FROM THE EDITOR FALL 2013 Volume 106 Number 4 PUBLISHER Tracy M. Sweet Director of Academy Communications EDITOR Kristin Bair O’Keeffe Director of Publications DESIGNER Ken Puleo Art Director ASSISTANT EDITOR Jill Clerkin CLASS NOTES EDITOR Jane Dornbusch CLASS NOTES DESIGNER Sally Abugov CLASS NOTES COORDINATOR Laura MacHugh CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Alessandra Bianchi, Don Gordon ’52, Amy Morris, Ed Quattlebaum ’60, Colleen Quinlan, Paige Roberts, Tony Rotundo, Mariel Mellersh Toynbee ’48, Paula Trespas, Sarah Zobel PHOTOGRAPHERS Stephanie Aude, Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, Keziban Barry ’02, Phillip Bermingham, David Colt, Lauren Hauser, John Hurley, Michael Lutch, Gail Mansfield, Michael Malyszko, Beth O’Connor, Lindsay Randall, Len Rubinstein, Donald Slater, Vic Svec, Gil Talbot, Catherine Tousignant ’88, Bethany Versoy, Zong Wang, Claudia Wessner, Dave White © 2013 Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Andover, the magazine of Phillips Academy is published four times a year—fall, winter, spring, and summer—by the Office of Communication at Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover MA 01810-4161. Main PA phone: 978-749-4000 Changes of address and death notices: 978-749-4269 alumni-records@andover.edu Phillips Academy website: www.andover.edu Andover magazine phone: 978-749-4677 Fax: 978-749-4272 E-mail: andovermagazine@andover.edu Periodicals postage paid at Andover MA and additional mailing offices. Postmasters: Send address changes to Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover MA 01810-4161 ISSN-0735-5718
When I accepted the position of editor of Andover magazine in late May, the spring issue had recently mailed and I was preparing for a smooth July 1 transition. I looked forward to overseeing my first issue, our exploration of a digital edition, and the launch of Andover’s Twitter presence (@AndoverMagazine). Little did I know that a storm was brewing. Within days of moving my pens into Sally Holms’ old desk drawers and tacking up artwork by my 5-year-old daughter, e-mails began stacking up in response to Susan Greenberg’s “Coed@40: Looking Back at the Merger…and Its Unfinished Business.” Quite a number of Abbot Academy (AA) and Phillips Academy (PA) alumni had something to say about the article. Many expressed anger about factual errors as well as what seemed to many a condescending tone implying that in 1973 AA girls were academically inferior to PA boys. Others lent support and offered praise for Greenberg’s article and her handling of the important issue of gender equality on campus today. As I sat with the responses, emotions, and memories of the AA and PA graduates—both negative and positive—I realized the weight of the responsibility I’d taken on as editor of Andover magazine. Being relatively new to PA, I spent most of the summer listening and learning as much as I could about the merger and its repercussions. I talked with alumnae, read books and old articles, and reached out to Don Gordon ’52, AA’s principal during the merger. In one of my many walks around Abbot Circle, I realized that PA—today’s PA—is very much like a family that has seen its share of both joyous and troubled times. And like such a family, each member has her or his own memories and feelings that deserve attention and respect. As the summer sun beat down, I wrestled with how to handle our response to the Coed@40 article, and, in the end, decided to heed the advice Evan Harmeling ’07 (see page 47) takes whenever he starts making errors during a round of golf: “Don’t compound errors.” Ignoring or glossing over the tough parts of our merger history and the feelings of our AA alumnae would be exactly that: a compounding of errors. And so we have published several of the letters received in response to the merger article, introduced by a piece by Don Gordon (see page 22). Additional letters, which were not included due to space limitations, can be read at www.andover.edu/magazine. From this point, I hope our conversation about the merger, coeducation, gender equality, and much more continues and deepens—and that even more voices and memories are shared. As for me, my pens are unpacked, my daughter’s artwork is hung, and I’m here listening, tweeting, and looking for story in all its beautiful forms.
Kristin Bair O’Keeffe Follow Andover on Twitter: @AndoverMagazine
Front cover: Students and faculty from both PA and partner schools in China visit a water treatment facility in Kunming, China, during this past summer’s inaugural BASK in ASK program (see story, page 28).