An Anniversary Convocation Honoring the Trustees and Dennis R. Kanin ’64
On January 6, the students, faculty and staff gathered in Rousmaniere Hall to formally commence the Opening of Winter Term, with more than 60 special guests in attendance. Those guests included current and former trustees—including all three living board presidents: Harry Lewis ’65, Dennis Kanin ’64, and Bob O’Connor ’85. The special anniversary convocation was intended to honor Roxbury Latin’s “feoffees” and trustees over 375 years, and to celebrate, especially, Dennis Kanin, for his longstanding and unwavering commitment to Roxbury Latin. “When John Eliot admonished his successors to ensure that The Roxbury Latin School would prepare its students ‘for service in Church and Commonwealth,’ he was simply putting before them the urgent ambition that the school’s graduates would lead and serve,” began Headmaster Brennan. “To lead and serve does not simply mean in politics or actions on behalf of a cause or party. Indeed, the leading and serving we care about has to do with everyday lives and people who make a positive difference on behalf of communities large and small, insignificant and consequential. You are called to that kind of life. And, indeed, you need look no farther than this school’s
trustees over 375 years to know the kind of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and commitment to a cause that mark their lives, and indeed their leadership and service on behalf of Roxbury Latin and the ideals for which it stands.” After a reading delivered by Charter Trustee Anne McNay, and after Assistant Headmaster Emeritus Bill Chauncey read portions of Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena,” Professor Harry Lewis ’65—former board president and Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard—shared with the students (through clear, accessible, and funny metaphors) what a trustee’s role actually is. Professor Lewis knows well long-standing institutions—the dynamics and complexities, the successes and opportunities—and he has long served as a great steward of RL. In Hall he described himself and his fellow trustees as: the turtles, the climate, and the people. (Read Professor Lewis’s remarks in their entirety on page 28.) Finally, everyone who was gathered in Rousmaniere Hall turned to honor the man of the hour, Dennis Kanin, who was joined by his wife, Carol; three sons—Zach ’01, Jonah ’04, and
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