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alumni profile corey olds ’84
By John Xeller, Alumni Relations Manager/Special Events Coordinator
Corey Olds ’84 grew up in Ohio and attended Rectory for two years from 1982-1984. It was a time, he said, when geography mattered a lot more than it does now. His classmates assumed at first that he was a farmtown, country kid. Olds was grateful he enrolled in Rectory’s summer program prior to his first year as a student because the incorrect first impression his classmates had of him subsided by the first day of the fall term. He had discovered Rectory through a middle school friend’s mother who served as a Rectory board member. Her eldest son had attended Rectory and hosted Olds during his campus visit. Although the Atlanta contingency was larger, Olds recalls that boys from Ohio had a fair representation at Rectory in the 1980s.
Olds was cognizant of difference from the beginning. His first full year was eighth grade, and he said that most students had started at Rectory in seventh grade. Despite starting later than his classmates, and being aware of being one of the only students of color in his class, Olds says that the achievement gap and socioeconomic differences were less apparent at Rectory than at his former Ohio day school. In Ohio, he arrived at school each day from a different neighborhood than his classmates, on the city bus, and often exhibiting different personal taste in terms of dress and interests. Olds remembers Rectory in the 80s as one of the coolest places that he had known at the time. Rectory’s dress code, required participation in sports, and standardized expectations for student etiquette helped him perceive similarities with his classmates instead of differences. Olds recalls that the “preppie code” was unspoken, but neatly observed. Boys toted around their books in a white canvas boat bag with blue straps and a blue bottom. Students cultivated new skills in the classroom and on various sports teams, got fired up about the annual coed dance, savored proctor (student leader) privileges, and created mix-tapes that celebrated the legendary tunes the decade had to offer.
When asked about dorm life, Olds said, “We were all part of the same community. We all followed the same rules. We were all in the same boat of being away from home.” It was a tight-knit community, but dorm life could feel isolating at times as well. The infrequent contact with parents and the world beyond Rectory made Olds appreciate some of the smaller pleasures in life. He remembers his corner room in Upper Memorial where he was afforded the luxury of a bird’s eye view of the campus. He was excited when a letter came for him in the mail. He took advantage of opportunities to travel on the weekends to local classmates’ homes or nearby cities via Amtrak. Olds spoke at length about the annual co-ed school dance, which was a highlight of the year for the Rectory boys. He described an “informal social committee” made up of a bunch of boys with the latest equipment in musical technology who mixed songs for the dance. Girls came on a bus from a school in Massachusetts, and while the dress code was loosened for the dances, there were few liberties the boys could take to stand out. Another highlight of the year, Olds remembered, was parents’ weekend, which took place each October. The two main benefits of parents’ weekend to Olds were getting to travel off campus and eating non-dining hall food. Everyday food wasn’t bad, he said, just bland. The exceptions were when parents were coming to campus; the meal just prior to their arrival, Olds said, was always really good because, he thought, Rectory wanted the students to tell their parents what good food they were eating. After nearly 40 years, Olds’ memories of Rectory remain vivid and influential.
In his ninth-grade year, he received the Most Improved Player award in varsity baseball and the Most Valuable Player award in varsity football. “Maybe I’ll see you in the NFL one day!” chimed former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle on Parents’ Day in 1983. Pete Rozelle’s stepson was one of Olds’ teammates on that squad coached by Walt Dagle. Also among Olds’ accolades, he remembers being awarded a silver cup at the1984 graduation ceremony, along with Donald Rundlett ’84, for being the best-dressed student and having the neatest dorm room. He recalls the moment he found out that he had been selected as one of about a dozen ninth-grade dormitory proctors. As a proctor, he can still remember enjoying the privileges of an unsupervised study hall in his own room, the first crack at hot water in the shower, being able to enter the dorm without faculty presence, and ordering pizza twice a week as opposed to once on the weekend. However, he remembers pondering why he was the only proctor required to serve as a waiter as opposed to supervising other waiters and recalls this making him feel like he was being treated differently. When he needed adult help, he gravitated to coaches more often than teachers, and of those, he said, “Mr. Seaward and Mr. Dagle topped my list.” Taking his entire Rectory experience into account, Olds considered how the students of today might relate.
As for what advice he would share with current students, Olds states, “For those students who look like me, I would tell them that they should speak openly and stand up for their truth; that they should dare to belong, to own, and to transform the spaces they inhabit;
that they should leave those places in a better state than they initially found them. For students who do not share my phenotype, I would tell them to walk that proverbial mile in another’s shoes, to cultivate empathy for those different from them, to look for or create shared values across social and political lines of difference, to strive to reconcile the irreconcilable. And to all students, I say, ‘Do not assume that the people whom you already know and the institutions to which you already belong are less significant, less influential, or less sophisticated than those people and institutions whose path you may wish to cross one day.’” The belief in reconciling the irreconcilable and striving for excellence in all things was born for Olds at Rectory, and it pervades his personal and professional life as he is now in a position to affect the lives of students who are living in a different time yet share many of the experiences he went through in his youth.
