Castle Sleuthing - uwc-USA

S U M M E R
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Vo l u m e 4 3
SPECIAL
ANNIVERSARY
I S S U E
12
CASTLE SLEUTHING
Uncovering the mysteries of
the historical hotel
29
DAVID BENNET
Remembering Prince Charles’s hot
springs commotion
34
THE FREEDOM MARCH
Speaking out against Apartheid
LEADERS
CAMPUS
Letter From the President
2
Campus Facts
10
Hammer’s Legacy
3
Castle Sleuthing
12
Making Montezuma
4
A Crusader for the Cause
5
THEN & NOW
Life Cycle
Bottling the Magic
A Thematic Review of Past and Present
14
6
Personal Level History
15
7
Make It END
16
The Anatomy of a Cultural Day
17
18
19
CLASS OF ’84
The Italian Bed Makers
8
Montezuma Memories
8
The Misadventures of the Student
Liberation Organization
Howls and Hugs
9
On Our Shoulders SUMMER 2012
30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
THE THINKERS
Odd-Even
Bustness ’89 and
Lieke Luttmer ’89
pose on the
soccer fields.
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ALUMNI MEMORIES
ORAL HISTORIES
Blind Faith on Santa Fe Baldy
33
The Intimate Work of Changing the World 21
The Freedom March
34
A Love for Language
UWC Dancing
36
How We Got Locks
36
Grapevine Canyon
37
Homelessness, History, and the CIA
20
21
On Becoming a Privateer and
Marching for Hunger 22
Creating Community
23
Timeline24
LIFE CONNECTIONS
Montezuma Love
38
In the Thick of It
26
Fat Envelopes, Moose Horns, and
Badminton Stars
27
UWC Connection
39
A Fire Truck and Three Arabian Horses
28
A Wedding Anniversary
39
Country-Mates39
Prince Charles’s Hot Springs Commotion 29
REMEMBERING
The UWC Family
30
Halley’s Comet
40
Softball, Singing, and Orienteering
31
Making Connections
40
Brewing the First Pot of Tea
32
Improvisation41
Misappropriation41
In Memoriam
42
IN THE FUTURE
Looking Forward
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©Michael Brown ’90
LEADERS
Letter From the
President
Kaleid scope
I hope you have as much fun reading this 30th anniversary issue of Kaleidoscope
as we had assembling it! The stories from past school leaders, faculty, staff, and
alumni that you’ll find in these pages all share a common theme: the pure affection
for this wonderful school. You simply can’t be a part of UWC‑USA without feeling
that joy.
When I arrived at UWC‑USA seven years ago, I was welcomed by a deeply expe‑
rienced and committed faculty, several of whom had been with the school since its
founding. In May, we celebrated many of those dear colleagues as they transitioned
to retirement or other projects. Their contributions are immeasurable, but I feel
confident that those joining us this fall will build on the foundations set by those
before them while bringing new energy and ideas to the campus.
Each of us stands on the shoulders of those who have come before us, and that
is truer for no one more than for me. I have had the privilege of knowing and fol‑
lowing Ted and Lu Lockwood, and Phil and Amy Geier.
Ted and Lu presided over the school’s founding. They tell stories that make
me laugh at the roller-coaster ride that marked the beginning of UWC‑USA, from
makeshift dorms known as “Siberia” to the grand ceremony with Prince Charles
that marked the dedication.
Phil and Amy took the school to the next level, improving programmatic qual‑
ity as well as building and renovating facilities that continue to serve our students
today. With the help of our extraordinary patron, Shelby Davis, they secured trans‑
formational philanthropic support.
I am humbled and deeply admiring of the work and impact of my predecessors.
It is in their great tradition that my colleagues and I carry on to advance the school
and the UWC ideals. As I write this, we are deep into a strategic planning process
that will establish new goals for the next several years. The planning process has
been an invaluable opportunity for reflection, allowing us to celebrate the passion
and brilliance of our students and alumni, the uniqueness of our experiential pro‑
gram, and the potential we have to make a significant impact on the world. At the
same time, it has helped us think about how we can take this exceptional school and
make it even better. I look forward to sharing the final outcome.
But for now, celebrate with us. Return and join in the anniversary festivities in
September. Enjoy reading the stories and remembering your own UWC story. And
most of all, let us stand together in living out our extraordinary vision, mission,
and ideals.
LEADERS
DEAR FRIENDS,
CREDITS
editor
Jennifer Rowland
associate editor
Emily Withnall MC ’01
designer
Danielle Wollner
copy editor
Jeannine Santiago
contributors
Francesca Annicchiarico ’12, Daniela
Bar-Am (Beran) ’91, Eran Bar-Am ’91,
Bonnie (Horie) Bennett ’85, David Bennett,
Geoff Blanton ’05, Jan Boontinand ’90,
Dorrie Brooks ’85, Michael Brown ’90, Fiona
Cumberland ’10, Ruaidhri Belfry Crofton,
Lisa A. H. Darling, Marie Dixon ’84, Kripa
Dongol ’12, Shaila Ekramoddoullah ’90,
Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft ’10, Hannah
Freedman ’12, John Geffroy, Don Gray,
Nico Grubert ’12, Tarra Hassin ’91, Henrik
Jenssen ’12, Sam Kessler ’13, Shamola
Labeodan ’00, Tom Lamberth, Brian G.
Lax ’92, Nadejda Marques ’90, Hans
O. Melberg ’90, Alexa Melkman ’99,
Mohammad Mudaqiq ’12, Joe Nold,
Tandiwe Njobe ’90, Bob and Carrol Pearson,
Helle Ringaard ’85, Jennifer Rowland,
Eugenio Ruggiero ’84, Kate Russell, Hannah
Saulters ’12, Fernando Skerl ’86, Gareth
Smit ’09, Michael Stern ’89, Demet Tuncer
Tanriover ’93, Emma Tilquin ’02,
Kevin Thompson, Colleen Lewis
von Eckartsberg ’86, Hilda Wales, Emily
Withnall MC ’01, Mark Zelinski,
Offi (Susser) Zisser ’84
contact
UWC‑USA
PO Box 248
Montezuma, NM 87731
+1 505 454 4227
publications@uwc‑usa.org
With warm regards,
Kaleidoscope is published biannually
by UWC‑USA
to sustain connection within UWC‑USA
and its extended community.
