Westminster Bulletin Fall 2016

Westminster Bulletin

An Opportunity to Focus on Academics Assuming New Roles 2016 REUNION AND COMMENCEMENT

FALL 2016

A view from a window in Cole Library into the Armstrong Atrium of Armour Academic Center.

Westminster Bulletin

FALL 2016

FEATURES

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An Opportunity to Focus on Academics

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Commencement 2016

Assuming New Roles

Reunion 2016

DEPARTMENTS

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Headmaster’s Message

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From the Archives

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Hill Headlines

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Martlets on the Move

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Athletics

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Class Notes

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Supporting Westminster

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Closing Thoughts

Cover photo, students walking to and from Armour Academic Center.

Back cover, a Concert Band rehearsal in Werner Centennial Center.

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FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Members of the Westminster Community, Reflecting upon national and international events, we live in troubled times, as if we have lost our way at this moment of technological ascendency. With eyes studying devices and ears encased in headphones, we live in a digital world, immersed in sound and distracted by chats, texts, emails and reminders. In the process, we wander through each day disconnected from those around us as we attend to digital relationships. We accept the illusion of proximity offered by our devices, neglecting that digital relationships are necessarily remote and cannot offer the nuance and empathy expressed by actual presence. In this context, the lessons taught at Westminster School have never assumed more urgency. different countries and 26 different states.

An excellent academic program By interacting with each Students learn the formal and informal is the hallmark of all great schools. lessons that seem so desperately lacking Thanks to exceptional teachers and the other in person and as a in our world today by listening to remarkable resources offered in Armour presentations in chapel, talking with Academic Center, Westminster School community every day, each other over family-style meals, and receives deserved recognition as an students learn from a conversing in what will be our new outstanding school. However, what student center in Cushing and in distinguishes Westminster extends well remarkable diversity of residential common rooms. By interacting beyond our academic center.

To use the metaphor of the human personal circumstances and with each other in person and as a community every day, students learn body, Armour Academic Center is the experiences, in the process from a remarkable diversity of personal head of our school’s body; it is where we circumstances and experiences, in the cultivate the life of the mind and teach learning invaluable lessons process learning invaluable lessons of academic lessons. In turn, our heart and the heart. soul and the arteries that nourish the of the heart.

At Westminster School, we seek to body of our school radiate out from the cultivate the head and the heart. We have Sixth Form Lawn through the community enriched opportunities for the life of the mind with the building spaces surrounding it. These include Andrews Memorial Chapel of Armour Academic Center. Now, with an urgency animated by (By legend, a chapel is the only place where martlets rest, and the troubled world around us, we must care for our heart and they are depicted with feet on the crest above our chapel’s soul, which is why the campus projects currently underway are entrance.), Cushing Hall (our historic first school building on so important. A dining room that will sit our entire school Williams Hill), student and faculty residences, and beginning in community for family-style meals, a new student center in the fall of 2017, our new dining hall. In these places, we teach Cushing that will comfortably accommodate our students, and a the lessons highlighted in our mission, core values and motto — new student and faculty residence that will permit restoration of the lessons of community, character, balance and involvement community spaces in existing residences will all underscore our and the lessons of Grit & Grace. mission, core values and motto. These projects are not just new These are the spaces where we come together as a facilities; rather, they sustain our heart and soul. Upon their community and emphasize the importance of relationships, of completion, the arteries at our school’s heart will pump with an empathy and of making a difference for others in our endeavors. even more energizing vitality!

They are the places where we draw our students out of their personal bubbles, where we expose the oxymoron of their digital realities. As with the human body, our different parts are symbiotic in that plenty of lessons related to our mission, core values and motto are taught as well in Armour Academic Center, just as the lessons taught by coaches in athletics relate to the William V.N. Philip P’06, ’09 lessons taught by our teachers in the classroom.

Headmaster Today, we are a school community with students from 23

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HILL HEADLINES

Clockwise from left, Delando Clarke ’17, Layla Ennis ’19 and Jack Griffith ’17 help students from Covenant Preparatory School during the Summer Academy at Westminster School.

Learning Doesn’t Take a Summer Break at Westminster It would make sense to think July was a quiet month for academic work on the Westminster campus, but that would be incorrect. For the second year in a row, the Summer Academy at Westminster School (SAWS) — a partnership between Covenant Preparatory School, Westminster School and the Westminster Crossroads Learning Program in Hartford (WCLP) — took place in Armour Academic Center.

About 35 students from Covenant Preparatory School (CPS), a tuition-free, private middle school for boys located in Hartford, studied math, English and science — all part of Covenant Prep’s summer term. The CPS students, ranging from fifth- to eighth-graders, attended the four-week session from July 5 to July 28, with classes held at Westminster Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Fridays, CPS continued its summer session, without the Westminster contingent, back in Hartford.

Westminster faculty members and students contributed to SAWS by supporting CPS’ administration and faculty.

Westminster’s Director of Theater A-men Rasheed, Head of the Mathematics Department Tony Griffith and Librarian Jeannie Griffith P’11, ’14, ’17 helped supplement Covenant Prep’s curriculum. In addition, over the course of the four weeks, approximately 35 Westminster students served as teaching assistants and volunteers, helping with classwork, reading and community service initiatives such as Project Linus, in which the fifth-graders and sixth-graders created handmade blankets for children who are seriously ill.

Apart from the standard English, math and science courses, an enrichment curriculum included SAWS students learning to create a math game app with their CPS teacher. Another example was the public speaking class held in Sejong Lecture Hall taught

by A-men. He led students through various oratorical exercises and ultimately directed them toward delivering a final speech in front of assembled classmates and guests.

Each day, SAWS participants ate lunch in the Westminster dining hall courtesy of WCLP. In addition, Westminster teaching assistants and volunteers and CPS students took recess on Baxter and Commencement lawns where broad kinship was reinforced and deepened.

WCLP Director Todd Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’17 summarized by saying: “Our second year of SAWS, bolstered by the lessons learned from the first, put this program on firm ground. From significantly increased Westminster student participation, to the addition of science classes, to the WCLP-provided bus that simplified the transportation to and from Hartford, to the expanded role of the Westminster teaching assistants and volunteers in the classroom, SAWS pushed forward.”

Assistant WCLP Director, Mary Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’17, who coordinated the volunteers and teaching assistants, added: “I was very proud of the Westminster students who gave up part of their vacation to support SAWS. What we asked them to do was not always easy. Once again, to a person, they made us proud!”

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HILL HEADLINES

Westminster’s 129th School Year Begins Westminster began the 2016-2017 academic year by welcoming 395 students to campus for the school’s 129th year. The students represent 26 states and 23 countries, as well as numerous Connecticut towns and cities. They arrived for opening days’ activities that included registration, orientation events, meeting with their advisor, cookouts and an all-school team dance event.

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HILL HEADLINES

The first assembly of the year Sept. 9 featured a welcome by Headmaster Bill Philip and an address

by Head Prefect Adrian Enchill ’17, a boarding student from Pittsfield, Mass.

Adrian shared advice with each form about what he has learned during his three years at Westminster.

His message to the Third Form was “be yourself.” He encouraged Third Formers to make their own paths and follow them. “To be ourselves and to not change for other people is especially important in your Third Form year,” he said. “Making your own path means taking advantage of new opportunities. If it is a new sport or auditioning for a play, the message stays the same: do what interests you.”

He asked the Fourth Form: “How can you make the most of every day here at Westminster?”

His answer was “to live, love and laugh” every day. “These three things are key to balance in order to sustain a healthy academic record and lifestyle, because even though Westminster can be enjoyable, it can also be very demanding,” he said.

He reminded the Fifth Form to stay focused.

“When one loses focus, it becomes hard to persevere,” he said. “Knowing that setting your mind to anything can lead to success is vital in school. However, do not be blinded by a simple letter grade or number your teacher gives you on an assignment because what is truly important is the wisdom and knowledge that you learn in the classroom.”

To his fellow Sixth Formers, he emphasized that it is their turn to lead the school and stressed the importance of everyone in the class helping with that. “If it is helping a new student find his or her classes or having to be a leader yourself on the field or your corridor, I encourage you to do so,” he said. He closed by saying, “I look forward to being this year’s head prefect and hope we can all work to leave this school better than we found it.”

During the Pin Ceremony for members of the Sixth Form, alumni faculty and honorary faculty presented members of the Class of 2017 with a class pin or pendant designed by their form.

Following this, all new students participated in the tradition of the Sign-in Ceremony in Andrews Memorial Chapel. They were greeted by Headmaster Philip and members of the prefect board, and signed their name in a book signifying their entrance to the school.

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HILL HEADLINES

Giving Voice to Youth Issues

John Morello

Actor, comedian, speaker and author John Morello performed his one-man, critically acclaimed show, “Dirt,” at Westminster Sept. 26 before students and faculty in Werner Centennial Center. The show explores the challenges and decisions that young people can face every day and gets at the heart of issues related to drugs, bullying and self-esteem. Through portrayal of multiple characters, John gives voice to those who sometimes feel as though they are not heard and reassurance to those who sometimes feel as though they are not understood.

“I hope this show connected with you,” he said at the end of the performance.

“What we say and do matters. Some succeed in the amazing circumstances they are born into and others in spite of those circumstances.”

Student Gains Basic Research Experience in Summer Science Program Sixth Former Jack Sargent, a resident of West Hartford, participated in the highly competitive Jackson Lab Summer Student Program for 10 weeks this past summer. The program is open to junior and senior high school students and undergraduate college students and is designed to help them understand the nature of research science. The emphasis of the program is on methods of discovery and communication of knowledge, not the mastery of established facts.

Applicants must submit an essay, a transcript and three areas of research interest. They must also demonstrate a deep desire to conduct an independent research project, academic achievement, curiosity, ambition and the maturity to accept responsibility. About 45 students from around the U.S. are accepted each year to work at either the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, or the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Conn. They receive a stipend of $4,750, including room and board.

Jack worked in Farmington in the laboratory of Charles Lee Ph.D., professor and scientific director of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, whose lab develops and applies state-of-the-art technologies to study structural genomic variation and its contribution to human diseases and vertebrate genome evolution.

“Jackson Lab is the best in class — the entrepreneurial frontier shaping genomics and biomedical research,” said 6

Westminster Bulletin

Jack Sargent ’17 gives his final presentation for the Jackson Lab Summer Student Program.

Jack. “Investigators are tackling the world’s most critical health issues. I believe the combination of innovative spirit with the unsurpassed scientific environment was an ideal place for me to gain formative exposure and merge my interests in genomic discovery and entrepreneurship. The Jackson Lab Summer Program also provided quality mentoring and a unique exposure to likeminded peers with whom to share and exchange experiences and ideas.”

Jack looks forward to pursuing his interest in biomolecular and genomic research. “Working in Dr. Lee’s lab opened my mind to what is possible and provided an essential foundation and opportunity for me,” he said. “I was able to work with, learn from and support others on the team, while advancing my knowledge. I also gained a better

understanding of the day-to-day inner workings of a lab and was exposed to some of the business aspects too. I liked working on a specific research project for weeks and presenting findings at the endof-program symposium.”

In the future, Jack hopes to become a primary investigator. In the summer of 2015, he participated in a 10-week competitive internship at the Center for Vascular Biology at UConn Health Center, where he worked in the lab of Dr. Fernando Ferrer, which focuses on novel therapeutic approaches targeting bioactive lipid pathways, pediatric solid tumors and renal injury. Jack also spent time last fall with Dr. Juan Salazar in his UConn lab learning about the various applications of genomic research to the areas of infectious disease and immunology.

HILL HEADLINES

Grandparents Day 2016 Nearly 200 grandparents visited Westminster Sept. 28 to spend the school day with their grandchildren. For some it was their first time visiting campus, and for others, it was a time to return to the Hill and see what is new this academic year for their grandchildren.

After grandparents were welcomed to campus by Headmaster Bill Philip, they spent the day with their grandchildren, attending classes and chapel, touring the campus and enjoying lunch in the dining hall. The day ended with many grandparents attending afternoon athletic contests.

Students Earn Academic Recognition Westminster Sixth Formers Alexandra Aiello, Michael Cornish and Jake Szykowny were named Commended Students in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and Alexandra Aiello ’17 Michael Cornish ’17 Jake Szykowny ’17 awards conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The three students were among 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation who were recognized for their exceptional academic promise. They placed among the top 5 percent of the more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

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HILL HEADLINES

Construction Progresses on New Facilities Construction cranes and vehicles dotted the Westminster landscape throughout the summer and fall accompanied by the sounds of workers performing excavation work, laying foundations, installing steel beams, pouring concrete, positioning framing and mounting shingles. It was all part of a sea of construction activity on campus since ground was broken in March for a new dining hall, a student and faculty residence, and two carriage houses.

The form of the 34,000-square-foot, three-level dining hall has taken shape with plans to enclose the structure by the end of the calendar year. One of the special challenges of the project has been the site’s steep slope that required construction of an intricate foundation system of footings and retaining walls. The goal is to complete the building by early August 2017, so Food Services staff can move in and be ready to use the facility by the start of school next September.

Members of the Westminster community became part of the history of the new dining hall by signing a steel beam in late September before it was installed as part of the clearstory atop the building. An American flag and a Westminster flag were affixed to the signed beam, which was raised into place by a giant crane as members of Westminster’s Board of Trustees looked on.

Once the dining hall is completed, the site of the current dining hall in Cushing Hall will be remodeled into a new student center and administrative office area. That project is projected to take about six months.

Work has also progressed throughout the summer and fall on a new 22,600-square-foot student and faculty residence that will house 48 students and four faculty apartments and open next fall. Recent work has included installation of framing, roof shingles, exterior trim, windows, façade and exterior masonry, along with interior mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems.

The new dining hall takes form.

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Westminster Bulletin

Graham Gund ’59 visits the site of the new dining hall.

Also on schedule for completion by next summer is construction of two 5,200-square-foot carriage houses that will each contain a three-bedroom faculty apartment and five lowerlevel parking garages. One carriage house is located next to Alumni House and the other behind Squibb House.

Along with work on the new buildings, the Sixth Form Lawn will be completely rebuilt with a new circular driveway and landscaping. During construction, it has served as a staging area.

All of the projects, including the new student center, will be heated and cooled using geothermal wells that run 600 feet into the ground.

Westminster’s Construction Committee has been overseeing the projects and meeting weekly to monitor construction progress and continue with value engineering.

The committee is made up of faculty, staff, trustees, outside contractors and representatives of GUND Partnership, which designed the buildings under the direction of its founder and president Graham Gund ’59.

HILL HEADLINES

Left, construction work takes place on the new student and faculty residence.

Below, clockwise from left, students sign a steel beam for the dining hall, trustees also sign the beam, the signed beam is raised for installation, and a view of one of the new carriage houses.

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HILL HEADLINES

Richard BlancoVisits as 16th Westminster Poet Renowned poet Richard Blanco visited Westminster School April 17-19 as the 16th Westminster Poet. Selected by President Barack Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history, he joined the ranks of such luminary poets as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. He gave a reading to the Westminster community in Werner Centennial Center and visited English classes to meet with students.

Blanco describes himself as being made in Cuba, assembled in Spain and imported to the United States — meaning that his mother, seven months pregnant, and the rest of the family arrived as exiles from Cuba to Madrid, where he was born. Only 45 days later, the family moved to Miami, where he was raised and educated. The negotiation of cultural identity and universal themes of place and belonging characterize his body of work.

Blanco is the author of the memoirs “The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood” and “For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey”; the poetry chapbooks “Matters of the Sea,” “One Today” and “Boston Strong”; the poetry collections “Looking for the Gulf Motel,” “Directions to the Beach of the Dead” and “City of a Hundred Fires”; and a children’s book of his inaugural poem, “One Today,” illustrated by Dav Pilkey.

Blanco began his reading to Westminster students and faculty by saying, “I really appreciate all of the time and energy everyone put in to me being here and the time you spent to read my work.” Before his visit, students had studied his writing in their English classes. He then talked about the “obsession” that informs his work. “The idea of home is something universal,” he explained. “We are always talking about the same core things that make us a human being and how we do that is through our stories.”

He discussed growing up and read numerous poems, providing background about what inspired them. He said he first fell in love with writing as a young engineer. “I was an engineer during the day and a poet by night.” He also shared memories of reading at the inauguration and meeting President Obama in the Oval Office.

During his visit with English classes, he answered questions from students about poems they had read before his visit, his writing process, his feelings about identity and the poems he likes best. When asked for advice he would give those reading poetry, he said, “The poet’s intention is to make you feel something.”

He suggested that as readers, they “look at how the poet delivers images to you to create those feelings.”

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Westminster Bulletin

Above, Richard Blanco talks with students after their English class and, below, gives a reading in Werner Centennial Center.

Sophie Tawney ’17, who read “Directions to the Beach of the Dead” in Megan Danyliw’s AP English class, commented: “I felt that Mr. Blanco’s poetry is accessible to readers and enjoyed his main topics of focus. He is a very honest and down-to-earth guy who gave us some hilarious background stories on some of his poems, and helped us reach a deeper understanding of his work.”

Emmett de Kanter ’19, who read “City of a Hundred Fires” in Michael Cervas’ English 3 Honors class, said: “I enjoyed the way he explored different poetic structures and styles throughout the book. I also enjoyed his use of personal stories and struggles for his poetry, so that when he came to Westminster I felt like I already knew him well and could talk to him on deeply personal subjects.”

Emma Alfeld ’16, who read “Prince of Los Cocuyos” and “Looking for the Gulf Motel” in her spring elective, Fiction for the Fun of It, liked that Blanco’s poems were “full of warm memories of family members, contemplation of his life and never-ending questions about identity.”

Michael Cervas, who directs the Westminster Poet Series in addition to teaching English, was especially delighted with the poet’s visit. “Mr. Blanco left Westminster mightily impressed with the students and faculty, and before he even drove away from Williams Hill, he was talking about a return visit,” said Michael.

“And that’s exactly the kind of mutual admiration the Westminster Poet series, now entering its 17th year, was designed to create.”

Blanco has been featured on numerous national television and radio shows as well as media from around the world. His poems and essays have appeared in many publications, and he is the recipient of numerous literary awards. A builder of cities as well as poems, he holds a B.S. in civil engineering and an M.F.A in creative writing. He splits his time between Bethel, Maine, and Boston.

HILL HEADLINES

Above, Mike Riberdy ’18 gives a speech during the Fourth Form Public Speaking Contest.

Below, Mike with faculty member Todd Eckerson at the Spring Term Awards Ceremony.

Reinforcing the Importance of Public Speaking Members of the Fourth Form had a chance to hone their public speaking skills in a new Public Speaking course that took place this year during the winter trimester.

The goals of the course are to reinforce for students that public speaking is an important skill, introduce them to the fundamentals of preparing and delivering a speech, and provide them with the experience of actually preparing and delivering a speech as part of a public speaking contest. The contest revives a long-ago Westminster tradition and affirms the idea that public speaking is a fundamental tenet of the educational process.

The course was broken up into eight sections of students and was taught by faculty members Todd Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’17, Charlie Griffith P’11, ’14, ’17, Bill Sistare, Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19 and Colin Hartwig, with the assistance of Kathleen Devaney P’19, Sara Deveaux P’14, ’16, Peter Doucette P’16, ’18, Alan Leathers P’11, ’17, Ken Mason P’11, ’12, ’16, Bryan Tawney P’15, ’17, ’19, Peter Ulrich P’09, ’10 and Corinne Werner ’10.

After students gave their speeches in class, 12 finalists were selected to compete in the final round of the public speaking

contest held May 5 in Sejong Lecture Hall. The finalists included Elizabeth Casey, Sophia Gasser, Anton Gonzalez, Amanda Liu, Katie Neilsen, Lucy Noel, Mike Riberdy, Teagan Stedman, Ryan Szykowny, Zach Tarazi, Max Torrez and Victoria Winter.

The contest judges were Archivist Larry Gilman P’78, ’80, Director of Multicultural Affairs Lisa McGrath, Headmaster Bill Philip, Associate Head of School Nancy Spencer P’13, ’15 and Librarian Amy Stevens P’07, ’09, ’12.

All members of the Fourth Form were in attendance to hear the speeches, which ranged in subject matter from the need for teens to get more sleep, to the importance of sharing knowledge, to the power of positive thinking.

The winner of the Fourth Form Public Speaking Prize was announced at the Spring Term Awards Ceremony May 27 as Mike Riberdy, who spoke about uniting ideals with reality and resisting the temptation to settle for a world that revolves merely around the self.