Olds graduated from Rectory as a young man with great potential, and in September 1992, he was formally recognized by a local community organization for outstanding Young Adult Achievement in the field of education in Canton, Ohio. When the Canton Repository interviewed him for the honor, he told the reporter Susan Glaser that he wanted to become a professor or start his own academy. During the 30 years since that interview, Olds has achieved both.
In 2009, Olds co-founded Excelsus Foundation, an educational partnership whose primary mission entails narrowing the academic achievement gap between African-American students and their white counterparts. Over the past decade, the Excelsus mission has widened to include offering arts enrichment classes like digital photography, creative writing, and vegetarian cooking, as well as workshops that educate faculty and students at independent schools nationwide about diversity, equity, inclusion, and the role of the humanities in 21st-century education. Olds stated that he always welcomes allies, advisers, and philanthropists to support and spread the word about Excelsus Foundation.
Olds also characterized himself as an educator who is dedicated to teaching students about inclusion. He described his current career as a mix between consulting and teaching. For 30 years, he has taught at various levels from kindergarten through college. Whenever Olds has an opportunity to work with students, whether at Excelsus or in the classroom, his approach is grounded in some of the values he learned at Rectory School. He recognized that “it was pretty strict back then in terms of things that we could and could not do” but that the rigorous environment taught him that he was worth holding himself to the “highest standard.” Just as he adapted to a new environment at Rectory, Olds emphasizes to his students the importance of avoiding contentment, going the extra mile, and “being successful in environments that are strange to you.” How does Old convince students, especially those who feel different from those around them, to step out of their comfort zones? One program run by Excelsus Foundation illustrates exactly that.
Olds worked with a group of primary school students on a storytelling unit. He said, “I would teach them the six elements of storytelling, and I would walk them through examples from children’s literature. Then, I would walk them through writing their own book.” The students wrote and illustrated their own stories, and Olds and Excelsus used an online resource to publish them. Through this program, students challenged themselves to reach higher, to strive for excellence. They learned the value of seeing a project through to completion especially when it required hard work. Critical to the success of their work was the mentorship they received from their teacher and community. Olds suggested something similar might work at Rectory. He wondered about alumni from “all walks of life and different fields” conducting an “online master class” during which alumni could “connect with Rectory students around some issue that was important.” Olds’ idea is already taking root at Rectory as an alumni mentorship program is already in its nascent stages. His story from Rectory and beyond is proof of the tremendous value in working through difference to achieve excellence.
In 2009, Olds co-founded Excelsus Foundation, an educational partnership whose primary mission entails narrowing the academic achievement gap between African-American students and their white counterparts.
ellis lewis ’73 Ellis reports, “I recently retired and moved from the nation’s capital, where I was for 40 years, to the desert southwest, for now five years.”
Ellis Lewis ’73.
Breck perkins ’73 Breck reports, “In 2019, I left my partnership at Stuart-Lynn to join Directional Logic to work on the Los Angeles County Art Museum. It is a joy to be working from Stonington and spending more time with the family.”
roBert riverA ’75 Robert reports, “I recently moved to downtown Acworth, GA, and am celebrating 35 years of marriage.”
williAm BrAckett ’77 William reports, “I was an engineer for 23 years. I retired from that profession and turned my hobby of film making into a full-time freelance career for the past 14 years working with great people and forming my own company 477 Film Productions. Even with the COVID crisis we are booked for the next seven years. I will never forget the honor of getting to meet and know Mr. Bigelow and having him as the headmaster until Mr. Green took his place. My experiences at Rectory are still with me today. They are still part of who I am today 44 years later. A time I still think back on from time to time with great memories of teachers and friends and dorm mates. I will always cherish those memories.”
owen Bly ’78 Owen reports, “I’m currently taking a step back from my career as an advertising producer after 34 years; maybe I’ll return to it soon. I’ve worked on print, TV, online, and experiential ads, won a bunch of gold pencils (this means something in the ad world, honest), a Gold Lion at Cannes, and even produced a Super Bowl spot. During my downtime, I run a small record label, manage an old-school country band, host a bi-weekly radio show focusing on vintage country music, and I’m currently working on a podcast based on stories from a friend who’s a career Nashville sideman. I also volunteer for the National Park Service doing odds and ends, which I enjoy. I hope all my fellow ’78ers are doing great.”
Owen Bly ’78.
michAel duBin ’78 Michael reports, “I am working remotely as a senior web content manager/developer for IBM and assisting public affairs for US Coast Guard Air Station Miami.”
