Andover magazine - Summer 2020 Issue

SUMMER 2020

COVID Crusaders Dr. Jennifer Ellis ’81 is one of many alumni, faculty, and students offering help and hope in the battle against this global pandemic.

E D I TOR ’ S N O TE

“We need to find a place to put the extra masks.” centuries of racism and an end to systemic injustice.

Like many of you, these events have made me sad, confused, angry, and overwhelmed. Here at Andover magazine, we are taking a moment to pause and better understand how we can actively promote an anti-racist culture. We want to create a magazine where all members of the Andover community are represented and valued.

Looking ahead, we are committed to increasing our efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. As we launch our newly redesigned magazine this fall (the first in 10-plus years!), we plan to tell more stories by, for, and about people of color. We will also highlight—in new and exciting ways—many of the same topics you have enjoyed in the past: stories about students, alumni, academics, and the rich histories of Phillips and Abbot academies.

As we move forward in this new normal, we are reminded by poet Anthony Morales ’98 in his beautiful essay on page 25 that “gratitude, humility, love, and mindfulness will save us all. Be gentle with yourself…”

Allyson Irish Editor airish@andover.edu @andovermagazine

Derek Jacoby

I said this casually to my son and husband as they headed out the door. They were going to visit my mother-inlaw. After three months, her independent living facility finally was allowing brief outdoor visits with two family members at a distance of six feet. With masks.

I had to pause and ask myself: What kind of world are we living in? How is it that wearing masks and having “distance visits” with loved ones is a normal part of our days?

This spring was unlike any other we’ve experienced as a society and as a school.

The beauty of the Andover campus—with trees and flowers in bloom—was tinged with melancholy as the walkways, hallways, and dormitories were empty and would remain so indefinitely.

Our cover story “COVID Crusaders” captures the many changes on campus as well as the ways our community has tackled the new challenges brought about

by COVID-19, often helping others along the way.

The pandemic also laid bare deep inequities in our society, inequities that were highlighted even more in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder on May 25 by a white police officer in Minneapolis. In response to this inexcusable crime, worldwide protests erupted demanding recognition for

ON THE COVER A hero on the front line, Dr. Jennifer Ellis ’81 is chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

New York became one of the epicenters of COVID-19 in March.

Photo by Kezi Barry ’02

FEATURES 5

2

10

For the Love of Teaching

This year’s four retiring faculty embody Andover’s non sibi motto as well as a commitment to excellence.

8 Reflections on Racism

Alumni grapple with the impacts of systemic racism and consider ways that we can make a positive change for the future.

10 Salute to the Class of MMXX

With essays from the two copresidents and a celebratory photo essay, Andover honors the 242nd graduating class.

14

14 COVID Crusaders

COVID-19 has brought with it a series of far-reaching changes that will impact Andover—and the world—for years to come.

26 The Greatest Impact

Why annual gifts matter (now more than ever).

DEPARTMENTS: From the Interim Head of School 4| Class Notes 28| In Memoriam 88| End Note 92|

Access these sites at andover.edu

Facebook

Graduway

Instagram

Linked In

SmugMug

Twitter

YouTube

Andover | Summer 2020

1

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SUMMER 2020 Volume 113, Number 3 PUBLISHER Tracy M. Sweet EDITOR Allyson Irish DESIGNERS Ken Puleo Anne Marino ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rita Savard ©2020 Phillips Academy, Andover, MA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Andover, the magazine of Phillips Academy, is published four times a year by the Office of Communication at Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810.

Main PA phone: 978-749-4000 Changes of address and death notices: 978-749-4269 alumni-records@andover.edu Phillips Academy website: andover.edu Andover magazine phone: 978-749-4677 Email: magazine@andover.edu

A Car in Commons To the Editor: A letter in the last issue entitled “The Evolution of Campus Pranks” brought immediate recollection of an earlier, similar incident.

Monsieur William Markey was an instructor in French and also a housemaster in Foxcroft dorm. He was a single, suave, bon vivant whose daily means of transportation was a British racing green MG TC roadster with wire wheels that he kept in immaculate condition. He always parked it right beside the Foxcroft entry stairway.

Very early one morning in the spring of 1956, a group of students played a prank (or so they thought) on M. Markey. They released the MG’s parking brake, put the gearshift in neutral, and pushed the car all the way to Commons. They then took it into the building, pushed it up the stairs to the second floor, and rolled it into the dining room where they knew M. Markey would soon arrive for his breakfast.

When M. Markey exited Foxcroft that morning to walk to Commons for breakfast, he either did not notice that the MG was missing—or knew something was afoot and chose not to react. When he got to the second-floor dining room, the MG was parked there in full view, but he totally ignored it.

He got his breakfast and sat down and ate, very leisurely. Of course, everyone was waiting in wild anticipation to see what he would do next. When he had finished eating, he very casually walked over to the MG, got in, started the engine, drove it out into the upstairs hall, down the stairway to the first floor, then outside and back to his parking place. All of the students and other observers were astounded!

Some months prior to this incident, several students had received demerits for snowballing M. Markey one evening, so this incident could have been planned in retaliation.

But there was general agreement that M. Markey had the last laugh. Touché.

—Jesse Barbour ’56

Postmasters: Send address changes to Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover MA 01810 ISSN-0735-5718

First Day of School To the Editor: The “Snowy Day” photo featured in the spring 2020 issue of Andover magazine prompted me to write in. This photo [at right] was taken on the first day of school for lowers in front of Stowe House. I was dropping off my son Dewey Thompson ’79 (pictured at left) with his roommate, Taylor Bodman ’79, in front of an orange 1975 VW bus.

—Tony Thompson ’51

Photo Found To the Editor: I saw the picture “Snowy Day” [pages 4-5 spring Andover magazine] and it jumped in my mind’s eye, “I know that picture! But, from where?” I looked at all four of my yearbooks (1972 through 1975) from my years there. No joy. But I have a few other bits and pieces collected on the same bookshelf.

I pulled out a soft cover, small-format Andover catalog from 1973 and there’s the picture, on the top of page 97 as an illustration for the Phillips Academy Work Program, “designed to train boys to do useful work well and to develop their sense of community responsibility for the daily operation of the school.” I remember well that I was assigned the right third of Cochran Chapel steps for snow shoveling.

Thanks for the scavenger hunt.

—Mike Fleming ’75

Letters to the Editor Policy

Andover magazine welcomes letters from members of the Andover and Abbot communities addressing topics that have been discussed in the magazine. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, and civility. Opinions expressed in the Letters to the Editor section do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the editorial staff or of Phillips Academy.

2

Andover | Summer 2020

In Support of FBI Director Christopher Wray ’85 To the Editor:

The Tradition of Tea To the Editor: I noted your short feature on Senior Tea in the most recent Andover magazine.

The tradition of tea goes farther back. I recall a weekly all-school tea hosted by Mrs. Stott, mother of then–Secretary of the Academy Fred Stott, when I was a new student in 1969. I believe the teas were cancelled the next year owing to her poor health, but I remember them well. She was the one who introduced me to Lapsang Souchong tea!

—David N. Schwartz ’72 A Conversation with Fuess To the Editor: “Senior Tea” [spring 2020 Andover magazine, page 10] in fact goes back at least 100 years. When my father, Harry Reiff, was a senior at Andover (1919– 1920), he was invited to tea by one of his instructors, Claude M. Fuess.

“As all the Andover men, [he] invited little groups of students to come to his house for tea,” my father recalled in an oral history interview 40 years ago. It was at this meeting that my father—a poor boy from Brooklyn—asked Fuess why he was given scholarships to Andover when the school could accept just the rich kids and save a great deal of money. Fuess’s answer was very enlightening. He told my father, “Now I’ll tell you why we have boys like you here. In the first place, we want to keep this place democratic.

We could fill it with rich boys, but we don’t want that concentration. In the second place, we want boys with strong scholarly capacity…. And thirdly, we want boys who offer competition. We’re satisfied and delighted to have boys who can do those things.” And that answered my father’s question.

—Daniel Reiff ’59 Editor’s note: Daniel Reiff ’59 recounts more of his father’s Andover experience in a “Tales Out of School” essay published in the winter 2007 issue of Andover magazine.

The spring 2020 issue of Andover magazine includes a wonderful interview with FBI Director Christopher Wray ’85 in which he states: “To me, justice means doing the right thing the right way. Our mission at the FBI is pretty simple to say but actually profound to execute day in and day out: to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution.”

Recently, more than 50 members of the Class of 1968 sent Director Wray a letter expressing our support for him and the spirit of this quote. The letter states that our class shares a commitment to the values and integrity of character that an Andover education imbued in all of us.

Although we come from many walks of life, our belief in doing the right thing unites us. We are of varied ethnicities, faiths, political affiliations, backgrounds, and means, some sons of the American Revolution and others the sons of immigrants. We are military veterans, clergy, public servants, teachers, farmers, musicians, artists, businessmen, and community organizers.

We are private lawyers, former federal prosecutors, doctors, academics, scientists,

Al Alessi Mark Allen Brandt Andersson Gordon Baird Robert C. Barber John W. Barclay Carter Boynton John Buchanan, Esq. Rowland Chang, MD, MPH Stan Crock Frank Currie Richard DuMez Jr. Allan H. Fairley, Esq. Ralph Finos Ward B. Flad, MD Robert Freedman, MBA, MPP Allan Garten Jorge Gaskins Henry Goodman

commercial and investment bankers, journalists, and people who help vulnerable populations here and abroad.

