Majestic Bricks and Mortar

Transcription

B
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Majestic Bricks
and Mortar
The Challenge
of a Mountain
Travels That
Transform
F A L L
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B U L L E T I N
Fall 2002
Volume 73 Number 1
Bulletin Staff
Director of Development
Chip Spencer ’56
Editor
Julie Reiff
Acting Editor
Linda Beyus
Alumni Notes
Anne Gahl
Jackie Maloney
Design
Good Design
www.goodgraphics.com
Proofreaders
Nina Maynard
Bob Campbell ’76
Bulletin Advisory Board
Todd Gipstein ’70
Peter Kilborn ’57
Nancy Novogrod P’98, ’01
Bonnie Blackburn Penhollow ’84
Josh Quittner ’75
Peter Frew ’75, ex officio
Julie Reiff, ex officio
Bonnie Welch, ex officio
Mail letters to:
Linda Beyus, Acting Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.
[email protected]
Send alumni news to:
Anne Gahl
Alumni Office
The Taft School
[email protected]
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Fall–August 30
Winter–November 15
Spring–February 15
Summer–May 30
Send address corrections to:
Sally Membrino
Alumni Records
The Taft School
[email protected]
1-860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
This magazine is printed
on recycled paper.
FEATURES
Majestic Bricks
and Mortar
Around the Pond
14
The John L. Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory for
girls is built, occupied, and dedicated.
By Will Miller ’74 and Linda Beyus
The Challenge of
a Mountain
27
The Poole Fellows’ experiences from
summer 2002.
By Rick Lansdale
DEPARTMENTS
From the Editor
2
From the Archives
2
Alumni in Print
3
Books on photography, legal history and
outer space by Taft alumni.
Alumni Spotlight
Endnote
completed this fall.
PHOTO BY VICKERS & BEECHLER
The Taft Bulletin is published quarterly, in February,
May, August, and November, by The Taft School,
110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100,
and is distributed free of charge to alumni, parents,
grandparents, and friends of the school.
E-Mail Us
Send your latest news, address change, birth announcement, or letter to the editor via e-mail. Our address is
[email protected]. We continue to accept
your communiqués by such “low-tech” methods as the
fax machine (860-945-7756), telephone (860-945-7777),
or U.S. Mail (110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT
06795-2100). So let’s hear from you!
Taft on the Web
News? Stocks? Entertainment? Weather? Catch up
with old friends or make new ones, get a job and
more!—all at the new Taft Alumni Community online.
Visit us at www.TaftAlumni.com.
What happened at this afternoon's game?—Visit us at
www.TaftSports.com for the latest Big Red coverage.
For other campus news and events, including admissions information, visit our main site at
www.TaftSchool.org with improved calendar features
and Around the Pond stories.
6
Acquiring a 1776 rare newspaper, art exhibit
in Wyoming, sculptor of porcelain and
bronze, outstanding female athletes
Page 14
32
the Cover
22 On
The John L. Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory,
Frank V. Snyder ’39 creates Stratton Ski
Area against all odds.
By Linda Beyus
Travels That
Transform
10
Potter gallery, Earthwatch grant recipient,
Davis Fellowships, opening day, Paduano
lectures, studying Islam
Page 22
Page 27
䉳 At left, students in hallway of CPT. PHOTO BY TOM KATES
L
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From the editor
From where I sit, Taft alumni, students,
and on-campus community appear to
be an amazing group of people. I’m
pleased to be acting editor of the Taft
Bulletin this year while editor Julie Reiff
is on sabbatical. Hers are big shoes to
fill, as all of you know, since Julie manages to create one of the most dynamic
alumni magazines that I’ve ever seen.
Thanks to those who have already
helped orient me here on campus and
to those alumni who have begun to
share their stories with me, some
found inside this issue. In a few
months, I’ve managed to visit a Connecticut-based art colony where an
alumnus resided to do sculpture this
past summer, plus I’ve visited an island and went boating to interview
another gifted alumnus, along with attending events on campus.
Basically, I hit the ground running
since arriving at Taft to gather your good
stories in person and over the phone. I
feel fortunate that I’ll have the chance to
meet many alumni from this high-caliber
school over the coming year. It’s obvious
that Taft is a school that its extended
We welcome Letters to the Editor relating to
the content of the magazine. Letters may be
edited for length, clarity, and content, and are
published at the editor’s discretion. Send correspondence to:
Linda Beyus, Acting Editor • Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
or to [email protected]
alumni community
is enormously proud
to have attended.
I look forward
to your e-mails and
hope you’ll like what
we have to share
with you in each issue both about the
school now and your
alumni community.
—Linda Beyus
Acting Editor
e-mail: [email protected]
From the Archives
The many responses to the Jigger Shop
photo, circa 1953, in the Summer
Bulletin, came up with the following
possible names. Left to right at counter
are: John Simms ’56, a visiting Latin
American student (name unknown),
George Gura ’54, Chip Spencer ’56,
and Farish Jenkins ’57. The fellow
serving everyone is Connie Laganas
’55. Standing in the second row behind and to the left of Chip in this
photo, also in a white shirt, is John
Milholland ’58. Win Hagen ’54 is to
the right of John near the wall.
2
Taft Bulletin Fall 2002
ALUMNI
IN
PRINT
Alumni
IN PRINT
Between Law and Custom: “High” and “Low” Legal Cultures in
the Lands of the British Diaspora – The United States, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand, 1600–1900
by Peter Karsten ’56
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002
Why does a professor of history and author of 12 books on military history shift
to writing a book about law in the
former colonies? Peter Karsten ’56 was
inspired to write Between Law and Custom after authoring a previous
comparative study of common law
called Heart versus Head: Judge-Made
Law in Nineteenth-Century America
(1997). This earlier title, a book Karsten
is proudest of, “stood the legal profession on its head,” he says. After reading
Heart versus Head, an academic friend
told Karsten he’d unfortunately have to
rewrite all his lectures as a result of
Karsten’s insightful analysis of the proplaintiff, humanitarian shift in 19th
century laws.
Karsten’s newest book, Between Law
and Custom, includes a look at the paradox of crown government’s desires to
protect aboriginal people from frontier
settlers in four British-ruled colonies, part
of his study of the evolution of indigenously-crafted law.
His research also includes
changes in interpreting “attractive nuisance” laws in which
“kids are treated not as trespassers, but invitees.” Rather than
a child or parent being held liable for injuries sustained on
railroad turntables in the
1800s, for instance, the
safety obligation shifted legally to the owner of the
dangerous machinery (or
currently to swimming
pools, for example).
A professor of history at
the University of Pittsburgh,
Karsten has written no less
than 14 books encompassing
war crimes, coups, legal and
military history. Many of Peter
Karsten’s titles are part of the Hulbert Taft,
Jr. Library’s collection. His next book projects
are co-authoring, with Kermit Hall, the second edition of The Magic Mirror: Law in
American History (Oxford University Press)
and writing a micronarrative history of
William Buckley, a British soldier who escaped from prison in 18th century Australia
and ended up living with aboriginal people
for 32 years.
3
ALUMNI
IN
PRINT
Robert Capa:
The Definitive Collection
by Richard Whelan ’64
PHAIDON PRESS, 2001
The stunningly comprehensive book,
Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection by
Richard Whelan ’64,
is the culmination of
20 years of work
Whelan has done on
the famous Hungarian photojournalist
who chose an American name with cinematic panache.
Now part of the Hulbert Taft Jr.
Library’s Alumni Authors Collection,
this impressive book is an asset to student photographers, art historians and
anyone who appreciates 20th-century
images. Capa’s powerful black and white
photographs of the Spanish Civil War,
World War II, and life among soldiers,
citizens, and artist-friends like Ernest
Hemingway and Ingrid Bergman, reveal
joy as well as suffering. From 70,000 images taken by Robert Capa during his
brief lifetime, 1913–1954, Cornell
Capa, Robert’s brother, and Whelan
chose 934 photos for this book.
In the book’s
opening
essay,
Whelan writes, “No
one who watches
the news on television needs to look
at Capa’s photographs to be
reminded what a
terrible and violent
place our world can
be…He reminds us
with supreme visual
eloquence that the
fortitude, kindness, and optimism of
ordinary people are the most effective
and heroic forms of defiance against the
forces of darkness.”
When asked why he chose to focus on photojournalism and Capa,
Whelan, who majored in art history at
Yale, says he has liked 20th-century art
and political history for many years.
“Photojournalism is the perfect marriage of the two,” he says, and “Robert
Capa is the best and greatest.”
Now a cultural historian, teacher,
writer, and photographic curator,
Whelan has authored and edited 20
books, 6 specifically on Robert Capa’s
photography. In May 2004, the International Center of Photography in
New York, where Whelan teaches and
is curator of their Capa collection, will
have a show about Robert Capa’s life
and his photographs. Whelan reports
that he is also working on a Capa
documentary for PBS to be aired in
May 2003 as part of their “American
Masters’ Series.”
Voyage to Mars: NASA’s Search for Life Beyond Earth
by Laurence Bergreen ’67
RIVERHEAD BOOKS, 2000
When Laurence Bergreen ’67 got ready
for a trip to Iceland with NASA’s planetary geologist Jim Garvin as research for
this book, Garvin’s e-mail to Bergreen
tantalizingly warned, “Get ready for Mars
on Earth.” Not many of us think of Iceland as a stand-in for the Red Planet,
which occupies the imagination of both
4
scientists and sci-fi nuts. Bergreen opens
his vividly-written book about committed NASA Mars scientists seeking clues
in Iceland’s volcanic terrain, where scientists can study a fast-changing
landscape, for what Mars might have
been like eons ago and for how it
changed. Speaking of Iceland’s dynamic
geology, Bergreen says, “The place teems
with clues about the formation of Earth,
of Mars, and of the entire solar system.”
