Director of Athletics Neil Cunningham’s top six (he couldn’t stick to five) favorite moments in SAS team sports
FEATURE STORIES
26 HEEDING THE CALL OF ST. ANDREW’S New chaplains Rev. Dr. Michael Giansiracusa and Rev. Thomas Becker followed their ears and hearts to SAS
32 MADAM PRESIDENTS
Coeducation opened the doors, the co-presidency gave them a voice
40 THE RETURN Courtney Streett ’05 and St. Andrew’s join forces to re-establish historic relationships between Native communities and Lenape land CAN’T HELP BUT CONNECT
50 CLASS NOTES
60 IN MEMORY
64 THE LAST WORD
{St. Andrew’s stages “Around the World in 80 Days” in Forbes Theatre for Fall Family Weekend.}
Letter from the Editor
Dear Saint,
I apologized to a ladybug today.
I was working on this magazine in my unofficial second office at St. Andrew’s—the arts center back patio—on a scarily warm November day when I felt something land on my shoulder. Instinctively, I gave The Thing a solid flick, and then regretted it. I found the poor insect—who, frankly, had every right to offer me a dive-bombed reminder that outside is her domain—and I whispered my regret. I ensured she could fly, and then I let her go. She then landed on my sunglass lens, in either retribution or appreciation, I’m not quite sure.
I’ve never been a bug-apologizer, but I’ve always been a shopping cart putter-backer (I promise this is going somewhere, just trust the process). Putting the shopping cart back is something I take pride in, waltzing across a parking lot as if to say, “Humans! Be like me!” But lately, as I’m engaging in this act, I have found myself considering the logistics: What is most helpful for the next person to access this cart? What’s most efficient for the employee who will have to tend to this gnarled mess of packed metal?
“Why do I share these seemingly inconsequential anecdotes? Because they mark my small evolution as a result of this place. I think differently, I react differently, I am different. And, as a happy accident would have it, the features herein all speak to evolution, too.”
And last week, in my pilgrimage from the Dining Hall to O’Brien, I dropped a chunk of scrambled egg onto the strand. Some squirrel will be pumped, I thought as I continued my walk. But as I sat at my desk, I couldn’t stop imagining a delightful prospective family, on their first tour of St. Andrew’s, having to confront the detritus of my laziness. (I also considered the idea that Dean of Admission & Financial Aid Will Robinson ’97 would sniff me out as the phantom egg-dropper, and that was just as unsettling.) I walked back to scoop up the egg and throw it away.
Why do I share these seemingly inconsequential anecdotes? Because they mark my small evolution as a result of this place. I think differently, I react differently, I am different. And, as a happy accident would have it, the features herein all speak to evolution, too.
In our story on Courtney Streett ’05, co-founder of the Native Roots Farm Foundation, she talks through the evolution of an idea sparked in 2018, that came to fruition in 2020, and that was furthered on its journey this year with a little help from SAS.
We pick up the threads of our previous storytelling about coeducation, itself an evolution of historic proportions, and dive into the rise of leadership among the girls in the ’90s who found themselves better positioned to have a voice as the previous system of one class president gave way to two.
And we introduce you to our new Chapel leaders, Rev. Dr. Michael Giansiracusa and Rev. Thomas Becker, who discuss not only their personal changes while navigating their (eventual) path to St. Andrew’s, but also, how we can continue to evolve as leaders, learners, and people of faith. We hope you enjoy these stories, and that you are inspired to think about your own evolution due to our school.
To be met with an opportunity to evolve after 40-something years on this planet (particularly when it’s vastly easier to remain static) is a gift. To have stumbled upon this gift by chance of where one works is extraordinary.
Like you, I am a work in progress. But in no world am I apologizing to a spider. Like, ever.
AK White
ST. ANDREW’S MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE EDITOR
AK White
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Amy Kendig
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
Chelsea Kneedler, Tara Lennon
CLASS NOTES EDITOR
Chesa Profaci ’80
PHOTOGRAPHY
Hugo Butler ’24, Misty Dawn Photography, Erin Farrell Photography, Avi Gold, Spencer Gross ’25, Ceri Phillips ’26, Leo Teti ’26
MAIL LETTERS TO:
St. Andrew’s Magazine, 350 Noxontown Road, Middletown, DE 19709-1605
GENERAL EMAIL: magazine@standrews-de.org
CLASS NOTES EMAIL: classnotes@standrews-de.org
St. Andrew’s Magazine is published by the Communications Office for alumni, parents, grandparents and friends of St. Andrew’s School. Printed by Pavsner Press in Baltimore, Md. Copyright 2025.
Mission Statement of St. Andrew’s School
In 1929, the School’s Founder, A. Felix duPont, wrote:
The purpose of St. Andrew’s School is to provide secondary education of a definitely Christian character at a minimum cost consistent with modern equipment and highest standards.
We continue to cultivate in our students a deep and lasting desire for learning; a willingness to ask questions and pursue skeptical, independent inquiry; and an appreciation of the liberal arts as a source of wisdom, perspective, and hope. We encourage our students to model their own work on that of practicing scholars, artists and scientists and to develop those expressive and analytical skills necessary for meaningful lives as engaged citizens. We seek to inspire in them a commitment to justice and peace.
Our students and faculty live in a residential community founded on ethical principles and Christian beliefs. We expect our faculty and staff to make our students’ interests primary, to maintain professional roles with students and to act as role models at all times, to set and maintain healthy boundaries with students, to encourage student autonomy and independence, to act transparently with students, and to support each student’s developmental growth and social integration at the School. Our students collaborate with dynamic adults and pursue their passions in a co-curriculum that includes athletics, community service and the arts. We encourage our students to find the balance between living in and contributing to the community and developing themselves as leaders and individuals.
As an Episcopal School, St. Andrew’s is grounded in and upheld by our Episcopal identity, welcoming persons regardless of their religious background. We are called to help students explore their spirituality and faith as we nurture their understanding and appreciation of all world religions. We urge students to be actively involved in community service with the understanding that all members of the community share responsibility for improving the world in which we live.
St. Andrew’s is committed to the sustainability and preservation of its land, water and other natural resources. We honor this commitment by what we teach and by how we live in community and harmony with the natural world.
On our campus, students, faculty, and staff from a variety of backgrounds work together to create a vibrant and diverse community. St. Andrew’s historic and exceptional financial aid program makes this possible, enabling the School to admit students regardless of their financial needs.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Richard B. Vaughan ’88 P’24, Chair
Kellie S. Doucette ’88 P’18,’18,’21, Vice Chair
Monica Matouk ’84 P’18,’21,’23, Secretary
Kate Sidebottom Simpson ’96, Treasurer
Sarah Abbott ’99
Michael Atalay ’84 P’17,’19,’23
Aaron Barnes P’21,’24
The Rt. Rev. Kevin S. Brown Bishop of Delaware
Mati Buccini P’21,’23
Kiran Chapman P’21,’23,’28
W. Penn Daniel ’07
Porter Durham P’13,’25
Charles P. Durkin ’97
Ari K. Ellis ’89 P’26
Moira Forbes ’97
Anne Hance ’94
Edith “Sis” Johnson P’11
E. Bruce McEvoy IV ’95
Joy McGrath ’92 Head of School
Henry McVey P’25
Paul F. Murphy P’17,’19,’22
Jennifer B. Thomas P’22
Christian Wilson ’01
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Katharine duP. Gahagan GP’10,’11, Chair Emeritus
J. Kent Sweezey ’70, Chair Emeritus
Scott M. Sipprelle ’81 P’08, Chair Emeritus
Sabina B. Forbes P’97,’06 GP’21
Monie T. Hardwick P’02,’04,’07
Maureen K. Harrington P’91,’93,’96,’99,’02
Timothy W. Peters ’66 P’91,’93 GP’19,’21,’24
Steven B. Pfeiffer P’95,’97,’00,’04,’09
Sally E. Pingree P’01
Caroline duP. Prickett GP’18,’20
Henry duP. Ridgely ’67
Edward M. Strong ’66 P’07,’10
Alexander D. Stuart P’09
A’Zir Carey ’25 (center) with fellow Saints Steppers, the St. Andrew’s step group founded in 2022, which continues to evolve, grow, and hit even harder, year after year. The group was on hand in Engelhard Hall to help St. Andrew’s pull off one epic surprise for Co-Dean of Residential Life and Senior Associate Director of Admission Stacey Duprey ’85 P’04,’10 (see story on pg. 12).
Ember Theeke ’25 gets ready to destroy a field hockey ball during a home game against Odessa High School on October 15, 2024. Thanks to her monster efforts on the turf her senior season, Theeke earned Delaware Independent School Conference recognition as First-Team All-Conference.
Who knew Calculus 2 was so fun?
Kim Klecan’s math students work together to tackle differential calculus, which uses average rates of change over smaller and smaller intervals to approximate an instantaneous rate of change, and, clearly, inspire instantaneous smiles.
Message from the Head of School
What happens in the openings can lead to transformations that make us better, wiser, and more inspired.
Schools are all about routines. We have a weekly academic schedule— albeit an inscrutable one—that sits amid our living schedule of meals, chapels, afternoon practice times, the jobs period, study halls, and bedtimes. A visitor once commented to me that the St. Andrew’s timetable is “monastic,” and that is a fitting description. We are a fully residential community with a shared purpose and a common routine. (It is not monastic in that we do not wake for vigils during the night—or at least we are not supposed to!) We try to stick pretty religiously to the schedule, because one of the things students learn here is how to anticipate what is coming next, plan properly, and meet daily expectations. The schedule is an important scaffold for our lives together.
But sometimes, the openings in the scaffold allow for disruption to the routine, perhaps in the form of a thumb injury that shut down a student’s athletic season, but opened the door to a new creative pursuit, which was the case for Spencer Gross ’25. Or maybe the shake-up was missing your scheduled ride to church one morning, then walking to a new and different church because it was closer, which ultimately transformed the original spiritual path you had set out on, which is what happened to Associate Chaplain Rev. Thomas Becker. The ultimate disruption to St. Andrew’s everyday routine—the arrival of the girls in 1973—has led to subsequent changes, like the advent of the copresidency in 1990. What happens in the openings can lead to transformations that make us better, wiser, and more inspired.
As crucial as it is to the transformative work of the school, I do not spend a lot of time thinking about, or even noticing, the schedule. In some sense it is freeing to exist within this framework that allows for what is much more arresting—togetherness, unity, community. St. Andrew’s is a place that brings people together. The distinct rhythms of humans working together to get better every day, all of us moving around this beautiful campus in ways both predictable and unpredictable—within those routines it’s the overwhelming sense of the creativity, face-to-face connection, and thoughtful engagement that memorably characterize each day. It is not the fact of a family-style meal—a highly choreographed routine of setting, serving, passing, eating, and clearing, followed by announcements—that we focus on, but rather the excitement of a table member finishing his history project or the reflections of III formers on their first Lessons & Carols service that claim our attention. Or students coming to the aid of a head of school who needs a new rhyming grace when it is her turn to offer one. (Thanks, Table 7!)
I am grateful for the orderly structures that allow for felicity within the day, perhaps more than usual because I am writing this note during the winter break and feeling a bit unmoored without the children running around. The bells are still ringing, but the heartbeats are gone. Reading the proofs of this issue has brought back a bit of that flavor, and I find it reassuring. Perhaps you do, too. Of course, even with the animating genius of our editor and writers, a single issue of a magazine could never capture all that serendipity, but I hope you sense it in the stories of our two new chaplains, the vibrancy and history of the co-presidency, concerts, competitions, and hype videos. And I warmly invite you, as always, to visit us in Middletown and find the sublime within the structure once again. It will be here; what edifies and enthralls, side by side. J
From the Mail Bag
ST. ANDREW’S
Luke Baer ’98 on sacred SAS relationships
AK:
I just read your letter to the editor [from the Spring 2024 issue]. I am so glad you seem to be on the other side of such a horrifying trial. I am also so thankful that you had the St. Andrew’s community to lift you up. We keep saying it: it is a special place and community. I hope that you realize that the fabric of that community is multidirectional. I believe people show up for those that they care about, those that they value as contributors. You are a valuable contributor to the SAS community. I am not surprised they pushed their way into your house to come to your aid. I am thankful you felt the love!
I’ve been reminded as of late to check out the magazine more frequently. I used to read them religiously, but in the past 15-plus years, I’ve turned my gaze to other places and stopped reading them. After I read your letter, I found myself returning to old habits of looking for class notes from people I know. In the section for Nan Mein, I was drawn to a comment by a classmate of mine that I had no idea had interactions with Nan. Reading Jim’s [Maxfield ’98] note about Nan helped me feel reassured that people from my class had showed support for Nan’s impact on us and so many others. I’m hopeful that now I’ll return to the tradition of reading the magazine when it arrives.
In your letter, you asked us to describe relationships. I have hundreds to describe from St. Andrew’s, a problem I’m extremely glad to possess; however, my first-ever SAS relationship is that with my father, Richard Baer ’62.
My father took me to St. Andrew’s for the first time for his 25th Reunion in 1987. I was 7. Recently, at the last Reunion in June, I spent a lot of time with Pheobe and Quinn, my 6- and 8-year old niece and nephew, the children of my sister, Zoe ’04. These were their first memories of St. Andrew’s. The oldest, Quinn, is the only grandchild my father knew for a short few months before he passed. He was a connector. He helped keep his class together by always reaching out, and I know he was looking forward to showing SAS to his grandkids. At the Reunion BBQ, I ran into one of my dad’s classmates, Ernie Cruikshank ’62. I tapped Ernie on the shoulder and told him, “Richard’s grandchildren are here.” His eyes softened, and he immediately asked, “Where?” He immediately came to greet my sister, Quinn and Phoebe, and their brother, Oscar, the youngest. I know it was a special moment for Ernie.
The sacred SAS relationships my father nurtured from SAS have permeated my life. I now have my own sacred relationships with classmates, other alums, faculty and parents. So I think you’re spot on, AK: the relationships sustain us and bind us together. Thanks for reminding me of that and thank you for showing up for all of us and yourself. We’re glad you’re part of the SAS community.