In the 52 years since we graduated, we have experienced, survived, and ultimately helped shape the course our country has followed, though few of us have done so in such a position of public trust as Director Wray.

Always at the critical moments in our history, courageous individuals have stood for the values that both our country and our education embody. They often did this in lonely circumstances that put them under exceptional personal pressure. We imagine this to be the kind of situation Director Wray may find himself in now.

We write to express our support, solidarity, and encouragement to him in this most trying of times—and our conviction that he will continue to do the right thing.

We believe we share these values with our fellow alumni and citizens, and we call on them to speak out now in defense of those principles, our institutions, and the friends, colleagues, and public servants who guard them.

Hal Grinberg Jeffrey Hansen, PhD James Harman Richard G. Harrison Henry A. Hart Bruce Hearey Andrew Hildebrandt Al Ingram Willie Ivey David O. Johanson, Esq. Pardon Kenney, MD, FACS Peter Kneisel Ted Kohler, MD Kenneth Krier Robert Martz, MD Marc McKee Gary Meller, MD, MBA, FACP, FACPE Edward Moulin Rich Proctor

Peter Quinlan Robert B. Rice, Esq., COL U.S. Army (Ret.) James P. Richardson, PhD Frederick Samp, Esq. Juan Segarra Ray Short Peter Sinclaire Rev. Andrew Staley Richard Stevenson Jr., PhD Douglas C. Thompson, PhD Caleb Warren John M. Watkins, EdD Peter F. Young J. Murph Yule To learn more about this letter, please contact Peter Young ’68 at peter.franklin. young@gmail.com.

What Abbot Academy or Phillips Academy teacher had the most impact on your life and how?

Please send us your (pithy!) answers to this question. We’ll select a handful and publish the answers in the next issue. Email magazine@andover.edu, or send directly to editor Allyson Irish at airish@andover.edu.

Andover | Summer 2020

3

F R O M THE INTER IM H EAD O F SCHOOL

CONFIDENCE IN OUR FUTURE

Neil Evans

As I complete my year as interim head of school, I am struck by a wave of mixed emotions—gratitude for the extraordinary work and resilience of colleagues and students, humility for the magnitude of this role, concern for the many challenges we still face, and excitement for the leadership of Board President Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21, and our 16th head of school, Dr. Raynard Kington, both of whom officially began their new roles July 1.

From a global pandemic to a reckoning with systemic racism in our nation and on our campus, these recent months have signaled a turning point in Andover’s history. Our resolve has been tested and our struggle has revealed how much work remains in our shared efforts to confront and ultimately overcome these often interconnected crises.

As always, a number of alumni are at the center of these efforts, seeking solutions for the greater good and for a greater Andover.

I appreciate the work of the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Af-Lat-Am Alumni Committee, which hosted a series of constructive discussions about racism—including reflections on inexcusable incidents that people of color have experienced at Andover. As I hear and read about their anger and sadness, I also feel their abiding loyalty to Andover in their advocacy for change.

In the story “Reflections on Racism,” Af-Lat-Am cochairs Nick Olmo ’98 and Terri Stroud ’88 note that we need “to begin to transform our grief into collective action.” You can read essays from Eunice Martinez ’79, Adjatay Nyadjoh ’03, Lareé Allston ’74, and others on pages 8 and 9, and online at andover.edu/magazine.

Our trustees stand with us as we confront the past and implement our stated plans for accountability and change (andover.edu/equity-inclusion-justice). Our alumni and campus communities will be essential in these efforts to create and sustain a culture of inclusivity, one in which we all can be proud.

I also want to acknowledge the courage of our students, faculty, and staff, who continue to problem-solve with creativity and kindness, despite the challenges brought by COVID-19.

And to the Class of 2020, our newly minted alumni: We are so proud of your accomplishments and leadership. I look forward to reconnecting with each of you in person next year!

Throughout this pandemic, alumni have helped us find relief amidst the confusion. They are leading by example and fortifying us with knowledge. The story “Finding Hope” (page 16) highlights some of these extraordinary individuals, including Dr. Jennifer Ellis ’81, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at New York’s Bellevue Hospital; Dr. Don Ganem ’68, virologist and infectious disease specialist; Dr. Vanessa Kerry ’95, ICU physician at Boston’s Mass General Hospital and director of the Global Public Policy and

Shahinda Bahnasy ’20, senior class copresident, and Jim Ventre ’79, interim head of school, share a friendly embrace during the Vista Walk marking the opening of the 2019–2020 school year.

Social Change Program at Harvard; Tiffany Joseph ’00, a sociologist at Northeastern University who studies health access in Boston’s immigrant neighborhoods; Dr. Keith Flaherty ’89, P’23, director of COVID-19 clinical research at Mass General Hospital; and Dr. J. Rob Coleman ’01, founder and CEO of Codegenix, a biotech startup working to create a vaccine. Every story illuminates how the pandemic presents an opportunity to design long-term strategies for protecting global health.

Without question, these are difficult times. But who better than the Andover community to see possibilities and design solutions? Adapting to the unexpected, finding a better way, asking pointed questions, listening to understand. This is what we practice at Andover.

We will continue to persevere and to plan thoughtfully and purposefully for the school year ahead. We will seek solutions guided by our founding values. As Dr. Kington noted in a recent letter to the community: “We can remember all that is embedded in the Andover motto non sibi, which I believe at its core is about the strength of community… In the coming months, the PA community will be challenged to live up to that motto. Over the next year, we will be asking everyone to sacrifice for the common good. That will not be easy for any of us, but from all that I have learned about this community, I have no doubt that we will rise to this occasion.”

Thank you, Raynard. And welcome to Andover!

With appreciation,

Jim Ventre ’79 Interim Head of School (On July 1, Jim returned to his role as Assistant Head of School for Admission and Financial Aid.)

4

Andover | Summer 2020

For the

Love of Teaching

by Allyson Irish

They arrived at Andover in different years, coming from varied backgrounds and teaching experiences.

But what this year’s four retiring faculty members have in common is a commitment to excellence, a deep caring for students, and a non sibi spirt that embodies all they do.

Yoon Byun

Read more online at andover.edu/retiringfaculty.

Andover | Summer 2020

5

MARY Mulligan

LEON Holley

Instructor in history and social science

Instructor in biology

36 YEARS

38 YEARS

M

I

ary Mulligan’s interest in American history t was a Summer Session poster, taped to the wall started at a young age and was nurtured by of the Hampton Institute biology department, that her proximity to Washington, D.C., and a love of was Leon Holley’s introduction to Phillips Academy. storytelling.

Finishing his master’s degree in “What really got me going in high school was biology at the historically reading biographies,” she says. “I started reading Bob Black college in Virginia, Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra and a biography of Holley was encouraged to Thomas Jefferson. That was my entry point to history— apply for a position by through stories. And I still think that is one of the best his department chair, entry points to history.” whose daughter went Growing up in the D.C. area offered many early to Andover. lessons on American history, Mulligan’s main area of Holley applied and research and tutelage. Her family interviewed by phone often took advantage of with Elwin Sykes, thentheir close access to visit director of Andover’s museums and historical Mathematics and Science and cultural sites. It for Minority Students (MS)2 made an impression. program. Although he had been Mulligan pursued a unsure about the job at first, “Elwin history major at Mount really made an impression on me,” Holley says. And Holyoke College and so began a nearly three-decades-long fulfilling career then focused on a law at Andover that started as an annual (MS)2 summer career, clerking for teaching gig and ended up landing Holley a job as a Justice Herbert Wilkins biology instructor and eventually department chair. of the Massachusetts As a house counselor, girls’ JV basketball coach, Supreme Judicial Court and teacher, and department chair, Holley was never one to working briefly for Palmer & yearn for the spotlight. His approach has always been to Dodge in Boston. But something didn’t stay in the background and provide support; that’s what feel right. After her roommate suggested a switch to suits him and what alumni remember with fondness. academia, Mulligan applied for a job at Andover. The “I’ve tried to make the department more welcoming rest, as they say, is history. and to put everyone in a position to be more successful,” “I feel like I hit the career jackpot,” Mulligan says. says Holley. “I see my job as a colleague and a coach as “Of course, there are tough and tedious things, but the a way to enhance and improve others. I want to make actual moment of walking into the classroom—I have others the best they can be.” always loved that. It is an amazing feeling.”

Pamela Williams ’00 remembers “how kind Former students like Joanna Wang ’11 say and supportive he was toward me even as I Mulligan’s love of teaching and of history was struggled through the course.”

These faculty apparent. “Ms. Mulligan taught my History Rachel Shack ’04 commented on Holley’s have taught 100 class and really set the bar for me on how “quiet power” and says she considers him an countless truly caring and enthusiastic Andover teachers influential role model. “As my JV basketball students should be. She instilled in her students a genuine coach, he knew how much I loved the game and and inspired curiosity for history.” gave me the freedom to be emotional on and off Quint Finney ’18 says, “Ms. Mulligan taught the court. He let me lead the team and slap the colleagues me how to truly engage with history. She taught floor like my favorite Duke players, but he also led across campus. me how to understand history in context and me and gave me the direction I needed to contain apply that knowledge to the society we live in my emotions and use them productively to today. I am incredibly thankful for all that she help the team. I really believe the way Mr. Holley offered in my educational progression.” treated me as a student-athlete and the structured So how is this lifetime historian and teacher freedom he gave me helped me to grow and develop as thinking of the next chapter in her personal story? a player and a person.”

