29 minute read
Faculty Profile
TO BE AN AMERICAN
BY NANCY HITCHCOCK
From the series Hegemony or Survival, Pietà, 2013 was inspired by Michelangelo’s Pietà. Hector Membreño-Canales wanted to personify a Marine who is stoic and heroic, but in mourning for the body he holds.
Patriotism is an idea that Hector René MembreñoCanales has explored his entire life.
A native of Honduras, U.S. Army veteran, and photographer, the PA instructor in visual studies and photography continuously investigates this theme, pushing at the barriers of what it means to be American.
In one project, Hegemony or Survival, which Membreño-Canales began in 2013 with other artists who are veterans, he juxtaposes stark symbols of war—grenades, bullets, and uniforms— with peaceful imagery, such as flowers and fruit amidst pastoral settings reminiscent of 16th- and 17th-century paintings.
“You photograph what you know,” he says, “and I know about the military as a community. It’s also something I didn’t see represented in the media, so I was compelled to tell these personal stories that veterans carry.”
Another project, An Index of Patriotic Consumption, captures images of consumer goods, such as soda cans, ketchup bottles, and Band-Aids, that boast patriotic messages. MembreñoCanales is not only documenting and archiving how patriotism manifests in advertising, media, and culture, he is also questioning how patriotism is represented.
Membreño-Canales and his mother fled war-torn Honduras when he was 4 years old. Although they arrived in the United States in 1992, he did not become a naturalized citizen until his senior year of high school. And, he says, it wasn’t until he served in the military that he truly felt like an American citizen who had the privilege of an opinion.
“A few years after I came home from Iraq, I found community in other veterans,” he says. “This has given me purpose beyond my marching orders. I have a shared experience with the people
JENNIFER K. PIERCE
WHILE IN THE ARMY RESERVES, MEMBREÑO-CANALES BECAME A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE, WHICH SENT HIM TO NUMEROUS COUNTRIES, INCLUDING EL SALVADOR AND POLAND. HE CONTINUES TO SERVE IN THE ARMY RESERVES TODAY.
I served with and many other veterans. I recognize patriotism in their sacrifice, but I also recognize that my idea of patriotism evolves as I continue to grow.”
Membreño-Canales joined the Army one year after high school graduation. He was deployed to Iraq a short time later, in 2009, and began taking photos to document his tour of duty. When he returned stateside, he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City on the GI Bill and majored in photography.
“I wanted to professionalize my hobby, if you will,” he says. He subsequently earned an MFA from Hunter College and began teaching photography and other art courses at Andover in 2018.
In addition to enjoying connecting with students in and out of the classroom, he appreciates being able to learn and teach from the wealth of photographs in the Addison Gallery’s permanent collection.
“There are thousands of photographs from American history from some of the world’s most well-known American photographers,” he enthuses. “I bring the students from my classroom in through the back door of the museum and, before we know it, we’re looking at prints up-close and personal. To actually be able to engage with Jamie [Gibbons], the Addison’s director of education, to bring my students into the museum and have her bring out these prints—nothing could beat that.”
Although teaching during the pandemic has been a challenge, it also has provided an opportunity for MembrañoCanales to try some new tools and digital workflows. One challenge he had to overcome was how to teach digital photography while working remotely—and without all students having access to a digital camera. And he succeeded.
“I had a student who was logging in from his home in Somalia several time zones and continents away and several other students who were local or on campus,” he says. “With remote control of a classroom camera, the student in Somalia ended up taking portraits of students who were physically in the classroom—by controlling the camera from his home.”
Membreño-Canales is grateful to seamlessly meld multiple facets of his life as he works at Andover.
“I’m lucky that photography is something I’m passionate about and that it is what I do at Phillips Academy as well as for the Army Reserves. I’m able to dovetail my personal interests and my professional interests, and they inform each other,” he says. “Teaching at Andover allows me to work toward my strengths.”