Lisa A. H. Darling
President
Cover Photo: Pictured are Kamenna Rindova Lee ’89
and Gina Neff ’89. Photo ©Michael Brown ’90
Back Cover Photo: Pictured are Mahaut de San ’13,
Belgium, Chisom Ibekwe ’13, Nigeria, and Kalene
Jones ’12, Bahamas. Photo ©Kate Russell
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©Kate Russell
Hammer’s Legacy
Armand Hammer loved a challenge. When Lord Louis
Mountbatten wondered out loud how Hammer might suc‑
ceed in founding a UWC in the United States when oth‑
ers before him had failed, Hammer was confident. “I’d be
happy to help you,” he told Mountbatten and His Royal
Highness Prince Charles in 1978.
Within two years of that fateful conversation, Hammer
had purchased the Montezuma site for $1 million. “I had
been immediately enchanted with the place but daunted
by its dereliction,” he writes in his autobiography. “The
castle’s roof was a maze of holes. The grounds were com‑
pletely overgrown, and we walked around them with mud
up to our ankles. Nonetheless, my mind was made up im‑
mediately. This was the place.”
It wasn’t just the challenge that inspired Hammer—
although building a world-class educational institution out
of a heap of crumbling buildings certainly was not an easy
task. Hammer, who had
lived through two world
wars, truly believed in the
UWC mission.
“If 17-year-olds all
around the world could
share that dream [of a world without war] and act upon it
in their adult lives, they might become ushers to an age
of peace on earth,” he said.
Hammer’s generosity and faith in youth have trans‑
formed the lives of nearly 3,000 UWC‑USA alumni—and
countless communities around the world that those alum‑
ni have since touched. When Hammer’s great-grandson
Armie came to visit the campus recently, his pride was pal‑
pable—and well-deserved. Armand Hammer’s legacy will
carry on with generations of students yet to come.
LEADERS
By Jennifer Rowland
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©Michael Brown ’90
Making Montezuma
LEADERS
AN INTERVIEW WITH TED LOCKWOOD
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By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Ted Lockwood may have been UWC‑USA’s first
president, but as anyone who has read his book Dreams
& Promises: The Story of the Armand Hammer United
World College knows, he also played a critical role in the
school’s founding.
Armand Hammer, charged by Prince Charles in 1978
to create a United World College in the U.S., assembled a
team of people to make the vision of the school a reality.
Kingman Brewster, former president of Yale and the am‑
bassador to the Court of St. James, was
a part of this team and pulled Ted into
the project in April 1981. Having been
immersed in U.S. higher education for
decades, Ted knew nothing of the na‑
scent UWC movement or the Interna‑
tional Baccalaureate. But he says he was
intrigued by the schools’ description
and promise and dove headfirst into the
complex planning required to set up a
U.S.-based UWC.
Initially, plans called for the school
to be hosted within the larger campus
of the United States International Uni‑
versity in San Diego, Calif. However,
Ted questioned the effectiveness of this
idea. The university was failing, and the
location was not ideal for the kind of fo‑
cus required of UWC students. Ted says
Hammer respected his opinion, but
tasked him with helping to find a new
site as quickly as possible.
When the Castle was discovered in Montezuma and
the property was secured as the UWC site, Ted and his
wife Lu were officially hired. Visiting the future campus in
October 1981 with Pearson’s Founding Director Jack Mat‑
thews, Ted remembers, “the soccer field was a complete
dustbin and there was no grass, the telephone poles were
strung haphazardly all over. We found nothing had been
done although we had met with an architect and a builder
to discuss what might happen.” Despite these disappoint‑
ments, Ted persevered with a fast-paced renovation that
would see the school open in fall 1982.
Of course, there were hurdles. Finding faculty, recruit‑
ing students from around the world, and securing the stu‑
dents’ clearance required relentless work and negotiation.
Ted says, “In the late fall of ’81, I discovered you had to be
in operation for three years before the U.S. Department of
Education in Washington, D.C. would approve of bringing
in foreign students.” Fortunately, Dr. Hammer and New
Mexico Gov. Bruce King were able to “pull some strings”
so they could move ahead.
“New Mexico was very good because they just said
‘you’re approved.’ So there’s some virtue in being in a state
where things are done a little differently,” Ted jokes.
Building the school in Montezuma turned out to be
fortuitous in many other ways. Before the school opened,
Ted approached all the institutions and organizations
in Las Vegas to establish a relationship and to offer ser‑
vice where needed. Many of the school’s current servic‑
es, such as volunteering at the New Mexico Behavioral
Health Institute, owe their existence to Ted’s dedication
to community partnerships.
But while it proved to be easy to forge service connec‑
tions in Las Vegas, the Kurt Hahn-based commitment to
Search and Rescue presented its own challenge. “Prince
Charles couldn’t understand what we were going to do
about Search and Rescue because all the other United
World Colleges did it on the water,” Ted says, laughing. “I
said I didn’t think the Gallinas River was a very good locale
for that.” Working with the New Mexico state police, the
school soon developed a comprehensive land-based Search
and Rescue team—marking the beginning of UWC‑USA’s
integral Wilderness Program.
Ted’s previous work with U.S. universities helped him
to appreciate the isolated and intimate nature of UWC‑USA.
“Lu and I loved the countryside and the fact that both of
us could have lunch every noon and talk with people,” Ted
says. “And at night I would take the collie out at 10 p.m. and
walk around the campus and see the place and chat with a
few people—it was such a wonderful contrast [to what I’d
done before].”
Whether it was from faculty from around the world,
students who took the “courageous risk” in coming, or the
development of key courses like the Conflict Resolution Pro‑
gram, Ted says he drew inspiration and momentum from
every aspect of UWC life. “We weren’t just teaching algebra
and going home,” Ted says. “I think that was rewarding.”
Ted and Lu stayed at UWC‑USA for 10 years—though
Ted reveals that his initial plan had been “to get it going
and then turn it over to somebody.” He shares, “Having
been in education nearly 50 years, in retrospect, certainly
our years at Montezuma were the best.”
Ted and Lu now live in Vermont, where they enjoy the
proximity of their families. Considering UWC’s future,
Ted says he hopes the movement will continue to expand.
While there are more UWCs now than there were in 1982,
he believes that continued growth will be essential in help‑
ing the UWC movement amplify real global understand‑
ing and change. “The decision to educate high school stu‑
dents was smart and fruitful,” he says of the movement’s
founders. “Aspiration, dedication, and knowledge will con‑
tinue to be crucial for students to make a real impact.”
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A Crusader for the Cause
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Phil Geier, UWC‑USA’s second president, learned
about the school and the UWC movement from a philan‑
thropist in Houston, Texas. His interest piqued, Phil ap‑
plied for the president’s position, got the job, and quickly
realized he was in for one big challenge.