“I will miss walking into my classroom in Sam Phil and I’ll miss seeing my colleagues for sure,” she says.

“One thing I know is that I love to teach and there will be other avenues to do that. I can’t imagine not teaching people.”

6

Andover | Summer 2020

T

THERESE Zemlin

BILL Scott

Instructor in art

Instructor in mathematics, statistics, and computer science

18 YEARS

33 YEARS

D

he woods of northern Minnesota are a special uring his 33-year career at PA, Bill Scott has place for Therese Zemlin, who recalls halcyon worked with four different heads of school and childhood summers spent roaming the forests witnessed many changes on campus and in and lakes around her family’s small cabin. “There was the curriculum. But through it all there has been one lots of unstructured time,” Zemlin says. Unhurried hours constant: “I teach great kids,” he says. spent exploring and making things with her hands— The beloved math instructor came into teaching using her father’s jigsaw to make puzzles and crein an atypical manner—via deep sea fishing. ating bridges out of found objects in a stream— Growing up in Connecticut, Scott summered on became the foundation for Zemlin’s future work.

Cape Cod and worked on charter fishing boats This year’s “My art begins as a desire to make as a teenager. “I had this passion for catching four retiring something beautiful and tangible in response to giant tuna.” the constructs of technology and society and the But tuna fishing is a tough and physically faculty members forms and phenomena of nature,” writes Zemlin demanding career, and it’s seasonal. So Scott represent a in one of the artist statements she has developed began teaching at Suffield Academy in the collective 125 to describe her work. fall, winter, and spring. After a few years, he years of teaching Zemlin began her career at PA in 2002 after realized how much he enjoyed the classroom at Andover. teaching art at various colleges and universities. and decided to focus on teaching. He worked at She says the first few years at Andover were Suffield for seven years and was hired at Andover rocky as she learned how best to teach in 1987. adolescents.

Alumni say Scott was always caring and “At first, I didn’t think it was all that different than enthusiastic in all that he did, from providing a safe and teaching in college,” she recalls. “But then I started stable home away from home in the dorm to creating a paying more attention and realized feeling of trust among students in the math classroom the students couldn’t produce to instructing student-athletes as the boys’ and girls’ what I was asking for—they varsity soccer coach. really didn’t have any Alan Katz ’02 met Scott his first day at PA. The understanding of the international student grew up in Venezuela where he concepts or the history had played soccer, but he had no plans to play in high behind the work. I had school. Until he met Scott. to adjust and provide “Coach Scott—without knowing me—said, ‘I know more structure—more you're going to be able to do it. Come granularity—and try out.’ I would have missed out to figure out how to on one of my best Andover balance information experiences if it weren’t for about art and artists with Coach Scott,” Katz says. basic artistic concepts.”

“He saw something in Molly Ozimek-Maier ’07 me that I could not, and says Zemlin’s quiet, calm, and I will always be grateful soothing manner made her senior year art class a to him for it. That is haven for students to explore their creative selves. what I remember most “Art 500 became my release and my safe space. about Coach Scott; Ms. Zemlin steadied the waters of my hectic life, and he is an optimist and I found the escape to the studio—and her guidance— someone who makes transformative.” people around him better With plans to move back to Minnesota and pursue and happier.” art full time, Zemlin says there is much she will miss Looking toward the future, about PA: canoeing with students as part of Outdoor Scott expects to be back on campus, eventually. His two Pursuits and time spent with her colleagues. infant grandchildren will likely hear a lot about Phillips “I’ll miss sitting down for lunch in Commons and Academy from their alumni parents and their two having people at the table from the biology department, faculty emeriti grandparents. the math department, the English department,” she “Maybe there will be a third generation of Scotts on says. “I’ll miss all those conversations that just happen campus someday,” says Scott. “If my grandkids went to here—it’s made for a very rich experience.” school here, that would be amazing.” 

Andover | Summer 2020

7

For Us, For Others, For Action

Alumni Reflections on Racism The Af-Lat-Am Alumni Committee, in partnership with the Office of Alumni Engagement, seeks to connect alumni in our community with each other and with the Academy. With this mission as a guiding principle, we hosted several gatherings this spring, including a reflection series that grappled with the tragic loss of Black lives and the recent reckoning of the enduring effects of systemic racism. This space was created to collectively reflect, grieve, be in solidarity, and begin to transform our grief into collective action. Inspired by these reflective moments, we proudly share our stories here and look to carry this opportunity forward. We are honored to continue to amplify the voices of our Black and Latinx alumni.

“ Black Americans and other Americans of color have carried the burden so long for a racist system we did not create. We cannot be the only ones responsible for transforming it; a collective effort is necessary to make the change we want to see.”

—Tiffany Joseph ’00

—Nick Olmo ’98 and Terri Stroud ’88 Cochairs of the Af-Lat-Am Alumni Committee of Alumni Council

Read these and more essays at andover.edu/magazine. We welcome the reflections and thoughts of our alumni community on this important topic and invite you to reach out to alumni@andover.edu for next steps.

No Effort Too Small Andover Can Do Better Over the past several months, I have had the luxury of reflecting about my time at Andover. I was a good student, an athlete, and I had a close-knit, diverse group of friends that I always felt comfortable being around. That group of friends has continued to support and inspire me to this day. Our friendship is so close that I am the proud Godfather to a beautiful boy. A true blessing. To say that my Andover experience was a good one would be an understatement. In fact, my experience was overwhelmingly positive.

Maybe it was because I was only 13 upon matriculation, or maybe because, like many teenagers, I was wildly self-absorbed, but I was unaware of the magnitude of the struggles that some of my Black peers endured while at Andover.

Recent events have made it indubitably clear that my Andover experience was dissimilar to that of so many other Black students. In listening to their stories, on several occasions there was a need to bring issues around racially motivated discrimination, harassment, and assault to the administration—and all too often,

8

Andover | Summer 2020

in response to those cries for help, Black students were met with ignorance, deafness, and hostility.

This represents a gross failure to adhere to the Academy’s mission of “educating youth from every quarter.”

The Latin origins of an “educator” means “one who nourishes.” As that definition has evolved, educators and the education they provide have been synonymous with knowledge or the mitigation of ignorance.

It is evident that racism is pervasive throughout our society, and Andover is not immune to these ills. I am concerned about my school, an institution that I hold so dear to my heart. A place so beloved that I reserve the right to criticize it accordingly.

How will we go forward together? How will teachers and administrators educate themselves, mitigate their ignorance, and demonstrate that they are unabashedly committed to fostering an environment that nurtures and listens to its Black students? The journey to find answers to these questions will not be perfect.

Mistakes will be made. But as a Black alum I am committed to finding the answers so that Andover can stay true to its founding principles of knowledge and goodness.

—Adjatay Nyadjoh ’03

George Floyd’s cry for his Mama while struggling under that racist, life-robbing knee seared my soul with heated rebellion, which the pandemic quickly stripped of any immediate move to action. Fear of COVID-19 and a bone-deep aversion to crowds sidelined me from joining the nationwide groundswell of activists fighting in our public squares for change.

My search for how to make George’s murder—and those of so many others—matter led me back to a simple workplace organizational structure chart that I had tried to change. This chart included only functional division heads, which effectively omitted most of the professionals of color. Months earlier, I had asked that the chart be allinclusive, but the request was flatly denied. And then this spring, using the agency of the protests I could not join, I renewed my request for the chart to be changed. I was thrilled that the denier was swayed and the entire team will now be included.

This chart revision may seem insignificant, but to those professionals of color who will now be seen, it means a great deal. I share this to encourage anyone and everyone to join the fight for change by making it happen wherever you can, however you can. No effort is too small.

—Eunice Martinez ’79

The 800-Pound Gorilla in the Room: Racism in America I was 14 when I first came to the halls of Abbot Academy in 1971. Coming to Andover was an opportunity of a lifetime, but getting there shined a glaring light on disparities in wealth and education—opportunities that were lacking in my own community. I am not judging, but I am sure that most of my classmates did not have to take an Advanced Placement exam in order to be able to travel to a school in a white town whose curriculum was standard for them. As I say to the residents of the Jewish community I live in, “I understand that your reality is not my reality”—everyone’s life is different, and we can only attempt to envision ourselves in someone else’s shoes to even halfway understand the place from which their ideas and actions evolve.

Oddly enough, as much as people of color have been singled out, in some ways we are still invisible, as Ralph Ellison wrote about so eloquently. When I first moved into the apartment complex where I now reside, I was on the elevator holding my laundry when I encountered several people who would say things like “you’re working late tonight” or “you do such lovely work”— because in their reality, all Black people did was work for white people. It also triggered a painful episode at Andover when, around noontime, a young girl ran past me yelling, “we don’t have math class today,” calling me by my roommate’s name. I had math class at 8 a.m. While I hold the dubious distinction of being one of only two Black females in the first coed graduating class of Phillips Academy, the real crux of the matter was that my roommate and I looked nothing alike. And even more perplexing to me was how could you sit in the same classroom with this person every day and not know what they looked like?