Fourth Formers also take a related course in the fall titled Civic Engagement, which represents the educational “wing”

of the Westminster Crossroads Learning Program in Hartford (WCLP). The course aims to help students understand who they are and for what they stand, while teaching them that they have an obligation to engage in their community.

“Learning the elements that comprise both effective speechwriting and public speaking is a natural extension of the Civic Engagement course,” said Todd Eckerson, director of WCLP and coordinator of the Public Speaking and Civic Engagement courses. “It is one of the necessary steps for turning ideas into action.”

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HILL HEADLINES

Spring Festival of the Arts The Spring Festival of the Arts took place on campus May 26 and 27 as part of commencement weekend. Members of the Concert Band, Jazz Band, Jazz Quintet, Chamber Choir, Chorale and Dance Ensemble gave performances in Werner Centennial Center, and the works of student visual artists were on display in the Chapel Gallery as part of the Third Annual Student Art Exhibition.

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Westminster Bulletin

HILL HEADLINES

A Quest to Improve Delivery of Cancer Drugs Teagan arranged to test his idea in a lab beginning in Fifth Former Teagan Stedman is on a quest to develop ways September of last year at the Kumbar Lab in the Institute for to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to inaccessible tumors and to Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health Center in chemo-resistant regions of tumors with fewer side effects on the Farmington, Conn., with Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar and Dr. normal tissue and organs of cancer patients.

Roshan James, under the lab’s National Science Foundation For the past several decades, much work has been done in grants. targeting chemotherapeutic drugs at tumors and cancer cells “Dr. Kumbar’s and Dr. James’ generosity in providing space, through various means, often involving the encapsulation of the funds and their time and effort for the sake of this project has drugs into so-called nanoparticles, which can keep the drugs been astounding, to say the very least,” said from affecting healthy tissues until they reach a Teagan. Other individuals within the UConn designated area of effect where the drug is then research community have provided assistance released. However, these drug delivery systems with acquiring data. still have limitations to their delivery capability.

Teagan’s research has involved synthesizing In 2014, Teagan came up with the idea for drug delivery vehicles, testing their side effects a drug-delivery vehicle designed to mimic the on cells and observing liposomes inside cells intracellular invasion mechanism of the through microscopy. bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The vehicle “In February, we observed liposomes involves a liposome, a spherical lipid bilayer inside fixed cells,” he said. “Throughout the that resembles the outer membrane of an animal spring and summer, we worked on further cell that has the ability to easily enter a cell’s optimizing the composition of the drug delivery cytoplasm and then travel rapidly from cell to vehicles and, most importantly, capturing the cell without ever leaving the cytoplasm. The predicted motion and cell-to-cell spread of the inclusion of proteins from Listeria into the vehicles through live video microscopy. We plan liposome allows for the process to take place. to publish the results in a scientific journal.”

“A liposome carrying a drug could, once In March, Teagan entered his research into targeted to a specific location in the body, either the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair pass through barriers like the blood-brain and placed as a Pfizer Life Sciences medalist and barrier to deliver the drug to a previously a fair finalist. In April, he presented the research inaccessible location, or deliver drugs Teagan Stedman ’18 performing as a guest lecturer to Dr. Kumbar’s biomedical throughout an entire tumor rather than just research at UConn Health Center. engineering honors class at UConn. portions of it,” explained Teagan.

16th Annual MS Walk Hundreds of walkers turned out for the annual MS Walk hosted by Westminster School April 17. They registered for the walk in Armour Academic Center then assembled on Commencement Lawn where they heard welcoming remarks from Headmaster Bill Philip, State Representative John Hampton and Head Prefect Tim Sanford. Ashlyn Chin ’16 sang the national anthem and the Jazz Quintet provided entertainment.

After the ribbon cutting, the walkers followed a route into town and back. There was also a shorter walk on campus. Both individual and team walkers from throughout the community participated.

More than 100 Westminster faculty, staff and students served as volunteers, helping with the day’s setup, operations and cleanup. Many also participated in the

walk. “We could not host such a big event without the support of the students, faculty and staff,” said Jill Loveland, Westminster’s director of the MS Walk. This is the 16th year Westminster has hosted the event. Members of the school community raised approximately $7,000.

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T I T/L/E/ / /

AT H L E T I C S / / / / /

Spring Season Highlights Brian Smyth ’16

First Boys’ Lacrosse After an inconsistent start, First Boys’ Lacrosse took off in the second half of the season, going 7-1 in the team’s last eight games with big wins over Loomis Chaffee and Avon Old Farms. The victory over the Winged Beavers was particularly exciting, as the teams went into halftime tied 1-1 and then traded goals throughout the third and fourth quarters, leading to a thrilling finish. Avon took a 4-3 lead late in the final frame, but Myles Hamm ’17 tied the game on an assist from Zach Orzech ’16. Mike Guerin ’16 scored the game winner with 3:20 to go, and the Martlet defense shut down Avon’s offensive push to hold on for the win. The leadership of team captains Tim Sanford ’16, Orzech and Brian Smyth ’16 was crucial to the team’s resilience and grit in the second half of the season.

The season was also highlighted by Coach Peter Newman’s final game at Westminster May 25, which Westminster won over Hotchkiss 13-7.

Brenna Monroe ’17

First Softball First Softball had another fantastic campaign, finishing the regular season 14-0, winning the Founders League title and advancing to the Class A New England Championships.

The girls clinched the Founders League Championship by defeating Ethel Walker 8-7 during an exciting home game May 16. Katie Neilsen ’18 drove in the winning run in extra innings, while Catherine Crawley ’16, Kaitlyn McCausland ’16 and Emily Samar ’18 had two hits apiece in the game, and Samar added three RBIs. The victory marked the eighth time in 10 years the Martlets have won the highly competitive league. Westminster followed by defeating Marianapolis May 18 during another tight, extra-inning contest. Brenna Monroe ’17 struck out 13 Marianapolis batters and also provided a great deal of offense with four hits and three RBIs. The Martlets earned the No. 1 seed and a home stand in the Class A Western New England Tournament May 21-22.

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Golf

Rylan Williams ’16

Led by Sixth Formers Addison Cilmi, Taggart Corriveau, Rylan Williams, Brett Roenick, Ted Sirbaugh and Wonjune Kang, the First Boys’ Golf team had another successful campaign, finishing the season with a 22-2-1 record, a third-place finish in the Founders League Tournament and a seventh-place finish, out of 23 teams, in the annual Kingswood Invitational.

With a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm, the Westminster Girls’ Golf Team stepped up to the tee and into the history books as the school’s first all-girl golf team. Building upon the legacy of the female golf “pioneers” who distinguished themselves on the First Boys’ Golf team in prior years, Westminster positioned itself to field a girls’ team of nine Martlets for the 2016 season. Coach Scott Stevens was honored and excited to be the team’s first coach.

Girls’ Golf Team

In the semifinal contest against Loomis Chaffee, Monroe pitched a gem, and the team played flawless defense to win 7-0. Crawley and Mackenzie Griffith ’17 had multiple hits in the game, while Samar and Ashlee White ’18 drove in key runs.

In the championship game May 22, the Martlets faced Williston Northampton, which played very well and had a strong pitching effort to defeat Westminster 5-1.

In a game featuring superb hurlers on both sides, the home team had difficulty manufacturing runs. Monroe turned in another gritty performance on the mound for the Black and Gold, while Griffith and Samar delivered hits to drive in a run.

Samar completed her terrific season with exceptional work behind the plate. It was the last game for Westminster’s two outstanding senior captains, Crawley and McCausland. During their four years at Westminster, the softball team achieved an incredible record of 65 wins and three losses, and won three Class A Western New England Championships.

Emily Samar ’18

Monroe and Samar were named All-Western New England, and McCausland was selected to represent Westminster on the Western New England All-Star Team.

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/ / / / / AT H L E T I C S / / / / /

First Track and Field The Boys’ and Girls’ Track and Field teams capped off strong regular seasons with some of their best individual and team postseason showings in years. The boys’ squad finished in third place in the New England Tournament, the team’s best finish in 10 years. Dom Cirillo ’17, who earned first place in the shot put at the Founders League Tournament one week prior, took first place in the New England Championships. The 4x100meter relay team of Ken Barnes ’16, Delando Clarke ’17, Tim Callahan ’17 and Brandon Williams ’18 set a new school record with a time of 44.82 seconds, and Emmett de Kanter ’19 set a school record in the 3,000-meter race. Ricardo Vazquez ’16 had one of his finest efforts of the season by finishing second in the javelin

throw, while Clarke finished second in the triple jump and the high jump. De Kanter also finished third in the 1,500-meter race, and Payton Prendergast ’17 placed third in the 110-meter hurdles.

After an excellent 8-2 season, Girls’ Track and Field had an impressive showing at the New England Tournament, placing second out of 13 teams behind only perennial powerhouse Thayer Academy. Sophie Tawney ’17 and Ellen Gyasi ’16 finished first and second in the shot put, while Oumou Kanoute ’17 took third in the 3,000-meter run. Tawney also placed second in the discus throw, and Katherine Eckerson ’17 finished second in the triple jump and first in the long jump.

Delando Clark ’17

Sophie Tawney ’17

Tim Callahan ’17

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Director of Athletics Tim Joncas, left, and First Boys’ Lacrosse coach Peter Newman

Coach Recognized for Commitment to Program Faculty member Peter W. Newman ’80, P’16, head coach of First Boys’ Lacrosse from 2006 to 2016, was recognized for his extraordinary commitment to the lacrosse program and Westminster before the team’s final game of the year against Hotchkiss May 25.

Hotchkiss coach Chris Burchfield spoke about Peter’s contributions to the program and the league, Director of Athletics Tim Joncas ’00 presented Peter with an inscribed tray recognizing his years of coaching with Grit & Grace, and Headmaster Bill Philip spoke about Peter’s many roles at Westminster over the years. In addition to coaching lacrosse and other sports, Peter served as a Spanish teacher, associate director of college counseling, dormitory supervisor, form dean, director of athletics and development associate.

“He is a school person through and through,” said Bill.

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An Opportunity to Focus on Academics When he is not coordinating academic planning for Westminster students, Bill Sistare might be found on a wilderness excursion in Maine or Canada enjoying hiking, canoeing and camping. His lifelong love of the outdoors prompted an interest in science that has led to a 21-year career on the Westminster faculty.

Bill has served in a variety of capacities at Westminster including science teacher, dean of students, co-director of the Westminster Teaching Initiative, and most recently, director of studies, a position he assumed four years ago. As the director of studies, he chairs the academic department heads group, serves on the headmaster’s advisory council, manages curricular changes and oversees student academic planning. These responsibilities require him to work closely with students, parents, teachers and advisors.

Born in Philadelphia, Bill lived for a time in Boxford, Mass., and on the campus of St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire before attending St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I., as a boarding student, an experience that helped shape his career.

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As a child, he spent summers at camp and enjoyed exploring the remote regions of New Hampshire. When he attended St. George’s School, he jumped at the chance to participate in a semester at sea, where he spent half of his sophomore year aboard a boat tagging sharks in the Caribbean. “We were learning about marine biology and oceanography, plus how to sail,” he explained. “After that, I knew I was going to do something in the realm of science.” He solidified his interest in marine biology at Pomona College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and at the University of New Hampshire where he earned an M.S. in biology.

Although his father was a teacher, Bill had no inclination as an undergraduate student that he would ever want to be a

While working in the Deans’ Office, Bill developed an interest in brain-based learning, which refers to teaching methods, lesson designs and school programs that are based on the latest scientific research about how the brain learns.

brain-based teaching. “I soon became classroom teacher. He says it was in deeply entrenched in new models of graduate school at the University of New learning and, ultimately, shared some of the Hampshire that the seed was planted. information with my Westminster faculty His first teaching assignment was at colleagues,” he said. “Westminster’s Germantown Friends School in learning theories seminars for Third Philadelphia, where he spent three years Formers are partly based on some of teaching middle school and high school these learning theories.” science.

When the director of studies position His desire to return to the familiarity at Westminster opened four years ago, of a boarding school environment and Bill decided to apply. “I was interested relocate to New England to be closer to because it had an intense focus on his parents who were retired, brought Bill academics, and it represented another to Westminster. “When I told my dad I opportunity for professional wanted to apply to some boarding development,” he said. “I was glad to take the position and am schools, he was familiar with Westminster and suggested I really enjoying it. I also get to still teach one science course.” consider it,” said Bill. In 1987, Bill was appointed to the In managing student academic planning, Bill oversees the Westminster faculty as a science teacher, and served four years course selection process for students, issues student course teaching advanced biology and chemistry. He also coached schedules, coordinates exam week, monitors grade postings football and baseball with faculty member Mike Jackson ’49, and comment editing, and schedules teaching assignments.

P’75, ’82, GP’04, ’08 for a few years, and served as a corridor The course selection process for returning students starts in supervisor in Memorial Hall and Andrews House. the spring after academic departments update course descriptions In 1991, Bill decided to go back to Philadelphia for eight and offerings for the following year. Academic departments also years before returning to Westminster in 1999 to again teach indicate the recommended course for each student in a particular science, coach and supervise a corridor. In his second year back subject for the following year. Advisors meet with their advisees at Westminster, he was offered a position as dean of students and and use the departmental recommendations to help guide their decided to give it a try. “In the Deans’ Office, at the time, were advisees in selecting their course requests. Advisors then submit three really seasoned people — Peter Briggs ’71, P’01, ’05, ’07 the course requests to Bill for each of their advisees.

Peter Newman ’80, P’16 and Kathleen Devaney P’19 — so I got “Around this same time, we also prepare a letter that goes up to speed pretty fast,” he recalled. “They were very helpful out to new families with information about how to begin the and supportive.” course selection process based on their child’s year of Bill likes that Westminster’s Deans’ Office is organized so matriculation,” said Bill. the deans for each of the four classes share a common office.

“It is very efficient because there are four deans in the same room doing a lot of proactive, organic decision-making that provides an atmosphere where students know there are people who care about them and who are looking after them,” he said. “Not a lot of schools use our model. There is tremendous continuity not just with the students but also with families and other faculty members.” He spent 12 years in that office, serving as the dean for three classes, and says it was a great opportunity for professional growth.

While working in the Deans’ Office, Bill developed an interest in brain-based learning, which refers to teaching methods, lesson designs and school programs that are based on the latest scientific research about how the brain learns. He started reading articles about how educators and neurologists were beginning to use the brain model of learning and wanted to know more. He went on to earn an Ed.S. Opposite page, Bill Sistare meets with students in his office and, above, greets from Southeastern University in Florida on Chloe Ferro ’20 during fall registration.

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In managing student academic planning, Bill oversees the course selection process for students, issues student course schedules, coordinates exam week, monitors grade postings and comment editing, and schedules teaching assignments.

After the selection process is completed, Bill goes through every student’s request for courses to make sure they make sense and to see if any adjustments are needed. In late June or July, he runs the full schedule for all students. “It takes us two to three days to do that, and by the end of that time frame, we have every student scheduled with what they wanted with the possible exception of about five students having to pick a different class,” he said. “It is a remarkably successful process.” He then shares this information with parents to make sure the courses selected are what they had anticipated for their child.

Throughout this process, he is in communications with new and returning families who have any questions or concerns.

Students receive their actual class schedule just before school starts in the fall. “That is when they see their schedule in terms of how their courses fit into the academic day,” said Bill. “Any needed corrections to placement in a course are made during the first few weeks of school. They often relate to changing the level of a course such as moving out of an honors course to a regular course in the same subject.”

At the end of each term, Bill gathers grades and comments for each student from teachers and advisors, which are then shared with parents. “If a student’s academic performance is

Above and opposite page, Bill Sistare teaches a science class.

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subpar, we have an academic review group that helps outline strategies for improvement, and I follow through with those students and their advisors,” he added.

Another one of Bill’s responsibilities is to create the schedule for final exam week, which takes place just before school ends in May. He coordinates dates and times with departments and makes sure each exam is effectively proctored.

Bill describes Westminster’s curriculum as a traditional liberal arts curriculum with each course shaped by the unique passion of the faculty member teaching it. “We don’t have a curriculum that comes out of the ‘can’ that everyone must follow,” he said. “For example, all of the faculty who teach chemistry put their own unique spin on it. Above all, our curriculum provides excellent preparation for the colleges where our students apply.”

Bill has seen a steady expansion in the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered at Westminster since he first arrived in 1987. “We remain an AP school and will probably continue to be for a long time, he said. “Right now, we have a good breadth and depth in AP offerings, with multiple offerings in every discipline. Our academic program is rigorous, and our academic day has been extended over the years.”

Another aspect of the curriculum that has grown in recent

years is the number of students taking independent study courses. Students can ask a teacher to consider an independent study, and if the teacher agrees, the student writes a proposal for the course “This is a real testament to our faculty because they have volunteered to help students who would like to create an independent study course,” said Bill. “The student has to do the legwork and define the course under the guidance of the teacher.

We do have the advantage now, versus 20 years ago, of having a tremendous amount of material available online that students can access.” Independent study courses are only available to Fifth Formers and Sixth Formers, and only to Fifth Formers as a sixth class, since they need to take five Westminster offerings.

Bill points to some external forces that can affect curriculum planning. “Technology is a big piece,” he said. “I work closely with Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19, who serves as director of academic technology, on the use of our learning management system. Faculty members use the system to create and maintain a webpage for each of their classes that can include such things as homework assignments, learning resources, a grade book, a Also, it is important for students to recognize a discipline where class roster and messaging between the students and the teacher. they think they are weak. If they sustain an effort and interest in This fall, Westminster transitioned to a new system called it, suddenly it may click for them. Often the subjects students onCampus, which dovetails with related information didn’t necessarily gravitate toward can become extremely management systems that have been introduced on campus. interesting. I have seen students who are strong in math and Previously, we used Haiku, which is a standalone product.” science suddenly get attracted to history and pursue further Another factor affecting the curriculum is implementation study in the humanities in college, and vice versa.” of new educational ideas that come from individual faculty Westminster students usually seek a college or university members or as outgrowths of faculty discussions at Westminster that not only matches basic things like geographic desire and Teaching Initiative meetings. These can relate to an existing size, but also the breadth of studies they desire. “We always have course or creation of a new course. Such decisions are made a few students who know they want to pursue business or prethrough the academic department heads group, which Bill chairs. med, and they find the institution that meets that goal,” he said.

“If an idea has merit, we talk about it at our department heads “However, most of our students are liberal arts students, even meeting,” he said. “As an example, this year, we introduced a well into their sophomore year of college before they start course called Big History that is internationally disseminated and selecting a major and focusing on that coursework. They like to has the backing of Bill Gates. It looks at history all the way from learn and are not ready to specialize when they reach age 18.” the Big Bang to modern day and was proposed by science Bill says his lengthy tenure at Westminster relates to his teacher Mark de Kanter and history continued fondness for working in a teacher Kathleen Devaney. It is a Sixth boarding school environment and his Form elective; however, Fifth Formers are appreciation for the opportunities to “My goal, and a lot of our able to take it as a sixth course, since they expand professionally. “For me, it is an are required to take U.S. History. It is avocation not just a vocation,” he said. teaching faculty have this listed as a history course, but students are “I get to learn, which I like to do, and I same goal, is to have able to use it as a history or a science get to study topics I am interested in. It course as long as they have met their also allows me to continue to explore students become aware of Westminster course requirements.” what is new in the field of learning how to self-assess for Bill believes students should have an research, which is growing by leaps and overarching academic goal while at bounds. I also get to work with a wide interest and talent within a Westminster. “My goal, and a lot of our variety of people and do a lot of different given discipline, while teaching faculty have this same goal, is to things, so it is never boring. It is definitely have students become aware of how to not 9 to 5, and I don’t mean that in a understanding the self-assess for interest and talent within a negative way. I mean it in a positive way. significance of staying in the given discipline, while understanding the I like the variability and the willingness of significance of staying in the liberal arts people to work through productive and liberal arts realm.” realm,” he said. “What they learn in challenging experiences to create the best English may inform significantly what academic experience for our students.” they might do in biology at some point.

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Trustees Brad Raymond and Moy Ogilvie Johnson.

Assuming New Roles

Two longtime members of the Westminster Board of Trustees assumed new leadership positions with the board in September. Brad Raymond ’85, P’19, ’20 is the new chair and Moy Ogilvie Johnson ’86 is the new vice chair. The change in leadership followed completion by Tread Mink ’77, P’11 of his term as chair for the past five years.

As alumni and experienced board members, Brad and Moy bring a variety of perspectives to their new roles. They recently shared thoughts about the impact Westminster has had on their lives and the opportunity to make a difference in the school’s future.

