Hotchkiss Magazine | Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021 FEATURES

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M A G A Z I N E

Enduring Gratitude

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Craig W. Bradley

A Champion Swimmer Dives Deep

CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

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Hope Reisinger Cobera ’88, P’24 EDITOR

Wendy Carlson

The Extraordinary Class of 2021

MAGAZINE DESIGNER

Julie Hammill ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

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Danielle Sinclair WEBSITE AND DESIGN MANAGER

The Unsung Hero

Margaret Szubra

of the Hotchkiss Golf Course

CONTRIBUTORS

Chase Reynolds Ewald ’81, Roberta Jenckes, Erin Reid P’01,’05, Tom Seidenstein ’91, P’24

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The American Bison

PLEASE SEND INQUIRIES & COMMENTS TO:

The Hotchkiss School 11 Interlaken Road Lakeville, CT 06039-2141 Email: magazine@hotchkiss.org Phone: (860) 435-3122 The Hotchkiss School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, or national orientation in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, or other School-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.

Hotchkiss Magazine is produced by the Office of Communications for alumni, parents, members of the faculty and staff, and friends of the School. Letters are welcome. Please keep under 400 words. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters.

An alumna’s book celebrates a national icon

IN THIS ISSUE 2 From the Head of School

34 Progress Toward Equity

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From the Board of Trustees

56 Class Notes

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Enduring Gratitude

76 In Memoriam

10 Campus Connection

ON THE COVER:

84 Parting Shot

Senior Yuka Masamura from Auckland, New Zealand created Disappearance of Flower in 2020.

She reflects in her artist’s statement: “What if all the beautiful natural beings in this world disappear, either physically or from our minds? What will bring us joy? Will the change in level of happiness alter the chemical structure and process?” Too often, we take things for granted. The mixture of fear and appreciation is represented in this piece. The shapes done with alcohol ink in the back were inspired by the movement of neural cell migration in the cerebral cortex of a developing mouse brain.”

SUMMER 2021

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PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

A Remarkable Year O

N LY A F E W W E E K S A G O,

on a beautiful early-summer day, the members of the Class of 2021 walked across a stage to collect their diplomas in front of joyful family members on Hoyt Field. It was a momentous occasion that marked the end of a remarkable year.

Last summer, when members of the administration and Board considered all the aspects of opening Hotchkiss safely during a global pandemic, we did not know if it could be done. We engaged with leading medical experts, immersed ourselves in the developing science, and studied how the School had responded to epidemics of the past. We made substantial financial investments in infrastructure improvements, staffing, testing, and countless other

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measures. We received outpourings of support from alumni, families, and friends.

Students came back to campus in September, and we formed a bubble of sorts around the campus (no comings and goings) and adapted to the “pandemic normal.” We got used to wearing masks, eating meals out of grab-and-go boxes, and playing only each other in sports. In the second semester alone, we administered more than 21,000 COVID tests. Then, in early spring, the pendulum began to swing. We resumed a limited schedule of interscholastic athletics and relaxed certain safety guidelines. In late spring, we were delighted to offer on-campus vaccination for students. All students and all employees will be vaccinated by the fall.

COVID, of course, was not the only scourge we faced. Over the past year, the collective consciousness in much of this country opened its heart to the reality of persistent anti-Black racism. Yet in parallel, as a painful consequence of racial scapegoating driven by the pandemic, anti-Asian and anti-Asian American sentiment intensified.

These issues were deeply felt on campus. The community responded resoundingly to offer support while maintaining a commitment to ensuring free expression of a broad scope of ideas and perspectives.

It was a challenging year, but also a year of great accomplishment. As far as we are aware, this was the most competitive season for admissions in the history of the School. We accepted only one of every

eight applicants. Academically, Hotchkiss continues to thrive. We welcomed an outstanding group of new teachers and expanded programming in a variety of disciplines. Looking at college outcomes, despite uncertainties related to the pandemic, the senior class did well in gaining entry to highly selective colleges and universities.

This has also been a remarkable year in terms of the generosity of our community.

Even as the School was incurring substantial costs associated with COVID, gifts from alumni and parents continue to support our ability to enroll the highest caliber of students, attract and support excellent teachers, and provide a rich and diverse array of programming.

One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been the opportunity for many alumni and parents to come together virtually over the last year, whether at reunion events, networking gatherings, or “back to the classroom” evenings. This connectivity has allowed us to reimagine what it means to be a community of lifelong learning. Curiosity and joy in learning are among the habits of mind we seek to form in students, habits that will sustain good minds throughout a lifetime. Events such as Revisitings: A Virtual Colloquium (see page 26 to read more) invite alumni to continue on this journey.

This academic year was challenging by any measure. Many of us will have been touched in some way, either directly or through those we care for, by illness, anxiety, fear, or financial hardship. Yet as part of this community, I sincerely hope — and believe — that you will also have been touched by enduring friendship, compassion, generosity of spirit, and love.

I know I was, and for that I will forever be grateful.

I wish you a safe and healthy summer!

All good wishes,

Hotchkiss Welcomes New Trustees ALEXANDER B. HURST ’97 (“Alex”) joined the Board in July 2020. His previous Hotchkiss activities include having served as a class agent, a reunion agent, a member of the Board of Governors, and an event host. He is an Alumni Career Network Mentor and has served on the Investment Committee since 2015. Alex founded Palatine Capital Partners Management, LLC in January 2007 and is responsible for overseeing all investment activity and the strategic direction of the firm. Prior to founding Palatine, Alex was a vice president in the real estate group at Avenue Capital Group. Before Avenue, Alex worked in the real estate group at Perry Capital and began his real estate career at Tishman, Speyer in the firm’s executive rotation program. Earlier in his career, Alex was a founding member of mondus.com, an Internet business headquartered in Europe.

Alex graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in political science.

He is a trustee of Perez Art Museum, a member of the Board of Overseers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, and an emeritus member of the Advisory Board for The Wolfsonian–Florida International University.

Alex and his wife, Carolyn, married in July 2019. Carolyn is a graduate of Yale University and holds both a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. She is currently the director of the Spine Service Line at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The couple split their time between New York and Miami Beach.

ANNIKA LESCOTT ’06 joined the Board, effective July 1. She is co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Hotchkiss Board of Trustees. Her previous Hotchkiss activities include six years of service on the Board of Governors, where she co-chaired the Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Annika is currently executive vice president & chief financial officer at the New York City Housing Authority, the largest public housing authority in the country, serving 400,000 low-income New Yorkers through a $4 billion operating budget.

She is the youngest person to hold the position. Previously, Annika was a presidential management fellow in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, where she worked on non-partisan housing policy analysis and the President’s budget during the Obama and Trump administrations.

Annika came to Hotchkiss through Prep for Prep, a program that prepares gifted, low-income students for private boarding and day schools. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of public administration degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She lives in New York City with her family.

RICHARD WEIL ’81, P’23 (“Dick”) joined the Board, effective July 1. Dick is chief executive officer of Janus Henderson Group, plc, and has served on the board of directors since 2010. Dick began his career as a corporate attorney. He served 15 years at PIMCO as general counsel and then chief operating officer. Prior to joining PIMCO in 1996, he was with Bankers Trust Global Asset Management and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP in New York.

He earned his B.A. in economics from Duke University in 1985 and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1989, where he currently serves on the visiting committee.

Dick’s father and grandfather graduated from Hotchkiss, members of the classes of 1953 and 1925 respectively. He lives in London with his wife, Britney, and daughter, Carter. Their son MacCoy is a rising upper mid.

Craig W. Bradley

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A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

BY ROBERT CHARTENER ’76, P’18 The Board of Trustees met online on April 30 and May 1, 2021. Highlights of the meeting are below: Admission – Erby Mitchell P’21 reported on an exceptional admission cycle this year.

There were 2,542 applications for just over 150 places, which represents the most competitive year in Hotchkiss history. The number of students who accepted the offer of admittance also exceeded expectations.

Within the talented and diverse group of incoming students, 41 percent selfidentify as students of color, 14 percent are international, and 58 will receive financial aid. As of June 1, enrollment stood at 622 students (598 boarders), though this figure is expected to shrink during the summer.

College Placement – It was an unpredictable year in college admission, but the Class of 2021 did well at an unusually competitive time. Rick Hazleton P’19,’22, director of college advising, reported that many colleges had dramatically-increased application rates with almost every school becoming test-optional in this cycle; more first-generation students, low-income students, students of color, and students from outside the U.S. applied to the most competitive schools. The colleges with the largest numbers of matriculants were Chicago (13), Georgetown (12), Cornell (7), Yale (6), and Boston University (5).

Hotchkiss had four admits to MIT, which is the largest number in recent memory, plus a Morehead-Cain Scholarship recipient.

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No-Chance Policy – Steve McKibben, dean of community life, initiated a discussion of the School’s no-chance disciplinary policy, which has been in effect for several decades. The policy had been reviewed in detail by the Community Life Committee, the members of which agreed that it should be discussed by the full Board. The Board authorized McKibben to lead a comprehensive review and to make recommendations at a Board meeting in the 2021-22 year.

Walter Crain Fellowship Program – This innovative partnership between Hotchkiss and the Klingenstein Center of the Teachers College at Columbia University will begin in the 2021-22 academic year, as announced in the spring issue of Hotchkiss Magazine. The four-year experience is designed to promote culturally responsive independent school leadership. Fellows are full-time faculty members who serve in all aspects of school life. Each fellow will also earn a master’s degree in Independent School Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University. Merrilee Mardon, associate head of school, announced that the first two recipients have been chosen for the upcoming academic year.

Bylaws – The bylaws had a minor revision two years ago but have largely been unchanged for about 10 years. The Organizational Review and Nominating Committee (ORAN) met multiple times during the spring months and expressed the goals of expanding board participation to increase representation by parents

and people with more widely varying backgrounds and professional expertise.

After discussion of the desired governance structure, the Board voted to amend the bylaws such that term length will be reduced from five years to four and that the number of term trustees will be increased from 25 to 30.

Audit and Risk Committee – RSM has been selected as the School’s auditor, replacing CohnReznick. RSM detailed certain areas of concentration and will shortly begin their audit of the 2020-21 financial statements.

New Trustees – Two new term trustees were elected to the Board, effective July 1. Tom Seidenstein ’91, P’24 has been president of the Board of Governors for the past five years and has served as a member of the Board in this capacity. He now continues his service as a term trustee. Tom is chair of International Auditing and Assurance of the International Federation of Accountants Standards Board.

Dick Weil ’81, P’23, chief executive officer of Janus Henderson Investors in London, has also been elected to the Board. He knows Hotchkiss extremely well as he is the grandson, son, brother, uncle, and father of Hotchkiss alumni and students. Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87 have been elected as presidents of the Board of Governors and now join the Board as ex-officio members. John Khoury ’95, who has been named president of The Hotchkiss Fund, also joined as an ex-officio member.

There were no trustee retirements this year.

WHY I TEACH Earlier this year, the Communications Office asked a selection of teachers a simple question: Why do you teach? The answers are varied, remarkable, and inspiring.

Scan the QR code below to watch their 15-30-second videos.

SARINDA WILSON

RICHARD KIRBY

MIKE BOONE

ADAM LANG

Instructor in French

Instructor in Chemistry

Instructor in Physics and Engineering

Instructor in Economics

“For me, teaching is a response to an invitation to learn with my students.”

“I feel invigorated when I can interact with, and encourage, students to do their best.”

“I teach because I like to be a positive influence on students.”

“I love working with students and being a part of an open, rich learning environment.”

CHRIS BURCHFIELD

LIZ DITTMER

ABDOULAYE FALL

LETTY ROBERTS

Instructor in English

Instructor in Mathematics

Instructor in French

Instructor in Mathematics

“Working with younger people is a gift of laughter and vitality.”

“I’m a teacher because I love it!”

“I believe that we teachers have a crucial role that we play in society, and I am proud to contribute to that.”

“The reason I’ve taught at Hotchkiss for the past 30 years is, simply put, the students.”

ANA HERMOSO

CHARLIE FRANKENBACH

Instructor in History

FABIO WITKOWSKI

Instructor in Music

Instructor in Spanish

“Music is a true universal language, so when students practice, study, or rehearse music, I believe they are developing and enhancing their ability to appreciate, respect, and collaborate with others.”

“Teaching for me is a vocation.

I am passionate about what I teach, and I want to share that passion with my students.”

Instructor in English

“I teach because there are always chances to see joy.”

TOM DRAKE

“Teaching is the noblest profession of them all! So I was told when I first set out to teach, and so I still believe today.”

SCAN THE QR CODE with your phone to watch a series of 15-30-second videos for insight into why Hotchkiss instructors have dedicated their careers to teaching.

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ENDURING GRATITUDE

A Champion Swimmer Dives Deep At Hotchkiss, William ‘Bill’ McMaster ’58 Struggled to Stay Afloat but Ultimately Prevailed In many ways, Bill McMaster swam his way to Hotchkiss. From the time he clinched his first medal as a freestyle sprinter, a series of fortuitous events led him to Lakeville and ultimately to a career in medicine.

B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N

B

Y AGE 12, BILL McMASTER

had the tall and lanky physique of a swimmer and was already ranked first nationally in the 60-yard-sprint. In those days, most public indoor pools measured 20 yards in length, and 60-yard sprints were standard. Later, when he competed in 25-yard pools at Hotchkiss and at Yale, McMaster would excel in the 50- and 100yard sprints.

But it was in his small local Y.M.C.A. pool on Chicago’s South Side where he first honed the speed, technique, and style that caught the attention of a swim coach named Walter Schlueter. Soft-spoken and circumspect, Schlueter was an Olympic diving coach and a member of the Swimming Hall of Fame.

He also had connections, and he would use them to steer McMaster toward Hotchkiss.

“He was the magician who changed my life,” says McMaster, who had never heard of Hotchkiss before applying.

McMaster went on to attend Yale, earning a B.S. degree in zoology, before graduating from Case Western Reserve with a medical degree in 1966. A year later, while McMaster was in surgical residency at the University of Chicago Billings Hospital, the Vietnam War was underway. He was drafted into the Air Force and stationed in South Carolina. There, he was in charge

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of the emergency room on the base. He fixed the broken bones of airmen and their family members. The brief experience would inspire him to switch his specialty from general surgery to orthopaedic surgery.

After the Air Force, McMaster returned to Chicago to continue his residency in general surgery before switching to orthopaedics at the University of California, Irvine where he completed his training. He eventually became a faculty member and served as chair of the Orthopaedic Division. He now resides in Costa Mesa, CA, and is a health services professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, Irvine. In addition, he is the chief of orthopaedic surgery at Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital, where he teaches residents and medical students while carrying a full surgery schedule performing hip and knee arthroplasty.

McMaster credits Hotchkiss with paving the way for him to become a physician, a dream he had harbored since he was five and had his appendix removed. He was in awe of the surgeon who performed the operation.

His grandmother encouraged his interest, providing him with books on anatomy and science throughout his recovery and in the years that followed.

But it was his skill in swimming that

It was in his small local Y.M.C.A. pool on Chicago’s South Side where he first honed the speed, technique, and style that caught the attention of a swim coach.

would make his dream a reality. By the time McMaster was a freshman at his public high school, he was earning swimming medals left and right. Schlueter invited him to practice with the all-girls team he was coaching, some of whom were Olympiccaliber athletes. By then, Schlueter knew McMaster was talented, but he also knew

At Yale, McMaster competed in the 50and 100-yard freestyle during his four years.

that his swimming career would not go beyond high school if he did not attend college. He wanted McMaster to attend Yale, which, at the time, had an exceptional swim team, including national champions.

McMaster, however, came from a family of tradesmen; neither of his parents had gone to college. “We were not a wealthy family by a long shot,” remembers McMaster.

“We were a close-knit group of four, with parents who were very supportive and held high expectations for my brother and me.

They were involved in our lives, and engaged with our education and goings on.

“My father was a plumber, as was his father. They worked hard, had pride in their craft, and provided for us well within the scope of their ability.”

He could have easily followed in his father’s footsteps, taking up a trade after high school, but a turning point came in his life in 1954 when he accompanied Schlueter to the U.S. National Swimming Competition in Indianapolis, IN. By then, he was a sophomore in high school and winning medals competing in the South Side high school league. He consistently took first place in the 50- and

100-yard freestyle.

In Indianapolis that year, Schlueter introduced McMaster to Yale swimming coach Robert J.H. Kiphuth. McMaster jumped into the lake where the competitions were held to demonstrate his swimming technique. Kiphuth was impressed but put forth the harsh reality: Even if he graduated with good grades from his less-rigorous public high school, McMaster’s chances of getting accepted to Yale would be a long shot.

He urged McMaster to consider a preparatory school and recommended Hotchkiss, where his son, Delaney Kiphuth, had been athletic director before accepting the position of athletic director at Yale. Robert Kiphuth was also a Hotchkiss trustee. “So, getting to Hotchkiss turned out to be an unexpected and fortuitous bit of my history,” reflects McMaster.

Back home, his parents encouraged him to apply even though they knew nothing about boarding school life or the cost. McMaster wrote to the School indicating his interest in attending and asked if he might be eligible for an athletic scholarship. While the School did not offer athletic scholarships, the Office of Admission encouraged him to make a formal application, and he was accepted into the School’s summer school in 1955 as an upper-mid scholarship student.

“Talk about a shock,” McMaster says of his summer school experience. “I took English with ‘the Hawk’ (Robert Hawkins), German with Charles Berry, and history with ‘Butch’ Thomas Stearns.

The session was six weeks long, and it was intimidating to say the least.

“I flunked every course. It was discouraging, and it was scary, and I very quickly realized that I was in an environment that was way beyond anything I had ever experienced –– and I SUMMER 2021

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ENDURING GRATITUDE

McMaster, featured in the 1958 Mischianza yearbook, is shown, center, with his teammates.

