Ca m p u s
co n n e c t i o n A P P O I N T M E N T S DEAN OF FACULTY
Longtime Hotchkiss faculty member Tom Drake has been named dean of faculty, succeeding Tom Flemma. Drake’s one-year appointment will begin in the 2016-17 academic year. With more than 34 years of service teaching and living at Hotchkiss, Drake brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of boarding school life to this role. He earned a B.A. in history from Lawrence University and an M.A. in European diplomatic history from Brown University. He started his teaching career at St. Paul’s School, and subsequently held positions at Wilbraham and Monson Academy and Cheshire Academy before coming to Hotchkiss in 1982. His Hotchkiss experience includes living in four dormitories over a span of 13 years, serving as the dormitory head of Buehler, Wieler, and Garland. Additionally, he has coached soccer and basketball. As an administrator, he has served as chair of the History Department and as the School’s first technology coordinator from 1999 to 2005. He lives on campus with his wife, Verena, instructor in art history. Drake says he looks forward to “supporting my colleagues in introducing our students to the joys of cultivating a life of the mind.” Drake will assist incoming Head of School Craig Bradley in the search for a long-term dean of faculty.
DEAN OF ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID
Erby Mitchell Jr. has been appointed the next dean of admission and financial aid, succeeding Jane Reynolds, who will retire at the end of this academic year. His term begins on July 1, 2016. Mitchell comes to Hotchkiss from the Loomis Chaffee School, where he has served as assistant head for enrollment since 2009. During Mitchell’s tenure, the number of boarding applications has risen by 47 percent, and the boarding population rose from 53 to 68 percent. He also oversaw the transition to an online applicant file review system and bolstered a scholarship initiative focused on yielding top underrepresented students of color. Prior to working at Loomis Chaffee, Mitchell was director of admission and financial aid at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Mitchell earned his B.A. at St. Joseph’s College in Maine and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. He began his career in higher education as an assistant director of admission at St. Joseph’s College in Maine. He then held various positions at Bowdoin College, including admission officer, assistant dean of admission, director of multicultural recruitment, and associate dean of admission. At Bowdoin, he worked alongside then-Dean of Students Craig Bradley, now the incoming head of school at Hotchkiss. The idea of working with Bradley again drew Mitchell to Hotchkiss. “I was compelled by the prospect of locking arms with this person whom I had admired from the other side of campus during our days working at Bowdoin College,” he said. “I am excited about joining the Hotchkiss community and look forward to bringing my energy to the challenges we will face and the opportunities that we will explore together.” Erby joins Hotchkiss with his wife, Jennifer, two daughters, Olivia and Kennadi, and son, C.J.
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New Fund to Bolster Health Services At their 50th Reunion last year, members of the Class of 1965 established The Student Health and Wellness Fund to augment programs and training in counseling services and mental health screenings at Hotchkiss. “The idea for the Health and Wellness Fund percolated from the ever-increasing awareness of society in mental health and addiction,” said Jerry Sprole ’65, who co-chaired the gift committee. In thanking the Class, Dean of Student Health Quincy McLaughlin said her interactions with students and other members of the Hotchkiss community about mental health, decisionmaking, and drugs and alcohol have reinforced the value of this fund. “My conversations with the committee members who started the fund last spring have already informed our programming and efforts on campus,” McLaughlin said. “At the beginning of this academic year, faculty, security staff, and health center staff joined me for training by FCD Prevention Works, a non-profit organization that provides substance abuse prevention education for schools worldwide. I’d like to thank the committee and the entire Class of 1965 for their care and attention and deep commitment to this community. We are very grateful.” By establishing the Class of 1965 Student Health and Wellness Fund, McLaughlin added, the committee has provided a source of annual income that will allow Hotchkiss to expand the scope of its efforts to educate the Hotchkiss community and provide more resources on campus.