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Brad Raymond ’85, P’19, ’20 Brad has served on the board of trustees for nine years and recently co-chaired Westminster’s Strategic Planning Committee. He is head of investment banking at Stifel Nicolaus, which he joined in 2010 following Stifel’s acquisition of Thomas Weisel Partners, where he had also been head of investment banking. Before that, he worked for Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Alex. Brown & Sons. He earned an A.B. degree in history from Harvard College and an MBA from The Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Brad lives in New York City with his wife, Soledad O’Brien, and their two daughters, Sofia ’19 and Cecilia ’20, and twin sons, Charlie and Jackson.

What brought you to Westminster as a student?

I was struggling at my school in Providence, R.I., and decided on my own that I wanted to go to boarding school, even though no one in my family had ever gone away to school, and we didn’t know much about it. I wanted and needed a change and had played hockey against Westminster in a tournament, so Westminster was one of the schools on the list. When I toured the school as an applicant, I knew it was the right place for me, as did my parents. That had a lot to do with the warmth of the community and the size of the school. Westminster also had a very strong athletic program, which was important to me at that point in my life. I applied to one other school, but I was very set on Westminster.

What was your biggest challenge?

Adapting to boarding school life was a huge challenge. I had no friends who went to boarding school, and I didn’t know any of the other students before I arrived. There was a fairly steep learning curve and adjustment period for me to figure it all out.

I was helped by the fact that I played sports, so that quickly became a social circle for me.

Was there anything that surprised you?

What I found was an environment that really rewarded effort and success in academics, and that was not true at the school I previously attended. It allowed me to really buckle down. In athletics, I saw that you could be a small school and you could be an underdog, but if you worked hard enough and focused enough, you could at times be very successful.

Who were some of your favorite teachers?

There were so many. I have been a huge Todd Eckerson fan since I was a student and am very supportive of what he and Mary do with the Westminster Crossroads Learning Program in Hartford (WCLP). Mike Jackson ’49, Peter Briggs ’71, Tom Earl, Dick Adams, Geoffrey Wilbraham, David Hovey and Thompson Prewitt are some others, but this list could go on forever. Mr. Prewitt, who was my English teacher Fourth Form year, really opened up my eyes to intellectual pursuit. He taught me how to read literature in a way I just didn’t understand before. Mr. Adams taught me a lot about thinking critically about history and not what is written in secondary texts. I had never been really exposed to or focused on any of this before. And Mr. Hovey taught me in Algebra 2 that if you keep working at something you will master it. It was a great lesson in grit.

What were your major activities as a student?

I played soccer, hockey and lacrosse, was a member of John Hay and served as a prefect. I also studied a lot and made many good friends.

What are some of your fondest memories of school life?

What I enjoyed the most was living in the dorm and the friends I made on the corridor. I lived in Andrews as a Fourth Former, Memorial as a Fifth Former and Cushing as a Sixth Former. It was both fun and very formative for me. I have a strong recollection of family-style dinners. They were not my favorite at the time but a very important part of my development in terms of learning how to interact with people I did not know and how to behave in a social setting. What I really liked about Westminster was the culture, especially the grit part of Grit & Grace. All of that is still true.

Members of the Raymond family on opening day at Westminster in September: Jackson, Brad, Cecilia ’20, Sofia ’19, Soledad and Charlie.

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In what ways did the experience change you?

It is very enjoyable to come to campus three times a year and get away from work and focus intensely on something else that I think is very important.

It also brings back a lot of very positive feelings for me.

Most importantly, I got into college. I had not been on the best path at my prior school. The reason that I am so supportive of Westminster is that it was completely transformational for me. A lot of that had to do with the environment, the structure and the whole concept of it being OK to work hard. Again, seeing that if you put effort in, you could get results out was very important. There is no institution that has had more of an impact on my life than Westminster. I also think it was a very good experience for my sister, Beth, who graduated in 1987. She didn’t need as much transformation as I did, however.

What led to your career in finance?

I went to college fully assuming I would go into education since my entire family is filled with educators. My dad was a college professor, my mom was a principal and my sister is a teacher.

When I was going through my junior year at college, I realized that academic positions at the collegiate level, maybe at all levels, were incredibly competitive and did not pay terribly well, so I thought I would try something else. Investment banking was a logical place to go and work for a couple of years and learn about business, so I did that, and it turned out that I liked the pace of it and enjoyed the competitive element. It allowed me to work with clients who are bright and doing extremely interesting things. From there, I stuck with it.

What are your current responsibilities?

I run the investment banking business for Stifel. We have 350 people focused on middle market investment banking in the U.S. and Europe. I have been there since they acquired my previous firm, Thomas Weisel Partners, in 2010, so just over six years now.

How did your volunteer involvement with Westminster get started?

I basically became disconnected from the school, not for any reason other than I got really busy. My first couple of years after graduation, I gave money and then attended my fifth reunion.

While I maintained a connection with a number of my classmates, I lost touch with the school five to 15 years out. I probably hadn’t been back to campus in about eight years when Scott Stevens, former assistant headmaster for development, started calling me and requesting me to get more involved. I kept saying no because I was busy, and finally he and John Armour ’76 said I had to do it, which I did, and that was nine years ago.

Really, I got re-involved with the school by joining the board.

With my two oldest children at Westminster now, I am really involved.

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On what committees have you served?

Initially, I was on the Faculty and Students Committee, which I chaired for a while, and then I moved to the Development and Marketing Committee, and in that period, I co-chaired the Strategic Planning Committee with Susie Berenson ’82. More recently I have served on the Committee on Trustees.

What were some of the major findings of the Strategic Planning Committee in terms of moving the school forward?

We discovered that the strategic plan was not about changing course for the school but more about continuing to evolve along the course we have set. As we worked through it, we found it was more figuring out how to advance the things we were doing more fully, along with a means to fund them in a more meaningful way. The strategic planning process reinforced my positive views about the school and revealed that we need to figure out how to grow our endowment and continue to invest in people and programs.

Did your work on the Faculty and Students Committee give you any special insight about the school?

I really loved my time on that committee. It provides a really interesting portal into how the school works, since we often heard from students and faculty. In a lot of ways, my time on that committee gave me the sense that the underlying ethos of the school hasn’t changed very much. I am told that most schools don’t have that committee, and it is one of our standing committees. It gives the board a good working knowledge of the issues the school, the faculty and the student body are facing and how they are being dealt with.

Was there any other committee work that stood out?

In serving on the Development and Marketing Committee, now called the Advancement Committee, what stood out is how critically important it is to be aware of what we are up against in terms of what other schools have in the way of programs, facilities and money. We are up against a tough cast. It is a little bit like David versus Goliath. We have our work cut out for us, and we need a lot of help to support the school.

What do you see as the most important functions of the board?

First and foremost, the board has a responsibility to maintain and be a good shepherd of the school. I have been very impressed with how serious this board is. The passion that people have for Westminster is definitely felt. Second, we need to support the faculty and administration of the school. And third,

we must work toward the execution of the strategic plan and significantly move the financial position of the school. Making a major impact on the endowment in the next 10 to 20 years is a hugely important piece of it.

What have you enjoyed most about serving on the board?

I have really liked getting reconnected with the school. It is very enjoyable to come to campus three times a year and get away from work and focus intensely on something else that I think is very important. It also brings back a lot of very positive feelings for me.

to and through college. We financially support 25 young women, who we call scholars, but more importantly, we provide them with wrap-around services such as mentors and help with finding scholarships, internships, child care and all sorts of things. We do that with the goal of trying to create a family environment and structure, sort of a synthetic family for these young women, who come from in many cases very difficult circumstances.

We started with our first scholar almost a decade ago and have been doing it formally for six or seven years. We have even connected into Westminster with this. We have had young women from WCLP come to some of our programs.

How did the foundation get started?

Do you ever find yourself thinking about your experiences as a student?

Not so much being on the board but having my oldest daughter on campus last year was nostalgic and made me think about my own experiences as a student. Now, having two daughters as students makes it even more so.

It has been really fun to watch them develop and evolve at Westminster. I think a lot of the things I benefited from such as supportive teachers and the reward for effort will benefit them.

As a parent, you really see how the teachers are having an impact on your child.

What distinguishes Westminster from other schools?

It was interesting to go with my daughters to see other schools and how those schools position themselves and are perceived.

Westminster is a very caring and nurturing place, and the core values really come through. The teachers do know the students well and are enormously invested in them. What we talk about in terms of community and values and what you feel when you come on campus do hold true.

Do you volunteer with any other organizations?

The primary philanthropic work I do right now is that my wife and I started the Starfish Foundation, which gets young women

My wife is a journalist, so this really started when she was covering Hurricane Katrina, and there was a young woman in tough shape, and Soledad’s friends came to her and said you need to help pay for this young girl to go to school. We did and it has evolved. A lot of the young women are people who Soledad has met through her travels and her reporting. We have scholars who are from California, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Florida and New York. These young women become part of our lives. We can have up to six of them living with us over the summer while they are doing summer internships in New York City. We also usually have a bunch of them at our house for Thanksgiving and other occasions. They become an important part of our lives, and it has been great for them and our family.

These young women are achieving in the face of very difficult circumstances.

What do you and your family like to do in your free time?

We try to relax and spend time together. I play tennis, golf and coach my boys’ lacrosse team. We have a house in Duchess County, N.Y., that we visit on the weekends. Generally, every Christmas, we go away for two weeks. In recent years, we have visited Uruguay, Morocco, Panama and South Africa.

Brad and Moy meet with Headmaster Bill Philip.

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Moy Ogilvie Johnson ’86 Moy Ogilvie Johnson, a 13-year member of the board of trustees, was honored in 2013 for her longtime service to Westminster by being presented with the Alan F. Brooks ’55 Distinguished Alumni Award. She has served as a class agent, a member of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association, on reunion committees, as chair of the Faculty and Students Committee and as a member of the Committee on Trustees and the Strategic Planning Committee.

Moy is a partner in the law firm of McCarter & English in Hartford, where her main areas of practice are commercial litigation and product liability defense. Moy earned her B.A. in sociology with a minor in Spanish from Bowdoin College and her J.D. at Boston University School of Law. She and her husband, Glen Johnson, live in Bloomfield, Conn.

What led you to apply to Westminster as a student?

It was my parents’ idea and not part of my plan. We were living in Simsbury at the time, and they decided that I should apply. I did not like change at all, so I was overwhelmed and intimidated by the thought of going to an independent school. I applied to Westminster as a Third Former and, eventually, I started as a day student. Previously, I had attended schools in Queens, N.Y., and Connecticut.

What were your major activities at Westminster?

In addition to studying, I played field hockey and volleyball, and participated in track, Black and Gold and community service. I also took a school trip abroad to Spain in my Fifth Form year and was involved in a number of other activities.

What memories stand out about being a student?

My relationships with the teachers and coaches and getting to know classmates from all walks of life stand out. Some of the teachers and coaches who had a tremendous impact on me include Larry Gilman, Margaret Randall, Bill Philip, Bob Hill, Mary and Todd Eckerson, and Alan Brooks ’55. Also, the focus on community was unique to me, and I hadn’t really experienced that in a school context before.

What distinguished the teachers for you?

They didn’t let me hide in a corner in the classroom. They made sure that I pushed myself academically and participated in school life. I really appreciate their efforts now.

As a student, how did Westminster make a difference in your life?

It absolutely was my turning point academically. I came to Westminster very reserved and shy, and my teachers pushed me out of my comfort zone within the classroom. Also, because of Westminster’s emphasis on community, I had to learn to interact with people from all different backgrounds and try new things.

The experience was invaluable, even though it was very challenging at times. I eventually learned the importance of being an active member of the community as opposed to just sitting on the sidelines and not being engaged. Those lessons have stayed with me well into adulthood. When I left Westminster as a Sixth Former, I was still myself, but definitely a more confident version, and more ready to take on a lot of challenges, especially challenges that I could possibly face as a female and minority in college, the workplace and the world generally.

Did you have any favorite Westminster traditions?

I liked the traditions of the Sixth Form Lawn and Candlelight Service. I also enjoyed the feeds. It is great to see that they all still exist.

What were some of your activities as a student at Bowdoin College?

I was a member of the winter and spring track teams, participated in Bowdoin’s mentoring program, was a member of the African-American Society and was involved in other activities during my time there.

What did you do after you graduated?

After college, I worked for two years at a nonprofit called the Institute for Responsive Education in Boston that awarded grants to inner-city schools across the nation that were developing programs to increase parental involvement in education. I was part of a group that reviewed grant proposals and worked on other tasks.

What prompted you to attend law school?

By the time I graduated from Bowdoin, I had already decided that I was going to apply to law school after working for a few years. I was exposed to law for the first time through my sociology courses. No one in my family was a lawyer, and I did not know any lawyers personally. I took a variety of courses, and I realized I enjoyed the courses that were law-based.

In what activities did you participate at law school?

At law school, I was a member of the American Journal of Law and Medicine. During my third year of law school, I participated in the school’s Civil Litigation Clinic in which students represented indigent clients while receiving instruction from clinical professors.

How did your career in law get started?

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courthouse in Boston and the next summer working as a summer associate at Cummings & Lockwood, a law firm based in Stamford, Conn. After I graduated from law school, I joined Cummings & Lockwood’s Hartford Office in the litigation group.

What does your current work involve?

Currently, I work in the Hartford office of McCarter & English. My areas of practice include civil litigation and product liability defense. I also handle pro bono assignments for Lawyers for Children America by representing children in neglect or abuse cases.

How did you get involved with Westminster as a volunteer?

I first got involved as a class agent. When I moved back to Connecticut after being away for 10 years, Headmaster Graham Cole reached out to me and encouraged me to be involved in different ways. I joined the board of trustees in 2003. I have been on the Faculty and Students Committee the entire time, and I chaired the committee for a number of years. I also currently serve on the Committee on Trustees.

Moy visits with Shaunna Walsh ’20, a Hartford Youth Scholar now attending Westminster.

I believe that it is important that we have a school that is accessible to as many talented and diverse students as possible.

What are Westminster’s greatest strengths?

One of its greatest strengths is the focus on community. You learn from the minute you arrive at the school that community matters, and it is not just about you. Another great strength is, and has always been, the dedication of the faculty. The faculty members really do commit themselves 24/7 to the students.

What has been meaningful about serving on the board?

It has given me a complete appreciation and better understanding of how much goes into running a school like Westminster. I am humbled to have had this experience. When I was a student, I never would have thought I would become a trustee. It has been wonderful to work with amazing alumni from different generations, and current and past parents. Westminster offers an overall education that is exceptional. I value the opportunity to assist the school and help provide future students with the chance to have a transformational experience.

What are you looking forward to in your role as vice chair?

In what other volunteer organizations are you involved?

I am very involved with Hartford Youth Scholars (HYS), which prepares Hartford students to graduate from college. I am thrilled that Westminster has enrolled many HYS students over the past 10 years. I am also involved with Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, the Connecticut Bar Foundation and the WALKS Foundation. I have also been involved with Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters for more than 10 years.

What has been rewarding about your community involvement?

It has been an honor to be able to give back to the various I know that Brad will be a phenomenal chair. I look forward to communities that I live in, work in or have impacted me working with him doing whatever is needed to help make his somewhere along the way. As you get older, you realize that role easier. these types of organizations survive on the basis of volunteers I am also looking forward to supporting giving their time or resources. You also Bill Philip in his role as headmaster. Bill realize that any effort you make, no passionately cares about this school and matter how small, can have a positive moving it forward. He was my U.S. impact.

I value the history teacher, so it’s extra special to be In your free time, what do you and able to work with him in this capacity. opportunity to assist

What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing Westminster and the board going forward?

This is not unique to Westminster, but there is always the challenge of having the necessary revenue to provide the academic and other opportunities for the students that are expected in this day and age. Also,

the school and help provide future students with the chance to have a transformational experience.

your husband like to do for fun?

We enjoy spending time with family and friends as much as we can. My husband and I love to travel to new places locally and afar. We visited Italy, Jamaica and Grenada in recent years. Locally, we enjoy visiting the Connecticut vineyards, seeing shows on Broadway and in Hartford, and trying to find great places for brunch.

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Commencement 2016 Members of the Westminster community celebrated the graduation of 113 students in the Class of 2016 at commencement May 28.

Headmaster Bill Philip welcomed family members and friends of the graduates, recognized the contributions of school prefects and thanked the Class of 2016 for “all of your ongoing efforts to lead and support our school community.” He also shared highlights of the “remarkable year” related to admissions, The Westminster Fund, college admissions, and construction of the new dining hall and student and faculty residence.

He reported that 84 percent of the members of the Class of 2016 were admitted to colleges ranked in the top two categories of selectivity in Barron’s Profiles of Colleges and Universities. “This achievement underscores the impressive talent shared by all of the graduates we are celebrating today,” he said.

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Tim Sanford ’16

In his Salutatory Address, Head Prefect Tim Sanford emphasized the importance of making right choices by saying, “Class of 2016, today is the day we celebrate all the right choices that we have made over the course of our high school careers.”

He then talked about the importance of dependability and getting things done. “Our world needs young people like ourselves who can be relied on to work their hardest day in and day out.”

He also emphasized the importance of having the right mindset. “Be confident in what you learned here at Westminster and know that you can do anything that you put your mind to.”

He concluded by saying: “At Westminster, we have garnered a unique toolkit of skills and developed everlasting relationships that we will always be able to rely on. The solution to any problem will always be within reach; you just have to look inside yourself and find it.”

In his Outstanding Scholar Address, Wonjune Kang ’16 encouraged his Wonjune Kang ’16 classmates to be inspired and “strive to achieve the impossible, pave the way for the future and make the world a better place.” He also told them they are powerful. “Our humanity allows us to collectively determine the world that we’re going to live in by being that world. That’s the real power that we all have. It’s not our jobs, it’s not our bank accounts, it has nothing to do with immortality or fame, and yet, it’s possibly the most important thing that we all do throughout our lives.” He ended by saying: “So while you have the chance, think about what you want to achieve as we go off into the next stage of our lives. Show your humanity. Educate and improve yourselves and create more solutions than problems. That’s all anyone can ever ask of you and that’s more than enough. Because in the end, our actions are what build our world. And don’t take that for granted.”

The keynote speaker was Allison Bailey Blais ’96, the chief operating officer and board secretary of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center in New York City. She spoke about the importance of the words “grit” and “grace” in Westminster’s motto, saying, “I can tell you honestly that over my time working on the Ground Zero rebuilding, these words have been my touchstone.” She also described the importance of the word “gratitude,” calling grit, grace and gratitude the “three G’s” and recounted stories that contributed to how she sees each of the three words.

Allison Bailey Blais ’96 “There is such depth of meaning in the three G’s that permeate this campus,” she said. “And honestly, if I look back at the mistakes I have made, they can be attributed to forgetting at least one of the three.”

She closed by saying, “And like the candlelight spreading through the chapel behind me each December, let your equation of grit, grace and gratitude fan the flames of hope and love exponentially out there in the world beyond Westminster.” (Please see the full text of her keynote address on page 32.)

After the prizes were awarded, Headmaster Philip, with the assistance of Associate Head of School Nancy Spencer P’13, ’15 and Director of Studies Bill Sistare, presented diplomas to members of the class. The graduates then recessed to participate in the Westminster tradition of passing diplomas on the Sixth Form Lawn. They formed a circle and at the signal of the head prefect, passed the random diplomas they received during the commencement ceremony to the right until they received their own diploma. They then stepped out of the circle signifying their graduation.

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The Three G’s Allison Bailey Blais ’96, the chief operating officer and board secretary of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum gave the keynote address at Westminster’s commencement May 28.

Allison Bailey Blais ’96 with her husband, Doug, and their daughter, Marielle, at commencement.

Allison serves as chief advisor to the president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on matters organizationwide, particularly as they pertain to delivery of a world-class, end-to-end visitor experience that aligns with a mission of remembrance and education. In this role, she works closely with a 55-member board of directors chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg.

She is the co-author of “A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National 9/11 Memorial,” which was published by National Geographic in 2011.

Allison attended Westminster as a day student from Avon and spent much of her time involved in the performing arts program. Following Westminster, she earned a B.A. in English from Cornell University and an M.A. in American Studies from Columbia University.

The following are her commencement remarks: hank you, Mr. Headmaster, and good morning, trustees, faculty, staff, families, friends and students.

I am so honored and thankful to have this opportunity. I can’t tell you how great it is as an alum to come back to a headmaster who was such a loved and respected teacher when I was here, and to see so many other familiar faces among the faculty and staff.

Before I begin, I’d especially like to thank the person who makes this campus map, because it looks amazing out there, but I swear, Bill, you’ve moved all the buildings since I graduated.

