4 minute read
The World Comes to Andover
Tadashi Nakamura
Filmmaker & documentarian Nakamura recently screened his award-winning 2016 documentary Mele Murals, which focuses on modern graffiti art in Hawaii and its impact on a new generation of Hawaiians. A fourth-generation Japanese American, Nakamura has focused on this experience for many of his other films and was named one of CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.
Dr. Nancy Hopkins
Molecular biologist For years, women scientists have dealt with gender discrimination and workplace harassment. Hopkins, a professor of biology at MIT and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was one of several women featured in the documentary Picture a Scientist, which highlights this pervasive problem and the ways in which women scientists are working to change it. The film was screened in February with a subsequent community conversation. Christine Balling ’86 Susan D. Chira ’76 Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, U.S. Army, ’60
2020 Alumni Award of Distinction Recipients Three alumni were honored this past fall in the eighth annual Andover Alumni Award of Distinction ceremony. Balling is the founder of Fundación ECCO, a Colombian-registered nonprofit promoting democracy and youth leadership; Chira is editor in chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on issues of criminal justice; and McCaffrey is a retired four-star general who received three Purple Hearts, two Distinguished Service Crosses, and two Silver Stars for valor. Read more about these remarkable graduates at andover.edu/news.
Charlene Carruthers
Founding national director, BYP100 This year’s MLK Day speaker, Carruthers is a political strategist and cultural worker. In her role as national director of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), Carruthers has helped to build a national base of Black youth activists dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Ramesh Ponnuru
Visiting fellow, American Enterprise Institute Ponnuru was one of several speakers invited as part of Andover’s Presidential Election Series this past fall to discuss various aspects of the most recent presidential election. A noted conservative, Ponnuru is a senior editor for National Review, columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, contributor to CBS News, and author of The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life.
All School
New Athletics Building on Schedule
Andover has blazed ahead with its latest structure, the Pan Center, which remains on schedule to open in fall 2022.
The building’s formal groundbreaking took place in fall 2020 with a small, socially distanced celebration. The installation of the steel frame will continue through the spring.
“While we all couldn’t gather in person, it was important for all of us that we commemorate the groundbreaking of what will be a top-tier center for athletics programs and for the health and wellness of all students,” said Head of School Raynard S. Kington, MD, PhD, P’24.
Located near the Snyder Center on the footprint of the former “Cage,” the 70,000-square-foot facility will include a state-of-the-art natatorium with a swimming and diving complex, as well as spaces for dance and wrestling, and will feature the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor. The Pan Center is the second of a three-part athletic facilities renewal program.
The facility was funded with a transformative gift from Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi P’17, ’19, and with major contributions from the Abbot Academy Fund, two anonymous leadership donors, and others as part of the Knowledge & Goodness campaign.
Watch a video of the Pan groundbreaking at andover.edu/panvideo.
the BUZZ
THE COLOR OF LOVE
Wearing atypical red, the Blue Key heads were nonetheless full of Big Blue spirit as they celebrated Valentine’s Day in Paresky Commons. Following a data-driven, tiered approach that put safety first, the Academy slowly opened up the campus this winter with seniors coming back in February and plans to welcome back all students later this spring.
JENNY SAVINO
Mercy Bell ’08 was recently featured in the Boston Globe’s multimedia series “A Beautiful Resistance: Black Joy. Black Wellness. Black Futures.” In the story, Bell talks of family visits to Inkwell Beach on Martha’s Vineyard and the shared cultural history of the island’s Black residents. The photos of Bell were taken by Julia Cumes ’90. Congratulations to Crosby Kemper ’69, who last year was named director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for U.S. libraries and museums. Kemper previously was director of the Kansas City Public Library.