A man who lived over 2,000 years ago told us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

That is difficult, as many of us have not learned to genuinely love ourselves. Yet if we saw and felt that white officer’s knee on our own neck, or, for one moment, could imagine the terror felt by every Black man or woman (this doesn’t just happen to Black men), wondering if they would make it back home tonight, our perspective would be irreparably changed.

I will confess that I, although a Christian, cannot help but feel that lump rise in the pit of my stomach every time another injustice is meted out to my people.

Forgiveness, however, frees the oppressor as well as the oppressed. Feel free to forgive your ancestors for such an ugly part of the history of this country. Feel free to acknowledge your duplicity in the continued denial that racism does not exist in this country, and still feel free to overcome the fear that may block you from embracing a new chapter in this country’s history.

We cannot deny the past—tearing down monuments does not change the events. But they can serve as reminders that we cannot and will not let that ugliness happen again. Open and honest conversation is the only way to develop a bridge between our past and our future.

I say to my white classmates, continue to use the white privilege that you have to change the world for the better and truly converse with your heart with those who are not like you, racially, socially, or ethnically.

Acknowledge our differences—that is what makes life interesting. And find the common ground—that is what makes us equal.

In closing, I am hopeful: I see a spiritual awakening in this country. We, as a nation, have finally confronted the 800-pound gorilla in the room and have begun to ask the questions that should have been asked decades, maybe even centuries ago—why is he here, what does he want, and, once and for all, how do we make him go away so we can truly become our brother’s keeper?

—Lareé Allston ’74

“ Now I long to eliminate America’s and my own duality— dedicating time and resources to enrich impoverished Black communities with affordable housing, improved education, career opportunities, and higher standards of health care so that Black girls won’t long to escape childhood neighborhoods; my nephews won’t long to escape injustice at the hands of the police; and I won’t long for distant borders to feel safe and revered in my own skin.”

—Margaret Doles ’97

How You See Us Matters I have 11 Black nephews. They are all sweet and annoying, generous and Scrooge-like, agreeable and bullheaded. They are perfect and they make mistakes. They are human beings.

I live with the constant fear that they will do nothing, yet be killed. I lose sleep worrying that they will do something that someone else would be forgiven for, yet be killed because they do not fit the description of someone who merits forgiveness. I am told that I am experiencing anticipatory grief.

Usually, this term refers to feelings occurring before an impending loss. At the moment, my nephews are healthy and safe. (At least, that's what they tell me when they deign to call me or pick up the phone when I call them.) So why this fear of impending loss? Well, my nephews are Black men.

As we have seen far too frequently and far too clearly, their status as such renders them subject to execution by people who deny their humanity.

I have lived with this fear, with this anticipatory grief for a while now. But it has been heightened since Ahmaud, since George, and since Breonna (#sayHERname). So when my nephews tell me they are going to participate in protests, I wholeheartedly encourage them, but then curl up in the fetal position and cry, worrying they won’t make it back home. And if I call and they don’t answer, I jump straight to the worst-case scenario.

I hate feeling this way. And I hope my nephews never read this; I don’t want them to know I feel this way. I don’t want them to feel and carry this fear. Because they love me, that means my pain is theirs. They are beautiful and cool like that.

I wish that society’s default view of them would be to see them that way.

I think that the Andover community is situated about as well as any institution could be to do the transformative, farreaching work that would grant my wish. I am looking forward to seeing us do what we must do.

—Terri Stroud ’88

Andover | Summer 2020

9

Salute to the Class of It was certainly not the Senior Spring they expected—or would ever want. But for the 242nd graduating class, their Commencement was one for the history books. Here—in their own words—the two copresidents describe their Andover experience, and on the following pages we honor the Class of 2020 with a special photo essay.

Lessons Learned, For Life

by Sebastian Romero ’20

“S

ome say, PA, is only worth diploma day...” I’m sure many of us have heard Michael Kontaxis ’11’s fantastic “Andover Song” (if you have not, be sure to watch it on YouTube). Having watched the video prior to enrolling as a student, I walked onto campus bright-eyed, with bold expectations as to the course of my next four years. As the song points out: “Some say, PA, is only worth diploma day, but those who know, will tell you that it isn’t so.” My time here has truly shown me the value in the latter half of this statement, which has manifested as a result of the people this community brings together.

In one of the many conversations I’ve had with friends during the past couple of years, the concept of care ethics was once brought up by a great friend of mine, Eli Newell ’20. Care ethics is a principle that underscores how “identity is defined by the set of relationships individuals have with other humans.”

If my time at Andover has shown me anything, it is to take interest in people, not for one’s own personal gain, but rather with the intention of learning and understanding. The diverse environment that Andover purposely cultivates— with variety in relation to all facets of identity—is filled with peers and mentors

10

Andover | Summer 2020

who are passionate about what they do.

There have been countless times that my actions were positively influenced by those around me and brought out the best in me; it would be impossible not to realize that my connections with others were what made the whole Andover experience meaningful.

Our interactions with peers created a continuing discourse about life that allowed us to both keep on learning about the world and appreciating those around us—all while sitting in Commons, walking to sports, or simply waiting for stir-fry.

The Class of 2020 did not get to enjoy the senior spring we had envisioned, yet I hold firmly that this recent era of online endeavors has allowed us to strengthen our connections and further highlighted the beauty of the Andover community. Despite the lack of physical connection, the effort that was omnipresent in the Academy’s mission to put on a spring term and the virtual connection that was promoted by my peers has shown me the value in the relations we had previously built during our time together.

As our time with Phillips Academy comes to a close, many members of the Class of 2020 have heard the phrase “Andover is for life.” Over time, I have come to realize that the meaning of this phrase is twofold: Firstly, it points to the longevity of the connections we have made at Andover and how those connections will last a lifetime. Secondly, it signifies how the lessons we have learned while navigating Andover’s diverse intellectual environment will propel us forward.

Not being on campus to finish what

we had started as a class hurts for sure, but it also highlights how our shared experiences and accomplishments bond us even more. Whether our experiences were bad or good, the learning that happened as a result of taking interest in others made the whole experience worth it.

The diploma we receive—signifying Andover’s pedigree and strong academic preparation—means little if one is unable to take interest in others and connect in the future. Although the coronavirus pandemic deprived us of our final spring, I know that all members of our class will cherish the connections we have now, and in the years to come, wherever our paths may take us.

My four years at Andover, the place I have so dearly come to call home, confirms that “PA is not only worth diploma day,” and I’ll hold that notion, the friends I’ve made, and the lessons I’ve learned from them, for life.

Thank you for everything, Andover.

Sebastian Romero is a four-year senior from Andover, Mass.

In addition to participating in Student Council, he was a member of Model UN, Students in Medicine, Science Club, and varsity Ultimate Frisbee. Romero plans to take an EMT course this summer before starting on a premed track in college studying global health.

MMXX Andover Through a New Lens

by Shahinda Bahnasy ’20

I

strangers doing what they loved. Later, these strangers became my friends.

Andover was becoming so much bigger than I had ever known it to be—full of people from all over the world playing, studying, and laughing together.

But I refused to believe that I had discovered everything about Andover in my first two years. Although I was confident in the person I had become, I still lived every day with openmindedness and curiosity. During my third year, I established a far more personal approach to photography. At the Af-Lat-Am Senior Tribute, I focused on the dynamic between students and faculty as they exchanged smiles and danced together. This group reminded me of my family. I was starting to engage with Andover on such a deep level that every part of my identity was coming together like a puzzle. I felt so comfortable.

Now, at home for my last term due to COVID-19, I know that Andover is forever. I had used much of my spare time this year taking senior portraits of my peers with whom I had grown. A new scene or person to photograph meant a new aspect of my home waiting to be discovered. Photography challenged me to explore and eventually discover why Andover was the perfect place to spend the most important years of my life. 

Photos by Shahinda Bahnasy ’20

truly believe that the high school years are the most important for a student’s growth. These are the four years during which students develop their passions, build their character, and discover their identity. Andover gave me exactly that as well as the perfect platform to document these years: photography.

During my first weeks at Andover, as I walked around campus with my heavy Canon camera bag, I felt as though every person I saw was asking me, “Are you a photographer?” The answer was no; I hardly knew any of the functions on my family’s camera. It was hard for me to imagine this landscape as my home for the next four years, so I spent many hours wandering around with my camera in hand and learning to embrace the beauty of Andover through my photography. Late September of my first year, on a walk back to Double Brick, my ninth-grade dorm, I stood in front of the Addison Gallery for a couple of minutes and ultimately captured the perfect sunset. I was beginning to gain comfort in knowing every inch of the campus between the bird sanctuary and Siberia Fields.

Eventually I learned the purpose of aperture and shutter speed, which allowed me to expand my viewpoint.

Starting with my lower year, I began to photograph not only the inanimate scenery at Andover, but also the people.

And I began to reach out and participate in student activities. Sometimes I engaged with my peers directly, and other times I remained on the outside focusing on students’ smiles and excitement. At the annual Spikeball tournament, I set my camera to the perfect exposure to capture complete

Shahinda Bahnasy served as president of Student Activities and was a senior editor for The Phillipian.