Quoting scientist Garvin, Bergreen
writes, “When we first got [to Mars] in
the sixties with the Mariner spacecraft,
we thought ‘Oh, my God, there are going to be Martians, canals; it’s going to
JONATHAN V. DIAMOND
ALUMNI
Larry Bergreen ’67 at the Strait of Magellan, southern Chile, January 2002
be great.’ But when we got there, it
looked like the moon. Mars puzzled us.
[In the seventies] we found the great arctic desert of Mars. We saw frost form in
the winter, and we saw snow. We saw
rocks and pits that reminded us of gas
bubbles in the volcanic rocks you see here
on Iceland, but we didn’t see the obvious
signatures of life. We’ve got to go back.
We’ve got to understand this place.”
His book is almost a scientific travelogue written clearly enough for lay
people who, like the scientists themselves,
may want to know if life exists elsewhere
in the universe.
Bergreen’s chapters, written in a captivating, journalistic voice, take the reader
on an up-close visit not only to Iceland,
but to the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida, CalTech, the Goddard Space
Flight Center in Maryland and the
Johnson Space Center—all the familiar
shrines of people who explore outer space
in one form or another.
As to why he chose the topic for
this book, Bergreen says in part it’s because as a child, he was fascinated with
Mars and outer space. Prior to Voyage to
Mars, Bergreen wrote biographies of Irv-
ing Berlin and Al Capone, so this latest
book was truly new terrain for him.
What clinched the Mars topic for him
was meeting a NASA scientist from
Goddard more by fate than choice, having been on a panel at a science and
humanities gathering with her. Once the
panel ended she invited him to visit
NASA where her Mars research colleagues kept urging him to
write about their work. “If
I had passed up this opportunity,” Bergreen told the
Bulletin, “I’d be kicking
myself for years to come.”
Unraveling the controversial discoveries of
nanofossils in multiple
Mars meteorites, Bergreen
recreates the research paths
of the committed scientists
who live, eat, and breathe
Mars exploration. For instance, Bergreen got to look
over the shoulders of the
MOLA (Mars Orbiter Lander
Altimeter) team while they
mapped the entire planet’s surface so they could track
evidence of water, a sign of pos-
IN
PRINT
sible life on Mars (“Not little green
men,” the author laughs).
While writing Voyage to Mars,
Bergreen was struck that the dedication
of the NASA Mars scientists went way
beyond what they were earning. They
told him they, too, were fascinated with
the planet as kids, and here they were,
probing its surface and studying its dynamics. Both citizen and government
interest in Mars exploration has increased in spite of a mission like the
Polar Lander missing its mark.
Bergreen says his next book (“I always
wanted to write a sea story”) will be about
Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe,
a historic explorer talked about even by
NASA’s modern-day scientists.
The author eloquently sums up the
point of Mars exploration, writing: “To
understand the Red Planet, even partially,
is to understand something about the nature of the universe, to catch glimpses of
our distant past and our future, to extend
perception to a scale much larger that ordinary human comprehension, to harness
the imagination to the intellect and the
intellect to the stars.”
5
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
Alumni
S P OT L I G H T
Wheels
The work of Marc Leuthold ’80 was featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly’s
summer 2002 issue. Leuthold is assistant
professor of art at the State University of
New York at Potsdam and is well known as
a gifted sculptor. His work includes the
making of what he refers to as “wheels,”
large discs carved on one or both sides,
made of porcelain or bronze. While staying at an art colony in Connecticut this
summer, Marc told the Bulletin about his
wheels and other sculpture.
The large and exquisite bronze
sculpture shown in a photo below is 66”
tall, with gold plating and applied metallic patinas on a granite base. It was
completed in April 2002 after being
commissioned by John and Robert
Horn for their sculpture garden in Little
Rock, Ark. and took
two years to make.
Leuthold also creates
stunning tabletop
sculptures such as
“Porcelain Oval” (see
center below) which
is made of carved,
glazed porcelain.
Leuthold’s wheels
are often made of porcelain, which he
skillfully carves from
Leuthold carving the clay model from which “Origin” was cast.
very firm clay. His
wheels seem to evoke
patterns in nature such as the underside of and ear-shaped pieces that are called “Remushrooms or sand dollars. Each piece is ceptors” in one series.
intricate and captivating—one wants to take
Taft’s Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery has
in every carved detail. Leuthold’s 15-year a piece of Leuthold’s sculpture on display
body of work also includes porcelain cones called “Hemisphere.”
“Porcelain Oval,” 1996, Marc Leuthold
(porcelain, 11 in. x 15 in.)
CERAMICS MONTHLY IS A PUBLICATION OF
© THE AMERICAN CERAMICS SOCIETY.
WWW.CERAMICSMONTHLY.ORG
6
“Origin,” 2002, Marc Leuthold (bronze, 66 in.)
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
Under the Sky
Jenny Glenn Wuerker ’83, who taught art
at Taft from 1990 to1995, had a show entitled “In the Shadow of the Big Horns”
this past summer at the Ucross Foundation Art Gallery in Clearmont, Wyo.
Wuerker writes that “Working plein air
has always been my passion. . . . With our
speedy society, I enjoy the counter-cultural
performance of dragging my easel and gear
out into the landscape and manually mixing paint to slowly translate nature to the
canvas. . . . Being part of the landscape, I
work through the wind, changing light,
“Little Crazy Woman Creek,” 2001, Jenny Glenn Wuerker (oil on canvas, 34in. x 43 in.)
and an occasional rattlesnake. I study geology as a figure painter might know
anatomy, in order to recognize the patterns and structure of the land. I hope to
catch the motion of the sky and the light
across the surface of the earth.”
Wuerker earned her BA from Yale
in 1987, and her MFA from American
University in 1992. She is now retired
from teaching and paints full-time
around her home in Buffalo, WY.
the 1776 rare newspaper from
Christie’s in 2000 for $140,000—good
news to Ripley and the library society
who weren’t in a position to purchase
it. The question of legal ownership
wouldn’t be fully resolved for many
more months however.
After the sale was completed, the
Charleston Library Society learned to
its surprise from a scholarly researcher
that a copy of the same 1776 edition
of the Gazette had been part of its own
collection in the 1870s and possibly
into early 1900, yet the library’s 1950
list of material being microfilmed did
not include the 1776 newspaper.
This discovery persuaded the
society to file suit against the seller
of the document, a rare newspaper
dealer from Virginia, months after
the sale had gone through. “We [the
board and officers of the Charleston
Library Society] felt that we would
be remiss if we didn’t try to reacquire
it,” Ripley said. Both parties reached
a friendly settlement in the end after
a bout of litigation.
The purchaser of the rare edition, the
Post and Courier Foundation, has arranged for the library society to
permanently hold and exhibit a copy of
this historic issue of the 1776 Gazette
once again. “It brings the newspaper back
to South Carolina where it belongs,”
Ripley told The Post and Courier.
Warren Ripley is an author of books
on Civil War history, with eight titles in
the Hulbert Taft, Jr., Library’s collection.
A Legal Tug-of-War
Warren Ripley ’39, president of the
Charleston Library Society, played a
key role in reacquiring a rare 1776
issue of the newspaper The South-Carolina and American General Gazette for
its collection. Reportedly the only remaining copy, this 1776 edition carried
news of the first public announcement
of the Declaration of Independence
and was the only newspaper to print
the entire text of the declaration. There
were very few newspapers in America
then, let alone any that printed the entire text of this historic document.
The acquisition of the 1776 Gazette ended up as an unexpected legal
tug-of-war. The Charleston newspaper,
The Post and Courier, where Ripley had
formerly worked, agreed to purchase
7
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
Bowdoin’s Hall of Honor Athlete
Jill Bermingham Isenhart ’82 was selected for the Bowdoin College Athletic
Hall of Honor in Spring 2002. Bowdoin, where Jill graduated from in 1986,
said in the award announcement that she was “unquestionably the most talented, versatile athlete to ever pull on a Bowdoin jersey.” Bermingham Isenhart’s
leadership on the highly-successful soccer and lacrosse teams, and her prolific
scoring were remarkable. Scott Meiklejohn of Bowdoin’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations said Bermingham Isenhart was chosen because,
“Not only was she individually brilliant as an athlete, but her teams also did
particularly well.” The list of her achievements includes the following statistics:
Soccer — 2nd Most goals, career: 36 (1982–1985) and 2nd Most points,
career: 86 (1982–1985)
Lacrosse — Most points, career: 183 (1983–1986)
Hockey — Most goals in a season: 30 (one year only)
She also received the New England Athletic Conference Division III Female Athlete of the Year award in 1985. The list for this talented woman
could go on and on.
Jill Bermingham Isenhart ’82 with husband Chip,
daughter Hannah (3), and son Jesse (1) hiking to Longs
Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado
Sticking to It
8
TIM MCKINNEY
Sarah Graham ’98 was a stellar lacrosse
player during her time at Cornell where
she graduated from in 2002. As one of
five primary defenders, Graham helped
insure the team’s outstanding record by
strengthening its defense.
In 2002, Cornell’s women’s lacrosse
team made it to the Final Four in the
NCAA tournament, and as Cornell wrote
of the team that year, “A team that
changed the fortunes of a program was
rewarded with the greatest season in
school history.” Graham’s team had a
16–2 record, overshadowing the previous record for season wins (13), plus an
undefeated home record (8–0).
Jeremy Hartigan, of Cornell’s athletic communications department, wrote
of Graham:
“Sarah Graham [number 16] from
Washington, Connecticut is one of the top
defenders in school history. Graham is a large
part of the reason for Cornell’s defensive
success over the past two years [2001–2002].
Sarah Graham during Cornell’s NCAA first-round victory over Syracuse. Cornell won the
contest (16–8) on May 9, 2002, in Ithaca.
[Graham’s] aggressive play at line defense
and stick checking ability make her a very
important player in the backfield. Graham has good size and speed and has
developed into a center draw specialist.
In large part due to her efforts, the
Cornell defense ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense.”