Luke Baer ’98
STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS
MIRRORING STACEY DUPREY ’85
The school community has an award-winning role model in the beloved alumna
For those who might not know the impact of Co-Dean of Residential Life and Senior Associate Director of Admission Stacey Duprey ’85 P’04,’10 on the St. Andrew’s community, her distinction as a 2024 winner of the Burch Ford Kaleidoscope Award—an honor from The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) given to leaders in residential and student life at boarding schools across the U.S. and Canada—illustrates just how many SAS lives Duprey has touched. But perhaps an even better indicator of her impact was the outpouring of love for Duprey at the Sept. 26 School Meeting during which Duprey was surprised with this award.
At that meeting, Susan Baldridge, the executive director of TABS—who visited St. Andrew’s that morning under the guise of being on a tour of boarding schools—was invited to the stage by the Saints Steppers, the SAS step group, who had just performed.
Duprey, meanwhile, was doing her best in the audience to figure out what was going on. Baldridge took the stage directly after the Saints Steppers, the SAS step group, invited her to do so. “I was like, ‘Oh, my, is Susan going to step?’” Duprey says, laughing. “Then I saw the box for the award in her hand, and I had seen that box before at a previous TABS meeting where they honored that year’s winners. I literally remember thinking at TABS, ‘These people are amazing. I’d never win an award like that.’”
Duprey started whispering to the colleagues next to her, trying to guess who the award was for. “I was going through a list in my head—are they here for [Associate Head of School] Ana [Ramírez]? Are they here for [Interim Dean of Teaching &
Learning] Emily [Pressman]? Then Susan said my name, and I can truthfully say I have never been more surprised in my life.”
“When people talk about Stacey Duprey, they often describe her as the heart of St. Andrew’s School,” said Baldridge, reading from the award nomination letter written by Dean of Inclusion & Belonging Dr. Danica Tisdale Fisher, which Baldrige continued to quote throughout the meeting.
Duprey has compiled a long list of roles at St. Andrew’s throughout the years: an alumna of the Class of 1985; an alumni parent; a dedicated faculty member for nearly a quarter of a century who has served as a dorm parent, advisor, coach, diversity coordinator, admissions officer, and co-dean of residential life; and, as Baldridge read, a “fierce champion of this school and its mission.”
“Her commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging is the hallmark of her tenure,” Baldridge read. “She helped build the foundation for inclusive practices that center equity and inclusion at St. Andrew’s. Stacey’s work with boarding school prep programs and with students of color particularly has helped create a robust pipeline for diverse students. For many years, Stacey unselfishly has given up her time to make sure that every member of this community—including the Black women, faculty, and staff who see her as a role model—feels seen, heard, and knows that their work is appreciated … This ability to build a beloved community is her true gift and a blessing to all of us who know and love her.”
When Duprey considers the “why” behind her winning the award, it starts with her own experience at SAS. “In my work, I always recall my experience of creating a place of safety, of belonging. At my time at St. Andrew’s, I was the only Black girl in my class the whole four years. Being able to craft community, even when not a whole lot of people looked like me, was important. The spaces that I inhabited within faculty
homes that felt like they were my home were a safe space. My dorm, and the friendships I made, those were a safe space,” she says. “I can take the best of what I’ve experienced and bring that core to the work here. I want kids to walk through the dormitory doors and just exhale because they’re home, they’re safe. We did not have any faculty members of color when I was a student, and so to provide that to students who are coming from where I came from, that’s important to me as well.”
Upon receiving the award, which is a handcrafted, engraved kaleidoscope that signifies “a combination of practicality, courage, creativity, playfulness, and conviction of what is right,” Duprey came on stage to a thunderous, floor-shaking applause that was special even for a place like Engelhard Hall, a space famous for celebrating our school community.
CLEAR FOR TAKEOFF
Two Class of 2025 Saints have their eyes on the sky
s a teenager, lots of things can feel disorienting about high school, particularly if you’re looking at said high school from the cockpit of a plane you happen to be piloting thousands of feet above campus.
A“It was pretty cool,” says Juliet Klecan ’25 of her SAS flyover. Klecan is one of two students in her class who is working on earning a private pilot’s license—Katie Boyer ’25 has also taken to the skies.
In Klecan’s first day in the cockpit of a Piper Warrior, the low-wing, single-engine plane Klecan flies out of Dover, Klecan’s flight instructor told her, “Okay, we’re going to go find your house.” “I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do that from the air,’” Klecan says, laughing. “But we found [Route] 13, and then we followed it closely and I flew over my house. Then we tried to find school, which wasn’t that hard because you follow Route 1, and you pretty much look for a big pond.”
Already intrigued by planes, Klecan was inspired to consider flying as a career after one of her SAS friends told her, “You know what job I think you’d be really good at? Pilot.” Boyer was pulled to the air thanks to a great-grandfather who lived at the edge of a runway. Although their flying origin stories differ, one thing they can agree on: “Flying is just so freeing,” says Boyer.
KATIE BOYER ’25
Boyer can’t talk about flying without talking about her greatgrandfather, Richard, a Korean War veteran who received the Bronze Star Medal for Valor for his work as a mine-sweeper. “War is tough, and when he came back, he bought a piece of property in Michigan, where we would visit every summer,” Boyer says. “He loved aviation and was an engineer, and
STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS
“When I think about that day, what I will always remember is the sound and the love,” Duprey says. “We’re a standing ovation kind of school. It’s just what we do. But I’ve never heard or felt something like that. Looking around at students and colleagues with tears in their eyes … that was the real award for me.” •
TARA LENNON
The Burch Ford Kaleidoscope Award is named for Mary Burch Tracy Ford. Ford started her career at Groton School, and served as dean of students at Milton Academy and as head of school at Miss Porter’s School. She died in 2019, and was known for her down-to-earth qualities but idealistic point of view, and her practical approach coupled with her imaginative view of student experience at boarding schools.
wanted something to keep his mind off the war, so he got his pilot’s license.” He used his engineer brain to build planes, and he lived at the edge of a runway. “He fell in love with flying, and would fly his children all around, so my grandmother grew up flying with her dad,” Boyer says. “I’ve always been inspired by my great-granddad and the 14 years I spent with him before he passed.”
What was a fascination to Boyer started to feel like a possible career choice her sophomore year at St. Andrew’s; it wasn’t long before she started to look into universities with strong aviation programs. In March of last year, she started to work toward her private pilot’s license. She hopes to one day become a commercial airline pilot. “There are a lot of opportunities in [piloting],” she says. “You can go wherever you want. It doesn’t feel like a job.”
Boyer flies a Cessna 172, a single-engine, high-wing aircraft, out of Dover Air Force Base. And she’s doing it all by herself. “My flight instructor will tell me what to do, different maneuvers, but I’m the one flying it,” she says. She’s also landed the plane on her own, too.
Is she ever scared? “Nope,” says Boyer with an easy grin. Not even when she has blinders on, which is one of the requirements for certification. “I have to do a certain amount of hours with these blinders on, so I can’t see outside the plane, just the instruments,” she says. She feels her brain working overtime when learning certain skills, like recovering from turbulence. Other times, with her blinders off and just flying out over the Chesapeake Bay, her mind eases. “Sometimes I’m up there looking down and thinking, ‘Why is the water so blue today?’ and it’s because there’s no clouds in the sky,” she says.
STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS
For Boyer, she isn’t fearful because it all comes down to physics. “Really, a plane kind of just wants to fly itself,” she says. “The way it’s built, the air goes underneath and it’s sort of floating. And if a plane crashes, it’s not going to just fall out of the air. That doesn’t happen.”
Every Sunday after Chapel, Boyer’s parents come pick her up and take her to her flying lesson, which runs for four hours per session; by the end of January, barring no weather-cancelled flight hours, Boyer will officially be a licensed private pilot.
Next up will be attending one of the seven universities she applied to. “There are flight schools that aren’t four-year programs, but I want to have a normal college experience,” says Boyer, who will pursue a professional flight major.
When she makes it in the cockpit of a commercial airliner, she knows it’s likely she’ll be one of few women in the big seat. “I’ve never had a woman pilot,” she says. “Even my flight instructor says things like, ‘Yeah, guys will usually do this’ or ‘guys will usually do that.’ He only refers to pilots as males. It makes me cringe like, ‘Okay, you don’t see me as a pilot one day.’ But I do.”
JULIET KLECAN ’25
Klecan, fresh off a trip to Ohio to check out Ohio University for its aviation program, is still buzzing from the experience. “We got to tour the airport, which was awesome,” says Klecan. “While we were there, a private jet that someone flew in was parked, and that was really cool to see. After getting that experience, it’s really nice to have actually flown a plane. I like checking out the planes and spotting the differences; like, oh, mine is actually more high-tech than this; or the primary flight display in this one has this sort of technology; or this one, which had an older style of dials, I was like, ‘Oh my, this looks terrifying.’”
All spoken like a true plane dork, and that’s just fine with Klecan. With an uncle who flies for Southwest Airlines and a cousin training to be a pilot, flight has always fascinated Klecan. “It’s in my family, which not so much made me want to do it, but did put it in my mind that it was possible,” she says. “When I had questions about flying, there were people I could ask.”
There are two things Klecan knows: One, she’s not a deskjob person. “There’s no way you’re putting me at a desk and making me sit,” she says. And two, planes just make her happy.
“But oh, the air,” she says. “Every time a plane takes off, there’s a huge smile on my face.”
Especially when it takes off with her at the controls. “I just love it so much,” she says, “but I can’t lie—it’s terrifying. To be in charge of it yourself is so daunting at times because I feel like I just don’t know enough yet, but once I hit that 20-hour mark with my instructor and I know what I’m doing ... I can’t wait for the day I get to fly by myself.”
Klecan is only six hours into flight lessons; in the summer, when school wraps, she looks forward to “intense days of flying” to hit the 50 hours she needs to obtain her private license before she goes to college. The 50 hours also includes ground school, Klecan says, for which she’ll have to take a written test.
Klecan’s Piper Warrior takes off from Delaware Air Park in Dover, a small airport with about five planes. She knew from the very first day of lessons, when her flight instructor helped her find “the big pond” on Route 1 to flyover St. Andrew’s, that she was all in, thanks to how precisely flight makes her think.
“It’s a lot of little corrections,” she says. “When you’re driving a car, you’re controlling so few things. In a plane, you’re controlling the tilt, the up, the down. You’re using the wheel, which also goes in and out for the pitch of the plane. You’re keeping a steady altitude while trying not to let the wind turn you … you must be precise.”
Although she’s sold on flying, she’s not quite sure what path she’ll take. “I’m interested in flying commercial, but I wouldn’t mind flying cargo planes,” she says. “I also think it would be really fun to be a crop-duster. And if I ever end up in the military, flying a fighter jet has to be the coolest thing ever.”
Also cool is that Klecan has someone to share the skies with. “I can’t think of a single person in my time here at St. Andrew’s that was interested in flight school or pursuing an aviation pathway,” she says. “And to think both Katie and I are doing it in the same year? It’s pretty wild.” •
KLECAN FLIES OVER THE “BIG POND.”
NEXT UP FOR BOYER: PURSUING A PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT MAJOR.
TRUSTEE’S CORNER
Get to know a member of our Board of Trustees
St. Andrew’s School can thank a handwritten letter from former Director of Admissions
Peter Caldwell P’07,’07,’10 for inspiring Dr. Christian Wilson ’01 to become a Saint. Wilson, who was introduced to SAS through the A Better Chance program—an organization that helps increase access to the nation’s top independent and public schools for high-performing students of color—was accepted into another school, which offered a full scholarship plus a stipend. “It was a better offer,” Wilson admits. But then came Caldwell’s letter. “It didn’t necessarily say St. Andrew’s is the only place for you, but it did say, ‘We think you would do really well here, and we would love to have you.’ And in that letter, I could feel the love. I thought, this is a place that cares about me.”
Wilson, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and assistant attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, is one of the newest members of the St. Andrew’s School Board of Trustees, a position he says he took to as a way to show gratitude.
“When I think about what St. Andrew’s has given me … it changed the way I think about opportunities,” he says. “At St. Andrew’s, you’re expected to be a leader in your field and a moral leader, too. I grew up poor; it wasn’t like people were telling me, ‘You’re going to be a doctor.’ But when I was [at SAS], it was like, ‘Yes. You will do something great.’ When I think about where I am now, the turning point was St. Andrew’s. To have an opportunity to help protect the school for other students, this is the least I can do for what St. Andrew’s has done for me.”
He sees his role on the board as two-fold. One, as a culture-protector, and two, as a technology guy—and they both go hand-in-hand.
“There’s a culture of St. Andrew’s that needs to be maintained,” Wilson says. “St. Andrew’s is a very special place. And you need people in the room who can say, ‘This doesn’t feel like a St. Andrew’s thing.’ So as we continue to advance technologically, we have to be careful about what we allow and how we allow students to interact with the rest of the world. Technology allows things to move a lot quicker, but that’s not always good. So, what I think I can bring to the board is this balance of, ‘Yes, we want technology and all these other things, but also, how do we protect and maintain the St. Andrew’s experience at all costs?’ I have very strong opinions about how I think we should implement the teaching of AI in schools, and I think bringing that to the table is important.”
Wilson says the same kind of work being done by students in St. Andrew’s classrooms is being done by trustees in the St. Andrew’s boardroom. “There’s a lot of really smart people in the room who care a lot about St Andrew’s, and they’re pushing intellectual and critical thinking to get to the right answer,” he says. “We push and challenge each other, we ask hard questions, all to ensure we protect the St. Andrew’s experience.”
Speaking of that experience, it’s ever-present in Wilson’s life. “I think about that letter from Mr. Caldwell frequently, and I hand-write letters as a result. It shows effort. It shows caring. It’s such a simple but meaningful thing you can do,” he says. “Could I have done well at other schools? Absolutely. But St. Andrew’s changed how I view my role as a citizen, and that role is to care for others. That’s something present for me every day.” •
Trustee Trivia
A Quick Q&A with Dr. Christian Wilson ’01
I CAN’T GO A DAY WITHOUT ... coffee. Like seriously. How do we get up in the morning without it?
