Andover magazine summer 2022

SUMMER 2022 THE MAGAZINE OF THE PHILLIPS ACADEMY & ABBOT ACADEMY COMMUNITY

GAME ON! Saluting 50 Years of Title IX

Up First Sunshine. Green grass. Food and friends. What could be better? This past spring students enjoyed a much-needed study break, sponsored by the Parents of Students of Phillips Academy.

The fun included Spikeball, an ice cream truck visit, and inflatable lawn games, like this one!

Photo by Jessie Wallner

From the Head of School

EXAMINING OUR PRIVILEGE

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he question of Andover’s “privilege” is a recurring theme in my conversations with alumni. Independent schools are, by their nature, for the few and privileged. How do we justify these resources that benefit only a few select students?

This is not a new struggle for schools like ours.

In April 1963, President John F. Kennedy was also thinking about privilege and obligation when he accepted an award from his alma mater, Choate.

Our schools play a significant role in American education, he said, adding, “they will merit that role only as they continue to steadily increase their contributions to American life.” Kennedy knew that diversity played a vital role. “These schools will not survive if they become the exclusive possession of a single class or creed or color.” He also challenged graduates “to see beyond the horizons of their own immediate life…The inheritance of wealth creates responsibilities. So does privilege in education.”

For Andover’s part in this conversation, nearly 60 years later, I will start with a few facts. More than 3,600 students applied to Phillips Academy last year, 9 percent were admitted, and 84 percent of these students said “yes” to an offer of admission.

While a single digit admit rate signals high demand for this education, it also perpetuates the notion of privilege and is something we must examine when we talk about retaining access for “youth from every quarter.”

Are we morally obligated to increase the size of our school? If so, would having more students change the experience? To be clear, there is no current plan to increase school size, but it would be irresponsible to ignore the question. Are we adequately responding to demographic trends, seeking applicants from rural communities, for example?

Need-blind admission requires a significant investment in financial aid, currently $25 million a

year. Is this enough, when nearly half of the student body receives aid?

These questions impact everything from faculty and class sizes to residential programs to what we spend to educate each student—more than $90,000—which far exceeds the tuition we charge.

The question of privilege also extends to our responsibility beyond Andover Hill. Our four Outreach programs include (MS)2, a summer experience founded in 1977 that connects African American, Latinx, and Native American public-school students with a rigorous STEM curriculum, and Andover Bread Loaf, founded in 1987, which brings the literary arts to underserved communities. These programs are free to students and supported by generous donors and the Academy.

On our campus, we have an archaeology institute with more than 600,000 objects and an art gallery that holds some of the world’s finest American works. Both the Peabody and the Addison offer resources that are free and open to the public.

While these community investments are noteworthy, we can do more—more to create and share curriculum materials and more to make the arts and cultural opportunities widely available to educators, schoolchildren, and research scholars anywhere in the world.

This question of privilege remains timely and was raised by school co-presidents Sean Meng ’22 and Mary Muromcew ’22 in their Commencement remarks. Just as President Kennedy hoped future generations would, they linked the privilege of their education to a personal call to action.

They challenged the Class of 2022 to make use of their gifts “in a world that needs to be different than it is now.” Mary and Sean articulated a trait that alumni often describe was essential to their student experience. They grew to expect and demand more of themselves and, in turn, they went on to lead and serve in ways that “see beyond the horizons of their own immediate life.”

Raynard S. Kington, MD, PhD, P’24 Head of School

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PUBLISHER

Tracy M. Sweet EDITOR

Allyson Irish ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Rita Savard DESIGNER

CONTRIBUTORS

Jill Clerkin Christina Erickson ’88, P’19 Katie Fiermonti Nancy Hitchcock Amy Kellogg ’83 Avery Stone ’10 Christine Yu ’94

Ken Puleo CLASS NOTES DESIGNER

Anne Marino P’19

Andover, the magazine of the Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy community, is published four times per year. It is produced 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

Postmasters: Send address changes to Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover MA 01810-4161 ISSN-0735-5718

© 2022 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.

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ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

I still remember the smell of the gym— sweat mixed with floor polish. And the sounds—sneakers squeaking incessantly, balls being dribbled up and down the court, the whir of giant fans.

I grew up in Connecticut right around the time the UConn women’s basketball team was starting its ascension to basketball glory. I went to their youth camps every summer, sweating it out with all the other middle school girls and marveling at the skill of the female collegiate stars, my role models.

I also remember, around the same time, hearing stories from my mother and godmother about their sports experiences. Pre-Title IX, their athletic opportunities were limited to gym class, where girls played anemic variations of sports, like half-court basketball wearing their gym uniform skirts and shooting underhand only.

As Andover Athletics Director Lisa Joel says, “We have come so far since those who fought the fight to see Title IX pass. We stand on their shoulders and have the opportunities we have because of the path they paved.”

Our cover story salutes the many female athletes of Andover who paved the way for today’s generation to compete. It has not been easy and it certainly is not perfect, but by all accounts our current female athletes have more competitive opportunities more readily available than a just a few generations ago.

This issue also includes photos from the historic investiture of our 16th Head of School Raynard S. Kington and a farewell to longtime teacher Nick Kip ’60, as well as a fun look at Clan MacPherson, several alumni profiles, and a collection of images from Reunion 2022.

Enjoy!

Allyson Irish Editor magazine@andover.edu @andovermagazine

“My advice for an Andover student today is: Live the moment; don’t ‘post’ it.”

AMY KELLOGG ’83 PAGE 44

JARED SLATER

Phillips Academy website: www.andover.edu Andover magazine phone: 978-749-4677 Email: magazine@andover.edu

EDITOR’S NOTE COURTESY PHOTO

Andover magazine reinforces the special connection alumni have with Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy. Through thought-provoking stories, contemporary design, and inspiring profiles of alumni, students, and faculty, we aim to highlight the school’s enduring values, recognize our unique history, and celebrate the rich diversity of our community.

“Seek out artistic communities wherever you find them.”

BRIAN ZEGER ’74 PAGE 40

ON THE COVER: Andover athletes Kennedy Herndon ’23, Kiley Buckley ’23, and Myra Bhathena ’22

Photo by Henry Marte

SUMMER 2022

Volume 115, Number 3

JOHN GILLOOLY

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ALL SCHOOL

DEPARTMENTS

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Buzz

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Head of School

11

New Leadership

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Voices

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On Campus

38

Alumni Up Close

15

Bookshelf

42

Philanthropy

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At Issue

84

End Note

FEATURES

16 For the Love of Teaching After an astonishing 54 years in the classroom, Nick Kip ’60 retires.

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CLASS NOTES 45

Class Notes

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Alumni Bulletin Board

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Photo Gallery

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In Memoriam

18 Invested HENTY MARTE

The Big Blue community came together this spring to celebrate our 16th Head of School.

26 Game On! Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, we look at the impact it has had on Andover athletes—past and present.

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VOICES

A Look Back Two historically focused stories from the spring issue caught the attention of our readers. Joe Kahn ’67’s “Looking Back on WPAA, Andover’s Radio Revolution” sparked several letters and alums writing in to help identify the young man in the photo at right.

Additionally, the “Saving Abbot” cover story elicited appreciative feedback for shining a light on this previously untold story.

—JIM BARKER ’61

“ I was a DJ from 1989-1992 with Vanessa Hill, coming to you from the basement of Evans Hall. We played mostly new wave/indie music, but occasionally threw in something like C+C Music Factory's "Everybody Dance Now." If you were a teenager during that time, you loved that song...or at least had it stuck in your head half the day.” @HRIVKACOOPER Via Instagram

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ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

1966 POT POURRI

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hank you for the story on WPAA. It runs deep in my family. My brother, Ben Barker ’65, was mentioned in your story and was key to the technical pieces.

A little more on the First-Class Commercial Radiotelephone Operator License: Ben and I were interested in electronics as young kids and decided that the ultimate credential was a first-class radio license.

We studied extensively and, when we felt prepared, took the train to New York, as I recall, to take the license test.

They were a little taken aback at two young kids who thought they were knowledgeable enough to take the top professional license test, but we passed with ease. Thanks for the memories.

The “mystery student” pictured in the WPAA studio on page 92 of our spring issue has been identified as Thornton Bigelow “Tony” Roby ’67. Thank you to the many alumni who sent us his name. One sleuth, Andy Cunningham ’67, said that “all the credit goes to old technology—my 1966 and 1967 Pot Pourris!”

A First-Class Commercial Radiotelephone Operator License was the ultimate FCC license that authorized the holder to build and/or operate any U.S. commercial radio or TV station. It was the ultimate professional credential in the field, the pride of the seasoned technical staff at a commercial station, and unheard of for high school kids.

My brother, Jim, decided that he would get one over the summer. I tagged along and, as a result, arrived at Andover with a first-class commercial license. It meant enough to me that I still recall it was license #P1-2-16447.

It was a good thing that I had it because it was what allowed me to be responsible for the installation and operation of WPAA’s FM transmitter at a time when nobody else on campus held such a license.

I was also president of the amateur radio club W1SW, which had a history going back to the early 20th century. I rebuilt the ancient and abandoned transmitter and started having contacts around the world. I recall a joint project with the chess club, which put on a chess match with Exeter conducted over shortwave radio.

I believe that the WPAA experience was an enormously important part of what I and so many others learned at Andover. From a variety of perspectives, including technical, artistic, production, and professional, it was a unique chance at hands-on learning.

—BEN BARKER ’65

Given our wireless world, it would have been worth surveying Andover’s part in operating radio stations de novo.

The earliest reference I can find online is 1916. Robert A.

Domingue ’54 notes in his history of Phillips Academy that members of the “Wireless Club” inhabited a basement room in Graves Hall. This was in keeping with the activities of many boys and young men, as well as a few females, in the late 1800s/early 1910s.

During the 1920s broadcast boom, students ran a licensed amateur station from 1925 into the 1930s, which communicated by code and voice with amateurs on most continents. A photo of the Phillips Academy Radio Club station was featured in the Bulletin in 1925; more research might reveal some continuity with the 1916 initiative, if not the location of that shack and antenna. John M. Murray ’29 wrote an extensive article about his four-year presidency of the club for 73 Magazine in 1976.

Whether PA was the first high/prep school to have a license is moot; as a historian, I’m very reluctant to make flat claims for firsts without solid documentation and definition of terms. More research would enhance this outline, perhaps to the degree of unearthing the administration’s reasons for forbidding radios or wireless equipment in dorm rooms into the 1950s, and tracing the fate of Andover’s amateur station license, “ham shack,” and radio club before the revolutionary shift to a broadcast license in 1965.

—ALEX MAGOUN ’77, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAVID SARNOFF LIBRARY

the BIG question Send us your responses and we will consider them for publication in an upcoming issue. Please email magazine@andover. edu or airish@ andover.edu.

Andover will celebrate 50 years of coeducation in 2023.

How do you think coeducation has impacted the Academy?

“ The strongest parts of my character were nurtured in my two years at Abbot.

I'm incredibly grateful to Frankie and Oscar Tang, Ms. Finbury, and incidentally, still enormously grateful to her mother, the late Marion Finbury, who steered my life so well with her college recommendations.”