Michael Dubin ’78.
mArk ellerkmAnn ’78 Mark reports, “My wife, Ariane, and I continue to live on our farm in Baltimore County, MD. Horses, a flock of sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs and cats keep us entertained while a timber frame bank barn, numerous paddocks and outbuildings provide ample living space for all. Ariane transitioned her integrative holistic medical practice to our barn annex where she now has a home office where she sees fewer patients and conducts more telemedicine visits. Our daughter, Sophia, has just started her sophomore year at Denison University in Ohio where she received a merit scholarship to run track as a sprinter for the school. As for myself, I continue to head up the Center for Urogynecology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, a busy referral-based practice specializing in reconstructive female pelvic surgery with an academic appointment as an Associate Professor at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
When not working or attending to life on our farm, we can be found spending time at our home on Amelia Island, FL (which we also VRBO Property ID 2274787), Peaks Island, ME, or the Berkshires. We have been blessed and are thankful for our good fortune, for our health and for our good friends, especially when there is indeed so much suffering in the world. Of course, I am most thankful for the education I received during my years at Rectory more than four decades ago where the values of education, hard work and good sportsmanship were ingrained. Greetings and best wishes to the Rectory community.”
Mark Ellerkmann ’78 rides a horse on his Baltimore County, MD farm.
1980s
dAvid BuchAnAn ’83 David reports, “Working for the town of Morrisville, NC, as a parks and grounds technician and love being outside and seeing everyone having fun.”
David Buchanan ’83.
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John BlAckinton ’84 John reports, “I married my wife, Cheryl, on October 17, 2020!”
dAn cArpenter ’84 Dan reports, “I am still plugging away on Cape Cod, living in Centerville and working as a Firefighter/Paramedic. I work as a boat Captain in the summers. My older daughter, Dana, is a college graduate, and my son, Bryce, is in college. My “baby” daughter, Sophia, is 7.”
Dan Carpenter ’84 and his wife on Cape Cod.
mAlon courts ’84 Malon reports, “I am still living in Atlanta with my wife, Sarah. We have enjoyed being empty nesters for the first time with our younger child, Sohpie starting at Rollins College this fall. Our older child, Avery, will graduate spring of 2022 from Roanoke College with a degree in Finance. Sarah and I plan to travel every third week or so to either Roanoke or Winter Park. I am blessed that my career involves a portfolio of operating businesses that span long-haul freight (trucking) to outdoor adventure (Nantahala Outdoor Center) and digital assets (S2F). I am appreciative for the strong team of dedicated and talented managers that do the heavy lifting on a daily basis that makes me look really good and better than I really am. I am also Chair of the Roanoke Board which takes a lot of time but is energizing and provides a great distraction from my day job.”
donAld rundlett ’84 Donald reports, “I am living in NYC and Sagaponack, NY, with my vizsla, Mrs. Peel, and dachshund, Agent 99, together known as the “Lady Spies.” I continue to work renovating and restoring historical properties. In NYC, I am restoring a 19th century townhouse on Bedford Street, which still has the original carriage house on the rear of the property. In Amagansett, I am working on an untouched house designed by Andrew Gellar.”
JonAthAn BruntJen ’88 Jonathan reports, “Enjoying the beautiful spring weather, outdoor activities here in beautiful Steamboat, CO! Thank you!”
1990s
sAmuel scott ’90 Sam reports, “I am living in Boston with my wife, Christine, and our two daughters, Cate (8) and Isabelle (3), and working as an Instructional Designer for Mass General Brigham Health (Partners Healthcare). In the summer, I spend as much time boating (sail or power) as possible, and during the winter, I spend most of my free time skiing.”
Samuel Scott ’90.
won-tAe cho ’91 Won-tae reports, “As Chairman of Hanjin Group, I received a gold medal from the French government for ‘contributions to the country and its people, especially amid the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.’”
Won-tae Cho ’91 honored by the French government for “contributions to the country and its people.”
hyuk-kee moon ’95 Hyuk-kee reports, “I am the CEO of Jeju Beer Company, based on the southern resort island of Jeju in South Korea. We are the first local craft brewer to go public. We look forward to strengthening our research and development capabilities and investments in brewery facilities to become one of the nation’s top four beer companies.”
Class of 1996: 25th Reunion
sunghA pArk ’96 SungHa reports, “Married in 2010, enjoying a solid family, and loving life surrounded by all female family members: wife, 11-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old female dog. I had a blast traveling with my family to the local popular island named Jeju”
SungHa Park ’96.
revell sAndBerg-diment ’96 Revell reports, “We won a major award for finishing third overall for the fall Frostbite Yacht Club series. I started sailing in college and think that Rectory should start a sailing team. I am happy to offer my services as assistant coach if Rectory ever does set sail!”
Revell Sandberg-Diment ’96.