MY FAVORITE ST. ANDREW’S TRADITION IS … Frosty Run. Hands down.
I CAN’T BELIEVE MORE PEOPLE HAVEN’T READ … The Fountainhead.
ON MY BEST DAY I … try to remember to stop and enjoy it.
ON MY WORST DAY I … try to find something to laugh about.
THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING A TRUSTEE IS… working with such a smart group of dedicated people that care so much about the school and its students and helping to preserve its truly unique culture.
MY MOTTO IS … no time like the present.
THE THREE PEOPLE I’D INVITE TO DINNER ARE … John Coltrane, President Barack Obama, and Pierre de Fermat. Can you imagine the conversations we’d have?
IF I HAD A MORNING SHOW, MY CO-HOST WOULD BE … my mother. She’s hilarious.
THE ST. ANDREW’S MEMORY I CHERISH MOST IS … early mornings sitting on the grass docks watching the sunrise.
THE LAST TV SHOW I BINGE WATCHED WAS … The Wire (for the fifth time).
NOTHING CHEERS ME UP LIKE … playing with my 3-year-old daughter, Maya.
MY GUILTY PLEASURE IS … ice cream.
MY FAVORITE WORD IS … L’chaim.
MY FELLOW SAS TRUSTEES WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT … I had a disciplinary committee meeting when I was a student. Ask for details.
SAS 101: Chesa Profaci ’80
The office of Director of Alumni Engagement Chesa Profaci ’80 is living school history
What does the office of a person who has lived and loved St. Andrew’s since 1976 look like? Just like this! Everyone at St. Andrew’s knows if you need an SAS story, quick school history lesson, or little-known piece of trivia to impress your classmates at the next Coast to Coast Toast, you sit at the feet of Director of Alumni Engagement Chesa Profaci ’80. An “early girl” who entered St. Andrew’s just a few years after the 1973 advent of coeducation, Profaci has worked at St. Andrew’s in multiple roles since 1990. It takes but one glance around her office to know what keeps her inspired: “The people,” she says. “Watching people from all classes continuously come back, reconnect, and realize how incredibly special this place is—how lucky we were to be somewhat isolated, thrown together, and told to live and learn together—is one of my favorite parts of this job.” The other? “The kids,” she says. “Everybody is all in. These kids make all of us here better people.”
A spin around her office is akin to time-traveling through St. Andrew’s history. Some highlights:
01 The beginning of Profaci’s St. Andrew’s journey, frozen in time: She and her family in 1976, a photo taken moments before the family got in the car to drive to St. Andrew’s for move-in day.
02 The wedding day photos of Courtney Streett ’05 and John Reynolds ’06—two alumni you can read more about on page 40!
03 Photos from Profaci playing SAS basketball, for which she was a spunky point guard and the winner of the Henry Prize, awarded to the VI Form athletes who have been “of the greatest service to athletics.”
04 A beloved keepsake: a birthday sonnet written for Profaci by Chester Baum ’36.
05 Her well-earned Henry Prize bowl from 1980. “I’ve never polished it,” she says, laughing. “Don’t tell.” Inside it are a hot commodity in St. Andrew’s lore—rocks from around the world that BillEd Stevenson ’62 collects, polishes, and gives to friends. “They have soothing powers,” Profaci says.
06 A light-up cardinal, a nod to SAS roots. “This was a gift from Lili Pell, who is the youngest daughter of the first headmaster, Rev. Walden Pell, and his wife, Edith,” Profaci says. “She told me it made her laugh, so she thought I should have it.”
07 A stained-glass SAS shield, made by legendary faculty member Nan Mein.
08 A quarter that once belonged to Church Hutton ’54, which he lost to Profaci in a bet in 1999. “Church was on the alumni board, and he’s a great class agent, and he bet me a quarter that we would not break $1 million raised for the Saints Fund that year,” Profaci says. “But I won.”
As much as we don’t want to glorify a bum thumb, the St. Andrew’s School community can thank an ill-timed injury to a certain opposable digit on the hand of Spencer Gross ’25 for ushering in a new era of St. Andrew’s athletics hype-ism. Gross, who hurt his thumb early in the fall, was sidelined from football and looking for something to fill his time when he began zeroing in on cool marketing and hype videos of NFL teams. “The edits of these professional teams are so cool,” Gross says. “They just make the athletes look good. I’d want something like that to be made for me as an athlete. I figured other people would want that, too.”
Bolstered by a longtime love for film—something he and his dad share—Gross began to study film more seriously as a new sophomore at St. Andrew’s, familiarizing himself with first the tools of the trade, and then moving onto cinematography, lighting, how to shoot interviews, and more.
“My dad’s a huge film nut, so he’s always given me great recommendations,” he says. “We love talking about movies, and I love consuming film and photography content, and I think it’s just becoming more and more prevalent in my life.”
The interest culminated in him getting his own camera, which at first, he used to make photos and not films. Gross liked to shoot with Satchel Barnes ’24, who, like Gross now, served as the unofficial St. Andrew’s community videographer.
“What Satchel was really good at was doing these video compilations of his friends, which I loved,” Gross says. “I thought I’d try that approach and started to film stuff. Satchel was really good at filming moments that never felt obvious; it didn’t stand out that he was making something. He could stay behind the scenes. For me, when I got to the more subtle parts of my projects, it just felt obvious that I was pointing a camera at something.”
So when Gross found himself down one thumb in September, he thought he’d try something different—intentional athletics productions in which there was no trying to hide behind the camera. He started with Saints football. A video starring Spencer Fairbanks ’25 made its world premiere in Engelhard Hall during a September School Meeting, leaving the student body buzzing and on their feet—a new SAS hype man had been anointed.
To the backtrack of Kendrick Lamar’s song “XXX. (feat. U2),” the video showcases the crux of boarding-school life, according to Gross.
“The video starts with Spencer walking, he’s got on a t-shirt and Crocs, and then he’s in the locker room in his gear and on his way to the field,” Gross says. “That’s really how we transition from life here day-to-day. You’re in an academic building as a student, you walk next door, and all of a sudden, you’re an athlete.”
The video steeps viewers in startling intimacy with Fairbanks as the camera first sweeps around the locker room, giving life to athletic equipment that lines shelves, before settling on its star, who seems to be drinking in the moments before he puts on his gear to do battle on the gridiron for St. Andrew’s.
Gross is all-smiles, camera in hand, as he shoots Saints boys soccer.
That intimacy viewers feel is the product of good editing, says SAS film studies instructor Peter Hoopes P’20,’22,’26, who counts Gross as one of his senior film majors. “Spencer has a really keen eye for interesting angles and perspectives,” he says. “There are so many of his shots that are really creative. I also really appreciate the student-angle of his work, as opposed to the grown up-angle.” Hoopes also notes that Gross is a fantastic editor. “He edits his projects really well because he has a wonderful sense of tempo and rhythm,” he says. “Film editing has its own sort of rhythm that one has to really be able to dial into.”
Rhythm is also the starting point of Gross’ process— musically speaking, that is. “My process often starts with music,” he says. “I listen to a song, and kind of see the edit in my mind. I think the music is arguably the most important part of videos I make because I’m editing it on beat a lot of the time.”
His talents are much sought-after; he’s made hype videos for Saints cross-country leading up to their state championship meet, where girls and boys both came in second place; for boys soccer, which also came second in the state, and for volleyball.
“I try and represent as many people as I can,” he says. “I remember when I was a sophomore here and even a freshman in my old school, whenever I’d see a photo or a video of myself on the website or social media, I would get so excited. It’s an adrenaline rush.”
Ironically, the athletics hype man isn’t too into sports. But he doesn’t have to be, he says, to be inspired and find joy in the work he does.
“When I see that people share my videos with others or feel like as a result of my work, they can show off a little, I really enjoy that feeling of giving people something that makes them feel good about themselves,” he says. “That’s what really inspires me to not only do this, but to be as good as I can. I have all this untapped energy that I’m able to focus into film, and it gives me great personal joy.” •
Want to get hype yourself?
Scan this QR code to see some of Gross’ work.
ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT BEING AN ALUMNUS
of St. Andrew’s School is that you are a part of an extraordinary community for life. One of the worst things about being an alumnus of St. Andrew’s School is knowing what you know about SAS, but not being able to be here every day to witness all the wonderful things Saints are doing: in classrooms, in the local community, or on our athletic fields and courts. Particularly on our fields and courts, as St. Andrew’s comes off a historic fall season for our athletic program, which saw improved records in sports like field hockey and volleyball, and three DIAA State Championship runner-up trophies, for girls cross-country, boys cross-country, and boys soccer. So inspired was Director of Athletics Neil Cunningham that he drew up a game plan to share with you his top six favorite games (he couldn’t stick to five!) so far in team sports since he arrived in 2022. They’re presented in chronological order because, as Cunningham notes, they each were equally remarkable for different reasons.
SAINTS FANS BRAVE THE COLD TO WATCH ST. ANDREW’S NO. 11 BOYS SOCCER SLAY NO. 2 TATNALL IN THE STATE SEMIFINALS.
FIELD HOCKEY VS ODESSA
OCTOBER 20, 2022 2-0,
SAINTS
“The team was under new coaches, who were establishing a whole new way of doing things, and we had some narrow defeats,” says Cunningham of the Saints big 2-0 victory over Odessa High on Odessa’s turf. “It was an under the-lights game, we sent a fan bus, and had a good crowd at Odessa. Kaki Ackermann [’23] scored both goals, and the excitement after the game was amazing! JV also had a win that night.”
Head coach Kate Cusick says this game in particular “beautifully represented the spirit of the St. Andrew’s School community … I consider this game a whole-school win.” Cusick remembers going into that game with a 1-7 record after recording their first win in the game prior, against neighboring foe Middletown High School. The Odessa game got off to a slow start, she says, but after the first whistle, there was a momentum shift. “After that whistle, much of the school arrived, bringing their banners, cheers, and momentum,” Cusick says. “I vividly remember seeing the team become ignited by having their friends there, and it was as if it was just as much our school in the stadium as the players on the field who won the game.”
Cusick says she found out, in real time, what “Family on 6” means. “The energy and spirit of this community are palpable, and when our athletes’ friends are there to support them, the impact is undeniable,” she says.
FOOTBALL VS SEAFORD NOVEMBER 3, 2023 41-11, SAINTS
“We were not picked to win this game,” says Cunningham. “We were already coming off a couple of losses, and we had to travel all the way [south] to Seaford. Griffin Patterson [’24], who was injured the first game and missed the entire season up to that point, was set for a comeback game. His return took the pressure off a lot of other kids, and we played an unbelievable game. It was a look at what might have been had we been healthy. We went on to win again the week after, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth.”
The stats from the under-the-lights game under former head coach Patrick Moffitt speak for themselves: Patterson caught seven passes for 171 yards, had four touchdowns and an interception on defense. QB Frank Nasta ’24 went 20/27 for 361 yards and five touchdowns. Yasir Felton ’24 caught six passes for 67 yards and one touchdown. Spencer Fairbanks ’25 caught five passes for 86 yards, and Jamo Hancock ’26 had two interceptions on defense.
“There was a different energy,” Nasta said of the game at the time. “Everybody on the team knew that [Patterson] was back, and you could feel it of in the air.” Nasta said the team was all but unstoppable that night, taking Seaford by surprise. “Pick your poison: We’re going to hit you somewhere,” Nasta said. “We had 361 passing yards, five passing touchdowns … we crushed them. But it was the relationships that I built [with my teammates] that were really the win from the season.”
BOYS LACROSSE VS SMYRNA, OPENING ROUND OF PLAYOFFS
MAY 21, 2024
8-7, SAINTS
Boys lacrosse, under new head coach Chris Bates, made history last spring when they secured their first playoff win since 2017. Finishing the season with a 9-6 record, the Saints entered the state tourney as the No. 9 seed and faced off against No. 8 Smyrna. “This was a team we had already lost to a month earlier,” Cunningham says. “We had fans come to the game, some alums showed up, too, and there was a very loud Smyrna crowd at the game.”
In the end, it didn’t matter how loud the Smyrna crowd was—St. Andrew’s shut the noise down with an 8-7 upset victory. “We won with the winning goal coming from Liam Robinson [’26] with less than 10 seconds to go,” says Cunningham. “Liam scored six goals that day, Reeve Johnson [’25] got the other two. Thomas White [’26] came up big with seven massive saves.”
Although No. 1 Salesianum School defeated SAS in the quarterfinal round, nothing will tarnish the glow of this game for head coach Chris Bates. “Total team grit and no quit,” he says of the team’s effort. “Multiple guys stepped up to contribute big plays throughout the game. The atmosphere was electric with a huge Saints cheering section. It was an awesome playoff environment. Seeing the boys celebrate after the game is something I won’t ever forget. Down late in a playoff battle versus a team that had beaten us handily earlier in the season, a game-tying goal with only seconds to go, a huge Saints crowd: can’t beat it.”
GIRLS SOCCER, STATE QUARTERFINAL VS SUSSEX ACADEMY MAY 23, 2024 2-1, SAINTS
After the No. 4 Saints scored a first-round bye, they notched a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Sussex Academy in the DIAA DII state quarterfinal game, marking the first state tournament win for girls soccer in school history. “The team posted a 13-3-1 record, the most wins in program history,” says Cunningham. “Not only was it amazing to put together that season, but clinching the No. 4 seed meant we got to host a quarterfinal game on our home field, which was so memorable. We had a massive crowd of students, employees, parents, and alumni.”
Following a breakdown by the Sussex defense in the first half, Tanner Caldwell ’26 got SAS on the board with a long-distance strike far-post. Tough Saints defense held Sussex scoreless going into halftime. Emerson McCarthy ’24 doubled the Saints lead with a long-distance attempt from almost midfield. The victory sent the team to the semifinals, where they ultimately fell to Ursuline Academy.