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“I flunked every course. It was discouraging, and it was scary, and I very quickly realized that I was in an environment that was way beyond anything I had ever experienced.”

PH OTO: T HE M I SCH

had done well in high school. I just didn’t have the tools to attack the challenges of the Hotchkiss curriculum. In my high school we had weekly tests, but no midterms or finals like we had at Hotchkiss.”

Though he struggled mightily with his courses, he never considered dropping out.

He was too awestruck by Hotchkiss. Much to his delight, the School admitted him as an upper mid that fall.

“That was probably not a good choice based on my performance in the summer school,’’ he says.

“To this day, I don’t fully comprehend the quantum mechanics that allowed me to stay at Hotchkiss, but I have an inkling that Mr. Kiphuth, as a trustee, in conjunction with former Headmaster Bill Olsen ’39, who was at that time an English instructor and the swim coach, bent the curve in my direction.”

Still, during his fall semester as an upper mid, his grades continued on a downward trajectory. Despite his poor performance, McMaster had made up his mind he would find a way to succeed at Hotchkiss.

Behind the scenes, Olsen was engineering a plan for him to start the winter semester as a lower mid, he recalls. “He made an effort to salvage me and suggested that I drop back to lower mid-level. After discussing it with my mother, who gave me the option to

In this picture of Radio Free Hotchkiss, McMaster is pictured in the center holding a guitar. Tim Litle ’58, pictured in the dark jacket and hat on the right, engineered the electrical system in the dorms as a transmission mode for broadcasting.

return home, I made the decision that I did not want to quit and disappoint her. It was the best decision I made,” he recalls.

The pieces from then on just fell into place. McMaster began to flourish academically and athletically, making the necessary grades while captaining the swim team, where he broke School records in freestyle, backstroke, and relays. He played football in the fall and in the spring pitched for the varsity baseball team as captain. As a senior he won the Jadwin Memorial Trophy as “best athlete” of the Class of 1958.

“Obviously, the major challenge of Hotchkiss was learning to study in an efficient manner and to be able to master the subjects being taught,” says McMaster, on reflection.

By his second semester he was thriving, and he would eventually be rewarded with early admission to Yale with Advanced Placement in English, German, and science.

Among those who helped him along the way were German instructor Charles Berry, who was dedicated to his role as a teacher, and English instructor Richard Gurney P’53, with whom McMaster shared a love of baseball, poetry, and fishing.

“Gurney was a fly-fisherman, and during Opening Days class was always cancelled,” recalls McMaster. Years later McMaster, too,

would take up the sport, eventually acquiring an extensive fly-fishing and sporting collection of art and serving as a trustee of the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, VT. Another important figure during his time at Hotchkiss was biology instructor John Bodel, who introduced him to research projects that fueled his interest in science. Decades later, during his residency at University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, McMaster completed a U.S. Public Health Service fellowship in surgical research.

“I am forever grateful to those people who encouraged me and afforded me the opportunity to attend Hotchkiss, which allowed me to fulfill my lifetime ambition to become a surgeon,” he says.

Today, McMaster teaches future generations of orthopaedic surgeons. He often harkens back to lessons learned from those instructors who gave so much of themselves during his adolescenct years and the ripple effect they had on his career.

“My teaching career is directly influenced by and dedicated to them,” he insists.

Teaching orthopaedic post-doctoral residents in an operating room is a vastly different learning environment from high

school, but it still requires mentoring through personal engagement and participation, he explains. He is present in the operating room with residents, coaching them through surgical procedures, and he continues to guide them as they progress in their medical studies.

It wasn’t just the Hotchkiss instructors who had an impact on his life. “It was everyone you ran into at Hotchkiss,” he notes. “They were so dedicated and involved; they all influenced me. The place exuded excellence.”

While swimming was his conduit to becoming a surgeon, his Hotchkiss experience made all the difference, he says. McMaster continued to stay involved in competitive swimming. In 1978, he began serving as a

U.S. Swimming Olympic/National Team Physician for all aquatic sports, a position he held until 2000, when the demands of his clinical practice became greater.

These days, rather than spending his downtime in a pool, he lifts weights and works on cardiovascular endurance at the gym to build the physical stamina required for working long hours in the operating room. He has never quite lost his competitive edge, though. All those hours of speed drills make it impossible for him to swim leisurely. “Every time I get into a pool,” he jokes, “I see the clock, and can’t help thinking about intervals!” H

In appreciation of all Hotchkiss has done for him, McMaster and his wife, Lynn D. McMaster, established The McMaster Family Scholarship in 2014 in honor of his parents, William John McMaster and Adriene Emond McMaster, who provided the support and encouragement for him to attend Hotchkiss. The scholarship is a permanent endowment that will help to support students receiving financial assistance from The Hotchkiss School.

When McMaster is not in the operating theater, he can be found fishing at his favorite places, including Montana (pictured right).

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

The Extraordinary

CLASS OF 2021

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PH OTOS BY: WENDY C A R L S O N

A

under the cloud of a pandemic, 160 seniors capped off their final day at Hotchkiss under picture-perfect blue skies.

Family, friends, staff, and faculty members –– nearly 800 guests in all –– gathered at an appropriate social distance on Hoyt Field to honor the Class of 2021 in Hotchkiss’s 129th Commencement. The event marked the first time the entire class had met together, in person and maskless, in a public setting since the pandemic began.

Head of School Craig Bradley opened the ceremony by saying, “I don’t know that I can fully express how grateful I am that almost all of us are able to be here together, in person, to celebrate this joyous occasion.”

He thanked the Class of 2021 for working with the School community to complete the year without a major outbreak of COVID or an interruption in teaching and learning and for managing to keep the “the Hotchkiss bubble” essentially COVID-free.

“I will be eternally grateful to you — the members of the Hotchkiss community –– during this time of the pandemic for your willingness to sacrifice your personal needs for the good of the whole. Collectively, we have achieved this moment. Here we are, together, in person, safe and sound and gathering to celebrate your graduation from Hotchkiss in the good company of your families. I feel a profound sense of joy and gratitude,” he said.

In his parting words to seniors, Bradley spoke about the value of facing difficult challenges, a theme that was echoed in the remarks that followed by the School FTER A YEAR THAT BEGAN

Co-presidents Cyrus Farman-Farmaian ’21 and Keren Mikanda ’21 and by keynote speaker Julie Cotler Pottinger ’87.

Bradley recounted an experience of whitewater kayaking over a dangerous stretch of rapids in Scotland when he was in graduate school. “Sometimes no matter how well you prepare and what you anticipate, life brings the unexpected,” he said, describing the need to remain calm and rely on knowledge and skill when swift currents pulled him into treacherous and

potentially life-threatening waters. “How you respond to those experiences stimulates your learning and growth and that builds resilience,” he said.

“I hope that the experience of the pandemic has demonstrated to you that at some moments in your lives, each of you is likely to find yourself facing challenges that are daunting and unfamiliar, challenges that you’d rather not face,” he said.

“You’ll have no choice but to move through them. Trust in your skills and abilities. Use

“We took advantage of the crisis that was laid before us this year, we persevered, and not only did we survive, we are now stronger than ever.”

—CYRUS FARMAN-FARMAIAN ’21

your good minds. Keep cool and keep your balance. Count on your teammates, including your Hotchkiss friends.”

After Bradley’s address, School Co-presidents Cyrus Farman-Farmaian ’21 and Keren Mikanda ’21 spoke from the podium and thanked their classmates for their strength, patience, and endurance during a year of regulations, isolation, and distancing. Mikanda also noted that this year in the United States was marked by historic demands for social change.

“While we were here in the Hotchkiss bubble,” she said, “the world around us was suffering. Once again, though, our class showed that we could rise to the occasion.

We organized fishbowls, walkouts, and worked to change the culture on campus towards one of empathy and understanding.

We spoke out and acted, and it is our class that led the School through it all. It is our strength that has defined this year.”

In a year punctuated by Zoom calls, quarantines, and boxed lunches, FarmanFarmaian praised the class for its willingness to rise to the challenge. “We took advantage of the crisis that was laid before us this year,

Top: Head of School Craig Bradley congratulated seniors as they received their diplomas.

Bottom: School Co-presidents, Cyrus Farman-Farmaian ’21 and Keren Mikanda ’21, address the graduates.

we persevered, and not only did we survive, we are now stronger than ever. We are proud and immensely thankful to be a part of the Class of 2021 forever,” he said.

Earlier in the week in the Baccalaureate and Senior Awards ceremony, senior class Co-presidents Luke Gardiner and Ivy Bhandari spoke about their classmates’ integrity during the pandemic.

Violinist Angela In Seco Choi ’21 provided a musical highlight during the ceremony when she performed “Csárdás” by Vittorio Monti, accompanied by Instructor Fabio Witkowski on piano.

View a replay of Commencement: www.hotchkiss.org/parents/ graduation-2021/livestream

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

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Keynote Speaker

JULIE COTLER POTTINGER ’87

J

ULIE COTLER POTTINGER is the author of numerous best-selling historical romance novels written under her pen name, Julia Quinn. A collection of her novels was adapted into the Netflix hit series Bridgerton, released last December.

During her address, Pottinger paused to share a video from one of the show’s stars, Nicola Coughlan, who extended her congratulations to the class. Her character, Penelope Featherington, often came across as unsure of herself. But ultimately she was the heroine of the series. As Pottinger explained, many seniors might have overcome similar feelings of insecurity during their time at Hotchkiss.

In her remarks, Pottinger told seniors that although this was the last time they would be together collectively as a class, it did not signal an end to their ties to each other and to the School. “You are all connected — to each other and to this place,” she said.

“You are a unit, and you will be forever bonded, perhaps in a way no other Hotchkiss class has been before. You arrived, most of you at least, when the world was normal. There were no plastic dividers in the dining hall, there was no quarantine, no pods, and classes began on day one, in the classroom... Masks were for Halloween. You had to work together to be together,” she said.

Pottinger went on to share some of her Hotchkiss experiences, reflecting her resilience, sense of humor, and a lasting connection to the School.

During her upper-mid year, she took an advanced math course taught by the formidable George Norton Stone, who back then “had been at Hotchkiss since the dawn of time, and literally wrote the textbook for geometry and advanced

“You made it. You’re here. You are the singularly amazing Hotchkiss Class of 2021, and this is your graduation.” algebra and trigonometry,” Pottinger said.

One day, she became overcome by a test.

“The math problems were unrecognizable.

They might have been written in Cyrillic,” she joked. She felt tears welling up and was trying hard to avoid breaking out in full-blown sobs when Stone looked at her and boomed, “Now is the time for tears!

Because you can’t cry during the Advanced Placement exam!”

With that directive, she started to bawl uncontrollably. To this day, she doesn’t remember if she passed the test, but she later scored a 5 out of a possible 5 on her Advanced Placement math test and received a handwritten letter from Stone that summer, who told her how proud he was of her.

“I’m willing to bet that all of you have

had a moment like that here at Hotchkiss.

Maybe not a full-on, in-class sob, but you’ve all had a moment that was agonizing. Terrifying. Impossible.

“Guess what? You scaled that impossible moment. Or maybe you stepped neatly around it, or you hacked it apart, piece by piece, until it was dust beneath your shoes. But you know what?

You did it,” she said. To the newlyminted Hotchkiss alumni, she said, “You made it. You’re here. You are the singularly amazing Hotchkiss Class of 2021, and this is your graduation.”

“You worked hard, you grew, you learned and overcame, and each of you deserves a round of applause.” H

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2021 Senior Awards On June 4, during the Senior Awards and Cum Laude ceremony, the following Academic Awards and School Prizes were presented to students by Jared Hall, dean of academic life, and Christy Cooper P’08,’11, senior class dean.

ACADEMIC AWARDS

THE DAVID DEMARAY SENIOR FRENCH PRIZE

FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS:

Charles Comfort

THE PETER D’ALBERT ’70 MEMORIAL ART AWARD

Luke Gardiner THE JOHN HAMMOND ’29 MUSIC AWARD

Victoria Chen, Angela Choi, and Michael Zhang THE CHAUNCEY P. GOSS JR. ’22 DRAMA PRIZE

Emily Heimer THE EDWARD KOHNE KLINGELHOFER JR. ’43 AWARD

Felix Bao THE SARAH T. CRAIG MEMORIAL PRIZE

Kyral Ogazi

THE EMERSON BIGELOW ’13 AND JOHN EMERSON BIGELOW ’44 PRIZE FOR CONVERSATIONAL FRENCH

THE CHARLES E. BERRY GERMAN PRIZE

Maria Saldivar Palacios THE SENIOR SPANISH AWARD

Annabel Wallace

FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGLISH: THE THOMAS H. CHAPPELL ’24 PRIZE

THE ARCHITECTURE PRIZE

Caroline McCann

THE HOEY SENIOR GREEK PRIZE

Connie Cao

Brian Haywood, Royce Shey, and Claire Wang

Katerina Gill

THE GEORGE NORTON STONE SENIOR MATH PRIZE

Reece Yang Caroline Keswin FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE: THE ROBERT B. FLINT ’23 SCIENCE PRIZE

THE LEWIS A. CLARKE ’30 PRIZE

Alexander Kovitch THE KING TAK LAM CHINESE PRIZE

Jeffrey Lim

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Annabel Wallace and Amelia Wang

MAJOR SCHOOL PRIZES THE WALTER CLEVELAND ALLEN, JR. ’32 PRIZE

Ivy Bhandari, Keren Mikanda, Gunnar Overstrom, and Ben Weiss THE ALBERT WILLIAM OLSEN ’13 PRIZE

Taylor Clayton, Maggie Hatch, Abby Powell, Asa Tuke, and Amelia Wang THE CHARLES E. LORD PRIZE

FOR EXCELLENCE IN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE:

Sachin Umashankar and Annabel Wallace THE SENIOR LATIN PRIZE

THE FRANK A. SPROLE ’38 SOCIAL SERVICE PRIZE

THE CENTENNIAL PRIZE

Olya Sukonrat

THE SENIOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CLASSICAL AND MODERN LANGUAGES:

Tina Deng

THE TEAGLE ESSAY PRIZE

THE EDWARD B. PRESTON ’79 PRIZE

Yuka Masamura

THE HEAD OF SCHOOL’S PRIZE

Felix Bao, Victoria Chen, Cyrus FarmanFarmaian, and Annabel Wallace

Luke Gardiner

THE ADVANCED STUDIO ART PRIZE

Alicia Werlen

Felix Bao

FOR EXCELLENCE IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE:

Nicole Morikawa

THE FIRST SCHOLAR PRIZE

Amelia Wang

THE ROBERT AND SANDY HAIKO FILM PRIZE

THE THOMAS P. BLAGDEN ’29 AWARD

SCHOOL PRIZES

Charles Billings, Katerina Gill, CJ Mitchell, and Yuka Masamura THE CHARLES DENTON TREADWAY MEMORIAL PRIZE

Meghana Annamaneni and Luke Gardiner THE FACULTY PRIZE

Eloise Berlandi, Alex Du, Langston Harris, Jack Kane, Julian Leonhardt, Grace Li, Rachel Mokriski, Bodie Molnar, Ruben Valenzuela, Ethan Vashel, Ashley Williams, and Isabella Yoo

SENIOR ATHLETIC AWARDS Senior class athletes who earned at least six varsity letters in their career at Hotchkiss included: BOYS

GIRLS

Taylor B. Clayton Jonathan D. Coffy Patrick J. Dunlea Brian C. Haywood William C. Herring Aidan M. Huber Hannon C. Huh Jack C. Kane Julian A. Leonhardt Nicolas L. Petersik Ryan T. Sellew Royce Shey Christopher P. Tolis Asa J. Tuke Mwcigi Wainaina William B. Wildish

Ivy D. Bhandari Alexandra W. Bowman Nia S. Butler Courtney A. Contiguglia Katherine W. Donahue Francesca B. Gunn Margaret H. Hatch Grace M. Helm Holly A. Knight Rachel Mokriski Abigail C. Powell Clara C. Preisig Simone A. Straus Romy N. Tarantino

THE GOSS ATHLETIC AWARD

Maggie Hatch Given to a senior girl who has contributed the most to Hotchkiss athletics through her ability, enthusiasm, and sportsmanship

THE JAMES T. BRYAN ’11 ATHLETIC AWARD

Ryan T. Sellew and William B. Wildish Given to the senior boy who is an outstanding athlete and has made the greatest contribution to the School’s athletic program THE ANDREW KNOX DWYER ’01 AWARD

Brian C. Haywood and Grace M. Helm Given to the senior who demonstrates a love for Hotchkiss through school spirit, enthusiasm, and loyalty to Hotchkiss athletics as both a participant and a supporter

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Spring Teams Return to Play A

F T E R M O R E T H A N A Y E A R AWAY

from competition due to COVID19 restrictions, Hotchkiss varsity athletic teams returned to interscholastic play with a limited game schedule this spring.

Hotchkiss partnered with four other schools — Taft, Choate, Loomis, and Westminster — to create a slate of contests for each varsity spring sport.

The five schools all follow similar health and safety protocols.

“These stringent requirements give us confidence that we can engage in interscholastic play while maintaining the safety of our student athletes,” wrote athletic directors Robin Chandler and Danny Smith in a release to families.

Contests were only played on Saturdays

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and Sundays. This gave teams an opportunity to focus their competitive energies during a concentrated period of time.

The track and field team had a unique opportunity to compete in a series of “virtual meets” throughout the season. In each meet, Hotchkiss athletes competed in the usual full slate of events at the Baker Athletic Complex, and then compared their times and scores against an opponent who competed in the same events on their own campus.

Although official scores and season records were not kept, teams were able to highlight notable individual performances on social media and in communication with families.

