The Odden Gala - The Taft School

Transcription

B
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Professional Soccer player
Will Orben ’92
An Interview with Head of School
William R.
MacMullen ’78
The
Odden
Gala
COMMENCEMENT
2001
S U M M E R
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2 0 0 1
B U L L E T I N
Summer 2001
Volume 71 Number 4
Bulletin Staff
Editor
Julie Reiff
Director of Development
Jerry Romano
Alumni Notes
Anne Gahl
Design
Good Design
www.goodgraphics.com
Proofreaders
Nina Maynard
Bulletin Advisory Board
Bonnie Blackburn ’84
Todd Gipstein ’70
Thomas P. Losee Jr. ’59
Rachel Morton
Nancy Novogrod P’98, ’01
Josh Quittner ’75
Peter Frew ’75, ex officio
Julie Reiff, ex officio
Bonnie Welch, ex officio
Mail letters to:
Julie Reiff, Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
[email protected]
Send alumni news to:
Anne Gahl
Alumni Office
The Taft School
[email protected]
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Fall–August 30, 2001
Winter–November 15, 2001
Spring–February 15, 2002
Summer–May 30, 2002
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.
Around the Pond
SPOTLIGHT
To Build a Dream
23
Can an American make it in European football?
Will Orben ’92 gives it a try.
By Rick Lansdale
Steering the Course 26
Page 21
An interview with Head of School William
R. MacMullen ’78
By Julie Reiff
The Odden Gala
38
On the eve of his retirement, the headmaster
offers advice to the graduating class.
By Lance R. Odden
Alumni Weekend
Album
Page 24
From the Editor
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Letters
4
From the Odden tribute to profiles in
conservation, here’s what you thought of
recent issues.
Alumni in the News
6
Peabody Award for a school sleuth, the dark
side of ballet, king of the dot.com domain,
allergy alerts, stories from life, and more.
Taft 10
11
Questions for Jeffrey Baxter ’67. Once a
guitarist for the Doobie Brothers and Steely
Dan, now an adviser to the Pentagon, the man
called Skunk explains why a thumping bass is
the nation’s best defense. Reprinted from New
York Times Magazine.
Page 36
Endnote
48
Transformations. How does a school cope with
the varying demands of tradition and change?
By Andrew Karas ’01
On the Cover
Students bearing flashlights encircle Potter’s
Pond for the farewell tribute to Patsy and
Lance Odden on Alumni Weekend. More
photos of the evening begin on page 29.
PETER FINGER
At left: Even the clown, played by faculty child
Nathaniel Fifer, enjoys the sun on Saturday
morning of Alumni Weekend. For more photos
of the event, turn to page 56.
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Three heads of school side-by-side, multigenerational family gatherings, highlights on
the playing fields, and other moments of the
weekend captured in pictures.
DEPARTMENTS
Page 29
Annual Fund Report 22
31
A Night for Patsy and Lance was an evening
to remember.
By Julie Reiff
Lessons from Life
12
Gallery and exhibit to honor Mark Potter ’48,
the AIDS story, icy ISP adventures, printing in
clay, travel postcards, feats of engineering,
alumni offspring, undefeated teams, and more.
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!
Now you can send your latest news, address change,
birth announcement, or letter to the editor to us via
e-mail. Our address is [email protected].
Of course we’ll 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
the new www.TaftSports.com for the latest Big Red
coverage.
For other campus new and events, including admissions
information, visit our main site at www.TaftSchool.org,
with improved calendar features coming this fall.
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It’s an unusual accomplishment for a school
to have only four leaders in 111 years—an
average tenure of 27.75 years—and one
this community can justifiably take pride
in. Afterall, the success of a head of school
falls not simply on his shoulders alone. For
Lance Odden it may have been the “best
job in the world,” but his success as head
depended as well on the willingness of
young people to spend three or four years
in Watertown, on the ability of the faculty
to make that experience worthwhile, on
the generosity of alumni and parents, and
on the contribution of so many people in
so many ways. If it takes a village to raise a
child, it takes much more to create a thriving community across the generations and
across the miles.
As you read this, a new school year is
about to start. The Oddens are happily
settling in to their new home in Vermont,
and the MacMullens are preparing their
residence on Guernseytown Road for the
opening faculty party and the year ahead.
We have our feet in both camps, so to
speak, in this issue. Thousands of people
wished the Oddens well at the gala in May
(page 29) or at one of the many receptions
around the country last spring (for photos
of these, go to www.TaftAlumni.com and
click on Gatherings Photos).
We spoke with Willy MacMullen ’78
about his hopes for the school (page 24),
and coincidentally, we profile one of his
former soccer players about his own challenges and successes in the world of European
football(page 21). And finally, Lance Odden
shares some of his special wisdom with us as
he prepares for retirement.
Alumni, too, have had their own share
of successes in recent months, including
Peabody Award winner John Merrow ’59
and Jeff Baxter ’67, and the unprecedented
fundraising success of class agents like
George Hampton ’60 and others. Best of
all, is how many alumni were able to
come to campus in May, to get together
with their families, to greet the new head
or to say “thanks” to the Oddens. We
have much to be proud of indeed. And
even more to be thankful for.
Please keep those letters and stories
coming.
—Julie Reiff
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Taft Bulletin Summer 2001
BRAD JOBLIN ’73
From the Editor
Where Credit Is Due
Missing Man
I was thrilled to get the spring Bulletin and
find my 1972 photo of Lance and his young
family splashed bigger than life across two
pages inside the front cover. I was an
uppermid in January 1972, and I remember
the top-secret mission Fred Genung [’63,
then director of development] gave me to
shoot the photos. Very few people knew that
Lance was about to be named headmaster.
No announcement had yet been made. The
students and the faculty knew nothing, but
pictures were needed for press releases and I
was trusted not to tell anyone. I was even
afraid to say something congratulatory to
Lance during the time I took the pictures, as
I wondered if he knew that I knew! Then,
once I developed the negatives, I was careful
not to leave the strips of film hanging up to
dry in the darkroom, as I figured it would
look strange that I took a hundred photos of
just Lance, Patsy, and their kids!
—Brad Joblin ’73
I must congratulate you on a wonderful
tribute to the Oddens in the spring Bulletin.
I was, however, distressed not to see Oscie
[Don Oscarson ’47] mentioned or photographed alongside Mr. Odden at all, for he is
the only faculty member to be at Taft as long
as Mr. Odden.
—Jack Downey ’99
Editor’s Note: Although Brad did receive a
credit for his photo on page 22 of that
issue, we belatedly credit him now with the
photograph on page one as well. Thanks
for the memories.
I noticed something in the winter Bulletin that
is either a wonderful inside joke or a fantastic
coincidence. The article about guitarist Trey
Anastasio ’83, “Phish Insist It’s a Break, Not a
Breakup,” has a sidebar called “Reelin’ in the
Years.” Of course, the song “Reeling in the
Years” was a huge hit in 1972 from a group
called Steely Dan... a group that featured a
guitarist named Jeffrey “Skunk” Baxter ’67.
—Jim Ramsey ’80
Taft Tone
Your winter Bulletin was the school’s best. It
is very professional. It has just the right Taft
tone. What’s more, the layout is creative and
the articles are most readable. Too bad alumni
notes for some classes can’t be better. Congratulations. The issue must have been
exciting to create and edit. Yes, I was in
publishing for 40 years.
—Bernie Auer ’35
Something Phishy
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In Camelot
The whole spring issue was, of course, terribly
moving. What a wonderful stamp Lance Odden
has put upon cameloticus watertownicus! Most
impressive to me was his talk to the faculty
about Horace Taft. I was allowed to enter Taft
at the last moment, with dismal grades from
a California prep school, at the age of 15,
solely because my grandfather Judge Wm. H.
Hunt, had been a friend and classmate of Mr.
Taft at Yale. My grandfather wrote an “inspite-of-doleful-grades-the-lad-has-certain…”
letter which caused Mr. Taft to ask Mr.
Cruikshank to accept me “in spite of, etc.”
Mr. Taft’s Lincolnesque lanky figure around
the campus was almost taken for granted, but
he always inspired awe and respect from the
faculty and students—and, above all, from
the seemingly autocratic and cold Paul
Cruikshank. I took a civics class from Mr.
Taft—I’ve forgotten how many sessions it
was. It was held in “Jocko” Reardon’s classroom—and I was too dumb to realize how
very valuable it was to understand how our
great government works. But all of us, in the
class and in the school, realized what a privilege it was to be in the presence of this
distinguished man. And so I am grateful, as
always, to Lance for reminding us once again
that Taft didn’t just grow like Topsy but was
the child of an exemplary human being. Like
Lance Odden.
—Barnaby Conrad ’40
Heroes
I read Lance’s article on Mr. Taft last night
and it certainly evoked memories. His question about heroes is apt. For some reason my
heroes have been teachers, if not formal classroom ones, those that showed a way. Certainly
Dougie the Rock, Joe Cunningham, and John
Small are on my list. Not that they had to
struggle to overcome obstacles, but that they
taught a way and lived it. It was so nice the last
time I visited the school, which must have
been 1995, to see the photos of significant
masters in the faculty room [Woolworth library] and to have known/had them. I think
there were 17 depicted, and I knew 13. I was
a little puzzled in an earlier Bulletin at a letter
from a person who graduated not too far
ahead of me saying that the masters in his time
were aloof and relations with them were dis-
tant at best. My experience was quite the
opposite, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if
most boys’ were similar to mine. My roomie
and I spent countless hours in Mr. Small’s
“flat” as he called it, and Dougie the Rock
could be depended upon to provide a shoulder to cry upon. My first Thanksgiving there
Len Sargent loaned me a pair of skates and
cooked for the few of us that stayed over. I will
say that it was up to the boy to initiate
anything, though. Masters were nothing but
very fair. Tall Paul Cruikshank was aloof, but
that was his job. He knew more about us than
we thought. He was always “suggesting” that
it was time for me to get a haircut. One time
he approached me in the hall and said,
“Tommy, I know you have fourth period free
tomorrow, and I notice that there is an opening in the barber’s schedule during that time,
so why don’t we go over to the bulletin board
and sign you up?”
—Tommy Hickcox ’57
Conservation Quartet
Congratulations on a most exciting winter
issue of the Bulletin—exciting, especially for
me, because it brings together four friends,
former students, and colleagues who have
shared with me their love of nature and their
strong desire to conserve it. Perhaps by chance
that issue of the Bulletin is strongly directed
toward the environment and its conservation.
John Gwynne [’67] has devoted his life to
delivering the conservation message. This is
reflected in the work that he is doing with the
Wildlife Conservation Society, but John is also
a talented artist. In addition to his work at
WCS, he is the artist for the field guide, The
Birds of Venezuela. Early in his career he painted
the birds described in The Field Guide to the
Birds of Panama. Two years ago on a birding
trip to Venezuela I waited with the trip guide in
the Caracas airport for the rest of the group to
arrive from Miami. The young leader told me
he was excited because John Wayne was going
to be on the trip. I finally realized with delight
that John Wayne was really John Gwynne.
In the letters to the editor, Lee Jordan and
her children Joyce ’74, Bob Jr., and Ginny ’80
have corrected a misconception concerning
Bob Poole’s [’50] death in Nairobi, Kenya, in
1978. Bob, too, was a dedicated conservationist. As the Peace Corps director for all of
Africa and later director for Kenya he was
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particularly interested in the animals of Africa. Later, through his work with the
Smithsonian Institution and as Africa director in Nairobi for the African Wildlife
Foundation, he devoted his energies to conserving the wildlife of East Africa. The year
before Bob died, I visited the Pooles in Nairobi.
Although the border to Tanzania was closed
to tourists, Bob got permission for me and his
family to enter Tanzania and to camp in
wonderful places such as Ngorongoro Crater
and the Crater Highlands. These were lifetime experiences for me.
Len Sargent, whose generosity to Taft is
reflected on the last page, was a dedicated
conservationist also. Len was a leader in the
efforts to conserve land and wildlife in Montana and in the area surrounding Yellowstone
National Park. Because of this he was pretty
much in conflict with his rancher neighbors.
He once told me that he believed he was the
most hated man in Montana. Because of his
work in Montana, he served on the board of
the Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC). Among many memories of Len was
one when I was a first-year student at Taft in
1938. He often took some of us on picnics to
a cabin he had built near Nonnewaug Falls in
Woodbury. These were welcome breaks for a
scared new student at Taft.
Another friend who has shared his love of
nature with me is Willy MacMullen [’78].
Willy has devoted his life to teaching and
coaching, but he still has been a conservationist. He is a sometime birder and as a senior at
Taft, spent a few birding hours with me. In the
process he discovered a pond down the road
toward Woodbury, where he still pursues his
first love, fishing. Willy tells me he has already
directed two seniors to this pond for fishing.
By chance, the winter issue brought together these wonderful people, and in a
common cause.
—Neil Currie ’41, faculty emeritus
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:
Julie Reiff, Editor • Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
or to [email protected]
5
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Alumni
IN THE NEWS
Merrow Wins Peabody Award
Reporting is very much like detective
work, explains John Merrow ’59, a 25year veteran of the education beat whose
latest television program, School Sleuth:
The Case of the Excellent School, received
PeabodyAward-Winner John
Merrow ’59 as the School Sleuth on
PBS. After years of reporting, Merrow says
he isn’t sure how he feels about winning
the award for the first role in which he
doesn’t play himself.
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a Peabody Award in May. The show
aired on PBS last fall. In it, Merrow plays
a private detective—complete with
trenchcoat and fedora—who seeks out
characteristics of excellence in schools,
exploring different issues in each segment. The program tackles issues of
school safety, both physical and psychological, as well as academics.
Although the awards luncheon this
year was at the Waldorf-Astoria in New
York, the University of Georgia journalism school is home to the Peabodys.
Thirty-four awards were given from
1,100 nominations, and although many go to news
and public affairs program, The West Wing and
The Sopranos were also
among this year’s winners.
Pat Mitchell, president
of PBS, told the New York
Times she’s a fan of the
Peabody, because unlike other
awards, there are no set categories, citing Merrow’s School Sleuth
as excellent journalism that defies
the usual labels.