ALUMNI
Nantucket Gathering
On Aug. 6, over 75 alumni, parents and friends welcomed Pam and Willy
MacMullen to Nantucket. The party, hosted by M.J. and Tom Dickson P’98, ’03
and Susie and Ward Belcher P’97, ’02, was held at the Sankaty Head Golf Club on
a gorgeous summer night.
Debbie Fraker P’05, Pam MacMullen and
Peggy Toce, P’98, ’01, ’05
Lulu McCullough and Susie Belcher P’97, ’02
In Brief
Steven Erlanger ’70 was part of a
nine-person New York Times reporting team that won the 2002 Pulitzer
Prize for explanatory journalism both
before and after Sept. 11, 2001. The
series that nine reporters collaborated
on was called “Holy Warriors,” published sequentially in January 2001,
well before the terrorist attacks in the
eastern US came about on Sept. 11,
2001. The idea for an investigative
unit to pursue stories that were just
under the radar screen of headline
news began in 1999 and was under
Erlanger’s direction. The subject of
their superb investigative series, Al
Qaeda, ended up being the central
player in the biggest and most tragic
story of terrorism later that year.
Erlanger is bureau chief in Berlin,
Germany, for the New York Times.
Rev. Fred Small ’70 helped found an
interfaith environmental group in
2001 called Religious Witness for
the Earth. The advocacy group organized June 2002 gatherings in six
New England states to ask governors
to implement a plan to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in order to
lessen global warming. Small is a
minister serving at First Unitarian
Church in Littleton, Mass.
Willy MacMullen and the Fraker family
Tony Halsey P’01, Joe Toce P’98, ’01, ’05, M.J.
Dickson P’98, ’03 and Joe Berandino P’01
SPOTLIGHT
Ward Belcher P’97, ’02 and Joan
Goodwin P’00
SAVE THE DATE!
Don’t forget Grandparents’ Day
on Friday, April 11, 2003.
For more information please call
the Alumni Office at
1-800-959-8238
Billy Toce ’01, Senter Johnson ’00, Michelle
Holmes ’00 and Shep Halsey ’01
Willy MacMullen ’78 and A.J. Mleczko
Griswold ’93
9
AROUND THE POND
pond
Welcoming Parents, Students, and Teachers
John Barber ’03 helps Keegan Fraker ’06
(right) move in.
Pam and Willy MacMullen greet Kitty
Herlinger Hillman ’76 and her son Dan ’06
on opening day
10
Taft’s 2002–2003 school year got off to
its usual upbeat start with Headmaster
Willy MacMullen ’78 addressing parents, students, and teachers in
Centennial Courtyard on a sunny fall
day. The school welcomed 217 new students, making the student body soar to
569. MacMullen told the students,
“You’ve entered a place that’s going to
challenge you on the inside and on the
outside,” and added that taking risks
and being open to new ideas is wise.
Taft’s entire student body now comes
from 35 states and 24 foreign countries.
English-Speaking Union exchange student
from Scotland, Georgina Harding-Edgar
with her mother, Jennifer (right and center), and Helen Flanagan Goblirsch ’03 from
Panama (left)
New Faces on the
Faculty
Alison Binkowski, Teaching Fellow in Math
Mark Bodnar, Director of Technology
David Bonner, College Counseling and Football
Ellen Bonner, Dormitory Head, Congdon
William J. Coyle., Assistant Business Manager
Constantine Demetracopoulos,
Mailliard Teaching Fellow in Spanish
Aissatou Diop, French
Jennifer S. Dunfee, Chaplaincy Fellow
David Griffith, Science
J. Michael Harney, Teaching Fellow in Math
Stephen Jackson, College Counseling
and English
Jonas Jeswald, Teaching Fellow in Spanish
Donald Padgett, Mathematics
Julie Palombo, Carpenter Teaching
Fellow in French
Jason Tandon, English and Learning Center
Christopher Torino, English
AROUND THE POND
Mandala of Long Life
The Potter Gallery opened Taft’s
2002–2003 school year by hosting the
creation of a Mandala of Long Life by
Tibetan Buddhist monks from the
Drepung Gomang Monastic University located in Karnataka state,
southern India. The intricate sand
mandala was constructed in the gallery in mid-September with a closing
ceremony of chanting. Once the
mandala is finished, to symbolize the
impermanence of all that exists, the
colored sands are swept up and poured
into a nearby river or stream to send
healing energies throughout, the
world. The purpose of the monks US
Paduano Lecture
Series 2002–03
This year the series is dedicated to the green
theme as a way to continue discussion of the
environmental awareness theme raised by
Taft’s all-school summer reading of Ishmael.
Events scheduled so far are:
tour is to share the compassion and
wisdom of ancient Tibetan Buddhist
culture with North Americans.
The Tibetan monks travel so far
from their home in India in order to raise
much-needed funds to insure the survival
of their culture-in-exile. Drepung
Gomang Monastery houses, feeds, and
educates those who want to study at this
monastic center of higher learning including orphans and refugees fleeing
Chinese-occupied Tibet.
The monks’ tour began in August
2000. Since then, they have created over
15 sand mandalas, mostly throughout the
East Coast including many at private
schools such as Taft, St. Paul’s, Phillips
Exeter, and Spence. The monks have also
visited hospitals and created a medicine
Buddha mandala at a Vietnamese temple
in the Northeast.
Nov. 4 Alan Thornhill, Executive
Director of the Center for
Conservation Biology
Jan. 13 Prof. John R. McNeill,
Georgetown Professor and author of Something New Under the
Sun: An Environmental History
of the Twentieth-Century World
May 9 Performance of the Missa Gaia
(Earth Mass), Paul Halley with
Theresa Thompson
Established in 1999 by Daniel and Nancy
Paduano, parents of John P. Paduano, class
of ’99, the Paduano Lecture Series funds a
program of visiting speakers in support of
the Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics Department at Taft. Visiting speakers, selected
from diverse backgrounds and perspectives,
address the students and faculty and visit
classes during their stay at the school.
Studying Islam
Rick Davis ’59, Taft history department, attended a workshop for
teachers this summer on “Islam in the
Modern World,” sponsored in part by
Hartford Seminary, one of the top
two or three institutions of higher
learning in the US specializing in
Islam. “It was a quite useful and
practical workshop,” Davis says,
“and it fit in perfectly with my plans
to develop a senior elective course
on ‘Islam and the West’ to be offered
this coming second semester.”
Connecticut public radio station, WNPR, visited the workshop
and interviewed participants about
why they were attending, how it
was, and what they hoped to do
with what they learned. WNPR did
a radio piece on Connecticut pub-
lic education’s attempt to deal with
Islam in light of Sept. 11, 2001.
Comments made by Davis and a
fellow teacher from Ethel Walker
(the two private school teachers
among 19 public school colleagues)
were later aired on WNPR.
11
AROUND THE POND
Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery
Schedule for 2002–03
October 1–30
Kate Jellinghaus ’89 “In the Artist’s Workshop”
A student of Mark Potter at Taft, Kate received degrees
in history and Italian studies from Stanford University and is completeing her MFA in Bulgaria. She
returns to Taft as a Rockwell Visiting Artist.
November 8–December 12
Kendall Ayoub ’92 “Personalities”
Another of Taft’s artist alumni, Kendall is the
second Rockwell Visiting Artist in the Potter
Gallery this year. A graduate of Concordia
University and a dedicated outdoorswoman,
Kendall is a portrait artist.
January–February
To be announced
April
Taft Student Visual Arts
Current student work in drawing, painting,
sculpture, printmaking, photography, and ceramics is displayed every year in the Gallery.
May
Ralph Lee ’53
Theater masks, giant figures, and puppets by
the founder and director of the Mettawee River
Theatre Company.
Portraits by Kendall Ayoub
The Mark Potter Gallery is exhibiting a solo show of portraits by Kendall Ayoub ’92
from Nov. 8 through Dec. 12, 2002. Kendall was a Rockwell Visiting Artist at School in
early November, demonstrating portraiture techniques in drawing and painting to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students.
Ayoub studied painting at Bennington College and at Concordia University in Montreal,
receiving her BFA in painting and drawing from Concordia University in 1997. After graduating, Ayoub worked for AstralTech, a 2-D-animation company in Montreal and also designed
3-D backgrounds for video games for Ubisoft Entertainment.
Kendall completed a Yukon Educator Course with National Outdoor Leadership School in 1999 and began leading wilderness adventure trips for Canadian outdoor
centers. She is currently a full-time employee with Outward Bound Canada, leading
whitewater canoe trips, sea kayaking expeditions, hiking trips, cross-country skiing, and
dogsled trips in Northern Ontario. Ayoub has exhibited her work at the V.A.V. Gallery
and Café X in Montreal and at Gallery 109 in Toronto and has twice been the recipient
of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for excellence in figurative and/or representational painting.
“When painting a portrait, I get the chance to spend a
few hours a day, a few times a week, talking and laughing
with someone who is important to me. I look closely at
what aspects make up the expression and being of my
subject and translate them into the myriad hues of a flower
petal or the subtleties of texture and line in a face. The
very art of composing and executing my work is a prolonged act of presence and commitment. Personality
seeps through the process of creating the product, manipulating the medium and engaging myself with the
subject. The finished piece is a unified expression that
emerges from shared dreams, nourished bonds and a
“Catherine,” 1999, Kendall
common understanding of artist, subject, and viewer.
“As an artist, painting and drawing brings me to Ayoub painting, (oil on canvas)
the present moment, slows the hectic pace of postmodernism, and infuses me with an appreciation of the life that surrounds me. The
viewer is not merely a witness to a past moment captured in time, but a participant in
the process of knowing the person or matter portrayed. The finished piece is a unified
expression that emerges from the relationship between the artist and the subject.
The aspects of time, passion and close examination through mood and color are what
make painting and drawing ageless.”