What will head coach Megan Altig remember most about the Sussex win? “The elation when the final whistle blew,” she says. “Watching the whole team run toward [goalie] Daphne [Banfield ’24] with the biggest smiles on their faces. As coaches, [former head coach Matt] Carroll and I had been teaching and building for three years prior knowing we could eventually get to this point. Some players went from never playing their freshmen year to being All-Conference. The growth of the players, and the team accomplishing something we knew we were capable of but hadn’t got there yet, is something I will never forget.”
VOLLEYBALL VS WILMINGTON CHRISTIAN
OCTOBER 26, 2024
3-2, SAINTS
If there was ever a day for our senior volleyball leaders to put on a show, it was Senior Day on our home court against Wilmington Christian, a team Cunningham says beat St. Andrew’s earlier in the season, 2-3. Seniors Brianne Isaac ’25 and Catherine Foster ’25 understood the assignment— Isaac recorded 11 kills and Foster 17 kills and 22 digs. Gibson Cronje ’26 went on a serving tear with six aces, and followed it up with 22 digs.
“We went down 2 sets to 1, and then won 27-25 and 1715 in an epic battle to win,” Cunningham says. “We had a huge crowd, and that win meant we finished the season with a winning record, the first one since 2018, thanks to new coaches and tough, gritty seniors that had won just one game two years ago.”
Jonah-Kai Baker, the program’s new head coach, says his squad simply refused to lose. “That game embodied the grit and toughness that were characteristic of our entire season,” he says. “The team battled through injuries and adversity, getting significant contributions from almost every single player on the roster. The team, led by our seniors, came together when we were behind in the fourth set, determined not to let their fantastic season end on a sour note. They showed so much passion and joy, and the image of their immediate celebration after the last point has been seared into my memory. To end on a win to secure our first winning season since 2018—with so many fans and families in attendance—was the perfect culmination of a special year.”
BOYS SOCCER, STATE SEMIFINAL VS TATNALL
NOVEMBER 13, 2024
1-0, SAINTS
In front of a St. Andrew’s fan section 265 strong that included students, employees, alumni (including several proud members of the 1981 St. Andrew’s soccer state championship team), and families, the No. 11 boys soccer team punched their ticket to the state championship game with a full-team victory against No. 2 Tatnall, led by the brother-duo of Luke Robinson ’28 and Liam Robinson ’26.
The Saints back line, Ian Cairnduff ’26, Liam Robinson ’26, Jack Myers ’25, and Lucas Sturges-Moyne ’27, kept a clean sheet, as did dynamic Saints’ goalkeeper Liam Wilson ’27. Liam Robinson made a game-changing sliding kick save, preventing Tatnall from scoring and forcing the ball out of bounds. Then brother Luke Robinson ’28 got in on the action with a game-changing play of his own, scoring after securing a rebounding shot off of a defender from William Bido ’25. The upset was the third in a series for the Saints, who also took down No. 6 Delmar and No. 3 Conrad on their way to the championship game, which they lost on PKs against No. 1 Sussex Academy.
“The game was always going to be a tight affair,” Cunningham says. “Both teams traded shots, we hit the crossbar, and Liam Wilson made a couple of clutch saves. A scramble in the box led to the game-winning goal and absolute bedlam in the stands. The players ran to the St. Andrew’s section of the crowd, and the atmosphere was indeed electric. The crowd made a massive difference, and the Saints marched on to the final. So proud of the grit and determination of this squad of players.” •
Head Chaplain
Rev. Dr. Michael Giansiracusa and Associate Chaplain
Rev. Thomas Becker
explore how open ears led them to St. Andrew’s and have continued to guide them as they usher in a new era of Chapel leadership.
BY TARA LENNON
rowing up, Associate Chaplain Rev. Thomas Becker cherished his perfect church attendance record. Each service he attended was a gold star on his mental attendance sheet, the data that served as proof of his identity as someone who goes to church.
“I wanted to be known as a person who goes to church, which was very much for the wrong reasons,” he says. “It was very self-glorifying and self-edifying.”
Years later, when he became a wide-eyed freshman at Centre College in Danville, Ky., Becker was determined to keep his record pristine, and walked all the way to the other side of town to church to do so. When he showed up for his first service, a fellow church-goer offered to give him a ride the following week.
The next Sunday, Becker waited outside at the appointed place, at the appointed time, for his ride to pick him up. But nobody showed.
Attendance record ruined, he thought.
Out of options, he decided to make the walk, but quickly realized he wouldn’t make it on time. He heard the sounds of a much-closer church bell ringing, so he changed course, instead following the sound to the Episcopal church in town.
“I walked to the Episcopal church because I thought, ‘Well, it’s the same God probably,’” Becker says.
While the perfect attendance record is a long forgotten concept, his devotion to the Episcopal faith, sparked by this fortuitous encounter at a church where he felt an “amazing sense of welcome,” has remained and flourished.
Thirteen years later, Becker and Head Chaplain Rev. Dr. Michael Giansiracusa followed the sound of the Founders Hall bell tower to heed St. Andrew’s call for new leadership of the school’s Chapel program. The two will further anchor the school in its Episcopal identity, which Becker defines as an understanding of who Jesus Christ was and is that informs the school’s sense of hospitality and welcome regardless of religious or spiritual background, as well as the school’s embrace of asking big questions as signs of faith. They plan to do so by strengthening the
“DRIVEN BY THE CURIOSITY AND GROUNDEDNESS OF THE STUDENT BODY, THE CHAPLAINS KNEW THEY WANTED TO BE A PART OF THIS COMMUNITY.”
St. Andrew’s relationship to the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, bolstering the program’s support for the diverse faith and non-faith identities of the school community, and reimagining what leadership of the program looks like.
“They’re not thunderous changes, and maybe most people won’t even notice them,” says Giansiracusa. “But those who participate will feel the difference.”
THE ROAD TO CHAPLAINCY, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM SOME FRIENDS
The mirror between the chaplains’ personal identities and the school’s Episcopal identity is one reason the duo felt called to St. Andrew’s. Another reason: they are, first and foremost, teachers. They knew from their first encounters with students in their classrooms that something magical happens between students and teachers at St. Andrew’s. Driven by the “curiosity” and “groundedness” of the student body, they knew they wanted to be a part of this community.
Becker has also been impressed by the students’ bravery. “I think it takes a high degree of courage to be a teenager willing to invest in your spiritual well-being through practicing your faith, through discussing your faith, through having your faith challenged through the rituals of your faith, and even being vulnerable enough to say, ‘Hey, this is who I am. And this is a really deep core part of who I aspire to be or who I fear I am,’” Becker says. “And when folks can rally around each other, and we’ve seen it even just in the short while we’ve been here, that’s how you build something.”
Prior to his ordination, Becker spent his entire career in school settings in areas adjacent to Appalachia, including stints in both higher and secondary boarding education. He also served in a variety of positions at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., and Christ School in Arden, N.C., including as teacher, coach, lay chaplain, college counselor, and dorm parent.
Giansiracusa looks back fondly on his first career as a teacher, too. Before becoming an Episcopal priest in 2011 and serving communities at parishes in and outside Philadelphia, Giansiracusa taught theology at Saint Mark’s High in Wilmington,
Del., Malvern Prep in Malvern, Pa., and Bishop Eustace Prep in Pennsauken Township, N.J.
Coming to St. Andrew’s, says Giansiracusa, feels like two celebratory life events at once: a “homecoming,” as he returns to Delaware to teach yet again, and a “marriage” of both eras of life—teaching and serving the spiritual needs of a community.
Giansiracusa says the pull to return to a school setting came from his former students, who reached out to him over the pandemic asking for counsel. He reconnected with that part of himself whose cup overflows listening and talking to young people navigating life challenges.
Likewise, Becker listened to the voices around him as his career took shape, particularly those that said he had the talents and the skills to be a priest, a calling he never really knew he aspired to.
“One of the things that was hardest for me to learn was listening for God speaking through other people,” says Becker. He had learned to trust his own gut so much that his sense of self clouded the wisdom of people who knew something about him that he didn’t yet know about himself. “Listening was liberating,” he says. He was finally not solely responsible for hearing the voice of God in his life.
“That’s a skill that we can all really lean into, especially as a community as tightly-knit as St. Andrew’s, to be able to say, ‘What are the things that I am seeing in you that are worthy of celebration and worthy of bringing to the fore that you might not even know that you have?’” he says.
After seminary, Becker returned to Kentucky to serve as associate rector at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Ky.—his final stop on the journey to St. Andrew’s.
WE’RE NOT AN ISLAND
Only a few months after their arrival at St. Andrew’s, the chaplains are making headway on the clear, simple tenets that they hope to define their leadership tenure, one of which is staying true to the Episcopal identity of the school.
To deepen ties to the school’s Episcopal tradition, the chaplains are already in the midst of building the network between the school—which is a parish in the diocese of Delaware—and other parishes in the diocese.
A SCHOOL
AND
“We’re not alone on an island,” says Giansiracusa. “We are a part of a larger Episcopal community in this state. And for us, [that’s] an opportunity to show who we are.”
The chaplains meet with other Episcopal priests and chaplains in Delaware, exchanging ideas about how they can mutually assist the needs of their respective communities. One of their agenda items is “swapping pulpits” with these priests, in order to bring different voices to the St. Andrew’s community and to bring St. Andrew’s stories to other communities.
The opportunity to serve fellow “Episcopal siblings” rooted in the state of Delaware is one that excites Becker. He notes with enthusiasm the joyful blessing of the animals that took place at St. Anne’s Episcopal School in the fall, which Becker and Giansiracusa led. They also were delighted to bring students to the annual diocesan convention
WITH THE TRADEMARK HUMOR
ENTHUSIASM THAT MAKES HIM
MEETING FAVORITE, BECKER—AKA, "REV. B,"—INTRODUCES THE REBRANDED VOLUNTARY CHAPEL, NOW CALLED SPARK.
in Rehoboth Beach in November as Young Adult Delegates.
“Diocesan Convention is the one time each year when every Episcopal institution in our state gets together face-to-face,” says Becker. “There’s no better place for connecting and bridge-building. Having students there is the most tangible way to bear witness to the good work we’re doing in Middletown, and it also opens up opportunities for our students to see and learn more about the good work going on throughout the Episcopal Church in Delaware.”
Rt. Rev. Kevin Brown, the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Church in Delaware, welcomes the chaplains’ desire to deepen connections to the diocese. For years, Brown has gotten a seat at the table when it comes to shaping spiritual life at the school in his formal role, engaging in the behindthe-scenes work of the Chapel’s administration, serving on the school’s board of trustees, and leading services when he visits campus. He’s also picked up on the culture of the school from the
optimal vantage point, a Dining Hall seat, in the time he has spent informally connecting with the St. Andrew’s community during his visits.
He says that the energy the chaplains bring to the school is contagious. “I’ve been very excited to see the energy and joy that they bring to this calling,” says Brown. “They’re continuing in the long line of hoping and working toward making the Episcopal presence at St. Andrew’s as inviting and robust as it can be. Both of them are clearly well-trained for this work, but you can tell beyond the training, there’s a sense of calling, a sense of purpose, and I am energized personally by that.”
The relationship between St. Andrew’s and the diocese, he says, is mutualistic. The strong ties help the church spread “love and acceptance and a sense of mercy and justice” to young people in the “Episcopal way,” and hear the perspectives of the new generation as it evolves.
Conversely, the diocese, and its 32 parishes across the state, can amplify the St. Andrew’s presence amongst communities in Delaware, providing service and leadership opportunities for its students.
“[Tightening bonds with the diocese] also very much helps the school remember its roots,” says Brown. “It’s the historical relationship with the Episcopal Church [that grounds the school], so much so that it’s not untethered and an organization floating alone in the state or in the world.”
EQUAL PARTNERS
To stay true to the school’s Episcopal identity, the chaplains say they also must develop a vibrant, welcoming space for people of all or no faiths.
“[Our Episcopal identity is] not something that’s just said, or a couple of words in the admissions brochure, but it is something that we’re really committed to, and that means that we worship together,” says Giansiracusa. “It also means that we allow other faiths to worship in our chapel and be equal partners.”
Adds Becker, “Human beings are spiritual beings. You don’t need to be a Christian to be a spiritual being. You don’t need to be an Episcopalian to be a spiritual being. So whatever it means for you to tend to your spiritual health, that’s what we’re here to help you do.”
GIANSIRACUSA AT THE PULPIT IN CHAPEL.
To reinforce equal partnerships, the chaplains will spearhead a Spiritual Life Council on campus, which will bring representatives of the St. Andrew’s Vestry, the Interfaith Council, and all of the campus affinity groups—small communities of students who share a common identity—together in one room.
“What are we doing? What are [other groups] doing? [How can we] keep the lines of communication open? How can each group help [each] other and support [each] other?” says Giansiracusa of the council’s guiding questions.
They are also expanding the number of affinity group chapels—Wednesday night gatherings in Chapel during which members of the school community shared stories and traditions centered around their cultural heritages, such as celebrating Diwali or Lunar New Year—in an effort to make the diverse voices of St. Andrew’s seen, heard, and felt.
Ashley McIntosh ’25 is one of the most active Saints on campus who strives to make Chapel a space that welcomes those of diverse backgrounds and identities, and a vehicle for the promotion of social justice, which she does as one of the first students ever to serve on the Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission of the Episcopal Church of Delaware. McIntosh collaborates with priests and church leaders on the commision to “bridge the gap” between religion, social justice work, and racial reconciliation by attending monthly commision meetings, and engaging the St. Andrew’s community in conversations about identity. McIntosh says the chaplains are on the same page as she is when it comes to an even more inclusive future of the Chapel program.
“I can already tell that diversity, racial justice, and inclusion and belonging is something that’s very important to the chaplains,” says McIntosh. “They’re very interested in knowing what happened before, and also how they can bring their own spin on the Chapel. It’s refreshing, and I’m so excited to see what happens. They consider me a senior voice, and someone who’s been there all four years and [has] done this work. And so I really do feel like my voice is heard and the work that I do is acknowledged.”