School Sleuth came out of a
“whimsical memo” Merrow wrote
about his own experiences as a teacher
and education reporter, along with his
suggestions for improving education.
That evolved, in turn, into Choosing
Excellence: “Good Enough” Schools are not
Good Enough (Scarecrow Press, 2000).
“Choosing Excellence is vintage
Merrow: thoughtful, engaging, and delightfully opinionated,” writes Jerome
Murphy, Harold Howe II [’36] Professor
of Education at Harvard Graduate School
of Education. “With passion and common
sense, he provides a tonic for parents fed
up with the testing mania and looking for
better ways to evaluate schools.”
NEA Today says the book reads like
one of Merrow’s “fast-moving education
debates” on television. Combining expert
testimony along with real-life stories from
students and teachers he’s met over his
quarter-century in the field, Merrow examines such issues as technology, charter
schools, attention deficit disorder, and
high-stakes testing.
“We’re arguing that ‘good enough’
is the enemy of excellence,” Merrow says.
“Not all award-winning schools have
what I’d call excellence in all areas.”
Merrow is executive producer/host
and president of Learning Matters, the
nonprofit production company he
formed in 1995 that produces The
Merrow Report and Making the Grade,
which airs on PBS’s NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer, as well as programs for
National Public Radio. For more information on any of these programs,
visit www.pbs.org/merrow.
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Darker Side of Dance
Tara Lee ’93, now in her sixth season with
the Atlanta Ballet, will perform the female
lead in the company’s upcoming production of Dracula.
Lee trained with Donna Bonasera of
the Connecticut Dance Theatre while growing up in Connecticut. Additionally she
studied under Shamil Yagudin of the
Bolshoi and was awarded full scholarships
to the schools of Pacific Northwest Ballet
and Joffrey Ballet; she joined Joffrey II upon
her graduation from Taft.
In Atlanta, Lee has performed the works
of John McFall, Lila York, Ben Stevenson, and
David Parsons. Last season, she was featured
in Michael Pink’s Dracula (as Mina), Stanton
Welch’s world premiere A Dance in the Garden of Mirth, and Diane Coburn-Bruning’s
Berceuse. Lee also assisted John McFall in staging the London premiere of Peter Pan.
One of the most shocking love stories
ever written, the unearthly passion of
Dracula, has mesmerized readers and audiences for over 100 years. This ballet
illuminates Jonathan Harker’s journey to
Transylvania and the mesmerizing powers
Count Dracula casts over him, the beautiful Lucy and the doomed Mina. Dracula is
an elegant, wickedly dark drama of love,
blood lust, loss and redemption. Part of the
Romance Classics Series, Dracula will run
again from February 7–10, 2002. For more
information, visit www.atlantaballet.com
䉲 Armando Luna and Tara Lee ’93 in Dracula,
directed and choreographed by Michael
Pink, at the Fabulous Fox Theatre February
7–10, 2002.
PHOTO BY KIM KENNEY
Piedmont College Names Business
School for Harry Walker
Piedmont College Business School Dean Bill Piper; President W. Ray Cleere; and
Harry Walker ’40 and his wife Thea unveil the plaque for the new Harry W. Walker
School of Business at the college in Demorest, Georgia. PHOTO COURTESY OF PIEDMONT COLLEGE
The sound of construction is in the air at Piedmont College, where work is
under way on the new home for the Harry W. Walker School of Business.
Renovation of a three-story brick building will be completed this fall. When
finished, the building will house Piedmont’s undergraduate business administration programs and the new MBA program.
President W. Ray Cleere formally revealed the business school’s new name
at a special dinner to honor Harry Walker ’40, trustee emeritus and former
chairman of the board of trustees at Piedmont. Fellow trustees recounted
how Walker had helped spur more than a decade of major improvements at
the college, including new buildings and academic programs.
Walker, of Vero Beach, Florida, is a native of Connecticut and graduated from Yale in 1944. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during
World War II in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. After the war, he
began a career in industry that took him all over the world. In 1972, he
founded Sunsweet Fruit Inc. in Vero Beach and served as its president and
CEO until he recently retired. He has served on the boards of several corporations, including Carpenter Technology Corp., a leading manufacturer
of specialty steel alloys.
A former trustee at Taft, Walker serves as trustee of the Ruth Camp
Campbell Foundation, and chairman of the Camp-Younts Foundation. He
is on the Yale development board and was elected to the Piedmont board of
trustees in 1987.
Piedmont trustee Philip Ballard said Walker’s “adoption” of Piedmont
College came at just the right time. “An industrialist and entrepreneur with a
long history of philanthropy, Harry knew what Piedmont needed and he set
about to see that the college got it,” he said.
7
Fighting Gravity
New Alumni
Trustee
David M. Coit ’65 is this year’s
alumni trustee, as elected by alumni
ballot and announced at the luncheon on Alumni Weekend in May.
David’s father, Charles A. Coit,
was a member of the Class of 1935,
and his eldest son, Charlie ’04, returns to Taft as a middler this fall.
Together they have attended the
school under all five heads.
A graduate of Yale University,
where he earned a degree in economics, and Harvard Business School,
earning an MBA in 1975, David
spent three years in the Navy.
He formed North Atlantic
Capital Corporation in Portland,
Maine, in 1984 and has been a
member of numerous privately held
and public company boards of directors related to his investment
activities on behalf of North Atlantic Capital. Nonprofit boards on
which he has served include Maine
Science & Technology Foundation
(Governor’s appointment as chairman), Schepens Eye Research
Institute (an affiliate of the Harvard
Medical School), the Portland Concert Association, and the Yale
Sailing Associates.
David has run in eight marathons, including four Boston
Marathons, and enjoys traveling and
sailing with his wife Margaret and
their sons Charlie and John. David
will serve a four-year term on the
school’s board of trustees.
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Fighting Gravity, a novel by Peggy Rambach ’76, tells the story of Ellie Rifkin, a 19year-old college student from a privileged Jewish background. When she meets
41-year-old Gerard Babineau, he is a hard-drinking, Catholic ex-marine with a couple
of ex-wives and several children in his life. A professor and writer, he singles Ellie out
at a reading of his work, and shortly thereafter, they marry and have a baby.
What gives this somewhat familiar tale its twist is the accident that occurs
when Ellie, pregnant with a second child, receives a call from the hospital explaining that Babineau, who has stopped to help a motorist on the highway, has been
seriously injured.
Alternating between the present—the aftermath of Babineau’s accident and the
painful disintegration of the marriage—and the past—the courtship and early marriage of the couple—Rambach moves beyond the mere consideration of a relationship
between an older man and a younger woman. The response to their sudden misfortune, the issues of their differing faiths, the pain that we cause to those we love, the
question of our choices and their connection to fate—Rambach encounters these
issues in a personal consideration so vulnerable that it is often painful to read, though
ultimately, it is this vulnerability that leaves us reading, rapt, hoping against hope
that things will work out. When they do not, Rambach raises the question of self.
She writes, says Carolyn Chute “with a clarity and honesty novelists and poets avoid.”
The movement between the past and present, the third person narration of a
highly personal account, and sheer pain of a relationship gone awry—so dramatically and so quickly—contribute to an engaging novel of love, survival, and
ultimately, moving on.
“Her prose is wiry, deft, and piercingly descriptive,” writes the New York Times.
Former English teacher Jerry Romano praises the “clean, tight writing that cuts
deeply with controlled passion and enormous insight. It leaves unsaid what ultimately demands to be left unsaid in such an
intense and extraordinary relationship, all
the while pulling the reader deeper and
deeper into those dark truths with its brilliant play of time and sequence.”
Rambach, the author of When Animals Leave, has published stories in the
North American Review, Epoch, and the
Indiana Review. Fighting Gravity was
written with the support of a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant, and
Rambach acknowledges, among others,
former faculty member “Denny
Blodget, who has believed in me since
I was a high school girl.” A middleschool teacher and mother of two
girls, Rambach was married to the
writer Andre Dubus, who died last
year. Although a work of fiction,
Fighting Gravity [Steerforth Press] is
based on their time together.
—Debbie Phipps
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Adirondack Museum Opens Mark W. Potter Education Center
where he spent much of his life
painting. In tribute to his
father’s affection for the
Adirondacks, his son Steve ’73
has dedicated a new building at
the Adirondack Museum in his
father’s name.
The Mark W. Potter Education Center at the museum offers
a variety of programs for young
and old that interpret the story
of the Adirondacks. With this
The Mark W. Potter Education Center at the
new building the museum’s eduAdirondack Museum.
cation staff provide classes for
Those who remember Mark Potter ’48 school children, workshops, demonstrarecall his love of the Adirondacks and the tions and seminars all year long. This tribute
family’s property at Brandreth Lake, truly captures Mark’s devotion to teaching
and his passion for the Adirondacks.
The building was constructed last
year and dedicated in July. When the
Adirondack Museum opened in May the
Mark W. Potter Education Center was
fully staffed and ready for workshops,
classes, and seminars. The museum celebrated Brandreth Day on August 1
with a reception for the Potter and extended Brandreth family members at the
education center.
The Adirondack Museum is located
in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, in
the heart of the Adirondacks, and is open
from May 25 through October 14, 2001.
Plan a trip in person or visit online at
www.adkmuseum.org.
Allergy Alert
PETER FINGER
Paul Ehrlich ’62 is quoted in a June 10 New York Times Magazine articled called “The Allergy Prison.” A pediatric immunologist in New York City, Ehrlich holds a monthly support group in his office, writes Susan Dominus, “where a sign
emblazoned with bold red letters informs visitors: absolutely no food or drink allowed. The parents come to the office for
safety and reassurance; instead, a current of anxiety seems to flow from one parent to the next as the conversation repeatedly
circles its way back to worst-case scenarios, stray ingredients and lapses in their own vigilance or that of manufacturers.”
For those of us who grew up in the days before antibacterial soap, when the 10-second rule and the phrase “you’ve got to
eat a peck of dirt before you die” were as common as the mud pies the kid next door used to consume (did you think the
Rugrats and their juicy worms were pure invention?), allergies are probably something we associate with bee stings or hay fever.
But the world is clearly changing. In less than ten years antibodies to peanuts alone had increased by 55 percent, and
allergic reaction increased by 95 percent,
according to one study. Ironically, one of
the theories for the increase in immune
reactions is the absence of dirt and disease in our lives today.
To the nonallergenic among us, the
detailed precautions in our schools and
calls for stricter food labeling requirements may seem extreme, but when a
milligram of some food can send your
child into anaphylactic shock, parents
feel no effort is too great.
“I tell my patients, if people point at
you when you walk down the street and
say, ‘Look at that neurotic parent,’”
Ehrlich told the Times, “then and only
then are you being careful enough.”
(See also “Breathing in the Bronx,” spring 1999)
9
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
King of the Dot.com Domain
With over 1,400 domains in his collection, Hal Meyer ’82 is probably in the top quarter of
private collectors, buying about 100 domains a month. Although there are over 30 million registered domain names, only a fraction of those actually have websites at them.
NEWS-TIMES/DAVID W. HARPLE
At DotCom Cowboy he buys domain
names. At MentalInstitution.com he
provides free e-mail addresses for more
than a thousand people who want
something out of the ordinary. No
doubt about it, Hal Meyer ’82 is an
Internet entrepreneur.
“Back in 1998, I was doing a lot of
web searching—still do!” says Meyer, “and
to make things easier, I uploaded a page
on one of my sites where I listed ‘all search
engines.’ It was a pretty bare-bones page,
but it was still my favorite. I told some
friends about it, and everybody loved it,
and it mushroomed and look at it today!”
AllSearchEngines.com now gets
around 10,000 hits a day. “It’s starting
to make money,” he told the News-Times
10
of Danbury, Connecticut. Meyer gets
paid up to three cents for every visitor
that clicks onto another site.
Later that year, he attracted the
attention of the major news networks
with the creation of starreport.com,
which published the entire transcript of
Kenneth Starr’s investigation report on
President Bill Clinton and received over
15 million hits.
At NamingSystems.com, Meyer uses
his naming knowledge to consult for corporate clients about naming, branding,
and corporate identity. He’s also created
Novelint, a “business team for intellectual property enforcement.”
“Mostly we deal with patent infringement situations, but we also have
an interest in copyright infringement and
trademark infringement,” he says. The
site even lures new clients with an allexpenses-paid fishing trip.
“You have to figure out what your
most profitable products are,” he told
the News-Times, “and you have to think
strategically.”
His latest venture? Free e-mail sites
for all the Ivies: YardMAIL.com,
EliMAIL.com, BigCatMAIL.com,
BrunoMAIL.com, BigRedMAIL.com,
BigGreenMAIL.com, BigPennMAIL.com,
and MorningsideMAIL.com. Next he
hopes to start an Internet service provider called EarthAccess.com and a
venture capital firm at Copient.com.
Source: Joe Hurley, Danbury News-Times
Athletic Honors
Tammy Shewchuck ’97 has “scored more than anyone else who has ever played
ice hockey at Harvard,” according to Harvard Magazine. She set Harvard
career records this year for goals scored (152), assists (155), and points (307),
bettering the marks of fellow Taftie A.J. Mleczko ’93 in all three categories
(128, 129, and 257 respectively).
Nick Kyme ’99, who plays squash for Trinity College, was named first team
All-American.
Max Montgelas ’99, who plays squash for Williams College, earned the Malloy
Championship from the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association.
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TAFT 10
10 Questions for Jeffrey Baxter ’67, Crossover Artist
Once a guitarist for the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, now an adviser to the Pentagon,
the man called Skunk explains why a thumping bass is the nation’s best defense.
Q: How does a Doobie Brother become
a national adviser on missile defense?
A:
It started with consulting for musicalinstrument companies. I would read the
defense magazines to find out what the latest technologies were and try to apply them
to digital recording.
Q: Really? Is there a lot of crossover?
A: A data-compression algorithm that
might be useful in the military arena would
have much the same utility in a recording
arena. As I read different magazines, I started
to gather information on things like the offboresight capability of an AIM-9 missile.
Q: That wouldn’t really be too helpful
in a future Doobie Brothers reunion.