Additionally, she was involved with the boys’ varsity basketball and girls’ varsity softball teams. This summer, she will be attending the ACLU’s Summer Institute and a precollegiate program, both online. Enrolling at Rutgers University in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy this fall, Bahnasy will be pursuing a doctorate in pharmacy.

Andover | Summer 2020

11

12

Andover | Summer 2020

Photos by Neil Evans, David Fricke, John Gillooly, Aya Murata, David J. Murray, Gil Talbot, and Jessie Wallner

From the first ASM of the 2019–2020 school year to the Vista Walk, Senior Oasis, and Geek Day, we celebrate the Class of 2020 with a visual year in review.

Andover | Summer 2020

13

COVID-19

The ubiquitous Zoom meetings have become a mainstay of human connection this past spring.

On this page, we see the many faces of Andover: students, teachers, alumni, and administrators.

14

Andover | Summer 2020

Andover Responds

COVID Crusaders

A

s the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend lives in countless ways, Andover has shown remarkable resilience in the face of crisis. From adjustments and innovations in teaching and learning to incredible acts of courage and generosity, many are helping to combat the spread of the virus and making the most of this “new normal.� A few have even found opportunities to inject some much-needed humor and non sibi goodness into the situation.

Here we highlight members of the extended Andover community who have stepped up to meet the challenges posed by these uncertain times.

Read more at andover.edu/magazine.

Andover | Summer 2020

15

COVID-19

It’s not enough to fight one outbreak. You have to build systems that can prevent the next ones.

We need a coordinated national plan.

—Dr. Jennifer Ellis ’81

16

Andover | Summer 2020

Andover Responds

Finding

by Rita Savard

Alumni weigh in on our changing world and how to fight future pandemics

Kezi Barry ’02

In March, droves of patients waited in screening tents outside Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to be triaged for COVID19 tests. Most, however, would not receive one. A nationwide lack of swabs and reagent, a liquid essential to the test, limited testing at Bellevue and its sister hospitals to only the critically ill in ICUs and frontline health workers.

Inside the hospital, Dr. Jennifer Ellis ’81, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, was in the eye of the storm. Physicians and staff were juggling an extraordinary patient load amidst a limited supply of personal protective equipment—and the death toll was rising.

“This is a little bit like lightning striking,” Ellis says. “For some who are lucky, they’ll wonder what was the big deal? Others will feel lousy but will recover with time. And there are those who get the virus, struggle to breathe, and don’t wake up. That’s why this is so scary. You don’t know who or when it’s going to hit and to what degree.”

By the third week of April, Bellevue’s superbly trained staff was handling chaos like a well-oiled machine. Still—without an effective treatment or vaccine to rely on, and a virus unprecedented in its combination of easy transmissibility and

range of symptoms going from none at all to deadly—no one knows yet how this pandemic will end.

But there are some clear lessons to be learned from the new coronavirus.

“It’s not enough to fight one outbreak,” Ellis explains. “You have to build systems that can prevent the next ones.

We need a coordinated national plan.”

History, she adds, offers critical guidance.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST One hundred years ago, a world recovering from a global war that had killed some 20 million people suddenly had to contend with something even more deadly: a flu outbreak. The pandemic, which became known as Spanish flu, is thought to have begun in crowded army training camps in Europe. Unsanitary conditions, especially in trenches along the French border, helped incubate and then spread the virus.

World War I ended in 1918, but as soldiers returned home, 500 million people were infected worldwide and an estimated 50 million to 100 million died.

In the summer of 2005, President George W. Bush ’64 was on vacation at his ranch in Crawford,

Texas, when he found himself absorbed in a book about the 1918 pandemic.

Written by John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History compelled the president to action.

Bush formed a task force to lay out a comprehensive federal plan for tackling a pandemic. It included three goals: detecting outbreaks, stockpiling vaccines, and having emergency plans in place. A detailed report included diagrams for a global early warning system, funding to develop new, rapid vaccine technology, and a robust stockpile of

Expanding current testing capacity remains a matter of urgency that should ignite a unified effort to coordinate work on a national and international scale.

—Dr. Vanessa Kerry ’95

Andover | Summer 2020

17

critical supplies such as face masks and ventilators. In his 2005 speech addressing the National Institutes of Health, Bush said, “If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare. And one day many lives could be needlessly lost because we failed to act today.”

But as time passed and other crises came to the forefront, the threat of an asof-yet nonexistent pandemic took a back seat. So why isn’t Bush’s emergency plan being utilized now?

“A failure to place more of a focus on investing in and safeguarding public health has put us where we are right now,” says Dr. Vanessa Kerry ’95, an ICU physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, director of the Global Public Policy and Social Change program at Harvard Medical School, and founder and CEO of Seed Global Health, a nonprofit that invests in health-system strengthening.

Kerry praised Bush for working on a national plan to prevent a pandemic, but added that coordinated action at the federal level to stem the spread of COVID-19 is presently nonexistent.

“Expanding current testing capacity remains a matter of urgency that should ignite a unified effort to coordinate work on a national and international scale,” she says. “The need is dire, and right now the United States has no coordinated plan for how to achieve it.”

A renowned Boston teaching hospital, Mass General treated the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state, largely due to an influx of patients from densely populated and hard-hit communities of color, including Chelsea.

By mid-April, the immigrant city of 40,000 became the state’s COVID-19 epicenter. (At press time in late June, Chelsea continued

18

Andover | Summer 2020

to report the highest rate of infections in the state—nearly 3,000 cases diagnosed.)

“Every single room is a COVID patient,” Kerry says. “And it’s not only elderly. At one point, half my patients were 35 and under.”

The surge of COVID-19 in people of color, Kerry adds, shows how the virus exploits inequities.

In cities, counties, and states reporting racial data, the impact of the coronavirus on people of color has been extraordinary and disproportionate. Almost one-third of infections reported nationwide have afflicted Black Americans, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though Blacks represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population.

“Despite health-care gains under the Affordable Care Act, federal repeal attempts and uneven implementation across states have decreased access to health coverage in communities of color,” says Tiffany Joseph ’00, a sociologist at Northeastern University who studies health access in Boston’s immigrant neighborhoods.

Other contributing factors include working in jobs deemed “essential” (grocery stores, delivery drivers, warehouses,

Despite health care gains under the Affordable Care Act, federal repeal attempts and uneven implementation across states have decreased access to health coverage in communities of color.

—Tiffany Joseph ’00

janitorial, etc.), which are often filled by people of color, women, and immigrants living below the poverty line or hovering just above it. The pandemic has taken its toll on these workers who have been on the front line all along. A reliance on public transportation and overcrowding in urban areas and homes where multiple generations share space also puts people of color at higher risk. This was the case in Chelsea where families living in cramped housing made it difficult to contain the spread and household transmission represented the bulk of the city’s newest cases.

In the absence of a federal emergency plan, states having to create their own roadmaps for action and response may unwittingly fuel the spread of the virus.

“State governors have been responsible for obtaining medical supplies, administering tests, and shutting down their jurisdictions,” Joseph says.

“The 50 states have taken 50 different approaches, producing a patchwork response that may worsen the uneven death toll among disadvantaged populations.”

Although previous policy decisions have shaped current COVID-19 circumstances, Joseph stresses “it is not too late to correct course. We have a unique opportunity to implement transformative policies that can ameliorate past disparities and make the nation more healthy, robust, and equitable for all,” she says.

While scientists and researchers acknowledge that COVID-19 won’t be the last pandemic humans have to grapple with, they say we could return to a sense of normalcy after this one— and prevent global health crises in the near future—with a national strategic emergency plan that invests in public health and science, ramps up testing, and focuses on data sharing across borders.

“Returning to normal can happen, but our capacity to test people—in the workplace, at school, in the community at large—needs to be much higher so we know who is safe to go to work and school and who is not,” Kerry says.

“There is a path forward, but our government needs to choose it.”

ISTOCK: MEDICAL CHARACTERS, LYUBOV IVANOVA

COVID-19

Andover Responds

A PLAN TO CLOSE THE GAP From Spanish flu to HIV, Ebola, SARS, and MERS, “no one can say the alarm bells weren’t sounding” to plan for a pandemic, explains virologist Dr. Don Ganem ’68. However, there are ways to strengthen our defenses now.

“The U.S. needs to run hundreds of thousands more tests each day to control the pandemic,” Ganem says. “The basic problem is that our current system is embedded in diagnostic labs and was designed to serve the needs of the ill seeking care in clinics. But to re-open the economy, we need to be repeatedly testing whole communities of people who are well—students, employees, customers of businesses. We need to completely rethink how we do testing for epidemiologic purposes, creating a parallel system that resides outside of hospitals and clinics.”

Ganem sees many potential solutions to ramp up the nation’s current testing inadequacies, adding that several approaches may need to be deployed in tandem. Powerful advances in DNA sequencing, for example, make it possible to test pools of samples, allowing for many thousands of samples to be tested at one time by attaching molecular “bar codes” to individual specimens.

“This would be an attractive way to screen students at large universities or employees of giant corporations,” Ganem says. “Instruments capable of such sequencing already exist at most universities, but efforts would have to be made at the federal level to redeploy them for this purpose, along with the highly trained staff needed to oversee such sophisticated technology. And this effort would need to be connected to an expanded capacity for contact tracing and isolation of the exposed subjects.”