—Kendall Ayoub ’92
12 Taft Bulletin Fall 2002
“Studio 51,” 2001, Kate Jellinghaus,
(oil on board)
In the Artist’s
Workshop
The work of painter Kate Jellinghaus ’89
was exhibited in the Mark Potter Gallery in a solo show called In the Artist’s
Workshop in October. Kate was a
Rockwell Visiting Artist at School during that time, demonstrating painting
technique. Jellinghaus is completing her
MFA in Painting under Professor Andrei
Daniel at the National Academy of Art
in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Kate has been the studio art teacher
at Taft Summer School since 1999. Before she began her graduate studies in
painting she was a teaching fellow for the
Professional English Language Teaching
Program of the Soros Foundation in Bulgaria and an ESL teacher through
Stanford’s Students for Eastern European
Development Program. She is a volunteer worker for the Pokrov Foundation
in Sofia, participating in outreach programs to Bulgarian orphanages,
including the translation of a book of
poetry by Bulgarian orphans.
Kate has shown her photography
in solo exhibitions at Stanford University (where she did her undergraduate
work), Gallery May in Sliven, Bulgaria,
the National Academy of Art, in Sofia,
the Pokrov Foundation, and the EuroBulgarian Center in Sofia. Her
paintings were shown this year at the
Union of Bulgarian Artists’ Gallery also
in the capital.
AROUND THE POND
Frugivores in Brazil
Debbie Phipps, teacher and head of Taft’s
English Department, spent part of her
summer traveling to Brazil as part of an
Earthwatch grant. Debbie wrote these
comments for the Bulletin:
“Supported by the Klingenstein
Foundation, I traveled to the Pantanal re-
gion of Brazil in August to work on an
Earthwatch conservation project through
their education awards program. The
Pantanal, roughly the size of Iowa and
accessible by small charter planes, is a large
wetlands area which, because of its diverse
geography and dramatic seasonal changes,
supports a greater variety of plants and animals than the more famous Amazon
region to the north. Over 450 species of
birds lived on the ranchland where we
stayed, and the endangered jaguars and
hyacinth macaws shared the same acreage.
“My project introduced ten volunteers
to researchers studying frugivores, the fruiteating animal population: tapirs, toucans,
peccaries, monkeys, agouti, curassows, and
other large birds. We measured trees and
charted their fruit production, mapped
rookeries, observed roosting sites, noted
animal census figures along the river as well
as on trails, and learned lab techniques by
measuring fruit and dung samples. In addition to participating in research designed
to help the conservation effort in the
Pantanal, we learned a great deal about Brazilian culture, politics, and history, though
our Portuguese improved only slightly, despite our desires to learn more of the
mellifluous language.
“The best part, for me, was working
with such a spirited group of volunteers
and having the opportunity to observe
some outstanding teachers. Anyone who
could prompt excitement about dung
collection knows how to inspire his audience, and I learned as much about
teaching as I did about frugivores.”
Davis Fellowships for International Travel
multiple routes to Santiago, and none of
them is easy, but the pilgrim must persevere.
Although my path to Santiago was made
easier by modern conveniences and by the
timely interventions of friends old and new,
I found it marked by astonishing moments
of insight, clarity and challenge. What I
found when I reached my goal exceeded everything I’d imagined in twenty years of
dreaming about this trip. The serenity of the
cathedral’s central cloister was all the more
profound because it was surrounded by
throngs of foot-sore walkers, saddle-weary
bikers, and earnest seekers. I am so grateful
to have been among them.” Beasley brings
a deep understanding of the pilgrimage back
to the Taft classroom.
Rick Lansdale plans to travel to Cape
Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, the interior, and Kruger National Park
in South Africa during spring break and
again next summer. He will bring his knowledge back to the lower-mid English classes
whose students in recent years have read Alan
Paton’s novel, Cry the Beloved Country, a
number of Nadine Gordimer’s short stories,
and Athol Fugard’s play, “Master Harold”…
and the Boys. In addition to reading these
works, students also give oral presentations
about everything from the geography of
South Africa to historical and current events.
Lansdale will take a summer seminar at the
University of Cape Town, see the contemporary theater festival in Grahamstown, tour
a gold or diamond mine, and visit one of
the homelands. Through his journeys,
Lansdale seeks to experience the differences
between the lives of the people who own
the farms in the interior and the people who
work them.
JANE NELSEN
Two members of the English Department,
Sara Beasley and Rick Lansdale, were named
as recipients of the Davis Fellowship for international travel and study. The Davis
Fellowship was established in 1997 by Mr.
and Mrs. Jeffrey D. Davis and their daughter, Whitney J. Davis ’97, to promote
excellence in teaching by encouraging members of the English, history, and foreign
language departments to pursue cultural and
scholarly experiences through international
travel and study in order to broaden and
deepen their capacity as classroom teachers.
Sara Beasley writes, “The Davis Fellowship permitted me to travel to Santiago de
Compostela, Spain, the timeless destination
of pilgrims from all over the world. I was in
a college English course on Geoffrey Chaucer
when I first conceived the desire to see for
myself the great cathedral in this ancient
town. My college professor had spoken of
the importance of pilgrimage, of the possibilities that emerge from a solo journey that
is also shared by others. In traveling to and
through northern Spain, I sought to learn
about a culture and land that has attracted
multitudes for hundreds of years. There are
Jeff and Sandy Davis, founders of the Davis
Fellowship, at their home in London
13
The
John L. Vogelstein
Dormitory
W
By Will Miller ’74
Chair, Board of Trustees
inston Churchill once wrote an essay
about the impact that the physical form
of the House of Commons has had on
his country’s history and politics—from shaping the
nature of political debate to adding words to the
English language, like “backbencher.” In that essay
he wrote,“First we shape our buildings. Thereafter,
they shape us.”
The truth of this adage is readily apparent at Taft. Taft is a more close-knit
community than many boarding schools,
in part because so many of our buildings
are physically knit together. Our students
and faculty know each other so well, in part
because the halls of Taft have been intentionally designed with nooks and crannies
into which small groups of people can slip
to talk, study, laugh, cry, and connect with
each other. The quality of our classrooms,
athletic facilities, performance spaces, and
major common areas is intended to elicit a
response from each member of the community to strive for his or her personal best.
It is in this spirit that the John L. Vogelstein
’52 Dormitory has been added to the Taft
community this year.
The campus of the Taft School, like
the School itself, has a unique character.
In the 1890s, Mr. Taft’s vision for his
school led him to engage Bertram
Goodhue, one of the leading American
architects of his day, to design the first
significant new building on the
Watertown campus. Goodhue was the
䉴
“We’ve been given more than just a building—
more than a space; we’ve been given a symbol
of our motto “Not to be served but to serve.”
We’ve got a fitting symbol of John Vogelstein
himself—towering, dignified, and permanent.”
—Willy MacMullen
14
Dedicating the Foyer and Grand Stairways
’52
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICKERS & BEECHLER
15
Will Miller continued
architect of such landmark buildings as
New York’s St. Bartholomew’s Church,
the Los Angeles Public Library, and the
Nebraska State Capitol. He set the tone
for the campus when he chose to design
HDT (Horace D. Taft Hall) in a redbrick
scholastic gothic style reminiscent of
parts of Oxford or Cambridge.
In the 1920s, Mr. Taft once again
chose from among the nation’s finest architects when he hired James Gamble
The Dedication
By Linda Beyus
he crisp, sunny day that followed a tropical
storm’s rains made the dedication of the John L.
Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory even more joyous.
John and his two sons, Fred ’80 and Andrew ’85, were
photographed next to the commemorative portrait of
them that hangs in the hallway of the new girls’ dormitory, a tribute to this extraordinarily generous donor.
T
Fred ’80, Barbara, John ’52, Andrew ’85,
and Monica Vogelstein
Rafe de la Gueronniere ’70, Grant Porter
’69, and Steve Potter ’73 dedicate the
Foyer and Grand Stairways.
16
Early in the day, Taft’s trustees toured
the dorm, getting a glimpse of the quality
construction and design used, followed by
the dedication of the foyer and stairway
given to the School by Grant A. Porter ’69.
The entire School, along with assembled guests, gathered in Bingham
Auditorium and listened to the thunderous sound of bagpipes and drums
echo down CPT’s corridors as the procession of trustees marched in for the
dedication ceremonies. Chaplain
Michael Spencer gave the invocation
prior to Collegium Musicum singing
“Untraveled Worlds,” a rousing piece
written specifically for Taft’s choral
group by composer Paul Halley. The
lyrics, from Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” speak
of the journey to which students and
all people are called:
“All experience is an arch where through
Gleams that untraveled world….
To follow knowledge like a sinking star…
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Headmaster Willy MacMullen ’78
paid tribute to the building contractors,
O & G Industries, by thanking Greg
Oneglia ’65, vice chairman, and Jason
Travelstead ’88, project manager, along
with Lou Cherichetti who oversaw the
building project for Taft. Willy eloquently
thanked John L. Vogelstein, former Chair
of the Board of Trustees, for his exceptional generosity and vision.
Former Headmaster Lance Odden
thanked Grant Porter and new Board
Chair Will Miller ’74, who, during his
24 years on Taft’s board, spearheaded the
Rogers to create CPT (Charles Phelps
Taft Hall). Rogers was the designer of
Yale’s Memorial Quadrangle (now
Branford and Saybrook Colleges), Sterling Memorial Library, and most of the
important buildings on the Yale campus
from that period. He also designed the
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center
in New York City and the Butler Library
at Columbia University. Gamble Rogers
chose to design CPT in the same red-
brick gothic as Goodhue, but he developed his own interpretation of the
elements of this style. The two buildings
are harmonious with one another, yet distinct in their details, creating as it were a
dialogue between two voices speaking the
same language with different accents.
With this tradition in mind, Taft has
been reshaping its campus over the last
three decades to meet the needs of the
school in the twenty-first century. Like
䉴
“We should be forever
grateful to Will Miller because he taught us that the
beauty of the buildings we
inherit and live in elevates
our understanding of the
possible and I think that
this latest building will do
that better than any of
those we have built. However great Will’s designs
have been, they would
have come to naught if it
weren’t for the generosity
of the man we honor here
today: John Vogelstein.”