A:
No. However, one day I sat down and
wrote a paper about converting the Aegis
system, which is a defense system for American carrier battle groups, to do theater
missile defense. I didn’t know what to do
with it. So I gave it to Congressman Dana
Rohrabacher, who’s a friend of mine. Congressman Curt Weldon asked me to form a
citizen’s advisory board for missile defense.
A:
Of course. I have been blessed to grow
up in a country where I can pick up a guitar and be able to pay the rent. But I could
certainly have a full-time job in the national
security area and still play the guitar. A lot
of people in Washington play music.
Q: I read that John Cale is a big reader
of missile defense magazines, and so is
one of the guys in Brian Setzer’s band.
Is there a claque of gearhead musicians
who talk about military hardware between gigs?
Q: Who on the Hill has chops?
A: Orrin Hatch is a very good songwriter.
I think so. There’s no doubt that the
techheads of the music world certainly see
it as an extension of what they do.
Congressman Collin Peterson is a good guitar player and a really fine performer. Chris
Cox is a fine lyricist.
A:
Q: Given your dual life, do you ever Q: Have you plugged in with any of
have one of those Spinal Tap “Hello,
Cleveland” moments when you forget
which role you are performing?
A:
I have never showed up at a war game
with a guitar or showed up at a recording
session with a space-based-laser briefing book.
these guys, maybe gone through a little
“Black Water”?
A:
Absolutely. Collin Peterson and I a
couple of years ago put together a band and
did a benefit for the families of the Capitol
police officers who were killed. We did
something together at Farm Aid a year ago.
Q: When you go to the Hill, do people
ask you about missile defense or about
what it was like to be in Steely Dan?
Q: What’s the nickname Skunk for?
A: That’s an interesting question.
Both. It opens an interesting avenue
for dialogue. Another area I’ve been thinking about is what Joseph Nye called “soft
power” and the idea that the tremendous
influence the United States has in the world
is not only due to its military prowess but
to its cultural prowess—Elvis Presley, blue
jeans, Baywatch. If that’s true, then you
could make the argument that artistic freedom is a national security issue.
—John Leland, ©New York Times Magazine.
Reprinted with permission
A:
NORMA ZUNIGA
Q: Would you give up rock ’n’ roll to
save the world?
If
someone is more interested in trying to find
the roots of how I got my nickname than
they are to read information about weapons of mass destruction, it gives me a little
insight into the depth of this person’s commitment to information and life in general.
It’ll be in my book.
Jeff Baxter ’67 is the real thing, missile-defense experts told the Washington Post. “Jeff
is amazingly astute when it comes to this sort of thing,” said Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, spokesman for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, the government agency that oversees
all missile defense programs. “He knows far more than I do, and I’ve been in the Air
Force for 21 years.”
11
AROUND THE POND
pond
Alumni Honor Mark W. Potter ’48
The new Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery was
officially dedicated over Alumni Weekend. Many of Mark’s former students
donated examples of their work to create
a permanent Alumni Collection
The Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery “is
already a part of daily life for students
and faculty at Taft,” says art teacher
Louetta Chickadaunce. “It is a beautiful
space and a great tribute to Potter.”
The gallery exhibits the work of students, visiting artists, alumni and traveling
exhibits. The Alumni Collection was on
view from April 4 to May 27.
Artists who gave or loaned work
for the exhibit are Barnaby Conrad
’40, Richard S. duPont ’60, Fred X.
Brownstein Jr. ’64, David Armstrong ’65,
Kenneth Rush Jr. ’67, Langdon Quin
’68, John Richard Whitton Bria ’69, Rod
Beebe ’71, Wendy Weaver Chaix ’74,
Joseph C. Sinsbaugh ’75, Elizabeth P.
Hiden ’78, Barry Thompson ’78, Galen
W. Cheney ’80, Lee F. Goss ’80, Marc
Leuthold ’80, Robert F. Whitmer ’80,
Debra Zawadzki ’80, Clare Sullivan
Adams ’81, William S. Hudders ’82,
Jennifer Glenn Wuerker ’83, Aaron
Wuerker, Leslie Banker ’88, Kathryn A.
Jellinghaus ’89, Tara Nora Wymes ’90,
Kendall Ayoub ’92, Jeff Borkowski ’95,
and Juliana Gamble ’95.
If you would like to contribute to the permanent
The entire Potter family gathered on Alumni Weekend to witness the dedication of the
Mark W. Potter Gallery, including Mark’s wife Bobbie, their children—Mark ’72, Steve
’73, Andrew ’75, Barbie ’79, and Jeff ’80—and cousin Bing Bingham ’64.
12
collection, please contact Lou Chickadaunce at
[email protected].
AROUND THE POND
When ISP Stands for Ice, Seas, and Penguins
Ned Farmer ’01 on his Independent Study Project trip to Antarctica in February.
Independent Study Projects often fall
in three general areas: arts, science, and
occasionally travel. An ISP veteran,
Vanessa Wood ’01 has won awards for
her ISPs in music and physics, and has
also done independent work in French.
“Vanessa’s physics project was amazingly cool,” said ISP director Rick
Lansdale, “especially since she put together an ISP cello concert last year.
Ayuko Nakamura’s piano concert was
fabulous, as was Reina Mooney’s dance
recital. This was clearly a talented
group of students.”
“My attraction to Antarctica began on my first trip
down to Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of
South America, when I was eleven,” said Ned
Farmer ’01, who created an Independent Study
Project this spring based on a February trip to the
southernmost continent.
“I got hooked on glaciers, icebergs, seals, penguins, whales, and mountains,” Ned said, “and I saw
an opportunity to educate the Taft community about
a fascinating part of the world.” Ned created a slide
show of his voyage and wrote a paper relating
famous Antarctic expeditions “to my own odyssey.”
A New York City native, but frequent traveler,
Ned’s trip to Antarctica was only the next installment
in a series of adventures. By the age of 17 he had traveled to remote regions of Iceland, hiked the Pyrenees,
Alps, Adirondacks, and the Mt. Cook range in New
Zealand, climbed Ben Nevis (the tallest mountain in
the U.K.), and explored the Canadian High Arctic
and Greenland—each drawing him closer to the “most
beautiful and most remote” place on earth.
Embarking on his voyage in February, Ned
found himself—one day out on the Southern Ocean
in the Drake Passage—in a cyclone with 95 mph
winds (hurricane force is 72) and 40- to 50-foot
seas. “What I got most out of the trip,” said Ned,
“was an unparalleled appreciation and respect for
nature and for the sea.”
The following is a list of this year’s projects:
Nirica Borges ’01, Perspectives: A Study of Glazes
Victoria Choi ’01, Music Box Mechanism
Victor Chu ’01, Raku: A Different Approach to Pottery
Bancha Dhammarungruang ’01, Visual C++: The Theory and the Application
Nathaniel Farmer ’01, A Voyage to Antarctica—The Forgotten Continent
Leigh Fisher ’01, Study of the Harp Throughout History
Tyler Jennings ’02, A Play: The Metempsychosis of Forgotten Grace
Ravi Katkar ’02, Friday-Saturday-Tuesday, A Film Trilogy
Tom Keidel ’02, Self-Composed and Performed Full-Length Music CD
Samantha Ladd ’01, Woodworking
Mihoko Maru ’01, Teaching Japanese Culture to JSL Students
Angrette McCloskey ’02, Theatrical Reflections
Tim Monahan ’02, Raku: A Different Approach to Pottery
Reina Mooney ’02, Body, Mind, and Spirit—Exploration in Choreography
Ayuko Nakamura ’02, Piano Possibilities
Maiko Nakarai ’02, Japanese Calligraphy
Vincent Ng ’01, Visual C++: The Theory and the Application
David Sicher ’01, Jazz Trio
Dan Teicher ’02, An Application of Music Theory to Guitar
Rob Terenzi ’01, Jazz Trio
Kelly Wang ’01, Oil Painting in Various Styles
Vanessa Wood ’01, Monte Carlo Methods with Applications in Physics
13
AROUND THE POND
In Brief
Faculty News
Lance Odden received an honorary degree from Middlebury College in May.
The following faculty members received endowed chairs:
Louetta Chickadaunce:
The van Beuren Family Chair
Mike Townsend:
Edwin C. Douglas Chair
John Piacenza:
Henry L. Hillman ’37 Chair
Laura Erickson:
Leonard R. Sargent Chair
Linda Saarnijoki:
William E. Sullivan Chair
Linda Saarnijoki will also serve as the
acting director of the library for the
coming year. Penny Townsend has
been named dean of faculty, Alison
Jastromb Carlson will serve as interim head of the Modern Language
Department, and Jennifer Bogue
Kenerson will succeed Patsy Odden
as assistant director of athletics.
After completing a second year of
fieldwork at Taft, Jon Bernon received his MS in social work from
Columbia University. He will serve
Taft as school counselor, working
with Jean Piacenza ’75, who will take
on the role of director of counseling
and community health.
Departing faculty this year include
Amy Bernon, Sheila Boyd, Thibault
DeChazal, Garrett Forbes, Michael
Hill, Bill Hinrichs, Christine
Lalande, Tony Lambert, Susan
14
Eight months in production, the latest Rick Doyle video, Exposed, is receiving
high acclaim.
Shot in the small town of Peabody, Kansas, last summer with Taft students, Exposed is the “continuing story of AIDS,” Rick said. “It’s aimed at
young adults who are the largest growing population of new infections.”
The goal of the hour-long production is to educate people that there is still
no cure for the disease.
Cast members Cordy Wagner ’01, Eric Hansen ’99, and Rachel Holmes ’00
were nominated for Regional Emmys. Gary Roosa ’02 was nominated for sound.
“The mileage we’re getting from Exposed is incredible,” Cordy, who held
the lead role, told The Papyrus. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done.”
“What pleased me most about the final product,” said video/acting teacher
Doyle, “is its believability. People who’ve been HIV positive for nearly ten
years came up to me after seeing the movie and said ‘This is right on.’” To add
to the film’s credibility, some scenes were taped at an AIDS center in Torrington,
Connecticut, with actual AIDS counselors. Exposed was shown in Bingham
Auditorium on the large screen and on Cablevision 5 of Litchfield.
Steel Magnolias
Blossoms came early to Watertown as
Helena Fifer’s Advanced Acting class put
on its spring production, Steel Magnolias. Audrey Banks ’02 and Faith Rose
’02, with Grace Morris ’02 and Kat
Tuckerman ’01 in the background, get
into some serious girl talk at “Truvy’s Hair
Salon,” the set designed by Japanese
teacher Russ Wasden. The cast also included Manya Albertson ’02 and Meghan
Stone ’01. In the final week of rehearsal
AP exams and Red Inc. deadlines loomed,
said Audrey, but she’s never had so much
fun with a class. “We made countless trips
to thrift stores collecting costumes that
promised to win laughs and made
embarrassing runs to the dining hall with
our curled hair bouncing behind us.
I wouldn’t trade this experience with
anything.” Audiences agreed.
VAUGHN WINCHELL
Brian Denyer will be on sabbatical
leave. He has received a fellowship
to spend part of the year at University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Exposed
AROUND THE POND
Loyd, Sasha Lyapin, Jess Matzkin ’90,
Tim Palombo, Peter Press, Bebeth
Schenk, and Molly Williams. Lance
and Patsy Odden retired, in case
you didn’t catch that earlier.
On Behalf of Liberal Arts
Dr. John Agresto spoke about the
merits of a truly liberal arts education at a School Meeting in March
and again that afternoon with faculty. The fourth speaker in the
Paduano Lecture Series in Philosophy and Ethics, Agresto is the
former president of St. John’s College in New Mexico. He is the
author of a number of articles and
three books on constitutional democracy. He also served as assistant
deputy and acting chairman for the
National Endowment for the Humanities. In his address to the
school, he spoke on making decisions in the college process and the
spirit of education.
All-State Musicians
Rockwell Visiting Artist Mitch Lyons demonstrates his clay monoprint technique in the
Arts and Humanities Center studio.
GREG STEVENS ’02
Rockwell Visiting Artists
The school community benefited from
the presence of two visiting artists this
spring, funded by Taft’s Rockwell Visiting Artist program.
First, Mitch Lyons, an accomplished potter turned printmaker, came
to campus in April. Lyons has been experimenting with clay monoprints in his
New London, Pennsylvania, studio for
the last 20 years.
His clay monoprints can be found
in numerous private and public collections throughout the U.S., including the
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Woodmere
Museum, American University, and the
University of Delaware. He has taught
at several colleges and universities and
has led more than 100 workshops over
the past 10 years.
Later that month, artist Alison
Barnes presented a talk on the “Landscape as Lyric and Narrative.” An
accomplished artist, writer, teacher, and
editor, Barnes says her most recent collection of photographs was made in her
hometown of Deerfield, Massachusetts,
and reveal landscapes embedded with
both stories of the past and contemporary times.
Both artists spent the day in classes
and working with students following
their School Meeting talks. The fund was
established by Sherburne B. Rockwell Jr.
’41 and H.P. Davis Rockwell ’44.
Seniors Foster Chiang and Sara
Jacovino performed, on violin and
trombone respectively, with the
All-State Orchestra and Jazz Band
at the Hartford Bushnell to a full
house in April. “The concert was
an immense success,” said music instructor T.J. Thompson, “and their
acceptance to such a high-caliber
ensemble is a phenomenal achievement on both their parts.”
Meditation and Memory
Dr. Herbert Benson, director of the
Mind/Body Medical Institute at
Harvard and author of The Relaxation Response, spoke with faculty
in April about the research in which
lowermid biology students participated this year. A cardiologist by
15
AROUND THE POND
training, Dr. Benson has spent
more than 20 years looking for
ways to counteract the harmful effects of stress on the body. Working
to bridge the gap between medicine, religion, and science, he has
focused on ways self-care—such as
nutrition, exercise, and stress management—can supplement surgery
and medication. Ninth grade biology students spent part of their
course this year studying the effects
of meditation on memory.
Postcards from Taft
Beloved Online
Molly Williams’ English classes
participated in a Bread Loaf/NEHfunded grant program. Along with
a teacher at the American School
in Switzerland, she asked her classes
to have online discussions about
Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Jeff
Nunokawa of Princeton University
facilitated the discussion.