Class of 2016, I am impressed by you. I’ve heard such great things echoed over and over — that this group is marked by leadership, camaraderie, warmth, mentorship to the other forms. You are proof that good habits of the heart grow well here on Williams Hill.

I saw the photo on Facebook earlier this week of all of you wearing your college gear, and I can only assume it will be the next cover for the “Best Colleges” issue of U.S. News. Not to mention those amazing speeches we just heard from Tim and Wonjune — talk about an intimidating act to follow.

So I can’t pretend I’m going to teach you anything new in these last 15 minutes before you graduate. Instead, I thought back to 20 years ago: there I am in the front row, four seats in from the end, and I’m sitting there with no idea WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE. (Those words are in all caps on my paper, because that’s how I remember they sounded in my head.)

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But knowing what I know now, I’m glad for that. One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is openness to changing my mind.

I didn’t know, sitting there, that I would be living in New York City four years later, and I could never have known that the year after that — when I actually did think I knew what I wanted to do with my life — two planes would strike the World Trade Center and change everything. I’d been working in theater administration and I loved it, thought I could do it forever, until I didn’t.

To me, success is not based on whether you know what you want to do with your life, and it also can’t be entirely linked to the smarts I know you all possess. What’s so great about a place like Westminster — and you can see this even by the awards that were just given out for things like character and leadership — is that it isn’t just the grades that matter, just like in the “real world.”

My dad is fond of the saying, “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.” There’s something to that, and to me, success in life is much more likely if you keep a couple familiar words in mind: Grit & Grace.

Now, I realize that maybe this cleverly alliterative school motto has come to seem like a cliché, or you’ve heard it so often it’s lost some impact. But I can tell you honestly that over my time working on the Ground Zero rebuilding, these words have been my touchstone.

And I have to say, too, that I was really struck by the addition of the word “gratitude” to this year’s challenge campaign. This trio of G’s

To me, success is not based on whether you know what you want to do with your life, and it also can’t be entirely linked to the smarts I know you all possess.

seems to me a great reminder for this moment, so I thought I’d use my time to tell you a few quick stories that contributed to how I see each of them.

“Grit” is a hot topic right now. Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at UPenn, just released a book about the importance of grit, and she’s created a little stir among folks focused on more measurable traits (like IQs, SATs, GPAs) being the key to success. I certainly don’t think those things are irrelevant, but they’re not all you need. Even innate talent, while it undoubtedly helps with success, isn’t worth anything if you aren’t fiercely committed to using it, and that really only happens when you believe in what you’re doing.

You Westy students know that. I saw the short films of some of you defining the three G’s, and you said grit means: “persevering,” “getting up when you get knocked down” and “doing everything with passion.”

April 22, 2016. As we pass the World Trade Center, my taxi driver, without any awareness of my profession, says, “It’s easy to destroy, not easy to rebuild.”

My husband and I both know this; he, too, has worked for years on the World Trade Center rebuilding. It’s taught us both that there is nothing naive about insisting on miracles, but you have to be willing to play your part in making them happen. That can feel impossibly hard, as it did many times when newspapers bemoaned the “pit” at Ground Zero, political and budget battles threatened to devour arguments over what to build and how, and 9/11 family members grieved more deeply than I can possibly imagine.

At those times, my source of grit was a room called “The Family Room” — a temporary memorial, a private space just for the relatives of 9/11 victims that my organization maintained. Its windows overlooked Ground Zero, but you’d barely know it since the whole room, floor to ceiling, was plastered with photographs, drawings, cards for missed birthdays, poems, dried flowers.

It was a tangible reminder of the absolute privilege of being a part of this project. Here was what mattered. The fuel to the grit I needed to do my job.

October 1995. Mountain Day. Back in my day, we climbed Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire — 3,166 feet, with some pretty treacherous passes.

I start the climb with my two best friends — Christa and Kristen, or as I call them, Ta and Tin — along with a few others. Ta and Tin have chosen to give it a go, but it isn’t easy for either of them. Ta has mono, and for anyone who’s had mono, you know climbing a mountain is hardly on the “to do” list. Tin was born with a health condition that makes daily activities we all take for granted a challenge. She’s beautiful: one of those people with a radiant smile that makes everyone feel like she’s

singling you out. She’s all of 4 foot 10, but you can tell by looking at her that she’s a force. A hugger, full of feistiness. And she’s in chronic pain, but she’d never let you know it, except maybe by accepting the arm you’d offer to help her along.

It would’ve been easy for both of them to choose to stay home, but they gamely start the trek up. I and a few others stay with them for a while, as the rest of our class proceeds at a much faster pace, but eventually they insist they’re content to keep one another company and the rest of us scramble up to the summit.

But I’ll tell you, the spectacular view up there is nothing compared to the smile on Kristen’s face when I come back down and see that, with Ta’s help, she’s made it more than halfway.

Sept. 11, 2001, 8:46 a.m. The High School for Leadership and Public Service, three blocks south of the World Trade Center. Ada Dolch, the school’s principal, is in the lobby greeting students. It’s Election Day, and the school is also a voting site. Mike Bloomberg, a candidate for mayor, is expected to stop by.

A student runs in and tells her a plane has hit the North Tower. Ada thinks immediately of her sister, Wendy, at work on the 105th floor of that building, and she prays, “God, please take care of Wendy. I have to take care of the kids.”

Ada and her staff get the students to Battery Park just as the South Tower collapses and a tsunami wave rushes toward them, a black cloud that somehow at the same time seems like white snow. The students take ferries to safety. Later that day, Ada learns that her sister was killed that morning.

In the days afterward, she says, “The kids are phenomenal. They wanted to come back to school…. I tell them, ’You are history makers.

People will look to you and ask you to tell the story.’ And I tell them, ’If you fall apart, you will never be able to help this world be rebuilt.’”

Now, mixed into most stories of grit is plenty of grace. I actually think sometimes grace can be lending grit to someone else.

My favorite Westy student definition of grace? “Grit, with style.”

September 1995. I get my first C, and it’s in Mr. Ford’s creative writing elective — and just to be clear, this is my favorite, and has always been my best, subject.

It’s taught us There are six of us in the class, and we’re sort of like a New England prep school both that there is version of “The Breakfast Club.” It’s Ta, Tin and nothing naive me (who were stuck together like glue by then, and decidedly not the cool kids, but pretty cool about insisting on with that), plus three others we don’t know well miracles, but you at all.

I’m devastated by the C, but Mr. Ford have to be willing is right. to play your part I listen as my classmates read their poems aloud. They’re simple, personal, some in making them funny, some heartbreaking, all touching, happen. already on this first day showing me how little Fall 2016

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“I tell them, ‘You are history makers.

People will look to you and ask you to tell the story.’ And I tell them, ‘If you fall apart, you will never be able to help this world be rebuilt.’”

I know about these people, even Ta and Tin. When I read my own, I am embarrassed to hear how bad it is. It’s the biggest and best words I know, tossed on paper in a pile, in hopes of sounding impressive, and it means? Absolutely nothing.

That class, which I now understand was just disguised as creative writing, ends up being so much more than that to all six of us. It changes our perspectives, forces us to see the world through each other’s very different eyes in a very personal way. Through teaching us how to read and write, Mr. Ford teaches us how to think and act. How to be true to yourself and pay attention to what’s beneath the assumptions you make on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis about the people around you.

the sorrow that is part of them makes us weep.

But there is no life without them.”

The day I graduated Westy, I’d asked Mr. Ford to promise to never stop teaching me. That particular lesson, 13 years later, was one of the greatest ones (so far!) — and it, too, was grace.

September 2005. Ada Dolch, the principal of the high school, is in the province of Herat, Afghanistan, to help open a school. In her words, “What a kick in the head to Osama bin Laden!”

Ada knows that understanding one another’s differences is the only possible path to global peace. She says, “We can spend the rest of our lives angry and bitter and just hide ourselves under a table, or we can use what happened as a means to say: what is the role I can play to Thirteen years later — Dec. 22, 2009. Ta and I give a eulogy at make the world a better place?”

Tin’s funeral.

At its core, grace is integrity, and the recognition of integrity in The three of us had only gotten closer as the years went by, though others. I know your class includes people from many different states, we saw each other less often. On top of Kristen’s lifetime health battles, countries, backgrounds, political beliefs, religious perspectives, brought she’d been struck by cervical cancer, and it proved too much for her tiny together by Westminster to live, learn, work and play. When that frame. happens, it’s much easier to put yourself in another’s shoes; to be able It was too early for Kristen, and the grief felt like it sucked my to understand, if not agree with them; to live with empathy, humility, insides out. I know some of you have already experienced the kind of honesty, compassion. loss that changes you indelibly, and that such a loss has just hit the And if all of that is a large part of grace, as I believe it is, then Westminster community with the sudden and unexpected passing of particularly now, in this particular election season, grace is something we Clare Ulrich, Class of 2010 and daughter of longtime members of the all need to remember in particularly large doses.

Westminster staff. In these moments of unbearable sadness and Last but not least: Gratitude. (And I’m not talking about the kind of emptiness, I know family and friends here on the Hill are looking for gratitude the development department will be calling and emailing you grace, to find the cracks to let light and comfort in. And I also know what about starting tomorrow — although that’s important, too!) it means to have the support of the Westminster family.

Maybe surprisingly, gratitude is one of the words we hear most That day in 2009 at Kristen’s funeral, Ta and I are not sure we can often from people leaving the 9/11 Memorial Museum. make it through our remarks. But we are so heartened to see familiar I know this class was only 2 or 3 years old when 9/11 happened, faces from Westy in the church pews. We try to define Kristen somehow and I can only imagine the countless stories you’ve heard about that day.

— all that she was — but we don’t know how, so we tell stories. Like That beautiful, blue sky day interrupted so abruptly by the unthinkable; how after her last surgery, a circle of solemn faces surrounded her 2,977 people taken from us while just doing the regular everyday things hospital bed. Kristen looked around and asked why we were so serious, we do: going to work, on a school field trip, traveling to visit loved ones. and if she should recite a scene from “Will & Grace”? And without For this class, you find yourselves living in what the media calls the skipping a beat, she launched straight into her best impressions of “Post-9/11 World” without ever knowing the “Pre,” and I am so sorry that Karen and Jack (which were astonishingly spot this world of global instability and terrorism is on, by the way). the only reality you know.

Even in times like that, she still somehow But on the other side, I’d only lived in There is such depth of managed to be the one encouraging us. And if New York for a little over a year on 9/11, and I that isn’t grace, I don’t know what is. had this immediate sense of true allegiance to meaning in the “three Mr. Ford writes me after the funeral about the city, this country, and in the biggest sense, G’s” that permeate this “the ghosts who accumulate as we live our my fellow humans. I remember how surreal it lives, more and more.” It’s an idea that’s been was, walking around and seeing the lines to campus. And honestly, in my head through my work. Though I never donate blood, blocks and blocks long. There if I look back at the knew any of the 9/11 victims personally, I feel were no facades then, no regular New Yorker I’ve come in some way to know many of them airs. There were hugs for strangers, candlelight mistakes I’ve made, through their families. vigils, open prayers without shame. they can be attributed Those ghosts, “they help us,” Mr. Ford writes, “reminding us of life and love. I suppose Oct. 21, 2001. I’m grateful for a chance to forgetting at least at times they also remind us of our failures, our to volunteer with the Red Cross, providing aid one of the three. missed opportunities, and certainly sometimes to the extraordinary recovery workers who 34

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toiled day and night on that smoldering mountain of steel. I do such little things that day I’m embarrassed: cleaning boots, serving meals, but the thing that gets the biggest reaction? Passing out cards and drawings from children all over the world, saying thank you in every language there is. You can see in these guys’ eyes what a difference those words make. Thank you. A spark that keeps them going.

One of my favorite artists described that time well. He said, “In those days, we finally chose to walk like giants and hold the world in arms grown strong with love.”

Of course, we’d all rather not have to experience tragedy to find the gratitude within us. In the museum, one of my favorite recordings is a man talking about how his wife lived her life, rather than how she died on 9/11. He says: “Every day she would write five things down on a piece of paper she called her Gratitude List…. She’d list mangoes…. lazy days, blue jays, white clouds, God’s grace.” What a comfort to him to know her shortened life was so full of appreciation.

As you students have said, gratitude is “remembering where you came from,” “stepping back and appreciating your life, this world.” And “in the dark moments of life, remembering how very lucky you are.”

Before I close, one last quick story. A bit of grit, grace and gratitude all mixed up.

expressing their solidarity. The ceremony is packed with emotion, fiercely defiant in its pure respect and hope for the world.

Pope hugging Imam hugging Rabbi. I can’t imagine a moment more breathtaking.

I remember so well sitting where you sit, nostalgia already setting in for things I hadn’t even thought about missing: the corner table in the dining hall, napping on the senior lawn, long conversations in Hinman Reading Room … even for the uncomfortable moments: the square dance (I guess the Texas line dance now!), having to sideline for First Boys’ Soccer games (and man, those taught me a special kind of grit).

There is such depth of meaning in the “three G’s” that permeate this campus. And honestly, if I look back at the mistakes I’ve made, they can be attributed to forgetting at least one of the three.

In the end, I think grit plus grace plus gratitude becomes something like algebra or calculus, which, as some here can attest (and despite some awesome teachers) were never my strong suit. But this is one of those equations that has more than one answer.

Together, the three G’s equal: Resilience. Happiness. Ambition, balanced with Humility. They are Consciousness, and they are Conscience. They are Perspective. And relentless Integrity (if you’re living these words, there’s pretty much no way to avoid being a person of integrity). They equal Hope. And they’re also a reminder to take the Sept. 25, 2015. Pope Francis visits the 9/11 Memorial & Museum challenging moments, heartbreaking times and embarrassing failures to bring together leaders from every major religion in what he calls “a that happen to each and every one of us, and to remember: It is not hymn … to reconciliation and unity over hatred and division.” simple, this life we live. But it is deeply worth it.

Secret Service lets us know His Eminence is on his way downtown And finally, the three G’s also sum up to Love. I learned a great in his little black Fiat, a couple minutes out. There’s an exquisite, golden many lessons from Kristen, and from the hundreds of 9/11 stories I’ve kneeler placed just so near the memorial, awaiting his arrival for a heard, not the least of which is one that sounds cliché but is so very not: moment of prayer. It’s been cleaned and polished and checked by dozens tell those you love how important they are to you. (and dozens) of people. I’m down in the museum, checking things off my The most frequent example of being grateful I have? My husband checklist, and my cellphone rings. and I never leave one another without saying I love you, even when “We need a single white rose.” we may not be super happy with each other (which is also, and not It turns out, the Pope is being briefed in the Fiat, and he does not coincidentally, when I’m most grateful to hear it). Same with my daughter, want the pomp and circumstance that’s been planned. The fancy kneeler my parents, my siblings. It may sound corny, but I have deep and daily is being moved out of sight. reminders about how we should never take our time or those we love Now, at this point, the site is locked for granted. down. No one and nothing is getting in or out.

Class of 2016, thank you for letting me Go out into the world Fortunately, we place white roses in the names be a part of this day. Go out into the world and of the victims whose birthday it is every single make your own stories. Insist on miracles, but and make your own day of the year, so we have a stash of them in play your part in making them happen. Walk stories. Insist on the back office. I grab one, sprint up 70 feet of like giants and hold the world in arms grown escalators, flashing credentials to security strong with love. miracles, but play your along the way, and his staff gets it to him as And like that candlelight spreading part in making them he arrives. through the chapel behind me each December, A few minutes later, he places the flower let your equation of grit, grace and gratitude happen. Walk like on the names. A simple act of tribute, majestic fan the flames of hope and love exponentially giants and hold the in the love and compassion it conveys. out there in the world beyond Westminster.

It’s followed by a program in the museum, world in arms grown at bedrock where the towers once stood.

Congratulations, and welcome to the Westy strong with love.

Twelve leaders of the world’s major faiths alumni family.

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FACULTY PRIZES

STUDENT PRIZES

Twenty-Year Service Pins

Gretchen Hupfel ’82 Art Purchase Prize

Peter Ulrich P’09, ’10 and Judi Tolomea

Hayley L. Martini ’16

Cowing Art Award Sarah Alibrahimi ’16

Lewis J. Powers Photography Award Katherine G. Berry ’16, Emma C. Merlin ’16

Excellence in Dance Mariah M. C. Davis ’16, Michelle E. Sclafani ’16

Edward Scull Jr. ’71 Award for Excellence in Architecture Edward F. Batchelder ’16

C. Hiram Upson Family Chair The C. Hiram Upson Family Chair for faculty in the humanities who are master teachers of writing rotates every five years and was made possible through the Bryan Tawney P’15, ’17, ’19 generosity of C. Hiram Upson ’50, P’86, who served on the Westminster Board of Trustees for 11 years.

Excellence in Physics Carl M. Doucette ’16

Excellence in Science Wonjune Kang ’16

Joyce Wilson Prize for Excellence in Mathematics Wonjune Kang ’16

Excellence in Economics Jack T. Horrigan ’16

Class of 1941 Peter Mars Memorial History Prize Jack T. Horrigan ’16

Dramatic Award for Service and Achievement in Acting The Swayze Award Presented annually in honor of distinguished alumnus, trustee and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees Townsend Swayze ’55, this award is given to a member of the faculty for outstanding contributions Mitch Overbye P’05, ’09 to the life of the school.

The O’Brien Award This award is presented annually in honor of Marianna and the late Junie O’Brien P’81, who devoted their lives in service to young people and to schools. It recognizes a member of the faculty who has, over Bill Sistare the course of the year, been especially selfless and generous with time and care in the nurture and support of students and whose extraordinary, ongoing personal commitment to young people sets an example to the Westminster community.

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Emma L. Alfeld ’16

Design Award for Service and Achievement in Technical Support Sarah Alibrahimi ’16, Rebecca L. Ryan ’16

J. Lawrence Gilman Award for Achievement in Music and Participation in Musical Activities Emma L. Alfeld ’16, Joyce Cheng ’16

Gordon McKinley Award for Excellence in English Wonjune Kang ’16

Critchell Rimington Creative Writing Award Rebecca L. Ryan ’16

Burdett Prize for Excellence in the Study of French Katherine H. Deveaux ’16

Richard P. Hopley Excellence in Latin Prize Wonjune Kang ’16

Moncada Prize for Excellence in Spanish Evelyn T. Pope ’16

Sixth Form Prizes for General Scholarship First in the Sixth Form: Second in the Sixth Form (tie): Third in the Sixth Form:

Wonjune Kang Ashlyn Chin, Jack T. Horrigan Grace T. Brentano

Butler Bowl

Wilbraham Bowl

Paul Winship ’35 Alumni Book Prize

Julia Krys ’19 The faculty presents this award to a member of the Third Form for character and leadership.

Gary K. Simons ’17 This award is presented annually to a member of the Fifth Form who best embodies the qualities of Geoffrey Wilbraham, who gave distinguished and loyal service to Westminster from 1958 to 1994: high personal standards, consistent respect for others, unswerving commitment to the common good, steady insistence on fair play and abiding human decency.

Ricardo A. Vazquez ’16 This book prize is awarded to a Sixth Former who has made an unusual commitment in both breadth and depth to the school’s programs and activities.

Adams Bowl Teagan C. Stedman ’18 This award is presented annually to a member of the Fourth Form who best embodies the qualities of Richard and Barbara Adams, who gave devoted service to Westminster for over 40 years, showing outstanding personal qualities and concern for the community and unwavering dedication to students. Barbara served on the faculty from 1995-2011, and Dick served on the faculty from 1970-2013.

Outstanding Scholar Award

Brian T. Bruyette ’77 Senior Athletic Award Sarah L. Migliori ’16 Jonathan P. Schuhlen ’16 This award is given annually to the Sixth Form boy and girl who best exemplify excellence in athletics and who contributed to the character of the team.

It is given in memory of Brian T. Bruyette ’77, who in his enthusiasm, sportsmanship, effort and skills, represented all that is best in this school.

Wonjune Kang ’16 This award is presented to the Sixth Former who, in the opinion of the faculty, is the outstanding scholar of the class. The award is not necessarily determined by rank in class but is based, rather, on the attributes of the true scholar: curiosity, imagination, power to associate new observations with prior experience, thoroughness, appetite for ideas rather than for grades as an end in themselves and the ability to move easily in the realm of concepts.

Keyes Bowl

Richard K. LeBlond II Honor Award Grace T. Brentano ’16 This award is given annually to a member of the Sixth Form who exemplifies dedication to academics and loyalty to the school.

Timothy J. Sanford ’16 Established by the Class of 1966 and recognized as the school’s most prestigious commencement award, the Keyes Bowl is presented annually to a member of the Sixth Form and recognizes the qualities of loyalty, courage, leadership and humility.