Wander & Wonder
14 campus spaces for finding inspiration
BY BOB MULDOON ’77
Is there a special place you visit when your head and heart are in need of balance? For more than four decades, the Andover campus and all its “writings on the wall” have offered a respite for Bob Muldoon ’77. He grew up in Andover and his mother, Joanne, was a longtime nurse at the Isham Infirmary. Muldoon is the author of Brass Bonanza Plays Again about Mark Twain, a homeless hockey goon, and the lamented Hartford Whalers. By sharing this treasure trove of inspirational messages and places, Muldoon hopes to bring a little joy or spark a special memory.
Do you have a special place on the Andover campus that brings back fond memories? Send us a note at magazine@andover.edu.
As a former day student and longtime town resident, I often rollerblade, bike, and run across campus. Over long decades of tramping from Abbot Circle to Andover Hill to the far-flung fields of Siberia, I have discovered 14 special places of inspiration—where the passerby is exhorted to goodness by lofty word, sterling example, or notable deed inscribed for posterity in stone or metal.
Sometimes when my spirits are flagging and in need of a restorative, I move deliberately from station to station in an inspirational circuit— always finishing on the hour within earshot of the Memorial Bell Tower’s Westminster Chimes. By pausing to contemplate the solemn inscription at each stop and to savor the ethereal notes at the conclusion, I hope that in turn a new virtue may be inculcated.
1
"Be bold in your caring, be bold in your dreaming and above all else do your best."
—George H.W. Bush ’42 Varsity field home dugout, Phelps Park
2
“Enter Into Understanding That You May Go Forth To Nobler Living”
Abbot Academy Merrill Gate
3
“There Is Always Something To Celebrate You Just Need To Know Where To Look and How To See It”
English Instructor Craig Thorn IV Memorial Bench, Hidden Field Road (2006)
4
“Lover of All Nature”
In Memory of Moncrieff Mitchell Cochran, Class of 1900 Moncrieff Cochran Sanctuary Gates
5
“Be More Covetous Of Your Hours Than Misers Are Of Gold”
—Judge Samuel Phillips, Jr. West Quad Gate (1914)
6
“In Dreams Begins Responsibility”
—W.B. Yeats Elson Art Center
7
“A Gentle Nature with Competitive Spirit”
Memorial Bench to Robert W. Sides ’34 West side of Chapel Cemetery
8
“A Youth of Uncommon Endowment, Singular Modesty, Sweetness of Temper and Such Promise As Could Not But Inspire His Relatives and Friends with the Highest Hopes for a Life of Useful Service. Alas, All These Were Defeated In An Instant by His Untimely Death Due to an Accident on the Morning of May 26, 1934 In the 19th Year of His Age.”
Tree Presented for John A. Kingsbury Jr. (June 13, 1935) West Lawn of Cochran Chapel
9
“‘America’ was written here in 1832 by Samuel Francis Smith”
America House, 147 Main St.
10
“Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, lived here 1852-1864”
Stowe House, 80 Bartlet St.
11
“Before the Civil War, this House Served as a Way Station on the ‘Underground Railway’ for Slaves Escaping to Canada.”
Newman House, 210 Main St.
12
“We Remember You in This Quiet Place Where You Came to Bury Keepsakes …and They Were Behind Us Reflected in the Pool Then a Cloud Passed, and the Pool was Empty”
—T.S. Eliot “Burnt Norton” (1936), Four Quartets Dedicated to Women of Abbot Academy Rear Abbot Campus
13
“Devoted scholar, inspiring competitor, beloved captain and teammate”
In Memory of Mark Adamson ’11 Co-captain of undefeated 2011 tennis championship team Varsity Tennis Courts
14
“Lord Through This Hour Be Thou Our Guide That By Thy Power No Foot Shall Slide”
Memorial Bell Tower, Westminster Chimes (12 notes) Music and Words inspired by G.F. Handel’s Messiah
[Editor’s note: A hidden surprise in Muldoon’s inspirational circuit, this quote is for the ears, not the eyes. It is from Handel’s music, adopted for The Westminster Chimes.]
Amy Falls knows all eyes are on her.
BY ALLYSON IRISH & TRACY SWEET
The first woman president of the Board of Trustees, Falls is acutely aware of the challenges and responsibilities of being first. She’s also aware of—and thankful for— the legacy of leadership left by many women who have come before her at Abbot Academy and PA, women who inspire her work to build a better Andover for future generations.