Creating equal space for members of the campus community to be seen and heard starts in the chaplains’ office, where the new floor plan speaks for itself: Giansiracusa and Becker moved
“
“I’VE BEEN VERY EXCITED TO SEE THE ENERGY AND JOY THAT THEY BRING TO THIS CALLING. THEY’RE CONTINUING IN THE LONG LINE OF HOPING AND WORKING TOWARD MAKING THE
EPISCOPAL PRESENCE AT ST. ANDREW’S AS INVITING AND ROBUST AS IT CAN BE."
–RT. REV. KEVIN BROWN, BISHOP OF DELAWARE
their desks into the same room to get around the initial separation of space. Now, it’s an ideal setup for the constant dialogue between the chaplains that is necessary to create the unified leadership of the program they envision. They have divided some responsibilities, and Giansiracusa attends a few more weekly meetings than Becker, but the two say there’s nothing they do that doesn’t involve the other. Giansiracusa says this is partly for a practical reason—the best ideas are generated this way—but also because it’s a way to live out faith.
“If we want to model equality in the world, how can we model it if we are all bound up in hierarchical structures?” asks Giansiracusa, who considers himself just one of the chaplains on campus.
AN ALL-IN SPIRIT
A motto that has guided the chaplains in their philosophy of making space and evening the playing field, whether in Chapel or the four walls of their office, is “show up and listen.” They carry this ideal with them as they engage in the daily work of St. Andrew’s life, like showing up at sports games, hosting their newly imagined Friday voluntary chapels—renamed “SPARK,” which stands for Saints Performing Acts of Real Kindness—providing a listening ear for faculty and staff, driving students to community service opportunities, and soaking in the meaningful conversations that occur at affinity group meetings.
“We as chaplains are available to listen to anybody who needs to just blow off steam or has something even much more serious on their mind,” says Giansiracusa. “We’re happy to be in that position and we’re really thrilled to be here together, as a team, and to support all of the good work that’s already being done here.”
For the chaplains, being the people that are not just doing the work, but being there for all of the things that take place on campus, whether that’s stopping by a history teacher’s class to provide feedback on a class debate about World War I, or cheering on the Philadelphia Phillies at a staff and faculty playoff watch-party, is worth every ounce of energy they pour in.
“You give a lot, but you also receive as much if not more,” says Giansiracusa.
J
In the Winter 2024 issue of St. Andrew’s Magazine—the first in our series devoted to celebrating the 50th anniversary of coeducation—we turned to iconic St. Andrew’s voices to share the story of how the school first opened the doors to women in the fall of 1973, a conversation that actually began decades earlier, in 1956, when then-Head of School Walden Pell executed a study on the feasibility of coeducation. The school community wasn’t ready for such an earth-shattering change until much later, in 1972, when then-Head of School Bob Moss Sr. finally got the greenlight for coeducation after laying groundwork since his 1958 arrival.
On the heels of culture- and institution-shifting faculty women like Nan Mein and Eleanor Seyffert, the first 27 girls arrived—timid at first for some, bold and sharp-elbowed from the start for others. As the years went by, and more and more girls were admitted, legendary St. Andrew’s women leaders began to arrive to join the likes of Seyffert and Mein, like Joan O’Brien P’84 GP’15,’17,’19,’22, Elizabeth Roach P’04,’07,’13,’18, the Rev. Louise Howlett P’11,’14, teacher and Athletic Director Gail LeBlanc, and many others.
The girls had adult women leaders to look up to in the arts, in athletics, in Chapel, and in academics, but what of their own leadership opportunities? Where were those spaces where the voices of the girls were not only heard, but explicitly sought, their specific experiences represented?
Sure, the girls were here. But now what?
TRUSTING THE PROCESS
Catching up with Nanda Pailla ’25 and Leah Horgan ’25 can be tough—they are very busy seniors.
Each is a stellar athlete who spends long hours finetuning their craft. The athleticism of both was on impressive display this past fall as each co-captained a team that came in second in state tournament play, Pailla with boys soccer and Horgan with girls cross-country.
Then there’s the fact that the two seniors are nearing the finish line of their time at St. Andrew’s, and as a result, are wisely soaking up every second they have at the school they love, doing the things they love, with the people they love.
And of course, perhaps most important, the two serve St. Andrew’s as co-presidents, a position that requires them to meet with school leaders regularly about student climate and culture, give the daily announcements, run School Meeting each week, sit on the discipline and honor committees, and so much more.
Perhaps it’s due to these packed schedules that when the duo sits down to talk about the co-presidency, Horgan wastes no time getting to the heart of how she feels about the fact that it wasn’t until the 1990-1991 school year, almost two decades after the first girls arrived, that the class president wasn’t a solo male student by default.
“That’s just weird,” she says. “It’s hard to imagine the co-presidency any other way than what it is now. I think there’s a lot of unity that comes from everyone feeling there’s a balance of girls and guys having a voice. I think if it were to be just one guy, that’d be pretty tough to have voices heard, whether it be for changes in the school, issues with the school, or ideas for the school. It’s weird to imagine our school working any other way.”
For Pailla, it’s not just the representation that he thinks is a critical evolution to student leadership, it’s also the idea of two very different people working together.
“I wouldn’t say [Leah] and I are polar opposites, but we’re not similar in the way we think,” he says. “We’re also part of different [social] groups that cover a vast majority of what the school holds its values in. I think we do a good job of
what co-presidents are chosen to do: not only build the school’s culture, but foster it and make sure the classes after us carry it on.”
Build. That’s a concept former Head of School Tad Roach P’04,’07,’13,’18 knows a little something about. Roach, along with wife Elizabeth Roach, arrived at St. Andrew’s in 1979. Both were English faculty members before Tad Roach became assistant head of school to former Head of School Jon O’Brien P’84 GP’15,’17,’19,’22.
In 1997, Roach became head and retired in 2021, when now-Head of School (and first female head) Joy McGrath ’92—a former student of his—took over. Together with other key school leaders, the Roaches helped build St. Andrew’s culture for more than four decades.
Roach arrived six years after St. Andrew’s officially went coed, and two years after O’Brien began his headship; one of O’Brien’s first points of business was to establish a Student Life Committee and several advisory positions that specifically focused on the girls.
“I think it was both [O’Brien’s] own educational philosophy as well as the promise of coeducation that allowed him to think about ways of deepening the culture of the school,” Roach says. “It was sort of an obsession that both Jon and I had to create a school culture that would be so inspiring, in terms of the intellectual life of the school, but most importantly at St. Andrew’s, it was the creation of amazing young
people who would go out and contribute to the world. We were blessed from the beginning with amazing young women.”
But it wasn’t enough to simply have the girls present.
“[In the ’70s], something that was happening all across the country with coeducation was this presumption on the part of all-male institutions like, ‘Okay, so we’re bringing women in and we’re giving them the privilege to simply be here.’ And it was just so presumptuous and so patriarchal,” Roach says. “We [at SAS] were all very aware that we had not only the opportunity, but the responsibility for change, and for making sure that the girls who came here on such a great leap of faith felt that they belonged. St. Andrew’s has always been this amazing ethical experiment of community, so the question became, ‘How quickly can we make sure that it’s their school?’ And I will tell you, it was a process.”
The process began with girls finding leadership opportunities on athletic teams, honor committee, discipline committee, and on dorm as residential leaders—history was made in 1981 when Mary O’Doherty ’82 became the first “head girl.”
Even with this progress, at a school that was still majority male, only a new system of student leadership would ensure equal representation, ideas, and voices.
In the late ’80s, O’Brien and Roach, then head of student life, would often discuss those culture shifts the school ought to implement to make St. Andrew’s not just a place where girls exist, but a place where they felt ownership.
According to O’Brien’s wife, Joan O’Brien, on one of the couple’s customary 4 p.m. walks, he said, “We have to have
“It’s hard to imagine the co-presidency any other way than what it is now. I think there’s a lot of unity that comes from everyone feeling there’s a balance of girls and guys having a voice.”
–Current co-president Leah Horgan ’25
“We were all very aware that we had not only the opportunity, but the responsibility for change, and for making sure that the girls who came here on such a great leap of faith felt that they belonged.”
–Former Head of School Tad Roach P’04,’07,’13,’18
co-presidents. Everything ought to be equal.” To which she responded, “Well, aren’t you a brave one.”
A brave one indeed. And perhaps one with a flair for the dramatic.
Roach recalls a particular School Meeting in which O’Brien asked all of the students who made up senior student
leadership to come to the stage. Next, he called to the stage the leaders of the III, IV, and V forms.
“And of course, the stage was full of boys,” Roach says. “Jon sort of gazed at them pointedly for a moment, then turned and said, ‘Do you notice something here?’ The girls, especially, were happy that this was being pointed out. Then he said, ‘We’re going to move to a new way of doing elections. We want to have the knowledge, brilliance, and experience of both men and women on these really important school committees, and this is what we’re going to do.’ And that was that. Once Jon opened that door, there was nothing else to talk about.”
The following school year, 1990-1991, marked the first time a woman was elected a class president.
A “PARTICULARLY UNEVOLVED SYSTEM”
Although many former and current students joke about the “St. Andrew’s bubble”—that invisible cornfield-powered force field, inside of which students deeply focus on their St. Andrew’s lives—it was hard for many St. Andrew’s girls of the ’90s, particularly Emer O’Dwyer ’92,
to tune out the national discourse about gender that was the backdrop to the fall of her senior year. It was in October 1991 that professor Anita Hill testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations of sexual harassment she made against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas.
O’Dwyer, now a historian of 20th-century Japan and an associate professor of history at Oberlin College in Ohio, was the second woman class president at St. Andrew’s.
“No matter how much you had your head in the sand in a little enclave of a boarding school, you couldn’t escape the national conversation,” says O’Dwyer. “The idea of a woman’s voice being heard or not heard was one of the first things I remembered about this time in my life as I’ve been
thinking about my work as co-president. Gender relations were particularly unsettled then, not that they’re any more settled now, and there we were having this same conversation in many ways.”
O’Dwyer and her co-president, Andy Worth ’92 P’26, who haven’t seen each other since their Commencement, fall back into an easy rhythm on a recent call. O’Dwyer mentions she spent part of the morning reviewing notes ahead of the conversation, which makes Worth laugh. “She was always more prepared than me,” he says. “So this is true to form.”
Worth, now a managing director at Fidus Capital in Illinois, arrived at St. Andrew’s his junior year in 1990, so a dual co-presidency was all he knew. “It just felt like the right thing for me, that each class would have equal representation,”
“To be clear, however, prior to the evolution of student government, it wasn’t a question whether girls were leaders on campus or not. Absolutely they were, on the sports fields, in arts groups, in the classrooms.”
–Emer O’Dwyer ’92
he says. “I don’t recall hearing from any disgruntled teenage boys; it was just like, ‘Ok. This is what it is.’”
While O’Dwyer says she would have preferred if the shift had resulted from a groundswell from below—starting with her peers—instead of as a top-down mandate, she says a gaping hole was filled. “Student government was particularly unevolved with the previous system,” she says. “To be clear, however, prior to the evolution of student government, it wasn’t a question whether girls were leaders on campus or not. Absolutely they were, on the sports fields, in arts groups, in the classroom. In all of these capacities, girls had demonstrated their ability to not be cowed, and to excel academically, athletically, and musically.”
Each co-president had different reasons for running. “I looked at it as a good opportunity to not only be involved, but to give back to a community that had accepted me as the new kid just the year earlier.” says Worth. “I was also pretty impressed by my classmates—we had leadership talent all over the place, and I wanted to be involved.”
For O’Dwyer, a large part of it came down to wanting to upend the “partial view” of the student experience. “If you consider the girls and boys experience, once you walked up those stairs [in Founders Hall], that was off limits for [girls],” she says. “And similarly with the girls dorms. So the boys would have no idea what was going on in the girls dorms and vice-versa. So how could one president say to the administration, ‘This is how the student experience is going?’”
Recently, much to the chagrin of Worth and O’Dwyer, fellow classmate Ty Jones ’92—husband to McGrath— unearthed VHS footage of the 1992 Commencement. In the video, O’Dwyer, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, is the first of the two called to the podium. Voice thick with emotion, she speaks beautifully to her St. Andrew’s experience—a moment in the spotlight she might not have had were it not for her predecessor, Kate Crowley ’91, St. Andrew’s first female co-president.
“There were lots of great people who had held that role prior to us, but they were singular figures who had their way of doing things, and there was no real tension in that, which can breed inertia.”
–Chris Chesney ’91
THE FIRST IN LINE
Crowley, now a teacher in Alaska, remembers when upperclassman girls first started feeding her history’s footnotes. “They were like, ‘Did you know there’s never been a girl class president?’” she says. “So there was this moment like, ‘Wait. What? That’s crazy.”
Crowley’s co-president, Chris Chesney ’91, a macro COO for Balyasny Asset Management, remembers their years being marked by “natural evolution … there were a lot of changes going on, all around the same time,” he says. “There was definitely constructive dialogue that we were invited to engage in with faculty and leadership at the time about how we could continue to expand representation, and the co-presidency was a logical next step.”
Chesney says figuring out how to work with Crowley was easy.
“It felt very natural to me to lead with Kate because I grew up with very powerful women,” he says. “I also think the construct of the co-presidency was structured to push us because now we each had a partner who was asking questions the other wasn’t thinking of. There were lots of great people who had held that role prior to us, but they were singular figures who had their way of doing things, and there was no real tension in that which can breed inertia.”
Crowley says she felt supported by the whole school community, and certainly empowered enough to point out those kinks in the system the first year—like the fact that originally, Crowley was not slated to speak at Commencement, only Chesney was.
“Coming off the heels of this ‘a-ha’ moment of like, ‘This is such an ancient practice of only having a male class president,’ I felt powerful enough to go to Jon O’Brien when I found out I wasn’t chosen to speak at Commencement,” Crowley says. “Traditionally at the time, another class representative would talk at Chapel the night before, which was what the plan was for me. When me and a few of the girls in my class realized this, we thought, ‘Wait a minute.’”