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The Lawn Ceremony At the Lawn Ceremony, which is held the night before commencement, members of the Class of 2016 pulled members of the Class of 2017 onto the Sixth Form Lawn. Following this, current members of the Prefect Board pulled on members of the board for the following year: Conor Brennan, Delando Clarke, Joel Groves, Jeffrey Guiliano, Annie Hicks, Anissa Joseph, Manny Meltzer, Annie Ogden and Gary Simons. The final two people joining everyone on the lawn were the new junior prefect, Peter Horsfall, and the new head prefect, Adrian Enchill.

Also brought onto the lawn as honorary members of the Class of 2016 were Westminster faculty and staff members Peter and Siobhan Ulrich P’09, ’10; Mary Pat and Grant Grizmacher; and Judi Tolomea.

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CLASS

OF

2016

Nadira Yousuf Abdilahi Yale University

Catherine Jenna Crawley University of Connecticut

Leo Peter Aber Dickinson College

Arianna Bridget Cronin The George Washington University

Jordan Alexander Post Graduate Year Emma Louise Alfeld Bucknell University Sarah Alibrahimi Goucher College Connor Ross Anderson University of Virginia Jordan Emery Barnes Tufts University Kenneth Robert Barnes Gettysburg College Edward Felix Batchelder The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sarah Louise Migliori Brown University

Jonathan Peter Schuhlen Colby College

Nina Lee Montross Trinity College

Michelle Elyse Sclafani University of Richmond

Matthew Murphy University of Oxford, England

Devin Paige Selvala Bucknell University

Abigail Jenks Newman Loyola University Maryland

Benjamin James Shaver Gap Year/Colgate University Kathryn Tower Simeon University of Vermont

Maeve Marie DeFronzo Colgate University

Elizabeth Breckenridge Huth Elon University

Katherine Hope Deveaux Tufts University

Thomas John Jacobs Providence College

Minh Ngoc Tran Nguyen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Carl M. Doucette Lafayette College

Christopher M. Jones Williams College

Jack Kolien Norman Tulane University

Robert A. Ebrahimi Union College

Wonjune Kang Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Kevin Thomas O’Leary Gap Year/University of Denver

Edward Preston Eppler Santa Clara University

John Duncan Bitterli Bucknell University

Nicole Elise Fox Wake Forest University

Paige Louise Brackett Colby College

Stephen James Gasior Gap Year

Grace T. Brentano University of Pennsylvania

Katelin Rebecca Gochberg The George Washington University

Addison Parr Cilmi Washington and Lee University

Timothy Jacob Sanford University of Denver

Claire Marie Hotaling Colorado College

Noah I. Fosse-Greiner University of Michigan

Ashlyn Chin Princeton University

Declan James Horrigan University of Richmond

Emma Claire Merlin Wake Forest University

Margaret Grace DeDomenico University of Virginia

Anne Bender Bitterli Denison University

Joyce Cheng Wellesley College

Callie Christine HolinkoBrossman Bucknell University

Jack Thomas Horrigan Gap Year/Georgetown University

Hallie Rachel Feibel Middlebury College

Julia Stillman Carter Denison University

MATRICULATION

Mariah Mary Carole Davis Boston College

Katherine Grahame Berry Colby College

Ashley Lynne Carbone Connecticut College

COLLEGE

Elizabeth Thompson Klein St. Lawrence University Collin Michael James Gregoire Lech Vanderbilt University Chae Myung (Eunice) Lee The Chinese University of Hong Kong Trenton Laird Lefler The University of Alabama Charlotte Savoy Lennox Vanderbilt University

David Joseph Gollenberg Rollins College

Connor David Lloyd Middlebury College

Ines Gomez Rivas Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain

Hayley Lauren Martini Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Erin Kathleen Gorham College of William and Mary Isaiah Avery Green Wagner College

Jeremy Ross Mason Gap Year/University of Denver Khaleel Jaylen Maturine Xavier University

Christopher Scott Connal Providence College

Michael Robert Guerin The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bryan McPherson Connell Connecticut College

Miller Cheney Guth University of Michigan

John Mallory McCormick III Trinity College

Taggart Joseph Corriveau St. Lawrence University

Ellen Ama Akyaa Gyasi Bowdoin College

John E. McDermott IV Boston University

Taina Ivette Cotto Skidmore College

Rachel Suzanne Halfon University of Richmond

Sarah Margaret Melanson Amherst College

Erin Liane Haydon University of Richmond

Eliza Egerton Mell Colby College

Kaitlyn Hope McCausland Colgate University

Katherine Willis Ogden Colgate University Alexa Anne Organ Villanova University Zackary M. Orzech Ithaca College Allison Elizabeth Pierce University of California, Santa Cruz Margaret Wells Poler University of Virginia Sarah Archer Poling Tufts University Evelyn Trueblood Pope Gap Year/Occidental College Griffin Alan Price Middlebury College Edward Whitford Probert III St. Lawrence University Jacqueline Anne Richard Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Brett Steven Roenick Whittier College Tyler James Rome Bucknell University Charles Anthony Ruffin II Springfield College Rebecca Lynn Ryan The University of Texas, Austin

Edward Shaffer Sirbaugh Babson College Brian Anthony Smyth Duke University Jayme Sandro Stepto Concordia University, Montreal Emma Yeager Stevens Bowdoin College Benjamin Robert Sudduth Colorado College Luke David Tressy Trinity College Ricardo Antonio Vazquez Wesleyan University Michael John Ventricelli III Gap Year/Trinity College John Herbert Werner Denison University Ana Wernick Wigmore Drexel University Rylan Thomas Williams University of Ottawa Scott McDonald Williams Union College Samuel Gregg Worcester Union College Kailin Wright Gap Year Bryan Isaak Yekelchik Bucknell University Reid Kruse Yenor Gap Year/University of Miami

Nicholas Trower Sanford Gap Year/Trinity College

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Nearly 300 alumni and guests representing 13 classes returned to Williams Hill May 13-15 for reunion. They spent the weekend catching up with classmates and faculty members, touring campus and attending numerous events.

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Friday’s activities kicked off with 26 alumni participating in a golf outing at Hop Meadow Country Club. Later that evening at the opening reception for the fourth annual Alumni Art Exhibit, Headmaster Bill Philip welcomed everyone to campus. “It is great to see all of you here and to have reunion weekend begin with the art show.” He talked about the many visual and performing arts events held on campus and how Westminster is about people. “At the end of the day, home base is all of the people who make up the community,” he said.

“Seize the opportunity tonight to share stories with your classmates and be sure to walk around campus. Westminster has a wonderful community of students and faculty on Williams Hill, but it extends around the country and the globe.”

Class dinners followed at locations on campus and at local restaurants. After the dinners, alumni and guests also visited

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the Old Well Tavern where Tuey Connell ’86 organized and played with a band.

Saturday morning, after the Headmaster’s Coffee, Director of Admissions Jon Deveaux P’14, ’16 and then-Associate Director of College Counseling Peter Newman ’80, P’16 gave overviews of recent trends in the Admissions Office and the College Counseling Office. Jon shared information about this year’s Westminster applicant pool, saying: “We had a great year in admissions. Westminster’s star keeps rising.” He then compared this year’s admission statistics to those in 1971. Peter spoke about the very competitive college application market and how the online Common Application has made it easier for students to apply to more colleges. He mentioned the relationships members of the College Counseling Office have established with college admissions offices and the

shrinking number of colleges requiring interviews for applicants.

At the Meet the Martlets panel moderated by Associate Director of Admissions Kimberly Pope P’12, ’15, ’16, Fifth Formers Jackson Andrews and Morgan Peirce, and Sixth Formers Katie Deveaux, Katelin Gochberg, Ellen Gyasi, Tim Sanford, Ricardo Vasquez and Sam Worcester talked about their Westminster experiences and responded to questions.

They discussed how Westminster prepares them for college, what they will miss most when they graduate, their community service involvement and how new students are welcomed to campus.

Abe Claude ’46 who was back for his 70th reunion commented to the students: “Most colleges have opportunities to bond closely, and I hear you have those skills. Bonding with Grit & Grace works here. Our class has nine living members and six of us are here.”

Win Hotchkiss ’46 added: “The six of us here have had a wonderful time reminiscing about the middle ’40s. It was wartime when we were here.”

During his headmaster’s welcome, Bill spoke about his more than three decades on campus and how he has been able to see the school at both a personal level with his family and on a professional level in the various roles he held before becoming headmaster six years ago. “For me, the opportunity to spend time with alumni who I taught, coached or advised is so gratifying,” he said. He also gave highlights of the academic year related to the arts, athletics, student chapel talks, community partnerships in Hartford, new academic technology, and construction of the new dining hall, the student and faculty residence, and the student center. He then responded to questions about community service activities, family-style lunches in the new dining hall and what Westminster needs to do to compete with other schools. He concluded by saying, “Thank you for being here and caring so much about Westminster.”

50th Reunion Twenty-six members of the Class of 1966 celebrated their 50th reunion starting with a dinner in Hinman Reading Room that was attended by alumni, spouses and special guests, including Geoffrey Wilbraham P’76, and Ann and Larry Gilman P’78, ’80. Headmaster Philip welcomed the group, and Tad Ebling ’66 gave the blessing. Head prefect Chris Williamson ’66 read excerpts from newspapers from the 1960s, and Jody Vaill ’66 spoke about some things he learned during his five years at Westminster, emphasizing that the most important was “brotherhood is forever.” He commented about how he and his classmates probably spent more time together during their time at Westminster than they did with their siblings and parents. “Over the last 50 years since we graduated, each time I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with any one of you, I have been exhilarated by the renewed acquaintance with the bond that we share,” he said. “And the fact that you have all rallied so vigorously and enthusiastically to support and encourage this weekend’s gathering is high testament to the very great value that you place on your own Westminster experience.” Others also shared reflections at the dinner.

D.G. Van Clief ’66 was pleased to be back for his 50th reunion saying, “A core of class leaders have kept people connected over the years and have been networking since last year. Our class has always been fairly irreverent and feels fierce pride.” George Kirschbaum ’66 added, “We might not see each other for years, but there is always camaraderie.”

Members of the reunion committee included Jeff Cook, Derek Fahey, Will Holbrook, Brian O’Donnell, Dick Stewart and Jody Vaill.

25th Reunion The Class of 1991 had a great showing for its 25th reunion with alumni traveling from as far away as London, San Francisco, Texas and Sun Valley. Its reunion dinner was held at the home of faculty members Kathleen Devaney P’19 and Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19, where people enjoyed catching up. The night continued at the Old Well Tavern and then at an off-campus home.

Members of the reunion committee included Christopher Campbell, Jason Clark, Alison Duxbury-Shadwick, Mark Frahm, Laura Guthrie Lear, Kelly Miller Lilly, Bo Webster, Matt Warner and Sara Whiteley.

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Trustee Curt Brockelman ’86, P’19 welcomed members of the Class of 2016 to their induction into the Alumni Association, which took place in Andrews Memorial Chapel. He recalled sitting in the chapel 30 years ago and encouraged the Sixth Formers to make a choice to get involved with Westminster after they graduate. “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent what you choose,” he said. “Westminster will always be your home; you will always return here. I look forward to sharing our home together here, and when Westminster reaches out in the future, make a choice to get involved.” The Chamber Choir then sang a new version of the alma mater written by Andrew Marco ’11 and Chris Sailor ’11.

During the Alumni Memorial Service that followed, then-Director of Alumni Relations David Werner ’80, P’10, ’11, ’16 read the names of 13 alumni who died in

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the past year, and Emma Alfeld ’16 and Ashlyn Chin ’16 sang “Pie Jesu.”

The tradition of the Grand March of Alumni began outside the chapel with each class carrying its banner across Baxter Lawn to the reunion tent on Commencement Lawn where lunch was served. Afternoon events included a kickball game between the Class of 1986 and the Class of 1991, home games, and tours of Armour Academic Center and the new student and faculty residences.

Laura Kitchings ’96, who was visiting from North Grafton, Mass., was back for the first time for reunion and stopped by the theater during her visit and met Director of Theater A-men Rasheed. She had been involved in technical theater as a student.

Jenny Yardley Stein ’91, who traveled from Boulder, Colo., and was back for her 25th reunion, thought the campus had changed a lot over the years with the

addition of new buildings.

Mari Prescod ’11, who was visiting from Cambridge, Mass., enjoyed seeing friends and was excited to see the new faculty and student residences. “Westminster is about community,” she said. “I look forward to coming back in the future to see the new dining hall and sit-down lunches.”

Highlights of the evening included the Class of 2011 opening its time capsule, a reception at Pratt House where Tuey Connell ’86, Michael Cervas P’96, ’01, ’10, Scott Reeves P’03, ’05, ’05, Dan Aber P’16, ’18, ’20 and Leo Aber ’16 played music, and the Black and Gold Dinner and dancing under the reunion tent.

At the dinner, the Class of 1986 was recognized for setting a new reunion giving record. Through a combination of gifts to The Westminster Fund, as well as capital and planned gifts, they raised $5,567,953. On the occasion of their 30th

R.J. Lynch ’81

reunion, they received the Class of 1949 Top of the Tower Award which recognizes the class holding the record for reunion giving. The previous record of $5,304,515 was held by the Class of 1969 for its 40th reunion.

In addition, the Class of 2011, which was celebrating its fifth reunion, was recognized for achieving 60 percent giving participation to The Westminster Fund and meeting the Young Alumni Challenge (YAC). YAC is a program that was funded by a trustee anonymously in 2006 to educate Westminster’s youngest alumni about philanthropy. One major goal of the program is to have the fifth year reunion class increase its participation in The Westminster Fund. Because the Class of 2011 met its goal for participation, it was able to choose a Westminster program toward which it can channel additional funds. It chose financial aid via the Wilde Fund.

Alumni Art Exhibit The fourth annual Alumni Art Exhibit in Baxter Gallery featured the works of Derby Ferris Anderson ’61, the late Anne Culver ’76 and R.J. Lynch ’81. Jenny Philip P’06, ’09 curated the exhibit and says each of the paintings and photographs on display “attempted to capture the beauty of an ephemeral moment.”

For Derby, who lives in Southport, Conn., it was the first exhibition of his paintings. “The beauty of this is it will have a broad reach, and I couldn’t ask for a better opening,” he said. “I try to find the universal in the specific and that universal is an abstraction.”

Anne was an artist and teacher based in Guilford, Conn., who worked in a variety of media, including drawing, painting and sculpture. She exhibited regularly in solo and group exhibitions for more than 20 years and was the recipient of several awards. Her husband, John Bailey, who attended the opening reception, said he felt great about the group of her works in the exhibition and recalled her fondness for Westminster. “She loved Westminster and was an excellent student,” he said. “She was a day student from Weatogue and won lots of awards.”

For R.J., who lives in Cambridge, Mass., it was the first exhibition of his photography, which focuses on the nature of personality and the personality of nature. He says he stumbled into photography and was “hooked on it immediately.” He was excited to participate in the exhibit, saying, “It is something I always wanted to do and am glad it worked out.”

Derby Anderson ’61

John Bailey Fall 2016

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Class of 1946 — Front row, Harry Sedgwick, Abe Claude and Win Hotchkiss

Chuck Griffith

Class of 1956 — Front row, Ted Hilles and

Back row, Spike Thorne and Town Mink

Back row, Peter Cooper and Bob Morgan

Class of 1961 — Front row, Malcolm Douglas, Sam Gawthrop and Morgan Shipway

Back row, Tom Turton, Derby Anderson and Chandler Saint

Class of 1966 — Front row, Greg Islan, Jody Vaill, Reg Morgan, Leon Reid, D.G. Van Clief and Scott Glickenhaus

Back row, Hugh Thacher, Brian O’Donnell, Tad Ebling, Will Holbrook, Larry Fiske, Huey Huffman, Dick Stewart, Tony Halsey, Don Geissler, Bill Wilcox, Glenn Craft, Derek Fahey, Jeff Cook, George Kirschbaum, Buz Kohn, Jim Smith and former Headmaster Don Werner

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Class of 1971 — Front row, Doug Dobbin, Craig Cohen and Chris Beale

Back row, Peter Briggs, Abram Claude, Jim Steers and Bill Rolfing

Class of 1976 — Front row, Matthew Witherbee, Jamie Slimmon Somes

and Bob Bristow Back row, Ellis Lewis, Stephen MacKenzie, Willard Ladd and Kirby Shyer

Class of 1981 — Left to right, Andrew Mackenzie, Sarah Miller Haun, Nancy Urner-Berry, Jamie Williams, Dave Rodney, Tony PirruccelloMcClellan, Margie Boll Blue, Elizabeth Brown, Frankie O’Brien, Peter Newman, Tim Blair and Marcus Jaffe

Class of 1986 — Front Row, Malcolm Miller, Amy Thrall Flynn, Tuey Connell, Kim Smith Guerster, Heather Frahm, Paul McLaughlin and Diana Wishard Clemente

Middle row, Nicole Boyd, Sandy Humphrey Brinn, Jen Agnew Terry, Leverett Hubbard, Sally Richards Lehr, Rachel England Castle, Stephanie Parkinson Briguglio, Hunter Kellogg, Parker Stephenson, Sean Bosack and Peter Upson Back row, Tom Gitterman, Micky Terry, Paul Gitterman, John Mangel, Andrew Shiftan, Topher Neumann, Bryan Martin, David Lemire, Emily Forster Tappan and Alex Gray Missing from photo but attended reunion: Curt Brockelman, Larry Green, Dan Lynch, Betsy Potter McCormick, Bob Santry and Barry Deonarine Fall 2016

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Class of 1991 — Front row, Mark Frahm, Jessica Blades Havens, Kelly Miller Lilly, Danielle Bello, Caleb Barnum, Laura Guthrie Lear, Jennifer Yardley Stein, Bruce MacKenzie and Alison Duxbury-Stadwick

Middle row, John Reilly, Ethan Brooks, Chris Campbell, Joe Gresko, Chris Perkin, Jamie Potter, Beth Higginbotham Sherrer, Sara Whiteley and Lucia Quartararo Mulder Back row, Chris Herman, J.D. Boujnah, Matt Warner, Hilary Rosen, Michelle McNally, Jeff Bush, Anne Kenan, Jen Naylor and Alison Steers Hubbard

Class of 1996 — Front row, Rebecca Brooks, Andres Schumann, Chard Weir, Katie Caruso Hanrahan, Joanna Berger Frantz, Laura Kitchings and

John Moorhead Back row, Lissa Dilks O’Sullivan, Meghan Brady DeVoe, Sarah Pytka Percival, Devon Magnaghi Smith, Josh Cervas, Eret McNichols, Jennifer Walkwitz Hoffman, Stephanie Zegras Schneider, Whitney Jackson Saunders, Juliet Unfried, Alice Fitzgerald Morgan, Eric Swanson, Lyle Rodenberg Vivolo and Tim Quinn

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Class of 2001 — Front row, Lara Glaister, Kate Parker, Julia DeCiantis and Emily Bennett

Back row, Sean Devlin, Breed Randall, Matt Watson, Mark Capeless, Lindsay Leal, Tim McCormick and Ashley Clark

Class of 2006 — Left to right, Hank Dillon, Kyle Brewer, Sofi Garnett, Stephen Smith, Chris DeJohn, Alex Lavoie, Jason Adams, Robyn Nentwig, Cam Scott, Annie Osborn, John Grymes, Jon Wolter, Cy Ryan, Andy Gomez, Neil Hannah, JP Morais, Fran McGrath and Kate Philip Kaufman

Class of 2011 — Front row, Corey Taber, Tim Acker, Katie Hill, Whit Powel, Amanda Boulier, Margaret Berry, Chessy di Galoma, Sophie Harris and Emma Pinney

Second row, Harry Wise, Luke Laszkiewicz, Mallory Mason, Olivia Frank, Katherine Cheng, Kathryn Griffith, Ashley Mercede, Andrew Cummings, Louise Marenakos and Andrea Cross Third row, Stephanie Werner, Kaleigh Kelley, Claire Hodson, Slater Borgen, Brad Woodruff, Greg Lafaire, Robbie Hamblett, John Eder, Taylor Virtue and Matt Leach Fourth row, Tom McKeown, Assistant Headmaster Kathleen Devaney, Jake Benedict, Brad Taber, Timmy Welles, Mike Hom, Emily Worcester, Kevin Campbell, Kevin Hope, Alex Gould, Rob Kelly, Stu MacKenzie, Taylor Paul, Max O’Connor and Morgan Wilson Back row, Eric Wainman, Tyler Mink, Tommy Hovey, Hayden Radovich, Gavin McGovern, Andrew Marco and Tommy Kirsch Fall 2016

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New Trustees Elected to Board Four new trustees and three ex officio trustees were elected to the Westminster Board of Trustees at its September meeting.