“My first impressions were that I hope we can make
this work,” he says. “The school was about a year and half
away from being bankrupt. It was a sad situation, but it
was a real opportunity, so we considered it a challenge we
were willing to grapple with.”
And grapple he did. During his tenure, Phil righted the
school’s financial footing, secured scholarships for Ameri‑
can students, renovated the Castle, developed many key
programs, and spread the word about the school—among
several other endeavors.
Phil says he undertook the challenge because he was
captivated by the school’s location, history, and—most
significantly—by the students. Furthermore, he deeply
believed in the school’s mission and had great hope for
its future. Phil’s passion, as well as his talent for building
relationships and finding donors, drove his success.
Describing himself as a “crusader for the cause,” Phil
says it took effort from everyone at the school to build rela‑
tionships locally and farther afield. “I can remember many
members of the faculty sitting around a dining room table
at the president’s house and personally writing appeal let‑
ters to people. Everybody really rolled up their sleeves,” he
shares. It was faculty involvement, he says, that helped
spread the kind of excitement that was vital to finding do‑
nors who shared the school’s aspirations.
Phil says his first few months at UWC‑USA were a
learning curve, but one of the most surprising things he
discovered was in September during a full moon. “We
went to bed, exhausted, and in the middle of the night, we
got howled out of bed,” Phil recalls. “Ted Lockwood had
promised the students the year before that he wouldn’t tell
his successor about the tradition so they could shock the
new guy. They did.” With good humor, Phil met them at
the back door and spontaneously delivered some words of
wisdom that elicited much laughter before everyone went
back to sleep. “I found that episode to be really indicative
of a UWC day,” Phil says. “You could have a surprise, you
could have a shock, you could have your world turned up‑
side down, but really, it was a learning experience.”
Phil is proud of many positive changes that came about
during his presidency, such as cross-cultural and religious
programming in the new Dwan Light Sanctuary, greater
emphasis on physical education in the new Edith Lansing
Field House, the establishment of the Bartos Institute
for Constructive Engagement of Conflict, and greater ac‑
cess to educational technology. But he says one of the best
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things about his time at UWC‑USA was something that
didn’t change very much: the faculty. “The faculty we in‑
herited was the faculty I worked with and I was very happy
with that. They put in a lot of commitment and a lot of
extra energy,” Phil says.
Phil adds that while he and the faculty worked to con‑
nect with the local community, he says there is always
more that can be done. “There are lots of ways in which we
could expand beyond campus work,” he says. “Reaching
out to people not just in the local community but beyond
is so important for sharing the mission and looking to the
far future of the enterprise.”
LEADERS
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHIL GEIER
Phil currently serves as the executive director for the
Davis United World College Scholars Program, now the
world’s largest privately funded international scholarship
program for undergraduates. His commitment to provid‑
ing scholarships to potential students is not a new one.
“There was no such thing as scholarships for U.S. students
when we first came [to UWC‑USA]. So that was a big hur‑
dle to deal with and to change, creating a level playing field
for Americans to go to all of the UWCs,” he says, “I am
very excited about UWC having increased its selectivity and
quality of education. A lot has been done since my time.”
5
Life Cycle
LEADERS
AN INTERVIEW WITH SHELBY DAVIS
By Francesca Annicchiarico ’12
Shelby Davis, a philanthropist who has invested
extraordinary resources in UWC‑USA and the UWC
movement for 14 years, explains that he is motivated by
a singular aspiration: “I hope UWC students will make a
contribution to the world—however they make it—by be‑
ing good citizens, by being open-minded, and by living the
mission of the United World Colleges.”
“It all starts with students’ entry into UWC,” he adds.
“It changes them, and they will bring forward that change.
Whatever career they will follow, they will have the spirit of
UWC in them.”
It was a traditional UWC‑USA cultural show more
than a decade ago that inspired Davis to get involved with
the UWC movement. He created an endowment to pro‑
vide full scholarships to all American students attending
a UWC and partially finance the university education of
UWC students—regardless of nationality—who decide to
continue their education in the United States.
“When I visited American scholars around the world,
it broke my heart to see roommates of the Americans, who
were obviously good students and great people, getting into
wonderful universities in the U.S. but not getting financial
aid,” Davis says. “I just couldn’t bear seeing kids who had
studied so hard and had come so far in life—away from their
country to a foreign school—getting into the best schools
but not being able to go. I’m glad I made a difference there.”
In addition to scholarships, the Davis family has sup‑
ported UWC‑USA in many other ways, including contri‑
butions to help renovate the Castle and build the Edith
Lansing Field House. But Davis admits it is the students
who most interest him. “I’d rather invest in the students
than in the buildings,” he says.
Davis is optimistic about UWC‑USA’s future and
would like to see it become one of the top schools in the
country. As a philanthropist, he says success depends on “a
broader base of support from many sources, and particu‑
larly from the alumni.”
According to Davis, alumni can play a key role in open‑
ing new UWCs in underrepresented regions. “Hopefully
some of the students will go back to their countries and
find a way to open a school,” he says. “I’d like to see more
UWCs, and I’d like to see more in poor areas.”
Davis’s stress on the importance of alumni in the fu‑
ture of the UWC movement reflects the philosophy he
has inherited from his parents: “The first 30 years of
one’s life should be focused on learning, the next 30 years
on earning, and the remaining 30 years on returning,”
he explains.
Davis is working on developing his foundation to meet
the needs of an increasing number of UWC students apply‑
ing to U.S. universities from around the world. Davis says his
parents inspired him to become an influential philanthropist.
“[My work] keeps me more vibrant and more aware of new
trends and more hopeful than I would be if I didn’t focus
on people. Being a philanthropist is good for my health and
happiness,” he says.
SHELBY DAVIS
© Don Gray
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Surrounded by
scholars, Davis is
pictured center,
bottom row, with
his wife, Gale, on
the far right,
bottom row.
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Bottling the Magic
By Hannah Freedman ’12
Tom Dickerson AC ’68, chairman of the UWC‑USA
Board of Trustees, has been involved with the UWC
movement for more than 40 years. Dickerson was a stu‑
dent at Atlantic College during the Vietnam War, when
fear of the escalating arms race in the Cold War was at
the forefront of global concern. The conflicts of this era
infused the UWC movement with a sense of urgency; it
was critical to bring students together from around the
world before deep-seated prejudices could be formed.
Dickerson says memories of his engagement with these
global issues are among his fondest. After graduating from
Atlantic College, Dickerson
attended a university in the
U.S. He missed the close-knit
UWC community and started
the movement’s first alumni
association in the U.S. When
UWC‑USA opened in 1982,
Armand Hammer invited
Dickerson to the dedication.
