,
two-room apartment is decorated
and British Gratitude.
1954 a Small Caribbean Island.
A Story of World War II Child
in nautical prints and old maps of Maine, as well as his Milton diploma. Bob shared he has quit television “cold turkey,” with everything he needs to read or see available online. His one
1943
exception: The Wall Street Journal,
Steve Washburn says that he,
crinkle of its paper in his hands.
John Goodhue and Roger Perry
Bob enjoys his membership at
as he still enjoys feeling the
are planning to attend the 75th
the Army-Navy Club in midtown
reunion this spring, and they
Washington, D.C., which serves
hope other members of the class
as a base of operations for him,
will try to attend, or be in touch
and he looks to get involved with
if they can’t make it.
Princeton and Penn Clubs.
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cl a s s no t e s, con t.
1961 Robert G. Morse II has been
living with his wife, Charlotte, in Rhode Island for the past 13 years, enjoying the retired life. They have enjoyed several river cruises in Europe, tours in Scotland, Portugal and India, a trip to the Galapagos, and most recently, a cruise through the Panama Canal. Robert and his wife welcomed their first granddaughter at the end of June, and their first grandson two months later.
1963 Frederic B. “Deric” Jennings Jr.
published two volumes of academic essays, The Economics of Horizon Effects and The Human Ecology of Horizon Effects, as well as a more poetic critique of economics called Nature’s Song, Inhuman Society: A Fly Cast to the Wind, which uses fly fishing as a metaphor for inductive scientific
1971
inquiry. He is looking forward to his 55th class reunion in June. Christopher Hallowell ’64 has recently published a novel, Beneficiaries of Deceit.
community center. His family
▲ Sylvie Peron continues to
includes two sons, two stepdaugh-
serve as editor-in-chief for the
1964
ters and two granddaughters.
European edition of Altitudes,
Christopher Hallowell has recently
1970
to business aviation, and co-editor
published a novel, Beneficiaries of Deceit, set in both the Peruvian
Peter H. Cloutier is still living in
travel to the French Alps, with
jungle and on a nearly bankrupt
Geneva, Switzerland with his wife,
upcoming trips to London,
fictional college campus in Boston.
Pamela. Peter reports that he
Shanghai and Geneva.
a lifestyle magazine dedicated for Altitudes Asia. She’s enjoyed
is just starting to enjoy receiving
48
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
some money back from the Swiss
▲ This year Margaret (Trumbull)
1966
government now that he’s reached
Nash and her husband, Mike,
Philip Sherwood has been Seattle-
the official retirement age. Peter
visited Sylvie for a late summer
based for the last few years after
is navigating a cancer diagnosis,
lunch in September, as they
cruising and living in Ecuador
but notes that Swiss health care is
always do when they visit the
and Panama. He works as an
terrific, world-class and available
French Riviera. Sylvie’s fiancé is a
activist and community organizer
on short notice. His doctors are
professional chef, so they enjoyed
combating racism and extremism,
confident that treatment will be
a delicious meal. Don’t forget
as well as helping to grow a
effective. He describes this as
to give Sylvie a head’s up on your
food bank into a multi-faceted
a “new but unwelcome challenge.”
next visit to the French Riviera!
milton.edu
/MiltonAcademy1798
@Milton_Academy @miltonacademy
YWCA Women’s Art Gallery Presents
Land, Light, Lustre Friday, October 6, 2017 | 6:00 – 8:00 PM 898 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served RSVP: yjohnson-hegge@ywcacin.org
Mary has been involved with cooperative presses in Ohio for 26 years. She enjoys the company of her children and two grand daughters, ages 12 and 9. Mary Woodworth
Mary Woodworth keeps an open eye to the monumental nature of the landscape. Her recent monotypes and collagraph prints celebrate the elemental nature of debris refabricated into a printing plate. As each image emerges through multiple passes through the press, she explores her place in the landscape, a terrain of unfolding light. Andrea Knarr uses the depiction of light in her landscapes as an emotional barometer, evoking reverie and a sense of place. The morning and evening light on the Ohio River provides her inspiration, and the ink, wiped away on the plate, reveals the tactile surprises inherent in the monotype process. The daughter of a woodworker, Didem Mert was raised in a design-rich metals. The geometry, texture, and functionality of her work emanate from this artistic environment. She conveys a sense of tranquility through minimalistic design, and a sense of playfulness through her color palette and textured surfaces.