Uniquely positioned to lead the Academy—with experience as a student, alumna, parent, volunteer, benefactor, administrator, and co-chair of the Knowledge & Goodness campaign—Falls talks about her latest role, her partnership with the head of school, and what the future holds for Andover.
A Visionary Thinker
Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21, became the She is incredibly smart and always brought great first woman to serve as president of institutional knowledge and a deep devotion to the Board of Trustees—of Andover Andover to the boardroom.” or Abbot—on July 1, 2020. Rather Now a senior search consultant with Carney, than focus on the centuries-long Sandoe & Associates, Chase has worked to bring journey for women in the boardroom, though, Falls more women into top academic and administrative prefers to reflect on those who helped clear the way. positions in schools and speaks and writes on Chief among them is Barbara Landis Chase, Phillips women’s leadership topics. “Being the first woman Academy’s first woman head of school (1994-2012). to do anything has its challenges, but Amy certainly
“Barbara was an extraordinary educator and a earned this position and, like all great executives, she powerful executive. She cultivated will be a leader for all.” and promoted talent all around her,” says Falls, noting those on Chase’s senior team who have Amy Falls will step down as CIO at Rockefeller In 2019, as board presidentelect, Falls’ first priority was to chair the search for Andover’s been recruited to top positions at University this summer 16th head of school. The world other schools and organizations. to become CIO at has changed dramatically during Chase and Falls blazed a trail together in 2005 when the school Northwestern University, the two years since that search began. Today, she and Head of established its own investment where she will manage a School Raynard S. Kington MD, office to oversee the endowment. $12.2 billion endowment. PhD, P’24, continue to build their Persuaded by Chase to become PA’s inaugural chief investment officer, Falls built a New YorkFalls also serves on the boards of the Ford partnership as Andover—in the midst of a global pandemic and against a backdrop of political and based team and managed Foundation and the racial divisions—navigates one of the endowment through both Harvard Management the most challenging periods in its prosperous and challenging times. Under her watch, annual returns Corporation. 243-year history. “Our leadership, to this point, consistently finished in the top has only seen Andover in pandemic quartile or higher among similar-sized endowments. mode,” says Kington, who shares Falls’ perspective
After Falls left Andover to become CIO at that the community will emerge stronger having Rockefeller University in 2011, she was subsequently gone through this period of turmoil. “Even during the appointed to Andover’s Board of Trustees. “I most intense, stressful moments, Amy has remained remember saying to Amy soon after she became a poised and optimistic, focused on solutions, and trustee that my dream was she might become the open to hearing all perspectives,” he says. “Those first woman to lead the board,” Chase says. traits are foundational to our partnership and central
Nearly a decade later, Chase remains impressed. to everything we will do going forward.” “I am so proud of all that Amy has accomplished.
Q&A
Who are some influential women from Abbot and PA that have inspired you?
First and foremost, Barbara Chase. Her leadership has been so important to the Academy, akin I would say to Sarah Abbot in terms of impact. Barbara is what they call a classic Level 5 CEO, a mix of powerful ambition and generosity of spirit. Barbara shaped the Andover of today, and many of the women on her leadership team, like Becky Sykes and Jane Fried, have gone on to lead other important institutions. Barbara mentored so many other women and she was ahead of her time in many ways—need-blind admission, race, and LGBTQ issues. Under her leadership, Andover moved into a more competitive position.
Another important woman is Linda Carter Griffith, who has been a powerful champion and voice for students of color. She’s worked with trustees on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, helped me to identify some of my own blind spots and, in general, has given us all a sharper lens through which to consider complex issues of race and our own personal struggles. She has given voice to a lot of things that have really helped our community, and helped me, personally.
When I look back on my time as a student, Kathy Dalton sticks out as absolutely one of my favorite and most influential teachers. Number one, she taught me how to make an outline and how to take notes. I still use that skill! Number two, she had a tremendous love of history and of the evolution of constitutional thinking. She was inspiring as a woman, and she was willing to talk about gender-related challenges. She was willing to share personal stories, and I remember thinking about how women were viewed and how to take charge of that. I was inspired both in terms of academics and in terms of aspirational thinking.
What does it mean to be the first woman president of the board?