NANCY LINDQUIST O’NEAL Via Facebook

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t was a pleasure to read “Saving Abbot,” with its recognition of the many people whose commitment, perseverance, and philanthropy protected Abbot’s legacy for the future. One of these major leaders deserves further recognition: Donna Brace Ogilvie ’30, Fuess Award winner in 1997 and a significant benefactor of both Abbot Academy and Phillips Academy.

When the Sacred Circle was preserved in the mid-’90s, Donna led the fundraising campaign to renew Abbot Hall. One of her gifts was her visionary leadership to establish the Brace Center for Gender Studies, in honor of her father, Donald C. Brace, founder of the publishing company Harcourt, Brace & Howe. Mr. Brace was instrumental in Donna’s enrollment at Abbot, having sought the guidance of his friend, Headmaster Claude Moore Fuess, who highly recommended Abbot as just the school for his daughter.

—DON ABBOTT, FACULTY EMERITUS

Andover magazine welcomes letters addressing topics related to the Phillips Academy and/or Abbot Academy community.

Letters will be edited for clarity, space, and civility. Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the magazine editorial staff, or of Phillips Academy.

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VOICES

How wonderful that you’ve written such a terrific article about Frankie Tang. She was in my Abbot class and a good friend. All she did to save the Abbot campus was remarkable. Somehow the merger with Andover was rough and the Abbot campus was more or less forgotten. Frankie brought it back to light!

—LOUISA LEHMANN BIRCH ’57

I want to applaud Andover magazine and everyone involved for the brilliant “Saving Abbot” article in the spring 2022 edition.

The author manages to beautifully combine the history of Abbot and why it was so worth saving along with the stories of three Abbot women who were integral in preserving the campus—Ms. Finbury, Ms. Timken, and Ms. Tang.

And of course, Oscar Tang.

—SARA INGRAM ’71

I was a little surprised to read who in “the world” came to speak at Andover last winter (spring 2022 issue, p. 9).

With one exception (a pianist and respected educator), the visitors all appear to be activists of various stripes: • An intersectional health educator who gave a talk on “Decentering Beauty and Success from Whiteness” • A Stanford undergraduate and environmentalist who founded a volunteer organization that translates climate information into other languages • An author who speaks and writes about “religion and civic engagement, spiritual care and chaplaincy, Islamic intellectual history, and women’s studies” • A Black woman playwright and screenwriter who writes about workers’ rights in postindustrial America • The chair of Princeton’s Department of African American Studies, who spoke at the 2022 MLK Day program While I’m sure all these people shared interesting and important perspectives, I think Andover could attract a more intellectually diverse group of accomplished speakers to address students.

—DAVID G. ANDERSON ’67

ERRATA Our apologies for mixing up members of the Sarnoff family on page 92 of the spring 2022 issue. Robert ’35, Edward ’38, and Tom ’43 all attended Phillips Academy. Tom helped to fund Andover’s WPAA radio station. Their father was David Sarnoff, a pioneer in radio and television.

Due to a reporting error, the architects for Draper Hall were incorrectly named in the “Saving Abbot” story. The building was designed by the prominent, late 19th-century Boston architectural firm Hartwell & Richardson.

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ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

“ I am glad to see that the Peabody has today come into its own and maybe now is a cool place to visit!”

I was delighted to learn that the Peabody Institute is thriving. When I entered Andover as an upper in 1957, my father, who had attended PA for one year (1919-1920), said I should definitely visit the archaeology museum. Having lived in Egypt from 1953 to 1954 and having visited the Cairo Museum at least 14 times, I knew I'd like it—and I did! But in 1957 I noticed that I was always the only student there.

I soon found out why: going to the Peabody was not “cool.” My friends and I also went to the Addison Gallery— that was also un-cool. And we enjoyed walks through the Cochran bird sanctuary—very un-cool. I am glad to see that the Peabody has today come into its own and maybe now, 55 years later, is a cool place to visit!

—DANIEL REIFF ’59

Students pose during Promenade 2022

“ Okay the fashion game has been UPPED since 2010 trips to the Burlington mall!”

TORY WESNOFSKE

@SARAMARGARITAA Via Instagram

“ Congrats all- you continue to keep Andover great and inspire our future leaders!!! Shout out especially to classmate LaShawndra!

Go ’95!!!!!”

—MIMI CRUME STERLING Via Facebook

“ Mr. Thorn was my freshman history teacher, my college counselor, and he appeared on my radio show on WPAA. He was kind and had anecdotes of a previous era of Andover life that were enthralling. He guided me to a liberal arts school where I flourished…He was a great teacher and a great man for Andover.”

COURTESY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Loyce LaShawndra Pace ’95 was recently elected to the Board of Trustees along with three other alumni: Drew Guff ‘79, Allison Picott ‘88, and Aisha Jorge Massengill ‘88. See page 11.

Craig Thorn, a beloved English instructor, began collecting and distributing a summer reading list with suggestions from faculty and staff in 1990.

@YBTHR Via Instagram

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All School

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ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

PLAY BALL! ANN JACOBS

Big Blue legend and inaugural Andover Athletics Hall of Honor inductee Dick Phelps ’46, P’73, ’89, GP’14, stopped by to visit the baseball team this spring. Phelps (front row, white cap) played baseball, hockey, and football at Andover and has funded the Richard J. Phelps Scholarship for Athletes for more than 30 years. PA’s baseball field, Phelps Park, is named in his honor.

Photo by Ann Phelps Jacobs P’14

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All School Things About Clan MacPherson Pipes & Drums

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Clan MacPherson Pipes and Drums has led Andover’s Commencement procession for more than 50 years.

Founded in 1921 as part of the Clan MacPherson 80, O.S.C. (Order of Scottish Clans), the ensemble has guided five PA heads of school to their investiture ceremonies, most recently Head of School Raynard S. Kington, MD, PhD, P’24. (See page 18.)

NEIL EVANS

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The traditional Scottish uniforms have remained the same since 1923. Royal Stewart plaid kilts, tunics, wide black cross and waist belts adorned with polished silver buckles, white horsehair sporrans with black tassels, white spats, and black glengarries (hats). The drum major— donned in a ceremonial hat and carrying a wooden mace—leads the marchers.

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The band frequently comprises multigenerational family members.

Kassie Archambault ’06, chair of the Russian Department and head wrestling coach, started playing the bagpipes with Clan MacPherson when she was 13, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Don Mullin, also a bagpiper.

the

There are many PA connections with Clan MacPherson. Heather Thomson, senior manager, operations and maintenance, Office of Physical Plant (OPP), has fond memories of her grandfather, Andy Campbell, who played drums with the ensemble for more than 15 years. “When my brother [Andy Thomson, lead, grounds, OPP] and I were little,” says Thomson, “the band would go to all the local fairs in New Hampshire. We had so much fun hanging out with them, this bunch of cool guys in kilts.” Thomson also is related to George Campbell, who was the first bass drummer and one of the

founding members. Ross Lane ’80, who currently plays tenor drum for the clan, grew up on campus as a “faculty brat”— the son of Robert, an instructor in Russian, Greek, and Latin, and Kathleen, a house counselor.

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Clan MacPherson typically has about 20 band members at a time; members tend to stay with the ensemble for 15 to 20 years.

The band plays between 20 and 30 performances/events per year and has about 40 tunes in its rotation.

—NANCY HITCHCOCK

BU Z Z

ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

Kudos to golf team member Jack McVeigh ’25, who notched a hole in one during a match at Indian Ridge Country Club this past spring. McVeigh’s ace is a first in the golf program in recent history. According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, the chances of an “average” golfer making an ace is 12,000 to 1!

TEDD PARKER

Randy Hobler ’64’s book 101 Arabian Tales (edited by Bob Marshall ’64) details the stories of 161 alumni (Classes 1939–2015) and faculty who served in the Peace Corps in 69 countries. Working with Paige Roberts, director of Andover’s Archives and Special Collections, Hobler recently completed a compendium to the book, which can be found at phillipsacademyarchives.net.

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Madelyn Curtis Harper ’69 recently appeared on the big screen in the movie Alice. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this year, the crime thriller is set in the antebellum South and features actors Keke Palmer, Common, and Jonny Lee Miller. Harper plays Miller’s mother.

New Leadership

TRUSTEES WELCOMED

Also serving a six-year term as a charter trustee, Allison Picott ’88 is director of development for The Lenny Zakim Fund, a Boston nonprofit that supports grassroots nonprofit organizations working to advance social, economic, and racial justice in Eastern Massachusetts. Picott began her career as a law clerk to the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court and then became a litigation associate for Nixon Peabody LLP and Prince Lobel and Tye LLP. In 2001, Picott returned to Andover as a leadership gift officer. She has held fundraising positions at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Boston College Law School, and the Social Innovation Forum, and was the founder and principal of Advancement Advisers. Picott has served as copresident of the Andover-Abbot Alumni Association of New England, cochair of the Young Committee of New England for Campaign Andover, director of the Abbot Academy Fund, and as an alumni trustee. In 1999, Picott was awarded Andover’s Distinguished Service Award—the youngest person to receive this

COURTESY PHOTOS

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managing director and partner at Siguler Guff, a global private equity firm, Drew Guff ’79 will serve a six-year term as a charter trustee.

Together with George Siguler P’01, Duff is responsible for directing the firm’s private equity investment strategy. Prior to establishing Siguler Guff, he worked in PaineWebber’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Merchant Banking groups.

Guff sits on the boards of several portfolio companies and previously served on the board of EPAM Systems, Inc. He is the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for corporate citizenship and is a frequent speaker at global conferences and investment forums. Guff has supported Andover over three fundraising campaigns. His volunteer service includes Alumni Council membership and more than three decades on the advisory board of the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, having served on its executive committee since 2007. Guff earned an AB from Harvard.

Drew Guff ’79

Allison Picott ’88

Aisha Jorge Massengill ’88

Loyce LaShawndra Pace ’95

honor. Picott holds degrees from Trinity College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Aisha Jorge Massengill ’88, a vice president and deputy general counsel at Under Armour Inc. (UA), will serve a four-year term as an alumni trustee. At UA, Jorge Massengill is responsible for ensuring that all UA teammates are treated fairly and equitably. She is a member of UA’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and chairs the legal department’s DEI team. At Andover, Jorge Massengill was the first student to earn 12 varsity letters. She captained the volleyball and basketball teams and was a Blue Key head. As an alumna, she has supported Andover in numerous roles, including alumni admission representative, reunion chair, speaker at the annual athletics banquet, and keynote speaker at the 2017 senior banquet. She is a recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Service Award and served six years as a director and later president of the Abbot Academy Fund. Jorge Massengill earned a BA from Boston College and JD from Boston College School of Law. Also serving a four-year term as an alumni trustee, Loyce LaShawndra Pace ’95 is a leader in the federal government, serving as its diplomatic voice on public health priorities when interacting with foreign countries and United Nations organizations.

While much of her time recently has been spent getting COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to the world as well as preventing another pandemic, her overall remit covers a range of global health access and equity issues. At Andover, Pace was heavily involved with community engagement, helping tutor new immigrants for the Spanish GED and teaching biology to (MS)2 scholars. Pace also served as Blue Key president and received the Madame Sarah Abbot Award. Pace later joined the Alumni Council and served on its Non Sibi Committee. She earned a BA from Stanford and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University.