Show runs through January 11, 2018
1977 ▼ V-Nee Yeh recently began
1981
foil wake surfing—a hydrofoil
▲ Walker Blaine and his wife,
surfboard for surfing the wake
Patricia, are delighted to
behind boats. Andrea Knarr
Didem Mert
Greater Cincinnati Didem Mert
announce the birth of their son, Griffin Arrow Blaine, on August 22, 2017. When not changing diapers, Walker is a production
1973
editor for Kalapa Media in Canada,
▲ Mary Woodworth had artwork,
and assists in the liturgical
hand-pulled print pieces she’s
world of the Shambhala Buddhist
been developing for two years,
community. He and Patricia
featured in a show in Cincinnati.
met studying Tibetan in Asia.
Operating Milton Academy comes at a cost well beyond tuition. Tuition and fees cover just 72 percent of a Milton education, with philanthropy covering the gap. No matter the size, every Milton Fund gift makes a meaningful and immediate difference— bringing opportunities to life for faculty and students.
Make a gift today. www.milton.edu/donate 617-898-2447
SPRING 2018
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cl a s s no t e s, con t.
John Sullivan lives on the South
Shore of Massachusetts with his wife of 26 years, Susi. His daughter recently graduated from the University of Rochester with a triple major and moved to Seattle, making the Sullivans official empty-nesters. Tad Hills lives in Brooklyn where
he spends most of his time writing and illustrating children’s books such as the Duck & Goose and Rocket series. His wife, Lee Wade, publishes them at Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House. Tad often visits schools around the world to talk about his work. His Tad Hills ’81 spends most of
his time writing and illustrating children’s books such as the Duck & Goose and Rocket series.
mom, Joanna, passed away in October. Tad shared that she always welcomed classmates at 110
1991
Commercial Street, and for many, and Katie Schecter, and has
Michael Douglas and his wife,
reconnected with Dan Norton,
Olivia, welcomed their first
Jon Davis and Tom Payne in
child, James William Douglas,
San Francisco.
to the world on November 9, 2017.
is still spending as much of her
1986
1993
was their mom-away-from-home.
1982 Karen (Rubin) Hawkes lives in
Marin County, California, but she
Alex Merrill ’86 started a
new publishing house, Apollo Publishers, dedicated to publishing timely nonfiction.
50
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
summers on Nantucket Island as
Alex Merrill has started a new
▲ Aryeh Sternberg has been
possible. She co-founded Deep
publishing house, Apollo
living in Sydney, Australia,
Flight, a company that builds
Publishers, dedicated to publishing
for the past five years after a
personal submarines, in 1998;
timely nonfiction. Their first title,
13-year stint in Southeast Asia.
their newest initiative is to
due out in April, is a conversation
Aryeh started a digital marketing
partner with luxury resorts to
between a confidante of Martin
consultancy called Beyond
offer submarine excursions
Luther King Jr. and a modern-
Intent that is now a year old.
for guests. Karen has a 20-year-
day activist. Alex would love to
One of their clients is Athletics
old son, Oliver, studying at
publish a Miltonian author and he
Australia, the organization
Wake Forest, and an 18-year-old
welcomes ideas and manuscripts.
responsible for the Australian
daughter, Madeleine, studying at Goucher College. She enjoyed
Olympics, Paralympics and
1989
recreational running across
guiding her kids through the college application process so
James Williams met up with Les
he married Marcia Nihei, and
the country. On October 28,
much that she started her own
Marshall, now from California,
they live in a suburb called
college-consulting business.
and on another occasion, John Yu,
Chatswood with her sister
Karen enjoys staying in touch
now living in Washington, D.C.,
and their cats Shiro and Basil.
with fellow Milties Susanna
at the Larchmont Yacht Club with
Aryeh is hoping to make
(Hodges) Salk, Deirdre Kenny
their families.
it back to Reunion this year!