The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council did not hold any championship tournaments this season,

but two teams — rowing and sailing — competed in regional and national events at the end of the season. Sailing finished third at the New England fleet racing qualifying event and then finished tenth overall at the ISSA Mallory Doublehanded National Championship.

The varsity rowing team competed at the US Open Youth National Regatta for the first time in program history, competing in the Men’s Youth 4+ Division and finishing 25th overall out of 47 boats.

Varsity golf also had a stellar season. The boys and girls both finished 3-2. The boys’ season ended with a low score of 181, a record on the home course. H

He’s Got Grit Kevin Ervin ’04, 2021 Community Service Award Recipient

O

NE OF KEVIN ERVIN’S EARLIEST

memories was as a four-year-old walking through the Red Hook projects in Brooklyn with his mother and brother.

Sensing danger, his mother suddenly pushed them both down and lay on top of them, sheltering them from gunshots. Later in life, he found out that there had been a shootout, and his mother had risked her life to protect him and his brother.

“For me that was the first example of service and dedication, and that sat with me throughout my entire life,” Ervin said in a virtual All-School ceremony on May 17, when he was honored as the 2021 Community Service Award recipient.

Head of School Craig Bradley introduced Ervin, calling him a “true social entrepreneur.”

“He is someone who sees a need for education in the world, and he has done something about it. He has dedicated his life to creating opportunities for young people in communities that are underresourced and underserved,” said Bradley.

As the executive director of Change for Kids, a youth development nonprofit in New York City, Ervin has bolstered the vision and mission of the nonprofit, expanded the organization’s reach to more public school students, and refocused the organization on student agency.

Last fall, when schools in New York City closed in response to the pandemic, Ervin created a full digital platform for students in only six days, and he raised nearly $2 million to open a South Bronx remote learning center for students to attend on days when they were not in school.

Ervin attended New York City public schools before being accepted at Hotchkiss.

Once in Lakeville, he embarked on new paths, including combining his musical talents and leadership skills to bring a fresh,

“He is someone who sees a need for education in the world, and he is doing something about it.”

—CRAIG BRADLEY, HEAD OF SCHOOL

new approach to the School’s digital media program. Among his music recordings was a remix of “Fair Hotchkiss,” which he completed with then-headmaster, Skip Mattoon.

He earned a B.A. in leadership from Northeastern University and an executive master’s in public administration from New York University. Along the way, he discovered he had a passion and talent for working with youth. When the South Bronx enrichment program he was involved with was cancelled, he raised $135,000 in one month and started Gaining Life’s Other Ways. He eventually expanded the program to serve students from 16 schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and New Jersey.

Later, he helped Renaissance Youth Center grow its after-school and teen programming after raising funds in his first six months.

Ervin took a hiatus from non-profits to sharpen his administrative skills in the New York City Department of Education,

where he was tasked with strengthening operations at Satellite Academy High School, the number one Transfer High School in New York City. There he helped over-age, under-credited students achieve academic success and graduate from high school. As someone who came from a similar background, he was able to reach and educate them in a caring, understanding way.

In a brief Q and A following the Community Service Award discussion, Ervin fielded questions from students, including how to pursue a career in service.

If you decide to do this, he responded, you have to love the foundation of it, and you have to be dedicated to pushing against the grain. This is something Ervin has done his entire life.

“As a Black man,” he said, “I have grit and a level of tenacity that allows me to push through things that would have crushed other people.” H

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Nader Tehrani ’81 Found His Calling at Hotchkiss

PH OTO: C A RMEN M A L D O N A D O

Hotchkiss 2020-21 Alumni Award Recipient

N

Hotchkiss’s newest Alumni Award recipient, had lived in four countries and learned the basics of three languages before he came to the School in 1978 as a lower mid. At Hotchkiss, Tehrani, who is an internationally known architect, found a home — and a calling, thanks to the Main Building.

In a virtual All-School program on April 5, Tehrani modestly described receiving the 2020-21 Hotchkiss Alumni Award, the School’s highest alumni honor, as “a miracle,” given his academic record as a student. “It is just a profound honor to return to Hotchkiss for such an occasion and something that could not have been farther from my imagination,” he said.

Today, Nader’s accomplishments and contributions to architecture and design are recognized around the world.

He currently serves as the dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union in New York and previously was a professor of architecture

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at MIT, where he served as the head of the department from 2010-2014.

He is also principal of NADAAA, a practice dedicated to the advancement of design innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and an intensive dialogue with the construction industry. For his contributions to architecture as an art, Nader Tehrani was awarded the 2020 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to which he was also elected as a member in 2021.

His Hotchkiss teachers, he said, were critical to his development as an architect. “They didn’t just teach me things, they allowed me to learn. They had vastly different teaching styles, and so much of my interest stemmed from seeing them teach. … I did not set out to teach as much as I imagined myself emulating certain atmospheres that my teachers created in allowing me to learn.”

After Hotchkiss, Tehrani received a

“I did not set out to teach as much as I imagined myself emulating certain atmospheres that my teachers created in allowing me to learn.”

B.F.A. and a B.Arch. from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and continued his studies at the Architectural Association in London, where he attended the postgraduate program in history and theory.

Upon his return to the United States, Tehrani received a master of architecture in

urban design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1991.

He has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, RISD, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Toronto’s Department of Architecture, where he served as the Frank O. Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design, Landscape and Design. His research on materiality, fabrication, and tectonics has been published internationally in a variety of journals. Over the past seven years, NADAAA has consistently ranked as a top design firm in Architect Magazine’s Top 50 U.S. Firms List, taking the top spot in three of those years.

During the virtual event, Tehrani spoke about his early global education as the child of an Iranian diplomat. “Growing up between England, Pakistan, South Africa, and Iran — all two- to four-years at a time — my language skills lagged behind. Somehow visual literacy served as a substitute. Learning to see became a way of internalizing the world around me.” In February 1978, when he first saw the Hotchkiss Main Building (designed by architect Hugh Stubbins in 1970), the building’s design immediately resonated with him. (The current Main Building façade was designed by Shope Reno Wharton in 1995.)

“I had no real sense about going into architecture when I came to Hotchkiss, but upon arrival, after turning in through the gate, the abstraction of Stubbins’s façade and the impenetrability of its monumentality put me in a state of awe.

In effect, it was an architectural experience before I knew such a thing existed.

“Drama and art history turned out to be

PH OTOS: J O HN H O R NER

Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne, Australia

Top: BANQ restaurant, Boston, MA; Bottom: Rock Creek House, Washington, D.C.

the two courses that lit a fire under me.

And Blanche Hoar (then head of the art department) had everything to do with that; her energy, her tone, and her passion are something I will always remember.

More than anything else, I remember the encouragement she gave, instilling in me a confidence unworthy of anything I had yet accomplished, but something I needed in order to forge ahead.”

At the end of his remarks, Tehrani shared a video of a project his firm is

currently working on in Venice that uses material made from natural and renewable sources. He shared with his Hotchkiss audience projects that were LEED-rated and complied with emerging attitudes about green materials, reduced life-cycle costs, and sustainable practices. All of them, he said, use wood, a renewable resource, as their starting point.

“We will all have to become better activists ourselves,” he told the community. H

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Higher Ground A group of intrepid students scaled new heights this spring when rock climbing was introduced as a new cocurricular. Nathan Vish, math instructor, outdoor program coordinator, and an experienced climber, oversees the activity, teaching students the ropes on the Malkin Climbing Walls outside Dana dormitory. The walls were a gift to the School from Jonathan Malkin ’80 to promote interest in his favorite athletic pursuit. Pictured here are Hong Kuan Chen ’22 and Eliza Ross ’22.

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

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SUMMER 2021

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Recognizing a Lifetime of Teaching Chemistry Instructor Virginia ‘Ginny’ Faus Named Lufkin Prize Recipient

V

IRGINIA “GINNY” FAUS P’10,

creating the prize was to recognize those who “consistently demonstrate excellence and strong moral leadership through teaching, advising, coaching, and overall service to the community.”

In the video ceremony, Head of School Craig Bradley said, “Ginny Faus stands out for her dedication to community and her humility. When she was hired, Ms. Sam Coughlin, dean of faculty at the time, wrote to Ginny, ‘I have a feeling you have the sort of cheerful disposition that allows you to keep saying ‘yes’ to

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

instructor in chemistry and the Edward R. Tinker Chair, is one who doesn’t like to be in the limelight. But in May, the longtime teacher accepted the 2021 Lufkin Prize on a virtual stage, speaking to the campus community during an All-School Meeting in a pre-recorded video.

The annual prize, established by Dan Lufkin ’49, P’80,’82,’88,’23, honors “faculty members of character, commitment and skill who serve as role models to Hotchkiss students.” Lufkin’s goal in

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other people’s requests for help.’ Dean Coughlin was spot-on.

“Ginny’s contributions are vast. They are a collection of moments — Ginny sees opportunities to contribute, and that is exactly what she does. She is always ready to offer extra help to students; her care for her advisees is extraordinary; and she is always ready to guide new colleagues as they become acclimated to Hotchkiss. Ginny leads by example on a daily basis in all of her actions, and the results of her attention to others are profound.”

Calling the award “an honor and privilege,” Faus thanked Lufkin for his generosity. She also thanked her Science Department colleagues, especially her fellow chemistry teachers, and her husband, Brad Faus, instructor in art, director of the art program, and holder of the Marie S. Tinker Chair, and her family. During her 37-year career at Hotchkiss, Faus has also coached swimming and, in the years when her children, Jamie and Cady, were in grade school, worked in the Admission Office as an interviewer. Currently, she teaches Honors Chemistry and Chemistry 250.

“I’ve always taught — even during my sabbatical year,” she says. “I like teaching too much to ever give it up. I would miss the kids too much. I came from a long line of teachers, and I was raised to believe that it was very important,” she said.

In her remarks, Faus expressed gratitude for two inspirational teachers in her life: her grandfather, Ralph Tyson, and her father, Robert. They both became doctors and taught medicine.

Ralph Tyson, born in 1888 as the youngest of eight children, had to forge his own path to education through ingenuity and effort. At 14, he received a common school diploma, which was the free public schooling then offered in the U.S. His Pennsylvania

PH OTO: H OTCHKIS S A RCHI V E S

Always at home in the chemistry lab

the right answer or the wrong answer.

“I think that sometimes you learn more from a wrong answer than you do from a right answer. There are just so many more things you can discuss — you know, ‘Why is it wrong? Why doesn’t it make sense? What predictions can you make based on the patterns that you see? Yes, there are going to be exceptions, but what I want you to recognize are the patterns.’”

As an adviser, Faus has a caring nature.

Margo Donohue ’22 says, “I couldn’t envision my Hotchkiss experience without Mrs. Faus. Stepping into her science classroom my first day at Hotchkiss was the first time I truly felt

at ease on campus. As a (ridiculously) nervous new student, I was grateful to have found a teacher so authentic, dedicated, and unbelievably kind to lean on. Since my prep year, she has tirelessly supported me as a teacher and advisor, friend and role model. Her influence and encouragement have helped me not only find my passion in biology and environmental science but really lean into all of the academic and extracurricular opportunities Hotchkiss provides.

If I’m having one of those days, it’s always Mrs. Faus who will be there with some invaluable wisdom and campusrenowned banana bread. To Mrs. Faus, I am so grateful for your altruism and how you always look out for me with admirable generosity and compassion.”

Faus, in turn, has gained as much from her students.

“You inspire me in the same way my grandfather, father, and Professor Barton inspired me,” she told them in her address.

“In many ways, you have shown some of the same perseverance and determination as my grandfather. I appreciate your patience and kindness, and please know that I learn as much from you as you hopefully learn from me.” H

PH OTO: H OTCHKIS S A RCHI V E S

township could not afford a high school to educate the children. He worked 10-hour days as a cabinetmaker and studied at night, eventually graduating from high school.

Determined to continue his education, he worked in a one-room country schoolhouse, where he taught 55 students from ages six to 17. By age 22, he had earned enough money to pay for college and in 1915 received his M.D. After serving in World War I, he began practice as a pediatrician and taught pediatrics at Temple University. His son, Robert, followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a surgeon and professor of surgery at Temple and serving the surrounding urban community.

Faus’s chemistry professor during her first year at Hobart and William Smith College was another formidable influence.

“Charles Barton had muscular dystrophy and was wheelchair-bound. This did not stop him from leading a meaningful and productive life. Professor Barton could not write on the board. Some of you can imagine how challenging it would be to solve stoichiometry problems or to learn to draw Lewis structures without seeing the work written on the board. I had to learn how to listen carefully.”

“We were solving complex problems by listening and taking notes,” she said later.

“You’d miss an important detail if you weren’t listening. It was all discussion about the problems.”

After graduation, Faus taught chemistry at a high school in Queensland, Australia, and then hitchhiked in New Zealand for six months before returning to the United States to teach.

“I wanted to be in New England, to be able to climb, to ski, to hike. I joined the faculty of the Tilton School and was assistant dean of admission. While there, I earned an M.N.S. degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. My husband, Brad, and I came to Hotchkiss in 1987.”

In nearly four decades at Hotchkiss, she’s refined how she teaches her students. “I want them to be willing to take risks in the classroom. I want them to be able to look at a problem that they haven’t seen before, sit down and work at it, and try to come to a solution. I don’t care whether they give me

Ginny and Brad Faus with their children, Cady and Jamie

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PH OTO: M A R I O WIL L I A M S

CAMPUS CONNECTION

Never Stop Questioning A Window into the Scientific Process at Hotchkiss this Spring

T

HE OPPORTUNIT Y TO CONNECT

with the natural world is a hallmark of a Hotchkiss education. As some of the STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) projects from this spring reveal, the possibilities for experiential learning may well be infinite. During a communitywide Science Night in May, students presented research, independent study, and hands-on work, some of which will continue throughout the year ahead.

During the evening, students studying with Instructor in Biology Susan Park presented projects they had begun in the fall. “Students chose relevant issues facing society today. All of the topics were chosen by the students themselves without prior knowledge of many of the molecular

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biology applications they would apply in the springtime,” explained Park, who left Hotchkiss at the end of the academic year.

“I would also point out that the design of their experiments covered many key aspects of the field of genetics. Their overall design was hypothesis-driven and required an iterative process of hands-on trial and error in the lab setting.”

In work titled “CRISPR: Editing ACE2,” Sofia Yawand-Wossen ’21 described using E. coli bacteria to engineer part of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme, ACE2, which has been linked to the infection and the severity of COVID-19. As YawandWossen explained, stretches of DNA known as CRISPRs (which is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short

Palindromic Repeats) play a key role in antiviral defense systems. Her project focused on the potential application of gene-editing technology to prevent infection. “The results of this experiment revealed that ACE2 cannot successfully be transformed into E. coli,” she explained in a summary of the work. “However, more time for further testing may have provided a different result.”

Francesca Gunn ’21 described a project called “Stem Cell Pluripotency.” The purpose of this work was to identify ways in which stem cell responses to injury differ among individuals. In other words, does DNA influence the way people’s bodies respond to getting hurt? “When one gets injured, stem cells dive into action to try to repair the broken body. They have the ability to heal the body, such as mending a broken bone,” Gunn described. In doing the work, her hypothesis posited that a particular gene (POU5F1) is similar within family members but differs among those who are not related. Gunn is using a lab technique called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to study DNA samples from her own family in her ongoing research.

Kimberly Pothemont ’21 spoke about her work on zebrafish as a model organism of study in the lab. “The purpose of this study is to explore the role of UV light absorption on melanocyte development and identify genetic differences between the wild and mutant types of zebrafishes carrying the endothelin receptor Ba gene (EDNR),” she said. The work is related to the animals’ ability to produce melanin when exposed to ultraviolet light, an important factor in camouflage, speciation, and protection against environmental conditions. To execute the research, Pothemont used a spectrometer, which measures the reflection or transmission of light, to study deceased embryos from two different genotypes, one of which carried a mutation on a gene known to be associated with skin pigmentation. Her findings indicate that melanin production may be an important factor in UV light absorption. “A mutation of this gene is the largest factor in distinguishing genetic differences between people of African and European ancestry,” she explained in a summary of her work.

Biologists were not the only students to showcase their work. Also under discussion during Science Night were projects from a class called “Hacking the Universe with the Arduino Microcontroller,” which is taught

by Instructor in Physics William Fenton.

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform that converts external inputs, such as lights on a sensor or a finger on a button, into an action, such as activating a motor. In essence, it involves connecting the physical activity of human beings to computers.

Among the projects presented, Cooper Roh ’22 is building a jump pad that allows a user to interact directly with a nemesis — in this case, a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex — within a video game. Roh’s project involves a wearable accelerometer, which is a device that constantly collects acceleration values, paired with code that detects changes in the acceleration of the user’s movements.

Happily for the would-be victim, the technology allows the user to avoid the dino in real time.

Simon Griffin ’22 described the creation of a two-wheeled robot something like a Segway. This device also uses information from an accelerometer, combined with that generated by a gyroscope, to achieve and maintain reliable balance.

Brian Haywood ’21 spoke about building a tool optimized for bringing home the prize during a scavenger hunt. Connected to GPS satellites, the device collects longitudinal and latitudinal positions that help the user be the first to find the treasure.

Later that evening, engineering students bringing ideas to life in the EFX lab were also on hand to promote their wares. The projects are works-in-progress that will continue to be built, refined, and put to the test in the year ahead.

“EFX stands for Engineering, Fabrication, and Exploration. But I like to think the ‘X’ stands for excitement!” said Mike Boone, director of the EFX Lab. “This is a space where students can experiment, collaborate, and create.”

Kayla Robertson ’22 invited attendees into discussion about the body and frame of a Formula One race car simulator she is designing and building using CAD, a modeling software. In the fall, she will build

actuators that will provide movement controlled by sensors on the steering wheel and pedal assemblies and then “driven” using virtual reality simulation. As she explained, her initial vision was to build a complete Formula One car, but it would have been too big to fit in the lab!