When you are the first of anything, all eyes are on you. I’m thinking of how Barbara Chase must have felt as the first woman head of school. It has a huge resonance and it’s a big responsibility.
Candidly, there were moments this past year during the pandemic when I was feeling like, ‘this is just really hard for this board, for this school, at this moment in time.’ But what kept me going was the realization that failure is not an option; it’s WHEN YOU ARE THE too important. Andover is too FIRST OF ANYTHING, important. Being first, I think there’s an extra burden of responsiALL EYES ARE ON YOU. IT HAS A HUGE bility to do it well. Andover has RESONANCE AND IT'S been ready for a woman board president for some time, but it A BIG RESPONSIBILITY. just didn’t fall out that way. In doing some reading, I was surprised to learn that Abbot Academy had never had a woman board president. It just spoke to me about the ways in which women have occupied certain zones and not others.
What are your views on women and philanthropy?
I have for a while been interested in how women use their economic success to enhance their philanthropic impact. To me, philanthropy is a pivotal component of leadership and it’s something that women are still learning how to navigate.
I think this stems from a decades-old notion of women feeling like they weren’t in control financially. That has changed, thankfully, along with the evolution of women becoming powerful philanthropists, which is important. It’s about women being powerful in boardrooms, it’s about women being powerful in philanthropy and using it to advance
a greater good. It’s about women really taking a seat at the table to decide on how resources are allocated.
I’ve found it very interesting to read about the early years of Abbot Academy. It was all Sarah Abbot’s money. Let’s just get that clear. But she did not decide how to spend it. There were a bunch of guys and they got the money from her. Then they made the decisions about where the building was going to go, what the building was going to be.
There are a lot of women who run schools, founded schools, created educational movements. But the area of financial stewardship has been one place that women have not always occupied. I think that’s interesting and it’s something I’d like to pursue more as board chair.
How would you describe your partnership with the new head of school?
I’m very excited about Raynard’s leadership and his aspirations for Andover. He has a deep curiosity about his job and an abiding commitment to excellence.
When we first met, it was in the basement of the Chicago O’Hare Hilton Hotel. I’d flown from New York and he’d flown from Iowa. Others on the search committee had flown in too. We were in this windowless, airless, generic, whitewalled conference room. And yet, Raynard was so impressive with a combination of powerful intellect, curiosity, a passion for education, enormous courage, and a sense of humor. I was thinking this is exactly what we need. This is a person who thinks deeply and rigorously and questions everything.
IT’S ABOUT WOMEN BEING POWERFUL IN BOARDROOMS, IT’S ABOUT WOMEN BEING POWERFUL IN PHILANTHROPY AND USING IT TO ADVANCE A GREATER GOOD. IT’S ABOUT WOMEN REALLY TAKING A SEAT AT THE TABLE TO DECIDE ON HOW RESOURCES ARE ALLOCATED.
GIL TALBOT
Falls says Head of School Raynard Kington is “a dynamic leader and a profoundly thoughtful colleague devoted to his community and the well-being of students, faculty, and staff.” Here, Falls and Kington walk together in December 2019 as he was formally introduced as the 16th Head of School to the campus community.
Facing Forward, Together
Teamwork. Partnership. Collaboration. For generations, the best organizations in the world have relied on these principles in their pursuit of excellence.
Phillips and Abbot academies have benefited from these principles and from two formidable women-led teams that have embraced them—14th Head of School Barbara Landis Chase and Associate Head of School Rebecca M. Sykes, and Abbot Academy Principal Philena McKeen and her sister, Assistant Principal Phebe McKeen.
Chase’s appointment was historic. Even the New York Times paid attention when—in 1994—one of the country’s oldest preparatory schools founded for boys appointed its first woman head. While Chase’s appointment was widely celebrated, some were opposed to a woman leader. Undaunted, Chase moved Andover forward with a clear sense of purpose and her philosophy of being a “leader for all.” She developed a superb team including Sykes, whose Andover resume included work as a college counselor, residential dean and dean of Community and Multicultural Development, and ended with a 17-year run as associate head of school.