Three years later, he was asked
to join the school’s Board and
has since served on the Board
in several different capacities.
The Board’s job is to cre‑
ate policy for the school, hire
school leaders, raise money,
and ensure that the budget is
balanced. As chairman, Dicker‑
son’s priorities are to facilitate
resourceful group dynamics
among the school’s trustees.
The Board faces several
challenges today. The Armand
Hammer Trust, which pro‑
vides nearly a quarter of the
school’s annual operating bud‑
get, is set to expire in 2013. The
Board has been building up
reserves, but the school is at a
major crossroads. Dickerson
says he views this shift in fund‑
ing as a constructive challenge
because it allows a reevaluation
of the institution and its goals.
Dickerson participated in
the school’s strategic plan‑
ning meeting in February
2012; a pivotal weekend-long
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meeting that included the entire student body, faculty,
staff, Board, various National Committee members, and
International Board members. The meeting’s purpose
was to establish a direction for the school’s future in‑
formed by broad community input and engagement.
The strategic plan is expected to be complete this fall.
When asked about his hopes for the school’s future,
Dickerson says the current task is to define what it is that
makes UWC so transformational. “Once we know what
the magic is,” he says, “we can bottle it and share it with
the world.”
LEADERS
AN INTERVIEW WITH TOM DICKERSON
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THE FIRST CLASS
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CLASS OF ’84
CLASS OF ’84
The Italian Bed Makers
By Eugenio Ruggiero ’84
Back in 1982 when it all started, the school year was
scheduled to begin around Sept. 11 or 12. For some reason,
Enrico and I arrived two or three days early. As Ted Lock‑
wood and some of the teachers later confessed, of all the
people one would expect to arrive on time or early, the Ital‑
ians were the least likely.
We had the campus to ourselves and got to hang out
with Neil Hunter, Charles Hanson, Tunji, and Marcel Roy
and his family. We became acquainted with the campus
and got to know the security guards and the marvels of
the cafeteria (free soda at all times!). Nathalie Roy and An‑
drew’s daughters were good company. Tunji’s kids were
adorable but too small for meaningful conversation (and
besides, our English needed … work).
Everyone in the first class remembers the mud field
before the grass was rolled in. But few people know about
other hitches. For example, the company that supplied the
mattresses had delivered the wrong size; they were shorter
and wider than the bed frames. Since we had nothing else
to do, our “beloved-to-be” housemasters Neil and Marcel
asked if we would help bring down all the wrong mattress‑
es and carry up the right ones.
No one expected Italians to be capable of working hard,
but apparently we did a pretty good job—which gave the
housemasters some ideas. The day before everyone arrived,
they had another request: “You know, your classmates will
arrive tomorrow, many of them at quite late hours and af‑
ter long and tiring trips.”
Pause. “Wouldn’t it be nice
No one expected Italians
if they found their beds
made when they arrived?”
to be capable of working
Well, what could we
hard, but apparently we
say? We had nothing bet‑
ter to do, right? And we
did a pretty good job.
have always been known
for having big, big hearts,
right? We made 100 beds between us that afternoon. The
frames were against the walls, so it wasn’t exactly easy. But
we did our best. And as far as I know, our classmates slept
sweetly thereafter.
Montezuma Memories
By Offi (Susser) Zisser ’84
On my first day in Montezuma, I walked into my it was a scene worthy of a horror movie to see this cat
room to find what looked like a full-size wooden coffin jump out of the fridge when the first innocent bystander
taking up most of the space. After an anxious moment, reached for the milk. I think this was the deciding mo‑
I understood that the “coffin” was
ment that led me to become a life‑
my roommate’s cello case. In it,
long animal-loving vegetarian.
It was a scene worthy of
Agneta Eikelenboom had packed
Louseweis’ first-year roommate,
her beloved cello and padded it
Janet Jackson, introduced me to
a horror movie...
with all the clothes she brought for
the world of people with disabilities
school. She traveled by bus all the
who can do just about everything.
way from British Columbia to New Mexico because it had Despite her visual impairment, Janet was accepted to
been too complicated to take the cello by air. This was the UWC‑USA, succeeded in her studies, and even climbed
first day of a beautiful friendship.
Hermit’s Peak. The only thing she was unable to do was
I also remember when Louseweis Van Der Laan (until to match the color of her socks, so she would have us pair
recently, leader of a Dutch parliamentary group, but in them up correctly for her. I marveled at her determination
1982 a cranky morning riser) found the purring of a cat and good nature. As a philanthropy professional today, I
too unbearable in the early morning hours and stuffed think of Janet often when partnering with organizations
the poor thing in the day-room fridge. Needless to say, for those with disabilities.
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CLASS OF ’84
CONNECTIONS
Howls and Hugs
By Marie Dixon ’84
I can’t guarantee the veracity of my tales, but I vividly
recall galloping down the Castle steps like a herd of wild
horses with security guard Dave Bennett pretending to give
chase. It was my first
full moon howl up by
Breaking the curfew rule for
the Castle. It had been
a spot of moonlight madness a well-established tra‑
dition long before I
was a gleeful experience.
ever dared to take part.
I remember the moon,
the night air, and the laughter. The feeling was one of tin‑
gly freedom and community. Breaking the curfew rule for
a spot of moonlight madness was a gleeful experience. My
classmate Shaunna and I enjoyed a good howl when she
visited me recently, but it didn’t hold the same appeal. Still,
we startled the neighbors and had some giggles ourselves.
UWC was a riddled with “firsts.” Along with my first
howl came my first experience of snow (WOW! and I
wasn’t the only one) and soon afterward my first weekend
ski trip. We took a cross-country ski tour in the mountains
with wilderness instructor Ann. I had learned to ski the
week before, practicing on the snowed-over soccer field.
Andre Kandy took a black and white picture of me for his
photography club project. I also have a picture someone
took of my makeshift pink outfit, waving sturdy gloves bor‑
rowed from someone more Nordic. I got trench foot and
the return trip was pretty painful. But what happened dur‑
ing the trip mattered more.
We unloaded our backpacks and got into swimsuits
and sat in a Native American sweat lodge together, pass‑
ing a peace pipe. We dashed out of the steam, doused our‑
selves in a nearby stream, and rolled in snow. I’d never had
a sauna experience before, and that was the most unique
experience yet. Then, after we’d dressed again, we stood in
a circle and stared at the stars together, marveling at the
wonders of the world and ending with a group hug. That
hug was one of the most meaningful and memorable in
my life. I wasn’t a hugger before UWC, but I became one
after that. That group hug encompassed all the love we had
for the world. And there was loads of it, an endless supply
in fact. It’s not something I recall daily, but it comes back
to me often enough. The memory sustains me and fuels
my conviction that we may one day achieve all those crazy
dreams we howled about.