Crowley made her case to O’Brien. “I was a bit blustery about it at the time, which I felt bad about because he was always so amazing to me, but I was like, ‘If we’re going to do this equally, let’s do this equally,’ she says. ‘I made my big speech, and he just looks at me and says, ‘Yes. Let’s do that.’ I’ve thought about that moment a lot since and wondered, ‘Did he purposefully orchestrate that situation so I could have that moment?’ Either way, that exercise in advocacy was really special.”
So, too, is the knowledge that the practice of two Commencement speakers continues to this day. “That makes it even more incredible,” she says.
Crowley and O’Dwyer have a No.1 fan in Whitney Skillcorn ’93, the third in line for the co-presidency, a term she served with John Rogers ’93. “To this day, Kate is still the idea of a leader to me,” says Skillcorn. “She was everybody’s friend, and truly heard and saw everyone. And Emer, who had a different leadership style entirely—she was very academically driven—is such a beautiful human being who embraced the spirit of the school. I idolized them.”
Skillcorn, now a system administrator for the City of Hillsboro, Oregon, still remembers O’Brien’s announcement. For her, it was a long time coming. “I was beginning to think a girl could just never serve in that role,” she says. “The boys very much ruled the school. We were just this
“... this wasn’t all some thought experiment. It worked. It’s thriving. I hope that people know when they are applying to this school that it truly embodies the promise of what coeducation ought to be.”
–Whitney Skillcorn ’93
unheard minority that were there to go through the rhythms of being in school, but the boys were in charge, and it was very palpable. But that day I felt like, ‘We are going to be seen and heard.’”
Rogers, her co-president, recalls SAS in the ’90s as a place where teenagers could hold real conversations about very real things. “Even in the antediluvian ’90s, there was a lively discourse on campus around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he says. “Administration, faculty, and student leaders actively identified and addressed opportunities for improvement. While those efforts may have fallen short of today’s standards, they were definitely happening. So while I don’t recall the particulars of that [O’Brien] meeting, I’m sure the change in policy was considered by all to be a sensible corrective.”
However, even at such a school—particularly in an era when the boys still outnumbered the girls—there were “sensible correctives” still to be made.
“SAS was and remains a place where people are recognized and respected for their individual qualities, as well as their ability to cooperate and collaborate,” Rogers says. “Obviously, at a small, 100 percent residential boarding school, close friendships were forged across the board. But I do remember meetings where certain sub-optimal dynamics were addressed, like the discomfort some girls felt with constantly having to walk through a throng of boys gathered by the Dining Hall entrance after study hall, a gauntlet of the male gaze. The meeting raised awareness and sensitivity, and I think things improved as a result. I think it’s indicative of the school ethos that they took things like that seriously and we openly deliberated as a community.”
When the names “John” and “Whitney” were called as the next elected female co-president, Skillcorn wept, not only because she felt overwhelmed by the trust her peers had placed in her, but also because of the weight on women she felt shifting, just a bit, at least at St. Andrew’s.
“This time was not that far removed from the Anita Hill hearings,” she says. “So in a very national-headline kind of way, levels of respect between men and women were being discussed. As students, we were children still, who were still learning. And here we have this earthquake of a shift that started that I got to continue.”
Skillcorn says even three years into the experiment, there were still some times she felt that the co-presidency was not on equal footing—having nothing to do with Rogers, she quickly notes.
“There were times when it felt like his opinion mattered more to the school,” she says. “In those times, I just made my voice louder. I think a big part of the role of the woman co-president was to get the women of the school behind you, and this meant even female coaches and teachers, who I felt like were dealing with the same inequities. It was just the culture, which needed to be chipped away.”
Rogers says Skillcorn was the kind of person to do the chipping. “She was a dynamo,” he says. “Whip-smart, tough, funny, and a standout athlete and musician. She was slapping Victor Wooten-style bass lines when the rest of us were figuring out how to plug in. She had respect going back to the earliest days of third form. She was easy to work with and I think I largely rode her coattails.”
Skillcorn notes she and Rogers have remained good friends to this day, and both agree, by the time they left St. Andrew’s, the classes below them were doing the necessary work.
That’s something she thinks her class, and particularly the classes behind, have continued to do.
“By the time I left St. Andrew’s, I could feel the pull of the underclassmen,” she says. “Many of them didn’t have the history of Kate Crowley, they only knew what they saw, and that this was how it was. I left feeling that women were equally respected. The population was shifting, too—there were more women hired and enrolled. What makes me most happy is that this wasn’t all some thought experiment. It worked. It’s thriving. I hope that people know when they are applying to this school that it truly embodies the promise of what coeducation ought to be. And I hope that the women in this role continue to be heard and seen as an equal leader.”
Leaders like Horgan. “I love what we do, and it’s a balancing act with other commitments, but co-president is worth it,” she says. “When junior girls ask if I’d recommend running, the answer is absolutely. I love it so much, and what we do is really important: be the senior leaders for change.”
“Ultimately,” says Roach, “the story of St. Andrew’s is one of a group of adults and a group of kids who simply decided to do things in a way they believed was the best way ... The St. Andrew’s women that I was lucky enough to learn from and live with for 41 years are changing the world. Many women who I taught and worked with, including the current head of school, are people I’m incredibly proud of. The great promise of St. Andrew’s has been answered by graduating young men and young women who do extraordinary things.” J
How
a partnership between Courtney Streett ’05 and St. Andrew’s is helping re-establish historic relationships between Native communities and Lenape
By AK White
In The Return
land
Editor’s Note: Throughout this piece, you’ll notice the words Corn, Beans, and Squash capitalized. We made this style decision in the tradition of Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, Kimmerer capitalized such words because plants are living things, and these words are their names. We chose to honor that.
August 2024, something unexpected popped up in the St. Andrew’s Organic Garden—one single, perfect, heartshaped sunflower, rising high among its sister flowers.
For Courtney Streett ’05, the sunflower was not just the result of a wonderful quirk of nature, it was a message. “It was pretty extraordinary,” says Streett. “It spoke to all the love and care that has been poured into this garden, and, I think, sent a message that what we’re doing is the right thing and appreciated by the natural world and our ancestors.”
Streett saw the sunflower in all its glory when she was on campus on official duty for a pilot program between Native Roots Farm Foundation (NRFF), the nonprofit she and husband, John Reynolds ’06, cofounded in 2020, and St. Andrew’s. NRFF’s mission is to reclaim, cultivate, and celebrate Native relationships with lands, plants, and community for the next seven generations.
The unofficial start to the story of NRFF began almost a century ago, when Streett’s great-grandparents, William and Bertha Mae—members of the Nanticoke Indian community in Millsboro, Del.—purchased a farm at a time when land ownership was no easy feat for people of color. Yet her greatgrandparents flourished, and with it, their crops—Tomatoes, Peas, Raspberries, Strawberries—which the couple would drive to Rehoboth Beach and sell to tourists.
The official start to the story of NRFF, however, was in September 2018, when Streett and Reynolds, then living in New York, were in Delaware for the annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow in Millsboro. On a whim, she and Reynolds drove by that old farm property, which her family still owned, and were stunned to find a “for sale” sign on the property.
“No one even told me it was for sale,” says Streett, who, after the initial heartbreak and tears, began plotting how to save the land from being sold to a developer.
Ever the St. Andrean, Streett reached out to Director of Alumni Engagement Chesa Profaci ’80 for guidance. Profaci put her in touch with a realtor, former SAS Director of Information Services Carol Ann Pala, but it didn’t take long for Streett to arrive at a difficult truth: “There was no way we could purchase this property,” she says. Yet from that truth came a powerful rallying call. “It was in that moment of defeat that I realized I would never be as powerful of a difference-maker as an individual, and I’d be so much stronger with a community alongside me,” Streett says. Fourteen months later, in January 2020, Streett and Reynolds filed the paperwork to create NRFF.
“Lower Delaware, the home of the Nanticoke community, is one of the fastest-developing regions of the U.S.,” Streett says. “John and I founded NRFF to celebrate our local Indigenous communities, uplift Indigenous ecological knowledge, connect people with the natural world, and ensure open spaces continue for future generations.”
Much like those fruits and vegetables her greatgrandparents took so much pride in, NRFF, too, flourished. “We went from a twinkle in someone’s eye to a full-fledged organization in less than three years,” says Streett. NRFF grew so quickly that Streett and Reynolds left their jobs in New York City—Streett a CBS news producer and Reynolds in the nonprofit sector—and moved to Delaware in 2021 to cultivate their new dream.
Back in Delaware, Streett led some programming at St. Andrew’s, educating students about Indigenous people in partnership with then-Director of Diversity and Equity Devin Duprey ’10. Conversations continued with Dean of Inclusion and Belonging Dr. Danica Fisher over coffee in 2023. As Fisher was leaving, she said to Streett, “Tell us how we can help Native Roots [Farm Foundation].”
And there was one thing—one critical, and somewhat ironic thing that a land-stewarding nonprofit really needed—land.
The Hakihakàn Hakihakàn is the Lenape word for “garden” or “farm.” It’s also the word that kept Streett up at night. NRFF’s vision
“[The sunflower] spoke to all the love and care that has been poured into this garden, and ... sent a message that what we’re doing is the right thing and appreciated by the natural world and our ancestors.”
called for its own Hakihakàn, a place to steward, a place where local Indigenous people from the three local sister tribal communities— theNanticoke, Lenape, and Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribes—could come and find their native, precolonization plants identified in Indigenous languages, and where they could reestablish their historic relationships with those plants, relationships that transcended food: plants as medicines, as textiles, as dyes. “This would be a place to celebrate and continue Indigenous land stewardship practices,” she says. “It was eating me alive that we didn’t yet have such a home for the organization.”
Streett asked Fisher if NRFF and St. Andrew’s could collaborate. “We needed land, St. Andrew’s has a lot of it, and one plus one quickly equaled two,” Streett says. Fisher took the idea to Head of School Joy McGrath ’92, who was eager to make the project happen. “And the rest is history,” says Streett.
Other collaborators for the Three Sisters Garden Partnership at St. Andrew’s include the Experimental Farm Network, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit devoted to facilitating reconnection and rematriation projects among communities who have been separated from their seed and food crops through colonization, conflict, and catastrophe; and the Seed Farm at Princeton, which grows rare, culturally meaningful and ancestral seeds with community partners and returns the seed to the partners while repairing relationships with land, soil, plants, the environment, and each other. (Trinity Smith ’23 is an intern for the Seed Farm, which sent her back to campus over the summer to collaborate on the NRFF project.)
Top left, NRFF members harvest Maycock Squash seeds with student-farmers at The Seed Farm at Princeton; right, Streett (fourth from left) and the Maycock Squash Variety Showcase team with food journalist Mark Bittman; bottom, an illustrator’s rendering of what NRFF’s future Hakihakàn might look like.
The partnership is so-named for the Native method of planting in which the three sisters—Corn, Beans, and Squash—are grown together in such a way that a selfsustaining ecosystem is formed. Although Streett visited campus often throughout the collaboration, which officially began in May 2024 with a ceremony led by a few local members of the Nanticoke and Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribes and then a side-by-side planting of Lenape Blue Corn between St. Andrew’s students and the tribe members, Streett’s day-to-day work for NRFF fills much of her time. Enter Adam Toltin-Bitzer, biology teacher and head of the organic garden, part of which serves as the SAS Hakihakàn. When not in the classroom, you’re most likely to find Toltin-Bitzer in the garden, oversized headphones on, dogs Theia and Ciana at his feet, and blissfully dirty as he tends to the Three Sisters. With a background in soil research, and almost a lifetime spent digging in the dirt at his own family garden, Toltin-Bitzer was thrilled to partner with NRFF on this historic project.
“This Corn is from a native pathway that’s hundreds of years old. Instead of today, when you go to the grocery store and buy high-end industrial seeds to plant, Native communities would grow their crop, keep some of that Corn, let it dry, plant the seeds the next year, and carry it through,” he says. “When the Nanticoke were evicted from these local lands and relocated to the reservations, families took these plants and have been carefully stewarding them since the 1700s. These seeds began in their ancestral lands, went to Oklahoma, and have now come back home. This is a return.”
Raising The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters method is an incredible feat of vertical planting. “You grow Corn first, as the oldest sister,” ToltinBitzer says. “Once it’s about two feet tall, you plant Beans,
“These seeds began in their ancestral lands, went to Oklahoma, and have now come back home. This is a return .”
–ADAM TOLTIN-BITZER
Organic Gardening Club students and Toltin-Bitzer work to build the mounds that are essential to the Three Sisters method.
One of the first official acts of the school year for these students was to gather in Amos Hall and shuck the Corn harvested from the Three Sisters Garden.
the middle sister, around it. The Beans will start to climb the Corn and use it as a pole. The Beans are a legume, and legumes add nitrogen to the soil, so the middle sister acts to fertilize the soil. The youngest sister is Squash, which we plant after the Beans, and which provides ground cover. They’re very prickly and spiny, which helps protect these plants from wildlife.”
The method, however, requires dirt mounds, and for a lot the size of the organic garden, that’s a lot of mounds—about 250.
Zach Macalintal ’24, a former devoted member of the Organic Gardening Club, realized he had his work cut out for him his senior year when he noticed a grid of more than 200 squares of dirt scattered around the garden.
“Mr. Toltin-Bitzer took the spade of his shovel and scooped the corners to the top of the mound to show us what he wanted, which was three-foot-high mounds, and he wanted over 200,” Macalintal says. “The grid he had built was made up of five sections of 3x15 squares, all destined to become mounds. ‘What were we to do with all these mounds?’ we wondered as we scooped dirt in the blazing sun. The answer lies in an Indigenous practice that creates a system of plants with different qualities. The mounds were made to ensure the roots of the Corn, Squash, and Beans all maintained a strong root system throughout the season. We built a key part of ancient tradition.”
Toltin-Bitzer adds that students also laid the irrigation system in the garden, helped plant Corn, and added a ring of sunflowers, the unofficial fourth sister. “As much as I wanted to be the person doing it because it’s just so fascinating to me, I knew my role as a teacher was more important to be like, ‘I will show you what to do, and you will do it,’” he says.