—Lance Odden
Willy MacMullen ’78, Fred Vogelstein ’80, John Vogelstein ’52, Andrew Vogelstein ’85,
Lance Odden, Will Miller ’74, and Grant Porter ’69
campus transformation with unsurpassed
quality architecture. Odden also gave
praise to John Vogelstein for his generosity and his remarkable stewardship with
many organizations.
Miller echoed the sentiments of both
MacMullen and Odden saying, “The
[new] dormitory that now stands…is only
the latest and most tangible example of
John’s personal commitment to the school
and it is altogether fitting that generations
of students to come will say they live in
Vogelstein, unconscious perhaps, that if
they live up to the ideals of the school,
they’ll be living in John’s spirit as well as
his building.” Miller also gave high praise
to Robert Stern and fellow architects who
adeptly framed the new dorm’s design with
the school’s architectural history.
When John Vogelstein spoke, he received a standing ovation, not once, but
twice, as he shared his memories of Taft in
the past and the transformed Taft today.
The profound changes at Taft over the years
“stirred his imagination and dedication,”
he said.
Collegium Musicum sang “Taft
Forever” before the bagpipers led trustees and invited guests outdoors for the
ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new
dormitory’s terrace.
John Vogelstein cut the ceremonial
ribbon as the stone-carved names of John
L. Vogelstein and sons, Fred and Andrew,
gleamed in the sun over the exquisite
building’s doorway.
Lance Odden and John Vogelstein
17
Mr. Taft, we have sought out some of the
best architects our nation has to offer. We
have challenged them to create a campus
that combines harmony and distinction.
Our strategy has been to pursue a diversity of interpretations of a style, rather than
“I envy the students of Taft. You attend a spectacular institution with a superb faculty that will challenge you every day
because they care so deeply. The education you receive will be
outstanding, and the environment in which you live, nurturing
and supportive. All this will expand your minds and influence
the kind of individuals you become….Wherever you go, I hope
you will leave here with a keen sense of service to others and
that you will always remember what Taft has done for you.”
a diversity of styles. In the last 20 years,
Herbert Newman has designed the Arts
and Humanities Center and Centennial
Dormitory, Tom Beeby has created the
Paul and Edith Cruikshank Gymnasium,
and Graham Gund has added the Lady
Ivy Kwok Wu Science and Mathematics
Center and the Odden Hockey Arena.
Each presents a subtly different take on
the scholastic gothic style.
The latest addition to this dialogue is
the John L. Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory. The
firm of Robert A.M. Stern Architects in
New York was chosen to design the build-
—John L. Vogelstein
Construction as Craft
Greg Oneglia ’65 and Jason Travelstead ’88
build the John L. Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory
By Linda Beyus
When Greg Oneglia ’65 was considering coming to Taft as a lower-mid, he
especially liked the feel and look of the
campus because it felt like one large
building. The structures Greg loved
back then and continues to build on
this campus are only one example of
his commitment to a school that is
deeply part of his family’s background.
All five of his children have attended
Taft—Jessica ’88, Thomas ’93, Daniel
’95, Christina ’98, and now Matthew ’03.
Oneglia, vice-chairman of O & G
Industries and a Taft trustee, worked
on the massive John L. Vogelstein ’52
Dormitory building project with sonin-law Jason Travelstead ’88, project
18
manager, who in turn is married to Jessica Oneglia Travelstead ’88, Taft’s
Director of the Annual Fund.
“What is most amazing to me,”
Oneglia says, “is that the new dorm
looks like it’s been part of the school forever. When the scaffolding and the
canvas that protected the building all
winter came down this spring, the building looked as if it had been here all
along. They [the designers] did a masterful job of integrating it.”
He also noted that the planners—
Robert A.M. Stern Architects and the
Planning Committee of the Board of
Trustees—did a great job with the massing, which is the scale of the project, and
also with the selection of materials including cast stone arches, a slate roof, and
exceptional millwork from a local firm.
When asked about O & G’s history of building projects here at Taft,
Greg listed the revamped main circle
and internal roads, Geoffrey C. Camp
Field, McCullough Field House,
Lady Ivy Kwok Wu Science and
Mathematics Center, Odden Arena,
and the recently-completed John L.
Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory.
One of the things that most impresses Oneglia, is how well thought
out and skillfully planned Taft’s building projects are. In the case of the
Vogelstein project, the fact that it was
ing from a national list of top-notch architects. Stern, who is Dean of the Yale
School of Architecture, has built an international reputation for his skill in
designing a wide variety of buildings that
complement their architectural and historical contexts. Stern’s firm has extensive
expertise in academic architecture and
planning as well, having designed the library at St. Paul’s School and served as
the master planners for Georgetown University, for example.
Several locations for the new dormitory
were considered, including placing it west
䉴
Board Chair Will Miller ’74 thanks Grant Porter ’69 for his generosity in naming the Foyer and
Grand Stairways in memory of his parents Kenneth Porter, Jr., and Joan H. Porter. Grant
made this gift with his wife Christina and their daughter Christina C. Porter ’00.
Jason Travelstead ’88, left, with his fatherin-law Greg Oneglia ’65 in front of the new
girls’ dormitory
so well organized, Greg notes, is due
especially to Will Miller ’74, Chair,
Board of Trustees, and Lance Odden,
former Headmaster. Reminiscing about
his exceptional former teacher, Oneglia
says, “Of all the people in my life, other
than my father, Mr. Odden was a huge
help to me personally and to my family over the years.”
Greg Oneglia probably never
dreamed he’d be constructing buildings
like those he admired as a Taft lower-mid
over 40 years ago.
Student residents Marisa Ryan ’03 and Courtney Reardon ’03 enjoying their new
dormitory room.
19
Will Miller ’74, Robert A.M. Stern, Willy
MacMullen ’78, and Lance Odden
John Vogelstein greeting student residents
of the new dormitory
of Centennial or replacing “The Rock.” The
location at the end of the history wing of
CPT was selected because of the opportunity to integrate classrooms on the lower
floors of the new building with the teaching
space in CPT and to create a new outdoor
quadrangle in the space between the new
dorm and Bingham Auditorium. Attaching
the new dorm to the complex of the CPT/
HDT buildings also reinforces the “connectedness” of the campus, which is an essential
characteristic of Taft.
The Vogelstein dorm has a number of
interesting architectural features that, on the
one hand, relate it to life at Taft and the rest
John Vogelstein addresses the assembled
guests.
of the campus and, on the other hand, give
the dorm its own unique identity. The student living spaces are configured as pairs of
rooms connected by an internal door. This
permits great flexibility in housing arrangements. A pair can be a double in which the
student occupants share a bedroom and a
study—or they can be separated into two
singles. Faculty apartments are integrated
into the dorm so that each floor is connected
to one or two faculty residences to help integrate teachers into dorm life. There is a
common room on each floor situated to
exploit views of the rest of the Taft campus.
“Connectedness” has been designed in at the
Rafe de la Gueronniere ’70, Willy
MacMullen ’78, Steve Potter ’73, and Grant
Porter ’69
Construction as Craft continued
When asked why he switched to
construction management as his career instead of law, Jason Travelstead
’88 smiles and says that he knew in
his second year of law school that he
didn’t want a legal profession.
Travelstead’s grandfather had been a
contractor and his father was a developer, so it was natural for him to
go into this field.
Jason worked for the US Geological
Survey after attending the Northwestern
School of Law of Lewis and Clark College doing legal research in Colorado
20
while his wife Jessica Oneglia Travelstead
’88, was studying for her MBA at the
University of Denver. When his fatherin-law, Greg Oneglia ’65, asked Jason if
he’d like to come on board with O & G
Industries, he accepted and moved east.
While Travelstead was highly committed to the Vogelstein Dormitory
building project from the start, he had a
special concern for his alma mater. “I really didn’t want to screw this up,” he said,
laughing. Travelstead feels that Taft has
made alumni proud of the institution at
all levels, but especially with its high qual-
ity facilities. “It’s been very satisfying to
get to know the faculty again,” he says,
having been on site here for 16 months.
Jason enjoys working for a private
owner, such as a school, best since the
communication and working relationships are tremendous. Before his Taft
building project he worked on facilities
at Millbrook School.
With respect to unique architectural aspects of the Taft Vogelstein
Dormitory building, Travelstead highlights the lead-coated copper on the
building’s exterior. Looking at plans
micro as well as at the macro levels.
On a larger scale, the building serves as
a visual bridge between the campus and the
surrounding community of Watertown by
being aligned for most of its length with the
grid of CPT, but then turning at its eastern
end to align with the streets and houses of
the town. Connectedness is a concept we
wanted to extend to include our neighbors.
The design of the John L.
Vogelstein ’52 Dormitory was shaped by
the values of the Taft School. As
Churchill’s words suggest, the new dorm
will in turn help shape the lives of generations of Taft students to come.
A light-filled language classroom in the new dormitory
The Foyer and Grand Stairways
early on, he wondered how this material would work and appear—he
confirms that it looks great. In addition, the millwork, critical to the
building’s integrity, had to be very
high quality. The red oak woodwork
gives the new girls’ dormitor y a
warmth that is the hallmark of many
older buildings here at Taft. “We’ve
got a building everyone will be proud
of,” Travelstead states. He says that the
Vogelstein Dormitory construction
project is likely to be submitted by
O & G for industry awards.
Chip Spencer ’56, Penny Townsend, Patsy Odden, Jeff Atwood ’85, Jennifer Atwood,
and Monica Vogelstein
21
HUBERT S CHRIEBL
The
W
hy would
a corporate
executive decide to start a ski area from
raw wilderness in 1960
after being told it wouldn’t
be profitable and that the
odds were fully against its
success? If this was not
enough of a hurdle, Frank
V. Snyder ’39 faced investor after investor who
said no to the project that
would become Stratton
Mountain in southern
Vermont and now one
of New England’s largest
ski areas.