Chase’s 18-year tenure covered an array of initiatives, including the strengthening of financial aid, which led to the Academy’s need-blind admission policy; growth of outreach and global programs; and significant facilities improvements, from academics to athletics. Many of these initiatives were made possible by two campaigns that together raised $500 million. The focus during this period was on educating the “whole student,” which began with a restructuring of residential life and student services.
Both women have left their mark, quite literally, on the campus. In 2016, the Academy opened the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center, the first building named for an African American woman. The following year, Chase House was dedicated.
After leaving Andover in 2013, Sykes went on to work for the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. She and Chase are now working together again at Carney, Sandoe & Associates.
In a 2012 letter sent to Chase acknowledging her retirement, Faculty Emeritus Vic Henningsen ’69 wrote, “When you interviewed for the job, you said that you saw your charge as ‘supporting the main event.’ When Susan (McCaslin) and I interviewed you for the Andover Bulletin, you asserted ‘Good schools face forward.’ There, less than six months apart, were two statements of principle that you’ve followed throughout your long and successful tenure.”
Another team with a long and successful tenure, the McKeen sisters—sometimes referred to as Abbot’s “Binary Star”—led Abbot Academy through a series of improvements 150 years earlier, “…ushering in a kind of golden age full three decades long during which Abbot prospered as never before…” wrote Faculty Emerita Susan Lloyd in A Singular School.
Hailing from Vermont, the McKeen sisters were two of seven children. Their father, a minister, taught the children himself, and both Philena and Phebe went on to teach at schools and boarding seminaries starting at the age of 16.
The sisters arrived at Abbot in 1859 and set to work expanding buildings, grounds, and teaching resources, as well as improving the curriculum, the school’s relationship with the town of Andover, and bringing in wellknown speakers such as Helen Keller.
Frugality and resourcefulness were hallmarks of the McKeens. Lloyd shares how the sisters required all wastepaper to be saved; they sold the paper and used the proceeds to buy framed pictures to decorate the classrooms. In another instance, Philena—frustrated by the meager set of silverware the school was using—invited the trustees to tea using the “ghastly set of cheap alloy dessert spoons…that had an annoying tendency to upset the teacups.” Soon after, one of the trustees sent over a set of several dozen monogrammed silver spoons.
Barbara Landis Chase
Rebecca Sykes
Philena McKeen
Phebe McKeen
One of the things I have noticed is that Raynard considers things from first principles as opposed to just relying on, “this is what other people say or what we have always done.” He’s a very rigorous thinker and I admire that. My own thinking has evolved based on our conversations. I find it really exciting to have a partner who helps to challenge my own thinking.
The other thing that I think WE WANT ANDOVER is critical—and that is common across all of the leaders I’ve known TO BE A PLACE at Andover—is a profound focus on THAT UNLEASHES serving the students and the broader EXCELLENCE, THAT society. Raynard was clearly drawn to the purpose and the power of this PUTS YOUNG PEOPLE institution. He has lived a non sibi OUT IN THE WORLD life and is a great role model for our WHO HAVE THE students.
ABILITY TO ANALYZE How would you characterize PROBLEMS, CREATE Andover’s mission in action?
AND COMMUNICATE We want Andover to be a place that unleashes excellence, that puts SOLUTIONS, AND young people out in the world who EMPATHIZE WITH have the ability to analyze problems, OTHERS. create and communicate solutions, and empathize with others, particularly those whose views differ from their own. People who have a deep understanding of the world around them. That’s a very powerful service and mission.
What is your approach to leading an effective board meeting, especially with so many strong personalities in the room?
That’s an important question. My predecessor, Peter Currie, was a master at creating an inclusive culture on the board so that people really felt heard. It’s critical to allow and encourage all voices. At the same time, you have to foster an environment where we debate, we talk, we express our points of view, and then we rally around an outcome.
The pandemic, like any crisis, probably brought out the differences more. We’ve had some tough conversations, but I feel that the underlying love for the institution creates enough glue that we can have open debate and not take anything personally. And that is an important dynamic that sets us up for stronger decision-making.
PA is an expensive enterprise to run: needblind admission, curricular innovation, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As co-chair of the Knowledge & Goodness campaign, how crucial is it that PA hit its financial goals?
