Now that we’re getting better about making sure minorities can do well here, we have to make sure they can be part of the school forever. We have too many minority students who, when they leave, they don’t return. I want to get them back and get a network going. They have to network within their own group first, to see some people who look like them, people who succeeded, and who are still part of the St. X family.” While not a graduate himself, Kilgore remains a source of inspiration for minority students, as well as an integral part of the Bomber family. (True even in a literal sense, in that grandson Trey Kilgore is part of the class of 2013.) Myron left St. X for other teaching positions in the 1970s, but always stayed in touch. He became the school’s first black board member in 2000 and has been a strong advocate for diversity at the school ever since. Now in retirement, he tutors students in English and assists with the Companion Scholars and retention programs. “The world is smaller now,” he said. “Most of the world is people of color now. We’re doing a disservice to the black kids and the white kids and the Asian kids and the Hispanic kids if we don’t bring that to them at St. X, because when they go out into the world, it’s going to be all different people. We have to be able to live with, work, understand and share with all kinds of people. Not just different colors, but different cultures and beliefs. And the best way to start is in school. “That can be an integral part of alumni to the school. We have a quite a few minority grads out there now and many of them have done very well. We want to know about that, celebrate that. I think about somebody like Eric Kearney (’81), who has a successful business and is a state senator now. I look at somebody like Rob Davis (’84), who travels all over the world in his job and is now a member of our board of trustees. Having them at our football tailgate or making it out for our basketball dinner is great. I look at somebody like Jeremy Smith (’00) or even somebody as young as Brandon Bryant (’05), having these guys come to Healy Society events is important. “We follow successful people. Our current kids need successful people to follow; they need models. They have to see how those guys are doing and how they
become successful. That was the whole philosophy of the Healy Society, to get people in touch with each other and with the school. We can help each other and we don’t realize it. A lot of the minority grads are not in a network. Some of these guys are doing great things and it needs to be known. By getting them back here, back in touch, we can let people know what they’re up to and they can tell their story to an audience who needs to hear it.” Kilgore is pleased to see the perception of St. X as a white enclave evaporating. “I don’t think the minority people when I taught here really knew about the school. We didn’t especially reach out to let them know it was an option. One factor involved, of course, was financial and another was transportation. All of those things nowadays are just a fallacy because the school has picked up and filled some of the rough spots. We market the school
Graduate Phil Cox
well, we have excellent tuition assistance and there are a lot of transportation options. I think most parents want their kids to have a good education. They want their kids to be safe and secure. That’s what St. X is all about. We’re a college prep school and what parent doesn’t want to give their kids a chance to go to college? It’s like leaving your parents when you’re grown. You have to go home sometimes. A lot of our alums don’t realize some of the changes that have gone on here in the last 10, 20, 30 years. You have to be involved. That’s our next step at being better. I think part of education is learning the culture and learning to mix. The world is so small now that you have to be used to it. It has to be common. And we have to impress upon the minorities that they have something to contribute to society.”
X
Graduate Michael Walker
First AfricanAmerican St. X Graduates and Faculty Member English Teacher Myron Kilgore
SPRING 2011
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