William D. Brewer P’17 previously served two years on the board as an ex officio trustee while he was chair of the Parents Committee. He is a capital partner at Winston & Strawn LLP where he is co-chair and practice group leader of the firm’s global corporate lending practice. Bill is a graduate of Yale University, where he earned a B.A. in economics, and of Harvard Law School where he earned a J.D. He is a former secretary of the Yale Club of New York City and a former three-term member of its governing council. He has co-chaired class reunion committees at Yale and Harvard. He is also a trustee of National Jewish Health, America’s foremost respiratory hospital system. He and his wife, Erika, Westminster’s director of parent giving, live in New York City and are the parents of Elizabeth ’17 and Anne.

Powell W. Holly III ’82 is the managing partner for Broad Cove Group LLC, an early stage venture capital firm focused primarily on investing in mortgage finance and real estate-related projects in subSaharan Africa. After graduating from Westminster, Powell earned a B.A. in political science and managerial studies from Rice University. He has served as a Westminster class agent, a reunion committee member and on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association. He lives in Fredericksburg, Va. When he was a student at Westminster, Powell was a form officer, a member of the Forestry Club and the Audio Visual Club, and participated in Black and Gold, and cross country. He is a board member of Ecohomes Liberia, and enjoys golf and cooking.

Martin R. Irani ’83 is vice president of Hancock Park Associates, a private equity firm in Los Angeles. Following his graduation from Westminster, he earned a B.A. in economics and an MBA in finance from the University of Southern California (USC). He lives in Encino, Calif., with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters, Emily and Stephanie. Martin is a member of the Board of Governors of the USC Alumni Association, a member of the Board of Councilors of USC Dornsife College and a trustee emeritus of the Buckley School. While a student at Westminster, he played soccer and hockey, ran track, and was a member of the Choir, Dramat and Chess Club. His interests include movies, sports, travel and golf.

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Kirsten Sichler Webb ’98 is vice president and human resources business partner at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. She earned a B.A. in history at Middlebury College, and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Westminster Alumni Association and as a reunion committee member. As a Westminster student, she was captain of the field hockey team, played tennis and squash, and was a member of the Westminster Belles. She lives in Greenwich, Conn., with her husband, Tyler. She is a member of the Greenwich Land Trust – Go Wild Public Relations Committee. Her interests include golf, tennis, travel and historical nonfiction.

Three Ex Officio Members As chair of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association, Aileen T. Daversa ’90 joined the board as an ex officio member. Aileen has spent the majority of her career in the field of turnaround, restructuring and corporate reorganization work, and has worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, FTI Consulting and currently is at one of the leading restructuring firms, Alvarez & Marsal. At Westminster, she was a three-sport athlete and captain of the girls’ soccer and lacrosse teams. She also was a member of Black and Gold and the Language Club. She earned a B.A. in biology and economics at Bowdoin College and an M.S. in accounting/MBA at Northeastern University. She has served as a Westminster class agent and a reunion committee member. She is an alumni interviewer for Bowdoin, a previous member of the Executive Committee for Ante Up for MS Charity Event and previous director for the Bowdoin Club of Boston. She lives in Old Greenwich, Conn., and in her spare time, enjoys golf, sailing, running and traveling.

As co-chairs of the Parents Committee, Lisa Bjornson Wolf and David R. Wolf P’19 joined the board as ex officio members. They reside in New York City with their children, Alexandra ’19 and Elizabeth.

Lisa is an executive director and financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. A graduate of Hotchkiss School, she earned a B.A. in international relations/French literature from Cornell University and an M.A. in economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Agora Foundation, which publishes Lapham’s Quarterly.

Her avocations are travel and education.

David is a managing director for C.A. Holdings, a family office based in London. A graduate of Harvard-Westlake School, he earned a B.S. in economics from UCLA and an MBA from Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris. He is the outgoing president of YPO Manhattan and a board member of the American Friends of the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.

His interests include wine, travel and tennis.

Joe Gitterman ’55 Receives Distinguished Alumni Award on Trustees, the Buildings and Grounds Joe Gitterman ’55, P’86, ’86, ’90 Committee, which he chaired for 10 was presented the Alan F. Brooks ’55 years, and the Campaign Steering Distinguished Alumni Award at the Committee in the early 1990s. In Williams Hill Dinner Sept. 23 at recognition of his long and dedicated Westminster. Established in 2011 by service to Westminster, he was made a the Class of 1966, the award is given Westminster Fellow in 2007 and a annually to a former student who trustee emeritus in 2008. exemplifies in thought, word and deed “Joe has been one of Westminster’s mission and its core Westminster’s most generous and values of community, character, balance thoughtful donors of both outright and and involvement. planned gifts as well as gifts in kind of In introducing the award recipient, which there have been many over the Alan Brooks ’55, P’89, ’91, ’96 years,” said Alan. remarked, “I can assure you that the Perhaps Joe’s greatest contribution least comfortable person right now is our to Westminster has been his more than award recipient, as he has made a habit Joe Gitterman and Alan Brooks 20 years of service as the trustee of deflecting or redirecting praises and representative on the school’s Construction Committee. The honors that have deservedly come his way.” committee, which has a core group of longtime members, As a student, Joe was a form class officer, prefect, oversees building projects on campus from concept, to design, member of the Discussion Group, editor-in-chief of the to construction, to completion. Since the completion of the yearbook and president of the Dramatic Association. He also Werner Centennial Center, every major building that has gone played football, hockey and tennis. “In 1955, his prescient up or been remodeled and many faculty homes have been Westminster classmates voted our award winner ’the guided for the past two decades by Joe and Westminster Chief businessman most likely to succeed,’” said Alan. “And, Financial Officer Tom Earl’s hard-working committee with great indeed, Joe has done just that.” planning, care and attention to detail. “This has gone a long After bank training in England, Joe became an individual way in explaining why these beautiful projects have come in member of the New York Stock Exchange and a governor from on time and within budget,” said Alan.

1986-1990, and a managing director of LaBranch & Co. in New Alan concluded his remarks by saying, “It gives me special York City. Over the years, he has also served as a member or pleasure to present the Westminster Distinguished Alumni director of several corporations, associations and charitable Award to my classmate, my friend for over 60 years and a man organizations, and as a consultant. who has spent much of his life making Westminster a better When 30 years on Wall Street was enough for Joe, place, Joe Gitterman.” he embarked on an unexpected second career as an “I am grateful to have the opportunity to try and give back accomplished artist, producing large sculptures in bronze and a little to the school that has done so very much for me and stainless steel. His works, which are often commissioned by my family,” said Joe. individuals or businesses, are on display in such places as the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston, Texas, the Bushnell Plaza Sculpture Garden in Hartford and on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Escape, to name a few. They have also graced the Westminster campus.

Joe and his wife, Joanna, who have been married for more than 50 years, live in Washington Depot, Conn., and have two sons, Paul ’86 and Tom ’86; a daughter, Vicky ’90; and five grandchildren.

“Joe’s commitment to Westminster has been extraordinary,” said Alan. “He has been a class agent, chaired his 40th reunion and was absolutely instrumental in helping his class at its 50th reunion establish the class fundraising record at the time of $2.5 million.”

Joe has been a Westminster trustee since 1984 and has sat on the Finance Committee, the Committee

Joe with members of his family: Vicky ’90, Joanna and Tom ’86.

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Williams Hill Society Dinner At the Williams Hill Society dinner Sept. 23, Westminster’s most generous donors were thanked for all that they do for Westminster. The evening began with refreshments at Pratt House and continued with an elegant dinner in the Westminster dining hall that included four students performing songs they sang at Cabaret in the spring. Fiona Fan ’18 and Maddy Paro ’17 sang “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” and Curtis Brockleman ’19 and Mike Riberdy ’18 sang “Guys and Dolls.”

The incoming chair of the Westminster Board of Trustees, Brad Raymond ’85, P’19, ’20, welcomed everyone to the dinner and thanked them for their support. Headmaster Bill Philip also welcomed everyone and gave an update on the school, which he said “has really extraordinary momentum behind it, and it is momentum thanks to all of you over so many decades.”

Tread Mink, center, with his wife, Elise, and his father, Townsend Mink He then cited some comparison statistics for the school ’46, P’77, GP’11 for 1991 and 2016. “The trajectory that those numbers reflect of the school is really a trajectory that is only possible with the lift of all of you and so many others around the country and around the world who have given to this school over the last few decades,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to push this school forward. This is a school that is always stretching, always trying to be better and better.”

Bill also recognized Tread Mink ’77, P’11 for his service as chair of the Westminster Board of Trustees for the previous five years and for four decades of dedication to the school, including those as a student and longtime member of the board of trustees.

“Tread never says no,” remarked Bill. “His extraordinary commitment as board chair has helped us navigate many, many challenges and accomplishments.” Tread, who is now a trustee emeritus, was given a toast of thanks for everything he has done for Westminster and presented with a Westminster chair, a painting and a trustee recognition plate.

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One Year Out Cookout In the largest turnout yet for the annual One Year Out Cookout, 36 members of the Class of 2015 gathered on the lawn by Pratt House on May 27 to celebrate having completed their first year of college.

Numerous members of the faculty joined them. Following dinner, the group attended the Lawn Ceremony.

Front row, Julia Cooper, Ginny Durfee, Kate Breed, Elizabeth Foster, Margo Frank, Ryan Seymour and Philippe Morin Second row, Drew Brazer, CC Lynch, Duncan Kellogg, David Swenson, Shelby Gamble, Olivia Durham, Madeleine Percival, Sophie Skinner, Meg Forelli, Nadrina Ebrahimi, Drew Simeon, Bryson Tomcik and Maria Naqvi Back row, Derin Ozturk, Brennan Cross, Ashton Kille, Mimi Connelly, Isabel Tibbetts, Olivia Bey, Georgia Morely, Eliza Christman, Alyssa DiMaria, Sally Sandoval, Jolene Patrina, Emily Kunsman and Kevin Choi

Emma Filler, MacKenzie Hawkes and Stina Ladd

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Sixth Form Dinner The Sixth Form Dinner, which was held May 24 in the dining hall, began with mocktails and members of the Sixth Form placing items of memorabilia in a time capsule they will open at their fifth reunion in 2021. The guest speaker was Whitney Powel ’11, who spoke about finding confidence after “jumping off the Westminster merry-go-round” into the real world.

Her message to the class was one of gratitude and appreciation for her Westminster experience: “So you’re headed to a new playground with a new merry-go-round of opportunities and experiences and new playmakers with whom to connect. Seek them out! It might take a while to adjust to a new community and gain momentum but you’ve done this before and you can do it again. The merry-go-round and the playmakers so vital to this school helped me find my center and my balance by exposing me to the full range of an education. I learned as much from my peers, teachers, coaches and teammates as I did from books, and I entered college incredibly Whitney Powel ’11 prepared for whatever was thrown my way. Hopefully, as you launch out into the world, you’ll leave Westminster with the confidence that you too are well equipped for the next ride.”

Guests included Margaret Berry ’11, Scott Berry P’11,’16, Peter Briggs ’71, P’01, ’05, ’07, Kathleen Devaney P’19, Olivia Frank ’11, Newell Grant ’99, Colleen Joncas, Corinne Werner ’10 and David Werner ’80, P’10, ’11, ’16.

After dinner, members of the Advancement Office presented each member of the Sixth Form with a Westminster blanket.

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The Importance of Relationships The Ebling name has echoed through the hallways of Westminster for more than 75 years. Tad Ebling ’66 celebrated his 50th reunion in May, his brother, Hilly Ebling, graduated in 1969 and their father, Robert Ebling Jr., graduated in 1933 and served on a multitude of alumni councils and committees.

Recently, Tad, along with his wife, Gail, restructured their estate plans in a significant way that will ensure the Ebling name echoes through Westminster’s hallways for at least another 75 years.

During an alumni gathering in 2014, Tad and Gail learned about the numerous ways to provide for Westminster through a planned gift. Following a series of conversations with their advisors, Tad and Gail have designated a large percentage of their residual estate (the property that remains in an estate after all taxes, fees, costs, etc. are paid) to go directly to Westminster’s general endowment. Gifts to the general endowment support all aspects of Westminster’s people and programs.

With no heirs but very large hearts, Tad and Gail have made provisions in their wills for Westminster to benefit in a significant way from their largess.

Gail and Tad Ebling ’66 A gesture such as the Eblings’ speaks to the importance of relationships at Westminster. Their philanthropic planning began in 2009 following conversations about how they could continue their legacy at Westminster.

Westminster’s gift acceptance policy allows anyone over the age of 68 to document a bequest and share with the school that documentation — allowing for reunion goals to be reached without the outright or multiyear payments — which is how many other capital gifts are structured.

If you would like to learn more about planned giving opportunities to Westminster, please contact: Newell M. Grant Jr. ’99 Director of Gift Planning (860) 408-3058 ngrant@westminster-school.org

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WESTMINSTER

REUNION

2017

Weekend activities include: Friday

Grand March of Alumni

Tennis and Golf

Reunion Luncheon

Alumni Art Exhibit & Reception

Tours on Campus

Class Dinners

Saturday

5th Year Reunion Time Capsule

Alumni Art Exhibit

Black and Gold Dinner & Dancing

Meet the Martlets

May 5–7, 2017

Home Games

Sixth Form Induction Alumni Memorial Service

Sunday Brunch Alumni Art Exhibit

Mark your calendar and make plans! Visit www.Westminster-School.org/Reunion for more information.

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A L U M N I A N D PA R E N T R E C E P T I O N S

Summer Events Westminster alumni, parents and students enjoyed opportunities to catch up with one another and make new acquaintances at a number of receptions throughout the summer.

Headmaster Bill Philip and Assistant Headmaster for Advancement Ted Probert ’80, P’16 traveled internationally in June to visit with parents, alumni and students in Seoul, Hong Kong and London.

The Korean Parents Association held its annual dinner June 22 at the Millenium Seoul Hilton hosted by Eun Hee Kwon and Hae Young Lee P’18. This was followed by a reception in Hong Kong June 24 at the Dynasty Club that was hosted by Eva Fang and David Lie P’17, ’19.

And after Christopher Campbell ’91 returned from his 25th reunion in May, he hosted a reception at his home in London June 27. Westminster has not held a reception in London for many years, so it was a great opportunity for alumni to get together.

Stateside events took place in Rumson, N.J., Fishers Island, Manhasset, N.Y., and Nantucket in June, July and August.

Tom Yorke ’76 hosted a reception at the Rumson Country Club June 22. Guests were treated to a presentation on the use of technology in the classroom given by faculty member Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19.

Zooey and Lyons Brown P’15 hosted alumni, parents, grandparents and students at their home on Fishers Island

Headmaster Bill Philip, Hae Young Lee P’18 and Eun Hee Kwon P’18 July 15. Joining the event were Colin Flinn ’82 from Florida and Andrew Brickman ’82 from Chicago.

For the seventh year in a row, Jeff Kelter P’12, ’14, ’19 hosted a golf event July 19 at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, N.Y. And on Nantucket, approximately 60 guests, including alumni, parents, grandparents and current students, attended a reception held by Ann and Graham Gund ’59 at their home.

“We are delighted that so many members of the Westminster community could join us for these summer events,” said Thea Leach P’11, ’13, director of advancement programs and events. “We also greatly appreciate everyone who hosted an event.”

Front row, Sang Hee Yun P’18, Ji Young Kim P’19, Eun Hee Kwon P’18, Ted Probert, Bill Philip, Hae Young Lee P’18, Seungyuhn Yoo P’20, Eun Jung Choi P’17, Hae Wook Jeong P’17 and Jung Min Kim P’09, ’11 Middle row, Jaehee Kwon P’20, Ji Young Kim P’16, Jae Hee Cho ’11, Ryan Lee ’18, Hyeonjo Jeong ’17, Eunice Lee ’16, Michelle Kim ’20, Geena Kim ’20, James Chun ’19, Eugene Kim ’19, Jungwook Kim P’19, Yuseung Kim P’20, Seung Yeon Lee P’19 and Dong Yun Kim P’20 Back row, Joolie Kim P’19, Sang Jun Chun P’19, Scott Lee ’20, Sean Lee P’08, ’09, ’13, Chul Jeong ’95, Isaac Son ’04, Byung Jin Lee P’18 and SK Lee ’18 58

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Rumson Country Club

Steve Foehl ’67, P’96, Bob Werner P’80, GP’10, ’11, ’16 and Dick Stout ’73

Doug Yorke ’70, Kathleen Devaney P’19, Andrew Shiftan ’86, John Devlin P’19, Eileen Radovich P’09, ’11 and Tom Yorke ’76

Eileen Radovich P’09, ’11, Harry Radovich ’09, Tina O’Mealia, Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19, and Susan Kristol Olson ’90

Lois Stout, Betsy Foehl P’96, Nancy Griffith GP’11, ’14, ’15, ’17 and Chuck Griffith ’56, GP’11, ’14, ’15, ’17

Deepdale Golf Club

Evan Crosby, Kyle Brewer ’06, Joey Liberator ’07, Stan Keating ’81, Tim Joncas ’00, Chuck Samar P’18, Rich Perkin ’99, Todd Baker P’09, ’12, ’15, Buz Kohn ’66, P’92, John von Stade ’84, P’17, Matt Emmel ’07, Timothy Broadbent P’18, Doug Poling P’13, ’16, ’18, Aileen Daversa ’90, Bob Barnes ’65, Casey Hamblett P’11, Ellen Brockelman Bailey ’90, John Hamblett ’80, P’11, Jeff Kelter P’12, ’14, ’19, Colin Campbell ’06, Jenny Philip P’06, ’09, Powell Holly ’82, Mason Flinn ’85 and Bill Philip Fall 2016

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Fall Parent Receptions Soon after the new academic year began, Westminster held receptions for parents in New York City, Simsbury and New Canaan.

NEW YORK Lisa and David Wolf P’19 hosted a reception for parents at the New York Yacht Club Sept. 20 that was attended by 30 guests.

Roger Wood P’20, Anne Detwiler P’19, and David and Lisa Wolf P’19

Jennifer Creel P’19, Monique Walker P’19, Cristina von Bargen P’19 and Kristin Londal P’17, ’19

Amy Meltzer P’17, Kyle Miller P’15, ’18 and Jonathan Meltzer P’17

Lisa Hajdukiewicz P’18, Lily Wan P’20 and Seana Wood P’20

NEW CANAAN For the 10th year in a row, Beth and Todd Baker P’09, ’12, ’15 hosted a reception at their New Canaan, Conn., home Sept. 29 for 35 guests.

Borje and Madeleine Ekholm P’19, ’20, and Nancy Gould P’09, ’11, ’13, ’17 60

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Tread Mink ’77, P’11, Jennifer Poling P’13, ’16, ’18 and Beth Baker P’09, ’12, ’15

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SIMSBURY Laura and Joe Patrina P’15, ’18 opened their Simsbury home to 90 parents and guests Sept. 2.

Joe and Laura Patrina P’15, ’18, and Alan and Sarah Leathers P’11, ’17

Debbie Cosentino P’00, ’18, ’18, Laura Patrina P’15, ’18, Deb Ryan P’18 and Tanya McNamara P’18

Lenworth and Hyacinth Ellis P’20, Michele and Brook Seeley P’18, ’20, and Margo and Damon Phillips P’20

Darcy and Michael Murphy P’17

Hema Nathan P’19, and Ed Lin and Serina Shi P’19

Ann von Stade P’17, Alisa Brockelman P’19, Lisa Farriss P’19 and Lisa Allen P’17 Fall 2016

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From the Archives Student theatrical productions are deeprooted in Westminster’s history. The first-recorded play, “Charlie’s Choice,” took place in 1905. And without an auditorium on campus, many school plays were performed beginning in 1931 in the Casino in Simsbury, and later, the school’s gymnasium. But the biggest step forward for the performing arts on campus was the completion of Centennial Center in 1989, which was later dedicated as the Werner Centennial Center. Throughout Westminster School’s history, Dramat productions have been a muchanticipated part of the school year.

Clockwise from top, the Casino in Simsbury; John T. Robertson Jr. 1917 with Sumner Sewall 1916 in the 1916 production of “Cold Harbor”; a 1966 program from “Inherit the Wind”; and a scene from the 1959 production of “Ten Little Indians.”