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All School TANG GIFT STRENGTHENS FINANCIAL AID, INNOVATION A $25 million gift to Phillips Academy from Board President Emeritus Oscar Tang ’56 will expand financial aid for students and strengthen Andover’s signature need-blind admission program. Tang’s latest act of generosity to support the Knowledge & Goodness campaign will also fund other key priorities, including academic innovation, while increasing his lifetime giving to the school to an unprecedented $66 million.

“We are profoundly grateful for Oscar’s inspiring leadership and for his unparalleled legacy of generosity to our school,” said Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21, president of the Board of Trustees.

Tang, who served as board president from 2004 to 2012, believes deeply in giving back to the school that opened its doors to him as a young refugee who fled postwar China in 1949, and to his late wife Frances Young Tang ’57, who attended Abbot Academy on a full scholarship.

“My financial aid gifts are really from both of us,” said Tang, whose philanthropy has impacted nearly every corner of campus, from facilities improvements and faculty development to the arts and innovative programs at the Tang Institute, which advances new ideas and best practices in education.

The announcement of Tang’s historic philanthropy came a few weeks after Andover celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Tang Scholars this past spring. In addition to providing tuition relief to more than 160 students from across the world, the endowed fund also supports cultural enrichment, music lessons, laptops, and even winter clothing and school supplies.

Tang and former head of school Barbara Landis Chase were instrumental in initiating PA’s landmark need-blind admission policy in 2008. Tang’s recent gift will also substantially increase the resources of the Chase Scholars, a parallel program that recognizes Chase’s unwavering commitment to access.

ISTOCK: RTIMAGES

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“As a Chinese immigrant coming to this school, I was surprised to be given the same opportunities as my Americanborn peers. Reflecting on what Andover did for me, I now believe that financial aid can do more than remove economic barriers.

It can help Andover educate a diverse student body, including those students who are not exactly like our school’s founders.”

—BOARD PRESIDENT EMERITUS OSCAR TANG ’56

BU Z Z

Iron Chef Ming Tsai ’82, P’18, is back in kitchen stadium, this time on Netflix with the new series Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.

Watch Tsai battle alongside chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Curtis Stone, Dominique Crenn, and Gabriela Cámara.

ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

Former history instructor Nancy Faust Sizer P’75, ’77, ’80, ’80, recently published a memoir titled Principles and Plans. The book provides a detailed look at the years (1972–1981) in which her husband, Ted Sizer, was Andover’s head of school. “The memoir is an intimate portrait of a marriage and a professional partnership that changed the shape not only of Phillips Academy, but also of American education writ large,” says Vic Henningsen ’69, P’01, ’05, history instructor emeritus.

On Campus

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MAKES A STRONG RETURN

PHOTOS BY KATIE FIERMONTI

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here’s just no substitute for a hug between friends.

After two long years of virtual activities due to COVID, nearly all programs facilitated by PA’s Office of Community Engagement are back in person, with participation continuing to grow to pre-pandemic levels.

This spring, hundreds of Andover students, along with faculty and staff members, volunteered for approximately 30 direct engagement programs across the Greater Merrimack Valley—from after-school enrichment programs to working with adults preparing for citizenship exams to teaching coding at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence. It’s a testament to the robust efforts of the Office of Community Engagement, which for more than 40 years has nurtured non sibi and enabled the Academy to live its motto as a “private school with a public purpose.”

“Through our programs, students gain a deeper understanding of themselves, of their connection and commitment to others, and of the inequities and injustices in the world—and their roles in addressing them,” says Director Monique Cueto-Potts. “They absolutely should leave PA knowing how to respectfully, humbly, and responsibly work with and in communities, and we want them to develop the habits of heart and mind to be able to do that.”

Paulkichna Merove ’22 and Denise Carriere were thrilled to see each other at a spring Arc meeting in the Snyder Center. The longstanding community engagement initiative connects PA students to adults with disabilities—in buddy pairs—through activities such as board games, coloring, music, and exercise. Merove and Carriere spent the evening laughing their way through a game of Connect Four.

“Being away from my Andover friends these past couple of years was difficult,” says Carriere, an Arc participant for more than 30 years.

“I loved getting Paulkichna’s letters.

But it was nice to actually see the Andover kids who come here from all over the world.”

Merove agrees. “During the pandemic, when I was at

Top: Arc buddies Paulkichna Merove ’22 and Denise Carriere form a lasting bond through games, music, and laughter. Bottom: 2021–2022 Arc co-coordinators Nathalie Lelogeais ’22, Luke Boshar ’22, Avi Shah ’22, and Sam Elliott ’22 were thrilled to hold meetings in person this spring.

home, I barely saw people,” she says.

“A perk was that with Arc, every week I had my buddy Denise to write to. It kept me from being a total recluse! Now, it’s so exciting that we finally can meet in person.”

“When we closed up shop in 2020, we did some things online, but it was evident PA students and our community partners missed being together. It’s so necessary for connection,” says CuetoPotts. “Community engagement makes such a difference for our students—it’s integral. A lot of times they come in saying they’re tired, they’re stressed. But they leave feeling energized and able to focus because of these relationships they have developed.”

Additionally, the office intentionally creates time for conversations on topics such as privilege, identity, and justice.

“It’s important for our students to understand the social issues that create the

need for these programs, and for them to think about the mutually beneficial relationships they develop with our community partners,” says Cueto-Potts.

There is always a waitlist for student volunteer slots, she adds. At the Arc meeting, it was easy to see why.

Co-coordinator Sam Elliott ’22 danced to “Y.M.C.A.” with his buddy. Nathalie Lelogeais ’22, also a co-coordinator, raced with her buddy around the track.

Everyone was engaged, energetic, and upbeat.

“How can you be in a bad mood doing this work?” asks Cueto-Potts. “How lucky are we? We’re so glad to be back.

This is what it’s all about.”

—KATIE FIERMONTI

To learn more, follow the Office of Community Engagement on Instagram @pa.community. engagement.

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All School ANDOVER’S MVPs

TORY WESNOFSKE

Four more names were added to the roster of the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor this past June during Reunion Weekend. The inductees were part of the 15th cohort of honorees, dating back to 2008.

From left, Taek-Geun Kwon ’92, a standout wrestler and golfer; Eliza Deery ’79, a three-sport athlete at Andover (field hockey, Nordic skiing, lacrosse); former athletics director and football coach, Leon “Coach Mo” Modeste; and Rush Taylor ’96, Andover’s only twosport All-American in swimming and water polo. Read more about these remarkable individuals at andover.edu/alumni-recognition.

Visit @phillipsacademy on Instagram to see a video of Johnson in the Clift Music Library.

In honor of National Record Store Day this past April, Carl Johnson, head music librarian at Andover’s W.B. Clift Music Library, shared some of his favorite LPs. Johnson is responsible for managing more than 10,000 recordings, periodicals, composition software, and keyboards available for loan from the Graves Hall library.

Vinyl records—or LPs (long play), as they are commonly known—are having a renaissance of sorts, says Johnson.

Despite the ready availability of music on streaming channels, record sales have the

been increasing in recent years, driven not only by nostalgia, but also by younger generations looking for a more tactile experience.

“You really feel the music when you are playing it analog,” Johnson says. “It really gets you involved in the sound.”

Among the LPs in the collection is “Calm Before” by The Rising Storm, a garage punk band formed at Andover in the ’60s. Johnson says there were only a few printings of the LP; it’s now considered a rare collectible.

Johnson says the experience of play-

Visit @phillipsacademy on Instagram to see a video of Johnson in the Clift Music Library.

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What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with the Boston Pops? This year, the Pops were joined onstage at the Hatch Shell by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, which included tenor Sam Wright ’19. Currently attending Amherst College, where he is studying math and music composition, Wright worked this past summer at Andover as a teaching assistant for the (MS)2 program.

ISTOCK: ANUWAT MEEREEWEE

As part of the Tang Institute’s Workshop class, Alicia Chu ’22 and Lily Haik ’22 developed a rebranding campaign and design competition for Andover’s Office of Community and Multicultural Development (CAMD). The resulting new logo, created

by Sofia Checchi ’23, was chosen for its “vibrant art and vision of CAMD.”

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ing an LP is very different than listening to the radio in your car or downloading a playlist on Spotify. “It requires a certain intentional/mindful listening,” he says.

“You are engaged with that object. When you play an album, you hear all the snaps and crackles and pops. That’s part of the joy of the sound.”

ISTOCK: SABELSKAYA

MINDFUL LISTENING AT THE CLIFT MUSIC LIBRARY

Bookshelf

A GAME IN A TIME OF WAR

To be considered for “Bookshelf,” please send a brief summary of your recently published book and a high-resolution image of the book cover to magazine@andover.edu.

BY NANCY HITCHCOCK

“F

An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd

BY MIKE BURLINGAME ’60 Pegasus Books Burlingame, a professor of Lincoln studies, reveals that the 16th president had a very unhappy marriage to Mary Todd, who had endured tragedy and mental instability. The book describes how Todd manipulated, humiliated, and abused her husband and how her behavior impacted his presidency.

Turn the Tide

BY ELAINE DIMOPOULOS ’96 Harper Collins When 12-year-old Mimi moves to a beautiful island in Florida, she feels like she is in paradise, except for all the plastic pollution she observes on the beaches. Inspired by two young activists, Mimi learns that she can take steps to protect the environment as well. Young environmental activists will find a list of helpful resources.

The Journey Beyond Fear: Leverage the Three Pillars of Positivity to Build Your Success

BY JOHN HAGEL III ’68 McGraw-Hill Education eBooks Whether you’re running a business, raising a family, or attending school, Hagel offers practical solutions for overcoming fear and creating opportunities.

Learn how to move forward in spite of fear, and achieve more of your true potential.

Better to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia in Auroville

BY AKASH KAPUR ’93 Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and others, this compelling memoir revolves around Auroville, a utopian commune founded in the late 1960s in South India, where author Kapur and his wife, Auralice, were raised and where Auralice’s parents were found dead. As the pair returns in 2004 to search for answers, a haunting mystery unfolds.

Politics for Social Workers: A Practical Guide to Effecting Change

BY STEPHEN PIMPARE ’83 Columbia University Press COURTESY PHOTO

ootball is much more than a game,” states Buzz Bissinger ’72. The author of Friday Night Lights—the 1990 book that inspired the eponymous movie and TV series—returns to the sport in his latest book, The Mosquito Bowl. The captivating true story delves into the lives of 65 young Marines—including many that played college football and some that had even been drafted to the NFL—who ended up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Christmas Eve in 1944, where they engaged in a game of football like no other. Beyond their playing field of dirt and coral, Bissinger draws us into the lives of the men, their aspirations, their families, and the days leading up to the Battle of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest of World War II. Bissinger says he felt compelled to tell this story and memorialize the young Marines, many of whom died at Okinawa. “I wanted to show readers how beautiful these men were, how dedicated they were, how willing to sacrifice they were,” Bissinger says. “They weren’t perfect. No one’s perfect. They were the true essence of ordinary men rising to extraordinary circumstances.”

One of the main characters, John McLaughry ’36, was the football captain at Brown and had played with the New York Giants before joining the Marines. Bissinger was able to bring McLaughry’s character to life, thanks to his correspondence with two of McLaughry’s children, Richard and Marguerite, who graciously allowed Bissinger access to a treasure trove of items, including Andover report cards, writings about Andover-Exeter games, and handwritten letters from the war.

“I was enormously lucky. The family had kept everything,” says Bissinger.