The goals of the exchange were
to increase student awareness to issues of ‘audience’ in critical writing,
emphasizing responsible, well-supported arguments; to emphasize the
necessity for clear, concise writing;
to encourage a more intimate reading of a challenging text; and to
expose students to the opinions of
peers from non-American perspectives as they tackle themes of racism,
memory and national history.
“The Beloved project worked
beautifully,” Molly said, “because
the students were so committed. I
think almost all would agree that it
helped raise the intellectual bar in
class because it demanded participation, and those who normally
don’t speak were able to contribute
much to the conference.”
16
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AROUND THE POND
Better by Design
Taft entered seven teams in Boston
University’s engineering design competition in June. The competition involves
building a vehicle no bigger than one
foot in any dimension and powered only
by two AA batteries.
At the start of each race, two teams
face off at the ends of a 16-foot-long, 12inch-wide track, and their vehicles
deposit a hackey sack into a six-inch hole
halfway down, returning to the starting
line in as close to 15 seconds—without
going over—as possible.
Five of Taft’s seven teams were
among the sixteen semifinalists (out of
130). After two more rounds, Tim
Monahan ’02 and Tucker Serenbetz
’03, and the three-man team of
middlers Steven Ambadjes, Pea
Phadana-Anake, and Khanh Do Ba—
represented by Steven—moved on to
the finals, with Steven accumulating
the highest point total.
Tim and Tucker wound up fourth
overall, and Steven won the next three
rounds to move into the final race to determine the overall champion.
“Everyone crowded around the one
track to watch the last race,” said advisor
Jim Mooney. “Both cars zoomed down the
track, but Steven’s sack fell through just a
fraction of a second behind his rival’s, and
so he ended up second overall, with some
nice trophies and a $10,000 scholarship
if he goes to Boston University.”
The other teams were uppermids
Grace Morris and Neena Qasba; Jeff
Fielding ’04; middlers John Spatola and
Tyler Auer; middlers Emily Marano and
Meghan Gallagher; and uppermids Jason
Chen and Henry Tsai. Because the competition took place after the end of the
school year, several students could not
attend, but at least one memb;er was
present for every team. All put in long
hours on their entries.
Bruce Trammell
Named Head Mon
If you told Bruce Trammell ’02 when he was a
lowermid that one day he would be head mon,
he probably wouldn’t have believed you. At the
time, he didn’t think he’d return to Taft the next
year. “This was not at all in the plan,” he says.
“I hated leaving all my friends from home. I
didn’t try anything here; it was the worst year
of my life.”
His parents insisted he stick it out, though,
and Bruce began to get involved in NAALSA, UCT, the Diversity Committee,
writing for The Pap, and tutoring his fellow students and even a Naugatuck
neighbor in math and physics.
Only the second day student elected to the post, Bruce has decided to
board for his senior year to make his schedule a little easier. He’s also agreed to
keep a journal of his year for the school archives.
“Tarik [Asmerom ’01] told me it’s not going to hit me until I come back
and have to give my first speech,” he said. “I’m ready for it, though, and
excited to be here for the change in heads, this crucial point in Taft’s history.
I’m glad to be part of it.”
Of Math and Milkshakes
The Math Team concluded its
most successful season ever, reports
advisor Ted Heavenrich. Students
took a series of six New England
Mathematics League contests over
the span of six months. Each
month the sum of the top five
scores became the team score. This
year the team scored 160 (out of a
possible 180), which placed them
first in the region and 16th in all
of New England (out of about 250
competing schools).
“In our region we just edged out
Kent and New Milford High School
while clobbering Hotchkiss,” Ted
said. In New England only three
boarding schools (most of the
competing schools are public) did
better than Taft.
There were several standout
individual performances. Khanh
Do Ba ’03 was one of only six students in New England to get
perfect scores on all his tests. Senior King Luanphaisarnnont was
close behind. Other top scorers included seniors Ha Tran and
Victoria Choi, James Lee ’03, and
uppermids Kyle Dolan, Maiko
Nakarai, and Natalie Ie.
“My standard incentives of
giving a milkshake for every perfect test and for the top five
cumulative scorers practically
bankrupted me this year!” said Ted.
Uppermid Honors
In a special assembly, the following uppermiddlers were recognized
for their outstanding performance
this year: Kara McCabe, Harvard
Book Award; Bridget Baudinet,
Dartmouth Book Prize; Cassidy
Morris, Holy Cross College Book
Award; Audrey Banks, Smith Book
Award; Arllyn Hernandez, Brown
17
AROUND THE POND
Poole Fellowships
Continuing the tradition of service
to the global community exemplified by Bob Poole ’50, eleven Taft
students received grants for summer
projects. Uppermids Faith Rose and
Blair Boggs worked at the Bermuda
Aquarium. David Gambone ’03
worked with World Horizons in St.
Lucia. Andrew Yarbrough ’02 spent
five weeks in Samoa. Taylor Snyder
’02 worked with Rustic Pathways
in Fiji. Christina Jankowski ’02
traveled to Ecuador for a month of
community service and language
immersion. Alexandra Rickards ’02
went to Cuba to make a documentary on the effects of communism
on daily life. Dan Riley ’02 went to
Cordoba, Spain, to join a local community service program. Marc
Moorer ’02 worked with Tokyo Volunteer Action to help refugees in
the Izu Islands, one of which recently became an active volcano.
Elise Mariner ’02 spent a month in
Kenya doing a wildlife management
study, and Marci McCormack ’02
volunteered with a children’s summer school program in Virgin
Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
© KATE BRENNAN HALL/LAUGHING STOCK
University Book Award; Kyle Dolan,
Hamilton College Prize; Annabelle
Razack, Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award; Kuan-Chi Tsai,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Medal; Maiko Nakarai, Xerox
Award in the Humanities and Social
Sciences; Bridget Baudinet, John T.
Reardon Prize in U.S. History;
Timothy Monahan, David Edward
Goldberg Memorial Award in ISP;
Norah Garry and Jenny Zhang,
Michaels Jewelers Citizenship Award.
Summer Reading
We asked faculty what books they thought would make for good reading this summer. Some are light beachside reading, others more thoughtful tomes. So if you have
a few spare hours in your future, here are our recommendations for some time well
spent. And we promise you won’t have to write a book report.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio:
How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25
Words or Less by Terry Ryan
—Amy Bernon
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
—Tom Fritz
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men
who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
1863–1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose
Naked by David Sedaris
Close Range: Wyoming Stories
by Annie Proulx
Nothing but Blue Skies
by Thomas McGuane
Love in the Time of Cholera
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering
America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
Broken Vessels by Andre Dubus
—Greg Hawes ’85
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
—Ellen Hinman
Hija de la fortuna/Daughter of Fortune
by Isabel Allende
—Jessica Matzkin ’90
Long Distance: A Year of Living
Strenuously by Bill McKibben
Girl With a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier
—Karla Palmer
Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance
Genius Reinvented Architecture
by Ross King
—Jerry and Anne Romano
A Confederacy of Dunces
by John Kennedy Toole, Walker Percy
—T. J. Thompson
The Way of the Wanderer: Discover Your
True Self Through Travel by David Yeadon
The Tipping Point: How Little Things
Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
The Underground History of American
Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate
Investigation Into the Problem of
Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto
—Jon Willson ’82
And if you want to read what every Taft student and faculty member is reading this summer…
Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett, who is scheduled to speak at Taft on September 17.
18
AROUND THE POND
Alumni and Their Offspring at Taft
Great Grandfathers
Elias C. Atkins II* ’15 ............................................ Eliza A. Clark ’03
Thomas W. Chrystie* ’21 ............................. Peter H. Wyman Jr. ’05
Eugene W. Potter Sr.* ’17 ................................. William A. Schatz ’02
J. Stillman Rockefeller ’20 ........................... George S. McFadden ’03
Grandfathers
Bernhard M. Auer ’35 .............................................. Tyler P. Auer ’03
Dexter B. Blake* ’33 (step) ............................... Sarah E. Bromley ’02
Edwin P. Boggs* ’40 .............................................. Blair M. Boggs ’02
G. Renfrew Brighton Jr. ’43 ................... Renfrew M. Brighton Jr. ’05
Robert A. Campbell ’34 .............................. Randolph H. Lamere ’04
Page Chapman* ’29 ......................................... James H. Wheeler ’05
Thomas L. Chrystie ’51 ................................ Peter H. Wyman Jr. ’05
Marshall Clark ’40 ............................................. Mary F. Graham ’04
Charles A. Coit* ’35 ........ Caroline M. Coit ’05, Charles M. Coit ’04
Benjamin E. Cole Jr. ’36 .................................... Ilan S. McKenna ’02
David W. Fenton ’48 ................................ Elizabeth W. Shepherd ’05
William J.H. Fischer Jr.* ’33 ................................ Jane B. Spencer ’03
Kenrick S. Gillespie* ’25 ................................ Eleanor S. Gillespie ’02
Robert G. Lee* ’41 ......................................... Emily C. Monahan ’04
Timothy D. Monahan ’02
J. Irwin Miller ’27 .............................................. Aaron I. Schiller ’02
Thomas F. Moore Jr. ’43 ............................ Marguerite L. Smythe ’03
Samuel M. Smythe ’05
John R. G. Ordway* ’38 ..................................... Peter T. Yawney ’04
Scott Pierce ’49 ..................................................... Pierce M. Brix ’04
William A. Pistell ’44 ...................................... Johanna M. Pistell ’04
James C. Sargent Sr. ’35 ............................ Stephen D. Sargent Jr. ’03
William Shields Jr.* ’29 ................................ Katherine M. Squire ’04
Cheves McC. Smythe ’42 ........................... Marguerite L. Smythe ’03
William B. Snyder Jr. ’41 .................................. Taylor M. Snyder ’02
Frederick W. Squires ’28 .................................. Ted S. Thompson ’02
Gordon B. Tweedy* ’24 ............................ Elisabeth T. McMorris ’05
Gordon B. McMorris ’04
Harry W. Walker II ’40 ................................... Webster C. Walker ’05
Charles F. C. Wemyss Sr. ’45 ......................... Jennifer W. Higgins ’02
John S. Wold ’34 ............. John C. Wold ’02, Cecily R. Longfield ’03
Parents
Michael J. Aleksinas ’72 ................................... Marc A. Aleksinas ’02
Matthew J. Aleksinas ’02
Bruce E. Alspach ’71 ............................................ John P. Alspach ’03
John W. Biedermann ’77 .............................. John A. Biedermann ’03
Arthur F. Blake ’67 (step) .................................. Sarah E. Bromley ’02
George T. Boggs ’65 .............................................. Blair M. Boggs ’02
Renfrew M. Brighton ’74 ....................... Renfrew M. Brighton Jr. ’05
Peter S. Britell ’59 ......................................... Alexander C. Britell ’03
Adam R. Bronfman ’81 ..................................... Joshua Bronfman ’05
Gordon S. Calder Jr. ’65 ............................. Gordon S. Calder III ’03
Edward J. Cavazuti ’70 .................................... James E. Cavazuti ’02
June Pratt Clark ’72 ............................................... Eliza A. Clark ’03
Robert T. Clark ’72
David M. Coit ’65 .............................................. Charles M. Coit ’04
Carlotta Shields Dandridge ’74 .................... Katherine M. Squire ’04
Frederic P. Erdman ’71 .................................... Charles S. Erdman ’02
Frederick J. Fessenden III ’66 .................... Nicholas E. Fessenden ’03
Jeffrey Foote ’73 .................................................. Andrew J. Foote ’05
Peter A. Frew ’75 ............................................... Amanda L. Frew ’05
Michael D. Gambone* ’78 ............................. Ashley I. Gambone ’05
David M. Gambone ’03
David Gillespie ’60 ........................................ Eleanor S. Gillespie ’02
Richard T. Ginman ’66 .............................. Alexander T. Ginman ’03
John W. Gussenhoven ’65 ......................... Walter J. Gussenhoven ’02
Gordon P. Guthrie Jr. ’62 ........................... Gordon P. Guthrie III ’04
Eugene R. Hack Jr. ’65 ..................................... Rowena W. Hack ’03
Robert S. Jennings ’67 ...................................... Tyler C. Jennings ’02
Douglas G. Johnson ’66 ........................... Douglas G. Johnson Jr. ’04
Laura Gieg Kell ’73 .............................................. Abigail M. Kell ’02
Daniel K. F. Lam ’75 ....................................... Arthur H. Y. Lam ’03
Brian C. Lincoln ’74 ........................................... Gray B. Lincoln ’05
Nicholas D. LoRusso Jr.* ’72 ......................... Michael R. LoRusso’03
Laird A. Mooney ’73 ......................................... Clare E. Mooney ’05
Reina E. Mooney ’02
William G. Morris Jr. ’69 ................................. Cassidy A. Morris ’02
Frederick F. Nagle ’62 ....................................... Kierstin A. Nagle ’04
Cassandra Chia-Wei Pan ’77 .................................. Nicholas Chu ’05
Neil Peterson ’61 ................................................ Guy E. Peterson ’03
Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75 .............................. Lucia M. Piacenza ’04
Langdon C. Quin III ’66 ............................ Langdon C. Quin IV ’05
Jonathan R. Read ’74 .............................................. Colin J. Read ’02
Peter B. Rose ’74 ......................... Faith C. Rose ’02, Amy B. Rose ’04
Michael Schiavone ’59 (step) ................................ Nicholas Fisser ’02
Roy A. Schonbrun ’68 .............................. Zachary S. Schonbrun ’05
Lynn Creviston Shiverick ’76 ....................... William L. Shiverick ’04
James L. Smythe ’70 .................................. Marguerite L. Smythe ’03
John P. Snyder III ’65 ........................................... Torie T. Snyder ’04
W. Bunker Snyder Jr. ’68 .................................. Taylor M. Snyder ’02
Clayton B. Spencer ’56 ........................................ Jane B. Spencer ’03
Laney Barroll Stark ’79 ....................................... Samuel B. Stark ’02
Paul A. Sylvester ’74 .................................... Shannon K. Sylvester ’03
C. Dean Tseretopoulos ’72 .................. Adrianna S. Tseretopoulos ’03
Karen Kolpa Tyson ’76 ........................................... Julia B. Tyson ’04
Elizabeth Brown Van Sant ’75 ...................... William R. Van Sant ’04
James L. Volling ’72 ............................................ Jeffrey J. Volling ’02
Sally Childs Walsh ’75 ......................................... Sarah H. Walsh ’02
Christopher C. Wardell ’69 ......................... Cooper T. A. Wardell ’03
John P. Wold ’71 .................................................... John C. Wold ’02
Michael S. C. Wu ’73 ............................................ Mercer T. Wu ’05
*denotes deceased alumni
19
AROUND THE POND
Spring Sports Highlights
Boys’ Lacrosse
For the second consecutive season, the
boys’ lacrosse team marched through
the season without a loss. Finishing at
14–0, this year’s Founders League
Championship and top NE and National ranking may have been more
unexpected due to the loss of the entire
starting defense, including All-American goalie Jake McKenna ’00. While
there were some closer, low-scoring
games this season, the defense was even
stingier, allowing a NE-best 4.0 goalsagainst-average. Senior Will McIntire
enjoyed a great season in net, supported
by the strong, physical play of league allstars Colby Griffith ’01 and Jamie Sifers
’02. Two All-Americans led the team in
scoring, Kevin Nee ’01—the Stuart
Lindsay Award winner as the league’s
best attackman—and senior Christian
Jensen, the Lance Odden Award winner as the league’s best midfielder.