Rahul Kalavagunta ’22 is bringing part of the magic of Hogwarts to life through the creation of a mechanized chess board, the pieces of which appear to move of their own free will. In reality, a linear rail and electromagnetic system placed under the board moves the pieces in response to a user’s input.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Curiosity has its own reason for existence.

One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.”

—A LB E R T E I N S T E I N

Classmate Charlie McLean ’22 has designed a dual-suspension, highperformance mountain bike frame. He fabricated a mold for each half of the bike using carbon fiber and a combination of engineering, 3D printing, wood, and oldfashioned elbow grease. A CNC machine (spelled out as a Computer Numerical Controller) was employed to fabricate aluminum links to connect the two sections of the bike. In the year ahead, he will build the bike — which may one day blaze a trail around Main Circle.

Among other science content in the spring, the School also welcomed a roster of fascinating speakers as part of a virtual lecture series called Science Connections, which was established by Mario Williams ’12, instructor in science. The series is designed to connect students with professionals in science and technology with the goal of inspiring diverse, creative, and innovative leaders in STEM. Among speakers this spring, alumnus Kevin Baines ’72 talked to students about topics as far-reaching as interplanetary travel and chemical evidence that explains how the impact of a single asteroid caused catastrophic climate change and the mass extinction of dinosaurs. As the Lead NASA scientist on Europe’s last mission to Venus, he shared fascinating perspective on the relevance of understanding the atmosphere of Venus to deciphering Earth’s past. Baines is a principal scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a senior scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Other speakers included Hotchkiss Farm Education Coordinator Amy Sidran, who spoke about exploring the relationships between food systems, ecology, and conservation, and Joseph Mohan, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, who discussed the relevance of analyzing fossils to interpreting paleoenvironments and climate change.

In recognition of Eco Day in May, Dr. Gary Kofinas, professor emeritus at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough, international chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, spoke about the impact of climate change on the Arctic, the Inuit response, and international initiatives.

The search for answers at Hotchkiss is alive and well. In the words of Albert Einstein, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.” — “Old Man’s Advice to Youth: ‘Never Lose a Holy Curiosity.’” LIFE (May 2, 1955) H

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

ABOUT THE TOWN HILL SOCIETY

Poetic License Contemplating Hotchkiss through the lens of poetry B Y H O P E R E I S I N G E R C O B E R A ’88, P ’24

Early this spring, a group of alumni gathered for Revisitings: A Virtual Colloquium hosted by The Town Hill Society.

The evening’s discussion was in some ways a trip back in time, connecting alumni to the arguably unparalleled experience of studying English at Hotchkiss. The conversation was led by Charlie Frankenbach and Jeffrey Blevins, instructors in English, and Tom Drake, instructor in history. In addition to helping to elucidate three poems, it provided a provocative allegory for change that draws on enduring structures of the past even as it unfolds into something new.

The first poem discussed was “Windsor Forest,” written by Alexander Pope in 1713.

“The Groves of Eden, vanish’d now so long, Live in description, and look green in song: These, were my breast inspir’d with equal flame, Like them in beauty, should be like in fame.

Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, Here earth and water seem to strive again; Not Chaos-like together crush’d and bruis’d, But as the world, harmoniously confus’d: Where order in variety we see, And where, tho’ all things differ, all agree.”

—From “Windsor Forest”

Revisitings: A Virtual Colloquium was hosted by The Town Hill Society, which celebrates those who have included Hotchkiss in their estate plans. Today, there are more than 220 living Town Hill Society members, including parents, friends, faculty, and staff. The youngest member is from the Class of 2011 and the oldest from the Class of 1937.

Members are invited to participate in a wide variety of in-person and virtual events throughout the year.

For more information, please visit hotchkiss.plannedgiving.org.

“Nor less, I trust, To them I may have owed another gift, Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood, In which the burthen of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, Is lightened:—that serene and blessed mood, In which the affections gently lead us on,— Until, the breath of this corporeal frame And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul: While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things.”

—From “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”

“Windsor Forest” celebrates the end of the Wars of the Spanish Succession. Alexander Pope speaks of looking over the sylvan beauty of a royal hunting ground (but does not mention that he is forbidden entry because he is Catholic). He delights in its Eden-like perfection, an analogy to the rule of the Protestant Queen Anne. Pope speaks to an audience of readers from his intellectual caste. Like the claude glass used by painters of the time to create a small reflection of reality — one considered more beautiful than the natural world — Pope’s experience with nature is one-step removed, intermediated by formality and allusion.

After engaging with the poem, Frankenbach and Blevins guided the discussion to William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey,” written in 1798.

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Decades of Hotchkiss students may remember certain lines that appear later in the poem, the memorization of which was long part of the English curriculum: For I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes The still sad music of humanity, Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power To chasten and subdue…

Both the Pope and the Wordsworth texts begin in the present, anchored in observation of the natural world, and then navigate great distances. Pope explores English society and politics at a time when the political order of Europe was freshly rearranged.

Wordsworth journeys inward to explore the power of the natural world to bring life to the soul.

The instructors chose this sequence of poetry to invite discussion around the idea that the precepts of a given time — whether it be the Augustan age of English literature or that of the Hotchkiss faculty lounge — lend value to, but do not define, what comes after.

“It’s astonishing, the sea change here!” said Frankenbach.

“The possibilities of where poetry can go are now within the landscape of [Wordsworth’s] experience. He is in the mansion of his own memories. And that’s a game changer.”

“Pope believes in poetry as a kind of mediating force in a very formal way,” said Blevins, who also provided context for Pope’s position as a Catholic in a ruling Protestant society.

“But for Wordsworth, it is very much unmediated. He doesn’t rely on simile or metaphor to bring nature to life. He focuses on what he sees and feels and remembers.”

“What I Mean When I Say Farmhouse,” written by Geffrey Davis in 2014, was the third poem in the evening’s discussion. Like the Pope and Wordsworth texts, it opens with personal observation of the natural world and then travels not only into memory but into the closed book of time.

Each shift in the winds of remembering renders me immediate again, like ancient valleys reignited by more lightning. If only I could settle on the porch of waiting and listening, near the big maple bent by children and heat, just before the sweeping threat of summer thunderstorms. We have our places for loneliness—that loaded asking of the body. my mother stands beside the kitchen window, her hands no longer in constant motion. And my father walks along the tired fence, watching horses and clouds roll down against the dying light— I know he wants to become one or the other.

I want to jar the tenderness of seasons, to crawl deep into the moment. I’ve come to write less fear into the boy running through the half-dark. I’ve come for the boy.

—From “What I Mean When I Say Farmhouse,” from Revising the Storm, ©2014 by Geffrey Davis.

Used with permission of BOA Editions. www.boaeditions.org

“Davis is treating himself, his own past, as a kind of shattered monastery,” observed Blevins, referring to the Wordsworth text, in which the physical structure for which the poem is named never actually appears. “The Tintern Abbey here is [Davis’s] childhood — it is the boy himself. He is bearing witness to his own growth. There is a tragic impossibility that almost reminds me of the unspoken sadness in Pope, honoring a forest that he can’t participate in…. There is a paradox in his words, ‘I want to jar the seasons.’ Is that jar in the sense of preservation, or is it jar in the sense of change and disruption?”

The instructors chose this sequence of poetry to invite discussion around the idea that the precepts of a given time — whether it be the golden age of England or that of the Hotchkiss faculty lounge — lend value to, but do not define, what comes after. There is room for disruption in harmony with preservation.

“The Pope poem invites us to think about Hotchkiss from a past in varying degrees of depth. When we move into Wordsworth and later to Davis, we have a more recent version of Hotchkiss,” said Frankenbach. He went on to describe the evolution of teaching he has observed during a 32-year career at the School.

“When I arrived here in 1989, there was still a firm foot planted in the Hotchkiss that many of you remember. Bob Hawkins, the Classics department, Sam Coughlin as the queen of the diagrammed sentence! In one ear, I had this frightening guy Hawkins reducing me to feeling like an 11-year-old, and in the other, I had people like Blair [Torrey], Mar [Geoff Marchant], Dick Hughes, and Sarah Tames reading poems like ‘Tintern Abbey.’ And I found that there was value in doing it all. I was really fortunate to be here at that wonderful moment.

It wasn’t either/or. It was both/and.”

Among the alumni participating in the colloquium was Skip Nalen ’48. “It is remarkable that those of us who are really old alumni still connect Hotchkiss with what we learned there in English! Mr. Mack, who could forget him? Carle Parsons…

Those lessons were imparted in our spirit and our mentality and are still here almost a century later… I congratulate all of you who continue to make this English department so impressive and unforgettable.”

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

“Hotchkiss is not either/or.

Hotchkiss is both/and.”

—CH A RL I E F RA N KEN BACH

During the evening, Frankenbach recounted an anecdote about an afternoon of angling with four first-timers. He described students casting their flies backwards into the flowing river. In a moment that could have been written for Hollywood, a bald eagle dove majestically down from the sky and soared along their line of sight. They cast and then watched their flies drift downstream, an invitation to think about the flow of time.

“This is a School where once upon a time you had maple syruping, but now you have a farm where kids are literally digging in the dirt! This idea of direct contact with the natural world is being played out programmatically. When students read something like ‘Tintern Abbey’ and are asked to contemplate their place in the natural world — and then they’re standing knee-deep in the Housatonic river, feeling a fish on the end of their line, and watching the sun reflect off the wings of a swooping eagle — that is thrilling!”

Nor wilt thou then forget, That after many wanderings, many years Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs, And this green pastoral landscape, were to me More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!

—From “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth As the evening’s discussion helped to reveal, the moorings that connect alumni to Hotchkiss allow us, upon reflection, to crawl deep into the moment and to see into the life of things.

Hotchkiss is not either/or. Hotchkiss is both/and.

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Jeffrey Blevins, Ph.D., joined the Hotchkiss faculty as an instructor in English in 2019. His work has been published in numerous academic and literary publications, most recently including Poetics Today.

An essay on T.S. Eliot will appear in Twentieth-Century Literature this fall. Blevins is currently leading a group of rising Hotchkiss seniors as part of the MacLeish Scholars Program, which he created (see Hotchkiss Magazine Fall 2020).

Thomas Drake joined the Hotchkiss faculty in 1982 as an instructor in history. During his tenure, he has held numerous roles, including serving as interim dean of faculty. He holds the Class of 1938 Teaching Chair and is the Director of the Center for Global Understanding and Independent Thinking. For a glimpse into why Drake teaches, please see page 5 in this issue.

Charles Frankenbach joined the Hotchkiss faculty in 1989 as an instructor in English. He holds the Russel Murray Bigelow Chair and serves as Head of the English Department. In 2020, he was named a University of Chicago Outstanding Educator, an honor that recognizes educators who go beyond everyday teaching and leave a lifelong impression on students.

For a glimpse into why Frankenbach teaches, please see page 5 in this issue.

“I congratulate all of you who continue to make this English department so impressive and unforgettable.”

—S KIP NA LE N ’48

New Appointments in the Deans’ Office As we look toward 2021-22, The Hotchkiss School is pleased to announce several new administrative appointments in the Deans’ Office.

RI CH A RD DAV IS , associate dean of faculty and classics instructor, has been appointed dean of academic life, effective July 1.

Davis joined the Hotchkiss faculty in 2006.

In his most-recent role as associate dean of faculty, he oversaw three key areas: the Penn Fellows Program, new faculty orientation and mentoring, and faculty housing. In addition, he served an integral role in taking on the responsibility of being the School’s COVID coordinator.

Davis has also been an essential member of the School’s recruitment team and its efforts to reimagine recruitment and retention from the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.

In an announcement to the Hotchkiss community, Merrilee Mardon, associate head of school, wrote: “Richard has served our community in many different ways and always with deep care and attention to individual and collective needs and wellbeing, which he has shown time and again in his role as the COVID-19 Coordinator.”

He collaborates closely with colleagues on-and-off campus, keeps up-to-date on emerging science and best practices, and consistently exercises thoughtful judgement to balance community safety, individual needs, and the quality of the student experience, Mardon noted.

“His balanced judgement, collaborative spirit, and clear communication will serve the School well as Richard moves into the role of dean of academic life,” she added.

Davis continues in his role as the Varsity sailing coach.

He holds a B.A. in Classics from Vanderbilt University, an M.A. in Classics from the University of North Carolina, and an M.S.Ed. in School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Other appointments After successfully launching her fourth class of Hotchkiss graduates this June, Dean C H R IS T Y CO O P E R P’08,’11 won’t miss a beat. Beginning this fall, she will take on the role of prep class dean. Who better to introduce each entering class of preps to the Hotchkiss community than Christy? She joined the Hotchkiss faculty in the fall of 1988 as an instructor in English. Christy has coached varsity soccer, varsity and JV ice hockey, and softball. She and husband John, instructor in mathematics, were dorm parents in both Buehler and Van Santvoord Halls, where they raised daughters Corey Cooper ’08, instructor in English and head coach of girls varsity hockey, and Brady Cooper ’11. Christy has also served in a number of administrative posts throughout her Hotchkiss tenure, including dean of students, dean of dormitory life, sexual misconduct prevention and response coordinator, and dean to the Classes of 2004, 2013, 2018, and 2021.

As the Class of 2024 settles into their new status as lower mids, Instructor in Mathematics D E M P S E Y Q UIN N will settle into his new role as their class dean.

Dempsey arrived at Hotchkiss in Fall of 2020 as an instructor in mathematics and football coach. He previously worked at Kent School, Brown University, and Berkshire School, after earning his B.S. in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and M.S. in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University. He lives in Van Santvoord with his wife, Julia, sons Reidy and newborn Rory, and dogs Scout and Mowgli.

M A R C IE WIS TA R has proven to be a dynamic and creative director of student activities, successfully revamping the Olympian vs. Pythian contest and devising fun and memorable weekend programming for Bearcats. Her role will now expand to include guidance for student groups as the director of student activities, clubs, and affinity organizations.

Marcie, who previously taught science and served as director of campus programming and communications at Kildonan School, has lived on campus since 2007 with her husband Roger Wistar, instructor in computer science, and their sons, Ben and Andrew.

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CAMPUS CONNECTION

Call of the Wild The Outing Club connects students with nature B Y W E N DY C A R L S O N

At Hotchkiss, there are more than 80 clubs in which students can pursue their passions and discover new interests. In the Outing Club, students explore the world of outdoor adventure.

S

I N C E T H E S C H O O L’ S F O U N D I N G ,

PH OTO: JACK J O HN S O N ’ 22

Hotchkiss has had a tradition of building a connection between students and the natural world. Under the leadership of Headmaster George Van Santvoord, Class of 1908, students in the Woods Squad learned how to split firewood, clear trails, and build cabins. Over the years, the Woods Squad has been reimagined

in different forms, and generations of students have explored the fields, forests, and streams surrounding the campus.

The Outing Club was started in the 1990s by Instructor in French Sarinda Parsons Wilson P’14,’17 and Ken Wiseman, the former head of food services. Since its founding, the Club has offered a variety of weekend activities

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geared toward exploring the great outdoors.

Not every student who joins the club has experience tackling a high-ropes course or spelunking. “I was not at all a star outdoors person to begin with,” Wilson jokes. But after 25 years as faculty advisor she is a seasoned veteran, leading students on sunrise hikes and full-moon walks through Beeslick Woods, paddling along with them on canoe trips, building campfires, clearing trails, and leading hikes along portions of the Appalachian Trail.

Today’s Outing Club offers opportunities that all students can enjoy and join, regardless of their experience, she said.

“This past spring, we offered an overnight at Fairfield Farm, an afternoon in canoes, a volunteer opportunity at the Audubon Center, and a Larsen Trail hike that we earmarked for new students especially,” says Wilson.

“We often begin with an ice-breaker, so that we all are able to learn a little something about the rest of the group (a hidden talent, a word association, a favorite item of clothing, or a ‘never have I ever…’ sentence to complete). Each voice counts, and time spent in a canoe or tent or on trails or snowshoes is better when the group feels some connection at the outset.

And our student leadership is welcoming, confident and organized,” Wilson adds.

In her view, the focus of the club isn’t only about experiencing fun and challenging activities. Being outside in the natural world offers students a moment to pause and step away from their everyday

PH OTO: JACK J O HN S O N ’ 22

routines. “Students are away from their devices, from familiar rhythms and predictable patterns, and they gain new perspectives and a chance to get to know peers whose paths they might not normally cross,” Wilson says.

“I try to encourage them to observe nature more closely, to see things that they wouldn’t normally notice — a unique tree, an owl pellet, a wildflower, an animal track in the mud or snow.”

For many club members, the activities become a memorable part of their Hotchkiss experience.

For Carolyn Chinatti ’22, the opportunity to have nature at her fingertips is essential to her wellbeing. The club provides a perfect way to take advantage of being in a place that is so connected to the outdoors, something she found particularly helpful during the pandemic’s widespread lockdowns earlier last spring, she said.

Since she joined the club, her favorite moments have been sitting around a campfire. “It’s a great way to meet new people, and even if I don’t know the people I’m with, by the end of the night, we’re all talking and laughing together.”

Walking along the Larsen Perimeter Trail, members pass cabins built by students and faculty over the decades, creating a bridge to the School’s past.

“They’re each so unique, and inside the walls are covered with the names of past Hotchkiss students. At times, it feels like stepping back in history,” says Chinatti.

The club recently added a service component. During the past year, members have volunteered at the Sharon Audubon Center and for the Hotchkiss Day of Service, and they have completed trail maintenance at Sharon Land Trust locations.

Co-head Jack Johnson ’22 already had significant outdoor expertise before coming to Hotchkiss. He chose to attend the School because of its setting and access to woods and trails.