Reflecting on his own Andover experience, Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, says he is grateful to the school for instilling in him the love of writing and journalism. He received encouragement and praise from his first English instructor, Hart Leavitt, and history instructor Tom Lyons, and he spent countless hours writing for The Phillipian as a sports editor.

“I had this tremendous opportunity to write for a weekly newspaper, and it gave me the experience to know this was what I wanted to do full time.

For that,” he says. “I’m indebted to Andover.”

Pimpare offers social workers and people working with and for marginalized populations a roadmap for systemic change. Readers will learn how public policies and politics impact the lives of their clients and communities as well as strategies and practices to successfully take on an entrenched system.

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for the love of teaching

Nicholas Kip ’60

A Legendary Teacher, a Classics Tale

BY ALLYSON IRISH

COURTESY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Finis origine pendet is an apt motto for Nicholas Kip ’60, P’85, ’91, the Classics instructor whose love of the ancient languages began as a student at Phillips Academy.

Kip took his first Latin class as a PA junior, and it was love from the first diem. “I took off like a shot! That class really got me going,” says Kip, who retired this June after an astonishing 54 years. The teacher’s passion for learning was infectious and made a positive difference in the lives of countless students and colleagues.

“I will remember Mr. Kip for his humor, his jumping-around-the-room enthusiasm, and his all around menschiness,” says Rachel Siegel ’92. “I loved Latin and still do—I have spent part of my second career teaching Latin, thanks in no small measure to the stellar teach-

excelling in it,” says Josh Hubbard ’83.

“The level of commitment to and joy for the sport you shared with us was tremendous and had a deep impact on the 14-year-old version of me. That joy led me to wrestle at Cornell and to continue to have a deep appreciation for the sport.”

Reflecting on his teaching career at Andover, Kip says he will dearly miss his Pearson Hall classroom, “with its classic design, high ceilings, and impressively tall windows, that allow the light to stream in. I love the storied history of the building. It is a remarkable place.”

The best piece of advice Kip ever received: “Privilege has responsibilities.

Don’t abuse those privileges that have been granted to you. Treat them with respect and responsibility.” Sage counsel, for certain. 

Many alums fondly remember Nick Kip as a wrestling coach who was “lean, tough, and very in shape for a faculty member!”

At right: A lifelong sailor, Kip is the owner of a Laser sailboat.

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AGGIE KIP

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ing I had at PA. Maximas gratias tibi ago, Magister.”

A standout wrestler at PA, Kip’s “greatest moment” in the sport occurred as a student when he went up against an undefeated Exeter junior named John Irving. More than 60 years later, Kip can still recount nearly every move of the back-and-forth match, which eventually ended in a tie.

Irving, who became a famous novelist, would recount the intense contest in his book The World According to Garp.

Kip continued to wrestle in college at Princeton and went on to coach at Andover, where he would often quote Greek and Latin to the grapplers. He kept himself in shape and was known to even get on the mat to show a particular move.

“You encouraged me in ways that ultimately led to me loving the sport and

Instructor in Classics Years at PA: 54 Retirement Plans: Nick Kip describes retirement as his “endless weekend.” He and wife Aggie, who will continue working as a nutritionist at the Sykes Wellness Center, will relocate to their coastal cottage in Ipswich, Mass., where he plans to “bicycle more often, hike through the beach dunes near our home, continue to be involved in coastal protection and restoration, travel, and reread some of my favorite classics.”

Maritime Memories: Kip grew up in Marblehead, Mass., and often spent summers on a boat with his family. He fondly recalls his father buying lobsters from local fishermen by placing a few dollars in a water-tight container and sending it across the water to their boat. The container would come back with a few lobsters for dinner. “It was the original Instacart!”

DAVE WHITE

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During a ceremony marked by its focus on community, guests gathered on the Richard T. Greener Quadrangle to enjoy the formal procession, student vocalists, musicians, and dancers, and speeches by Andover leaders.

Photos by John Gillooly and Neil Evans

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INVESTED

May 7, 2022, a historic day for Andover, celebrated the investiture of 16th Head of School Raynard S. Kington, MD, PhD, P’24.

Clockwise from top right: Students bundled up on a chilly May morning; Andover’s 16th head of school; attendees gather in front of Samuel Phillips Hall; Clan MacPherson Pipes and Drums leads the processional.

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Raynard S. Kington MD, PhD, P’24

T

hank you for that lovely introduction and thank you—faculty, staff, faculty emeriti, and students, trustees, alumni, and families. Thank you for helping to celebrate this remarkable institution. Amy Falls, thank you for opening my eyes to a very special opportunity and for your unwavering partnership.

As you may know, Amy is the first woman president of the Board of Trustees—Abbot or Andover.

She, too, is making history.

I want to thank a few people who have been particularly influential in my journey. First, my late parents, Mildred Shavers Kington and Dr. Garfield Douglas Kington. My parents gave me perhaps among the greatest gifts parents can give a child: they gave me an emancipated mind to imagine a life and a career different from theirs and different from anyone around me growing up. They also imbued in me a deep respect for the incomparable power of an educated mind.

I would also like to thank two of my mother’s sisters. My late Aunt Myrtle was my mother’s twin, and she and my Uncle Bernard were especially kind and supportive when I entered the University of Michigan a month after turning 16 years old, regularly driving to Ann Arbor from Detroit to take me out to dinner and then, I later learned, reporting back to my parents. I would also like to acknowledge my Aunt Mattie, who is 102 and watching from her home in Nashville.

Finally, I would like to thank my spouse, Dr. Peter Daniolos, without whose support and love I would not be here, and our children, Emerson and Basil, who overcame their initial strongly negative response when told of the possibility of our family moving away from the small town in Iowa where they had spent the bulk of their lives. I think they have mostly forgiven us.

I struggled with this speech, in part because I

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Investiture Speech May 7, 2022

am uncomfortable with a ceremony with me at the center. There are a thousand reasons why we did not need to have an investiture, and yet I remembered something my mother had told me when I was a teenager making yet another snarky comment about an old-fashioned minister I didn’t think much of from her church and expressing dismay that she could remain a member of that church. She told me, in her best elementary school teacher voice, that the church is not the minister; it is the people, all the people from its founding onward. The minister at any one point in time is a small, small slice of the church. So, I was reminded that though I am the one being “invested,” I am really a small slice in the arc of this school, which of course, includes the history of Abbot Academy and the merger of Phillips and Abbot to become one. When I thought about the people of this community, and its mission, I found that notion reassuring.

Another cause for my struggle is that I am uncomfortable with celebrations of beginnings, whether a beginning such as my investiture or an anniversary of a beginning, even birthdays.

In 1987, when the country was celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Constitution, I was a faculty fellow at DuBois College House at Penn and in spite of my close proximity to where that document was ratified, I could not feel any of the celebratory moods. In fact, I found the entire celebration irritating. Perhaps I was uncomfortable with the event because it was just one year after the infamous Bowers v. Hardwick Supreme Court decision upholding the Georgia law making intimate homosexual relations between consenting adults illegal. That ruling included a concurring opinion written by Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was the chair of the committee overseeing the 200th anniversary celebrations that year. Or maybe I was just channeling the traditional African American discomfort with blindly celebrating many elements of the history of this country when the gap between

Trustees and speakers join Dr. Kington for a formal photo.

its ideals and its reality—even today—is refused to acquiesce in outdated notions so well known by our community. of ‘liberty,’ ‘justice,’ and ‘equality,’ and During that time, one of my heroes, who strived to better them.”

Thurgood Marshall, gave a speech about He went on to say: “…the true mirathat bicentennial celebration that was cle was not the birth of the Constitution, defiantly not in line with the general but its life.” tenor of what almost everyone else was I loved that idea of celebrating the saying. I have thought a lot about that life of the Constitution rather than its speech recently. birth. It allowed me to find a place for Most notably, Marshall said that he myself in that celebration in 1987 and refused to celebrate the flawed document now in this celebration. So, I see this that is the Constitution. He said this investiture not as a celebration that is —Amy C. Falls ’82, P’19, ’21 President, Board of Trustees about the changes in the Constitution about my beginning, but instead this that followed the so-called “Miracle in is a celebration of the life of this instiPhiladelphia”: tution—a way to note that this school “ T he men who gathered in has made it this far and has changed so Philadelphia in 1787 could not have envisioned much, just as our Constitution has, and that I could these changes. They could not have imagined, be appointed to lead this school. I see this celebranor would they have accepted, that the document tion as a turning of the page from one chapter to they were drafting would one day be construed by another in the long life of this great school. a Supreme Court to which had been appointed a I know that there are those who see my apwoman and the descendent of an African slave. ‘We pointment as the first African American head and the People’ no longer enslave, but the credit does the first openly gay head as especially notable, and not belong to the Framers. It belongs to those who I do as well. I never forget that I am where I am not

“Under your guidance, Raynard, Andover continues to forge a different path, one that is profoundly consistent with our history.”

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At right: The Fidelio Society performs; former history instructor and spouse of former head of school Ted Sizer, Nancy Faust Sizer P’75, ’77, ’80, ’80, with Dr. Kington and 14th head of school Barbara Landis Chase; flags representing the various home countries of students; James F. Ventre ’79, assistant head of school for admission and financial aid and 2019–2020 interim head of school, presents Kington with a gift.

only because I worked hard, but also wretched institution of slavery knew because countless other people sacrithe power of opening a mind, the ficed to open doors that I could walk power of knowledge that so clearly through. If this ceremony had been gave lie to racist notions of a hierartaking place ten, five, or even three chy of humans. And that is why my years ago, I would have stopped there great-grandparents and so many othin commenting on the significance of ers worked so hard to make sure their what is notable about my appointment. children were educated. We are not Even three years ago, I would not going back. have focused my comments on my So today we are celebrating all the race or sexual orientation. Not because people who brought this institution I am in any way uncomfortable with this far, who helped this institution those elements of who I am—quite the step by step to move closer to the —James F. Ventre ’79, Assistant Head of contrary. But the shifts in our national more noble ideas at the base of our School for Admission and Financial Aid, discourse and our deep societal divischool’s originating constitution and Interim Head of School 2019–2020 sions with respect to race and sexual our country’s constitution. I want orientation and gender that are manito especially celebrate all those who festing daily serve as a stark reminder helped this school change and conthat we can never rest, that all rights or privileges stantly aspire to become better, to remain relevant, are not guaranteed forever, that we must fight to and to lead in a changing world. keep them. The need to be vigilant remains because It seems only appropriate that today marks the the time when my appointment would have been first time that the Head of School Investiture is unthinkable is not that long ago. held on the Richard T. Greener Quadrangle, named We are living in a troubling time, when some after the first African American graduate of this people do not like where we have arrived as a demoschool. This iconic location was named through cratic society and where we might be headed, when the generosity of an anonymous donor and honors some people are surely not thrilled by my douthe legacy of one of America’s trailblazing advoble-first status. They do not want to stand athwart cates for racial equality. A member of the Phillips history and yell “stop”; they want to barricade beAcademy Class of 1865 and a deeply loyal alumnus, fore history with weapons drawn, spewing bigotry Richard T. Greener was an active and notable voice and yelling: “Turn around, turn back.” They want us for the rights of Black Americans during and long to return to a flawed memory of a past America that after the Reconstruction period, serving as both existed as great only in the minds of a few. dean of Howard University Law School and associBut great for whom? ate editor of Frederick Douglass’s newspaper, New We will not go back. We cannot go back.