Seniors David Browne and Kirk Kozel
also made the first team for the Founders
League. The toughest games came
against a talented Hotchkiss team, a 10–
8 win, and against perennial powerhouse
Loomis-Chaffee, an 8–7 victory via
Colby Griffith’s goal with no time remaining on the clock.
Girls’ Tennis
Also for the second consecutive season,
varsity girls’ tennis finished undefeated,
11–0, as the Founders League Champs.
Clearly the most talented girls’ tennis
team ever, the top four singles players are
all middlers, and two cruised through the
season without a loss: Brie Bidart at #4
singles, and Hannah Baker at #3.
Middlers Katherine O’Herron and Katie
Franklin led the charge all spring in the
#1 and #2 spots, and the first doubles
team of senior Dina Tseretopoulos and
middler Tory Ilyinsky also never lost. The
team posted a perfect score of 36 points
at the Kent Tournament, sweeping all the
singles and doubles slots—the first time
that has ever happened at the tournament. The team has not lost a league
match in over two years, and with so
many talented young players, that streak
will likely continue for awhile.
Golf
The golf team posted a 12–5 record this
year, losing the Founders League Tournament by just one stroke. Playing under
tough conditions at their home course,
Taft did take home the individual title—
or titles would be more accurate. Senior
captain Geddes Johnson and lowermid
Lauren Mielbrecht tied as co-medalists
with impressive 74s. Considering that the
field average was 84.4, coach Jack
Kenerson described Ged and Lauren’s
rounds as “simply outstanding.” Ged finished with a season-stroke-average of
76.2, the best Taft average since James
Driscoll’s 76.1 in 1996. Lauren, who also
placed third at the Girls’ New England
Tournament and finished the season with
an average of 82.7, clearly has many great
seasons in front of her.
Jamie Sifers ’02 wins a faceoff against Hotchkiss. Taft won the game 10–8 and went on
to finish the season with a 14–0 record.
CRAIG AMBROSIO
20
AROUND THE POND
Big Red Scoreboard
Varsity Baseball
Varsity Softball
Record: ................................................................................... 9–7
Record: ................................................................................... 8–5
Captains-elect: ....................... Luke LaBella ’02, Steve Richard ’03
Captains-elect: ............. Jennifer Fischl ’02, Marci McCormack ’02
Stone Baseball Award: .......... Benjamin Crabtree ’01, Eric Nigro ’01
Softball Award: ........................................... Ashley Cecchinato ’02
Founders League All-Stars: ... Benjamin Crabtree ’01, Eric Nigro ’01
Founders League All-Star: ..................................... Emily Pettit ’01
Boys’ Crew
Boys’ Varsity Tennis
Record: ................................................................................... 3–5
Record: ................................................................................... 9–6
Captain-elect: .................................................. Ted Thompson ’02
Captain-elect: ....................................................... Michael Idy ’02
Crew Award: .................................................. Zachary Medoff ’01
Alrick H. Man Jr. Tennis Award: ........... Vincent Kar-Chiu Ng ’01
Founders League All-Star: ..................................... Michael Idy ’02
Girls’ Crew
Record: ................................................................................... 6–2
Girls’ Varsity Tennis
Founders League Champions
Captain-elect: .............................................. Kathleen Bernard ’02
Record: ................................................................................. 11–0
Crew Award: ............................................... Kathleen Shattuck ’01
Captains-elect: ....... Victoria Ilyinsky ’03, Katherine O’Herron ’03
George D. Gould Tennis Award: .... Constantina Tseretopoulos ’01
Founders League All-Stars: ...................... Katherine O’Herron ’03,
Katherine Franklin ’03
Varsity Golf
Record: ................................................................................. 12–5
Captain-elect: ........................................................ Colin Read ’02
Boys’ Varsity Track
Galeski Golf Award: ....................................... Geddes Johnson ’01
Founders League All-Star: .............................. Geddes Johnson ’01
Record: ................................................................................... 3–9
Captains-elect: ............... Nicholas Dabbo ’02, Bruce Trammell ’02
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse
Founders League Champions
Record: ................................................................................. 14–0
Founders League All-Stars: .... Daniel Blomberg ’01, Victor Rivera ’01
Girls’ Varsity Track
Captains-elect: .......................... Peter Hafner ’02, James Sifers ’02,
Rodman Tilt ’02
Record: ................................................................................... 8–2
Odden Lacrosse Award: ............................... William McIntire ’01
Captain-elect: .................................................... Kara McCabe ’02
Founders League All-Stars: ........ Colby Griffith ’01, Kirk Kozel ’01
Seymour Willis Beardsley Track Award: .......... Nicola Feldman ’01
Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse
Record: ................................................................................... 9–5
Founders League All-Stars: .............................. Kirsten Pfeiffer ’03,
Ciara Rakestraw ’01
Graduation Awards
Captains-elect: ................. Sarah Bromley ’02, Lucy O’Connell ’02
Wandelt Lacrosse Award: ............................... Theresa Berkery ’01
Founders League All-Stars: ..... Victoria Fox ’01, Sarah Bromley ’02
Marian Hole Makepeace Award: ... Kathryn Christine Murphy ’01
Lawrence Hunter Stone Award: ...................... Daniel J. Welch ’01
21
ANNUAL FUND REPORT
2001 Annual Fund Awards*
Snyder Award
Largest amount contributed by a reunion class
Class of 1951 .................................. $113,593
Class Agent ..................................... Len Platt
2nd: 1976 ...................... $68,244 John Welch
3rd: 1971 .................. $34,700 Tom Gronauer
Chairman of the Board Award
Highest participation from a class
less than 50 years out
Class of 1960 ......................................... 78%
Class Agent ........................ George Hampton
(for the 6th year in a row)
2nd: 2000 ................. 59% Andrew Goodwin
and Sam Hall
3rd: 1959 .............................. 58% Bob Barry
McCabe Award
Largest amount contributed by a non-reunion class
Class of 1962 .................................. $144,010
Class Agents ...... Fred Nagle and Bryan Remer
2nd: 1974 .................. $59,906 Henry Brauer
3rd: 1953 ............... $57,753 Geo Stephenson
Class of 1920 Award
Greatest increase in dollars from a non-reunion class
Class of 1962 .................................... $96,015
Class Agents ...... Fred Nagle and Bryan Remer
2nd: 1953 .............. $21,580 Geo Stephenson
3rd: 1984 . $13,603 Sam Bloom and Ed Fowler
Participation Increase Award
Greatest increase in participation from a
non-reunion class less than 50 years out
Class of 1987 ........................................... 8%
Class Agent .................... Holcombe Green III
2nd: 1995 ........................... 7% Dan Oneglia
and Tony Pasquariello
3rd: 1959 ................................ 3% Bob Barry
Young Alumni Dollars Award
Largest amount contributed from a class
Class of 1993 .................................. $19,135
(for the 3rd year in a row)
Class Agent ..................... Margaret Fitzgerald
2nd: 1994 ..................... $8,478 Kate Genung
and Ginger Kreitler
3rd: 2000 ............... $3,771 Andrew Goodwin
and Sam Hall
Young Alumni Participation Award
Highest participation from a class
Class of 2000 ......................................... 59%
Class Agents ....................... Andrew Goodwin
and Sam Hall
2nd: 1999 ........................ 34% Alex Dickson
and Laura Stevens
3rd: 1996 .............................. 30% Roo Reath
*Totals as of May 16, 2001
Class Agents Continue to Break
Giving Records
This was a very special year in the history of Taft and the Annual Fund. With the
announcement of Lance Odden’s retirement after 29 years as headmaster, I felt that it
was important that we dedicate the Annual Fund to Lance and Patsy for all that they
have done for the school. I am very proud to announce that we have raised $2,784,021
for the Annual Fund. Considering the stock market and the economic outlook of the
country, I think we should feel very proud of our accomplishments. I am deeply
grateful to all alumni, current parents, former parents, grandparents, and friends for
their generosity and loyalty to The Taft School.
A special thanks to all the class agents and assistants for their loyalty and hard
work. This year, we have worked hard to enlist more volunteers. The old adage, “the
more, the merrier,” appears to be true! Welcome to all the new agents for the Classes
of 1962, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, and 2001. We now have 80 head
agents and 283 assistant agents.
This year, alumni raised $1,560,719—over $200,000 more than last year. Congratulations to the Class of 1951, led by Len Platt, which raised a total of $618,355
for the school. The class also won the Snyder Award for the largest amount contributed to the Annual Fund by a reunion class ($113,593).
George Hampton and the Class of 1960 received the Chairman of the Board
Award—for the sixth year in a row—for the highest participation from a class less
than 50 years out, with 78 percent of the class contributing.
I would also like to congratulate Woolly Bermingham and Ross Legler, agents
for the Class of 1943, for soliciting all 52 classmates and reaching 100 percent participation again this year!
This is a bittersweet time for all of us. I am saddened to see Patsy and Lance
retire after 40 years of dedicated service, but at the same time, excited about our
future with Pam and Willy MacMullen ’78 as they lead our school for hopefully
another 40 years! Thank you all for your generosity and loyalty to Taft. Have a happy
and healthy summer. I’ll be in touch next fall.
—Dyllan W. McGee ’89, Annual Fund Chair
P.S. Don’t forget to visit our website at TaftAlumni.com. By joining the community,
you can receive a free e-mail address and keep up with what’s happening with your
classmates and your school. Check it out!
New Chairs of the Parents’ Fund
Marilen and Rod Tilt P’02 will succeed Carol and Will Browne as chairs of the
Parents’ Fund. With the help of the Parents’ Committee, the Brownes raised
$950,350 from 91 percent of Taft’s current parent body.
“This level of continued parent support is unparalleled in school giving,” said
Lance Odden, “and could not have happened without the outstanding leadership
of the Brownes, a dedicated Parents’ Committee, and
the hundreds of parents who have given so much, in
so many ways, to this great school.”
Marilen and Rod Tilt, current members of the
Parents’ Committee and parents of Roddy ’02, are
looking forward to working with Taft’s very loyal
group of parents.
To Build a Dream
Can an American make it in European football?
Will Orben ’92 gives it a try.
By Rick Lansdale
Previous page: For Will Orben ’92, Denmark is a long way from his native Indiana, but he
has committed himself to the game, playing here for FC Kobenhavn. Since Will has gotten this far, he says, he must keep going to find out just how good he can be. © PER KJÆRBYE
So there you are, a good college soccer
player at a university known mostly for its
engineering program, and an opportunity
arises for you to leave for a semester, work
as an intern in Coventry, England, and play
some “football” in a country that thinks it
invented the game. If you’re Will Orben
’92, you blink and you’re in England training with the Queen’s Park Rangers, a team
in the premier division, and you find, remarkably, that even as an American you’re
good enough to play with the pros. Except
that you’re not quite one yet. And the only
way, it seems, to be as good as the Europeans is to play in Europe.
Ambition is wonderful fuel. It burns
with an intensity that has lighted Will’s
path all the way from the prep school playing fields in New England, to All-America
status at Lehigh University, to the professional ranks in Denmark and the Olstykke
Football Club. Will’s arrival in Denmark
in July 1998 was unheralded, to say the
least. Having played American collegiate
soccer, having trained in England for half
a year, and having played the 1998 season
with the A-League Hershey, Pennsylvania,
Wildcats doesn’t carry the same clout as
having played for Manchester United or
even D.C. United. With a letter of introduction in hand from a Hershey Wildcats
teammate who had played in Denmark
in the early ’90s, Will knocked on the door
at Parken, Denmark’s National Team stadium, the home stadium of powerhouse
Football Club Kobenhavn (Copenhagen),
asked to see the manager, and somehow
wangled a tryout.
Flemming Pedersen, the club’s second-team manager, liked Will and his
courage and agreed that he could begin
training. With only a six-month tourist
visa, though, Will could not stay in Denmark unless he obtained residency status.
24
He became a student again and enrolled
in a graduate program in architecture, and
in July of 1999 the staff at FCK arranged
a contract for Will to maintain the field at
the stadium and continue to train with
the second team—but without a paycheck. That’s a contract? Just imagine
Derek Jeter in Triple A ball mowing his
stadium’s outfield. Right.
Ambition without skill, without devotion, is only a brief flare. What has
allowed Will to move up the ladder—
from second team rookie to first team
regular—is a firm and constant confidence in his skill and understanding of
the game. He credits new Head of School
Willy MacMullen ’78, soccer coach at
Taft for the last fifteen years, for a great
deal of his early success. “At Taft, Mr. Mac
focused on our development as young
people, not just as young soccer players.
Many times, I have found inspiration in
this ideal because it reminds me how
simple the game is at its core.”