NEW MEXICO
SUNRISE
Daybreak where
the mountains
meet the plains.
9
© Henrik Jenssen ’12
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
CAMPUS FACTS
Campus
Facts
By Francesca Annicchiarico ’12 and Ruaidhri Belfry Crofton
1841:Mr. Donaldson
becomes the first known
owner of the campus area who is granted the rights
to the land by the Mexican government. The area is
popular because of the hot springs.
1846:The land is purchased by the U.S. Army. The
Army builds a military hospital near the hot springs to
serve soldiers injured in the Mexican-American War.
1862:The hospital is sold to O.H. Woodworth
who converts it into a hotel called Adobe Hotel. The
hotel later burns down and closes in the early 1890s.
1881:
A new luxury hotel and the first building
in the Southwest to have electric lighting and an elevator is constructed by the Fred Harvey Co. and the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Named the
Montezuma Hotel, it opens to the public in 1882. A
landscaped park with shops, a water fountain, and
even a zoo is created behind the building, which is
built on the site of the present-day school maintenance area.
1884:
The Montezuma Hotel burns down because
of a clogged gas line.
1879:The property adjacent to the Adobe Hotel 1885:The
is purchased by a group of investors with the hope of
developing the hot springs into a tourist attraction.
They build a new hotel named the Hot Springs Hotel,
which is today’s Old Stone Hotel.
1880:The Las Vegas Hot Springs Co. buys the hot
springs and the surrounding property, including the
Hot Springs Hotel.
second Montezuma Hotel, designed
by Chicago architects Birmingham and Root, is built
on the site of the current Castle but burns down four
months after it opens.
1886:The hotel is rebuilt on the same site under
the new name Phoenix Hotel, but it closes in 1903 due
to bankruptcy.
1903:The hotel is sold to the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) for $1.
RISING FROM
THE ASHES
The Montezuma
Hotel flanks the
opulent grounds.
10
1937:The
Southern Baptist Church sells the
building to the Catholic Church. It serves as a seminary
for Mexican Jesuits until 1972.
1978:The Jesuits make a little money by renting the Castle out as the set for the low-budget horror flick The Evil. In the years that follow, several other
films also feature campus grounds, including Fanboys
and Georgia O’Keeffe.
1981:The Castle is bought by industrialist and
philanthropist Armand Hammer as the site of the new
campus of the Armand Hammer United World College
of the American West, now known as UWC‑USA.
1982:The
Adobe Hotel is renovated as the
school’s cafeteria. It currently serves as the IT Center.
1988:The Kluge Art Center is given by cinema
mogul “John Kluge” John W. Kluge. It houses the main
auditorium as well as the Arts Department.
1996:The Dwan Light Sanctuary is given by art
patron and philanthropist Virginia Dwan to provide a
place for relaxation and meditation.
1997:The Castle becomes the first historic prop-
CAMPUS
1922:
The Castle serves as the site for the Southern Baptist College until 1931.
erty west of the Mississippi to be placed on America’s
11 Most Endangered Historic Places list by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Historic places
on previous lists included Ellis Island, Gettysburg, and
Independence Hall.
1998:The Castle is designated one of America’s
Treasures by the White House Millennium Council.
2001: UWC‑USA restores the Castle with the help
of donor Shelby Davis. It now houses the school’s dining room, student center, two dormitories, classrooms,
and offices.
2002:The Edith Lansing Fieldhouse opens in honor of two dynamic American women bearing the same
name who both helped to raise Gale Lansing Davis. The
fieldhouse is given in memory of both Edith Lansings
by Shelby and Gale Davis.
RESPITE FOR
RAILROAD
TRAVELERS
Carriages deliver
railway passengers
to luxurious
accommodations
at the Montezuma
Hotel.
11
Castle Sleuthing
CAMPUS
By Anonymous
WINTER
CAMPUS
Students play
soccer on the
fields in front of
the cafeteria (L),
Kluge Auditorium
(C), and dorms (R).
12
The Castle was sealed in 1986. While I was on campus,
it was used only for the campus security offices. Students
were never allowed inside. However, the building was
enormous, and despite the staff’s best efforts to close off
the entrances, we always found ways in.
One entrance required navigating the old “pit of hell” set
from The Evil. The most experienced navigators were able to
reach both towers. In my second year, the staff boarded these
up to make breaking in less attractive. But in an era that
came before computers and the internet in Montezuma—
where even the local FM radio station shut down at 11 p.m.
each night—the building was simply too enticing. Within
a week of the barricades being erected, a “SWAT team” of
students had torn them down. I even knew one student who
would take “dates” to the Castle and serve them dinner in
one of the forbidden towers. Security officers could hear us
wandering about, and we could hear them, but their portion
of the Castle was walled off and they could never get to us.
The building contained many wonders. Some rooms
could be reached only by navigating exposed beams where
the floor boards had rotten away. There was an under‑
ground passageway that led into a storage room beneath
the faculty housing unit across the street. A careless explor‑
er might wander in there by mistake, not realizing that he
or she was standing just under a
teacher’s house, chattering away.
Despite the staff’s
The storage room contained
paper records and office sup‑
best efforts to close
plies, and the sets of colored
off the entrances, we
Post-it notes that were stored
there became a sort of shibbo‑
always found ways in.
leth. If you saw a set on some‑
body’s desk, you knew they
were experienced in Castle exploration. At some point,
Armand Hammer closed down the chemical division of
Occidental Petroleum and had its laboratory glassware
delivered to the campus. There was a room in the Castle
filled with an astonishing array of distillation equipment
and people would fantasize about absconding with some
of it, but I don’t know of anybody who ever did.
CAMPUS
DEVELOPING
THE ARTS
After six years
of cafeteria
performances,
UWC‑USA builds
the Kluge Art
Center.
© Michael Brown ’90
A PLACE FOR
REFLECTION
The Dwan Light
Sanctuary provides
a space for meditation, reflection,
and yoga.
13
© Don Gray
A Thematic Review of Past and Present
THEN & NOW
THEN & NOW
THEN & NOW:
A T H E M AT I C R E V I E W O F PA S T A N D P R E S E N T
President Lisa Darling made an insightful observation to those gathered at the Montezuma Reunion this
summer. “When I hear your conversations, I can close my eyes and hear the students today,” she said.