National Era. A scholar and teacher, lawyer and Because of places like Phillips Academy, whose condiplomat, he led by example and touched the lives stitution espouses the crucial unity of knowledge of faculty and students of this institution. and goodness, we will not go back. Our minds and When we speak about Greener, we often note our knowledge and our experiences and our imagithat he was also the first Black graduate of Harvard. nations move us forward. That is a testament to the But there is another part of his life that is more painpower of education. ful to remember, but worth reminding ourselves The opening of the doors that I have walked about today. Several years after he graduated from through is deeply tied to the power of knowledge, Harvard, he became the first Black faculty member of education, like the transformative education of the University of South Carolina, the only pubthat Phillips Academy has provided for almost 250 lic university in the South that integrated during years. There is a reason why it was against the law Reconstruction. He also took the role of the school’s to teach my great-grandparents to read and write librarian and enrolled in its law school. He was as enslaved people. Those who benefited from that among the first African American students to grad-

“Dr. Kington’s unwavering commitment to helping others and expressing empathy to those most vulnerable make him an extraordinary leader for our times.”

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Photos, clockwise from top right: Former board president Peter L.S. Currie ’74, P’03, James F. Ventre ’79, 2019– 2020 interim head of school, Board President Amy C. Falls ’82, P’19, ’21, and Dr. Kington; Kington with his cousin, Barbara Holloway; Kington with spouse Dr. Peter Daniolos and their sons, Emerson ’24 (left) and Basil; student flagbearers await the beginning of the ceremony.

uate from the University of South Carolina’s I will end with a piece from The Fire Next Law School. But as Reconstruction came to Time written by James Baldwin, another of an end, Greener had to leave that university my heroes. after it was closed and then reopened as an He wrote: all-white school. Rights and privileges can “It began to seem that one would have be taken away, as Greener’s were. to hold in the mind forever two ideas which Of course, there is no doubt that we seemed to be opposition. The first idea was have made incredible progress over the hisacceptance, the acceptance, totally without tory of this school. That progress is a testarancor, of life as it is, and men as they are: ment to the faculty’s devotion to Andover’s in the light of this idea, it goes without saymission and to their willingness to remain ing that injustice is a commonplace. But nimble, themselves being students of the this did not mean that one could be com—John G. Palfrey Jr. P’21 15th Head of School craft of teaching. It is also a testament to placent, for the second idea was of equal those who came before me and ably led this power: that one must never, in one’s own school during rewarding and challenging life, accept these injustices as commontimes. Just think about recent history and place but must fight them with all one’s the nearly 25 years of leadership between Barbara strength. This fight begins, however, in the heart Landis Chase and John Palfrey (1994–2019). You and it now had been laid to my charge to keep my quickly understand what is necessary to keep pace own heart free of hatred and despair.” and evolve with the times to move forward. All this Great schools exist at the intersection Baldwin to meet our mission in service of students. described so eloquently, at that point of tension— And my taking this position is also real evithe intersection of helping our students to underdence of continued progress. But at this time when stand the world as it is with all of its flaws, with dishonest narratives of stolen elections are used ideas that make us uncomfortable and sometimes to justify the denial of voting rights, when leaders with painful knowledge that can even tempt us to energize voters with their homophobic and transhate and despair, while empowering students with phobic rhetoric, the education we offer has never hope grounded in knowledge, with the intellectual been more important. tools to change what needs to be changed, to change And I believe that an essential part of that eduwhat is wrong with our beautiful, broken world. cation is the free engagement with ideas, including And we must help our students to discern the ideas that some of us may find to be odious. I don’t truth. Today, the truth is that it is hard for many of aim for a false notion of neutrality. I am not neutral us to keep from despairing. But whenever I am in on many controversial issues, especially those that one of those moods, all I have to do is take a walk are tied to our values and our mission. For those isacross this beautiful campus and see our faculty sues, in particular, we as an institution should not and our staff, who make this place work, and our strive to be neutral. Not all ideas are equally valid students, especially, with their diversity, their intelor important or true. But I believe in engaging with ligence, their eagerness to explore and understand those odious ideas because bringing them into the the world around them in all its complexity. Seeing light is the only way to demonstrate what is wrong them is all I need to renew my faith in the future of about them. I welcome that engagement because I this extraordinary country and this extraordinary am confident that openness will lead to better ideas, institution’s place in this country and the world. ideas that will help to continue to bend the moral Our incredible students are my hope, they are the arc of the universe toward justice. reason why I get up every day and cross Main and I have tried in my comments today to walk a walk across the Great Lawn, past the sign for the fine line. To be honest about how I feel about the Greener Quad, enter George Washington Hall, and time in which this investiture is taking place, the sit at my desk and begin my day. They make it all perilous moment we are in as a nation. But also to worthwhile. show that I am hopeful, because I am hopeful. So Thank you for listening. 

“Raynard Kington possesses the knowledge and goodness to carry on the finest traditions of this Academy.”

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1980

2002

GAME ON! Saluting 50 years of Title IX and women in sports

1975

BY AVERY STONE ’10 & RITA SAVARD PHOTOS BY HENRY MARTE

“Sometimes I forget that I’m a woman in sports,”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POT POURRI YEARBOOKS

1996

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says Aleisha Roberts ’22.

When the boat drops in the water, the girls’ crew co-captain focuses on the only thing that matters—the team’s rhythm. Dialing in each movement, and the space in between, sets the boat from the top of everyone’s stroke.

Keep the starboard oar in the corner of your eye to time up the catch.

Relax the slide. Recover on the three-count.

They all lock in together. A band playing in perfect time. This “team first” mindset led the girls to victory against Connecticut’s Kent School during a back-and-forth race in April that continued for all 1,500 meters until Andover pulled across the finish line first.

“But particular moments always remind me of the truth,” Roberts adds, pointing out times when being a female athlete can feel like rowing against the current. “Sometimes it’s boys trying to inflate their egos by comparing their performance to mine. Sometimes it’s repeating myself over and over and still being ignored. Being a woman in sports means encountering challenges of patriarchy and misogyny and having the courage to face it head on because I’m surrounded by other women who understand and love me.”

Painting her nails blue, she adds, and getting the boat past a high stroke rate helps her push forward too.

The impact of Title IX on women’s sports is significant. This game-changing legislation—prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any

“ Sports will not be easy, and only you can decide if it’s worth it. If it isn’t, know that it is absolutely alright to seek joy elsewhere. If it is, never lose sight of what you’re fighting for and let absolutely nobody take that away from you.”

ALEISHA roberts ’22 crew

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school or education program that receives federal funding—was signed into law on June 23, 1972.

Before Title IX passed, only 1 percent of college athletic budgets went to women’s sports programs and, at the high school level, male athletes outnumbered female athletes 12.5 to 1, according to the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF).

While Phillips Academy does not receive federal financial assistance and is not subject to Title IX, the waves of change for gender equity that swept across the country greatly impacted the Academy, as the law dovetailed with a landmark event in the school’s history. In the fall of 1973, PA became coed.

The first generation of female students at PA chose to blaze their own trail in athletics, leaving legacies of excellence and advocacy.

“We have come so far since those who fought the fight to see Title IX pass,” says Lisa Joel, Andover’s athletics director and girls’ varsity soccer coach. “We stand on their shoulders and have the opportunities we have because of the path they paved.”

Fifty years from Title IX’s inception, Andover’s athletics community weighs in on the growth and obstacles in women’s sports.

“I think we’ve gotten to the point where women can exist and thrive in high-level sports,” Roberts says. “In the future, I’d love to see a world where it is no longer a battle to prove that we belong.”

Modern Pioneers When Dianne P. Hurley ’80 arrived in the mid1970s, girls’ ice hockey was available for the first time. She jumped at the chance to join the team.

“Because we showed so much enthusiasm and dedication, girls’ ice hockey became a varsity sport the very next year,” Hurley recalls. The team had a packed game schedule and in Hurley’s senior year they were undefeated—which earned the team a steak dinner hosted by Head of School Ted Sizer, who had vehemently fought for and ushered in a coeducational Andover.

Hurley’s time playing hockey at Andover led to a four-year hockey career at Harvard—as well as one year of soccer and rowing intramurally. “Andover taught me to love many diverse sports and to be comfortable trying new sports,” Hurley says.

Other women broke gender barriers on teams that were already well established. Devin Adair ’82 became the first female coxswain on the boys’ varsity crew team at Andover. Her career was shaped and inspired by coach Martha Beattie.

“The women’s crew team was really serious and ambitious because Martha had high expectations for us,” Adair says. “She had been a champion oarswoman at Dartmouth and participated in the women’s national team camps. She was the first female athlete role model I had ever encountered and encouraged me to try out for the junior national team, helping arrange for me and some other ambitious

“ For me, being female in sports means breaking barriers and stereotypes.

I remember stories of my mom not being able to even play sports outside. So, me getting to play and compete at a varsity level, going to tournaments, and now starting to think about camps and clinics is a huge change.”

—SAKINA cotton ’24 wrestling • ultimate frisbee

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“ Playing team sports at Andover has taught me the importance of a strong support system. Having grown up playing an individual sport like squash, I wasn’t familiar with group training or experiencing wins and losses with others. Since becoming part of a team, I understand how being surrounded by people who uplift and encourage you can inspire and motivate to great—and unexpected—lengths.”

MIGYU kim ’25 squash • crew

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“ Being a student athlete has taught me what truly matters in my life. First and foremost, it’s my loved ones— my family, my teammates, and my friends. Four years and a pandemic later, captaining girls’ varsity soccer and track and field has taught me the true power of leadership, and it isn’t about any title. It is acting with kindness and courage. The experience has given me the skills to continue bettering myself as a leader, friend, and person.”

MYRA bhathena ’22 soccer • track & field

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female rowers to train in the summer. She mentored us to aim high and try hard. I was awed by her.”

Adair became close friends with a group of male rowers and was eventually asked to try out for the boys’ team. She went on to Harvard and became the first female coxswain on the men’s heavyweight crew team, leading them to a legendary victory against Yale. There wouldn’t be another woman on men’s crew for 30 years.

“The confidence and professionalism I developed as an athlete at Andover was crucial—seriously, the most important factor in my success at Harvard,” she says. “I don’t think I could have withstood the pressure of a Division I all-male program without the seasoning and training I had at Andover. I walked into the Harvard boathouse with total confidence that I could be a contender.

Without that drive and confidence, I would not have lasted one season there.”

Becky Calder ’94 had a similarly formative experience playing basketball.

“My coach in nearly every sport and every season was Karen Kennedy—or just ‘Coach,’ as we called her—and she showed us what non sibi looked like every day. She coached us, taught us, parented us, fed us, sacrificed for us, challenged us, and loved us like her own. She showed us what hard work, grit, and determination looked like and what it was for: our team.”

The lessons Calder learned through her time at Andover—don’t give up and work hard for your team

no matter what that team looks like—helped her launch a successful basketball career at the Naval Academy followed by a 24-year career in the U.S. military.

