from the headmaster
Each winter the long stretch of cold and short daylight hours give way in early February to a welcomed break from the School routine. This year Rumsey celebrated its 45th annual journey to Peru, VT for three days of skiing and snowboarding at Bromley Mountain. The weekend kicks off with another grand tradition, our winter Alumni Games—a day dedicated to friendly competition in hockey, basketball and volleyball with former students from the 1960s to our most recent graduates from the Class of 2017 who came together, many for the first time since Commencement at the Young Alums Brunch in Farmen Hall. Add our current students to the mix and the Blue Dog and Magnoli Gyms and Lufkin Rink buzz with an electric energy. It’s that undeniable feeling we call Blue Dog Spirit. In the academic world there are many quantitative benchmarks for gauging a school’s success—retention, accreditation, standardized testing, value assessments. All important, valid and necessary but I can think of no better measurement of our School’s value than an understanding of how our graduates influence and enhance the lives of others. As a Rumsey graduate myself, what astounds me most about this weekend is learning about the deep connections our alums feel for Rumsey, linking their formative time at the School to the joy and success they experience today. I admire and appreciate how Rumsey alumni have evolved and that the values they learned here have guided and influenced their paths forward. That’s an assessment that can’t be explained on an admission tour, in a viewbook or by clicking through our website. Rumsey has a lifelong impact on our students. Many organizations and communities are better places because of the difference Rumsey graduates have made in them.
Matthew S. Hoeniger ’81 P ’11, ’15
2 RAREBITS