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@Milton_Academy @miltonacademy
1994 ▼ Laura Beatrix Newmark was
Women – A Night of Female
Development Office or designate
thrilled to see two former
Resistance Comedy” at the 14th
their gift online.
roommates and dear friends from
Street Y Theater. The show sold
Hallowell, Lynn Rasic and Bess
out in under a week.
1997
1995
▶ Jonas Peter Akins and his wife
Professionally, Laura is producing a comedy show called “#Nasty
Eliza Myers recently had a fourth
the world on December 4, 2017.
Williamson, when they were in
New York City over the holidays.
Sarah welcomed Celie Akins into
baby and moved with her family
Equally delighted was grand
to New Haven to take a job at Yale
mother Bonnie Bonnet Akins ’59.
as a neonatologist. Eliza is also
Jonas is teaching and coaching at
happy to announce the establish
Choate Rosemary Hall.
ment of the Nina Riggs ’95 Memorial Scholarship, which provides support to students in
1998
need of financial aid at Milton.
David Sclar joined health care
Alumni interested in contributing
startup Rally Health in 2014
to Nina’s fund can contact the
as the Chief Privacy Officer and
REUNION WEEKEND JUNE 15 & 16, 2018
Celebrating class years ending in “3” and “8.” Come back—we’ve missed you!
SPRING 2018 To learn more or to register, visit www.milton.edu/graduates 51
cl a s s no t e s, con t.
2001 Vice President, Business Affairs &
Patrick Wales-Dinan married
Legal. David would love to
Annie Dear on July 22, 2017,
connect with anyone else working
in Small Point, Maine. Former
in health care, particularly
Milton Academy roommate Hernan Ortiz was a groomsman,
at startups.
and former teacher and coach Lila Dupree recently got engaged
Ed Ellison was in attendance.
to another Milton alum, Daniel Adair ’04 . The two have known
each other since attending Shady Hill School in Cambridge and were paired together for a year. After that, they did not see each other until they had coffee in 2009 Daniel Adair ’04 is a
director of product at Scopely, where he makes mobile video games.
after connecting on Facebook. Eight years later, they randomly reconnected in London last
▲ Kristin (Ostrem) Donelan
February, and the rest is history!
welcomed her second child,
They both live in Los Angeles and
Thomas Hall Donelan, on
Lila works as an actor, writer and
May 10, 2017.
2002 ▲ Caitlin (Flint) Walsh and
producer, while Dan is a director of product at Scopely, where
▼ Joanna Ostrem married Dave
Michael Walsh ’01, along with
he makes mobile video games.
Twerdun on December 30 in
big brother Michael (5) and sister
1999
Brooklyn, NY. Many members of
Emily (3) welcomed Matthew
the class of ’99 were in attendance.
Charles Walsh on November 29,
In the photo, left–right: Beth
2017 in San Diego.
Actress Caroline Kinsolving made
Pierson, Sarah White, Kara
her Boston Symphony Hall debut
Sweeney Egan, Kiran Singh,
this fall in Henrik Ibsen’s Peer
Joanna Ostrem, Kristin Ostrem
Gynt. The performance included
Donelan, Leanne McManama
a company of 10 actors, a fiddler,
Conyers, Kelly Sullivan Menice,
an 80-person chorus, the entire
Caroline Churchill Page.
symphonic orchestra, dancing
Duke Gray was also there, but
and puppets.
not pictured.
Caroline Kinsolving ’99
made her Boston Symphony Hall debut this fall in Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt.
2004 ▲ Abby Wright and her husband,
Josh Ranson, welcomed their first child, Kit, in March 2017. Kit is happy, healthy and growing fast.