Another approach would exploit the ability of the well-known bacterial gene-editing system known as CRISPR technology to create so-called “point-ofcare” tests—tests that can be done in 20 to 30 minutes in a community setting by minimally trained staff. Such an approach would be particularly valuable for small mom-and-pop retail businesses

A streamlined approach to data sharing of infected patients and their outcomes is going to require worldwide collaboration.

—Dr. Keith Flaherty ’89

like restaurants or nail salons. The technology isn’t quite ready for prime time, Ganem says, but advances are being made rapidly and could cross the finish line in time to be useful.

Global cooperation, adds Dr. Keith Flaherty ’89, director of COVID-19 clinical research at Mass General, is a precondition of finding a way to tame the new coronavirus and others like it in the future.

“Molecular data sharing from the international medical community is happening in an unprecedented way,” Flaherty says. “What used to take years to receive, between the time of publication and presentation, now takes days.

We are where we are—in patient care and treatment trials—because data sharing happened across international lines.”

While scientists and researchers share information at light speed, real data from patients remains a crucial missing piece to the pandemic puzzle.

“When you have real data on population scale, you have more power to create systems to fight the virus,” Flaherty says. “When you’re talking about a virus that increases by the day, we can’t afford delays in information. A streamlined approach to data sharing of infected patients and their outcomes is going to require worldwide collaboration.”

The science already exists to create a kind of viral-defense department, says Dr. J. Rob Coleman ’01, founder and CEO of Codegenix, a Farmingdale, N.Y.–based biotech startup working around the clock to create a vaccine. What’s missing from large-scale pandemic preparedness, Coleman says, is funding.

“When there’s no outbreak or threat, there’s typically no funding for the work,” Coleman explains.

“We’re all hoping that one of the outcomes of this pandemic is more investment in science and research. Science and medicine have never been this advanced. With financial support, the United States and the world could pursue a broad range of life-saving projects, from developing vaccines and drugs to combat a wide range of pathogens to monitoring disease hotspots and identifying high-risk viruses.”

More than 100 potential COVID19 candidate vaccines are now under development by biotech and research companies around the world. Coleman is confident his company’s vaccine—a live attenuated form of the germ aimed at preventing and creating a long-lasting immune response—will move on from preclinical trials and progress to the human trial phase by September or October. The aim, he adds, is to make the vaccine available by early 2021.

Until there is a proven effective treatment and/or a vaccine, Ellis reminds that robust testing, contact tracing, proper health precautions (washing hands for 20 seconds and wearing masks), and social distancing remain our greatest defense.

“Social distancing counts every day,” Ellis says. “Scaling up testing, tracing, and supportive isolation will help us hopefully return to some sense of normal by next summer. Wearing masks and being smart—that’s how you end a pandemic.” 

Andover | Summer 2020

19

COVID-19

FLIPPING the Switch What happened this spring was nothing short of a worldwide educational experiment with millions of students simultaneously learning at home, via technology.

Clyfe Beckwith, assistant head of school for teaching and learning, described the situation as such: “It was like being unexpectedly required to change from a smooth riding vehicle with automatic transmission to a standard with a high-release clutch.”

Guided by principles of access and equity, Andover approached this new frontier with a focus on safety, health, and well-being. Coming back from spring break, faculty took part in an intense weeklong training and learned how to use a bevy of online platforms including Sandbox, FlipGrid, and the now-ubiquitous Zoom, all while expecting they would see students on campus in April.

But as the weeks wore on, it became clear the pandemic was worsening and the difficult decision was made to close the campus for the remainder of the academic year, with all classes online and all events canceled.

A SPRING LIKE NO OTHER For some faculty, the switch to remote learning was an exciting challenge, which brought out resiliency and creativity. The Tang Institute launched its new Workshop class (see below), that addressed community, class, and carbon with an interdisciplinary team of teachers.

Art Teacher Emily Trespas used the spring term as an opportunity to test drive some new learning platforms like Padlet, iMovie, Pic Stitch, and A Design Kit, and looked to other educators for innovative ideas. One new prompt

Trespas used was called “Did, Saw, Heard, Drawn” and was borrowed from comic artist Lynda Barry. The prompt required students to quickly list and draw seven items for each word. “It’s an exercise in paying attention and being present in the moment. I felt it was important for my students to document lasting visual records during this period,” Trespas said.

Yet there were also many challenges.

In addition to transitioning all inperson classes to a remote learning platform, faculty had to juggle personal circumstances with their own children learning at home, family matters, and health and safety concerns. Andover’s 1,130 students—in locations across the United States and around the world—were faced with obstacles such as unreliable Internet, sharing devices with siblings, and coordinating schedules in different time zones. Some also had

A SINGULAR LEARNING EXPERIENCE:

Learning was different for all students during spring term, but it was especially different for students in The Workshop. These 17 seniors were not enrolled in any other courses, and instead of having a single teacher at the helm, they worked with a team of faculty from various departments: math and computer science, biology, history, English, philosophy, art, the Office of Community and Multicultural Development (CAMD), and community engagement.

The unexpected challenge of launching the class remotely altered its original design, but also shined a light on its relevance. “Having to pivot, adjust, and reimagine schooling under the conditions of a global pandemic reinforced the need and foresight for a class like this,” says English instructor and Workshop faculty member Corrie Martin. “It helped seed flexibility, innovation, and collaboration.”

Junah Jang ’20 says the experience made her think more deeply about the power dynamics that exist between faculty and students in traditional school environments. “I’ve always been aware of the student-teacher distinction, but never thought to advocate for a different reality until now,” she says. “I feel more heard and much more able to reach out for [student-faculty] conferences or even casual conversations about the material we’re working through.”

There were other significant differences. Early in the term, the class had a more traditional structure, with faculty designing the projects for students to complete. However, as the term progressed, students played a more active role in planning and developing their assignments. Faculty became collaborators. Also, instead of tests or quizzes, learning was assessed using three interdisciplinary areas—learning to learn (metacognition), civic engagement,

PA’s New Workshop B

y design, The Workshop is like no other class at PA. Launched this spring, the new interdisciplinary learning experience offered through the Tang Institute offered seniors and their instructors the unique opportunity to explore a singular topic through a variety of lenses. The theme was “Community, Class, and Carbon.” The unexpected fourth “c”—COVID-19—added another layer of complexity, challenge, and opportunity.

20

Andover | Summer 2020

Andover Responds

personal obligations relationships—the to care for family emotional connections members. Many and the individual Overall, it’s international students attention that is could not immediately core to an Andover been really hard. return back to their education. All of us Students missed home countries, and felt disconnected from relationships— some moved in with the high energy in the U.S. host families for community, and we the emotional an extended period want to gain that back.” connections and the of time.

The decision REFRAMING individual attention to hold all classes FOR THE FALL that is core to an asynchronously, which Looking ahead, health Andover education.

Dean of Studies Raj and safety will continue Mundra explained was to be at the forefront of —Raj Mundra, dean of studies for reasons of equity, all scenarios considered left some students, for the fall. And faculty faculty, and parents are eager to learn more feeling the overall experience was not as and refocus on new ways of collaborative robust or communal as expected. learning.

“Overall, it’s been really hard,” “PA students are engaged and said Mundra. “Students missed interested in being challenged,”

and practice and craft—with the goal of helping students become more reflective about themselves, their work, and their communities.

The Workshop culminated in a capstone project: students were asked to investigate one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in relation to a theme of the course and a specific community. They were prompted to produce an artifact (e.g., a podcast, photo essay, video, ethnography) and to give a presentation about their work.

“Giving students the opportunity to actively shape their learning helps them to develop a sense of craft and aspire to an ethic of excellence,” says Andy Housiaux, Curry Family Director of the Tang Institute and Workshop faculty member.

On the path to the capstone, faculty prioritized communication. Since they couldn’t meet daily as originally planned, they instead used technology to nurture

a deep connection. Flipgrid videos replaced morning meetings, students had goal-setting check-ins with small advisory groups, and evening reflections and check-outs let faculty know how well learning had gone that day.

What comes next for The Workshop will be telling. But for Liu Rothschild ’20, it has been a success. “My learning experience has led me down new and inspiring paths exploring art, art history, and ecology,” he says. “I realized I can be more of a creative and curious learner, given the opportunity.”

You can’t really ask for more than that.

—Kristin Bair O’Keeffe

For more information, visit The Workshop at tanginstitute.andover.edu.

acknowledged English instructor Tyren Bynum. “They missed the classroom community and the sophistication of discourse among their peers.”

With additional, intensive professional development this summer through partners One Schoolhouse, which equips teachers with the skills to design courses for in-person and online delivery, faculty will be better prepared to engage with students wherever they may be learning this fall.

“Whatever path we take, Andover will build on our experience and attend to the competencies of our students, teachers, and administrators in order to deliver the best education we can,” Mundra said. “We all want that.”

—Allyson Irish

COMING FULL CIRCLE While students read and discussed significant texts, like Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities, their Workshop learning experience extended beyond the pages of a book. The long list of Zoom conferees included many alumni, such as fashion journalist Faran Krentcil ’99; Jing Qu ’13, who works on civic engagement products at Facebook; Elaine Kuoch ’11, a public school teacher in Philadelphia; Nadeem Mazen ’02, a two-term Cambridge, Mass., city councilor and cofounder of Jetpac, an organization dedicated to supporting the development of an American Muslim political infrastructure; and Valla Vikili ’91, head of Citi Ventures Studio.