“My team turned into a squadron of F-18 pilots, and “We have come we quickly found ourselves so far since those at war after the events who fought the fight of September 11th,” she to see Title IX pass. says. “The same hard work and sacrifice—the We stand on their same non sibi spirit that shoulders and have I was taught by Karen the opportunities we [Kennedy] directly carhave because of the ried over onto the battlefield of Afghanistan path they paved.” and Iraq. We didn’t quit, LISA joel we didn’t give up, and we athletics director and worked hard.” girls‘ varsity soccer coach Calder says she’s often asked why she joined the military.

“If I am answering that question honestly, it was because of basketball,” she says. “My love for basketball started at Andover and Andover truly taught me what it means to serve others.”

Before Title IX—and a four-decade career coaching girls’ sports—Calder’s mentor, Karen Kennedy, blew out her knee playing field hockey.

Rules at her Danvers, Mass., high school prohibited trainers from treating female athletes. A surgeon

“ Sports will be the thing in your life that teaches you the most about who you are.

You might be put in a position that isn’t your favorite. You might get less playing time than others. You might lose every single game in a season.

However, sports will show you the value of adversity.”

SHEA freda ’24 field hockey • ice hockey • lacrosse

31

was reluctant to operate, remarking that the scar would “look ugly” when she wore a bathing suit.

That was just the beginning of “I call myself a long road strewn with obstacles Kennedy would be forced the pebble in to confront because she was the shoe. It’s a female who wanted to play constant work, and sports. She was even told it shouldn’t have by a male coach in college that “girls will never play to be, but we have soccer,” which he punctuto keep saying and ated with a warning: if she believing, ‘my life is as stepped onto a field, she’d important as yours.’ wind up in a hospital.

“Female athletes were We have to keep always as fierce as their chipping away.” male counterparts,” Kennedy KAREN kennedy says. “But 50 years ago, the athletics instructor narrative was different.” and coach After college, Kennedy landed a job coaching the first girls’ soccer program at Andover High School. She wrote a letter to the same college coach who told her girls would never play. “I wanted to share the news and tell him times were changing and that going forward, I hoped he would treat female and male athletes better,” she says.

Some 30 years after Title IX became law, in the ’90s, Kennedy, now an instructor in athletics at Andover, recalls a major victory when 11 seniors from the girls’ varsity soccer team went on to play collegiate sports, many at the Division I level. This was, Kennedy adds, “extraordinary” proof that girls could in fact compete at a high level.

“I call myself the pebble in the shoe,” Kennedy says. “It’s constant work, and it shouldn’t have to be, but we have to keep saying and believing, ‘my life is as important as yours.’ We have to keep chipping away.”

Empowerment Through Sports By the turn of the millennium, the effects of Title IX were clearly visible as female students began coming to Andover with significant athletic achievements. Hee-Jin Chang ’05 swam for South Korea in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia, when she was just 14 years old. So it’s no surprise that while attending Andover she set school records in nine of 11 swimming events—two of which still stand today. Chang went on to swim

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at the University of Texas at Austin and in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

But Chang’s Andover athletics story has just as much to do with what she didn’t excel at.

“I was a great swimmer when I joined Andover,” she says. “But I did not want to—or was afraid to—try new sports.” The best thing about Andover athletics, Chang notes, was that she wasn’t allowed to be just “the swimmer”—a gift she attributes to Martha Fenton ’83, P’17, ’21, ’23, current girls’ hockey coach and former athletics director.

“Martha encouraged me to try other sports, like rowing,” Chang recalls. “And I loved it. I always think of Martha when I am afraid to venture into new areas in life—she’s always in the back of my mind, encouraging me to make the leap into the unknown.”

Others also tried new sports, which ended up becoming a central focus in their lives going forward. Case in point: Kassie Archambault ’06, who decided to join the wrestling team her first year with no prior experience. By her lower year, she’d made the varsity line up. The support she received at Andover felt groundbreaking for her.

“When I started, I took for granted how supportive our coaches and team were of girls wrestling,” Archambault says. “Once I made varsity, I realized that wasn’t the case at other schools. We were certainly ahead of the game.”

This dynamic played out in competition: “People thought we were making a statement by putting a girl out as the varsity 103-pounder, not realizing that I had beaten two other boys for my spot. I had boys who refused to wrestle me in competition and therefore would just forfeit.”

Although Archambault didn’t wrestle in college, she returned to the sport when she came back to Andover in 2012 as a teacher. She is currently chair of the Russian Department, assistant girls’ varsity lacrosse coach, and head varsity wrestling coach, having recently been named New England Preparatory School Wrestling Association Coach of the Year.

The wrestling world has come a long way since her time as a student, Archambault says.

And Andover has continued to help pave the way.

“When I was an athlete, we had to look elsewhere for all-girl tournaments—my coaches would take me to the local ones and then my family would take me to tournaments that were further away,” she says. “Now all prep schools are on board with girls wrestling and there is a girls’ division at the New

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POT POURRI YEARBOOKS

England championships and the Prep National Championships. I could never have dreamed of that as a student.”

Julie Wadland ’06 also cites Andover athletics as laying the foundation for her life beyond the Hill.

She earned 12 varsity letters—in soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse—but when asked which experiences stand out the most, she points to Andover’s biggest rival to the north.

“To me, Andover-Exeter embodies the spirit of athletics at Andover—it strikes a balance between competition and community,” Wadland says. “I always found the spirit of connection between fellow teammates, faculty and staff, alumni, and families very moving; it was and is a demonstrative example of how we can accomplish far more—and have fun along the way—by coming together and supporting others.”

Wadland went on to play lacrosse at Dartmouth College; her junior and senior years, she captained the team. In 2019, she was inducted into the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor. Today, Wadland works as an associate director of admissions at Concord Academy, a private coeducational high school. Working with young people every day, Wadland draws upon her Andover experience.

“The support I received from my Andover coaches, friends, teammates, and teachers offered me a foundation built on confidence, reassurance, and love in the pursuit of my goals as a collegiate student-athlete,” she says. “That pride, tradition, and love continue to frame how I pursue my own work today.”

Although her experience as a student-athlete was overwhelmingly positive, Wadland acknowledges the many hurdles that lie ahead.

“Female-identifying student-athletes were well-respected during my time at Andover,” she says. “We are beginning to see that similar respect extended to women in professional sports—increased media coverage, slight compensation increases. But progress remains slow.”

1995

2014

1976

2016

One Win, Another Challenge Over five decades, Title IX has paved the way for glimmers of progress. In May, the U.S. women’s soccer team settled a lawsuit with the sport’s national governing body, which pledged to equalize pay for the men’s and women’s national teams. But what should have been a revolutionary step forward in gender equality has its shortcomings.

1999

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“ Athletics are very important to me and have helped me learn from my mistakes, how to be strongminded, become a competitor, and a person who does not give up. I love being in a different world on the field or court.

I think the most important part about playing competitive sports as a female is inspiring other younger girls to be confident—and play like a girl!”

KILEY buckley ’23 basketball • softball

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“Equity and equality are not the same,” says Aisha Jorge Massengill ’88. The vice president and deputy general counsel of employment and teammate relations at Under Armour, Massengill was appointed to PA’s Board of Trustees in July.

Massengill made history at Andover as the first athlete to earn 12 varsity letters in four years (in volleyball, softball, and basketball). She went on to play Division I softball at Boston College, where she studied law. Sports helped show Massengill what she was capable of and taught those who watched her never to underestimate what a female can do.

“Sports helped change how women saw themselves and how the rest of society saw us,” Massengill says. But now, she adds, that feels at risk.

A day after celebrating the 50-year landmark passage of Title IX this past June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly half a century, no longer exists. The decision, which put the power in the hands of state governments, prompted abortion rights to be totally or neartotally banned in 26 states.

“While there has been tremendous progress in women’s athletics, we cannot be complacent,” Massengill says. “The Roe decision and the state laws that have since followed highlight that the gains we have made are tenuous at best. Our right to live and compete on equal footing—and to have agency over our bodies—must be vigilantly protected.”

As optimistic as she feels about women’s sports, Athletics Director Joel reminds that we

still have a long way to go. “All female athletes deserve equal access to top-tier facilities, locker rooms, trainers, coaches, equipment, and uniforms—the same as the boys deserve,” she “The support I says. “We also must underreceived from my stand that the news coverage of girls’ and women’s sports Andover coaches, often falls short. The stofriends, teammates, ries of female athletes at and teachers offered all levels must be told and me a foundation celebrated—they cannot be the side or back story built on confidence, but should be right alongreassurance, and love side the stories about in the pursuit of my male athletes.” goals as a collegiate Joel is also quick to recognize the importance of student-athlete.” men who fiercely advocate for JULIE wadland ’06 equality—like her friend and mentor, retired Andover football coach and emeritus athletics director Leon Modeste. “Leon was truly ahead of his time,” Joel says. “He not only fought for girls’ sports, but also took action by hiring women coaches.”

When Modeste joined the coaching staff in 1986, changes were underway. Coaches, he stresses, play a fundamental function, working closely with athletes to develop physical, technical, and psychological improvements. In addition to exceptional coaching, Andover also prioritized equal access to facilities and equipment.

“ There are so many parallels between sports, academics, and the real world. As a competitive athlete, I gained confidence that I’ve been able to apply in the classroom. I’ve learned a lot about what motivates me and how to respond to challenges, and I have been able to explore my strengths and weaknesses on a much deeper level.”

HANNAH justicz ’22 nordic skiing • crew

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“Things really started to change when people began getting turf fields,” Modeste says. “Some schools would put boys on their main field and place the girls on secondary fields that weren’t as visible or well maintained.

We were reluctant to play schools that put our girls on “Our girls’ teams other spaces.” are as driven and When the Academy aggressive as any switched to turf, Modeste made sure the field hockof our boys’ teams. ey lines were permanently That’s the Andover painted on the field in adway.” dition to the football lines.

“This shouted to the LEON modeste world that both these teams emeritus athletics director were equally important—literally playing on the same turf,” he says. “Our girls’ teams are as driven and aggressive as any of our boys’ teams. That’s the Andover way.”

On campus today, female athletes continue to be trailblazers in their sports and are unafraid to point out the challenges they face—and the progress that remains for gender equality more broadly.

While crew captain Roberts says that team sports benefit her in many ways, including inspiring gratitude, she also recognizes the road toward equality is long and winding.

“An important issue for women in sports right now is the hate that is directed toward women who occupy additional marginalized identities—trans women, women of color, women with disabilities,” she says.

Many of the student athletes, as well as alumni and coaches, refer to the case of Brittney Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, who was detained in Russia on February 17 for carrying marijuana Opposite page, concentrate (cannabis oil) in her luggage. The star back row: Kiera Suh ’22, center for the Phoenix Mercury (who was sentenced Rachel Neyman ’22, to nine years in prison at the time of publication) Aleisha Roberts ’22, Myra Bhathena ’22 was in Russia to play during the WNBA off-season.

Center row: Roughly half of WNBA players compete overseas in Kiley Buckley ’23, the off-season to augment their domestic income.

Migyu Kim ’25, Elissa Kim ’24, Griner’s counterparts in the men’s league make Hannah Justicz ’22 more than 200 times the maximum WNBA salary.

Front row: Emily Mara ’25, “She’s every bit the Tom Brady of her sport,” Shea Freda ’24, Modeste points out. “It is crazy that WNBA playKennedy Herndon ’23, Sakina Cotton ’24 ers make so little that they have to go overseas to

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supplement their income. They work just as hard as male players do, yet you can’t deny that more people pay to see a team like the New York Knicks lose instead of the Liberty (WNBA), who actually win games! That’s a societal problem.”