Challenge of
Frank V. Snyder ’39
Builds Stratton
Ski Area in 1960
Frank Snyder on an International Harvester
TD-15 trail-blazing bulldozer, 1960
HUBERT S CHRIEBL
By Linda Beyus
HUBERT S CHRIEBL
When asked why he decided
to start a ski area, Snyder said,
“What was it that Mallory said
about why he climbed Everest? Because it’s there,” he laughed. “I
really don’t know why I did it—I
just kind of backed into it.” Jessie,
Snyder’s wife, said, “I think he was
intrigued with the challenge of
building a ski area that would be a
sound business, as well as being a
good place to ski.” Snyder proceeded to tell Taft’s Bulletin the
story of Stratton’s origins as if it had
happened yesterday, not 40 years ago.
Partly, Snyder had thought
about how good it would be for his
own family to have a ski area closer
to their home in Greenwich. They
had been skiing at Stowe for many
years, a long drive from southern
Connecticut. While looking at maps
of the state on a ride home, he
Frank Snyder in classic parallel form in the mid-1970s
FRANK V. SNYDER ’39
discovered that there was a 4,000foot peak in southern Vermont that
was not yet developed. Through
word-of-mouth, he met an instructor from Stowe named Bob Wright
who had a plan with other potential
partners to start a ski area on Stratton
Mountain. Snyder offered to invest
if Wright could find other committed investors, a task that would not
be easy. As far as nearby competition, there was only Mt. Snow, which
Snyder describes as in a state of disrepair in those days.
Snyder, then partner of Moore and
Munger, a family business that manufactured petroleum-based products,
decided to work with Wright and a
core group of supporters who had a
vision of creating this new ski area in
southern Vermont’s snowbelt. Snyder
soon realized that Wright wouldn’t be
able to get the project fully off the
t
n
a
i
u
n
o
M
a
A very young ski area—Stratton’s original
trails, 1961 䉲
23
THE CHALLENGE OF A MOUNTAIN
HUBERT S CHRIEBL
Frank’s brother, Phil Snyder ’38 (at right) at groundbreaking for Stratton’s Carlos Otis Clinic, 1971
ground, so he decided to lead the venture
himself. Not only did Snyder jump on board
the fledgling project, he exerted strong, creative leadership and management from the
start, abilities he’d honed over the years.
While the ambitious search for investors was on, Frank and Jessie hiked the
undeveloped Stratton Mountain one fall
day in 1959, coming down in the dark just
before Tink Smith and other local supporters were about to send out a search party.
Snyder decided to partner with Smith, an
intrepid Vermonter and local wood products manufacturer who, like Snyder himself,
had the willpower and guts to see the
Stratton ski area built. Tink Smith owned
some property on Stratton Mountain and
International Paper owned the rest, which
they were happy to let go of since it had
been heavily logged decades before.
When asked why Stratton Mountain
seemed so special as a potential ski area,
24
Snyder said he was impressed with its
shape; it had few ledges which was a plus
since ledges made for icy runoff. Its summit was a mile long and skiable, plus it
was in an area with heavy snowfall.
Snyder and Smith became the engines
of the fledgling development project, with
help from others such as Vermont Senator
Ed Janeway. With steady leadership and
management skills gained from both busi-
Frank Snyder boating at Martha’s Vineyard
this summer
ness and sailing, Snyder found investors
who wanted to see the new ski area created
on Stratton. Colleagues led him to the
National Commercial Bank of Albany,
whose president was Frank McCabe ’20.
While describing the project to McCabe,
Snyder was pleased to find out that his prospective banker happened to be a Taft
graduate. McCabe and the bank’s lending
board eventually backed the Stratton
project, allowing them to move forward on
purchasing needed equipment, like the International Harvester TD-15 bulldozer
(pictured on page 22), top-quality
chairlifts, and the thousand other things
needed to run a ski area.
From the beginning, Snyder wanted
Stratton to be unique and have the feel
of the Austrian ski areas that he and Jessie
loved visiting. It had to have a fun atmosphere with music playing outdoors, and
architecture with an Austrian flavor.
FRANK V. SNYDER ’39
“We’ve got to build the best ski area with
the best ski school, the best lifts, the best
of everything,” Snyder told partner Tink
Smith, “and if we do that, I know it’ll be
successful.” They hired expert instructors
some of whom also played musical instruments, insuring the atmosphere
Snyder envisioned by offering Tyrolean
evenings with music and dancing.
Fast forward to Stratton’s final push
toward opening day in late December
1961. Snyder and Smith nearly didn’t open
on time until a small miracle happened.
Another Stowe skier, Serge Gagarin of
United Aircraft, contacted Snyder and
arranged for helicopters to airlift the
chairlift towers in place on the newlybulldozed slopes, something that had
never been done at a ski area. Even the
Today Show came to photograph this amazing operation that took 12 hours and
hauled 20 tons of equipment up a rugged
mountain. The access road still had bulldozers clearing it as undaunted skiers
arrived at Stratton Mountain for the Dec.
23 opening day. Snyder and his partners
Jessie and Frank at their Vineyard summer home
had realized their dream.
Vision and tenacity were stamped
all over this Stratton project. Building
a ski area closer to Connecticut for convenience really wasn’t the main reason
Snyder committed himself so fully to
creating Stratton Mountain. He now
says that he felt starting a high quality
ski area would be a huge challenge and
this is what whetted his appetite most
of all. Snyder still says the word “challenge” with a-unwavering deep voice.
One can tell he has faced, even welcomed, more than his share of these
over many years. And for Snyder,
Stratton’s creation really wasn’t ever
about making money.
His own dedication, and that of
Tink Smith’s, to starting Stratton was
also fueled by a strong belief that they
could do a good job at it. This dedication to creating something, whether a
new ski area or anything else, reminds
Snyder of Taft School, a place where
he learned about commitment. Snyder
asserts that dedication is why people
like former Headmaster Lance Odden
and all other teachers do what they
do—it’s the desire to make a difference
and be good leaders.
In the midst of the Stratton undertaking, Snyder recalls his father asking
him, “Do you think you have the
strength to do this?” His father added
the warning, “[Later on], just remember what I asked you.” Forty-two years
later, Snyder easily remembers those
prophetic words of a father he describes
as stoic. “We knew we had a father and
mother who were very strong,” he says.
Suntanner lift and trail, 1962
HUBERT S CHRIEBL
25
THE CHALLENGE OF A MOUNTAIN
Illustration by Tommy Detmer ’03
His parents loved the outdoors, something that their sons Frank ’39 and Phil
’38 mirrored in their own lives.
Regarding the creation of Stratton
Mountain as a ski area, Snyder reflects, “It
was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I could
not have done it if I hadn’t gone to Taft
School.” Snyder also learned a great deal
about discipline during his time rowing on
varsity crew for Harvard. He was told he’d
have to put one hundred percent of his
strength into every stroke. “That discipline
stayed with me,” he notes, adding, “You
can fight your way through if you dedicate
yourself.” The intensity of rowing for
Harvard and an education at Taft School
were “the two defining things in my life,”
Snyder states with satisfaction.
Frank Snyder’s older brother Phil ’38,
a former Taft trustee, also played an important role at Stratton with his
determination to build an on-mountain
medical clinic. The Carlos Otis Stratton
Mountain Clinic was established in 1972,
named after Dr. Carlos Otis from nearby
Townshend who helped save the life of
Phil’s wife Frances, when she had been severely injured while hiking in the area. Phil
26
invested his own money in the Stratton
Corporation that Frank had launched,
along with their mother who invested when
the new corporation most needed help.
“Phil was a man of great character,”
Frank says, “just like our father.” Phil was
one year ahead of Frank at Taft—“He
leaned on me a little bit,” Frank says, smiling. “We were very loyal to each other.”
He notes that Taft was a very challenging
school in those days. It was a five-year
school, so he entered when he was only
12 years old. Snyder laughs and says he
was known as “Little Snyder,” something
that seems impossible when meeting this
strong man in person today.
Phil’s class at Yale, Frank pointed out,
received their 1942 diplomas early in order
to send graduates off to war. Phil, along with
Frank, served in the Navy during dangerous times. Frank was a 21-year-old
submarine officer and Phil served on a battleship that was part of the Battle of Philippines
and the Battle of Okinawa. Frank says Phil’s
ship had some very close calls. The Snyder
brothers learned both discipline and courage as young men serving in World War II.
Snyder’s tenacity comes from his up-
bringing. His education at Taft and rowing
at Harvard taught him that discipline he’s
used in all his ventures, from business decisions to transocean sailing. “The real stresses,
in business, as in life” Snyder says, “are personal and personnel problems—people who
are shooting from the bushes, trying to cut
you down. You can’t let your anger take over;
you need to stay cool and collected.”
Frank Snyder led a project that defied
the odds, using skills he had learned everywhere, from Taft to Harvard to the
corporate world. He brought management
and leadership skills to the Stratton Mountain development, making sure there was
ongoing reassessment in order to stay with
their corporate vision. It’s apparent that he
and partners were smart enough to change
their tactics when needed and by ensuring
that they had the best managers in place.
The phrase “Renaissance man” fits
Snyder’s amazing array of skills and interests. Frank and Jessie are avid sailors, even
crossing the Pacific on an 11-month voyage. Prior to that trip, Frank sailed in the
solo Bermuda Race from Newport “as a
tune-up,” he says, for their Pacific trip.
Snyder authored a book called Life Under
Sail with Macmillan in 1963, and is currently writing a civil war novel. For many
years he served as the commodore of the
New York Yacht Club and continues to sail
as well as ski. He and Jessie have homes in
Greenwich, Conn., on Martha’s Vineyard,
Mass. and in Snowmass, Colo..