“I grew up hiking with my family and spending lots of time outdoors. I also owe all of my professional experiences and all of my current jobs to my experiences growing up spending time in the woods,” says Johnson, who serves as an EMT at North Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps and shift chief for New Canaan EMS. Students appreciate the small wonders and

lessons they learn during outing events. “I have often gone on hikes with teachers who know the landscape well and are able to point out all the small beauties of the forest around us that I would never have noticed otherwise.

Additionally, I have worked with the Outing Club in the past to help maintain these trails, so being able to hike the trails I myself have helped to create is incredibly rewarding,” said Madeline Chang ’22.

“I really think that there is nothing more centering and calming than taking a walk through the woods. Especially at Hotchkiss, where a lack of phone reception truly cuts you off from the rest of the world. Going outdoors to just look and listen to your surroundings and making that choice to take a moment away, a moment for yourself, really forces you to slow down, disconnect from the stresses of school, and reconnect with the beautiful landscape and nature that surrounds us but often goes unseen,” she adds.

Johnson agrees that nature offers solitude, a valuable resource in students’ often-hectic schedule. “My favorite place outdoors is the woods. At night, there’s a certain serenity and sanctity.” H SUMMER 2021

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From the Office of Admission

PH OTO: G A RY FR IEDM A N/LOS A N G EL E S T IME S V I A G E T T Y IM AG E S

Seeking Illumination? Look No Further.

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HERE ARE A LOT OF IM AGE S

accepted students might have expected to see on the webpage for Virtual Admission Days — but Minions probably weren’t among them. However, thanks to Chris Meledandri ’77, founder and CEO of Illumination, the smiling faces of the Minions greeted them front and center.

The artwork was part of a series of communications to accepted students that included an invitation to a virtual session with Meledandri. During the conversation, Meledandri discussed his career and the founding of the award-winning film company behind Despicable Me, Minions,

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Sing, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Hop, The Secret Life of Pets, and many more beloved animated films. The company’s body of work has grossed $6.7 billion worldwide.

While at Hotchkiss, Meledandri was a member of the Hotchkiss Dramatic Association (HDA), co-editor of The Whipping Post, and president of the School.

Since 1999, he has led fundraisers as a Class Agent, spoken at numerous School events, served on Reunion committees, acted as a host and as a Reunion Agent, and was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2007-16. Meledandri has also worked to connect the School with many talented

students in southern California.

During the Zoom event, Meledandri congratulated attendees on being accepted to Hotchkiss. He then fielded questions from moderators Luke Gardiner ’21 and Gunnar Overstrom ’21 about lessons learned in Lakeville and the value of a Hotchkiss education to his career.

The idea of boarding school came as a completely new concept to Meledandri’s parents. As he explained, his father did not attend college, and his mother earned her college degree when he was in junior high.

Despite how alien boarding school seemed to him, Meledandri said, “I had some sort of

“So many of the experiences I had at Hotchkiss were these wonderful combinations of being challenged and being supported at the same time. It gave me so much confidence in other parts of my life to meet challenges ahead of me with a sense of confidence that I would get to the other side.”

This year’s admission cycle was the most competitive in the School’s history, with only one out of every eight applicants accepted. The virtual event with Meledandri was part of a comprehensive campaign designed to communicate with ninth- and tenth-graders as they made the important decision about enrolling at Hotchkiss.

—CHR IS MEL E DA N D R I ’77

chemical reaction when I got to the Hotchkiss campus, and I felt this is a place where I can really thrive. I just felt comfortable there… and so my journey began,” he said.

Meledandri harkened back to a strong sense of community. “There is a lot of anxiety about coming to a new place and embarking on a new journey, and the community welcomed me. I really found that it was made up of a combination of the culture of my fellow students and a very supportive faculty.”

At Hotchkiss, he said, students are invited to play an active role in the community through clubs, dorm activities, volunteer organizations, and team sports.

“I was on the cross-country ski team, and I had never cross-country skied. I think I came in last in every race, but I loved being part of the team. And I loved being a fan of Hotchkiss sports teams that were really accomplished at that time.”

Meledandri shared that STEM subjects weren’t his strong suit at Hotchkiss, but he

managed to make great strides at his level.

This gave him encouragement and a sense of satisfaction. Beyond academics, he said, Hotchkiss gives students a wonderful combination of challenges within a caring support system.

“So many of the experiences I had at Hotchkiss were these wonderful combinations of being challenged and being supported at the same time. It gave me so much confidence in other parts of my life to meet challenges ahead of me with a sense of confidence that I would get to the other side.”

Meledandri emphasized that Hotchkiss offers students multiple ways to develop new interests and ignite their passions.

While he became very involved with HDA during his time at Hotchkiss, he had no idea he would pursue a career in film.

“I was terrible with a hammer and a nail, but I built sets. I learned about lighting. I tried acting, but I was terrible.

I still have a photo of myself and Allison Janney ’77 performing on stage at Hotchkiss, and we finally got to work

together on the set of Minions after all those years.” (Actress Allison Brooks Janney ’77 voiced Madge Nelson in the 2015 film Minions. She received Hotchkiss’s Alumni Award, the School’s highest alumni honor, in 2016.)

Meledandri told accepted students that while many schools offer great academics, Hotchkiss provides a very engaged culture within an interdisciplinary education.

In responding to a series of thoughtful questions posed by Overstrom and Gardiner, Meledandri encouraged accepted students to appreciate the full educational experience Hotchkiss has to offer, including the opportunities and moments for self-reflection.

“I think it is important for students to embrace the moment they are in –– and the spontaneous events that will lead them to a new level of awareness,” he said. H For more information on the application process at Hotchkiss, visit the Admission page on our website or email: admission@hotchkiss.org SUMMER 2021

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PROGRESS TOWARD EQUITY The Chinese Club designed and sold pins in support of the Pan Asian community.

Supporting our Diverse Community A

C R O S S T H E U. S . , A N T I - A S I A N

and anti-Asian American violence escalated during the pandemic. Far from being an isolated phenomenon, race-based scapegoating has extensive historical precedent during times of epidemic disease. While the true origin story of the SARS CoV-2 virus is as yet unknown, finger-pointing, prejudice, and violence are all too real.

This spring, the Hotchkiss community took steps to ensure that those on campus who identify as members of the Pan-Asian community feel safe, seen, and supported.

Head of School Craig Bradley reiterated the School’s intolerance of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination in any form and spoke earnestly against ongoing violence perpetrated against Asians and Asian Americans during an All-School address in March. Several weeks later, six women of Asian descent were murdered in the Atlanta-area mass shooting.

Following this brutal event, the student Asian American Advocacy Club, which is known as Triple A, acted quickly to

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organize a virtual, School-wide forum. It was attended by more than 500 community members, making it one of the largest nonmandatory school gatherings of the year.

For several days after the shootings, Pan-Asian faculty members continued to hold virtual gatherings to provide space for Pan-Asian and Asian American students to safely explore their feelings. Pierre Yoo, instructor in chemistry, Peggy Hsia, senior associate director of admission, and Nora Yasumura, outgoing director of student clubs and affinity groups and prep class dean, dedicated hours of their personal time to the work.

A Month of Awareness

The month of May, during which Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage is celebrated, offered an ideal opportunity to focus on equity and inclusion for the Pan-Asian community at Hotchkiss.

The School hosted numerous campus events to honor the AAPI community, including two virtual panel discussions

with professionals from the Asian American Bar Association of New York. The first addressed the legal aspects of anti-Asian hate crimes, while the second focused on careers and opportunities in the field of law.

The School also sponsored its first AAPI Heritage Month guest speaker, Justine Ang Fonte, who is a wellness educator.

Students were highly engaged in observing AAPI Heritage. Triple A co-hosted a discussion with the Hotchkiss affiliate of Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting mental wellness.

The Chinese Club sold buttons in support of Stop AAPI Hate, a national organization that tracks racism and xenophobia. Other student clubs also rallied in support. Hillel, which celebrates Jewish faith and culture, co-hosted meetings on Asian and Jewish intersectionality, scapegoating, and the struggles of both communities.

Alumni also took part. Yuna Hur ’14 sponsored a virtual run to raise awareness and uplift the AAPI community. (See p. 72 in Class Notes for more information.)

The Work Continues

Over the past several years, Hotchkiss’s commitment to the Pan Asian community has continued to gain strength and momentum. This is particularly evident in the School’s visibility at the Asian American Footsteps Conference (AFFC).

In 2017, a group of students attended the first AAFC Conference, which inspired them to form Triple A after they returned to Hotchkiss. Since then, the club has been actively engaged in raising awareness of intersectional equity issues on campus, and the School’s participation in the AAFC has continued to grow.

In 2019, Hotchkiss hosted the event, doubling attendance and positioning the School as a leader among peers in providing support for the needs of the Pan Asian community. Since that time, Hotchkiss has continued to send one of the largest conference delegations each year.

Outgoing co-head of Triple A, Amelia Wang ’21, said she was pleased to see that the School has been supportive in providing space for students affected by anti-Asian violence to express their thoughts and for others to listen and learn.

“There is definitely more to be done. I hope the School will be able to take more initiatives in inviting speakers of Asian descent to address intersectional Asian identities to ameliorate the community’s understanding of what it means to be Asian,” she said.

Next year’s Triple A leadership team will continue the club’s good work. Stella Ren ’22 and Amelie Zhang ’23 were elected as new co-heads. The board welcomes new members Cooper Roh ’22, Megan Ho ’23, Vivian Shi ’23, Isabella Wei ’23, Angela Li ’24, and Alejandro Zheng ’24.

Speaking in support of student engagement on campus, Pierre Yoo added that faculty members who have been working with the Pan-Asian student community will “continue to do what we need to do to make sure that the issues of the AAPI community are addressed and to make sure that students are heard.” H

The Diversity of Experience among AAPI and International Asian Alumni

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N J U N E 1 5 , I N A Y E A R that was marked by triumphs and tribulations for Asian voices in America, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Governors hosted a virtual discussion titled “The Diversity of Experience among AAPI and International Asian Alumni.” A panel of alumni discussed how their career paths have been influenced by their identities.

Daniel Pai ’19, a member of the Board of Governors and an undergraduate at Yale studying global affairs, served as moderator.

“When I heard that Youn Yuh-jung had won the Oscar [for best supporting actress], I was thrilled,” said Daniel. “Growing up, I had watched her in every Korean drama I could imagine and she had finally been recognized for her decades of superb acting. Her film Minari struck a chord with me, particularly the scene of the family in church. Korean churches in America act as places of social bonding for many immigrant Koreans. I grew up in a very similar setting, and it’s also where I learned to love and serve others. I wanted to share this unique experience of Asian Americans with the alumni body.”

The alumni panelists were Yujin Lee ’05, artist and founder of Next Door to the Museum Jeju; Kylene Ramos ’08, product manager at Code and Theory; and Zubin Sharma ’09, founder and CEO of Project Potential. Lee, Ramos, and Sharma spoke of their experience at Hotchkiss, mentors who helped them along the way, and how their identities have shaped their paths and values. For Daniel, who identified strongly with the experiences of these alumni, it was a reminder of the value of celebrating diversity.

“As Yassine Talhaoui, director of diversity and inclusion at Hotchkiss, has said, ‘effect positive change for negative situations,’” said Daniel. “I am grateful to the quick work of the co-chairs of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Governors, Nathalie Pierrepont Danilovich ’03 and Danielle S. Ferguson ’97, for their encouragement and quick planning in support of this event.”

“Korean churches in America act as places of social bonding for many immigrant Koreans; I grew up in a very similar setting, and it’s also where I learned to love and serve others.”

—DA N I E L PA I ’19

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PROGRESS TOWARD EQUITY

Through a Historical Lens, Art Students Gain an Understanding of Race and Identity

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AIMA JOHNSON ’24 NOTICED

S O M E T H I N G S T R I K I N G when she studied the Portrait of Maria Birch Coffing with Jane W. Winslow for her humanities art project this spring. The subject of the painting was a wealthy woman from Salisbury. Standing behind her is the faint figure of Jane Winslow, a Black girl, whose image was revealed only after the painting was cleaned and restored.

“This piece stood out to me because of the clear power dynamic displayed,” said Johnson, whose own painting, an interpretation of the 19th-century portrait, was part of the exhibit Common Ground: A Dialog in Portraits.

The exhibit, featuring prep and lowermid student work, highlights efforts by the studio art and art history program to update its curriculum by reexamining accepted narratives of art history and including more diverse content and perspectives. For the project, students studied portraits from the Hotchkiss Special Collections, the Salisbury Historical Society, the Litchfield Historical Society, and private collectors, and then created their own interpretations on canvas. Their

The exhibit highlights efforts by the studio art and art history program to update its curriculum by reexamining accepted narratives of art history and including more diverse content and perspectives.

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Portrait of My Mom by Naima Johnson ’24 was hung next to Portrait of Maria Birch Coffing with Jane W. Winslow.

paintings were exhibited side-by-side with the historical portraits in the Rotunda gallery this spring.

Johnson’s piece, Portrait of My Mom, addresses how Black people were depicted in early American portraiture.

“As a Black female in the 1840s, Jane Winslow was already viewed as inferior in

America, and this portrait promotes this narrative. In my portrait, I wanted to reverse this. I wanted my work to display a Black female figure as the sole focus of the portrait.

This is why I decided to paint a portrait of my mom. Not only is she a reflection of me and who I am, but I also felt that she serves as a good representation of the beauty of

Left: Painting of Mary Hale Slade Holley, 1939-1891, Artist Unknown. Slade was the daughter of a wealthy New York City merchant. At 16, she married Alexander Lyman Holley, son of Connecticut’s 40th governor and a Lakeville resident.

Center: Untitled mixed media portrait by Megan Ho ’23 Right: Untitled acrylic on canvas portrait by Annie Dong ’23

Black womanhood, a narrative that was not represented in the portrait of Jane Winslow,” Johnson wrote in her artist’s statement.

To set the stage for the project, students first attended a virtual lecture by Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Associate Curator Stephanie Sparling Williams, Ph.D., a Black feminist theorist whose work focuses on American, African American, and African/Diasporic art and culture. Sparling Williams told students it is necessary to contextualize American portraiture by examining why the works were created, understanding that traditional portraiture excluded a large majority of society, and observing the stylistic evolution of American portraiture over time. She highlighted contemporary Black artists Bisa Butler and Lorraine O’Grady as examples of artists who use the history of portraiture in their work to convey more diverse historical narratives.

Above: Ellen Emmet Rand’s oil portrait of Hotchkiss Trustee Robert Scoville (1876-1937); Right: Untitled Acrylic on canvas by Grant Kloeber ’23

Scan this QR code to view a flickr gallery of images from the exhibit.

Bringing Everyone to the Table

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O O D F E E D S T H E S O U L . It can also feed the mind, bringing people together in the joy of discovering new ideas and cultures. At Hotchkiss, the Dining Hall staff work not only to keep students fed, healthy, and happy, but to broaden the scope of their culinary experiences.

In Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar marks Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. This year, Ramadan was observed from mid-April to mid-May. “Our goal during Ramadan is to make it a holiday celebrated by the community as a whole,” said Mike Webster, director of Tory Hill, the School’s dining service. “Every week, students observing Ramadan invited friends who did not observe and were able to share this special celebration with them.”

Each day at sunset, those observing the holy month broke their daily fast with dates and bowls of traditional hearty soups including Moroccan Harira. Each Friday

at sunset, the entire School community was invited to partake in a special meal called Iftar. The weekly menu featured foods from different Muslim regions of the world. Chebakia, which are traditional sesame cookies, lamb, and lentils, were served on Middle Eastern night. Meals from Turkey, West Africa, and Indochina featured authentic recipes and ingredients. On the last day of Ramadan, a special Eid al-Fitr meal was served.

Throughout the school year, cultural events are celebrated with traditional foods that are often prepared by dining services.

In May, a variety of iced teas were served in the Dining Hall to celebrate the Thai festival Loi Krathong and AAPI month.

Other celebrations recognized with special dishes include Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, and the Lunar New Year.

Another opportunity for cultural engagement comes literally from breaking

bread. Challah, which is a traditional Jewish bread, is typically served on Saturdays during Shabbat and on ceremonial occasions. At Hotchkiss, Challah is a Dining Hall specialty and the highlight of the Hillel’s Friday-evening meetings. Everyone in the School is invited to the club’s gatherings, where Jewish culture and identity are often discussed and freshly-baked Challah is shared. Chef Joyce Sousa adds her own special flavors to these sweet loaves. After braiding them into the traditional six-strand loaf, she often tops them off with sesame seeds or streusel.

During Passover, a Seder dinner is served in the Student Center.

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Caring for a community, one person at a time Long-serving medical director, Dr. Jared Zelman P’04, retires B Y R O B E R TA J E N C K E S

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

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ROM HIS OFFICE in the Wieler Health Center, Medical Director Jared Zelman P’04 has long watched the passing stream of students and faculty coming and going from the Griswold Science Center to the Dining Hall or across to the Mars Athletic Center.

One day, he noticed that Instructor in Physics Bill Fenton had an awkward gait and seemed to be limping.

“I sent him a note,” Dr. Zelman says, “and asked him if he had injured his ankle or knee and if I could help him. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘It’s neither. It’s raining. I had a hole in my shoe, and I’m limping because I don’t want to get more water in my shoe.’”

This was classic Zelman. Known far and wide, but especially on campus, for his caring and compassionate nature throughout his career, he kept an eye on everyone in his charge. When there may have been a problem, he was gentle and reassuring.

A former student says, “He is one of the kindest people that I have ever met. His care helped me survive at Hotchkiss when I was managing terrifying health complications.”

Zelman demurs. “I’m lucky,” he says.

“My gratification comes from helping people and making a connection with others. I tend to be gregarious. It’s somewhat in the genes and in the nurturing I had growing up. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers who helped me, especially in the medical field. I have a good work ethic — who knows how you get that?”