Whether they graduated in 1984 or 2012, UWC-USA students are inherently aware, curious, and
passionate. Those traits influence nearly every discussion that takes place in classrooms, day rooms,
or even in the streets and plazas of New Mexico. More often than not, discussion leads to action.
In the following pages, you’ll see themes that continue to surface and resurface with each new
class. The world may be different—for example, the Berlin Wall is no longer an issue and Apartheid
finally ended—but global issues such as environmental sustainability are still at the forefront
of debate. Cultural Days continue to play a key role in sharing customs and tackling different
perceptions. And activism—from marches to demonstrations—will always be a part of life on the
UWC-USA campus.
14
U W C - U S A
/
W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
© Hannah Freedman ’12
Most importantly, the dialogue that happens in the cafeteria, on a bench in front of the auditorium,
or in a dorm room at midnight continues to be one of the most crucial ways students learn about
themselves and each other. Helle Ringaard ’85 captures this beautifully in her piece on the following
page, in which she writes about her interaction with a Bulgarian student and the realization that her
beliefs may not always sync with those around her. Helle observes, “… some of us thought as we
were told to think, or at least until we met someone who was taught the opposite.”
By Helle Ringaard ’85
I get dizzy doing the math; it has been 29 years since
I left Denmark to attend a very young Armand Hammer
United World College of the American West. 1983 was the
first year the school had both first- and second-year stu‑
dents. It seems like yesterday. A decade seemed like eter‑
nity then; it doesn’t any more. A simple timeline shows
me how relatively close our graduating class was to the
end of World War II; 1983 is separated from 1945 by a
mere 38 years, and this is where vertigo sets in. Today, I
am 45 years old.
Thankfully, I have never been able to imagine the warridden Europe that Kurt Hahn knew and lived, so I suspect
our time is just as distant and unreal for students today.
For this reason, I want to share some of
the 300 faces from 69 different nations
that became my personal points of ref‑
erence in a world of many changes.
One of my very first memories is an
outcry of disbelief and defence: literal,
loud, and all over campus. All of us had
just witnessed the film State of Siege, by
Costa-Garvas, in the cafeteria. It depict‑
ed the CIA “educating” Uruguayan intel‑
ligence officers by means of brutal inter‑
rogation. Afterward, a faculty member
got up and remarked, “You think these
guys are bad, huh? As citizens from the
upper levels of society who benefit from these state of affairs,
it is your responsibility, too.” The explosion was instant and
almost tangible. The student body consisted of children of
Latin American union leaders and generals alike.
Another time, an Israeli first-year girl and a secondyear Jordanian boy got into a heated, teary argument in the
common room of the Ives House. He wore a necklace with
a pendent in the shape of Israel with “Palestine” written on
it. His family did not live in Jordan by choice.
A year later, in the same common room, a Bulgarian
girl forever tore the curtain of “trust in the truth of your
politicians” from my eyes. Her beliefs in the Warsaw Pact
as a defensive, protective, nonaggressive, and totally neces‑
sary entity mirrored my own previously never-questioned
belief in the good of NATO. “We do as we’re told, told to
do,” sang Pink Floyd—and some of us also thought as we
were told to think, at least until we met someone who was
taught the opposite.
I remember how intensely serious and well-schooled
the guys and gals from the Eastern Bloc came across. To‑
K A L E I D O S C O P E
/
S U M M E R
day, I think how brave—and perhaps scared—some of
them must have felt venturing into alien territory. The
Cold War was more than just the Bay of Pigs recorded in
our history books; for us, it was the two Russian students
not coming back from the USSR after the 1983 winter
vacation. We could not believe personal matters were the
cause. Was it the U.S. or the USSR blocking them out?
As I remember it, their attendance had given the school
special prestige, their presence on campus a favor to Ar‑
mand Hammer from the Kremlin for his trade and early
involvement with the Soviet Union.
I remember the pain of a friend who received news of
a friend killed while serving in the U.K. military in North‑
ern Ireland. There was no ceasefire then, and the Irish Re‑
publican Army bombed a Conservative Party conference in
Brighton in 1984.
I remember the raw energy of the South Africans do‑
ing the Gumboot dance on African National Day, students
exiled from their own country because of their involve‑
ment in the struggle against Apartheid. Nelson Mandela
was still imprisoned at Robben Island then, discussions
about release had not yet begun—and “stomp” was a far
cry from being commercialized.
And I remember the lump in my throat and the tears
in my eyes one day in the art room when I saw the draw‑
ings of a child who grew up in a refugee camp. I remember
the scattered two-dimensional figures and objects and the
empty space under the aeroplane and around the barbed
wire. How many brilliant kids are destined to remain in
that fenced-in, separated world?
The Berlin Wall stood strong in 1985, and Pink Floyd’s
album The Wall did too. I remember that world well. Some
of it is gone. Some of it lives on. All of it is ours.
THEN & NOW
CONNECTIONS
Personal Level History
THE GUMBOOT
DANCE
Thirty years
later, students
still perform
the “stomp.”
15
2 0 1 2
© Hannah Freedman
THEN & NOW
MANIFESTING
HISTORY
UWC students
staged the tearing
down of the Berlin
Wall weeks before
the real wall was
destroyed.
16
Make It END
By Hans O. Melberg ’90
Reprinted from Kaleidoscope Volume 7, Number 3, December 1989
“Wake up! The train is leaving!” Gently, yet insistent‑ duction reminded the audience of the cruelties committed
ly, Europeans roused their international counterparts. throughout Europe during World War II, the show contin‑
It was the morning of Sept. 30, 1989, and for the next ued with a satire on European stereotypes: liberal Scandi‑
12 hours, UWC‑USA would be located in Europe, in the navians, eccentric Brits, and irrational Italians.
European imperialism, wars, and border disputes
hands of 55 European students from 22 countries.
Tourists, businesspeople, inter-railers and rail officials were also reviewed. A skit by a Bulgarian and a Turk
greeted students entering the cafeteria for a continental symbolized the ethnic tensions that plagued their two
countries. In the end, the one
brunch, the first activity of Eu‑
concept the two agreed on was
ropean National Day (END), one
A veil covering the rear
that both were European.
of the three national days held at
The grudging compromise
UWC‑USA during the year.
stage was removed, exposing
between the Bulgarian and the
The train station atmosphere
a replica of the Berlin Wall.
Turk illustrated that some of
had a dual nature, symbolizing a
the most fundamental global
Europe where public transporta‑
tion and the environment were issues of increasing concern. problems could be solved by finding issues on which
All people, from all professions and social classes, were in‑ all parties agree rather than pursuing controversial is‑
sues. European National Day skits attempted to define a
vited to come together on this environmental “platform.”
