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Volume XIX • Number 22 • June 14 - 20, 2012 •
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Horace Mann School shaken by sex scandal By MIAWLING LAM Fresh allegations of sexual abuse and harassment continue to surface at Horace Mann School a week after an explosive story detailed decades of molestation at the uber-elite private institution. The new cases emerged after the New York Times published an article in last Sunday’s magazine section outlining years of alleged sexual abuse by three former teachers and coaches between 1978 and 1994. The story, which originally appeared online last Wednesday and in print four days later, has attracted more than 1,000 comments on the New York Times website. While school officials attempt to curb the damage to the school’s reputation and handle the fallout, former students have taken it upon themselves to share their own accounts. A former alumnus, who posted under the pseudonym “alice, uptown,” accused Horace Mann of being more focused on churning out the next doctors, lawyers and investment bankers. “I was in one of the first classes to accept women,” she wrote on the New York Times website. “HM had no idea what to do with adolescent females, apart from allowing the so-called guidance department to treat them—or thus was my experience—in a manner that would now be called sexually abusive.” Meanwhile, one commenter recalled how both a popular English teacher and a swim coach groped her when she was 13 years old. Another poster, who claimed to be the 1977 class valedictorian, said a classmate had a sexual relationship with a teacher. “He told me that he had been seduced and molested by this teacher 25 years before…” he wrote. “I had been entirely oblivious of this teacher’s behavior, but eventually learned he had sexual and emotional affairs with several students.” Another former student also recounted how a teacher compelled her to have sex with him in exchange for a passing grade. In a letter sent to alumni last Sunday, the school’s current head Thomas M. Kelly admitted he was struggling to reconcile the allegations. Kelly also pointed out all the allegations occurred well before he took the helm. “The school’s current policies, procedures and daily practices, as well as the instruction we provide our students, make allegations of such behavior impossible
to ignore,” he wrote. However, Kelly vowed to develop and implement a “thoughtful process that places the first priority of those alumni most in need” and said the issue would be discussed at a future board of trustees meeting. “Bottom line: we not only need your support and patience, we are respectfully asking you to give the School the time to research and discuss a well thought out process.” In a letter sent to parents on June 6, Kelly described the allegations as “highly disturbing and absolutely abhorrent” but conceded officials could not address all allegations. “As a matter of policy, there were a number of issues and questions regarding specific allegations or individuals that we were not able to address for privacy reasons and based upon advice of counsel,” he wrote. “For the same reasons, we regret that we also are limited in our ability to communicate to the community about these Continued on Page 10
Johannes Somary, pictured above, was chosen to conduct the orchestra and lead the chorus at the memorial service at Yankee Stadium immediately following the 9/11 attacks. Somary, who died in 2011, is now accused of multiple acts of sexual abuse of students at the Horace Mann School.
Sixth-grade ELA students at Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy recently participated in an Internet Smarts event sponsored by Cablevision’s Power to Learn with State Senator Jeffrey Klein and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. At the event, students addressed the topics of Cyberbullying Prevention, Identity Protection and Digital Permanence through various skits. Pictured (l. to r.) with participating students are Cablevision Vice President of Government Affairs Dan Ahouse, Andrew Sandler (Representative from Councilmember Oliver Koppell’s office), Assemblyman Dinowitz, Teacher Michael LePetit, Senator Klein and Principal Lori O’Mara.