He attributes his caring for others to the influence of his mother, who lived to

age 108. His father, who was a thoracic surgeon, died when he was just 13.

A California native, Zelman earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California-Riverside. Along the way, he got a job riding in an ambulance and worked night shifts as an orderly at the local hospital. Then, following his mother’s encouragement to “go do something, have some adventures,” after a residency at the University of Maryland Hospital in family practice, he went to Appalachia to practice medicine. He also delivered babies and worked in the emergency room there.

“I loved it,” he says. “I thought I would stay one year, and I stayed five.”

At about this time he was introduced to Pamela Chassin, also a doctor, and they married in 1983. He worked in hospitals in Maryland as chief of staff, as director of the Emergency Department, and as a team physician for high school athletic teams.

Both Jared and Pamela had liked the rural life of Appalachia. When the time came to settle on a place to live, after some consideration and thoughts about California or New York, they decided on the Northwest Corner. First they moved to Baltimore for his emergency medicine training, and Zelman was then recruited to be the director of the Emergency Department at Sharon Hospital. Emergency medicine at that time had recently become its own specialty, and Zelman became board-certified in the field.

“I always thought I would be a physician,” he says, “although at that time,

He is one of the kindest people that I have ever met.

His care helped me survive.”

—F O R M E R S T U D E N T

we didn’t have the specialty of emergency medicine. People used to take turns to be on call. That’s how it was. People with insight said, ‘No, it has to be a specialty.’

“I was drawn to the field. It fits with my adrenaline, and the breadth of the work I do.

“I think I’m a late bloomer, and the older I get, the more curious I get. There’s a lot of teamwork in emergency medicine. The challenge is to be able to manage a chaotic scene efficiently — ‘How many rooms do I have?’ and ‘How many ambulances are coming in?’ — while also giving each patient your full attention. You have to be able to hone in and have some emotional intelligence to figure out what the agenda is. ‘Is the visit here for pain relief?’ ‘Does something need to be fixed?’ ‘Do they have a special need to be heard and cared about?’ I like to think of this as the standard of caring.

“Emergency medicine is challenging, exciting, and frankly it’s a young person’s field,” he says. When he was approached by the headmaster of Millbrook School in SUMMER 2021

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neighboring New York about becoming the school physician, he accepted the post. In 2004, he was appointed medical director at Hotchkiss while still working in the emergency room at Sharon Hospital.

“I know how lucky I have been to be here, with all the resources that we have, and to work with the wonderful team that we have in the Health Center. From the leadership of former Directors of Health Services Nancy Bird and Quincy McLaughlin, and now to current Director Danielle Shippey, I have been with the best. It was not difficult giving up a directorship of an emergency room to work with such capable people, professionals who are efficient and show such attention to detail and concern for our patients. Our nurses are nurturing and precise. I cannot say enough how much I respect and love them. Besides the nurses, Cay Hosterman, our nurse practitioner, is absolutely outstanding, and this year with COVID we were fortunate to have physician assistant Emily Durocher help us out weekly.

Rounding out the all-star team are the topnotch counselors.”

Zelman didn’t spend all of his time in the Health Center. He was an enthusiastic spectator on the playing fields, cheering on the Bearcats, and ever-present on the sidelines at home football games. He enjoyed going to student programs and performances, and he and Pamela were long-supporters of regional theatre.

“I like to watch the kids,” he says. “When a student is in the Health Center, I can say, ‘Hey, weren’t you in a game or performance?’

It’s an icebreaker. And I like when I’m walking on campus and the kids will call out, ‘Hey, Dr. Zelman!’”

Dr. Zelman introduced members of the Hotchkiss Medical Society to such activities as the Emergency Medical System Case Review at Sharon Hospital. (The cases are discussed without reference to patient names.) With others on campus, he created a comprehensive concussion management program integrating academic support and help for students to return to athletics post-injury.

In the broader community, he continues to be known for his energetic presence as a 30-year member of the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service, including past service 40

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Zelman parades through campus during Last Clap for retiring faculty.

on its board. Radio listeners in the area tune in for his daily one-minute segment on Robin Hood Radio (WHDD-FM) on health and medical topics, a program for which the doctor has been “in” for 25 years.

For five years before that time, he hosted a monthly half-hour program on health on WKZE-FM in Sharon. He received the Emergency Physician of the Year Award from organizations in Connecticut and New York in 1999 and 2001. From 1998-2005, he served as clinical instructor in emergency medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

“His skills go far beyond medicine,” Head of School Craig Bradley said in a campus email that applauded Zelman’s contributions, adding, “We all looked forward to his annual Tick Talk with anticipation each spring.” Zelman smiles at this mention, noting that sometimes a little humor helps the learning process.

“Initially, the talk was probably pretty didactic. It’s gotten sillier over the years — I get positive reinforcement.”

More seriously, he visited the hospital regularly to check on students or make calls to families to provide reassurance. Don Wilson ’11 remembers from his own experience at Hotchkiss how Zelman’s caring for him made a world of difference.

“After graduation,” Wilson says, “I went from Hotchkiss to Princeton. I’m not sure if Dr. Zelman knows this, but he played a

critical role in my college admission process.

My personal statement was about medical challenges I had overcome and how those experiences informed the kind of person that I wanted to become. Dr. Zelman — his empathy, intellect, and kindness — was the model I used in that story. To this day, I am still trying to live up to his example.”

At no time have Zelman’s leadership and acumen been more evident and more prized than in the last two school years.

He originally planned to retire in 2020, but, as Head of School Bradley noted, “He generously offered to delay his retirement in light of the COVID-19 challenges we faced and also to ensure a smooth transition for the next medical director.”

“It’s been a year not doing what I love, which is clinical care,” Zelman says of the time necessarily given to administration and constant attention to the evolving COVID situation. “But we’ve met the goals we established. The students were able to be in school. Through our testing program and attention to our practices, we kept the community safe. A lot of really good people worked really hard to make this happen. I like that when I looked out the window, I could see the kids interacting.”

Danielle Shippey was one of the many people on campus working with Zelman in this demanding and rewarding year. “Jared worked tirelessly with the Health Center team, nurses, counselors, and support staff to ensure the coordination of care for all students,” she says. “Throughout the pandemic, his dedication to the care of our community was nothing short of amazing to witness. He has remained focused on the science and reviewing research that would help us take the next step forward.”

Students on the Mischianza staff recognized his extraordinary service by dedicating the 2021 yearbook to Dr. Zelman and Class Dean Christy Cooper P’08,’11.

While he will be missed daily at Hotchkiss, Zelman will continue to live in Lakeville and be involved with the School. He looks forward to more time riding his bicycle, gardening, indulging the family’s dogs, and, with Pamela, enjoying time with their daughters Joanna ’04 and Allison, son-in-law Max, and grandson Caleb. H

Meet “Dr. Zach” Hotchkiss Appoints New Medical Director

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was appointed the School’s medical director, effective July 1. He succeeds Dr. Jared Zelman P’04.

McClain has been an advocate for the health and well-being of children and adolescents since he began his career teaching middle school in New York City. There, he witnessed firsthand the barriers young people face in getting a good education and the effects that stress, discrimination, and adversity can have on their development. It was through teaching that he came to value what he describes as “the brilliance, love, and resilience of adolescents.” Since then, he has committed his career to advocating for young people. Before coming to Hotchkiss, he was a general pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

McClain received his B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Chicago.

After his teaching experience, he completed medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

In his work at CHOP, McClain provided medical care to adolescents, focusing on resilience, respecting individuality, supporting physical and emotional development, and empowering teens to take ownership of their health and life decisions. His expertise spans a full spectrum of adolescent health including primary care, reproductive health, eating and feeding disorders, medical management of depression and anxiety, care for LGBTQ youth, care for youth R. ZACHARY McCL AIN

living with or at-risk for HIV, and gender identity development issues.

McClain served as the program director of the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program at CHOP where he was responsible for the educational, clinical, and program development of the next generation of leaders in adolescent medicine. His work also included supporting program directors throughout the University of Pennsylvania community to strengthen clinical and educational experiences for fellows. He served as medical director for the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Training Program, funded through the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and he was the youngest member on the board of directors of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. He continues to work with the society.

Beyond medical care, McClain is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ youth. He educates parents, community members, and medical providers on the unique healthcare needs of this community. He has written many peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and most recently co-edited Reaching Teens: Strength-Based, Trauma-Sensitive, ResilienceBuilding Communication Strategies Rooted in Positive Youth Development, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ definitive textbook on communicating with adolescents. This multimedia resource integrates a traumasensitive model with the core belief that identifying, reinforcing, and building on inherent strengths can facilitate positive development among young people.

McClain, who goes by the nickname “Dr. Zach,” has been working in the Health Center at Hotchkiss for the past two years as the School’s visiting medical doctor.

“I love the mission of the School and

“Zach McClain has been a marvelous adjunct to our staff this past year. He is a star, and I could not be happier that he will be the next medical director.”

—JARED ZELMAN, MD, RETIRING MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Health Center, the medical staff, and, most importantly, the youth,” he said. “I am continually impressed by the energy, strength, and enthusiasm of the students at Hotchkiss. As I step into my role as the new medical director, I am excited to delve deeper into the Hotchkiss community and check out the concerts, sporting events, and activism taking place on campus. I’m ready to be a Bearcat!”

McClain lives in Falls Village, CT, with his partner, Tony, and his dog, Scrappy. H SUMMER 2021

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7

The

UNSUNG HERO of the

HOTCHKISS GOLF COURSE

Charles “Josh” Banks

CLASS OF 1902

BY TOM SEIDENSTEIN ’91, P’24

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G

OLF HAS ENJOYED A RENAISSANCE

In 2020, according to Golf Datatech, rounds of golf played in the United States grew by nearly 14 percent over 2019. Students embraced golf in significant numbers at Hotchkiss too, heading to the School’s nine-hole course to play competitively or just for fun. This spring, more than 60 students tried out for the golf teams. The boys’ season ended in triumph with a low score of 181 — a record on the home course. The girls’ and boys’ teams both finished 3-2 for the season.

What students and faculty may not realize is how lucky they are. The roughly 3,000-yard, par-35 course is a key feature of the campus, encircling the School and providing stunning views of Lake Wononscopomuc and the surrounding Berkshire-Taconic mountains. In 2020, Golf Magazine ranked it the 27th-best nine-hole course in the world. In 2019, Golfweek placed Hotchkiss as the 29th-best campus course in America, one of only two prep schools on the list.

DURING THE PANDEMIC.

When golfers walk onto the first tee near Sprole Field, they are touching a piece of art and history. Each round connects players to the early days of the School, to golf ’s “golden age of architecture,” and to Charles Henry (“Josh”) Banks, Class of 1902. Banks played an instrumental role not only in golf at Hotchkiss but also for some of the finest courses in the country.

On campus, the sport dates back to a time when players wore knickerbockers, long puttees (also known as socks), and a coat and tie, no matter the temperature.

The School’s first course was a crude six holes. In 1897, an article published in Harper’s Round Table, a magazine for teenage boys, described the course as primitive and not suited for learning the sport. In 1911, Robert D. Pryde, the golf coach at Yale, designed a new nine-hole course, but it, too, fell short. More than a decade later, Josh Banks would step in to help lead the School’s effort to create a new course. It would be designed by famed golf architect Seth Raynor. And nearly 100 years later, it remains a gem of a course.

The Hotchkiss golf course was ranked 25th in North America in the book The Finest Nines, North America’s Best 9-Hole Courses by Anthony Pioppi (2018) .

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Josh Banks’s Deep Connections to Early Hotchkiss Banks arrived in Lakeville from nearby Amenia, NY, in 1898, and his love of Hotchkiss endured until his death in 1931. As a student, Banks was a leader on campus and a star athlete, playing football, baseball, and track. In June 1902, just before his graduation, The Hotchkiss Record declared Josh the best athlete Hotchkiss had ever produced. Although there is no mention of his playing competitive golf as a student, in time he would become an avid player.

Like many Hotchkiss boys of the time, Banks went on to Yale. After graduating, he was convinced by then-headmaster Huber Buehler (1904-24) to forgo a job with a railroad and instead return to Hotchkiss.

On July 25, 1906, Banks accepted the job as an instructor in English.

Once at Hotchkiss, Banks also began working with Otto Monahan, director of athletics. He became a fixture of campus life, and in 1918, the graduating class dedicated the Mischianza to him. In 1920, Banks became the first executive secretary of the Hotchkiss School Building and Endowment Fund.

In this role, he was responsible for the alumni relations and fundraising efforts that ultimately led to the construction of a new golf course.

Pictured above: Banks as a student in the 1902 Misch (top) and then later as part of the English faculty in the 1923 Misch (bottom)

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Banks wrote to Headmaster Buehler regarding his career.

Hotchkiss and Golf’s Golden Age of Course Design Talk of designing a new course was brewing. Scott Probasco, Class of 1911, wrote in the Hotchkiss Bulletin that “in playing the course in 1923, I found it considerably shortened and mutilated by construction of houses and roads, and felt it was not suitable for boys trying to learn the best kind of golf.”

Probasco put forth a challenge — he would provide $3,000 for course improvements if the School could raise an equal amount. After Banks formed a committee to raise the funds and oversee

the work, the project grew even more ambitious. Hotchkiss needed a first-rate course. That meant finding more money and a top architect.

Banks set to work, and the Hotchkiss community raised nearly $30,000 (approximately $450,000 in today’s dollars) to fund the new course. Legendary architect Seth Raynor was engaged as designer.

Raynor was a protégé of Charles Blair Macdonald, and the duo were producing courses that were not only celebrated in their time but remain leading courses

today. As of 2020, 14 of the top 100 U.S. courses were designed by Macdonald and Raynor, according to Golf Magazine.

“Macdonald’s formula was to use tried and true concepts from the greatest golf holes in Europe and the British Isles.

Macdonald felt if you used a combination of highly regarded holes, you could create an ideal or classical golf course,” explains Bret Lawrence, a golf historian and frequent golfer at Hotchkiss.

Seth Raynor, who was a Princetoneducated engineer, brought Macdonald’s design ideas together with fundamentals of engineering. He designed and executed angles, widths, and varying options wellsuited to a course’s landscape.

In the spring of 1924, Raynor laid out a new nine-hole course for Hotchkiss, and construction began. Like other Raynor layouts, the Hotchkiss holes drew inspiration from the great holes of the British Isles: a Leven (current second hole), Alps (current third), Short (current fifth), Long (current seventh), and an Eden (current eighth). Anthony Pioppi, a golf historian who is currently writing a book on Raynor, notes, “The green complexes on the current first, second, third, fifth, sixth, and eighth holes are testaments to the fact that Raynor delivered a quality product.

The ridges, spines, knobs, and pockets are classic Raynor features.”

During this time, Josh Banks became closely acquainted with Raynor. “Banks had a seemingly innate ability to understand and implement Raynor’s plan,” explains long-serving Hotchkiss golf pro Jim Kennedy. “He created plasticine models of the putting greens and their surrounds, which he later used in his role as the superintendent of the overall construction.”

Banks was so adept in this new position as construction overseer that Raynor recruited him to join his growing business. Banks embraced the Macdonald/Raynor design principles and, as an experienced fundraiser, was skilled at managing relationships relevant to new projects. In the summer of 1925, just as the course was opening, Banks left

The Hotchkiss golf team in 1929 wore knickbockers and long puttees.

When golfers walk onto the first tee near Sprole Field, they are touching a piece of art and history.

Hotchkiss to begin a new career as Raynor’s partner in course design.

In January 1926, Raynor died unexpectedly from pneumonia. Within a week, New York newspapers reported that Josh Banks would continue to carry out his work. Banks went on to help complete many hallmark Raynor courses, stretching from Fishers Island Club in New York to Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, and then built more than a dozen of his own. He also worked with Macdonald at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, NY. For many years, Banks lived with his family in Salisbury. In 1929, he was lured

back to campus to build two holes to replace those demolished by the construction of Rt. 112. Banks drew on elements of the famous Road Hole from the St. Andrews course in Scotland for what is the ninth hole today and the equally well-known Redan at North Berwick in Scotland for the current first hole. Today, these holes are arguably the toughest on the course.

Sadly, this work proved to be some of his last. Suffering from lingering health issues and depleted by extensive travel, Banks fell ill after returning from a business trip to Bermuda.

He passed away in March 1931, just shy of his 51st birthday. He is buried in Salisbury.

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Banks wrote about his work in a sevenpiece series in The American Golfer in 1930. In those articles, he described the process for selecting land, finding the right architect, and adapting tried and true concepts to the natural topography.

Today, the ideals embodied by Banks’s work are back in fashion. Tom Doak, currently one of the most celebrated golf architects, wrote, “While I’m a fan of many different architects, and have consulted in restoring the work of several, I feel most at home on the courses of Charles Blair Macdonald and his more prolific associates, Seth Raynor and Charles Banks.” Indeed, restoration of the remaining Macdonald, Raynor, and Banks courses attracts significant attention in the golfing world.

Banks’s contribution to Hotchkiss is substantial. As the first director of the endowment, he helped generations of students through fundraising. He also oversaw the design and execution of a top-notch golf course that has ensured the enduring legacy of the sport on campus.

The core design of the Hotchkiss course, which will turn 100 in 2025, remains largely unchanged from 1930 when Banks last worked on it, but there have been a

PH OTO: WENDY C A R L S O N

Preserving the Banks Legacy

The nine-hole golf course provides stunning views of Lake Wononscopomuc.

few modifications. Holes were reordered to their current sequence in 1933. At that time, the golf house that used to stand behind what is now the eighth tee, then the starting hole, was rolled down the hill to its current position. As new buildings and roads emerged, in 1935 the seventh hole acquired a slightly different shape and a new green, as did the fourth hole in 2004.

Banks’s contribution to Hotchkiss is substantial.