Robin Hoods and Maid Mariannes, resplendent in number of these themes, as well as remind the audience
makeshift medieval garb, graced the cafeteria-turned- what effect intolerance and racism have had on Europe
castle that evening for a 15th century feast. Entertained by in the past.
At the climax of a kaleidoscopic video of wartime im‑
jugglers, jesters, and musicians, guests enjoyed Grecian
souvlaki, Italian fettuccine, and asparagus agrodolce, pressions, a veil covering the rear stage was removed, ex‑
posing a replica of the Berlin Wall. Ripping and tearing
among other delicacies.
through the wall, European students symbol‑
ized the new generation’s hope that European
repression and division would soon end.
“The Show Must Go On. The Suffering
Can End,” was the European’s message. A
simple sentence written on the wall before its
destruction read: “Make It End.”
With Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s
new openness policies and the political chang‑
es taking place in Eastern Europe, ideas of
freedom and unity no longer were as distant
and idealistic as they appeared just a few years
earlier. But our goal was not simply the physi‑
cal destruction of the Berlin Wall. We knew the
walls in people’s minds, the walls of intoler‑
ance, and the walls of misunderstanding must
come down.
Less than six weeks after the staging of Europe© Shaila Ekramoddoullah ’90
an National Day, in a move that sent shock waves
around the world, East Germany began dismantling the Berlin Wall. Travel restrictions for East
Without a doubt, the day’s highlight arrived in the form Germans ceased, and the Communist Party Central Commitof a one-and-a-half hour, three-part show that presented tee intended to conduct an unprecedented party congress over
Europe’s past, present, and future. After a shocking intro‑ new policies.
U W C - U S A
/
W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
THE ANATOMY OF A CULTURAL DAY
1
The Anatomy of a Cultural Day
PLANNING STARTS WEEKS (OR MONTHS) AHEAD.
WEEK OF!
Brainstorming is easier than ever with Facebook groups; ideas
start pouring out in every conversation. Meetings are held to
elect leaders to be in charge of certain aspects of the cultural
day show. Name an activity and we have a leader for it, from
general leaders to T-shirt leaders!
Walk-In
With the entire school’s attention and attendance concentrated in our cafeteria, the region walks
in. Students get creative on this mini-parade and incorporate dances, flash mobs, or little acts to
get the community excited for the upcoming Cultural Day. (Google: AND Walk-in UWC‑USA 2012)
2
REHEARSALS
All-region rehearsals take place at least three times per
week, running between two to three hours per run-through.
Students invest extra time in individual skits, rehearsing in
the dance studio, the auditorium, the squash court, the field
house bathrooms, or any other available space.
Activities
What makes you feel at home? Students share their activities with the community. Activity
leaders collaborate with other students to set up activities throughout the week and give
UWC‑USA a taste of home. Examples include a karaoke night, movie nights, hot chili
competition, henna or braiding workshops, and traditional games.
THEN & NOW
By Kripa Dongol ’12
Global Issues
The Friday before the Cultural Day, students of the region give a Global Issues presentation that
is open to the Las Vegas community. Whether it be economic ideas, cultural shifts, or sociopolitical conflicts, students take up bold issues from their parts of the world in an effort to build
awareness within the school community.
3
© Kate Russell
SHOW
The shows are always a mix of songs, dances, and skits both comedic and serious. Some
are directed toward the wider audience that comes in to witness the “culture,” some are
directed toward the student body, and some are more about enjoying and embracing
our cultures. Fitting a region’s cultural diversity into a two-hour show is a close-toimpossible feat, and so sacrifices are made in the hope of putting on a balanced show.
© Mohammad Mudaqiq ’12
5
4
DINNER
Every Cultural Day show goes over board with the dinner these days. It not only about the food
(which is always one of the best meals of the year, prepared by students and faculty) but also
about how you serve the food, how you decorate the cafeteria to give a traditional feel, adding
performances to make the dinner lively and engaging. We make sure that we are good hosts
and that our guests enjoy their time.
K A L E I D O S C O P E
/
S U M M E R
17
2 0 1 2
© Hannah Freedman ’12
THEN & NOW
ALUMNI
The Misadventures of the Student
Liberation Organization
By Dorrie Brooks ’85
I was part of the second graduating class at Armand
Hammer United World College of the American West. In
the spring of my second year, we noticed a dramatic uptick
in the academic pressure from teachers, as well as a con‑
siderable nervousness on the part of Dean of Students An‑
drew Maclehose. Many of us felt unreasonable demands to
perform brilliantly on the IB. We thought the pressure had
less to do with the school’s concern for our well-being than
its own interest in establishing a reputation for academic
excellence. We chafed at the demand for shorter curfews
and longer study hours. When we reached out to faculty,
we were dismissed.
SCHEMING
Passion and
creativity
at UWC
can create
interesting
results!
18
I am sure you can imagine where this is going. We
were 17 years old and schooled to respond to injustice
with action. A series of common room conversations led
to us to form the Student Liberation Organization (SLO)
and begin covert operations to “restore balance” to cam‑
pus life. Most of what we did was harmless and the stuff
of legend. We howled at the moon from the Castle towers
and led security on wild goose chases. During the day, we
papered classrooms with subversive messages.
One act of the SLO did real, unintended harm and
brought an end to many political ambitions.
Pushed to our breaking point, the SLO decided to
mount a major covert operation. We planned to stretch
a Tyrolean traverse across Campus Drive between the
administration building and the cafeteria building, from
which we would suspend four puppets representing the
four houses on campus. We broke into teams to carry out
different tasks—radio communications, security distrac‑
tion, howling, puppet construc‑
tion, and engineering.
During the day, we
Kurt Hahn would have been
proud. Other than a small tech‑
papered classrooms with
nical glitch of trying to figure
subversive messages.
out how to hang the puppets
on the rope without their heads
lolling forward, the entire operation went masterfully. We
stretched the rope tight and used a second rope to pull the
puppets into place. We draped the entire installa‑
tion in a sheet in anticipation of a dramatic un‑
veiling the next morning. When we went to bed
exhausted at around 4 a.m., I was convinced that
our show of ingenuity would convince our teach‑
ers to restore a healthier balance to campus life.
Much to our surprise, the plan backfired into
an epic spectacle of poor taste. We unveiled not
a message of unity but instead a horrific display
of four corpse-like figures, heads half severed,
bearing the names of four devoted members of
the faculty. A banner we’d hung from the pup‑
pets read, perversely, “Smile, Life’s Okay.” Need‑
less to say, the administration failed to glean the
deeper import of our message.