The campaign is crucial to Andover’s continued strength. Not only does it advance faculty and student initiatives, but it also addresses some deficiencies. For example, the new Snyder Center and the Pan Athletic Center, which is currently under construction, are keys to having facilities that match the caliber of our athletics program. And adequately funding need-blind admission is important to upholding our value of youth from every quarter. The campaign effort will deepen and better leverage resources for these priorities.
What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned from a mistake or failure?
I think a learning, resilient mindset is important. I basically failed math my upper year at Andover and after that, I really thought I could not do math. Years later in graduate school, a professor told me “You can fail at something once and succeed in it later on.” That was one of the most important pieces of advice I’ve ever received. One failure does not dictate your life. In reality, failure is necessary in order to learn. It’s certainly not terminal, and often your mistakes or failures are what you remember most.
How will the board and the school go about building Andover’s future?
There are a lot of ways in which the world has evolved. Technology has changed, the diversity of the Andover community is radically different than it was years ago. So how we operate or think about defining excellence—given the fast pace of change— is really important. I’m optimistic about our future and thankful because the board shares a common passion for the institution and the mission.
We’ve begun to have conversations about Andover’s future and what is interesting is that we are first considering shared principles before moving forward. It’s common for leaders to assume that we already know certain things, therefore we don’t need to talk about them. Let’s just move to execution, to the next strategic plan. But we want to
With Dignity and Respect
Donna Brace Ogilvie ’30 and Action-oriented also describes Ogilvie, Linda Carter Griffith embody the one of Andover and Abbot’s most generous Platinum Rule: treat others as benefactors and the namesake of the Brace they would like to be treated. A Center for Gender Studies. “I call her the modern-day update to the Golden Rule, this grand dame of philanthropy and leadership,” tenet illuminated all that Ogilvie, an Abbot says Board President Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21. philanthropist, did—and all that Griffith now Ogilvie, who passed away in 2015, gradudoes as associate head of school for equity, ated from Abbot Academy at a time when the inclusion, and wellness. school was guided by strict policies regulat-
“You can’t always force people into a con- ing everything from dress (modest) to food versation or make them change their minds,” (not much) to speaking to boys (not at all). says Devontae Freeland ’15, who spent Yet her education there helped her immensecountless hours with Griffith as a Commu- ly later in life as she took on leadership roles nity and Multicultural Development (CAMD) at Abbot, Andover, and other institutions, student leader. “She always treated folks with including the nonprofit Girls, Inc. dignity and respect.” Created in 1996, the Brace Center is
Throughout her more than three decades the only center of its kind at the secondat Andover, Griffith has made a lasting and ary-school level offering opportunities for powerful impact on innu- faculty and students to merable students as an En- “Donna was someone research and explore all glish and theatre instructor, girls’ basketball coach, clus- people listened to. areas of gender equity and intersectionality. ter dean, and CAMD dean. She cared deeply Much like Ogilvie, the In 2016, she was named assistant head of school for about Abbot and the Brace Center was ahead of its time. In the mid-1990s, equity and inclusion, the first education of young topics such as gender such position at Andover or any independent high people and she used equity and fluidity were not regularly discussed school. Promoted to asso- her resources to have as part of mainstream ciate head in 2018, she now also co-chairs Andover’s an impact.” culture, let alone in a high school curriculum. Yet, it Anti-Racism Task Force. —Sandra Urie ’70 made perfect sense for
Griffith (or “LCG,” as she a woman who knew that is known) aligns her work with the knowledge she wanted to continue Abbot Academy’s and goodness values of Andover. She often “tradition of boldness, innovation, and caring talks about the head, the heart, and the hand. in education” in a way that showed dignity “You need quantitative data and information and respect to all. (the head), but you also need stories from “Donna was someone people listened to,” the heart,” she says. “And then, we need the says Trustee Emerita Sandra Urie ’70, who hand, which is action to make the change so worked with Ogilvie in the mid-1970s as part that we can positively impact one another of Andover’s development office. “She cared and the world.” deeply about Abbot and the education of young people, and she used her resources to have an impact.”