As the first director of the endowment, he helped generations of students through fundraising. He also oversaw the design and execution of a top-notch golf course that has ensured the enduring legacy of the sport on campus.

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When the Mars Athletics Center was built, a tee was removed from the second hole, which can no longer be played as a par-four.

Unlike many other Raynor and Banks courses, the Hotchkiss nine retains much of its authenticity and its original features, and this has attracted a loyal following among devotees of golf’s golden age of course design.

Countless alumni return time and again.

Nick Moore ’71, P’89,’01,’06 lives locally and plays the course frequently with fellow alumni including his brother, David Moore ’72. He noted that the Hotchkiss course can be enjoyed by serious golfers and beginners alike. It is also one of the few Raynor-designed courses that is open to the public for a modest $30 fee.

As much as it is respected and beloved, in years to come the course will need renovations. This work will be critical to ensuring its preservation for future generations of students and as a lasting tribute to Charles Banks, one of Hotchkiss’s unsung heroes.

Looking for more?

Seidenstein credits golf historian Anthony Pioppi, local golfer Bret Lawrence, and the Hotchkiss Archives for their help in writing this article. He cites George Bahto’s book, Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald; and Anthony Pioppi’s website, theaposition.com; and golfclubatlas.com, which features discussions on golf architecture.

Learn more at thefriedegg.com. H

Charles “Josh” Banks June 3, 1881

Charles Henry Banks born

Fall 1898

Banks enters Hotchkiss

June 1902

Banks is graduated from Hotchkiss

June 1906

Banks is graduated from Yale

July 1906 Banks decides to return to Hotchkiss as a teacher after previously accepting railroad job September 1920 Banks becomes head of Hotchkiss School Building and Endowment Fund August 1925

Banks leaves Hotchkiss to work with Seth Raynor

January 1926

Raynor dies, and Banks carries on Raynor’s work

March 20, 1931

Banks dies and is buried in Salisbury Cemetery

The progression of

THE HOTCHKISS GOLF COURSE 2 October 1923 Scott Probasco 1911 pledges initial funds to build new Hotchkiss course, to be matched by other donors October 1923

Seth Raynor retained to develop new course

May 1924

Course construction begun

August 1925

New nine-hole course opened (Par 37; 3,312 yards)

September 1930 Two new holes designed by Charles Banks (current holes nine and one) under construction to accommodate the building of Rt. 112 April 1933 Hotchkiss moves the golf course shop from behind the current eighth tee to current position and adopts current sequence of holes September 1935

Seventh green moved and rebuilt to accommodate new entrance to the school

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BISON our official national mammal is celebrated in a new book by author Chase Reynolds Ewald ’81 and Montana photographer Audrey Hall. Bison: Portrait of an Icon honors this majestic animal, its near extinction, and its remarkable comeback. In this piece, Ewald shares the story of how she first became fascinated with bison and her research leading up to the book.

BY CH A S E RE Y N O L DS E WAL D ’81 • PH OTO G RAPH Y BY AUDRE Y H AL L

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I

magine you’re picnicking at a table next to the Yellowstone River on a sunny summer day. Suddenly aware of a disturbance, you turn only to see a mass of heaving, snorting, splashing creatures swimming forcefully, inexorably, and directly at you. Retreating to cover is not an option; you’re already becoming engulfed in a powerful mass of animals whose soft grunting and collective rumbling and scrabbling hooves momentarily drown out the sounds of birdsong and rushing water.

They pass by so closely you could reach out and touch their prehistoric-looking leathery sides. Then they move on, ignoring you, singularly focused on staying with the herd, following their leader to some unknown destination.

This actually happened to me one day.

I was chaperoning some guests from the nonprofit educational guest ranch I ran in Wapiti, WY, through the park, and we’d stopped for lunch. You always expect to see bison in Yellowstone, maybe even feel them brush up against your car on the road during one of the park’s famous ‘bison jams,’ but you don’t anticipate them practically running you over when you’re eating a sandwich at a picnic table. I can’t say this moment was when I became fascinated with bison, but it was one of the 50

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reasons that when I was offered a chance in 2019 by my longtime publisher, Gibbs Smith, to collaborate on a book about bison, I immediately accepted.

I have been writing about art, design, food, travel, traditional craftsmanship, rustic style, and the American West for more than 25 years and have authored 14 books. But writing about these charismatic icons of the plains was a bit of a departure –– albeit a welcome one.

Bison are creatures of contradiction.

They may look like a cartoonist’s vision of a prehistoric animal, with their dense, humped, compact bodies on overly short legs; their curved horns and jaunty beards; their robe’s worth of fur (impossibly luxurious in places, but in others hanging off their bodies in ragged strips); and

those ageless, knowing eyes. But bison are nimble, fast, and strong. They’re capable of sprinting 35 miles an hour, clearing fencehigh obstacles, fording glacier-fed rivers with their calves during the height of spring run-off, and — as anyone can witness by watching the warning video on Yellowstone National Park’s website — tossing a tourist with a mere flick of their massive heads.

The animals are tough, durable, resilient, and smart. They have matriarchal leaders who employ the strength of the group to protect its young. And they evolved over millennia in perfect adaptation to life on the Great Plains. These evolutionary strategies include a metabolism that slows down in the winter so they need less forage, and a habit of walking into and through storms instead of drifting with them, which prolongs exposure.

The immense size of the herds and their patterns of movement and intermittent grazing behavior actually helped shape the grassland ecosystem itself. Yet in a short couple of decades late in the 19th century, these iconic creatures barely survived an assault that took their numbers from an estimated 25 to 60 million to fewer than 1,000. Bison came within a horn’s width of disappearing forever, and this makes their comeback all the more remarkable.

As photographer Audrey Hall set about

Chase Reynolds Ewald ’81 pictured (standing) with photographer Audrey Hall

examining a life’s worth of bison images and planning trips to capture new photos, I began my research. I read multiple books on the subject and scoured historical references, but I also wanted to include current voices in the narrative to help illustrate that the bison are not some vestige of the past but play an important role in the future of the West.

Accordingly, we obtained contributions from a variety of leaders around the region: former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell; the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s director Kirk Johnson; Patagonia-founder Yvon Chouinard; and Montana’s former Poet Laureate Henry Real Bird, among others. I also spoke to dozens of people involved with bison on various levels — policymakers and artists and industry executives and range biologists — in an attempt to get my arms around the current political status of bison, the part they play in increasing biodiversity, and the crucial role they fulfill in traditional culture.

In this pursuit I relied on the experience of people like George Horse Capture Jr., a guide and interpreter of native culture on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation; Shawn Henderson, the manager of the bison herd of the Quapaw tribe in northeast Oklahoma; and Emmy Award-winning costume maker Cathy Smith, who grew up in South Dakota’s Black Hills amongst the Lakota Sioux.

I visited with Dr. Ian Thompson, tribal historic preservation officer of the Choctaw tribe, who with his wife, Amy, founded a family farm, Nan Awaya Heritage Farmstead, seven years ago. The name refers to the tribe’s creation story, in which the people were given rules for how to live in balance with the land and with other people. When the couple bought their property, Ian Thompson said, “It was almost nothing but ragweed and goatweed. The land was so heavily grazed that certain keystone plant species

were gone. It was out of balance.”

The farm’s goal, he said, is “to heal our land, support our community, and bring to light the traditional knowledge of our Choctaw ancestors. One tool we have for doing that is bison.”

Thanks to letting their property lie fallow for a year and then introducing bison and carefully managing their movements, the

land is bouncing back. The Thompsons now count 120 species of native prairie grasses and forbs. “When you think about indigenous cultures,” explains Thompson, “they’re based on 15,000 years of living on the land. They contain timeless insights that can help modern people have a higher quality of life. Food is the most direct connection between SUMMER 2021

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people and the land. Societies managed to live on the land without degrading it for thousands of years. In 200 years of industrial agriculture, we’ve obliterated it in huge chunks in the world. Our goal is to connect our farm with the broader cultural revitalization and hopefully get people interested in indigenous foods and in doing things that bring balance and sustainability to the community.”

Ron Brownotter, who is of LakotaYanktonai descent, works toward this goal every day. He runs 600 head of buffalo over 20,000 acres on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation on the border of North and South Dakota. After two decades of bison management, his land is flourishing. “We have birds, insects, snakes, coyotes, badgers, deer, skunk, even wolves and moose, prairie dogs, eagles, and hawks,” he said. Brownotter finds the ultimate fulfillment in raising bison.

“I describe it like putting on a glove; it fits my hand. My culture, the land, the buffalo, are all mixed together. My mission today is to bring them back and be a help to my community, my family, the reservation as a whole—and to know that the buffalo have returned.”

“

With settlement, this majestic animal—the largest land mammal native to the U.S., once numbering 40 million—was all but wiped out, slaughtered at the rate of one creature every 30 seconds for 40 years.

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S A LLY J E WE LL, FO R M E R S EC R E TA R Y OF THE INTERIOR

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It was a humbling experience to speak to so many passionate people willing to share their knowledge. Audrey Hall’s art photographs, largely taken on solo trips during the pandemic, showcase the majesty and timelessness of the animal in all seasons and all types of terrain. I did my best to illustrate their significance and their importance — and not just to people of the West. Bison represent an important part of our shared history, stand as a symbol of the wilderness still intact across large swathes of the continent, and play a key role in a healthy plains ecosystem.

As Former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell writes in the book, “For millennia, the American bison shaped the landscapes of North America and the cultures of many American Indian tribal nations. With settlement, this majestic animal — the largest land mammal native to the U.S., once numbering 40 million — was all but wiped out, slaughtered at the rate of one creature every 30 seconds for 40 years. In shaping our landscapes, this amazing creature, brought back from the brink of extinction, can once again lead us on a path toward a more sustainable future.” H

Audrey Hall’s art installation, Bound Bison, was created in the spiritually iconic landscape of the Blackfeet Nation in collaboration with a small group of tribal members. It serves as a talking point about the nature of citizenship, patriotism, freedom, conservation, and racial identity.

Interested in learning more?

BISON: WHERE TO OBSERVE

BISON: WHAT TO READ

One could argue that the most iconic views of bison in the wild are found in Yellowstone National Park: bison crossing the Madison River; bison coexisting with elk and wolves; bison grazing by Yellowstone Lake while whorls of steam vent from the ground around them. But for those interested in getting off the beaten path, the vast American Prairie Reserve (APR) in north-central Montana gives visitors a true sense of what it must have been like to encounter bison on the open plains prior to the influx of ranchers and farmers throughout the West. (It’s not easy to reach the APR, but once you’ve arrived you can enjoy accommodations ranging from campgrounds to luxury yurts.)

There are many excellent books on bison, but one of the most engaging and interesting is Buffalo for the Broken Heart by Dan O’Brien. O’Brien is a writer and writing teacher by profession, but his narrative explaining how he turned a broken-down cattle ranch near the South Dakota Badlands into a thriving bison ranch with replenished biodiversity would be both gripping and educational even without the beautiful prose.

Bison can also be viewed on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, in numerous other parks in the U.S. and Canada, and on tribal lands such as those of the Blackfeet, whose bison herd grazes against a spectacular, snow-draped mountainscape on the edge of Glacier National Park.

In Re-Bisoning the West: Restoring an American Icon to the Landscape, Kurt Repanshek tells the bison story from their Ice Age ancestors right up to the complicated landscape that determines their future today. Michael Punke’s Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, The Battle to Save the Buffalo and the Birth of the New West describes the decimation of bison in the U.S., the movement to save them, and the birth of the modern conservation movement.

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Hotchkiss Announces New Appointments Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87 Named New Co-chairs of Alumni Association is the chief commercial officer for Managed Funds Association. She works with the founders and executive managers of the world’s largest and most sophisticated alternative asset management firms.

In 2021, she led a benchmark diversity, equity, and inclusion survey with Goldman Sachs of both the fund manager and investor community, which has served as an important milestone for both communities. In 2020, she founded the MFA Women’s Investment Salon, a network for senior female investment professionals and founders.

Prior to joining MFA, Harlow was managing director of communications and public affairs at Highbridge Capital Management.

Harlow graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in American Studies, was a Rotary Scholar, and studied at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, as part of the Master’s in International Relations program. During her tenure on the Board of Governors she has served as vice chair, secretary, and chair of the Nominating Committee for Membership. She lives in New York City with her two daughters.

D. B ROOK E H A RLOW ’92

PAUL MICHAEL MUTTER ’87 is senior managing director with the Cantor Fitzgerald family of companies, where he leads commercial client engagement. He oversees several businesses related to OTC trading within BGC Partners.

Mutter has 30 years of investment banking and securities sales and trading experience, including 20 years with Goldman Sachs. He previously served as managing director with Goldman and a member of the inaugural One Goldman Sachs CrossDivisional Client Coverage Team. Prior to Goldman, he was an investment banker focused on corporate finance with ABN AMRO in Europe.

Mutter has served the School as a class agent, reunion committee member and chair, event host, and event committee member. He joined the Board of Governors in 2015, most recently serving as vice chair and chair of the Nominating Committee for Awards. Beyond Hotchkiss, he served as vice chair of the Board of Books for Kids, is a volunteer and officer of Friends of Finn Square, and is a volunteer and event chair for various community and charitable organizations.

He earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business. He and his wife, Caroline, reside in New York City, and Windham, NY, with their two sons, Tiger and Dax. Mutter and his wife are both USSS Level 200 certified professional ski coaches.

Harlow and Mutter will serve three-year terms on the Board.

Read their welcome message on page 75.

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John P. Khoury ’95 Named New President of The Hotchkiss Fund JOHN P. KHOURY ’95 ’s two-year term became effective July 1, 2021.

Khoury has previously served Hotchkiss as an event host and committee member. He is the founder and managing partner of Long Pond Capital, LP. Long Pond (named for Long Pond at Hotchkiss), a value-oriented investment management firm in New York that focuses on investing in real estate and real estaterelated companies. Prior to founding Long Pond in 2010, Khoury was co-portfolio manager at Wesley Capital Management, a New York-based real estate hedge fund.

Previously, he served as a senior analyst at DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners where he focused on real estate acquisitions throughout the U.S. He began his career at Lazard Frères in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Khoury graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics.

He serves on the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood Foundation. He and his wife, Breanna, have two children, William and Valerie. Breanna is pursuing a degree in psychology at Columbia University. The Khourys live in New York City.

Hotchkiss welcomes Peri and Neda Navab P’24 as the new Chairs of the Hotchkiss Parents Fund

Senior Parents Gift Chairs Named SHIH-WEI PENG AND

are excited to lend their expertise in fund raising as the new chairs of the Hotchkiss Parents Fund.

The Navabs live in New York City with their son Nicholas, a junior at Avenues School, while their youngest son, Thomas, is a rising lower mid.

“Hotchkiss has already been an incredible experience for Thomas, despite the restrictions of the past year. The sense of community and camaraderie at Hotchkiss, even from afar, has sustained us through his first year away from home,” Neda said.

Peri and Neda moved to the U.S. in 1980 from Iran, and settled in New York City and Nashville, TN, respectively. Coming from Iranian and Greek heritage, they focus on supporting educational endeavors both at home and abroad.

Peri attended Syracuse University and graduated from Harvard Business School in 1996. Neda completed her education at the University of Tennessee and The Portfolio Center, Atlanta.

For two decades, Neda worked at several global advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson and The Sterling Group. Peri is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of PITCO Foods, Inc., distributors and marketers of consumer goods to the convenience and grocery retail industry in Northern California.

The Navabs have worked together to advance the missions and financial sustainability of several non-profits including New York Common Pantry, Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, Winsome Wishes for Kids, and the African Dream Academy, among others. In addition, Neda has served on the boards of Brick Church School, New York Common Pantry, Winsome Wishes for Kids, and Central Park Conservancy’s Women’s Committee.

PERI AND NEDA NAVAB P’24

DIANA PENG , parents of Jonathan ’22, are the new chairs of the Senior Parents Gift Campaign. A long-standing tradition at Hotchkiss, the Campaign provides families with an opportunity to celebrate and honor their graduates with a legacy gift. Each year, a special project is chosen by the School as a worthy goal, and senior parents work to raise the funds to complete it.

This year’s chairs, who live in Belvedere, CA, have demonstrated exceptional experience in organization and fundraising. Diana Peng is chief logistical officer of the Peng Family household, a position she has held since 2003. Diana also has served as vice president of Deutsche Bank Private Banking (formerly Bankers Trust) in San Francisco and vice president of Citibank Private Bank in Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in finance, marketing and real estate.

Shih-Wei Peng is a member of the Office of Development at Stanford University. He joined Stanford University following a long career in the finance industry in Asia and San Francisco. Most recently, Shih-Wei was based in Hong Kong and served as the regional head for Asia ex-Japan at Man Group. Prior to Man, he was a managing director at SAC Capital (Point72) and BlackRock. He was a principal at Quellos Group, which was acquired

by BlackRock in 2007. He started his career at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. He earned undergraduate degrees in English (Honors) and economics from Stanford University.

Diana and Shih-Wei were trustees at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA, and continue to serve on its Advisory Board. In addition to Jonathan, they have a son Andrew, 15, who is a sophomore at Branson.

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’75

May 2021 Alum of the Month:

Raymond J. McGuire ’75

RAYMOND J. MCGUIRE ’75 started his financial career in 1984 at The First Boston Corporation, rising to become Citi’s vice chairman and chairman of the global banking, capital markets and advisory business in 2018.

Drawn to New York City as a young man wanting to build a better life for himself, McGuire faced the struggles common for so many. He was an outsider as a resident and even more so on reaching Wall Street.

“I was reminded of what my mother and grandparents would say to me—that I had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. I was one of the first but, since then, I made sure I was never the only.”