The project fits well in the canon of St. Andrew’s tradition, says Toltin-Bitzer, in the sense that students are putting their creative and best talents to full use, and not strictly for academic gain.
“There’s no grade for doing this, but it is absolutely a social and intellectual pursuit,” he says. “We’re considering what it means to be interacting with the world, who we learn from, and what we can contribute. And this isn’t just important in a vacuum. We are working with the Seed Farm at Princeton, which is where we got these seeds from, and we have interns studying these plants, which means it’s also a very real academic pursuit for other people. This idea of going beyond a class and pursuing authentic curiosity and recognizing the value of putting in the work means something good can happen.”
The partnership inspired some self-reflection in Macalintal, who longingly recalls how after a hard day of work on the Three Sisters Project, the dirt on his hands would stain his Founders Hall bathroom sink brown. Originally called to the
Interested in learning more about Indigenous communities and their relationship with food?
Check out the following:
READ Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and The Teaching of Plants. Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer’s awardwinning book draws on her life as an Indigenous scientist, mother, and woman. She illustrates how other living beings, from Strawberries to Squash to Sweetgrass, offer us gifts and lessons.
LISTEN to “Toasted Sister Podcast.” Host Andi Murphy, a Navajo journalist, talks Native American food and food sovereignty, Native people, and Native culture. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
WATCH Gather, an intimate portrait of the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political, and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide. Streaming on Netflix.
“As a Filipino-American, I have struggled to reconnect with my roots. ... NRFF offers me hope that one day I will return to my cultural roots and taste the food of my people.”
–ZACH MACALINTAL ’24
project because of its intersectionality with gardening and social justice, it made him think about his own roots.
“Ever since Courtney Streett’s visit in my formative years at St. Andrew’s, I have always been interested in Native Roots [Farm Foundation’s] mission to grow Indigenous foods for the people,” he says. “Her mission helps to decolonize our systems of food and offer the Nanticoke Tribe a food that has been lost from their everyday lives. I am in awe of NRFF’s work of finding one’s identity through doing. As a FilipinoAmerican, I have struggled to reconnect with my roots. I don’t speak Tagalog nor have I ever been to the Philippines, but NRFF offers me hope that one day I will return to my cultural roots and taste the food of my people.”
In August, Toltin-Bitzer, Streett, and Desmen, a Middletown resident and member of the Nanticoke Tribe, harvested nine bushels of Lenape Blue Corn. Later that month, a crew of Saints harvested three other types of Corn, which students gathered to shuck in Amos Hall. The yield also offered about six bushels of Beans, and about three dozen Squash. The 2024 season was likely the first time that the Three Sisters have been grown at this scale, on their ancestral lands in decades, if not centuries.
“Many Nanticoke people had never even heard of Nanticoke Squash, yet it was named for us. Our ancestors worked so closely with this plant, but we had no idea it existed,” Streett says. “That is erasure.”
The priority for the fruits of the harvest is to return them to Indigenous people, via seedlings for future plantings, or via nourishment with meals prepared with the bounty, which NRFF did in November at St. Andrew’s when it co-hosted the Three Sisters Lunch. At that event, everyone who contributed to the Three Sisters Garden was invited back to campus to be in fellowship with one another, to savor the Lenape Blue
Corn that organic gardening students milled into cornmeal and was prepared as a cornbread and cookies, and to revisit and give thanks to the garden. As the sun cast its glow over the garden, tribal members, members of the NRFF team, and SAS employees harvested the remaining Beans and Squash.
“This is incredibly meaningful work that we’re doing,” Streett says, particularly considering the work is happening on Lenapehoking, the Lenape word for their homeland. “Being able to return Lenape plants to their home environment, and ultimately to Lenape people, has been a dream realized. Colonization separated us from our foods, our language, our stories, our traditions, and I’m honored that NRFF is playing a small part in helping reconnect our communities with our heritage. I’m so grateful for Danica, Joy, and Adam for believing in the work and being willing to bring this vision to life.”
And, hopefully, to continue to bring it to life. Toltin-Bitzer won’t have to be asked twice to dig back in. Neither will St. Andrew’s students, who were truly impacted by the work.
Although the freeze of winter suggests the Hakihakàn will be still and quiet until spring, that might not be the case. Perhaps it will remain warmed and nurtured from a harvest season full of whispered gratitude from all who tended it, particularly Streett, for whom communing with the plants is natural and necessary.
“Native people and plants have a reciprocal relationship,” she says. “Plants are our relatives. We nurture them, and they nurture us. When we have seeds, we plant them. When it starts to grow, you weed around it. And when those fruits are ripe, you ask permission of the plant to pick it. And when you do that, you offer a gift to the plant in return: You say, ‘Wanishi,’ or thank you.”
Toltin-Bitzer tends to popped corn from the garden.
Streett, laughing, bottom right, along with students and local Indigenous people, share in the bounty of the Three Sisters Garden at the Three Sisters Luncheon.
Class notes have been removed from the online version of the Magazine in order to protect the privacy of our alums.
Class notes have been removed from the online version of the Magazine in order to protect the privacy of our alums.
A ROOMIE REUNION 40 Years in the Making
At dinner with a group of colleagues, somehow I shared that I had attended a boarding school on the East Coast for high school. A school where every moment of every day was truly regimented. Tick tock we were always told where to be and what we were supposed to be doing. We actually had to get ourselves up and sign in at breakfast every single day no later than 7:30 a.m. on the dot and from there, our days continued, complete with a dress code to follow and all kinds of rules that would make most of you laugh out loud thinking about me not only being agreeable but, you know, showing up and complying. The other professors at the dinner found it hard to believe that I thrived in this environment, but I explained that I appreciated the structure and I really loved that the school provided me a truly expansive and safe space for my mind to flourish.
Those who were there with me, who went to that tiny little school in Delaware, all have their own stories to share. You all can do the math. This was over 40 years
ago. The lens is softer, fuzzier, perhaps even a bit gentler than when we were all there running the one-mile loop before an afternoon practice or staying up far, far too late sharing the biggest possible bag of M&M’s just so we could finish a paper in time for class in the morning. So where’s all this going?
Yesterday, I got to hang out with my roommate, Mary O’Doherty. I haven’t seen her in 40 years. That’s a really long time in dog years or even in people years. You know what I’m going to say next: Our conversation picked up right where we left off. Hearts absolutely recognize one another and know. They just do
We did not even try to fill in any blanks. We just used all our words and I remembered, so clearly, why I loved her the most and why Mary O had always been my first and best choice as a roommate. She sees me for who I am. Then and now. What a gift to have someone who understands you for who you are and loves you completely anyway.
–Jen Neal
’82
SAS Rowing Club invites all former rowers to join them for the 2025 season—even if it’s been years! Not only will the feel of the oar become fast familiar, so will the cameradie of SAS crew.
Contact Allison Hamilton-Rohe ’89 at ahamiltonrohe@gmail.com or Richard Cookerly ’78 at rcookerly@verizon.net if you would like to race on your old home waters and beyond!
It’s not all work: Members of SAS crew of the ’80s attend the Diamond States Masters Regatta Race in 2023. Alumni rowers from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s enjoyed crabs and community after two fall rows on the Chester River.
In Memory
ALUMNI REMEMBRANCES
1952
CHARLIE BILL KENNEY
Sarasota, FL
December 20, 2023
“Charlie Bill was truly one of my best friends. Our first real elbow rubbing was as members of the JV football bunch at SAS. Neither of us were marked for stardom, but we endured. However, when we learned that real football was not mandatory for VI formers, we sought other pursuits. In fact, we became “coaches.” We had the II-Form guys doing drills. As a result, some likely became stars, and even married cheerleaders! One of the more appealing factors for us “coaches” was that we didn’t have to go out if the weather was bad. Also, for the season we were undefeated and unscored upon. So what, we didn’t play any games? Picky, picky. Later at some point I took Charlie home to St. Michaels, Md. for a weekend. Knowing Charlie’s love of socializing, I tried my best to get us dates for Saturday evening but I struck out again. Had those local belles known Charlie, I think things would have turned out otherwise. Anyhow, my mother treated us to some of her fine crabcakes. (My father had taken us crabbing that afternoon.) As the years passed, I would see Charlie at SAS Reunions, and after Pat and I moved
to Hilton Head to retire, Charlie came to visit us with his wife and two young girls. That was a great visit. Later when we moved to Florida, we’d get together with Cale and Elisabeth Boggs for lunch or a trip to Tampa Bay Downs. About five years ago Pat and I flew to Lexington, Ky. and wanted to see the area—the horse farms, the spring foals, etc., so we hired a lady to drive us around. After she picked us up at our hotel, we were chatting and I told her that we only knew one person from Lexington: Charlie Bill Kenney. She didn’t veer off the road, but she said loudly, “Oh my God! You know Charlie Bill?” She then said, “He bought my Uncle John’s dental practice.” So it’s a small world. So all the best to my friend, Charlie. I hope there are many beautiful angels taking care of him!”
—DUKE LECOMPTE ’52
1963
J. OGDEN HAMILTON
San Rafael, CA
May 7, 2024
“I met Oggie Hamilton when I joined the SAS Class of 1963 in the V Form year, September 1961. I was one of the new kids and this was my first boarding-school experience. Oggie helped me feel comfortable from the beginning. After we graduated, we didn’t correspond. We reconnected at our 50th Class Reunion in 2013 and subsequently began sporadically emailing.
“Oggie was a very smart man, full of good ideas, knowledgeable in current events. He and I exchanged thoughts about various issues for several years. I always respected his point of view and enjoyed our correspondence. I was deeply saddened to hear from his daughter, Amanda Furlotti, that Oggie had passed away suddenly on May 7, 2024. I shall miss him. He was a good, principled man.”
—JOHN GUSTIN ’63
1964
OTSO SOVIJARVI
Jyvaskyla, Finland
January 29, 2023
“I well remember Otso’s talk at our 40th reunion in which he defined the first half of life as a journey outward, and the second half—which we had clearly entered—as a journey inward. (I also remember that he had forgotten to bring a clerical collar, so cleverly improvised one with a bit of cardboard, scrounged from the kitchen.) It was good to see him again at our 50th but sad that he was so evidently going through Parkinson’s.”
—STEVE OCKENDEN ’64
“Otso and I were good friends. And we became stronger friends when my wife Sherith and I visited Otso and Sinikka in Jyvaskyla, which was the cerebral capital of Finland and where Otso was the church father. He and Sinikka took me to islands off the west coast—I believe they are called Åland and, while owned by Finland, they are not militarized. While we were there, however, a Russian submarine was pushed to surface by NATO vessels.”
—STEVE RUTTER ’64
1971
PRESTON GAZAWAY ’71
Baltimore, MD
July 1, 2024
Presto’s significant other, Vickie Walters, snapped the picture above at the viewing. “I was trying to put my arm around Preston’s shoulder and failed miserably,” says Chuck Shorley ’71. “Peter and Rob made the 10-hour drive from Vermont to be at the viewing.”
(l. to r.) 1971 classmates Rob Seyffert, Preston, Chuck Shorley, Peter Hildick-Smith.
Cheryl (Preston Gazaway’s sister), Chuck Shorley ’71, Bob Colburn, Vicki Walters, Rob Seyffert ’71, and Peter Hildick-Smith ’71 at Preston Gazaway’s Celebration of Life.
“Suffice it to say that many of us remain in shock and are feeling deeply the loss of our friend and classmate, Presto. I myself have felt like a rudderless ship since hearing the news. It is hard to fathom the loss when you lose a friend that you have known since your early teens. Preston and I would have first met at SAS in the fall of 1966.
Eighteen of us lived in the East Dorm that year with Andy Washburn living at home. The class would grow to its full size the next year. On behalf of the Class of 1971, may God bless his family, and dog, Scout, at this difficult time.”
—CHUCK SHORLEY ’71
“Not sure what exactly to say, except amazing sadness and a new hole in my heart. Gaz was an amazing person who gave me something to see the world in a brand new way. He was so generous in the time he spent in the darkroom helping me learn not just the technical side of photography, but how to utilize that technology to show others what I saw. I only wish I could do better in expressing what his passing means to me.”
—DEN SCHWEPPE ’71
“What a truly beautiful man Preston was. We were all honored to know him. May God comfort his family and bless Preston with eternal peace.”—MARK ROCHA ’71
“Rest in peace my seven-man. He was such a great guy. This is a shock and it makes me think about where I am in my life. Stay healthy and fit all you ’71-ers.” ANDY WASHBURN ’71
“Disbelief. Deep sadness. A loss I cannot quite fathom yet. Gaz and I were in contact via Facebook. Whatever you may think of that social media, it enabled me to stay in touch with [my classmates] and friends from around the world. Gaz and I had just had an exchange over, ironically, a
Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead version of Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate.” I loved Gaz more than he may have known, and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for inspiring me to look at things through a photographers’ eye/lens. We’ve lost a friend.”—PETER MCCAGG ’71
“This really hurts! Perhaps Shakespeare says it best in Hamlet: ‘He was a man, take him for his all in all,
all of us collectively and that is a small, good thought.” —ROB SEYFFERT ’71
I shall not look upon his like again.’ RIP my friend.”
—FRANK MERRILL ’71
“I’m crushed. RIP, Gaz. We will sorely miss you.”
—DICK WIEBOLDT ’71
“Oh Preston. So sorry to lose you. Rest in peace old friend.”
—ANDY HAMLIN ’71
“I’ve been much more impacted by Gazaway’s passing than I expected. Have been in a funk since reading the news. Gaz and I became close during our senior year. I remember that after Henley he drove with my sister, my two friends and me to Geneva. It was an eventful trip in a Ford Transit van that kept breaking down. Great times made much better because he was with us. I haven’t seen him or spoken to him for over 40 years and I regret it. Certainly being in California doesn’t help, but I could have done more. His passing is a reminder to be healthy, to spend time with those we love, and to stay connected with our friends, even those from long ago.
I am grateful for my time with Gaz and to have experienced his zest for life. Thank you Gaz. May you be at peace.”