52
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
boa r d of trustee s Robert Azeke ’87
John B. Fitzgibbons ’87
Stephen Lebovitz P ’10 ’12 ’14 ’17
H. Marshall Schwarz ’54 P ’84
New York, New York
Treasurer
Weston, Massachusetts
Emeritus
Bronxville, New York Bradley M. Bloom P ’06 ’08
Lakeville, Connecticut Yunli Lou ’87
Emeritus
Margaret Jewett Greer ’47
Wellesley, Massachusetts
P ’77 ’84 G ’09 ’13 ’14 Emerita
Stuart Mathews P ’13 ’17 ’17
Charles Cheever ’86
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Vice President and Secretary
Erick Tseng ’97
Waban, Massachusetts
San Francisco, California
Concord, Massachusetts
Shanghai, China
Dune Thorne ’94 Lincoln, Massachusetts
Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden ’75 Douglas Crocker II ’58
P ’09
John McEvoy ’82 P ’19 ’20 ’25
Kimberly Steimle Vaughan ’92
Delray Beach, Florida
Wädenswil, Switzerland
Milton, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
Mark Denneen ’84
Franklin W. Hobbs IV ’65 P ’98
Chris McKown P ’13
Luis Viceira P ’16 ’19
Emeritus
Milton, Massachusetts
Belmont, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
New York, New York Elisabeth Donohue ’83 President New York, New York
Wendy Nicholson ’86
Dorothy Altman Weber ’60 P ’04
Harold W. Janeway ’54
Vice President
Boston, Massachusetts
P ’79 ’81 ’87 G ’12 ’14
New York, New York Ted Wendell ’58 P ’94 ’98 ’01
Emeritus Randall Dunn ’83
Webster, New Hampshire
Milton, Massachusetts
P ’17 ’19
Chicago, Illinois Claire Hughes Johnson ’90 James M. Fitzgibbons ’52
Caterina Papoulias-Sakellaris Milton, Massachusetts
Sylvia Westphal
Liping Qiu P ’17
Boston, Massachusetts
P ’18 ’21 ’25 ’27 ’27
Menlo Park, California
P ’87 ’90 ’93 Emeritus
Peter Kagan ’86
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
New York, New York
Beijing, China Ronnell Wilson ’93 West Orange, New Jersey
William Knowlton P ’23 Boston, Massachusetts
Kevin Yip ’83 P ’16 Hong Kong
SPRING 2018
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cl a s s no t e s, con t.
2013 Cole Morrissette graduated from
Wesleyan University last spring with a double major in neuroscience and biology. He is finishing his master’s degree in neurophysiology with research focused on epilepsy. Cole will be starting medical school this fall.
▼ Milton alumni met at
Georgetown University for a hangout. Pictured are Nick DiGiovanni ’15 and Shanlyn Tse ’15 , and brothers Nick,
Nick Dougherty ’07 was
Cam ’16 and Peter DiGiovanni ’17.
part of MedTech Boston’s 40 Under 40.
2006 ▲ Annie Jean-Baptiste married
media company she joined
Todd Bullock on June 10, 2017
in NYC in 2012, now as head of
Chef Irene Li ’08 owns
in San Francisco. They were
Strategy & Client Services in
and operates Mei Mei’s
surrounded by many Mustangs
their UK office. She lives with
from ’06, ’07 and ’08.
her boyfriend in Angel.
2007
2008
Street Kitchen and Restaurant in Boston.
Nick Dougherty won BostInno’s
Chef Irene Li owns and operates
50 on Fire, and in the spring he
Mei Mei’s Street Kitchen and
was part of MedTech Boston’s 40
Restaurant in Boston. Mei Mei
Under 40. Nick is leading efforts in
leads the restaurant industry
digital health, improving the lives
in fair and ethical practices
of patients through technology.
while serving creative ChineseAmerican dishes. This year, Irene
54
M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
After five years in New York City,
has been chosen as one of Zagat’s
Samm Yu moved to London in
30 Under 30, designating her
search of a new adventure. She
as one of the young talents in the
still works at Refinery29, a digital
hospitality industry.
