F
Institutional Memory
or someone who claims he is “not terribly fond of committees,” Cobb served on and led some of the more significant undertakings at Taft during his tenure. His voice on a Long-Range Planning Committee in the ’70s helped to alter the adviser/advisee process. In the ’80s, he worked on a recommendation to establish a separate Honor Court, one of the defining bodies of Taft culture. In the ’90s, he led the Centennial Housing Committee, during which I served as scribe; in those pre-email days, I’d distribute typed minutes to individual members. Cobb would return them later the same day, circling each time I misspelled judgment and correcting any failure to use the possessive case before a gerund. He was also department head for more years than anyone in modern memory. “There is no one from whom I have learned more about how a boarding community should work,” says Saarnijoki, “in its curious mixture of purposes: education, discipline and nurturing. He showed me that these purposes all come from the same root: love of children and desire to help them reach their full potential. “He was the voice of memory on each of those committees,” she adds, “reminding us when it was that we had last talked about whatever the topic was (five, ten, fifteen, years ago) and what our deliberations and decisions had been then. ‘I seem to remember,’ he would start somewhat humbly, but his memory would always be exactly right. Many a seemingly good new idea would quickly be shown to have been tried in the past and eventually abandoned. And yet Dick is open and willing to look at thoughtfully conceived new ideas that will make a difference in the life of the students. I can’t tell you how many times he fought against reducing class time and always advocated for more faculty time with students.” Cobb served as a “voice of reason” on committees, says Odden. “Alone, he fought against classes scheduled for over an hour, noting that adolescent attention span is about 20 minutes. He also argued in favor of frequent quizzes to reinforce learning while holding students accountable on a daily basis…. Of course, cognitive science and neurology have validated Cobb’s point of view in recent years.” On each committee, he balanced the students’ point of view with that of the institution, and it was this ability to think broadly about what was best for all, and to seek creative alternatives, that taught many of us how to think like “good school people.”
This same balance defined his work on the Honor Court, which he chaired from 1987 to 2009. Students facing this group often worried that Mr. Cobb would be the most frightening presence at the table, but leaving, they expressed their appreciation of his fair and even attitude in this difficult role. Though he maintained careful attention to protocol and precedence throughout these hearings, always supporting the values of the school while caring for the education of the student, Cobb would, the next day, often show up to check on the adviser of the student or other members of the committee. “On the Discipline Committee and Honor Court, Dick always spoke for the institution,” says Saarnijoki, “for what message about the values of Taft the committee would send to the school in their recommendation of punishment to the headmaster. While he certainly kept the experience of the student in mind and recommendations were fair and humane, he saw our main job as affirming the strong values of community and respect for others that have been the core of the meaning and spirit of Taft. As current head of the DC, I always put Dick on the committee for a tough case because I know that he will bring his institutional memory, his compassion, and his deep sense of what makes Taft the school it is, and I know that he will educate us all. I will miss his voice. We will all miss that voice that keeps us grounded in what we’re about and why.” He seemed to wear the mantle of this responsibility easily, but it was clear that he also took this work to heart in the best senses of that term. During my nearly three decades in education, I learned as much from working with Cobb on the Honor Court as I have from almost anyone. Morris, too, recounts stopping by Cobb’s house “many a night as I walked my dog. We would talk about Taft, the Honor Code, educational purpose and life. We spent countless hours in conversation, and I can say that he is among the most important mentors and friends in my life. This will embarrass him, but I have deep affection, yes love, for Dick.”
“…he balanced the students’ point of view with that of the institution, and it was this ability to think broadly about what was best for all, and to seek creative alternatives, that taught many of us how to think like ‘good school people.’”