Grateful acknowledgment to The Stratton Story,
Martha Sonnenfeld and Frank V. Snyder, Stratton ,VT.:
Stratton Corporation, 1981, for background material
Jonathan ’73 with his father Frank ’39, at
Martha’s Vineyard
Travels
That
Transform
Taft Students use their Poole Grants to
travel, serve, and learn
By Rick Lansdale
W
e’re busy here. As soon as the year opens,
students are challenged at every turn, and
the ordinary day of a Taft student is packed
with activity. He or she is off and running at the first bell—
to breakfast, classes, school meetings, sports or rehearsals,
dinner, study hall, the social scene, and then, maybe, but
probably not until later, to sleep. Taft students take no
small pride in the amount of work that gets done. It’s part
of the training, the discipline, the rigor of the place. Some
students need even more, those whose horizons stretch far
beyond the school’s gates and the confines of friendly
Watertown. And although the school is more connected
outwardly than ever, and although electronic portals can
be found in every dormitory room, visiting a web page is
still no substitute for visiting a foreign country. “There is
a world elsewhere,” Shakespeare’s Coriolanus tells us, and
it is into that world that the largest number of Poole Grant
recipients traveled this last summer.
Named for Robert Poole ’50, who
served in the Peace Corps and devoted
most of his adult life to environmental
preservation, the Poole Grants help selected students travel abroad and perform
community service. From the Gobi
Desert to Iceland, from Latin America
to Eastern Europe, this past summer Taft
students found themselves working on
building projects, participating in school
enrichment programs, assisting in homeless shelters, and manning understaffed
hospital wards. Their experiences have
brought that larger world back to Taft.
Here are a few of their stories.
Rick Lansdale is a teacher of English and
director of the Independent Studies Program
at Taft.
TRAVELS THAT TRANSFORM
Neena Qasba ’02
I recently returned to American soil, and
all I can think about is my new home on
the other side of the world. Combining
travel, home stay, and community service,
my monthlong adventure was an enlightening and gratifying experience. I had
joined 11 other teenagers from Connecticut, New York, California, and one from
the Czech Republic to partake in the Experiment for International Living Program,
an international organization that combines
an array of activities to create an amazing
experience for their participants. I wanted
to learn more about Chile. All I knew before I went was that Chile was a long skinny
country bordering Argentina, but now I
know it’s the economic and social powerhouse of South America.
I could describe the majestic Andes,
the crystal blue Pacific, or the divine and
diverse topographical wonder of the world,
San Pedro de Atacama, but the most astounding and fulfilling aspect of my visit
was not a natural creation but the two-week
home stay with my Chilean family. Sleeping, eating, talking, and being with the
Castillo family in La Serena, was an amazing opportunity. Bonding with my new
younger sisters and discussing hot topics
with my host dad, Pato, the two weeks
seemed pathetically short. In Chile, I volunteered at local homeless shelters,
transformed strangers into family, saw marvelous sights, and practiced my improving
Spanish. I know I only sampled the beauty
and kindness of such a diverse region and
people. I thank Mr. MacMullen and the
Poole Grant Committee for all their help.
Without this unique grant, I could never
describe this adventure nor express such
fascination with a country I can now call
my second home. Through this grant, Taft
students are upholding Mr. Poole’s passion
for adventure, and honoring his dream to
preserve the natural beauty of the world’s
lands and people.
Leah Barad ’03
Kristie Giannetto ’03
Costa Rica was beautiful, but it’s not the splendor of the environment or the adventures that made the trip special. It was the people.
Living with a family for two weeks opened my eyes to a new culture
and connected me to the country in a way that walking through the
forest or rafting a river never could. It amazes me how in such a
short amount of time I found myself so attached to the members of
this town even with my limited ability to communicate.
We worked at a preservation called Fudebiol—about
a thousand acres—where we spent our time painting, varnishing, and sanding the various structures in which the
preserve’s biologists live and work as they study the area.
Fudebiol’s other function is to protect the water sources
for the nearby town where we stayed, not a small feat
given the amount of contaminants in the area. I can only
hope that one
day, I’ll be able to
visit my host
community once
again and I thank
Taft for offering
me a Poole Grant
and for giving me
the opportunity
to experience
Costa Rica.
This past summer, I lived on Columbia University’s
Biosphere 2 campus in Oracle, Arizona. Biosphere 2 was
built in the late ’80s by a private donor to run an experiment to see if running a completely closed system was
possible. This was important and still is because it can tell
us if living on other planets is possible in the future and it
can also tell us how Biosphere 1, known as Earth, functions. While on the Biosphere 2 campus, I spent my time
in class under the direction of Dr. Nick Yensen, a worldrenowned scientist who studies and produces halophytes,
and Dr. Linda Leigh, one of the original Biospherians.
Class hours were spent studying and building smaller closed
systems in which we eventually spent as many as 12 hours at a
stretch, while monitoring oxygen, carbon dioxide, humidity, and
temperature levels. I also spent a number of hours inside the
Biosphere 2 facility studying the climate of the Lower Savannah
and the Upper Thorn Scrub
under a graduate student
named Kristi Argenbright.
Through my student life organizers, I was able to go to
Mt. Lemon, the Pima Air
and Space Museum, the
Sonoran Desert Museum,
and the Grand Canyon.
28
THE POOLE FELLOWSHIP
Wilson Hack ’03
I chose Chile for my Poole Grant because I
knew nothing about the country and
wanted to learn more about it, but also
because I wanted to visit a Spanish-speaking South American country. The northern
part of Chile through which I was lucky
enough to travel proved to be breathtaking. Hot during the day, icy at night, the
desert and mountain areas of San Pedro de
Atacama were my favorites. I was fortunate
enough to see huge salt flats that were home
to flocks of flamingos, the Andes mountain range, a desert that stretched for miles,
and the world’s largest open pit copper
mine, plus I even caved a bit.
Aside from all the traveling I was able
to do, the numerous volunteer projects my
group participated in during my month in
Chile made my Poole Grant worthwhile.
Our group worked throughout our home
stay in La Serena with a foundation called
Hogar de Cristo. Not unlike Habitat for
Humanity, Hogar differs from Habitat in
that it houses elderly people, usually in one
location, where volunteer workers provide
the necessary attention and care.
Hogar de Cristo was the equivalent of
a walled-in retirement home. Poor male residents from the city resided within its walls.
Most of the Chileans who lived there (about
20) were restricted to beds due to illness;
others spent the day on a bench in the courtyard under the shade of trees watching the
white stray cats that slunk around. During
the long hours we spent at Hogar de Cristo,
we focused on cleaning and restoring a plot
of land set back from the main part of the
home. For the residents that were active, this
land represented a place to pursue interests
and activities such as gardening, carpentry,
and arts and crafts. A small shed held the art
rooms, small low-ceilinged spaces with
wooden boards and paintbrushes strewn in
every corner. By the time we were done, both
the land and the small shed had been
groomed and tidied.
When we first arrived, everything was
overgrown; it was apparent that the place
had received little or no upkeep over the
years, and was in desperate need of a facelift.
We set to work moving firewood into piles,
digging and cultivating new gardens, raking, cleaning, and clearing. We hand-scraped
and painted a shed inside and outside and
carried loads of garbage to the dumpster.
The biggest project was replacing the fence
around Hogar de Cristo.
There were times during our work,
when I doubted what we were doing. I
realized that the distinct image of neglect
that resonated from the “before” Hogar
de Cristo would inevitably return over
time after we left. While the “after” scene
was rejuvenated, vibrant, and clean, I realized that the elderly residents of Hogar
de Cristo were not mobile enough to do
the manual labor the land and shed required. But for the time being, we prided
ourselves in the project we had completed
and left feeling we had helped improve
their surroundings. Part of our time there
included not just working but eating
meals and socializing as best we could
with the residents.
We also enjoyed community service
work at a school in Iquique. In contrast to
the older residents of Hogar de Cristo, we
worked with small schoolchildren eager to
help with our projects and practice their
English. The school housed and taught orphans who had no family to live and grow up
with. But this did not dampen their spirits.
It was a shame to see the limited resources the school had. The entire building,
which we painted inside, was about half
the size of Taft’s lower dining hall: one main
room, with kitchen and bathrooms extending off, and a concrete play area in back.
Not once while there did I see school supplies, desks, chairs, or paper. It’s possible
that these were tucked away somewhere,
but I thought back to my experience at Taft
and how radically different these two worlds
are. How often did I complain about my
small single in Congdon House last year?
These children slept side by side, on
squeaky metal cots, in a single room that
defied privacy and personal space. But they
were happy. They asked us “What is your
name?” and then giggled because they had
spoken English—they asked if we had ever
met Mickey Mouse.
It was hard to say goodbye to the
children of Iquique. How different my
own school experience is from that of the
children there. I am fortunate enough to
go to a school overflowing with resources,
all to aid me in my quest for knowledge;
willing and passionate teachers, technology, books and supplies, and peers who
share the same drive as myself. I do not
pretend to take for granted my Taft Experience, since, for me, Taft has been the
opportunity of a lifetime, and as I look
ahead to my college career.
Poole Grant Recipients
Summer 2002
Leah Barad – Costa Rica
Myrna Delgado – Puerto Rico
Nick Fessenden – Costa Rica
Kristie Giannetto – Arizona
Wilson Hack – Chile
Lela Ilyinsky – Ecuador
Justin Krusko - Iceland
Caitlin Keys – Turks and Caicos
Brenna Leath – Fiji
Angus Littlejohn – Costa Rica
Cecily Longfield – Costa Rica
Cathy Marigomen – Romania
George McFadden – Dominican Republic
Fiona McFarland – Peru
Johanna Pistell – Honduras
Neena Qasba – Chile
Marisa Ryan – Belize
Tucker Serenbetz – Peru
Bettina Scott – Costa Rica
Jane Spencer – Romania
Rachel Steele – Thailand
Tiana Todd – Puerto Rico
Paul Webb – Gobi Desert
Emily Wellington – Ecuador
29
TRAVELS THAT TRANSFORM
Justin Krusko ’03
Tucker Serenbetz ’03
I went to Iceland this summer for four weeks and spent a
great deal of time in the area of Thingvelli where my group
and I planted 1,100 trees. [See photo with tree-planting drill.]