“We prioritized meeting with alums because they show us different ways to be a Phillips Academy alum,” says Housiaux.

“Their work is particularly relevant in terms of our efforts to help students grow in civic engagement and non sibi.”

Andover | Summer 2020

21

COVID-19 ANDOVER STORIES:

Non Sibi in Action In times like these, support and a sense of shared purpose can go a long way to uplift us—and get us through.

Big Blue glimmers of generosity have been cutting through the darkness of COVID-19, with those in the Andover community digging in: giving their time, resources, and skills to help others. You can find even more to smile about at andover.edu/magazine.

—Rita Savard

THE POWER OF MUSIC U

sing music to bridge the distance, PA a cappella group Downbeat presented a beautiful cover of “Let the Road” by Push Baby as a way of “staying together but apart” and contributing to the Phillips Academy Wellness Campaign. Listen at instagram.com/Downbeat_PA.

Henry Crater ’20 also helped others find joy through music by performing weekly dockside concerts for his neighbors in Sanibel, Fla. His non sibi gesture was spotlighted on the local news.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL In Baltimore, Andrew Townson ’10, co-owner of PekoPeko ramen restaurant, launched Feed It Forward, a fundraising campaign serving up wholesome free meals to hospital workers and the city’s homeless.

W

ith news that school closures in the United Kingdom would leave 1.3 million children without their main meal, Saasha Celestial-One ’94, cofounder of the Olio food sharing app, stepped up with her small army of volunteers to deliver hundreds of meals daily to needy families throughout Britain.

22

Andover | Summer 2020

In Massachusetts, chef and restaurateur Ming Tsai ’82, P’18, shifted his popular Boston dining spot, Blue Dragon, into a relief center, providing daily meals for laid-off restaurant workers.

Locally, Somin Virmani ’22 has been picking up food donations from porches in the town of Andover and delivering them to Lazarus House in Lawrence, which helps feed the city’s most vulnerable families.

“In these days of anxiety, I wanted to find a way to continue to share some of the music that gives me comfort.”

—Yo-Yo Ma P’01, ’04, world-renowned cellist, on launching Songs of Comfort, a project calling on musicians from all backgrounds and skill levels to share their music online

Raising Spirits In Brooklyn’s Van Brunt Stillhouse, Sarah Ludington ’88 pivoted production of her award-winning whiskey to making hundreds of gallons of hand sanitizer for frontline workers.

Clear Communication “Just being able to see expression and smiles also really helps.”

—Hannah Dastgheib ’22 and her sister Isabelle Dastgheib ’23, launched the nonprofit Read My Lips Masks offering face masks that feature a clear plastic window so mouths can be seen by the hearing impaired.

Andover Responds

Librarians to the Rescue

M

akerspace proctor Evan Sermos (pictured below), coordinator of engineering and robotics Ben Peters, and Hailey Wadell ’21 worked to print and distribute dozens of parts that make up the frame of a standard transparent full-face shield for frontline workers. Honoring our Big Blue spirit, Wadell even printed a non sibi head strap.

CREATING COMMUNITY “I reached out to my network of Massachusetts physicians, and the need was huge. In an hour, there were 30 physicians requesting masks for their hospitals across Massachusetts.”

—Dr. Amy Patel, Sykes Wellness Center medical director, oversaw donations of the school’s supply of 3,000 N95 respirator masks to Boston-area hospitals, and another 1,000 to the town of Andover.

Z “Now is a time to be supportive of people who are willing to rethink, retool, and reimagine how they can help those around them.”

ocdoc founder and venture capitalist Cyrus Massoumi ’94 led an unorthodox campaign inviting the public to help fund crucial testing research at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Massoumi’s efforts ultimately helped raise more than $3.2 million in a month, with almost half a million coming from a crowdfunding initiative. The funding has helped the Columbia team increase testing capacity and use the tests to advance clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments.

—Moacir P. de Sá Pereira ’94, research and data librarian at Columbia University, fired up 3D printers in his basement to create and deliver thousands of face shields to frontline workers in New York City.

The Porter Sisters Go Viral

D

uring a House hearing on March 12, Congresswoman Katie Porter ’92 (D-Calif.) became a household name when she pulled out a marker and white board to persuade the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into agreeing— live on C-SPAN—that coronavirus testing must be free for all Americans. Within days the video amassed 26.8 million views.

Just a few weeks later, her sister Dr. Emily Porter ’98, used the same technique in an informational YouTube video breaking down exactly how social distancing and self-quarantining saves lives. Social media comments included: “The Porter sisters are amazing…need more like them in leadership positions.”

“I’m one of many teenagers sitting at home watching this crazy global crisis unfolding and not being able to help. I wanted to do at least something.”

—Myra Bhathena ’22 (at right), founder of Connect Against Covid, an effort that collects used Wi-Fi–capable smartphones and tablets and donates them to hospitals for distribution to isolated patients without the means to connect with family virtually

Andover | Summer 2020

23

COVID-19

When the Dust Settles WH AT T H E WO R L D WI L L LO O K L I K E

by Megan Greene ’97

T

he coronavirus crisis will leave no one untouched by the time it’s contained. Tens of thousands will have lost their lives; tens of millions will have lost their jobs. There are likely to be long-term macroeconomic implications once we begin to recover. Most of these trends were already underway, but will be accelerated by the crisis.

When the recovery takes hold, nationalism and protectionism will remain firmly in place. Before the virus hit, the United States already had imposed trade tariffs on China, but the current crisis has pushed other countries to adopt go-it-alone strategies as well.

In March, France and Germany banned sales of crucial hospital equipment abroad, including to virus-hit Italy (the European Commission stepped in with a compromise). The United Kingdom, South Korea, Brazil, India, Turkey, Russia, and dozens of other countries have restricted exports of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and food. The asynchronous nature of this crisis means some economies will be reopening even as others are still reeling. And we can expect companies everywhere will seek relief from import competition through tariffs.

For the U.S., this could lead to a new industrial policy, something that

24

Andover | Summer 2020

has been taboo for years. Republicans access the capital markets and are better have traditionally scorned the idea of equipped to weather this shock.

Big Government, but are increasingly The way we work will probably be calling for a national strategy to forever changed as well. The technology identify important sectors to support. to work remotely has existed for years, There have been active discussions but there has been a cultural resistance about which industries to bail out, and to it. The grueling multicity roadshows Congress and the White House are I used to do are probably a vestige of debating tax incentives to encourage the past, and the multitude of Zoom manufacturing firms to return to the U.S. lectures and webinars I’ve participated And global supply chains are likely to in globally since this began are here to be regionalized so American companies stay. In this lockdown period, those of are less reliant on China for parts. This us fortunate to still have jobs have had may be more expensive, and so corporate to be productive with fewer resources. profitability could fall.

Meanwhile, managers may be more COVID-19 will also accelerate willing to let people work from home, income inequality. Roughly one-third and so fewer people may have to live in of today’s production major cities—or even in and non-supervisory the U.S.—to do their jobs employees—the worker going forward. bees—make their We may also see The way we work living in restaurants, major social change off bars, stores, hotels, the back of this crisis. will probably be and other service jobs.

No one who’s lost a job forever changed These Americans have because of the virus as well. The seen weak wage growth is at fault for their over the past decade predicament. The vast technology to and were the first ones unemployment that work remotely hit by this crisis. More we will see could unite has existed for Americans have filed for Americans around the unemployment benefits issues I’ve mentioned. years, but there in the past few months The National Health has been a cultural Services in the U.K. than jobs created since the Global Financial arose after world wars, resistance to it.

Crisis. A further rise in and Social Security in market concentration the U.S. emerged from could exacerbate low wage growth for the Great Depression. There is a chance American workers. Since 1997, about that a legacy of this crisis will be more 75 percent of industries in the U.S. have protections for workers and the most become more concentrated, leaving vulnerable in our society. workers with fewer employment options.

That in turn limits their bargaining Megan Greene is a senior fellow at the power for wages and benefits. Small Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and companies will have the hardest time Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. keeping the lights on in the face of the She is a frequent keynote speaker and has a sudden stop in revenues. They may be biweekly column in the Financial Times on global macroeconomics. replaced by big companies that can

Andover Responds

The Path

Forward Our world has changed, but compassion, support, and kindness will strengthen us as we step into an uncharted future

180

Main Street is a place I will remember without the idea of social distancing. What about those packed regional dances on Saturday nights at Borden Gym, the cereal and bagel buffets at Commons, the cool outs in Riley Room, heated Af-Lat-Am meetings at Cooley, any cluster intramural classic, sanctuary sessions, All-School Meetings in chapel, laps around Siberia, the catch in ’96, U.S. history class in Sam Phil, “Can U Get Down?” radio show on WPAA, seminars of your life’s odyssey in Bulfinch? All precious forever firsts where we needed to be together in the black-and-white yearbook photos of our faded memories.

What of the victory we have all felt coming back for reunions, driving up the Hill, looking at the Bell Tower, and replaying highlights for all the inbetweens—college, marriages, births, deaths, our somewhat adult lives—wow, how did we get this old? A divine hand, gently nudging us in the right direction.

Give thanks.