—BRIAN KINAHAN ’71
“I was so lucky to have been friends with Gaz throughout his life. And I can report to all of you, his kindness, dry humor, matter of factness, and laid back enthusiasm was with him throughout. He was a sage on telephone medical questions. He was there for others always—the needy, addicted, everyday Baltimorians, his closest Vickie, and his many dogs, like Boh, [named] for National Bohemian beer, and most recently Scout. Right after school he came to Nova Scotia to stay, and my sister Mary, he, and I became the Mod Squad in the little village of Chester. What a contribution he made. There is a bit of Gazaway in
“This one cuts sharply, to lose such a smart, personable, engaging, and in his own way, charismatic classmate. My sincere sympathies to his family and friends. Among the memories I have of those years at SAS, the most personal ones are those with Preston and our two years as roommates. Although I don’t recall profound discussions, the day-to-day interactions and the mutual decision-making rest fondly in my mind, and among all his many great qualities was his lack of reticence to live the best life possible at SAS, and I presume even afterwards. Those memories remain. We are fortunate to have known Preston, and my heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends.”
—JOHN WRIGHT ’71
“Gaz had the dubious honor of showing me around the campus on my visit. He was a fine host. More than that, he was a terrific classmate and friend. I will miss his intellect, wit, and humanity.”—JIM SUMLER ’71
“I am so sorry to hear this. Gaz had many friends from our years at school and, from following on Facebook these past years, he had many friends at home, too. We’ll miss him and seeing his photos and hearing about his furry friends. I’m glad many of us had the chance to see him at our reunion. He’s gone too soon and will be missed by us all.”—STEVE HARTSELL ’71
“A sad day. This is how I will always remember Gaz. The epitome of solidity, strength, and cool. And that hair. Rest in peace.”—GIB METCALF ’71
“A tragic early death but I think he knew very well he was at risk and lived his life to the fullest. Not only an incredible football player and rower, Gaz played Bayard in our school production of Arthur Miller’s ‘Incident at Vichy.’ Such a talented man will be sorely missed.”—CHIP HOLMAN ’71
“What a loss. What a great heart. I am so sorry.”—FRANNIE PISTELL
“I am so shocked and saddened to hear about Gazaway! Hoop would often talk about him and it was a pleasure to get to know him over the years at many reunions!”—DIANE HOOPER
1996
ALLISON ROSE ’96
Decatur, GA
September 16, 2024
My memories of Allison Rose
“Though many will never admit it, every teacher has a Hall of Fame of their all-time beloved students. I retired in June after four decades of teaching high school students. Since then, I’ve had the chance to reflect on the extraordinary young people with whom I’ve crossed paths over the years. My enshrinees number about ten, all of whom have become lifelong friends, even unofficial members of our family. Allison Thomas Rose occupies a prominent spot in my Hall. My heart broke when I learned of her passing a couple of weeks ago. Allison was too good to leave us so early.
“I first met Allison in one of my US History sections in September 1992 at St. Andrew’s. She was new to the school, living away from home for the first time. She was quiet and attentive, meeting new friends, feeling her way across a new social landscape, settling in. When I read her first essay two things were crystal clear: Allison possessed a powerful gift for analytical writing and absorbed absolutely
everything. She quickly found her footing among her classmates, earning their warm friendship and deep respect. Her prowess as a student, athlete, and participant in various activities was eclipsed by her remarkable character. Allison was not demonstrative, but everyone saw her as a moral compass. She was a deadly serious student and navigated challenging assignments but with a seemingly light touch. She was eager to help others, took the lead in discussions among the sleep-deprived, and made me feel like I was doing something exciting on Saturday at 8 a.m. (even though I wasn’t). Allison never drew attention to herself, but others were drawn to her. She had a keen sense of right and wrong but appreciated nuance, never judged, and was endlessly empathetic. She loved to laugh, especially at herself. She had a thousand reasons to feel accomplished but was utterly free of self-regard. In short, Allison was that rare combination of raw intellectual horsepower, compassion, selflessness, optimism, and decency that we only glimpse occasionally during our lifetimes.
“Allison, Kate (Harrington) Dickie, and Hadley Robin were my students and advisees in 1993-1994. Kate dubbed Allison “Sunny Dawg,” a combined commentary on Allison’s disposition and Georgia roots. Hannah and I have such fond memories of that period in our lives, filled with dormitory antics, lively conversations, help tending to our two young children, and Wednesday turkey club lunches at a Middletown diner. Allison’s laughter and grace filled the spaces between her friends’ goofier antics. It was the happiest time in my career as a teacher.
“Allison stayed in touch after St. Andrew’s, relaying her interest in Russia while at Dartmouth, sending cards when she studied in St. Petersburg, reconnecting when she pursued pre-med classes in Boston, and joining us for Rachel Lyons’s St. Mark’s graduation despite being very pregnant. When Allison moved to Atlanta for medical school, which she somehow tackled while raising two young boys, our communications slowed. As is often the case, distance
and the fullness of our lives intervened. Nevertheless, we smiled from afar at Sunny Dawg’s thriving family in Christmas card exchanges. Moreover, Allison’s neonatal ICU patients were in the most capable and caring pair of hands.
“Word of Allison’s passing hits very, very hard. The outpouring of community support for Ian and her family at her September 30th memorial service in Atlanta validated the adage that one’s friendships are a measure of their worth. The church was packed. Awards have been named in her memory, patients will grow up with tales from their parents of how she helped heal them, and her colleagues can forever embrace her example. She left far too young to sit atop the old age hill and reflect on a job skillfully done, and a life well-lived, but she had a wonderful view from the remarkable heights she did climb. Allison will be sorely missed. We cling to and are comforted by happy memories of the countless ways she touched our lives.”
—FORMER SAS FACULTY MEMBER JOHN LYONS
“To those of us who knew Allison well during her career at St. Andrew’s, it comes as no surprise that she would eventually find her vocation in caring for others. At Grady Memorial Hospital, known for caring for the sickest and often most disadvantaged patients in Atlanta, Allison took care of the most vulnerable and most fragile of them all: critically ill newborns. Practicing medicine in an intensive care setting requires intellectual rigor, physical stamina, and decisiveness, all of which Allison possessed in abundance. Moreover, the care of newborns in that environment also demands incredible levels of compassion, personal sacrifice, and moral courage. That Allison chose to pursue this as her life’s work is a remarkable testament to the wonderful person she was.”
—RIVER ELLIOTT ’96
“I met Allison for the first time when she and I toured St. Andrew’s together as new applicants. We were placed together as roommates when we arrived the following year, and we roomed together again our senior year. Allison spent time at my house in Maryland during one of our breaks,
Additional classmates, including John Barber ’71, Sheldon Parker ’71, Cato Carpenter ’71, and Doug Kiesewetter ’71 also sent their condolences.
and I was lucky enough to visit her home in Atlanta on another break. Her dad, who was a heart surgeon, actually invited us to his hospital to watch him perform open heart surgery, which is an experience I’ll never forget. I attended her wedding, saw her husband, Ian, and their kids, William and Henry, at reunions, and exchanged yearly Christmas cards with them.
“I’m sure we can all agree that Allison is one of the most kind and genuine people ever. Her passing is simply heartbreaking.”—MEGAN LESLIE ’96
“Although we didn’t spend a lot of time together at SAS, she always struck me as a very kind and positive person. I don’t think I ever saw her without a smile on her face!”—JON MOORE ’96
Nancy Sidebottom P’96, Kate (Sidebottom) Simpson ’96, Charlotte (Sanders) Alexander ’96, Megan (Bozick) Leslie ’96, Elizabeth (McCann) Rickerson ’96, Sandy McCann P’96, former faculty John Lyons, Kate (Harrington) Dickie ’96, and former faculty Hannah Lyons.
school graduation in 2008 and Allison’s wedding, held at SAS.
In Memory
1940
1945
J. ROSS MACDONALD Chapel Hill, NC March 30, 2024
ALEXANDER R. BEARD
Cumming, GA October 30, 2023
1947
FRANK B. OLMSTED La Plata, MD July 5, 2024
1949
PETER B. OBBARD
Newtown, PA April 26, 2024
1952
DONALD K. OSTERNDORFF
Great Barrington, MA July 19, 2024
1953
GARRETT S. VOORHEES
Gladwyne, PA April 28, 2024
1954
CHARLES M. BARCLAY Hatfield, PA March 14, 2024
E. ANTHONY NEWTON Blue Hill, ME April 11, 2024
1955
GEORGE B. MITCHELL
Bethesda & Oxford, MD April 27, 2024
1956
STOVER BABCOCK Hockessin, DE August 3, 2024
WALTER W. SCOTT
Richmond, VA
December 9, 2023
E. RANDALL SWAN Mt. Pleasant, SC
January 29, 2024
1957
NEWELL R. WASHBURN Lewes, DE February 4, 2024
1958
WILLIAM B. SHETTLE Pocomoke, MD August 11, 2024
GEORGE T. THOMPSON Wilmington, DE August 20, 2024
1960
EDWIN N. PROBERT II Ambler, PA August 22, 2024
1974
WALTER H. BIRKHOLZ Germany March 2, 2022
1982
LETITIA RIZZUTO SMITH
Albany, OR August 24, 2024
1983
POLLY FITTON CULBRETH Westport, MA May 5, 2023
1985
JENNIFER GUSTAVSON ROSE Duxbury, MA December 16, 2023
In Memory as of September 30, 2024.
If you would like to submit a remembrance of a deceased alumnus or former faculty member, you can do so via email to Chesa Profaci (cprofaci@standrews-de.org).
John and Hannah Lyons, and daughters Rachel and Molly, at Rachel’s high
IThe Last Word
As tradition dictates, the St. Andrean who wins the Distinguished Alumnus Award at Reunion is invited back to campus to deliver a Chapel Talk. This year’s winner was Joe Hickman ’74, P’00,’02,’05,’07, so chosen for his leadership in land conversation, agricultural management, and service to St. Andrew’s. Hickman delivered this talk at our Founders Day Chapel on Dec. 4. It has been condensed to fit this page, but if you scan the code, you can listen to and read the full talk.
need to make a confession: I went to St. Andrew’s from 1970 to ’74, and I never attended Sunday chapel. And I never got marks for that absence.
Usually about 10 students took a van to Old St. Joe’s Catholic Chapel in Middletown every Sunday. The service there had something special that we could not get in this Chapel. It wasn’t spiritual. St. Andrew’s had great liturgies, thoughtful homilists, a better choir, and organists. But there was something the young men of St. Andrew’s were longing for and could not find: girls.
So now it’s apparent I’ve never done a Chapel Talk before. I was told by my trusted advisor—my wife, Marianne—that my talk needed a theme, it should be personalized without being boring, and mostly, short. I thought of various themes that would relate to this assembly: carpe diem, Saints and Sinners, what would Jesus do with a cell phone? Then it was obvious: faith and learning.
Even though I did not attend chapel here, this chapel was very important to me. In my first year, I often sat by myself in odd times of the day in the very back pew, where I hoped no one would see me. I was a confused freshman, not having great success, and I really just wanted to go home.
This chapel was a place of solitude. With the support of family and faculty mentors and great classmates, I got through the rough patch, and I continued these Chapel visits until I graduated.
Although I’ve never done a Chapel Talk, I did do a chapel service. Unfortunately, my reason for that had little to do with faith. I was struggling with my grades, and if I could just get a C, I could get out of mandatory study hall, which was held in a room called “The Pit.” The Pit was where the library is now, on the first floor. There were 60 wooden-top desks in neat rows. The desktops opened and underneath were carved the names of we past poorly performing students. My inscription read, “Hick was here 1970-1971.” It was the Shawshank Prison of study halls.
The most logical way to get out of The Pit would be studying flashcards or writing more thoughtful essays. But this 14-year-old mind had an easier way to achieve success: curry favor with my gentle, easygoing, sacred studies master, Rev. Sandy Ogilby, by volunteering to do a chapel service. That should get me some points. My roommate, Greg, and I planned this together.
The Vietnam War was going on, so we chose an anti-war theme where we would play musical snippets on a turntable, from albums from Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills. Then
we would stop the turntable, pick up the needle, read an antiwar verse, then sit down, have meditation. We rinsed and repeated this for 30 minutes.
After, Rev. Ogilby said he was found it “interesting.” I’ll be out of The Pit by next semester, I thought. Yet I remained. Now I really needed to get to work, or I would be “NIB-ed”— not invited back.
During Covid, when many of my generation were stuck at home, we began purging. That’s when I found letters my mother had kept in a trunk, which I had never seen.
There was a batch of letters from St. Andrew’s. The first was from William “Bull” Cameron, welcoming me as a third former to the Class of 1974, and most importantly, with a full scholarship. Then another letter from Bull, in response to my mother who had asked for more time to assemble all of the clothes required for dress code. I had no suit, no blazers, no wool slacks, no black shoes. I had clothes, but I didn’t have St. Andrew’s clothes.
In that letter, Bull said he put $600 in my school checking account, money that could be taken out by my parents to buy my clothes.
Another letter from my advisor, Bob Moss, who wrote, “Joe is doing well in the sciences and English, but was not working up to his ability in other subjects and could risk not being invited back.” I am sure my mother was embarrassed. Her son, an altar server, a youth leader at our home church, would flunk out of St. Andrew’s for failing sacred studies.
I learned by piecing other letters together from family members who were serving and suffering in that horrible war in South East Asia what her true worry was: a Selective Service Status card. A draft card. She was worried I was going to be NIB-ed, I would not likely be able to go to college and would be eligible for the draft.
As I had attempted to improve my sacred studies grade with a poor effort to protest the Vietnam War, mother was praying I’d never be drafted. I did make it to fifth form with support of many great faculty, including Bill Amos, Bob Colburn, and of course, Sandy Ogilby. They had faith in me. I cannot be more thankful for what St. Andrew’s has done for me and my family.
I hope all of you find your place of solitude here, for prayer, meditation or thinking, whether in the woods, on the grass docks, or better yet, walking along those beautiful farm fields. I love all those places, but for me, when I visit, I’ll find my place in that pew in the back. J