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Clockwise from top, a scene from the 1975 production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”; a poster for the 1914 production of “The Elephants Remorse”; Benjamin Steel ’70 and Douglas Yorke ’70 in the workshop preparing for the 1970 spring play; and Tim Cottrell ’68 coaxing a temperamental lighting board. Below Sean-Michael Hodge-Bowles ’99, faculty member Robert Moskowitz and Lake Bell ’97 in the 1997 presentation of “Words, Words, Words.”

New Archivist Named Westminster School Archivist Larry Gilman P’78, ’80 retired from Westminster in June following 60 years of service to the school from 1956-2016.

His contributions as a music director, English teacher and archivist will be forever appreciated by the Westminster community along with his warm friendship and wonderful sense of humor.

Now serving as Westminster’s archivist is Scott Reeves P’03, ’05, ’05, who previously served 32 years on the Westminster faculty as an English teacher and later as also the website manager.

Scott assumed his new responsibilities managing the Westminster Archives in September.

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An Early Interest in Science Leads to a Career in Medicine

Dr. Marissa Sollitto McDonnell ’85

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Most youngsters would shy away from a half frog left behind by a raccoon, but Marissa Sollitto McDonnell M.D. ’85 was instead fascinated by the animals living by the pond near her New Hartford, Conn., home. Her early interest in science and medicine was nurtured by faculty at Renbrook School, Westminster School and Georgetown University, where she earned both her undergraduate and medical degrees.

Marissa now serves as an adjunct faculty member of the Georgetown School of Medicine, teaching patient interviewing and physical diagnosis skills, and is entering her third year serving on the Georgetown University Board of Regents.

After earning a B.S. in biology from Georgetown in 1989, Marissa graduated from the Georgetown School of Medicine in 1993 and remained there for her pediatric residency training, during which she received The Hugh H. Hussey Award for excellence in medical student teaching. She was chosen to serve as chief resident in 1996. “I had just had my first child six days earlier,” Marissa recalled. “I didn’t even take two weeks off before the new residents began.”

At the same time, her husband and fellow Georgetown graduate, Michael, announced that he had been made a partner at Coopers & Lybrand and would have to relocate to Colorado.

After completing her term as chief resident in 1997, Marissa and daughter, Elise (Georgetown ’18), moved to Littleton, Colo. to be with Michael. Marissa joined the Littleton Pediatric Medical Center, where she was also a clinical instructor in pediatrics for the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She practiced pediatrics there for nearly a decade before the family returned to Washington, D.C., and she began teaching at Georgetown.

“When I was elected to the Georgetown Medical School Board of Alumni, that gave me a nudge,” she said.

“They pulled me back in.” This academic year, in addition to teaching, Marissa will serve as faculty director of the Knowlan Society, one of the school’s Learning Societies, which serve as a platform for the creation of mentor-rich environments for crowd-sourced learning of mindfulness, resiliency, professional authenticity and leadership.

As a boarding student at Westminster, Marissa says she made great friends on the corridor supervised by Barbara and Dick Adams, but that she was homesick and asked to return home by Christmas. “My sisters Rossana ’75 and Vanessa ’76 went to Westminster and encouraged me to board,” she explained. “I was the youngest by nine years and wasn’t used to sharing. My parents told me that I’d taken the spot from someone who wanted it, and I was going to stay. I ended up forming a lot of relationships I would not have had otherwise.”

Marissa was encouraged by Westminster science teachers Nick McDonald and Scott Berry to pursue science studies. “They consistently encouraged me and were helpful in keeping me supplied with information,” she said. “My senior year, I became interested in space research and helped Mr. Warner run for the Teacher in Space program. I thought that a career in NASA research would be neat.” Her interest in space science continued into college. Though the tragic explosion of the space shuttle Challenger led her to shift her focus, she completed her senior thesis at Georgetown on the effects of zero gravity on bone growth and density.

As a Westminster student, Marissa played soccer, volleyball and lacrosse, was a member of Black and Gold, sang in Chorale, was a staff writer for The Westminster News and worked on the yearbook. She was also the recipient of several awards including one for general scholarship, the Excellence in English Award, the Excellence in Science Award and the Smith College Book Award.

“I still remember running up the hill from the ice rink,” she recalled. “Everyone was complaining as Scott Berry was leading us, running backward. He would say, ’come on girls, keep running, baby steps.’ It was one moment in time, but I still think about that every time I face something difficult — just take baby steps.”

In her free time, Marissa enjoys cooking, gardening and travel. The McDonnells have visited London, Paris and Italy, and Marissa hopes to return soon to Tuscany — though the family’s next adventure will be stateside. In the spring of 2017, they will relocate to New Jersey where Michael will be executive vice president and chief financial officer of Quintiles IMS. The move will come after their daughter Hailey graduates from the Flint Hill School, where Marissa serves on the Parents’ Association Board, and daughter Whitney is also a student. “They want to know why they don’t go to Westminster,” said Marissa. “I’ve told them their mother doesn’t want to give them up yet!”

Transforming the Gift Card Experience Not often does writing thank you notes while on your honeymoon in Bora Bora inspire a new tech venture, but for CJ MacDonald ’98, thanking family and friends for gift cards was the spark that led him to found Gyft, a mobile app that enables users to upload, send and redeem gift cards from their phones.

CJ and his wife, Amber, had collected a large number of gift cards in their 10 years of dating but frequently found themselves wanting to make a purchase only to realize that the gift card in question was at home.

“We had a love and hate relationship with gift cards,” said CJ. “They give you the flexibility to pick something you love, but we never carried the actual gift card with us. Back in 2011, mobile wallets did not exist. There was no technology to digitize and redeem gift cards on the phone.”

While CJ was contemplating how to improve the gift card experience, mutual friends introduced him to Vinny Lingham, who co-founded Gyft with CJ. “Vinny was thinking about doing something in the mobile space,” said CJ. “Everything is about teamwork. We started building and developing in early 2012 and launched at the end of the year.”

First Data acquired Gyft in 2014. “We have a great partner in First Data,” said CJ. “There were many long nights developing Gyft, and I am committed to stay behind to see it through for a few years.” More than 200 major retailers now participate in Gyft, including Amazon, Gap and Starbucks. CJ says that Gyft’s next focus will be expansion to local markets, giving small retailers the opportunity to provide their customers with both physical and digital gift cards.

Before founding Gyft, CJ spent more than 10 years launching and transforming early stage startups. He led sales and business development initiatives at Luminate, an image applications platform acquired by Yahoo, and Liveops, a global leader in cloud contact center and customer service.

“I always had an entrepreneurial bug,” said CJ. “I was either running a lemonade stand, washing cars or cutting grass during summer breaks. In addition, I had a paper route from the time I was 9 years old until I left for Westminster.” There, he says, his sense of entrepreneurship further developed. “There was a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and cultures.

I always enjoyed learning about my classmates’ backgrounds and upbringing.”

Growing up in the Bay Area, his parents instilled in him the value of learning to better oneself and hard work.

“My mom wasn’t excited about her 15-year-old son going

across the country, but my parents always supported boarding school.” CJ attended Westminster his Fifth Form and Sixth Form years. While at Westminster, he played soccer, hockey and lacrosse, was a tour guide for Black and Gold, and a corridor prefect.

After graduating, he attended Wesleyan University, where he was senior class treasurer, continued to play hockey, and earned a bachelor’s degree in government and economics.

CJ continues to support Westminster and enjoys attending alumni events in San Francisco where he still plays hockey weekly with fellow Westminster graduates Chris Oetting ’04 and Michael Abner ’97. Last season, CJ was in the stands when Westminster’s First Boys’ Hockey team played in Greenwich, Conn.

Off the ice, CJ is an endurance athlete. He has completed more than 15 triathlons, including Escape from Alcatraz, and he recently completed his first Ironman competition, the Vineman Ironman in California’s Sonoma Valley.

CJ and Amber, who are building a new house in Los Altos, Calif., are parents to 3-year-old Ava, and are expecting their second child in November. “We’re 98 percent sure it’s a boy,” said CJ. Thinking back about his Westminster experience, CJ says that Grit & Grace has stayed with him over the years: “With Grit & Grace, you can overcome roadblocks and figure out how to get by big challenges.”

CJ MacDonald ’98

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Bringing a Magazine Into the Digital Age Parents of children under 30 will recognize it in a flash: Kids Discover Magazine, the glossy education publication designed for elementary and middle school learners. A staple in classrooms, pediatric offices and homes across the country for 25 years, Kids Discover has now become an award-winning, all-access digital library of science and social studies resources under the leadership of president and CEO Ted Levine ’04.

Ted Levine ’04

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Ted’s father, Mark, first launched Kids Discover as a print publication in 1991. “My brother Max and I were the inspiration for Kids Discover,” explained Ted. “When we were just beginning to read, my father saw an opportunity for a different kind of children’s magazine. We were the case study to pursue it as a business model. We had copies before they hit the press, and it was a fun family activity.”

Ted attended Skidmore College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and business management and was captain of the hockey team, before joining the staff at NYU Medical Center as an analyst. “I was never dying to work at Kids Discover, not that there wasn’t a place for me,” said Ted. His interest in Kids Discover changed when he was traveling across the South American continent with Westminster classmates Chris Oetting ’04 and Fred Dirkes ’04 after leaving NYU. “It was a very impactful trip,” said Ted. “I’d never done a semester abroad and had never spent extended time anywhere outside of the Northeast. I took the space to figure out my next move. I started to think about Kids Discover and its trove of great content. What could we do beyond magazines?”

Ted’s proposal to his father to digitize Kids Discover was met with excitement, but also some apprehension.

“My father wasn’t very tech savvy, but it was apparent that this was the way most publishing was going, and it could not be ignored. He got on board and has had my back ever since.”

Ted joined Kids Discover as its director of digital in 2010, and began the process of transforming the magazine’s subject matter — everything from ancient Greece to space exploration — into interactive apps for the iPad. “We found the right partners and vendors, and came up with a great design and development team,” said Ted. “Each application was modeled after the print counterpart, like an e-book, but with souped-up animation for the iPad. It offers a truly immersive reading experience for young learners.”

Kids Discover has been named by Apple as a Best App in Education over a dozen times. “More and more requests came to develop applications for other operating systems,” added Ted. “To maintain more than 100 apps on five operating systems was not the best business model.”

That led to a push to create Kids Discover Online, an allaccess collection of Kids Discover’s entire library, a process that involved rigorous research and two years to develop. The platform launched in 2016 to rave reviews.

And in 2017, Kids Discover Online will begin producing all-new content never done in print or digital. “We’ve narrowed down the next 30 units to produce, but I can’t share what they are quite yet!”

In addition to his work at Kids Discover, where he was named president and CEO in 2014, Ted plays hockey several days a week. “There’s a high demand for goalies in New York City,” he said. “I have been playing since I was 8 years old. New York City wasn’t much of a hockey hotbed. I started playing roller hockey in Riverside Park, then moved to the ice. I’ve been a goalie my whole life.”

It was hockey, along with a strong sense of community, that attracted him to Westminster in the fall of 2002.

Ted entered the Class of 2004 as a Fourth Former. In addition to hockey, he played varsity soccer and lacrosse, and was a Fourth Form officer and corridor prefect. He has fond memories of English teachers Dennis Daly, Michael Cervas and Scott Stevens, with whom he remains close. “I really learned how to write well during my time on the Hill,” he said. “It was one big thing I took away from Westminster academically.”

Ted also met some of his closest friends at Westminster. Classmates Rob Martin ’04, Kiley Murphy ’04, Tami Couch ’04 and Drew Malbin ’04 all attended his 2015 wedding to wife Emma. The couple, who live in New York City, celebrated their anniversary in June with a trip to Bellagio, Italy.

There is another Levine attending Westminster this fall: Ted’s niece Sarah Levine ’19. “She grew up hearing about Westminster,” said Ted. “When she was accepted, it brought back memories of the day I got in. I am really proud of her.”

Success in Dog Day Care Helps Give Back to the Community As Lauren Westreich ’84 tells it, when she first proposed launching a dog day care in 1997, “people laughed out loud.” Today, Lauren’s Every Dog Has Its Day Care in Oakland, Calif., has more than 50,000 square feet of customized sleep, play, swim, spa and health areas, and employs more than 65 staff members. “We are the largest in our area, and we’re competing to be among the best in the country,” said Lauren.

Her journey to business ownership was anything but direct. Lauren graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in art history, and worked in the publishing and architecture fields in New York, Princeton and Chicago.

While in Chicago, she began volunteering with Stop AIDS Chicago, where she would eventually work. “At the time, there was a push to formulate an AIDS action plan for President Clinton,” she said. She began orchestrating conferences aimed at gathering input for the president’s plan and decided to earn a master’s degree in a related field. “I was very interested in public policy, but it didn’t make sense to me to separate direct service and public policy.” She enrolled in the joint master’s program in the Schools of Public Policy and Public Health at UC Berkeley, which allowed her to study both.

As she was attending graduate school and volunteering on California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown’s gubernatorial campaign, Lauren began to re-evaluate her career. “When I was done with the campaign, I decided to get back to working with animals.”

Lauren spent her childhood riding horses and working in barns in the outskirts of Washington, D.C. “I had a black lab named Barney, and there were always plenty of dogs at the barn,” she said. “I had never considered it as a profession, but I missed working with animals. Although I love horses, I didn’t want to run a barn, and I liked living in an urban area. Dogs were perfect to focus on.”

With her graduate degree two-thirds complete, she developed her business plan, scouted locations and opened Every Dog. “People adore their pets,” she said.

“Day care for dogs was new and unusual then. I had the opportunity to create an amazing place where people could bring their dogs to play and have their needs met.”

Every Dog is more than a return to Lauren’s childhood love of animals. “West Oakland is a struggling area,” she said. “We are very intentional about spending time and effort to hire people from our community with high barriers to employment. It’s a double bottom line.

It’s not a social enterprise. We have to be financially successful to offer employment, but being successful in business allows us to give back to our community.”

Through Every Dog, Lauren supports several local animal care organizations, and through an active foster dog program, has helped to re-home dozens of dogs. “We make every effort to reach out into our neighborhoods,” she said. “We never waver from it. If we grow more, we can do more. I’m trying to make a difference in my corner of the world.”

At Westminster, Lauren played soccer, basketball and softball, sang in the choir, was an officer of the Debate Club, was a member of Black and Gold, founded a French Club, performed in plays and musicals, was associate editor of The Westminster News and worked on The Martlet.

“Westminster felt like the right place for me,” she said. “There were options I would not have had elsewhere. Every new student had to sing for the choirmaster. I had never sung before, but he said ’I’ll see you tomorrow.’ It was one of the many benefits of going to a small school.” Her brother, Anthony, is a member of the Class of 1987. As an alumna, Lauren has served on her reunion committees.

Lauren and her husband, Bob Emerson, whom she met while playing softball, are parents to 9-year-old twins Greta and Nathaniel. They live in Piedmont, Calif.

Lauren’s work in her community expands far beyond Every Dog. She volunteers at her children’s school, is a member of the board of the West Oakland Commerce Association, and volunteers with Education for Change, which helps provide superior public education to Oakland’s most underserved children.

Lauren Westreich ’84

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In Memoriam David H. Hovey Former Westminster faculty member David H. Hovey P’78, ’80, ’83, GP ’09, ’11, ’14, who served on the Westminster faculty for 37 years, died Aug. 16 in Savannah, Ga. He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Mary-Jenks “Jenks” (Boutelle), who died March 27, 2015.

Hov, as he was affectionately known, grew up in Boston and attended Solebury School in New Hope, Pa., as a boarding student. While there, he played football, basketball and baseball and received numerous academic honors. Following his 1949 graduation from Solebury, he attended the University of Pennsylvania where he studied education to become a teacher. While there, he earned nine varsity letters in football, squash and lacrosse, and especially enjoyed playing football before crowds of 70,000 or more.

He also served as a dormitory supervisor and dormitory head.

After his graduation from Penn in 1953, he returned to Boston and coached football at Noble and Greenough School before entering the U.S. Navy. He had attended officer training school during the summers of 1951 and 1952, and was commissioned in 1953. He served two years as an officer on a naval minesweeper in Europe and then as athletic officer for the Atlantic Mine Force.

Following Hov’s service in the Navy,

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“It was my voice that was gruff, but it was mixed in with love.

Plus, I whistled when I was walking from my office in Main Building to Sanger House, so if people were misbehaving, they knew I was coming. I enjoyed whistling.” ~ Hov his uncle David Kennedy, who was the assistant headmaster at Westminster at the time, invited him to consider teaching at Westminster. Hov was appointed to the Westminster faculty in 1955 to teach English and mathematics, and supervise a corridor.

It was during his subsequent graduate studies at Boston University for a master’s degree in education that he met his future wife, Jenks. They were married

in 1959 at the Mary Martha Chapel in Sudbury, Mass., the year he completed his graduate studies. They lived the first year of their marriage at Westminster on a corridor in Main Building, now known as Cushing Hall.

In addition to teaching at Westminster, Hov interacted with students in all facets of the school. He served as head of the work program, dean of students for 18 years and a dormitory

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supervisor the entire time. He also coached numerous teams including lower teams, varsity football for 16 years, varsity lacrosse for 23 years and was a Connecticut Valley lacrosse player for 14 years. He was widely known in coaching circles. Among his many athletic accomplishments was coaching an undefeated Martlet football team in 1965, the first in 51 years, and starting Westminster’s lacrosse program with faculty member Charlie Dietrich. As lacrosse coach, Hov won 230 varsity lacrosse games.

Hov and Jenks lived much of their time at Westminster in the original Sanger House, which was attached to Memorial Hall. They raised their three children, Dave ’78, P’09, ’11, ’14, Kim ’80 and Sam ’83, on campus and had a meaningful impact on the lives of generations of students, including imparting many life-learned lessons.

They also enjoyed many friendships

“He loved teaching so much, we stayed, and I am very glad we did that.We just met so many wonderful, good friends… wonderful kids that still keep up with us all of the time.” ~ Jenks

“‘Keeping the faith’ is one of my favorite expressions. I use it all of the time. Friendship, close, that is the way I end it.” ~ Hov

off Williams Hill, including a core group of friends in Simsbury with whom they got together regularly. Hov was named a Simsbury Hometown Hero in 1988.

The summer months were just as busy for the Hoveys as the school year.

They spent their summers in Chatham, Mass., which they referred to as their “real home.” Hov had spent time there since he was 2 years old at a summer home his father had built near the water and which he and Jenks subsequently owned. His father had co-founded the nearby Stage Harbor Yacht Club, and Hov went on to serve 34 years as the club’s sailing master, building the program up to some 200 students in the sailing school and 80 sailboats. Some of his students went on to win major sailing competitions.

When Hov retired from Westminster in 1992, he and Jenks selected Savannah, Ga., to live for eight months of the year.

They had spent a Westminster sabbatical looking at possible retirement locations and fell in love with a Savannah community called The Landings, where

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What stands out in my mind most of all was something Hov told me on more than one occasion and I paraphrase, “When things at school are not going the way you want, for whatever reason, just remember why you chose this way of life (it’s not a job). You are in it for the kids.

Westminster faculty member Scott Berry P’11, ’16

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Hov was a one-of-a-kind person with a big personality and a sense of humor that was unmatched. His sometimes tough-guy demeanor made him someone you always respected and feared at first (in a good way, especially those who were prone to causing a little trouble). Once you got to know him, you then began to realize that he was everything you wanted in a teacher, and a teacher-friend, when you were away from home.

Art Dague Jr. ’79, P’19

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Mary and I arrived at Westminster as newlyweds. Hov and Jenks became our first “big boy” friends. We learned a lot by watching how they navigated life on and off the Hill. We always appreciated how they welcomed us into their large social circle.

I used to sit in the Deans’ Office and watch Hov growl at the kids as they walked back and forth from Baxter. I wondered how he could be so grumpy and terrifying (he even scared me early on) and yet so obviously beloved. Over time I realized that after disciplining some Westminster student or another, Hov usually closed the circle behind the scenes — words to the effect that whatever happened was now in the past. Time to move forward.

That is as profound a principle as it is simple. I’ve tried to use it ever since.

Genius.

Hov and Jenks will be missed.

Westminster faculty member Todd Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’17

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Hov and Jenks loved me at a time in my life when I was particularly unlovable, and they gave me an indelible example of adults who loved their life’s work.

Chris Burr ’69 Fall 2016

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“You can sum it up; our life has been kids.” ~ Jenks

they bought a home. They liked that the community was not just for retirees. Hov started a lacrosse program at Hunter Air Force Base, and they were active boosters at school sporting events and the Special Olympics. The other four months of the year, they continued to live in Chatham, enjoying time with family and lifelong friends.

In 2011, Hov was one of the first inductees into Solebury School’s Athletic Hall of Fame. And at Westminster, Hovey Trophy Room and Hovey Field offer an enduring tribute to the family’s name.