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In Memoriam Francis D. Millet
May 25, 1917–November 15, 2017 Francis D. Millet—Milton’s beloved teacher, coach, house master, advisor and friend for 75 years—died November 15, 2017, at the age of 100. Milton honored Mr. Millet’s 100th birthday last June during reunion weekend, and celebrated his life exactly as he wished, with a Funeral Mass at St. Agatha’s Church in Milton, celebrated by Milton alumnus, and Mr. Millet’s chaplain in his last years, Fr. William Palardy. Mr. Millet’s legacy is alive on campus and beyond: in the classroom and on the playing fields, in the highly personal Milton admission process, in the successful squash program he created, in the affection of Millet House residents past and present, and in the loving memories of generations of Milton alumni. A tribute website, www.daretobetrue.com/millet, features Mr. Millet’s biography along with stories and photographs of his rich contributions to Milton Academy. Among the comments alumni shared on the website: “Purely and simply, I owe the fact that I successfully graduated from Milton to the wise and perceptive counseling I received from Mr. Millet. I will be forever grateful for his help.” — Phil Kinnicutt ’59 “Mr. Millet represented to me the very best that the school had to offer, and through the years as an alumnus and trustee I grew to value his judgment and wisdom, and essential kindness, more than I can say.” — Peter Burling ’63 “You supported me as I learned what it really meant to be a student and scholar. I have no doubt you saved my life, as I also have no doubt I would not have been able to live the life I have without the opportunity and guidance you gave me. I do not know how many others you have had a similar effect on, but I suspect it is countless.” — Cushing Hamlen ’76 “Mr. Millet saw qualities in me I was unaware of myself until years later. He saw fit to provide the scholarship that afforded me the full education Milton offered. What has been done with that has touched people from India to Lithuania to Maine. His kindness and insight have rippled across countless human lives, as we all have walked what he gave us around our Earth.” — Ben Schneider ’82 “Mr. Millet, you were one of the greatest parts of attending Milton Academy. You were a model of grace, humility, leadership and mentorship. You were impactful on and off the squash courts. I treasure the guidance you have given me through my time at Milton, and your friendship for the past 23 years since graduation.” — Kuan Ern Tan ’94 “I will always cherish my friendship with Mr. Millet, which will live on in the wonderful collection of handwritten notes from him I have saved over the years. I’m so thankful to have had him as a teacher, mentor and pen pal. Wise and kind with a great sense of humor—a true legend.” — Meghan O’Toole ’01
Class of 1934 Reverend Charles Kane Cobb Lawrence Class of 1938 Barbara Bigelow Dunn Marjorie Handy Nichols Class of 1939 Joan Perkins Austin Galen L. Stone Class of 1943 Robert G. Potter, Jr. Class of 1944 Sylvia Hurd McDonald Class of 1945 Louis Cloutier IV Daniel B. Kunhardt Class of 1947 Calvert Smith Blanche Frenning Strater Christopher Grant Class of 1950 Kirk Rankin III Class of 1951 William M. Field Class of 1953 Penelope Comfort Starr Peter H. Durkee Class of 1958 Dr. Judy Wilson Child Class of 1966 Deborah Saltonstall Twining Sarah Bailey Downey Hackworth Class of 1970 Dr. William C. Corea Class of 1979 Michael P. Preston Class of 1985 Martin J. DeMatteo, Jr. Faculty and Staff William T. Hall, Jr. James E. Maher Francis D. Millet
Alumni, faculty and staff who passed June 1, 2017 through January 30, 2018, and were not previously listed in Milton Magazine. To notify us of a death, please contact the Development and Alumni Relations Office at alumni@milton.edu or 617-898-2447.