I wish for future generations to know some of the bliss we cultivated on campus, with all of their experiences undiminished by the new normal we find ourselves in this year.

How many of us were ever homesick during our years at Andover and returned to our families with joy every summer and break? Each day in the shutdown has been that bittersweet nostalgia, knowing that what once was, will no longer be. I find myself often daydreaming of Clason Point Gardens— the Bronx’s first public housing

by Anthony Morales ’98 and an energetic 5-year-old daughter project—the hood that raised me before who constantly remind me of my Andover. This is the epicenter of one of purpose. the country’s COVID-19 hot spots. Will The warblers sing louder now. The I ever be able to go back to where I was oak trees are greener as midnight seems born with the same ease, to visit my darker. The silence hangs heavier. So family and friends, to write Story Ave. does the emptiness of every avenue once poems at the chessboard benches while bustling with the daily watching the sunset movement of people and the moonrise over back and forth. The Soundview? What is the flowers are blossoming emotional cost of this This life is bigger on schedule, according distance? to Mother Earth. What Bless to all the than any one of us will we create during families who have lost individually. We are this time? How will we something that feels a gorgeous, messy remember ourselves like everything: a job, a graduation, a prom, a tapestry of rich colors once we survive the chaos? last day of school, a state that is continually I want to picture final, a championship, evolving into the my son, riding his bike a new friendship, for the first time with another heartbreak, a best version of who no training wheels. He colleague, a loved one. we were meant kept pedaling steady, What is the best way found his balance, and to grieve something, to become. now is a natural for the somewhere, someone rest of his life. May we without properly saying all relearn to walk again, to breathe easy goodbye? How do you survive on safe ground with a fresh look at where in these times, where your freedoms we are headed, with no more fear, only are under attack, as the ground shifts faith in the next trip. below feet?

Gratitude, humility, love, and mindfulness will save us all. Be gentle Anthony Morales is a Bronx-born Nuyorican with yourself, mi gente. The previous poet, educator, and father who currently standards don’t work in this new world.

Some will profit from the misery instead resides in Maryland. His work has appeared in Poetry magazine, Aster(ix) Journal, Hostos of creating opportunity for increased Review, Great Weather for Media, HBO’s Def humanity. I urge renewed eyes, seeing Poetry, MANTECA! An Anthology of Afro the God particle in all parts of our shared Latin@Poets, and The BreakBeat Poets Vol 4: existence. I am thankful for my family: a LatiNext. His published collections include beautiful wife, a curious 9-year-old son, Chuckle Buckle (2020) and Vacio (2019).

Andover | Summer 2020

25

KNOWLE DG E & GOODNE SS : T HE ANDOVER CAMPAI G N

26

Andover | Summer 2020

The Greatest Impact

Why Annual Gifts Matter (Now More Than Ever) The PA student experience and the Andover Fund.

The two are intrinsically linked.

Established in 1947, our annual fund is the main channel through which donors show their support for the Academy. Of the nearly 7,000 alumni who gave back last year, 92 percent made their gifts to the Andover Fund. More than 1,400 parents, parents of alumni, and grandparents contributed to the fund as well.

That translated to $11.4 million in vital assistance, with gifts of all sizes making the collective effort possible.

“The Andover Fund is a resource that positively impacts our students and faculty,” says Director of Development Nicole Cherubini, “and it’s one that must be replenished each year for the Academy to continue to meet its needs and thrive as a leader in secondary education.”

But what do Andover Fund donors support? Many earmark their gifts for financial aid, which remains critical and helps drive the Academy’s need-blind admission policy. Others choose the Tang Institute or Learning in the World. Some opt for athletics or the performing arts. In short, donors often give to an Andover endeavor with which they have a personal connection or that reflects their values.

Today, annual gifts are enabling the Academy to nimbly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and support racial equality. Many “unrestricted” gifts (i.e., not toward any specific priority) are being devoted to these areas

David J. Murray

“ I support the Andover Challenge for Equity and Inclusion because we still have so much work to do toward building a society in which racial justice is a priority.”

Sari Edelstein ’98

of need. The flexibility that such donations provide is advantageous, with gifts bolstering distance-learning infrastructures and health and wellness offerings as well as the Office of Community and Multicultural Development (CAMD).

Supporting Racial Justice at Andover Donors are also giving to the Andover Challenge for Equity and Inclusion. Recently launched with investments from current and former members of the Board of Trustees, the challenge offers a dollar-fordollar match on gifts that directly benefit racial justice initiatives on campus and beyond.

The $1.2 million matching fund will strengthen the school’s strategic priority of equity and inclusion plus other key and connected areas: CAMD, several scholarship funds for students of color, and the Academy’s four Outreach programs, which exemplify its mission as “a private school with a public purpose.”

Many gifts to the challenge will be put to immediate use; others will help seed new programming and additional enterprises that will rise from ongoing Academy conversations on equity and inclusion. The challenge will continue throughout the year until every dollar is matched.

Hundreds of donors have already participated, including Sari Edelstein ’98, a loyal contributor to the school’s Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT). “I support the Andover Challenge for Equity and Inclusion because we still have so much work to do toward building a society in which racial justice is a priority,” says Edelstein.

“And I give every year—to the IRT specifically—because I believe that Andover has a great responsibility and opportunity to be at the vanguard of that mission.”

Donate to the Andover Challenge for Equity and Inclusion at andover.edu/challenge and to other initiatives at andover.edu/annualgift.

Andover | Summer 2020

27

E N D N OTE

CAMP-less-US*

by Peter Dignard ’07

associate director, admission

For answers to the puzzle, visit andover.edu/crossword.

ACROSS 1. It’s kept in the trunk 6. 300 in Rome 9. “Pick _____…”

14. On a cruise 15. Keanu Character in The Matrix 16. Pave again 17. They light your desk 18. Archaeology Museum* 20. Parks and ___ 22. One’s creative forces 23. Old Health Center* 28. Product name if Apple got into the jewelry business?

DOWN 1. Local (to Andover) Pizza Maker

29. Some people are in it now

2. Akin to PSPA

34. Ski Resort in Utah

3. Fri. Chapel Meeting (formerly on Wed.)

35. Lib.*

4. Actions toward someone who does not stay six feet away

36. Planet in Battlestar Galactica 39. Pertaining to the plague or the reason for this puzzle’s title 41. Apt name for our school without anyone here? :( 45. The Dalai ___ 46. Pertaining to Jesus 48. It’s missing QIA+?

49. Admission Office* 51. ___ Joan Hart 56. Fib 57. Boys Dorm in WQS* 60. Spanish measures of length

31. Oath from a student (Hopefully a PA one!)

32. Electrical resistance 33. Narms and negs?

37. Your iPhone operates on it 38. Kind of from Zurich?

5. Lessens

40. Notable Box-Office bomb of 2019

6. Cooper’s TV Network

42. Northern Israeli community with a unique layout

7. Many a PA alum 8. Suburb of Dallas 9. Greek Spirits of Curses 10. ___ City, Philippines 11. Least amount of oxygen 12. Grad Sch. For Tom Hiddleston 13. Teetotalers, slangily 19. Be-all and ___ 21. 22nd greek letter

43. C3H7N3O2 44. Edge 47. Dieters prefer Low-___ 50. Popular Skin Care Brand 51. Note from your boss 52. Middle Eastern title 53. Some of our heroes ATM 54. “Me, as well” 55. Cut

64. Chair of FCC under Kennedy

23. Hopefully soon, one will hold a vaccine to this puzzle’s reason for being

65. Fuss

24. Shining with light

59. French King

66. Etna last did this in 1999

25. Directions at a pet shop aquarium?

61. Carpet

67. Star of Citizen Kane, Welles

26. ____ Wednesday

68. Souvenir from Hawaii

27. Bovine sound

62. Mo. In 2020 when answers to starred campus building names were apt

69. Mad

30. Also

92

Andover | Summer 2020

58. Poem

63. Pig’s home

Neil Evans

We are with you, 2020.

Congratulations Class of ’20 on completing Chapter 1 of your Andover story! As students, you grew with 1,100-plus siblings on campus. Commencing as alumni, you will continue growing— with 25,000-plus members of the extended Andover family worldwide who, like you, are eager, curious, and inspiring! Engaging with them and our community will prove extremely fulfilling.

Your first chapter’s end was a doozy! You were made for this moment. Andover was founded during uncertain times to prepare citizens to lead with “knowledge and goodness” through risks and opportunities—a concept that remains relevant now, more than 240 years later.

Yes, Andover is a place. We all love it and, as Alumni Council members experience, visiting regularly is an important source of strength. But Andover also is an idea, an ideal—built on our core principles of non sibi, “youth from every quarter,” and finis origine pendet, and on many shared traditions, including Blue Keys, cluster and dorm munches, and A-E competition. You and we are Andover—permanently—wherever we are around the globe.

Welcome to your new beginning in the Andover family! We look forward to being together in person and in spirit forevermore.

—Alumni Council

Jenny Savino

Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts 01810-4161

Big Blue Congratulations

Jessie Wallner

The Class of 2020 flag was on display this spring in front of Samuel Phillips Hall recognizing Andover’s newest graduates. This issue includes a special “Salute to Seniors” on page 10 as well as a letter to the class from the Alumni Council (inside back cover).

Periodicals postage paid at Andover, MA and additional mailing offices