Hovey Field, a synthetic field located adjacent to the lower fields, was dedicated in September 2012, with hundreds of alumni, faculty, staff, parents, grandparents and students from across many decades in attendance. The $1.8 million cost of the project was funded entirely through gifts from alumni, parents and friends of the Hoveys.

Hov is survived by his children: Dave and his wife, Leigh, of Simsbury, and their three children, Dave ’09, Tommy ’11 and Katie ’14; Kim of New York City; and Sam and his wife, Romi, of Denver, and their children, Grayson and Landon.

“The most beautiful thing about it (Hovey Field) is that it is not just for me. It is for Jenks and me.” ~ Hov

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I worked with him a good deal as a senior, mostly because of my prefect responsibilities, and that is when my understanding of him deepened. To sit with him in Ad Hoc meetings or to listen to him deliberate with colleagues on the character and qualities of his students was to know a man who cared deeply about the young people in his care, who was less inclined to judge than to teach, who had a big, kind heart that in truth was not naturally inclined to punish. Forgiving came much more naturally to the Hov. Especially to a head prefect trying to advocate for students who had run afoul of the rules, Hov was a welcome and influential ally.”

Ben Williams ’81

• • •

Living on his corridor, and spending countless evenings in the Hovey family basement were special. The Hovey family’s open-door policy was remarkable. Hov and Jenks were never “off duty.” I remember watching the 1980 U.S.A./U.S.S.R “Miracle” hockey game in the basement among all the sports paraphernalia and memorabilia taped to the walls. I felt at home in their home; their home was filled with love and fun, but also respect for athletics and high expectations for academics. Hov and Jenks instilled in all of us a sense of duty to try to be the best we could be. This sense of place and belonging was critically important to me as a boarding student. I didn’t fully realize this at the time; it is only in retrospect and watching my own children have teenage experiences of their own that I have come to fully appreciate the positive impact those days had, and have on me.

Charles Santry ’80, P’12

• • •

It is never too late to say thank you, Hov and Jenks, for all you did and gave to me and so many over the decades. Your love for each other and each of us was so evident; your values and principles grounded us, your mentoring inspired us, and your example led me into a life as a fellow educator. You will live forever with us, because we are part of you and gratefully you are part of us.

Bags Brokaw ’75

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Westminster Bulletin

In Memoriam

1948 Johnson Winship died June 17, 2016, in Bloomfield, Conn. He grew up in New Canaan and was a longtime resident of Simsbury. Johns received his Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.

After graduation, he served three years in the U.S. Army as an officer, spending two years in France at Captieux near Bordeaux, where he was in charge of the commissary and the officers’ club. He later became business manager at Westminster School and then Renbrook School. Johns was a member of the Business Managers’ Council of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools and on the faculty for long-range planning for the National Association of Independent Schools. A long-term Westminster class agent, reunion leader and supporter of the school, he was elected a Westminster Fellow in 2002 and received the school’s Alan F. Brooks ’55 Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.

Johns was an active volunteer in Simsbury and served on many boards and clubs in the area.

Johns is survived by his wife, Ann; his children David E. Winship ’75 and his wife, Tracy B. Huntington; Katharine B. Winship and her partner, Richard Thurston; and Nancy Winship Milliken ’80 and her husband, Andrew S. Milliken; four grandchildren, Liza K. Winship ’07, Nick M. Winship, Margot W. Milliken, and Charles A. Milliken; and two stepgrandchildren, Louis B. Hager III and Alicia B. Hager; as well as a brother, Arthur W. Winship. Johns touched many lives with his great sense of humor, mischievous stories and unwavering loyalty to his institutions and friends.

Bill Thomson ’49 writes, “My best contribution as a Fourth Former, besides making it to the Fifth Form, was introducing Johns to Ann. Ann came to visit Westminster with my sister Barbara, who was a good friend of Ann’s at Low Haywood School in Stamford. I had whispered a few nice things to Johns about Ann and the rest is history. We were close, although not geographically, through our lifetimes. I remember a few

years back receiving a nice collection of pictures and articles he wanted me to have. A very thoughtful guy with a great family.”

1955 David Lowes Houk died Feb. 25, 2016.

He graduated from the University of Georgia, spent five years as an officer in the U.S. Navy and then settled his family in Atlanta. David loved the Georgia Bulldogs. He was a 50-year member of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, where he sang in the choir, served on numerous committees and volunteered daily in the church office upon his retirement. He loved the ocean and would take his family on summer vacations to the beach. David is survived by his wife of 56 years, Anne Hollis Houk, three sons and five grandchildren.

1961 Peter Townsend Dunbar died May 10, 2016, in Bethlehem, Pa. Peter attended Moravian College, graduating in 1966.

Just before his senior year, he married Julie Kerridge. After a short stay in California, the couple moved with their two children to a house near the Delaware River in Williams Township, Pa. In 1987, Peter married the Rev. Dr. Sally Brown. In 2000, they moved to Mohnton, Pa., where he resided at the time of his death. Peter’s varied career culminated in several deeply satisfying years in banking. He formed lasting professional ties and deep personal friendships. He was an active member of his church for more than 25 years. Peter is survived by his wife, his two children and their mother, two sisters and four grandsons.

1964 Denis V. Curtin of Garden City, N.Y., died in March 2016. He is survived by his wife, Kathy, and children, Chrissy, Brian, Steve and Mary. He was also a grandfather to eight grandchildren.

1970 Peter Higgins Hoyt, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, died in May 2016. In 1980, Peter joined Fairmount Minerals, now known as Fairmount Santrol (FMSA), as one of the company’s original salespersons. Bill Conway, a founder and the CEO of the company at the time, hired Peter and became a mentor to him.

As Peter progressed at FMSA, his role at the company evolved. Peter eventually became vice president and general manager of all of FMSA’s manufacturing businesses. In July 2002, Peter led a group that bought out the Fairmount Custom Products division from FMSA. Renaming the new venture Black Lab, Peter served as CEO. In this role, he and his management team helped grow Black Lab, while maintaining both business and personal relationships with those at FMSA. In 2010, FMSA repurchased Black Lab from Peter and his team, bringing both the business and Peter officially back into the FMSA family.

Peter retired from FMSA in January 2016 after a successful 36-year career. He was immensely proud of his association with FMSA and was extraordinarily grateful to his friends on the management team who were so loyal to and supportive of him over the years. Peter loved spending time with his family and friends at home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, at Johnson’s Island in Marblehead, Ohio, and in Boca Grande, Fla. He had a gift for developing deep and lasting friendships.

An avid boater, Peter adeptly captained large and small watercraft throughout the Lake Erie and southwest Florida waterways. He was proud to serve as commodore of the Old Boca Grande Yacht and Naval Club. He enjoyed motorcycling with his brother and friends on day trips through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and traveling with family and friends to other places beyond. Peter was a Cleveland Browns fan, an accomplished amateur photographer, a highly accurate skeet shooter and an advocate and lover of all animals.

Peter is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Lohr Hoyt. He was a loving Fall 2016

79

In Memoriam father, grandfather and son. He also leaves his brother, James Hoyt ’68, and sister, Terry Hoyt.

1975 Charles “Chuck” Bayliss died June 25, 2016, in Massachusetts. Chuck grew up in Avon, Conn., and graduated from Gettysburg College. He worked as a salesman at Eastern Industrial Automation for nearly 20 years and lived with his family in Mansfield, Mass., for the past 27 years. His favorite times were spent with his adoring family, especially family vacations at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. He also enjoyed participating in Civil War reenactments. Chuck was predeceased by his wife of 26 years, Cheryl, and is survived by his children, Matthew, Joshua and Rachel, all of Mansfield.

Thomas Clark Moseley Jr. of Weston,

Mass., died March 16, 2016, while traveling for business in Saudi Arabia.

He was founder and president of The Moseley Group, a strategy and design consultancy to the global multiunit restaurant industry. His contributions to the food service industry have been

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Westminster Bulletin

transformative and continue to fuel the way restaurants operate today. In the early ’80s, he was among the first to move some of the largest restaurant brands into nontraditional channels such as airports, colleges and universities. In the ’90s, Tom pioneered the kitchen technologies still relied on today by restaurants as owners and licensors of impingement and rapid-cook oven technologies. These innovations helped elevate the quality of hot, fresh food offerings in the industry. More recently, he helped seasoned brands become more relevant as well as helped emerging brands optimize for expansion. He worked with more than 100 high-profile brands including Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King as well as locals Cumberland Farms, Au Bon Pain, Dunkin’ Donuts and Legal Sea Foods. Tom was also founder and president of Moseley Realty LLC, a commercial real estate development firm based in Franklin, Mass. He was raised in Darien, Conn. While at Westminster, he was a captain of the hockey team and lettered in football and baseball. He spent two years at Lake Forest where he played varsity hockey and then transferred to Boston University where he became an award-winning master craftsman of

woodworking and furniture design and graduated with a degree in philosophy.

Tom was also the owner of several patents throughout his career.

In addition to his parents, Thomas C. Moseley Sr. ’42 and Elizabeth DeCoster Moseley of Woods Hole, Mass, he is survived by his wife, Suzanne; his three children, Margot Hahn ’14, Thomas III and Frederick; three stepchildren, Madeleine, Caroline and Olivia; his sisters and a brother, as well as his cousin, William Moseley ’80. Thomas was an avid golfer and competed and played on golf courses around the world with his friends, family and children, including Woods Hole Golf Club where he was a member for more than 20 years.

Classmate, Page Spiegel, remembers Tom’s warm, generous and fun-loving spirit.

1980 Patrick Lee Holloway of Dallas, Texas

died July 27, 2016.

2008 William Morrison Waggaman Jr. died in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 13, 2016. He was raised in Norwalk and Wilton, Conn. and attended Greens Farm Academy and Tulane University. Willie loved football, comic books, Pokémon Go, the New York Jets and the New York Rangers.

He enjoyed thick steaks and Sour Patch candy. Willie had a huge heart, made others laugh and saw the good in everyone he met. He made lots of friends wherever he went. He is survived by his mother, Daphne Geary, his father, William Sr., and his sisters, Christina and Natalie.

2010 Clare Everett Ulrich died on May 22, 2016. She was the daughter of longtime members of the Westminster community Siobhan and Peter Ulrich.

While at Westminster, Clare played varsity soccer and tennis, and junior varsity hockey. She was a member of several clubs and was particularly interested in photography. She spent a semester doing volunteer work in New Zealand. Following Westminster, she went on to Middlebury College where she

graduated with honors as an economics major with a minor in psychology.

Clare had a kind and caring personality. She had a love of animals, a beautiful smile and an infectious laugh.

For many summers, she was a beloved worker at Rosedale Farms in Simsbury.

She also worked for the advancement office at Middlebury College as a caller for phone-a-thons. Most recently, she brought her gifts to her position at EMI Strategic Marketing in Boston.

Besides her parents, she is survived by her sister, Annie Ulrich ’09 of Middlebury, Vt.; her paternal grandparents, Art and Peg Ulrich; her maternal grandmothers, Barbara Leahy and Mary Susan Leahy; as well as dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. She was predeceased by her maternal grandfather, Charles Leahy.

High School in Pennsylvania, was an AllIvy soccer standout at Yale University, and later earned a master’s degree from Georgetown University. Molly was a history teacher and coach at three independent schools starting at Westminster School, before moving to Washington, D.C., to St. Albans, where she spent a decade teaching and coaching as the school’s first female varsity coach.

While at St. Albans, she met her partner, Blair Parker, then a history teacher at National Cathedral School and with whom she shared a commitment to teaching. In 2013, Molly and Blair moved to New York City where Molly became head of the History Department at Spence School. Molly lived life with purpose and joy that was felt by everyone she encountered. Her passion for sports and world travel was unwavering.

Former Faculty Former Staff Martha “Molly” Reed Woodroofe, died July 20, 2016. She was born in Pittsburgh in 1975 and was the daughter of the Reverend Robert “Woody” and Sally Woodroofe and had a sister, Louise. She remained passionate about Pittsburgh and its teams. She graduated from Butler Area

Kenneth Beckford died Sept. 10, 2016.

Kenneth worked in the kitchen at Westminster during much of the 1970s and 1980s.

Fall 2016

81

Closing Thoughts

A New Beginning Far Away From Home

By Ashlyn Chin ’16

In the fall of 2013, I made a decision to apply to Westminster as a Fifth Former. I was born and raised in the capital city of Malaysia, over 10,000 miles and 24 hours away by plane. Growing up there, it wasn’t typical to go to boarding school in the U.S. What really matters is that I did find Westminster, and for that, I have absolutely no regrets.

I remember my first day on the Hill. It was like fruit punch: sweet will miss our late-night Wii dance parties, matching festive onesies, but a jumble of all sorts of unfamiliar things — seeing the pristine cuddle sessions on the Sixth Form Lawn, singing “Wherever I Go” from campus in the flesh, meeting my first-ever roommate in Cushing, learning “Hannah Montana” in the basement and unsuccessful attempts at the “Cotton-Eyed Joe” in the Texas line dance that will forever be watching the sunrise. ingrained in my memory, and having an overall feeling of liberty and Music, too, was a big part of my excitement that came alongside this new beginning, Westminster experience. The performing arts especially one so far away from home.

These various communities community was always one in which I felt The first few weeks at Westminster were intertwine to form a comfortable, and being surrounded by people who challenging, especially as a new Fifth Former trying were just as or even more passionate than me, to swivel my way into existing friend groups, having unified yet diversified reminded me of why I fell in love with the arts in a busy schedule right up until bedtime check-in, Westminster community the first place. From jam sessions to performances Saturday classes and just trying to get into the groove of boarding school life, while most of my that you shape for yourself with some of the most talented yet humble people I know, I created some of my fondest memories and peers were already perfectly settled. Neither had — a community comprised met some of my closest friends. And of course, this I ever been the “new kid” nor considered an community wasn’t the last of them. “international” student, so being asked “where’s of pockets of people who At Westminster, there is this overarching Malaysia?” while dealing with the common genuinely care about you. warm familiarity — the comfort of walking around skepticism as to why I did not speak “Malaysian,” campus and knowing almost everyone. which isn’t a language, and convincing my peers Westminster takes pride in its close-knit community, and if my words do that English actually was my first language were new to me. After the not give testament to that, I’m sure the collective tears at the Sixth Form initial rollercoaster of emotions steadied and I learned to accept my receiving line on the night of the Lawn Ceremony do. differences, coming to Westminster was worth it.

Leaving Westminster isn’t just leaving a school; it’s leaving a home.

Any Westminster student will agree that the biggest cliché is to Being an international boarder added to the whole dynamic of that. In mention Westminster’s strong sense of community, but I promise there is my Fifth Form year alone, I spent almost 150 hours flying to and from truth to my words. The community is special because it’s small and made Malaysia. It was virtually impossible to go home unless there was a long up of even smaller, more intimate groups of people who are passionate break, so inevitably, Westminster became home. Between Simsbury and about their interests and beliefs. You don’t have to be just a musician, Kuala Lumpur, I am glad to have been able to live the best of both worlds. athlete or writer; you can be all of those things. These various It hasn’t been long since graduation, but already I am feeling communities intertwine to form a unified yet diversified Westminster somewhat empty. All that Westminster is and was has become such a community that you shape for yourself — a community comprised of big part of who I am. Before I came to Westminster, I had no clue what to pockets of people who genuinely care about you. expect. I didn’t know how it felt to need that Hill Holiday, be pulled onto My first immediate community was my dorm. Picture yourself living the Sixth Form Lawn, eat notorious “Westy chicken,” live on Brookside in a large house with your best friends and having them just a door knock bagels, or leave the school with this almost unexplainable Westminster away when you need comfort. You learn about priorities. You realize that identity. When I look back at my two years, I am in awe of all I sometimes being a shoulder to cry on is more important than rushing to experienced: personal growth, new perspectives, independence, finish an assignment, or that when feeling down, laughing your troubles exposure, friendships and precious memories. I know the special bond away with the famous Westy dip at a dorm feed is probably much that tied the Class of 2016 together will transcend through oceans and healthier than wallowing away on your bed with Netflix. Having a steady skies, and forever linger. While we Martlets have broken free from the support group whenever needed is something I will always treasure. birdcage and don’t know what is out in the wild, we will always be able Every dorm becomes a huge family with corridor supervisors as parents, to return and visit the Hill. When we do, I hope that things will feel just always there to feed you and listen to your petty issues, and an eternal the way they used to. group of sisters or brothers. To my fellow seniors of the Gund House, I 82

Westminster Bulletin

TRUSTEES

2016-2017 S. Bradley Mell P’14, ’16 Far Hills, N.J.

John S. Armour ’76 Emeritus Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

John H. Davis P’05 Emeritus Longmeadow, Mass.

Timothy D. Armour ’78 Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

Lori P. Durham P’13, ’15 Denver, Colo.

Elisabeth M. Armstrong P’04, ’06, ’07 Dallas, Texas

William C. Egan III ’64, P’92, ’95, ’00, ’02 Emeritus Jackson, Wyo.

Stephen W. Bailey ’89 Austin, Texas Beth Cuda Baker P’09, ’12, ’15 New Canaan, Conn.

Susan Werner Berenson ’82 Boston, Mass.

Ellen G. Breed P’11, ’15 Greenwich, Conn.

Curtis F. Brockelman Jr. ’86, P’19 Greenwich, Conn.

Zooey Brown P’15 Batesville, Va. Abram Claude Jr. ’46, P’71, ’80, ’84, GP’02 Emeritus North Salem, N.Y. John A. Cosentino Jr. P’00, ’18, ’18 Simsbury, Conn.

Edward V. Dardani Jr. P’14, ’18 Waccabuc, N.Y.

Heather Frahm ’86 Weston, Mass.

Joseph L. Gitterman III ’55, P’86, ’86, ’90 Emeritus Washington Depot, Conn.

FA L L 2 0 1 6 Published by:

Westminster School Published by: 995 Hopmeadow St. Westminster Simsbury, CTSchool 06070 995 Hopmeadow (860) 408-3000 St. Simsbury, CT 06070 (860)magazine 408-3000is This produced twice a This magazine is year by the Marketing produced twice a and Communications year by the Marketing Office. and Communications Office.

Thomas D. Sargent II ’77, P’10 West Hartford, Conn.

John Sherwin Jr. ’57, P’83, ’89 Emeritus Willoughby, Ohio

Robert T. Horsford ’89 New York, N.Y.

Samuel Thorne ’46, P’74, ’76 Emeritus Bedford, Mass.

David H. Hovey Jr. ’78, P’09, ’11, ’14 Simsbury, Conn.

Gregory F. Ugalde P’05, ’07, ’10, ’12 Burlington, Conn.

Martin R. Irani ’83 Encino, Calif.

Kirsten Sichler Webb ’98 Greenwich, Conn.

Moyahoena Ogilvie Johnson ’86 Vice Chair of the Board Bloomfield, Conn.

Sara L. Whiteley ’91 West Chatham, Mass.

Jeffrey E. Kelter P’12, ’14, ’19 Locust Valley, N.Y. Bernhard L. Kohn Jr. ’66, P’92 Bloomfield, Conn.

Jane Kessler Lennox ’88, P’16, ’18 New Albany, Ohio Andrew D. McCullough Jr. ’87 Houston, Texas

Westminster Bulletin

William V.N. Philip P’06, ’09 Headmaster Ex officio Simsbury, Conn.

C. Bradford Raymond ’85, P’19, ’20 Chair of the Board New York, N.Y.

Powell W. Holly III ’82 Fredericksburg, Va.

William D. Brewer P’17 New York, N.Y.

Aileen T. Daversa ’90 Ex Officio Old Greenwich, Conn.

Colin S. Flinn ’82 Sanibel, Fla.

T. Treadway Mink Jr. ’77, P’11 Emeritus New Canaan, Conn.

Benjamin D. Williams IV ’81 Carpinteria, Calif.

David R. Wolf P’19 Ex officio New York, N.Y. Lisa Bjornson Wolf P’19 Ex officio New York, N.Y.

Address Class Notes to:

Editor

Design

Beth Goldstein Soycher Westminster School P.O. Box 337 Simsbury, CT 06070-0377

Darlene Skeels, Director of Communications and Publications dskeels@westminster-school.org

John Johnson Art Direction & Design Collinsville, Conn.

Or submit via email: alumninotes@westminster-school.org To update contact information: bsoycher@westminster-school.org

Director of Marketing and Communications

In keeping with our support for a diverse community, Westminster abides by all applicable federal and state laws and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry and/or disability.

Beth Goldstein Soycher

Jeff Kennard Class Notes Coordinator Photography

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