Certainly, flashes of that confidence
and inspiration blazed on the field behind
Centennial. We had all marveled at his
prowess as a high school player years ago
because he moved in quick concert with
the ball and usually left his defenders gasping for air or grabbing for his shirt as he
shifted by. “Silk,” we called him. Against
Hotchkiss in the final game of the 1991–
92 season, Urban Dabuta ’92, an exchange
student from Botswana, had driven a ball
deep into Hotchkiss territory, almost to
the corner of the field to the right-hand
side of the goal. His only play was to get
the ball out front again, out to the edge of
the penalty box to Will. At this point in
the season, everyone in the league knew
that Will was Taft’s most dangerous player,
and his defender had him marked stride
for stride. Urban fired a bullet of a cross
that came out to the edge of the penalty
box waist high. Will, dashing across the
field parallel to the goal with his defender
dogging his every move, struck the ball in
midair so cleanly that only when it was in
the back of the upper right-hand corner
of the net did the Hotchkiss goalkeeper
even move. Longtime Hotchkiss coach
David Coughlin was standing next to
Willy MacMullen at the time. “I’ve never
seen a goal like that,” he said in an almost
reverential tone.
The difference between the gifted
high school player, the All-America college amateur, and the professional is
consistency, and Will has been the model
of consistency and discipline during his
career. “While an amateur pitcher, for example, can throw a great pitch one out
of ten times,” Will said recently, “a professional can do it seven out of ten times
in any environment. We have wellbalanced training sessions and weight
sessions, are monitored regularly, and are
equipped sufficiently. We play matches
regularly (whether it be for the first team
or for the reserve team or for the second
team), we are communicated with regularly, and we are paid regularly. We are
put in a position where our only interest
is to be the best football players we can
be. And this is what is expected, every
day, regularly. There is no reason to miss
training or not to be prepared.”
With thirty-three games from January to June and then, after a break, from
the end of July to November, the professional season is a marathon. Off-season
training occurs during each break, and there
are league championships and exhibition
matches. The season is long, and Denmark
is a long way from his native Indiana, but
Will has committed himself to the game.
He speaks Danish fluently and knows
Kobenhavn by heart. He eats a spare diet—
no food three hours before a match—and
tea is about the strongest drink he’s had in
years. He maintains a lot of friendships
through e-mail, and his phone bill can be
rather dear, but since he has gotten this far,
he says he must keep going to find out just
how good he can be.
Watching a football match is not just
a matter of observation. It is a matter of
passion. While I was traveling through
Scandinavia last summer, Will invited a
group of us to watch a midsummer
“friendly,” a training match, between FC
Kobenhavn and the Celtic Football Club
from Glasgow, Scotland. In the world of
football, Celtic is world famous, FC
Kobenhavn only less so. Will had debuted for FCK during the previous April
and had played in three games, but a broken toe in June had brought his season
to an end. I enjoyed myself immensely,
but Will was almost in agony. That was
his club on the field, and he was relegated
to the sideline.
Football stadiums in the United
States are massive affairs where sixty to
eighty thousand people watch from quite
a distance. Most European stadiums are
much smaller, more intimate places that
allow fans to see the action on the field
from almost the sideline. FC Kobenhavn
dashed to an early lead when the club’s
top striker found half a step, an open
look, and an extra three seconds to spot
the ball behind an out-of-position goalkeeper. Celtic began a concerted effort
in the second half to control the ball, and
the pressure exerted against the Danish
defenders led to a 2–2 draw at the end of
regulation time. The crowd roared until
the last minute; I don’t remember seeing
fans leave early.
Professional football is as cutthroat
as any other sport, and recently Will found
himself riding the pine more often than
he wanted to. He found himself “on loan”
this fall to a rival club in Viborg, a small
town in the middle of Denmark’s northern peninsula. Will played well and
returned to Kobenhavn determined to do
even better, but in the same way that many
baseball players travel from team to team,
so has Will. Now with the Olstykke Foot-
Back on the fields at Taft, Will—nicknamed “Silk”—learned about the expression of
oneself through individual play and through sacrifice to the whole of the team.
PETER FREW ’75
ball Club, Will has a greater opportunity
to demonstrate his skills, but Olstykke is
a first division club fighting off reassignment to the second division, not powerful
FC Kobenhavn of the Superligaen.
Why keep going? The beauty of the
game occurs “when the ball seems to be
where you want it all the time, and as a
player you seem to possess the power to
make it do whatever you like,” Will said.
“The thrill of this mastery, this control,
is what I enjoy most in football. The
game and the ball are normally moving
in chaos, but there are times when vision
and skill combine magically to slice
through the jumble with remarkable directness and efficiency. It is like a perfect
circle drawn through a series of scattered
points. These timeless instances of distinction and clarity inspire the team and
the individual; the experience they provide is like no other I can name.”
Finding that balance between playing the game for love and playing the
game for a living is often difficult, but
Will again credits Willy MacMullen for
helping him keep perspective. “Mr. Mac’s
coaching focus was always about the expression of oneself through individual
play and through sacrifice to the whole
of the team. This may not sound so novel,
but the further and further I have gone
in football, the less and less I hear about
this side of the game. The more money
and exposure involved with the game, the
more we hear about playing dependable,
clinical, and professional football. It is all
about winning and losing, and it is that
simple. The expressive and human side
of football is up to us, as professionals,
to handle on our own.”
Rick Lansdale is a member of the English
Department, a soccer and lacrosse coach,
and director of the Independent Studies
Program. He visited Will while on a studytravel grant from Taft last summer.
To learn more about Will’s latest soccer
activities, check out his team’s website at
www.olstykke-fodbold.dk. That is, if you’re
fluent in Danish, as Will now is. He tells us
a switch to another team might be in the
works, so stay tuned.
25
The new head of
school with head
monitor Bruce
Trammell ’02.
A class dean for
many years,
Willy is looking
forward to working
closely with
student leaders.
Steering
Course
VAUGHN WINCHELL
the
An interview with Head of School William R. MacMullen ’78
By Julie Reiff
W
illy MacMullen has often been compared
to Lance Odden over the years, and yet his
leadership will bring many firsts of its own.
Not only will Willy be the first alumnus to hold the
job, he’s the first to bear the new gender neutral title
“head of school”—a change recommended by Lance
Odden and accepted by the board of trustees this
year. A member of the English Department for six
years, Willy’s wife Pam will be the first head’s wife to
teach at Taft, although her load will be understandably reduced to allow for her new responsibilities.
As the end of the school year neared, we spoke
with Willy about his thoughts and hopes for Taft.
Meet our fifth head of school…
Fellow English
teachers and class
deans, Pam and
Willy MacMullen
have always been
a “teaching
couple.” Their
responsibilities will
inevitably change
this year, but both
are looking
forward to the
challenge.
VAUGHN WINCHELL
JR:
When you were a student here, what did
you think you would be doing twenty
years down the road?
WM:
Given that both of my parents were Yale
professors and that I loved the outdoors,
I thought I would either end up in education or in something that involved the
wilderness. If you had asked me then I
might have said I’d become a teacher,
but more likely I would be working for
the forest service, for an Outward
Bound or a NOLS program.
Before my senior year at Yale I took
a job where I spent six weeks hiking in
the White Mountains with a group of
emotionally disturbed kids. At that
point I was convinced that I would go
into experiential education. It brought
together my love of working with kids
and my love of the outdoors.
The job I landed after college was
with the Pike School, in a year-round
program they had just started in northern Canada for at-risk kids. These were
terribly angry, deeply disturbed adolescents. The problem was that—in what
became an international incident—
some of the kids kidnapped their
counselors and set fire to the woods,
and the Canadian government put an
end to the program. So I found myself
without a job. Finally Pike said they
were starting a new program in very
rural northern New Hampshire for
slightly retarded, emotionally disturbed
boys, with a very heavy experiential
education component to it. Did I want
to help create a residential program? So
I took that job, never thinking I was
going to be a prep school teacher.
On my first night alone, the kids,
seeing a new person, revolted, and one
came after me with a knife. A couple
of other kids went upstairs and set fire
to the mattresses and threw them out
the windows. Six months later, the
program was in place and I felt very
good about the progress we had made,
but I came to the very clear realization that I wanted to work with kids
who might change the world rather
than with those who had already been
damaged by it. And that was the fundamental shift for me. The fact that
this coincided with the Taft motto was
very important to me. I wanted to
serve somehow.
That was a lesson, a torch that was
passed to me by the great teachers I had
known at Taft.
JR:
Is this the first headship you’ve applied for?
WM:
Yes. I’ve been asked to apply to other
schools, but my answer was always the
same: That I didn’t have an interest in
28
being a headmaster, but I might have
an interest in being the head at Taft. My
love has always been for this school.
JR:
How do you feel about the changes this
job will bring to your life?
WM:
I think the head of school here still has
the opportunity and the responsibility
to be really involved, both with the faculty and the students. That’s not the case
everywhere. What appeals to me is being in a position where I can try to affect
the direction of the school, but don’t
have to lose touch with the kids in the
halls, the fields, classrooms, or lose
touch with colleagues. I want to know
students by name. I want to go to their
games and performances and be able to
chat with them afterward. That is a high
priority for me. There are definitely
changes in my role, but at other schools
these priorities would be unrealistic.
JR:
What appeals to you most about your
new role?
WM:
I love the school, so talking to
alumni—building those relationships
and getting to know and make friends
among them—is something that appeals to me. Talking to people about
their school—and having dinner with
people who graduated a year ago and
those who graduated 50 years ago is exciting to me. For that reason, seeing the
hundreds who returned this Alumni
Day was very special.
The most exciting aspect of the job,
though, is that this faculty is brimming
with energy and creativity. I like talking
very idealistically about vision and about
the big picture, and you get to do that in
this position, and you get to do it with
people who are really good. So the idea
that I could in some way help make the
school grow and improve by allowing
good faculty to take initiative and do
things is extremely appealing.
I’d also like to make Taft even better known, not just for the quality of its
teaching but also as a place where intellectual discourse and academic
innovation are a real signature. That’s
happening already, with the pedagogical initiatives you see with Mike
Townsend, Laura Erickson, Steven
Schieffelin, and Debbie Phipps. They
are brilliant, committed educators who
want to make how we teach and learn
part of everyday conversation. Perhaps
because of my parents, I never forget
that at the heart of a school is good
scholarship and great teaching.
JR:
At your Morning Meeting you talked
about recognizing scholars and being a
place where we value that. Do you think
we pay too much attention to sports and
the arts?
WM:
I do not apologize for one minute that
we have kids who are at the top onetenth of one percent of their abilities as
artists, as actors, and as athletes. We
should take great pride in their accomplishments. But I do think that great
scholarship at the high school level is
not celebrated the way it needs to be.
American students don’t always have the
opportunity to show what they know—
and programs like Independent Studies
and Senior Seminar are critical. Finding ways for students to show what they
know, so that scholarship becomes palpable and visible, would make this a
better place. So I’m interested in finding more opportunities for students to
engage in great scholarship—deep probing of a narrow area of inquiry. That’s
what great scholarship is. And clearly we
need to look at how we can change the
senior year so that students remain committed to their own learning right up
until the day they graduate. Of course,
there are no easy solutions to this problem; every school is grappling with it.
coaching for this year, and in time, I will
teach. I’d like to continue with my literature of the wilderness class. But even
if I cannot teach as much as I have, if I
have any part in helping or encouraging talented kids to apply and great
faculty to come here and teach in interesting ways, I can sleep at night.
Although Willy will
not be teaching
this fall, he is
coaching varsity
soccer. Resuming
his literature of the
wilderness, or
another English
course, as soon as
his schedule allows
is a high priority.
VAUGHN WINCHELL
JR:
JR:
You are going to be spending less time
in the classroom, less time coaching. How
do you feel about that?
There are not many jobs today, outside
of politics, that require a spouse to take
an active role. How does Pam feel about
her new responsibilities?
get her here for some time because I knew
she was great. And she brought her passion and expertise here, and now is a
terrific class dean as well. She’s going to
remain, as Patsy was, invested in the
school and professionally committed.
And, like Patsy, she has strong opinions
about education as well. She’ll still be a
class dean, she’ll still teach honors
lowermid English, and I assume she’ll still
want to do her aerobics class!
WM:
WM:
JR:
Obviously I feel regret. Everyone who
loves to teach worries about that when
responsibilities take them out of the
classroom. It’s hard for people who aren’t
in the profession to understand how
much teachers in general love what they
are doing. They go to work and they
don’t think of it as work. Teaching becomes as necessary as breathing. Having
said that, I’m going to try to continue
I think she loves it. The prospect of being in partnership together is exciting. I
feel grateful for many things, but one of
them is that I get to work with my best
friend. That’s an experience not many
people get to have. Pam taught in the
Wallingford public school system for ten
years and was one of their very best teachers. We met at Middlebury, doing
graduate work, and I had been trying to
She’s already promised many students.
WM:
I think the kids are more worried about
what she’ll keep doing than what I’ll do!
But she loves the idea of taking these
things on; she’s someone who reaches
out well to people. She’s looking forward
to having dinner with groups of students
29
at the house. She likes entertaining, and
she likes meeting people. She’ll be great
at that. I think it comes naturally to
some people. And remember she knows
the school well and is a great educator
in her own right.
JR:
Many have said that Lance will be a tough
act to follow and few have envied his successor. How will you cope with that
powerful shadow?
WM:
People have asked me about that, but I
feel more opportunity than shadow.
Whoever was going to take over was going to begin with a school that was fiscally
sound, had great facilities, a terrific faculty, a very good admissions tradition,
and a clear sense of mission. All that
means I am in an exciting position. What
I hope people realize is that in taking me,
the board of trustees was saying that having someone who is a product of Taft,
educated at Taft, who taught at Taft, says
to the alums, “This is your school and
we picked one of you.” To parents, it says
we took someone who has educated and
taught many of your sons and daughters,
and advised them and coached them.
And to families looking at Taft it says we
are a school that is not suddenly going
to lurch in a different direction.
JR:
What do you see as the greatest challenge facing secondary education?
WM:
In today’s world, unlike twenty years ago,
families want schools to provide an almost professional level of education in
every specific area of a kid’s life. So there
will be a temptation to provide a coach
who has professional playing experience,
30
a science teacher who won a Nobel Prize
and a dormitory head with two psychology degrees. We cannot lose sight of what
Taft believes, that we are working with
the whole child and by logical extension
we need humanist, triple-threat,
empathetic teachers. I think that to lose
that would be tragic.