While society catches up, the current generation of female athletes presses ahead. Roberts, who graduated in June, would like to see more room for women to not have to be incredible at a sport to be respected.

“I want women to be comfortable trying sports just for fun, with any body type, at any skill level, and feel like they belong,” she says.

Shea Freda ’24, who plays field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse, hopes to see more girls play longer—girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys by high school (around 51 percent), according to the WSF. Freda also hopes to turn on the TV in 10 years and watch “women’s sports broadcast equally to men’s.”

“We battle being overlooked, underpaid, and underestimated,” Freda says. “As I see it, each female athlete may be a competitor, but we compete for each other.”

Soccer and track athlete Myra Bhathena ’22 likewise believes that female athletes are bound not only to one another, but also to women throughout history who have fought and continue to fight for equality. She often feels the weight of the struggle.

“Every time I step onto the field or track,” says Bhathena, “it can feel burdensome to continuously have to prove my—and all women’s—place in athletics. Being a female in sports should not be an exception, although we still often feel like outsiders in such male-dominated spaces. To me, being a female in sports is a privilege. I hope that soon it will become an empowering norm.”

While there are still barriers to break in reaching equality, women, the students echo, are more visible in sport now than ever before. And they aren’t backing down from leveling the playing field.

“Find the sport than makes you happy, less stressed, or gets you excited,” says Sakina Cotton ’24, who wrestles and plays Ultimate Frisbee. Prior to games, she likes to queue up Alicia Keys’ “New Day” to get in the zone.

“We are still working on amending the sports disparity between males and females,” Cotton says.

“But know there are many people out there who want to see you shine and support you. You just have to find your people—and never stop believing in the power of you.” 

“ Ten years from now, I hope to see less stereotypes, more gender equality, freedom for women in sports to make choices without being objectified, and more encouragement for young girls to pursue any sport they wish.”

ELISSA kim ’24 swimming

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A LU M N I U P C L O S E

Financial Empowerment and Well-Being Alumnae use tools of the trade to help others

BY CHRISTINE YU ’94

M

ost of us don’t typically associate Andover’s motto of non sibi with Wall Street or investment banking. Yet, for Grace Chionuma ’92 the world of finance is exactly how she has put this ethos into practice.

As managing director in the Public Finance Banking Group at Morgan Stanley, Chionuma spends her days structuring deals for public sector infrastructure projects and creating financing tools to support the mission-driven work of nonprofit organizations.

Chionuma says her interest in the public and nonprofit sectors is deeply rooted in her own educational experience and the transformative power of opportunity.

Arriving at Andover at the tender age of 13, Chionuma was thrust into a completely different world. She describes the school district in her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, as “a poor school district in one of the poorest states.” During her last year of junior high, a student was shot and killed on campus in front of her and other students.

MORGAN STANLEY

“That sense of empowerment—that with purpose and work you can achieve anything—really crystallized for me at Andover.”

—Grace Chionuma ’92 “To go to a campus that was simply safe felt like a privilege,” she says. “It was a big deal for me.”

But it wasn’t just the sense of security that was foundational for Chionuma. Equally important was the rich educational environment. At Andover, there wasn’t any doubt that you could be successful.

Chionuma says the institutional pervasiveness of this idea—and the expectation—was novel.

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At Andover, she was regularly encouraged to think about her impact on others. “You have great educational opportunities and first-class facilities.

But what are you going to do with it? How are you going to help others?” she says.

Years later, Chionuma found her opportunity.

At Morgan Stanley, where she has worked since 2006, Chionuma connects nonprofit organizations, like community developing financial institutions (CDFIs) and affordable housing developers, with long-term flexible capital in the form of bonds.

In 2017, Chionuma’s team at Morgan Stanley pioneered the first public capital markets bond initial public offering for a national CDFI, Local Initiatives Support Corp.

And in 2020, they did the same for the nonprofit affordable housing developer sector with the debt IPO of BRIDGE Housing.

T his had ne ver been done before; many naysayers thought these nonprofits couldn’t raise money in capital markets. But Chionuma questioned the underlying assumptions about performance and risk and found they weren’t true. She believed it could be done and she put in the work to educate the market to ensure success.

“My work is to take these nonprofits into the capital markets, introduce them to investors, and raise capital to accelerate their impact,” she says. “It’s advancing the market, bringing in more tools, more options—more needed options—that hadn’t previously existed. That sense of empowerment—that with purpose and work you can achieve anything— really crystallized for me at Andover.”

Chionuma says her work is both “a passion and a privilege. I get to wake up and immerse myself in really challenging work that is impactful for communities that are in need.”

Christine Yu ’94 is an awardwinning journalist whose writing has appeared in Outside, The Washington Post, Runner’s World, and other publications.

She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

G

ISTOCK: TREE OF HANDS, CIENPIES

lobally, less than 12 percent of investment portfolio managers are women. In the United States, just 10 percent of fund managers are women.* But don’t tell Katherine Jollon Colsher ’96 it’s because women aren’t interested in finance. She’ll emphatically tell you that’s not true.

Jollon Colsher is on a mission to transform the industry by increasing the number of women in frontline investment and asset management roles.

In 2020, she joined Girls Who Invest (GWI) as president and CEO. The nonprofit has a big vision: ensuring that 30 percent of the world’s investable capital is managed by women by 2030.

Jollon Colsher did not always envision a career in finance. Growing up in New York, she wanted to make a difference in the world. When she was 16, she visited Brazil (where she was born) with her mom. The trip left an enduring mark. Traveling through the country’s interior, she witnessed stark poverty. It solidified her desire to help under-resourced communities and populations in need.

It was this passion for philanthropic work that led Jollon Colsher to Goldman Sachs where she launched and ran the firm’s 10,000 Small Businesses initiative. The program provides access to education, capital, and support services to entrepreneurs in under-resourced communities across the United States and the United Kingdom so they, in turn, can create jobs and economic opportunity.

This experience exposed Jollon Colsher to the possibilities of what a career in finance could look like for more women. “If I could have a rewarding career in the non-revenue side at Goldman Sachs, it’s certainly beyond attainable for other women to have incredibly rewarding careers in investment management too,” she says.

Jollon Colsher is now making that happen. “Our role at Girls Who Invest is to put more women into the talent pipeline,” she says, noting that historically, financial institutions have not recruited from diverse and/or nonconventional schools. The result has been a large pool of overlooked talent.

GWI specifically recruits first- and second-year college students from less traditional schools and majors, the majority of whom are women of

“ Our role at Girls Who Invest is to put more women into the talent pipeline.”

—Katherine Jollon Colsher ’96 color. GWI then introduces students to the industry through an intensive education on core financial and investment principles, internships at leading investment firms, mentorship, and an on-going support community—all designed to give the students a leg up as they navigate future financial careers.

As a student who was on financial aid at Andover, Jollon Colsher knows firsthand how access to opportunity can change one’s life. “I can’t undervalue how much Andover gave me in terms of access to education. Because of that transformative experience, I’m committed to making sure other people have access to education,” she says.

In the past six years, 1,400 women have participated in GWI’s program. Jollon Colsher says GWI plans to add another 500 women this summer.

“We’re seeing tremendous stickiness in terms of the impact of the program,” she says, adding that about 75 percent of participants from their flagship Summer Intensive Program have remained in financial careers.

“We believe that diverse investment teams have better outcomes and returns. If that’s the thesis, we need to make it happen.”  *Data from Citywire’s Alpha Female Report 2021

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A LU M N I U P C L O S E

“I’ve tried to be very active in the Korean American community and to provide help when I can…It’s very important, especially in the AAPI community, that we lift each other up.”

—DANIEL ARRIGG KOH ’03 DEPUTY CABINET SECRETARY FOR THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Daniel Arrigg Koh and Ai-Jen Poo took part in a recent alumni webinar organized by the Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Alumni Council.

The pair discussed their work, the importance of their Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage, and their Andover experiences.

BRIAN ZEGER ’74

MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER

W

hat better way for aspiring musicians to learn than by working with professionals?

Brian Zeger ’74, a noted collaborative pianist who has performed throughout the United States and around the world, came back on campus this spring to engage with student vocalists, the chamber music class, the Fidelio Society, and the Academy Chorus.

“It was so inspiring to be at PA to work with students and see some of the positive changes on campus,” says Zeger, who also is the artistic director of the Marcus Vocal Arts Department at The Juilliard School. “My years at PA were huge growth years for me, both intellectually and emotionally.”

After working with some of the advanced music students, Zeger and the young musicians enjoyed a freewheeling conversation over pizza, chatting about potential career paths in music and the performing arts.

“I found that few of them know what role music might play in their lives after high school, so the talk jumped around among all kinds of artistic roles, both on and off stage. These are such early days for them as potential performers, administrators, audience members, or supporters,” Zeger says. “My advice was to stay open and to seek out artistic communities wherever you find them—or create them where you see the need. The warm spirit of collaboration I felt when Fidelio rehearsed with Dr. Siegfried [music department chair] convinced me that music would stay in these students’ lives.”

—ALLYSON IRISH

—AI-JEN POO ’92 PRESIDENT, NATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS ALLIANCE

JESSIE WALLNER

“For a lot of Asian American workers, the question of being overly concentrated in essential jobs—yet invisible and undervalued—is still a challenge.”

Patricia Tran ’24; Karen Wang ’24; Ellie Cho’23; Holly Barnes, director of chamber music; Jasmine Ma ’23; and Brian Zeger ’74

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Fashion Illustration Comes to Life

BY NANCY HITCHCOCK

C

oconut slivers on a wedding dress. Tangerine hats and peapod pants. Meredith Wing ’04 delicately arranges elegant pieces of fruit and vegetables, sprigs of herbs, flower petals, and buds atop her fashion illustrations to create chic three-dimensional art.

Wing’s creative process begins by sketching an illustration with archival technical pens. She then adds color with markers, builds dimension with broccoli earrings, artichoke skirts, and croissant dresses, and, finally, photographs the collage. Wing frequently posts demonstrations on Instagram, the platform that’s given her the biggest exposure since she started Meredith Wing Design in 2012. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Wing’s business took flight when she discovered social media: “Posting on Instagram has been 100 percent the reason for my business success,” she says.

Thus far, Wing’s whimsical art has been used for packaging for Burt’s Bees, 20-foot-tall murals for the Andaz hotel in New York City, coffee sleeves for the iconic French pastry shop Ladurée in several major cities, and assorted other projects for clients such as Anthropologie, Coach, and American Express.

“Herbal Essences was one of my most exciting jobs because it’s such a household name,” says Wing, who worked on the shampoo and conditioner bio:renew campaign. Grey Advertising provided a narrative for 10 characters, including one named Willow. Wing created stylish illustrations for each character

using product ingredients such as mint leaves, grapefruit peel, and coffee fruit flown in from South America.

“It was exciting to see these advertisements come to life in the pages of nearly every major magazine,” enthuses Wing. “My art was also on the storefronts of pharmacies, on global TV ads on major networks, and on billboards around the world.”

