“We especially enjoy the students’ openness to and curiosity about one another’s experience.”
One recent moment of learning from others’ different experiences in a supportive community occurred during the weekend following President Trump’s executive order restricting travel from seven countries, including countries that some current Hotchkiss students call home. About 140 students and faculty members gathered on Sunday night to discuss what had occurred, why, and the potential implications. Student body Co-Presidents Aba Sam ’17 and Jelani Hutchins-Belgrave ’17 and St. Luke’s Society head and Hotchkiss Review editor Jesse Godine ’17 worked with Director of International Programs David Thompson to organize the event. Paula Russo, co-head of the humanities and social sciences department and an instructor in history, explained how executive orders work and the process by which they can be challenged in the courts. She was joined by Basil Comnas ’65, P’18, a retired United Nations diplomat who happened to be in town visiting his daughter. Mr. Comnas has spent much of his career working in conflict areas, including countries affected by the travel ban. Some international students spoke about how the executive order may affect them directly, and others who are recent immigrants to the U.S. or whose parents are green-card holders spoke about their experiences as newcomers to the U.S. It was a rich example of how students can learn from others’ experiences. It provided content and context, and put a human face on the potential consequences of changes in immigration policy on fellow Hotchkiss students. The discussion about immigration and
Opposite page: Bradley announces a Head of School Holiday on Feb. 22 after a surprise faculty and staff musical performance. This page, above: Bradley poses with students after the announcement; below: Bradley and his wife, Elizabeth, watch performances on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
immigration policy called to mind George Van Santvoord’s statement that appears toward the end of Fay Vincent ’56’s book The Gift of His Example: “We are all émigrés in America, some of longer residence than others...with some sort of toleration inevitable if we are to live together...Our way is a relatively rare phenomenon, and while uncomfortable is an interesting social experiment.” The American society, the “interesting social experiment” that George Van Santvoord described as a “relatively rare phenomenon,” plays out constantly on campus in small and large ways, from collective birthday parties
to impromptu School gatherings to discuss immigration policy changes, and especially in the daily interaction among friends in the dorm, on teams, and in classrooms. Of course, in the School context, it is less experimental; we are intentional in our efforts to learn and grow from the comfortable and uncomfortable moments, seeing those moments as integral to the education we provide to students whom we expect to assert leadership in our society. That is an important part of our purpose and our promise.
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