And so, one of the challenges becomes how to find people who can do so
many things and do them all well. If you
start saying that specialized instruction
is more important than the whole of the
child, then you fundamentally change the
mission of this school. And if we go there,
I think we’ve turned our back on Taft.
There are schools you can go to if you
want to have a specialized education, and
I don’t quibble with their mission. But
that’s not our mission. Our mission is to
educate kids morally, physically, artistically, and intellectually. So the challenge
I think will be to continue to staff the
school with teachers who can meet that
mission and have those kinds of abilities.
How do you make this school continue
to be a modern, intellectually rigorous
school that offers the best opportunities
it can to kids without losing sight of what
it’s always been—a place of real warmth,
and spirit, and familiarity, and intimacy?
This is a school with a soul, and we
should nourish it like a flame.
JR:
When it’s your turn to step aside, to go
to the Cape, do more fishing than teaching, what do you want people to
remember about your legacy?
WM:
I would like people to say that it was still
a school that was true to the founder’s
dreams. That it was still, no matter how
much the world around us had changed,
a school where we cared more about shaping the whole of a child’s life and having
a child leave here with the belief that serv-
ing the world and serving others was important. I think that if that happened I
would be proud.
Second, I would like it to be known
as an exciting, diverse, community where
every student and teacher can fully realize his or her self.
Third, I’d like it to be an intellectually exciting place to be and a place where
a collegial exchange and camaraderie
made teachers feel lucky to go to work
every day and where students were engaged in the most exciting scholarship
imaginable.
I’d like for people to be able to say
that this was a school that demanded excellence out of all of its students, but never
lost that nurturing touch that’s made Taft.
I’d like it still to be Taft’s school.
JR:
If there were labels—Horace Taft was the
founder who put character first,
Cruikshank the stern puritan who put
morality and discipline high on the
agenda; Esty the head who brought the
school in step with the times, and Odden
the one who brought the school back to
Horace Taft, who resurrected the physical plant—how would you like the
MacMullen years to be remembered?
WM:
I would like to be remembered as someone who led the school during a time filled
with change and never lost sight of what
was essential, what was bedrock, to the
school. This is a place that shapes students
in an ancient tradition: morally, intellectually, athletically, and artistically. I never
want to lose sight of that. I’m a boater; I’ll
use a different metaphor. I would like my
years to look like the voyage of a well-run
ship: a thousand tacks as the winds change,
but a voyage which viewed from afar is a
straight line, running from Horace Taft,
through Cruikshank, Esty, and Odden,
and then me.
The Odden Gala
A Night for
Patsy and Lance
was an evening
to remember
Michael Carney’s Orchestra
A Night for Patsy and Lance was a glamorous event by any standard.
Faculty emeriti Jol and Susan Everett
I
t has been a year of celebration, and a year of lasts: Lance’s last Morning
Meeting talk, his and Patsy’s last sit-down dinner, their last Mothers’ Day
and Fathers’ Day, and their last official Alumni Weekend—since they have
promised to return to gather with friends and family for years to come.
All year, students, faculty, alumni, colleagues, trustees, and friends have struggled
with ways to say good-bye. On May 19,
the school gathered to celebrate the Odden
legacy and to express to the Oddens what
their leadership and friendship have meant.
It was an amazing weekend by any
standard. Cold and damp on Friday
evening, it turned warm and sunny on
Saturday for the annual parade and
alumni luncheon, at which the Oddens
were awarded the school’s highest honor,
the Alumni Citation of Merit.
32
But the highlight of the weekend was
certainly the student tribute on Saturday
night. Flashlights in hand, students
marched down Walnut Hill and circled
Potter’s Pond as Collegium sang. Fountains rose as lights revealed a dancer,
Reina Mooney ’02, rising on a stage in
the center of the pond. A banner lowered from the HDT tower, proclaiming
our thanks to Patsy and Lance, and just
as the show seemed at an end, the lights
grew dim and the sky was lighted again
with an explosion of colorful fireworks.
Nearing midnight, the 1,500
people who gathered for the Oddens’
last hurrah lingered by the pond, still
finding friends to catch up with, time
for a few final hugs, and then a reluctant walk back to the car—or bus—for
the trip home. It was the kind of
evening you want to hold on to just a
little longer, much the way we’d like to
hang on to the Oddens. “Parting is
such sweet sorrow.”
—Julie Reiff
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRAIG AMBROSIO AND PETER FINGER
The Odden Gala
Patsy Odden and rising head monitor Bruce Trammell ’02
Lance dances with his daughter,
Laurie ’89.
䉴 Reina Mooney ’02, daughter
of Laird Mooney ’73, performs
a final tribute to the Oddens
from the center of Potter’s Pond.
33
John and Nancy Novogrod P’98,’01 and
Dusty Tuttle P’98,’00
Willy MacMullen ’78, Taft’s next head of
school, is welcomed by alumni and parents.
Will Miller ’74, Ken Pettis ’74, and Lance
Everyone, including the Oddens, showed every sign of enjoying the evening. Here, Lance
dances with Maggie Picotte as Dennis Liu ’02, right, captures the fun on film.
Lance dances with his granddaughter Margot
Patsy Odden, Lulu McCullough, and John
Orb ’37
Lance and Ward Belcher P’97,’02
34
Sisters Kat ’92 and Sara Curie ’86
Patsy Odden, hailed as a role model for young women, receives
congratulations from Marianne Chaikin, Barbara Burns, and
Jean Knight.
Faculty emeriti Tom and Pecky Lodge with former faculty members
Chip and Betty (Williams) Wells
Patsy and Lance
The Odden Gala
George Utley ’74 and daughter Hannah
Lance Odden said that he insisted on only two items for the final celebration: That students be
included and that the band be one all ages would enjoy dancing to. The combination was magic.
35
Dyllan McGee ’89 and Will Miller ’74
Patsy and Fred Genung ’63
Classmates Greg Mucci, Will Polkinghorn, and Rob MacDonald
’95 enjoy an off-reunion year gathering as well.
Patty Boyle and Bryan Remer ’62
36
Ellen and Chuck Scarborough P’96,’98
Jen Burns ’93, Lance Odden, and Kristen Richardson ’93
“Horace Taft” escorts the Oddens to the
pond for the final tribute.
Lee and Daney Klingenstein ’44
Harriette and John Gussenhoven ’65 with son Jordan ’02
The Odden Gala
Lance Odden and head monitor Tarik Asmerom ’01
For more photos of Alumni Weekend,
turn to page 56, or view the entire weekend of
images at www.porter.photoreflect.com.
George and Eva Landegger P’91,’00 with Louis Laun ’38
37
Lessons
from
Life
On the eve of his
retirement,
the headmaster
offers advice to the
graduating class.
111th Commencement
Remarks by Lance R. Odden, headmaster
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HIGHPOINT PICTURES
Two graduates are better than one: Rick and Lynne Breed with school monitor siblings
Mary Stuart and Rich Breed and their sister Ashley ’98.
䉳 The last graduate ever to receive a Taft diploma from Lance Odden, Kristen Zwiener
takes a bow with the headmaster.
I
f I have learned anything in life, it is that
I know very little.
This much I believe: That
we are unreasonably
lucky to be here among
the most privileged in all
of the world and that with
that privilege comes the
obligation to give back.
I, a failure in second grade, owe everything to Mrs. Dennison, my third grade
teacher who held me after school and
made me practice phonics to overcome
mild dyslexia. In today’s world, I would
be given Ritalin, denied the opportunity to overcome my disability, and to
develop the habit of hard work. When I
wrote to thank Mrs. Dennison after becoming headmaster, she made me feel
like the gift giver. Say “thank you,” and
you will feel good.
In tenth grade, my Algebra II
teacher wrote my father at the end of
the winter term saying, “If Lance cared
about scoring points in math as he does
goals in hockey, he might pass.” When
I suggested to my father that my teacher
was disorganized, boring, and considered the worst instructor at Andover, my
father, uncharacteristically, got mad. He
said, “Never blame anyone for your own
shortcomings. In life, you will have poor
Lance Odden helps head monitor Tarik
Asmerom lift the Class of 2001 stone during the commencement ceremonies. Given
the distance to Centennial dormitory from
the gym, Tarik did not have to place the
stone in the wall.
teachers and ineffective bosses. Your job
is to get the job done, not to complain.
In the end, you are responsible for yourself.” Great advice. Remember it when
you are parents.
My Andover hockey coach was
tough, perhaps, even a tyrant by today’s
standards. He believed that if the
conditions of practice were more
demanding than those of competing
under the pressure of games, you would
perform well and win. We worked so
hard we almost never lost. The end, in
fact, does depend on the beginning,
which is part of why I have always loved
Horace Taft’s quote that “Sports are important because of the unselfishness
and self-suppression they enforce. That
the grandstand player or the one who
only trains when the coach’s eye is on
him is not the one who will be successful in life.” The harder you work, the
luckier you get.
39
Science Department Head Laura Erickson
awards Stephanie Giannetto the Alvin I.
Reiff Sr. Biology Prize. Stephanie also received the Harry W. Walker ’40 Non Ut Sibi
Award for her community service work.
Bancha Dhammarungruang, here with his parents Jajjai and Kritiyanee and sister Benjamas,
was recognized for his work in Chinese and computer science and received the
Cunningham Award along with Jill Hunt.
As a junior at Princeton I saw a
movie on China, where the conflict between Confucian and Western values
interrupted a beautiful love affair. I
couldn’t understand the Confucian point
of view, and so I decided to take a course
first in Chinese philosophy and then in
Chinese history, and all of that changed
my life. I turned away from the law and
toward teaching. Never be deaf to the
childlike curiosity that lies within you.
Seek out other cultures, for paradoxically
they will lead you to understand yourself and our society better. They will
deepen your understanding of others,
leading toward empathy, the process of
putting yourself in the shoes of others,
which is the essence of justice.
As I get older, I understand that
nearly all of my values come from my
parents. My mother loved books, history, and the search for understanding.
She was a teacher. My father was an
old-fashioned general practitioner,
practically a country doctor. Together,
my parents believed in the essential dignity of all people and the importance
of helping others. I remember so well
when my dad’s turn came to drive a
friend and me to Andover for the spring
term of my first year at school. As we
drove on the New Jersey Turnpike,
went across the GW Bridge, and then
onto Interstate 95 northward to the
Mass Pike, each time my father paid a
toll, he spoke to the attendant and
asked them how they were doing. Some
responded appreciatively, others not at
all. I asked him why he did this, and
he said, “Because we should always recognize every individual as an equal. You
would be surprised at how many people
feel good about that and, in turn, make
you feel good.” Simple, but decent, and
so often lost today. I have never forgotten going through my father’s books
40
after he died only to find that he treated
one-third of his patients pro bono, impossible to imagine today. My parents
lived simple lives, trying to understand
humanity, believing in decency and the
power of service, which went a long
way toward making a happy life. Not a
bad mantra for us all.
In my lifetime, we have had a number of great presidents, but two stand
out for their brilliant grasp of politics—
Richard Nixon and William Clinton.
They could have done so much for our
country, but their egos got in the way.
They made mistakes. They refused to
accept responsibility for their errors
and lied, destroying their careers.
When John Kennedy botched the invasion of Cuba, he immediately
apologized. This action calls to mind
Horace Dutton Taft’s words, “If you tell
the truth there is something to build
on.” Accepting responsibility for his
Proud parents John and Lorraine Wood
congratulate their daughter Vanessa, who
was not only named Valedictorian, but received prizes for physics, mathematics,
French, history, writing, and Independent
Studies as well. Vanessa is the first graduate whose weighted GPA surpassed a 6.0.
Kisses and hugs were the order of the day
as Jerry and Kathie Sugar congratulate
daughter Sara.
Class speaker Jill Hunt, who received the
Maurice Pollak Scholarship and was corecipient of the Cunningham Award,
reminded her classmates of highlights of
their years at Taft.
actions, John Kennedy, found that the
American people were remarkably forgiving. Today, he is considered a great
president. Be honest, accept responsibility, and move on.
Do not look for a job or consider
your life’s work based on perceived
prestige, income, or titles commanding respect. Find out what you enjoy
doing and find a way to build your life’s
work around it. All of you love solving
puzzles. For some, puzzles will be
found in business, for others law or
education, and for others how to create in the arts, music, film, or
architecture, for others, the helping
professions. Find the puzzles you like
and your career will not be a job but a
calling, which will engage you forever.
Among you today there is a tendency to think that those who are
already the extracurricular or intellectual leaders will be the most successful
in life. This, I can say with certainty
after witnessing forty years of Taft
graduates move through life: Success
comes equally from all quarters of
every class. I think of my first trip
as headmaster to meet alumni. Ed
Douglas, a forty-year veteran and
former dean of students accompanied
me. Following a dinner at a prominent
businessman’s home, I said to Dougie,
“Peter must have been an unbelievable
leader at Taft.” Dougie said, “No way.
He was forever in trouble because he
had too much energy and imagination
for the school’s rules and expectations.”
Remember that story because those
who show up for work loaded with
energy and those who look at the world
through creative lenses are most often
the ones who get the job done. There
is no substitute for hard work.
I remember so well the words of
African-American author Alex Haley
when he spoke at Taft about Roots, his
Pulitzer Prize-winning book. When
challenged at Taft whether black men
have a real chance in America, he said,
“I cannot abide that kind of comment
because it represents what 95 percent of
the people are thinking. I want you to
be one of the 5 percent who when confronted with a problem says, Let’s get
started with it, and get the job done.”
Every problem is an opportunity, but
only a few people understand that. Remember that most people, particularly
those living in the ivory tower of higher
education, are trained to analyze what
is wrong, what does not work. Yes, it is
important to define any problem, but
then, the fun really begins. Devote your
time and energy to finding out what
works, and you will be part of the 5 percent who count.
Talking to my Chinese history class
the other day, I realized I was profoundly
41
Caroline Novogrod and Sarah Persing
Andrew Karas struggles to carry his many
prizes—the Aurelian Award, Salutatorian,
Sherman Cawley Award in English, the
Daniel Higgins Fenton Classics Award, and
class speaker medal.