At Andover, Wing was president of the art club, had weekly meetings at the Addison Gallery, and won several art and playwriting awards. She majored in English literature in college, studied and worked in Paris for a few years, and then returned to attend Columbia University, earning master’s degrees in French (2009) and architecture (2015). It was during her graduate work in architecture at Columbia that she started posting her personal artwork on Instagram. Clients

began admiring her creations. “Soho House reached out to me early on and asked me to go to Coachella—a music festival in California—to create illustrations of celebrities at their events,” she says. “That was a big break in the beginning that gave me the confidence to know that elite institutions were pursuing my services.”

Wing’s most recent project was a week-long residency at The Charleston Place hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, where she led workshops and demonstrated live drawings for guests.

Looking back, Wing says she is happy to have eschewed a more traditional career. “When I was bold enough to create my own path,” she says, “I was able to really thrive.”  Follow Wing on Instagram @moomooi

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P H I L A N T H RO P Y

KNOWLEDGE & GOODNESS: THE ANDOVER CAMPAIGN

Not for Self Alumni Pay It Forward for Financial Aid

who pioneered PA’s need-blind admission policy in 2008. Andover’s 15th consecutive need-blind class enters this fall, and donations to financial aid continue to make this landmark initiative viable today and sustainable for the long-term future.

A Belief in Education “Andover wasn’t something my own parents had planned for, and there was no way we could have afforded it without partial financial support. Now, it’s only natural for me to pay it forward,” says Martinez, an Andover volunteer and longtime member of the Bulfinch Loyalty Society and the Non Sibi Association, both of which recognize donors for their annual giving.

Through gifts to the Jason K. Gimbel Scholarship, named for her close friend and classmate who passed away after college, Martinez knows she can create opportunities for classroom learning, artistic expression, and even international immersion.

“I’m contributing in a manner that engages me on a variety of levels—because I love Andover, because I received financial aid, and as a legacy to Jason and his family,” she says. “There are

“ My family didn’t have much money, but we had a history of respecting education…

When it was my turn, I received financial aid, and I’ve always been grateful for it.”

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YOON BYUN

W

ith her 25th reunion on the horizon, there’s little doubt Annie Martinez ’98 still feels connected to Andover. Her personalized license plate reads “non sibi,” after all.

“I love that motto,” she smiles. “That what we do is not for ourselves, but for others.”

Yet it’s what Martinez chooses to support each year—financial aid—that really brings her commitment into focus. She’s one of 5,790 donors who’ve given to this Knowledge & Goodness campaign priority—and one of thousands who’ve benefited from such generosity themselves.

“I focus on financial aid because I wouldn’t be where I am without it.

And I think it’s essential to have people attend PA who couldn’t otherwise, talented students who can add to its rich tapestry,” says Martinez.

That inclusive, equitable approach to an Andover education was the primary goal of Academy leaders—including former head of school Barbara Landis Chase and former Board of Trustees president Oscar Tang ’56—

Andover remains a leader among independent schools in need-blind admission—accepting students based on their merits alone and then meeting their family’s full demonstrated financial need.

so many ways to make an impact and tailor it to what matters most to you.”

David Haartz ’55 agrees. He established the Carter Family Scholarship for day students in honor of his family’s deep-rooted ties to Andover and their strong belief in the value of education.

For the scholarship, Haartz used appreciated stock to fund charitable gift annuities—a resourceful way to give and break down financial barriers for students.

“My family didn’t have much money, but we had a history of respecting education. My grandmother, Bessie Rose Carter, wanted to make sure her children were well educated. She managed to send three of my uncles to Andover by raising chickens and selling

eggs at market,” said Haartz. “When it was my turn, I received financial aid, and I’ve always been grateful for it.”

Closing Strong In total, Knowledge & Goodness will raise $110.5 million for scholarships— with less than $21 million remaining in this key goal. Success will enable Andover to place its need-blind admission policy on the strongest possible footing, so students continue to be accepted on their merits alone, not on their ability to afford tuition.

Gifts of all sizes make this happen, because even donations of $5, $20, and $100 help close the gap between Andover’s endowment and the current need for financial aid. Today, nearly 50 percent of students receive at least some

aid, so the chance to change someone’s trajectory is more tangible than ever.

In addition to scholarship support, donations make the daily Andover experience accessible as well. If needed, students receive assistance for sports equipment, winter clothing, prom tickets, travel, and more.

Haartz and Martinez view this show of philanthropic spirit as part of a continuum. One in which the recipient emerges as the advocate.

“The gifts of many are better than the gifts of a few,” says Martinez. “By giving to financial aid, we’re making sure Andover students have every opportunity to become tremendous contributors to our society.”

BY THE NUMBERS 15 consecutive years and counting of need-blind admission 47% of students rely on financial aid $24.5 million provided in assistance last year $42,400 average annual grant for returning students 0 loans issued by Andover

Feeling inspired?

Visit andover.edu/studentaid today.

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AT ISSUE

A Complicated Reality How Russians View the War on Ukraine

BY AMY KELLOGG ’83

44

ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

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n the circles of young, open-minded people I know in Moscow, there was a surprising bit of levity before the war with Ukraine began.

Nobody thought it would actually happen. It sounded absurd. A war in Ukraine.

Attacking your neighbor to improve your own national security. It just made no sense to many worldly Russians.

“If we are going to steal some land,” one joked, “why not take something like the Maldives? Not the Donbas.” But such humor, for the most part, quickly dried up when war began.

And with a speed that struck me, many of those very same people who never thought an attack would occur were packing their bags, families, and dreams right up and leaving Russia.

They fled to Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, at least to weather the storm. Their numbers are not known. Some have apparently since returned. The term “brain drain” has been bandied about as another consequence of this war for Russia.

Thinking about it, the plans of those who fled must have been subconsciously or perhaps secretly coming together for some time as the screws tightened on freedom of speech year by recent year in Russia. People had been giving thought about where best to raise children. There is no place like home, but the first choice isn’t always the best choice, or so it began to seem.

From their place of exile, many Russians soon expressed a sense of horror, collective responsibility, and shame for what their country is doing to its brother. Some said they couldn’t think of anything else or manage to tear themselves away from the Telegram channels that are perhaps the most popular information medium right now for younger Russians. One told me in April that he hadn’t watched a movie or been able to enjoy a glass of wine since the war began. The situation is debilitating and all-consuming for many, even if they appreciate that their predicament doesn’t compare to that of the Ukrainians.

Some Russians have started working at centers for Ukrainian refugees. Others are writing.

Those anti-warriors who didn’t leave the country have invented ways to express protest, often standing alone with a sign somewhere. It is almost as if there is a competition to see whose message is most benign yet still manages to invite the ire of the police. A man in Moscow was arrested and fined for holding a sheet of white paper marked with asterisks equivalent to the

number of letters it takes to spell “No War.” Even suggestive silence can be considered discreditation of the Russian army.

But those repressive methods seem to be working for the Kremlin or at least are not counterproductive to its aims.

And the state TV propaganda machine fires on all cylinders.

According to political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, herself now in exile, while the polls are not a perfect representation of society but rather a reflection of those who agree to answer questions, they indicate that support for President Vladimir Putin remains solid. The Levada Center, perhaps the most reliable pollster, in June found 72 percent of Russians would like to see him stay in office after 2024, when the next elections are scheduled. Its polls indicate the majority of Russians blame NATO, and more specifically the United States, for the death and destruction in Ukraine. In a recent conversation, Schulmann told me this seems a fairly reasonable emotional response to a nightmarish reality. Looking for an explanation that will let you continue to live somewhat comfortably in your own world makes certain sense. But she worries that messaging from the outside world ends up sounding to many Russians like the West is out to get them. It’s a line the Kremlin launched and has used effectively.

This all bodes a long period of isolation for Russia that will likely see the state further consolidate power and enterprise.

The government-run economy of the Soviet era ultimately buckled from inefficiency and debt. How Russia, now reveling in what it spins as a path toward independence from the outside world, will truly fare if this war grinds on is anybody’s guess.  Amy Kellogg ’83 serves as senior foreign affairs correspondent for Fox News and is based in Milan, Italy. She has lived and worked in Moscow and London during her time at the network and has covered stories from Europe to the Middle East. Kellogg is also the author of Cuore Rosso, a thriller/love story set in Russia and published in Italian in 2021.

END NOTE

My Andover Family, Full Circle

BY CHRISTINA ERICKSON ’88, P’19

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84

ANDOVER | SUMMER 2022

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he classmates, faculty, and friends who make up my Andover family have been a gift since the day I stepped onto campus.

There are two members of that family who hold special significance, and my friendship with each of them began far away from the school that now ties us together.

I first met John J. Ryan III ’45 in the winter of 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. John was an alumni admission representative— AAR for short—and I was an American Field Service exchange student checking one last box on my Andover application while trying to keep up with the rigorous French curriculum in the Swiss public high school hosting me for the year.

This was a time before virtual tours had taken hold. John was the only data point I had on a school on the receiving end of my handwritten application. His enthusiasm for Andover was palpable and it transformed John’s trajectory, as it would mine. I was accepted to Andover and benefited from its need-blind admission policy, a program that allowed me to choose Andover over its peer schools.

When sponsorship was required to participate in The Dakar Project—a program focused on the historical preservation of the 16 million enslaved Africans who transited through Gorée Island—John underwrote my service trip. When I was admitted to Yale College while in Senegal, John was one of the first people with whom I shared my news. A congratulatory telegram arrived from Geneva on graduation day. I keep it alongside my diploma.

Eventually, I became an AAR myself and met Haroldo Nesbeth ’17, a talented young wrestler from Santa Monica, California. Haroldo found my name on the AAR website and called me just a few days before the final application deadline, a situation that I imagine was very similar to the call John received to interview me. Navigating the process largely by himself, it became clear as I interviewed Haroldo that Andover would have the power to change his life, as it had mine, and John’s.

Thankfully, Andover’s Admissions Office agreed with my recommendation.

Above: Haroldo Nesbeth ’17 with his mother and Christina Erickson ’88, P’19; Inset photo: the author and her mentor, John J. Ryan III ’45

My experience with John—his constant care, concern, and mentorship—was transformational in my growth. And so it felt only natural that I would try to pay it forward.

Recipient of the MacMillan Scholarship, Haroldo brought to campus his intellectual curiosity, wrestling chops, and years of choral experience; he made the most of his PG year. Haroldo also became a part of my immediate family—an older brother to my own kids.

In May 2017, I visited with John and his wife, Jacqueline. John knew I had become an AAR, and I shared my hope that he would someday meet Haroldo. John was subsequently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. That was the last time we met in person; he passed away January 1, 2022.

I recently gathered with John’s extended family at his memorial. Some I had met, many I had not.

They welcomed me warmly. Those I had not met already knew of me and of our friendship. It came full circle in that moment; I now stood as their bridge to John’s Andover experience, just as he was the bridge to my own—a bridge I like to think now extends to Haroldo.

After Andover, Christina Erickson ’88, P’19 earned a degree from Harvard Law School. Her legal work focuses on the structuring, formation, and ongoing management of alternative investment vehicles for an established investment manager. While raising a family, Erickson took a break from legal practice to work on environmental, social, and governance criteria matters to advocate for better solutions to climate crisis.

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OSA IGIEDE

Andover welcomed back Thruston “Thruse” Hammer ’42 for Reunion weekend in June. As the eldest attendee, Thruse led the Alumni Parade. He was joined by his daughter Linda, pictured here, and wife Mary (in the front seat). View more photos of Reunion starting on page 74.