Donna Brace Ogilvie ’30
Linda Carter Griffith
Champions of Change
Several generations separate Beverly complacent, always moving forward.” Brooks Floe ’41 and Jane Fried, yet Fried, too, had a vision to enhance the both women have made an endur- student experience. In her 20-plus years ing imprint on two of Andover’s as dean of admission and assistant head most iconic and fundamental programs. of school for admission, research, and
During discussions related to the 1973 planning, Fried saw firsthand the transformerger of Phillips and Abbot academies, mational effect of an Andover education there were many fervent arguments for and and wanted to expand access. Andover against. One of the most thoughtful assess- had always been generous with financial ments came from Floe, a lifelong advocate aid—even offering need-blind admission for of women’s education whose adventurous a time in the 1960s and ’80s—but working spirit took her around the world as a journal- with Head of School Barbara Landis Chase, ist in the late 1940s. Fried embraced an opportunity to strength-
In a 1972 letter to Abbot Academy Board en Andover by reaffirming need-blind in the Chair Phillip K. Allen ’29, modern era. Floe, then an Abbot trustee, In her 20-plus years Fried, Chase, and wrote, “We must do all we can to ensure that a third as dean of admission former Board President Oscar Tang ’56 were school come into being: and assistant head instrumental in securing neither a renewed PA, nor a masculinized Abbot…” of school, Jane Fried support—and sustaining it during the 2008 financial Floe’s prescient letter saw firsthand the crisis. Today, more than 13 offered a way forward that not only would honor the transformational years since trustees voted to institute the admission history and importance effect of an Andover policy, Andover has not of Abbot, but also benefit education and wanted looked back. future students. Floe, who passed away to expand access. “Forging ahead with the plan … in the face in 2018, did not merely of fear and uncertainty present a unique perspective. She and two demonstrated compassion and confidence,” other Abbot trustees helped establish the said Fried in a 2017 interview with Andover Abbot Academy Association (now the Abbot magazine. “That strong position made all Academy Fund) at the time of the merger. the difference to our admission program.” The fund continues to provide grants for Now head of The Brearley School in New faculty, staff, and student initiatives in York City, an independent K-12 school for order to keep the Abbot name alive by girls, Fried leaves behind an Andover legacy enhancing students’ education, growth, that embodies the ideal of access for youth and socialization. from every quarter.
“The idea to establish something to em- “Jane is a change agent,” says Board brace the values of Abbot was an important President Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21. “Partnerfeature of the merger,” says Sandra Urie ’70, ing with Barbara, Jim Ventre ’79, and her former Andover staff member and trustee team, she drove the initiative forward and emerita. “It was essentially the linear de- built support. She took what was kind of scendant of Abbot and reinforced the ideas an abstract concept and put a face to it by of creativity and innovation, never being showing the impact on actual kids.”
Beverly Brooks Floe ’41
Jane Fried
take the time to assess: What do we mean by excellence? How do we know we’re achieving excellence? What is our pedagogy? Why have we chosen these methods or approaches?
It’s been a long time since the board considered these questions broadly. Raynard likes to think about and look at what we’re saying we want to do and initiate deep conversation about what that will mean going forward. Once we do this, we’ll be ready to make an execution plan.
The past year has been filled with challenges. Have you identified any opportunities for Andover?
I think that a crisis can really highlight areas for improvement. It’s painful, but if you don’t use it as an opportunity to identify where you’re vulnerable, then you miss an opportunity to grow. Nobody wants to go through these things, but at least you can take what it has to teach you.
One thing I’ve learned is the vital importance of the human connection and how central it is to our mission. I’ve become even more grateful for and dedicated to the value of our residential, in-person teaching and the value of the kids being with other kids. Some of the grief that people feel—and I’ve encountered students and parents who were really grieving about missed opportunities—has been very painful. But it also shows how much they value an Andover education and how you can’t really replicate it.
We also know that during the pandemic, the disparity of performance widened in our community as well as in the world. Our ability to bring kids together from different communities and different circumstances in an environment where they can thrive is essential.
The pandemic has shown how much we value what Andover does best as a world-class residential high school. It’s put into high relief exactly how magical this educational experience is.
Falls says the pandemic has put into high relief the value of an Andover education and of having students from all walks of life come together and thrive. As the parent of an alumna (Alice ’19) and a current student (Athena ’21), she has seen the positive impact of Andover’s diverse community.