Jon Willson ’82 receives the Abramowitz
Award for excellence in teaching. Other faculty honors went to fellow alumnus Lenny
Tucker ’92, who received the Shoup Award.
Judy and Cordy Wagner ’43 with son
Cordy, who earned the Theater Award and
the Class of 1981 Award, along with Christine Maddock.
troubled by the rise of fundamentalism
throughout the world. Just this week the
Afghanistan government proclaimed that
those who are not Muslims must wear
labels identifying themselves as heathen,
reminiscent of the Nazi’s treatment of the
Jews. Throughout the Islamic world the
gains of women are being reversed. In all
of the Americas evangelical fundamentalism is growing at an unprecedented
rate. All of this is at the expense of tolerance, and particularly respect for the
rights of women. I am reminded of the
story of Jesus when confronted with a
female adulterer, who according to the
laws of Moses should be stoned to
death—a practice just exercised last week
in Iran. Jesus put aside the law of Moses
when he said, “Neither do I condemn
you, go and sin no more.” Place yourself
in the shoes of others, and you will find
justice and charity. Love others, as you
would be so loved, and you will feel
good about yourself. Reject absolute
judgments denying individuals their
rights. Honor our historic separation of
church and state.
Of the trends of the past forty years,
I regret most the shift from family to
the state and to surrogate caregivers the
essential responsibilities that come to a
parent bringing a child into the world.
I want you to nurture your children
from conception to birth. I want you to
fight to guarantee this right for all
Americans. I want you to be with your
children sharing in their adventures.
Please allow them the joys of growing
up. Avoid programming them, and
when they are adolescents be there for
them, but also let go. Let them begin to
find their own way. As the Good Book
says, “Give them roots and wings.”
I will go to my grave believing in
the familial ethic as the best guide to
moral behavior. What does this mean?
It means that as emerging new adults,
you the Class of 2001 should never undertake any behavior, which you would
not discuss with your parents or with
those you love. It means for us as adults,
parents, and grandparents that we
should not act in any way we would not
share with our children and with those
that we love. If we cannot talk about it,
something is wrong. It is a simple ethic,
it is familial in nature, it is Confucian
at the heart, and it speaks to the essence
of morality. This simple ethic avoids legalistic parsing, so deadly to our
morality today.
Each year at the 50th Reunion,
Tafties reflect on their lives. Many focus on awards, money made, and career
accomplishments. Then there are those
who talk about their families, their children, and their grandchildren. They are
the happy ones, the ones who are comfortable with who they are and what
42
Commencement
Trivia
How much do you know about
graduation at Taft?
1. At the end of the first year at
Mr. Taft’s School, how many boys
received diplomas?
a. none
b.two
c. five
d.ten
2. The Bourne Medal in History,
awarded annually at graduation,
is named in honor of
Rain may have soaked the fields, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of 2001 graduates Nora
Barta and Ha Tran, front, with friends Khanh Do Ba ’03, Henry Tsai ’02, Diego Quijano
’00, and Chris Dove ’02.
they leave behind. They got it right, and
I urge you to do so as well.
Throughout life how we make the
small daily decisions of living determines what kind of people we will
become. We cannot shortchange or lie
about small matters and expect to be
moral or truthful in the large choices of
life. The habits of heart and mind we
develop daily will form our moral being, which, in turn, will shape our
response to the large and difficult decisions and temptations, which invariably
present themselves to us throughout our
life’s journey. How you practice determines how you perform under pressure.
Again and again, I am drawn back
to the brilliance of Horace Dutton
Taft’s selection of our school’s motto.
He clearly understood its central paradox that at the very core of idealism
lies self-interest, the deep pleasure we
derive from helping others. More than
money, materialism, attachments, sex,
power, or pleasure, the desire to help
others is the deepest human need, the
key to our humanity.
In the years ahead cherish our motto,
non ut sibi ministretur sed ut ministret, for
you have in one sentence the wisdom of
the ages. You have a guide for life. Life is
pretty simple—if you take care of others, you take care of yourself. I even think
that Patsy and I still have something to
contribute, and so let us, the Class of
2001 go out into the world determined
to make it just a little better, ever mindful of the lessons learned here.
Given that all of the speakers had to contend with the thundering sound of rain
on the gymnasium roof, each of their
remarks can be found on the school
website at www.TaftSchool.org. Class
speaker Andrew Karas’s remarks can also
be found on page 76.
a. Horace Taft’s roommate at Yale
b.the school’s first instructor in
history
c. Horace Taft’s favorite teacher
at Yale
d.the Bourne Bridge on Cape Cod
3. In what year did Wesleyan
president Colin Campbell cut his
remarks short due to rain?
a. 1979
b.1984
c. 1989
d.1994
4. Who gave the commencement
address at Taft in 1914?
a. Horace Dutton Taft
b.William Howard Taft
c. Charles Phelps Taft
d.Henry Watters Taft
5. Taft seniors last wore black
gowns and mortarboards in
what year?
a. 1968
b.1972
c. 1979
d.1990
(answers on page 58)
43
ALUMNI WEEKEND ALBUM
Alumni Weekend Album
Tafties of all ages gathered in May to join classmates, to wish the Oddens well, and to welcome
new Head of School Willy MacMullen ’78.
Celebrating diversity and a lacrosse win over
Hotchkiss, and remembering classmates no longer
with us, families and friends came together once
again in our growing “little city beauty clad.”
Jay Greer ’50 presents Lance and Patsy with the school’s highest honor, the
Alumni Citation of Merit.
Dick Stevens ’31 returns for his 70th Reunion.
A historic photograph recreated with the latest succession of headmasters and their wives: Willy ’78 and
Pam MacMullen, Lance and Patsy Odden, and John and Katharine Esty.
Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75 and daughter Emily
’00, back from Yale for her first reunion.
䉲 Alex (son of Al Reiff ’80), Andrew and Emily (Elizabeth Kerney Zuehlke ’82),
Henry (faculty Steve and Karla Palmer), Matthew (Eric Norman ’81) and Sara
(John Kerney ’78) create the first kids’ fun run on Sunday morning at the
Weaver Track. Sara’s dad won the 4-mile grown-ups’ race.
The victorious Alumni Lacrosse team turns out in good number on Sunday
morning to win another one for the Lancer.
44
The Taft Collegium Musicum and Chamber Ensemble set an inspirational tone at the annual memorial service at Christ Church on Friday evening.
Classmates Rob Peterson, Caroline Lyon, and Scott
Allyn ’80 perform a moving tribute to friend and
classmate Paul Todd, who died earlier this year.
Patsy Odden’s Alumnae Lacrosse Team
Erica Forbes ’86 and daughter Allegra
Charles Moore ’81, Brigham Olson ’81, John
Carnahan ’81, and Andrew Carnahan ’90 gather
before the parade begins.
Jay Peet ’46 and Suzanne and Pete Thompson ’46 at
the Service of Remembrance.
Judith and Stephen Smith ’51 with son Stephen ’80
with Eve, Allison, and Steve
Continued on page 68
45
Continued from page 57
Annual Fund Chair Dyllan McGee ’89 recognizes
class agents at the annual alumni luncheon. For the
complete list of honorees, see page 20.
Tom Chrystie ’51, with wife Eliza, still proudly wears
his letter sweater.
So many alumni want to see the future head in
action that Willy MacMullen ’78 winds up teaching
his AP English class in the Woodward Theater on
Saturday morning to accommodate the crowd.
Talk about putting on a show.
Phil Howard ’66 visits with George ’65 and Mimi
Boggs before the parade.
Cousins Sara Kerney and Emily Zuehlke march in
the parade as Emmy Kerney and Elizabeth Kerney
Zuehlke ’82 look on.
䉴 The Class of ’56 acknowledges onlookers
as the parade works
its way to the Alumni
Luncheon.
The varsity lacrosse team makes a superb win over rival Hotchkiss to win the
Founders League and to cap two consecutive undefeated seasons on Saturday of Alumni Weekend. For more on their season, turn to page 18.
The family of Walter Hart ’42 gathers at Saturday morning registration:
Trip ’71, Walt, Chuck ’76, Sally, Doug ’69, Muff, and Bill.
46
Kristin and Don Taylor ’76 with Tina Shealy ’76
Faculty member Anne Romano prepares a crop of
peonies for one of the hundreds of table arrangements that weekend.
Marguerite and Thomas Moore ’43 with daughters Alex Moore Barber ’81 and
Susan Moore Metz ’86 before the parade
Jack Broome ’36 and Bill Snyder ’41
Lynette Sumpter ’89, Hank Torbert ’90, Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75, and Yi
Ming Yang ’87 present a panel discussion on the topic of diversity at Taft.
Barbara and John Vogelstein ’52 greet faculty
emeritus Ed North in the Potter Gallery.
䉴 Friends and classmates of Berkeley Matthews
’96 gather on Saturday to dedicate two benches
given in her memory. The sunflowers, her favorite,
served as a touching reminder of Berkeley’s warm
and caring spirit.
47
E
N
D
N
O
T
E
By Andrew Karas ’01
Transformations
“And yet this place has an awesome sense of permanence
about it for an institution that is, by definition, a
temporary stop for those who are passing through it. This,
I would argue, is because each change, each increment of
growth, acts as a means by which the school attains a
deeper fulfillment of its overarching, guiding principles
and philosophies: that it educates and nurtures us wholly,
and that it prepares us not just for college, but for life.”
In an interview with the Times of London, Mexican poet Octavio Paz said, “Wisdom lies neither
in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.” It struck me this winter, while I
was meeting the six finalists for our next head of
school, that the way in which Taft handles constancy and change by equating them is a unique
and defining feature of our experience here, and
that an understanding of the school is linked
fundamentally to an understanding of this balance, this paradoxical dialectic that has
implications not just for the vitality of our community but for the nature of our lives as well.
It is said often and truly that this place is
still very much Mr. Taft’s School, and I will
not make another, unnecessary iteration of
Horace’s Victorian virtues or their presence here
today. It is not this kind of constancy, or its
presence even amid and through such transformations as coeducation, that concerns me.
Instead, I say, look only at what has happened
during our short time here; look at the place
we entered and the place we leave.
In the short space of four years, Taft reestablished its interfaith chaplaincy and
committed to foster the spiritual life and growth
of its students. It constructed a Learning Center and hired a learning specialist to recognize
and accommodate alternative learning styles
and needs. It built up a counseling and student support system that formalizes and
solidifies our institutional obligation and willingness to help students along the rocky parts
of their journey. It stood solidly behind its active Diversity Committee as each of us was
48
made to probe the ways in which racism, homophobia, and other prejudices poison our
society and touch us all. It fostered forums for
individual expression, especially through the
sponsoring of intimate and popular coffeehouse
performances. Stuff happened here.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus put it
smartly and in far fewer words than I have:
“Change alone is unchanging,” he said. And
yet this place has an awesome sense of permanence about it for an institution that is, by
definition, a temporary stop for those who are
passing through it. This, I would argue, is because each change, each increment of growth,
acts as a means by which the school attains a
deeper fulfillment of its overarching, guiding
principles and philosophies: that it educates and
nurtures us wholly, and that it prepares us not
just for college, but for life.
What we have seen of life, admittedly, is
not much, and we stand in a decidedly poor
place to judge our preparation for what faces
us. However, during our time here, we have
been alive, and we too, through our experiences
and perceptions, have been marked by transformation. As we came to know one another
and ourselves more fully, we awoke truer incarnations of ourselves, each time more
affirmed of our identity, more attuned to our
aspirations and our passions, more pure in our
expressions of our discoveries to the world.
In a place that has moved assertively but
not jarringly to remain always the first to nurture and to prod, to counsel and to cajole, both
practicality and philosophy have been shown
䉱 The graduating Class of 1901, identified as
Barlow, Meier, Hardwick, Lamson, Edwards,
Buckley, Thomson, Doran, H. Taft, Baldwin,
Holter, Chamberlain, and Brown.
to us by example. We will grow and change in
the future—of that much I think we may safely
feel assured—but as Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s
hero Ulysses discovers about character, “That
which we are, we are.” The fluidity with which
Taft blends constancy and change is, I think,
an important indication of the lessons we take
away from the school that have no basis in
books or courses but stem instead from the educational experience that is this community. A
place that so understands Paz’s “dialectic” cannot help but impart it, and I do not know, but
I think that we might notice such lessons more
from eventually living them than from currently
learning them.
No surprise, change is in Taft’s future, too.
Whether it be the cross-course integration of
the science curriculum or, of course, the change
which is on so many of our minds—the new
headmaster—things will be different here when
we are gone. On some Alumni Day of the future, we too will wander around buildings we
never saw and hear of practices we never conceived. But we will still recognize the school.
Taft is our school and will remain the same as
it ever was. Things happen here. The place, in
that sense, has a life of its own, and therefore
teaches us to live.
Andrew delivered these remarks at graduation
in May. For more on the day, turn to page 36.
Giving
Creatively to
Taft’s Pooled Income Fund has grown significantly in size
and number of participants over the past few years. Established 22 years ago, this special gifting vehicle is similar
to a mutual fund. Your gift is pooled with other donors’
gifts and assigned a proportionate interest in the fund.
Current earnings of the fund—dividends and interest—
are paid out to each beneficiary on a quarterly basis.
Alumni, parents, and friends have an opportunity to make
gifts of cash or appreciated securities and receive these
significant benefits in return:
• Lifetime income paid to the donor and/or another beneficiary. Yield for the past two years has been 5.6 percent.
• Increased income when using low yield securities, plus
growth potential. Income has grown by 18 percent
since 1998.
• A charitable income tax deduction.
• No capital gains tax when giving long-term appreciated
securities.
• Possible reduction of estate taxes.
• Professional investment management and administration by State Street Bank and Trust Company of Boston.
And most important . . .
• The satisfaction of helping Taft remain strong in the
21st century.
A gift to Taft’s Pooled Income Fund provides long-term
support for the school and immediate benefits for donors.
For more information about the Taft Pooled Income Fund or other creative ways to support Taft,
please contact Clayton Spencer ’56, director of planned giving, at 1-800-959-TAFT.
Non-profit Org.
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The Odden Gala - The Taft School

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