The trees were only about a foot tall, but we hope that they
will grow quickly and help reforest this section of Iceland.
What I enjoyed the most was meeting and experiencing local people and culture. We ate local dishes,
worked with local teenagers, and even played a little soccer with local kids during some of the afternoons.
During some rare time away from our project, we were able to visit Gullfoss, which
translates roughly to “golden falls.” It was a beautiful multilevel waterfall. Despite the day
being wet and cloudy, the waterfall still consumed a full roll of my film.
We also planted trees for Gorthur Fyrir Folk in their program called Skil 21. Skil 21 took a
more scientific approach to planting. We experimented with different types of fertilizer and
recorded specifically which tree was planted where, and with what fertilizer, whether it was
compost made from organic trash that GFF collects from over 11 companies in Reykjavik, or
chemical fertilizer. We planted for GFF for four days, and for three of those four days it poured
rain. The wind blew so hard that the rain would come down horizontally at times. Even so, the
weather added as much to the experience as our accomplishments.
I know it sounds clichéd, but my Poole
Grant experience in Peru was life changing. The group I worked with was Visions,
based in Newport, Penn. We built a preschool for the public school district of
Urubamba, near Cuzco. I made some great
friends, helped a lot of Peruvian people,
and, due to our hippie-type group leaders
and the beautiful scenery, developed more
of an appreciation for the crust that God
put on our earth.
It is probably not the most impressive thing to say that my experience in
Peru was as much self-serving as it was
beneficial to others, but that is the truth.
Sure, the people we worked for were extremely appreciative of the preschool we
built for them with our money and our
labor, but I got so much out of this experience that it surprises even me. From
meditative “Allyu” meetings, where I analyzed the type of person that I was, and
was, in turn, analyzed by others, to actually using the information I gathered
from those informational sessions to try
and change, I felt real power to make myself a better person.
Also, giving back to the world by
building a very basic resource for people
who cannot afford it was extremely fulfilling. I learned a lot in Peru, and hope
that the Poole Grant program will stay
intact for many years to come so that it
can help other Taft students grow intellectually and spiritually.
Jane Spencer ’03 and Cathy Marigomen ’03
Cathy and I went to Tutova, Romania, for
three weeks where we worked in a hospital
for underweight and special needs babies.
From 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. everyday, we
took care of seven toddlers and 17 infants.
The main problem with the hospital is the
lack of nurses: There are only a few for all the
babies. The Romanian government doesn’t
supply the hospital with enough funds, so only
a limited number of nurses work there. As a
result, many of the
babies were unable to
receive the attention
they needed or any
mental or emotional
stimulation, for that
matter.
At one year of
age, when many children are walking,
some of the babies in
this hospital couldn’t
even sit up. One girl,
Ana Maria, came into
the hospital because
she weighed only two
pounds, and her
30
mother was unable to pay for food. The average monthly income of a Romanian is $50,
making their annual income only $600.
Romania has recently emerged from revolution (their independence from communism
occurred during the 1980s), so there are very
few welfare laws that protect the people and
the children. Throughout Romania, many
kids are left on the street to beg, steal, and
fend for themselves while they hope to bring
money home for their families. This is something we don’t see in America very often.
By working with the babies for even
half an hour a day, Cathy and I watched
their abilities increase, and we were able to
see that our efforts paid off. We grew so close
to all of the kids that it was upsetting to leave.
I don’t think Cathy and I would have
ever done this trip without Taft’s Poole Grant
opportunity. When we first looked into
this trip, we didn’t know anything about
Romania. We barely even knew where it was.
But we’ve walked away from this experience
with a better understanding of Romania, its
people and its culture, and a better understanding of how they live. We know that
we’ve made a difference and that feels good.
Director of Development
The Taft School
Founded in 1890, The Taft School is one of the nation’s
leading co-educational boarding schools for students in
grades nine through post-graduate. Living where they learn,
academically talented students from all over the world are
guided by an extraordinary faculty on a 220-acre campus
in Western Connecticut. With the motto “Not to be served,
but to serve” as a moral foundation, Taft graduates matriculate at our nation’s leading colleges and universities.
Taft is seeking an experienced and visionary development leader to join the School’s leadership team. The new
Director of Development will report directly to Headmaster William R. MacMullen ’78 and work closely with the
Board of Trustees. As the chief development officer for the
School, the Director of Development is responsible for overseeing all fundraising programs which include major gifts
and capital campaigns, annual giving, planned giving,
alumni publications and affairs and special events.
The successful applicant will have at least a bachelor’s
degree, at least seven years experience in fundraising and
development leadership or related experience. Strong character, a demonstrated track record for fundraising
management and leadership, knowledge of, and appreciation and enthusiasm for, independent secondary education
and Taft School’s mission are all important qualifications.
Applicants must possess intelligence, energy and curiosity; the ability to supervise, motivate, and inspire
colleagues; the ability to develop and maintain personal relationships, and strong oral and writing skills. Of particular
interest is a candidate who is innovative and has a proven
and demonstrated ability to develop strategy. Computer
literacy is critical. This position will be open July 1, 2003.
Interested candidates should send the following: a
cover letter that addresses qualifications and interest in
the position, a current resume, a personal statement addressing the role of the Development Office in a private
secondary school, and a list of references (no contact
will be made without prior permission). Please send your
information to:
Mr. Steven B. Potter ’73
Chairman of the Search Committee
The Development Office
The Taft School
110 Woodbury Road
Watertown, CT 06795 USA
Taft Is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
N
D
N
O
T
E
On the morning of September 11, a special Morning Meeting was held to reflect upon the tragic
events of one year ago. Those who spoke included
Headmaster Willy MacMullen, dean of students
Michael Maher, Sara Beasley, English teacher, and
Michael Spencer, chaplain. Below are the words
that Spencer, as final speaker, shared that morning
with the audience of students, faculty, and staff.
Instruments of
Peace
The images of fire and death may have
faded; the vulnerability may be less
palpable. Yet, the fact is that some of
us have changed, and even if you say
you haven’t changed, the world has
certainly changed around you. My task
is to reflect on this day from a spiritual point of view. That is to say, What
has this day meant for our understanding of God, our sense of connection
to one another, and our ability to see
ourselves as creative participants in a
Creator’s creation?
I am a person of faith. I, like all of
you—whether you’re Jewish, Christian,
Muslim, Hindu, Wicca, agnostic, or atheist—am a spiritual being enmeshed in this
human experience. I am being called,
moved, drawn, and led, closer to an eternal source. I’m a pilgrim and I’m on the
way. September 11 is one day in my journey, a day of tragedy to which I am called
to make a response because I am a member of the human community.
How do we respond? People are suffering, and most of the time the world
waits. The world waits for big things to
happen. We can’t change the big things,
but in our own way, we can change the
small things in our lives…and that makes
all the difference.
How do we respond? For me, one response is found in the prayer of St. Francis:
32
Lord, make me an instrument of your
peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon. Where there
is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is sadness, joy. Where there is
darkness, light.
Make us instruments of peace. Hijackers who take over planes in the name of
religion and kill thousands of people, are
not instruments of peace. Are laserguided bombs instruments of peace? Is
the intrusion into an already war-torn
country, the handiwork of an instrument
of peace? Do instruments of peace include
violence and bloodshed that simply repeat the evil done to us in the first place?
Is war preparation an instrument of
peace? Some would say yes, sometimes I
say yes. But most of the time, I am cautiously unsure. People are suffering. What
is the world waiting for?
Where there is hatred, sow love. The
hijackers who flew planes into the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon, and into a
Pennsylvania field were not sowing love.
Their action grew from hate. Did the
Americans who killed Sikh merchants in
California and the South because they
wore turbans on their heads, sow love?
Did the people who vandalized mosques
and attacked Muslim Americans across
the country sow love? Bloodshed begets
bloodshed. People are suffering. What is
the world waiting for?
Where there is injury, sow pardon.
A friend of my family who worked for
Cantor Fitzgerald died when the towers collapsed. Can we expect his wife
and children who have been psychologically injured beyond belief, to ever
forgive, no less understand, why Daddy
didn’t come home? Who can forgive the
unforgivable? We cry vengeance and
seek justice, and scream freedom in the
face of fear. People are suffering. What
is the world waiting for?
Where there is doubt, sow faith. Where
there is despair, sow hope. Where there is
sadness, sow joy. Despite a sense of vulnerability, and a new awareness of our
connections to one another, we still harbor the seeds of doubt. Will I be Ok? Will
I have to fight a war? Will my family be
safe? But, human beings are spiritual beings, and if anything, the year in review
has shown us many signs of hope.
Firefighters as heroes, plane passengers as
courageous freedom fighters, the rebuilding of New York, 63 babies born to people
who died on Sept. 11. Faith, hope, and
joy-filled moments born phoenix like out
of the ashes of tragedy. People are suffering. What is the world waiting for?
Where there is darkness, sow light. Crumbling towers and burning buildings are dark
signs. But in a world of darkness, light still
shines. And here at Taft, we are often bathed
in light. Gurgling babies, sunny days, dopey
dogs, a new year ahead, practices on the fields,
awkward moments at the end of the scene, a
new student being guided by an old student,
Mr. Frew engagingly optimistic as he
whistles across the back fields, Mrs. Maher
sweetly smiling to comfort a shy lower-mid,
Mr. Doyle quirky as ever with much less
hair, head reflecting in the hallway, 217 new
students, 352 returning students, 114 faculty, 145 staff—these are all rays of
multicolored light. When we shine brightest and at our best, we sow love and pardon,
faith and hope, joy and light. How do we
respond? Respond in love.
We are what the world has been waiting for. This community—and others like
it—is what the world has been waiting
for. Remember. Respond in love. Make
us instruments of peace.
PHOTO BY PETER FREW
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Burl., VT 05401
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Watertown, CT 06795-2100
860-945-7777
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Majestic Bricks and Mortar

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