SPRING 2018
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post script
BY FRANK MILLET
Mr. Millet Responds Having just received the Milton Medal from H. Marshall Schwarz ’54 in May 2002
with the two Milton junior high schools. Bright-eyed and eager, we reported to Stoky the next afternoon. He handed each of us a shovel, I have used this story before, but in the words
excellent role models. The first was Arthur
saying the first thing we should do was to dig
of Mae West, “Too much of a good thing is
Perry whom I met when I was teaching in
holes for the goal posts. Our relationship has
not enough.” In the mid-twenties, I was always
Santa Fe, New Mexico, before WWII. He
improved since then.
intrigued by Al Smith. On one occasion, when
invited me to let him know if I came back east.
he was governor of the Empire State, he was
I did come back in 1942, and was delighted
were invaluable: John Torney, Barc Feather,
Later on, advice and friendship from others
asked to address the inmates of Sing Sing, the
to have my first position at Milton teaching the
Betty Greenleaf Buck. Betty Buck was not at
well-known state penitentiary on the banks
sixth grade, which I did for two years. Arthur
Milton when I was with the Lower School
of the Hudson. He was puzzled as to the proper
Perry placed me as a floormaster in Robbins
but we became good friends when she returned
salutation for his audience: gentlemen, fellow
House run by Reggie Nash, another remarkable
at the close of the war. One story that
Americans, fellow Democrats, friends—none
man: house master, history teacher, baseball
makes me smile is from a few years ago when
seemed appropriate, but he solved his dilemma
coach from 1919 to 1952. Then there was Cy
I mentioned to Betty that recently I had the
by saying, “I am happy to see so many of you
Jones, who was headmaster from 1942–1947;
most nice lunch with Ned Johnson who had
here.” It will be impossible to thank you all
Mr. Hunt, who was in charge of Warren
been in my first sixth grade in 1943. Betty
individually, but I will mention one former
Hall, the study hall for Classes IV–VI; Howard
had remembered Ned from the fourth grade.
advisee, Todd Wyett ’84, who is here from the
Smith who was the chairman of the classics
She said to me, “Oh, that must have been
Middle West. He, with J. B . Pritzker ’82,
department. These, and many others helped
fun; Neddy was such a pleasant boy. I wonder
initiated the Admission Chair which funds
me along the way. Actually I was hired
whatever happened to him.” I was able to assure
by Mr. Field, who was the headmaster from
her that he managed to survive.
the Dean of Admission. A few months ago I interviewed with a
1917–1942. His predecessor, Mr. Lane, 1910–1917,
I owe so much to people like Arthur
sixth-grader who was seeking admission
was someone I became friendly with in my
and Emilie Perry, and to many others as well.
to the sixth class. He was, even then, a superb
early Milton years.
The entire Milton constituency—faculty,
tennis player. I asked him how he had become
Herbert Stokinger (Stoky) deserves special
parents, graduates, and certainly, students,
so skilled. His answer was, “I have had
mention—he has been an inspiration for 60
make and continue to make this School, for
excellent coaches.” His response is appropriate
years. Back in 1944, he asked John Pocock and
me and countless others, the caring, vibrant
in my case, although perhaps enjoyment could
me if we would start a Fourth Class Warren
and challenging environment in which we
be substituted for success. I have had many
Hall football team to compete in a tri-league
work and live.
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M I LT O N M A G A Z I N E
Bring Turf to Milton Milton is home to world-class students with endless potential, and our athletics program plays an essential role in their experience. Athletics teaches a commitment to excellence, hard work, leadership and discipline. Despite robust facilities, one gap in our program remains: a turf field. And by the summer of 2018, Milton will be the only ISL school without turf. The generosity of our alumni and parents will help bring turf to Milton as we seek to raise $2.5 million for this project. Ensure our School has the facilities that match students’ commitment to excellence and exploration—invest in Milton athletics today.
Dare is a campaign about our people: our faculty, our students, and the power of their experiences together. Learn more about how you can support Milton today, and for decades to come. milton.edu/turf • 617-898-2447 katie_connolly@milton.edu
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