Before leaving Citi to pursue his recent candidacy for mayor of New York City, he wrote the introduction for a September 2020 publication, Closing the Racial Inequality Gap – The Economic Cost of Black Inequality in the U.S., which pointedly explained the importance of equity through objective cost examination by framing the following through an economic lens. “The analysis in the report that follows shows that if four key racial gaps for Blacks — wages, education, housing, and investment — were closed 20 years ago, $16 trillion could have been added to the U.S. economy. And if the gaps are closed today, $5 trillion can be added to the U.S. GDP over the next five years.” He highlighted the costs of longstanding discrimination against minority groups by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birmingham Jail letter, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

McGuire found success as an investment banker and one of the most senior Black executives on Wall Street, but always remembered his roots. Raised in Dayton,

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OH, by his mother and his grandparents, he learned early on the importance of hard work and the significance of education.

He earned the opportunity to attend better schools, including Hotchkiss, and then matriculated at Harvard, receiving his A.B., cum laude, from the College in 1979, and then his M.B.A. and J.D. from the Harvard Business and Harvard Law Schools, respectively.

McGuire’s life as a Black man “whose journey began at the bottom” gave him the perspective to understand the issues facing New York, and he wanted to serve.

Drawing on his business experience, he offered solutions to “reform educational systems in low-income and minority neighborhoods, better health care and housing options in those communities, and ways to find substantive opportunities for all.”

It was his first run for public office, yet his service to New York community organizations, social programs, hospitals,

and educational institutions spans decades.

Honors include the Theodore Roosevelt Award from the Legal Aid Society, the John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award from Harvard Business School Club NY, the Public Service Award from Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Trailblazer Award from the MBBA, and the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League.

First elected to the Hotchkiss Board of Trustees in 1985, the first African American trustee, he continues to serve. “I marvel at the rare strength of a place like Hotchkiss. It fostered diversity, encouraged us to achieve academic and sometimes athletic excellence; yet it allowed us to learn from each other and to make some lifelong friends. It is all too obvious to me that without Hotchkiss, my education as a student and as a man would have suffered. I will always feel a great indebtedness to the School and an enormous affection for the Hotchkiss family.” H

’76

March 2021 Alum of the Month:

John E. Floyd ’76

is an attorney and partner at Bondurant Mixson & Elmore of Atlanta, GA, who periodically works as a special prosecutor. He is a skilled litigator and an expert in racketeering.

Entering Hotchkiss as an upper mid, Floyd particularly enjoyed history courses, leading to his decision to major in history at Brown. After graduating, he matriculated at Emory for law school, followed by a clerkship with Judge William C. O’Kelley in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

He joined the firm of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, LLP, known for their excellence in litigation and dedication to public service. In addition to his private practice, he served as a special assistant Aattorney general, successfully recovering more than $10 million stolen by two faculty members at the then-Medical College of Georgia designated for pharmaceutical company clinical drug trials. Floyd also worked as a special assistant district attorney in several Georgia jurisdictions in cases involving public corruption and gang crime. “In one case an incumbent sheriff reluctant to leave office after an electoral defeat had the newly elected sheriff murdered. I helped write the indictment, argued many of the pretrial motions, and after he was convicted of murder, racketeering, and racketeering conspiracy, defended the conviction before the Supreme Court of Georgia, which was unanimously affirmed.”

Other cases have included his prosecution of an armed robbery ring from inside a Georgia prison and his involvement in the case that upheld the constitutionality of Georgia’s Gang Act. “Most of my practice involves cases under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt JOHN E. FLOYD ’76

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Organizations) statutes, which have three basic components: they define a criminal offense, provide for forfeiture, and authorize individuals and entities injured by violations of the statute to sue for damages.”

Floyd lectures to prosecutors and law enforcement organizations frequently about gang prosecutions and white-collar crime topics. “RICO is a complex subject.

I enjoy the opportunity to explain it and to train prosecutors. While a typical crime involves a victim, a perpetrator, a specific place and time, RICO cases often involve patterns of conduct that unfold over time, usually with multiple perpetrators and victims. RICO cases require detailed and patient investigation, the best tool to address sophisticated fraud and disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations.”

He is the author of RICO State By State:

A Guide to Litigation Under the State Racketeering Statutes.

One noteworthy case was his pro bono service as special prosecutor in the Atlanta School System standardized tests cheating scandal. “This took place on a massive scale in many public schools for years.

Teachers and administrators stole tests to determine answers, then shared what they’d learned with students prior to testing.

They also changed test answers following testing, retaliated against whistleblowers, and destroyed records, keeping children with real learning challenges from being identified and assisted.

“The situation was so bad that the governor appointed three special investigators. Following their report, the Fulton County district attorney further investigated, and dozens of teachers and administrators were charged with, among other things, conspiracy to violate the Georgia RICO statute. I helped draft the indictment and was on the trial team. After the longest criminal trial in Georgia history, the jury convicted 11 of the defendants of RICO conspiracy.

Through the dedication and persistence of two governors, the investigators, a district attorney, and the prosecutors who worked under him, Atlanta and Georgia determined that this dishonesty and exploitation would not be tolerated.”

Floyd was selected as a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society that represents less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. H

’97

July 2021 Alum of the Month:

Lucia R. Henderson ’97, Ph.D.

Pre-Columbian art historian and archeologist LUCIA (“LULU”) R. HENDERSON ’97, PH.D. , has climbed active volcanoes, ventured into caves to study Pre-Columbian wall paintings, and created exacting illustrations of stone sculpture, all with the goal of making ancient worlds more accessible. These skills came in handy during the pandemic, when she was called into action to help save the family farm — one dedicated to preserving an endangered breed of cattle.

Growing up, Henderson cultivated many interests, but a family trip to Belize during her time at Hotchkiss introduced her to a new one — the ancient past and archaeology. At Harvard as an undergrad, she found among her elective choices ‘The Maya,’ an advancedlevel graduate course. “My professor, David Stuart, became one of the most influential people in my academic life,” she says. “That first step ended up determining the next two decades of my career!

“I studied with other wonderful mentors, including Ian Graham (rumored inspiration for Indiana Jones). He trained me in archaeological illustration — the meticulous translation of carved, bas-relief surfaces into pen and ink drawing,” she said. She was thrilled to discover that her experience in Hotchkiss art studios could translate to an essential scholarly skill.

After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in anthropology and archaeology, Henderson pursued a Master’s in art history at the University of California, San Diego.

She then moved to the University of Texas at Austin for her Ph.D. Her dissertation was an art historical analysis and corpus of illustrations of sculptures from the site of Kaminaljuyu (underneath Guatemala City).

As she pursued her dissertation, she continued to examine the ancient landscape

and the ways people interacted with it.

“As far as my publications and research projects go, what links them is my desire to understand worldviews that are different from my own, especially ones that have been obscured by the passage of time,” she says.

Henderson earned post-docs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Denver Art Museum before marrying and moving to Washington, DC, where she worked at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum.

She was deeply engaged in academic publications and projects when COVID turned her life upside-down. In March 2020, she and her two-year-old son temporarily moved in with her parents at Chapel Hill Farm in Virginia, while her husband, a primary care physician, stayed behind to care for patients.

At the farm, Henderson’s father has dedicated himself to saving an endangered heritage breed of cattle, the

Randall Lineback. Prior to the pandemic, Henderson had supported her father through website design, photography, outreach, and marketing help. But she had not been involved in the day-to-day running of the farm.

Randall Lineback beef had found a cult following among Mid-Atlantic chefs for its unique flavor. “Chapel Hill Farm was 100-percent wholesale to restaurants. When restaurants shut down last spring, we lost 100 percent of our business,” Henderson explained. “I had to table my research and pause the career I’d spent decades building.

There was both an immense feeling of loss and a concomitant mule-headed drive to meet the challenge head-on.” She restructured the farm’s business strategy and production system, moving from a wholesale-to-chefs business model to directto-consumer retail.

“Hotchkiss provided the proverbial wellrounded education, but in hindsight, I see it was all career training. I loved theater, art, English and writing, and math (Mr. Bolmer is grinning!). I had gifted English teachers who taught me to analyze, think creatively, and write persuasively – particularly Ms. Jones and Mr. Frankenbach. Sports, especially soccer with Ms. Cooper, taught me about teamwork. I learned independence, flexibility, problem solving, and the rewards of ‘stick-to-it-iveness.’”

Driven by a commitment to sharing the impact of a Hotchkiss education, the Henderson family established the Lucia ’97 & Welles ’96 Henderson Fund, which supports special projects within the Science and English departments. H

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’06

April 2021 Alum of the Month:

Faith E. Briggs ’06

is a documentary filmmaker and environmentalist who creates media content focused on the disconnect between social and environmental justice. Her work has taken her around the globe, fueled by her desire to diversify the images that exist in our shared mainstream imaginations.

Briggs thrived at Hotchkiss and enjoyed many rewarding relationships with faculty members. A history class ignited her interest in African American studies after she wrote a 30-page paper on Marcus Garvey, and Hotchkiss provided her the opportunity to travel. “While I was often outside of my comfort zone, it challenged me to be comfortable in my own skin. I learned that I didn’t need to fit in, but instead, I could own standing out.”

At Yale, Briggs double-majored in African American and film studies and began considering media content creation as a career. “I realized that the media I created could interrupt the cycle of negative and limited narratives of the African American experience.”

FAITH E. BRIGGS ’06

She pursued an M.F.A. in film at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, discovering her interest in documentary filmmaking and finishing her Master’s at New York University (NYU). She worked three years as an author’s assistant to James McBride and as a fact checker for Professor Pamela Newkirk’s book, Spectacle, about the pygmy Ota Benga. “It began my understanding of deeply embedded racism in early environmental movements.”

Landing a position in the documentary department at Discovery Communications led to her being chosen as one of two of Columbia Sportswear’s “directors of toughness,” from 4,000 applicants. She travelled the world “testing gear under every possible weather condition. They wanted people with proven grit, a love of the outdoors, and an ability to share stories with an audience. I fit the bill.”

“Whether halfway up Mt. Shasta or kayaking down the Klamath River, I met amazing people who wanted to share their

passion for the outdoors. I drove a team of sled dogs in the Yukon and ran in a 55K in the Alps. After standing in the middle of a river in Kamchatka, Russia, and getting to the top of a steep ridge during a 100K race in the Andes, I began to understand the urgency with which we have to protect these places.”

In 2018, she created a short film, This Land, focused on environmental justice and the protection of public lands. It has played in more than 30 film festivals and been incorporated into many middle and high school curriculums. Collaborators included the National Parks Conservation Association and The Wilderness Society.

Her next project is a podcast and media series called The Trail Ahead. This Merrell and Patagonia project highlights the intersection of race, environment, history, and culture. The project brought her to the border wall, interviewing a jaguar conservationist about the challenges presented to wildlife, to New Mexico trail running with a city counselor, and to Los Angeles picking up trash on a beach with the first Black female host of an American science show.

“At Hotchkiss, I began to understand myself in a new context and to form a new definition of community. I was encouraged to explore the complications involved in understanding race, class, socioeconomic background, religion, and the environment.

When you’re biracial, you often find yourself in-between groups. Rather than trying to hide to fit in, I was able to take up space. My sense of belonging expanded.

“We all have a deeply hidden, innate connection with the natural world. I’m proud to be a part of an attempt to raise awareness, increase respect for indigenous communities, and represent more diversity in our public lands.” H

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’08

June 2021 Alum of the Month:

Caroline Y. Ling Chen ’08

As an investigative reporter, CA ROL I N E YI L ING CHEN ’08 covered SARS, Ebola, and Zika before the arrival of COVID19. “In January 2020, when my editorin-chief first suggested that I take a look at this novel coronavirus coming out of China, I told him that there is a playbook for responding to these threats, and the question would be whether or not the U.S. was adequately prepared and could execute the playbook. As we then saw, a lot of things went off the rails...”

Chen specializes in health-related coverage.

She currently works at ProPublica and also serves as adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chen followed her sister Allie ’06 to Lakeville.

“Given how far we were from our parents, it made sense for us to go to school together.”

Since Hong Kong follows the UK system, which requires students to pick between arts and science tracks, Chen was attracted to America’s more flexible education system, allowing her to explore her interests in both the humanities and sciences.

She enjoyed Hotchkiss academics and cultivated strong relationships with the faculty. “I had some fantastic English teachers who helped me to flourish. Mr. Pressman’s Holocaust class left a lasting impression on me, and Ms. Letty Roberts was a most ardent teacher of BC Calculus.

Debate took up a significant part of my time, teaching me to be a better public speaker and critical thinker. I loved the arts.

Fabio Witkowski encouraged me and some friends to form a string quartet, and I fell in love with chamber music.”

At Stanford, Chen majored in English and minored in mathematics, but had not yet decided on journalism. But she wrote for the Stanford Daily, and interned with various publications. “I was drawn to

reporting because I realized that I could use my work to expose abuses of power.” Chen was awarded a 2013 Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship by Stanford’s Journalism School, and she graduated with a B.A. with Distinction in English.

She decided to pursue her Master’s at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism to learn about investigative journalism. After graduating, Chen landed a job at Bloomberg News, first as an intern and shortly thereafter, as a full-time reporter.

“The health team asked me to cover biotech, and it was a great fit, since I love science. In 2017, I wrote a story about a new biotech that was trying to develop vaccines. Now, Moderna is a household name.”

Growing up in Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak fueled her interest in health-related issues. “I have covered Ebola and Zika outbreaks, and these experiences helped me understand the number of agencies that need to work in concert to respond to a zoonotic threat.”

Her coverage of the pandemic included deep dives explaining topics, including asymptomatic transmission, COVID numbers and breakthrough infections, as well as investigations revealing the CDC’s missteps and showing how inequity can be designed into the vaccination system.

Chen serves as co-chair of ProPublica’s Diversity Committee, working to expand opportunities for students and young journalists. “2020 was a year of reckoning for racial injustice both across America and within many industries. The journalism industry has also had to do some self-reflection.”

She has received several honors, including the June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, and was selected as a fellow at the Periplus Collective. H

“I was drawn to reporting because I realized that I could use my work to expose abuses of power.”

SUMMER 2021

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CLASS NOTES

A Message to Alumni from Tom Seidenstein ’91, P’24 I am pleased to introduce Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87 as the new co-presidents of the Hotchkiss Alumni Association. In that role, they will chair the Hotchkiss Alumni Association’s Board of Governors, a body of 25 dedicated and loyal Hotchkiss alumni. Brooke and Paul’s passion for all things Hotchkiss and their already significant contributions to the work of the Alumni Association give me great confidence that they will serve our amazing alumni body well.

It has been an honor to serve in the role as president of the Alumni Association during the past five years. The Board of Governors made it a priority to find new and innovative ways to connect alumni with each other, the School, and current students.

The desire for deeper engagement has led to increased and more diverse alumni programming, tailored for a broad range of interests. We have also supported the creation of new tools, such as the Hotchkiss Alumni Association app that has all the information a Hotchkiss alumnus/a would need. We did not let the pandemic slow us down; however, clearly the Board of Governors is excited to return to in person events, too.

I wish Brooke and Paul the best as they take on this new role and am certain that under their leadership, the Hotchkiss Alumni Association will continue to strengthen and evolve.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87, Inspired Leaders We are excited to lead the Alumni Association and the Hotchkiss Board of Governors as the School enters its 131st year. We are grateful to Tom Seidenstein ’91, P’24 for his leadership of the Board over the past five years.

Filled with optimism, we are inspired by the strength, resilience, and leadership of Hotchkiss during the pandemic and also during this important time of reflection around the importance of creating an inclusive and equitable community.

The Hotchkiss School Alumni Association strives to serve its members and to advance lifelong love of learning, responsible citizenship, and personal integrity. The Association encourages its members to support and promote The Hotchkiss School; it works to create a community of trust and respect that values lifelong relationships and shared experiences; and it fosters open communication, cooperation, and involvement among all people connected to the School.

Alumni engagement with the School is more important than ever before, and global communication is, in some ways, easier than ever before. We will look for new opportunities to communicate with each other, including initiating Zoom calls for alumni immediately following the Board of Governors meetings. We pledge to listen to each of your views and ensure they are represented to the School and the trustees. We hope to hear from you!

Guided by each other, let us seek better paths.

Brooke & Paul

bharlow@hotchkiss.org pmutter@hotchkiss.org

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SUMMER 2021 M AGA ZINE

75

PARTING SHOT

On the Big Screen The Hotchkiss Film Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary on May 22. Due to COVID restrictions, the event was held on Harris House Lawn. More than 50 submissions from all over the globe, including from other Round Square member schools, were submitted, breaking the festival record. Fifteen finalists were chosen, representing experimental, narrative, and documentary film genres. The winner of the festival’s Grand Jury Prize was the documentary, The Story of Tino Santiago, submitted by George Fink from The Marvelwood School in nearby Kent, CT. A highlight of this year’s festival was the all-alumni panel of judges, composed of Brian Ryu ’13 (HFF co-founder), Carla Frankenbach ’12 (HFF co-founder), Richard Ledes ’74, and Keith Boynton ’00. The event was led by Luke Gardiner ’21.

H GRAND JURY PRIZE: The Story of Tino Santiago by George Fink (Marvelwood School, Connecticut) A documentary reveals how a local town rallies to aid a man being held by ICE.

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H BEST NARRATIVE: Inliminal by Arnav Sharma (The Shri Ram School, India) The bathroom door locks, and chaos ensues.

H BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The El Boys by Hugh Holmes (Choate Rosemary Hall, Connecticut) A film featuring boys, the summer and a little bit of attitude

Honorable Mention for Best Performance: His Bright Future by Ben Weiss ’21 (The Hotchkiss School) A high school boy comes to terms with his relationship with his mother.

Honorable Mention: What Hides in the Red Light by Harry Morelli ’23 (The Hotchkiss School) With one flick of the light switch, all hell breaks loose.