For years, I thought the lesson I’d gained from
the experience was to tread cautiously whenever I
felt the urge to join a radical political movement.
But as I grow older, I’m able to re-evaluate the les‑
sons of that night. Perhaps finding the courage to
try to creatively solve a problem in our communi‑
ty was not a mistake after all. Perhaps the failure
of this complex operation was precisely the experience we
needed to learn from our time at UWC. While I managed
to pass the IB, my knowledge of Jonathan Swift has done
little to shape the course of my life. On the other hand, my
attraction to complex communication problems and social
justice has never declined. I’ve made a rewarding life of
designing and installing large-scale media installations in
public spaces; this itself is a richly ironic result.
The school should continually revisit the question of
how to balance academics and experiential learning. If it
errs toward academics at the expense of meaningful ex‑
perience, I hope the students will be there again, as we
were, to try to provide a correction. Hopefully, they will do
a better job planning the details than we did. But if not, do
©Sam Kessler ’13
it anyway.
U W C - U S A
/
W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
By Sam Kessler ’13, USA-NY
MOURNING
THE FUTURE
Students raise
their voices
against unlimited
carbon emissions
at the New
Mexico capitol.
I rode in with the coffin, which was perched awkwardly
between two seats. I hoped everything would turn out OK.
The plan was to protest and participate in the public
hearing that Gov. Susana Martinez and the Environmental
Improvement Board (EIB) were holding as they attempted
to dismantle New Mexico’s progressive carbon cap regu‑
lation—a state policy that limited carbon emissions from
coal-fired power plants.
By the time the bus, the coffin, and I pulled up outside
the State Legislature, more than 200 youth from around
New Mexico and several dozen local activists had gathered
on the front steps dressed in black. We formed a funeral
procession, carrying the coffin and mourning the poisoned
death of our future. After arriving at the hearing, we lay the
coffin ajar, placing our hopes and dreams inside, and stood
in unity, holding signs and chanting against the injustice of
a future soon to be burdened on our shoulders.
When we began the initial planning for the event, we
knew we would lose. The EIB was a group appointed by
New Mexico’s Republican, pro-coal, and economy-driven
Martinez. To sway a group like that, charged with a single
purpose and a lot of power, is a hopeless act. But only after
the cap was repealed on March 16, 2012, did we understand
the extent of our larger ambitions.
K A L E I D O S C O P E
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S U M M E R
2 0 1 2
It was in early November 2011 when a few of us got
word that the carbon cap was being threatened by Mar‑
tinez’s tactics. We chose to act fast. But as international
students who had spent little time in the state, what right
did we have to take action? What could we effectively con‑
tribute, having only
recently been ex‑
We formed a funeral
posed to the issue?
procession, carrying the coffin
We could not let
ourselves be fooled
and mourning the poisoned
into inaction by
death of our future.
these questions. In‑
stead, UWC‑USA
worked carefully with youth organizers from Santa Fe—
Youth Allies—to ensure that our participation in the pro‑
test was a necessary aid.
Purpose-driven, we had a concept of what we needed
New Mexico—and the world at large—to know about our
concerns for the environment. School support for partici‑
pation in this protest reached an unparalleled level as we
filled two 40-person buses and several smaller ones to take
to Santa Fe. Hundreds of signs, flyers, and informational
blurbs were made and distributed around campus, in Las
Vegas, and online.
In the end, it all felt good.
We came here to engage with
the power of youth in action.
It happened; I was there and
I felt the encouragement stay
within our hearts. Dozens of
students have since joined cocurricular groups like the Con‑
structive Engagement of Con‑
flict’s Practical Activism and are
learning the skills necessary to
implement their own activist
initiatives. Enthusiasm in par‑
ticipating in global and local
movements, as well as discus‑
sions and critical evaluations
of issues occurring on campus
and elsewhere, happens on a
weekly basis. The swelling of
positive energy at UWC‑USA is
irrefutable. We know our inten‑
tions, how they move beyond
court systems and restrictions
of age, culture or gender, and
how they culminate into one
resonating cry: “We are youth.
We’re here to speak the truth!”
THEN & NOW
On Our Shoulders
19
ORAL HISTORIES
CONNECTIONS
ORAL HISTORIES
20
Homelessness, History, and the CIA
AN INTERVIEW WITH IVAN MUSTAIN
By Hannah Saulters ’12
Former IB history teacher Ivan Mustain is a devoted ging for food,” Ivan recalls. “I had talked to the head cook
educator and proponent of the UWC movement. Intro‑ [and told him] to throw him out. So they threw him out.
duced to the school in 1982 after seeing an advertisement The students just sat there quietly and watched the scene
in The Chronicle for Higher Education, Ivan says he jumped develop and watched him leave. An hour later, he was in
World Affairs. He took the
at the chance to teach at
students to task for not prac‑
UWC‑USA. Coming from an
ticing their UWC beliefs.
international IB school in Ni‑
It really hit home. It was a
geria, he says UWC seemed
great trick to pull on the stu‑
like the right place for him to
dents; they haven’t forgiven
share his love for knowledge
me for it yet.”
and world events.
The retired teacher ad‑
Ivan has fond memories
mits, “I really liked to blow
of his time at UWC. “I think
people’s minds.” That led to
UWC is a very special place,
another controversy: “The
particularly in that first year,”
kids got so mad at me af‑
he says. “That was a part of
ter World Affairs that they
my life I will never forget—the
chased me around the caf‑
teachers and the students mak‑
eteria because I’d just shown
ing a school out of nothing.”
this movie about Uruguay
Ivan remembers the first
where the CIA was torturing
months of the new school
people. At that time, we had
were filled with mishaps:
a lot of apolitical Latin Amer‑
“When I got there, the library
ican students. So I stood up
did not have any books rele‑
and said, ‘You’ve just seen
vant to the IB history course
“The kids got so mad at me after
this movie, and the bad guys
I would be teaching. I said
World Affairs that they chased me
are the CIA and the military
‘We’re teaching European
who are torturing these peo‑
history.’ Fortunately, [Presi‑
around the cafeteria.”
ple, but the really bad ones
dent] Ted Lockwood was an
are the people of the country
ex-historian, so he gave me
some money and I headed down to the used bookstore in who are just sitting, watching this happen, and doing noth‑
Albuquerque and supplied the school with history books. ing. We have a lot of people like that in this audience.’”
Ivan reflects on these incidents from time to time.
In 10 years, I was able to develop a good collection of his‑
“One of things I discovered with a lot of those conflicts …
tory books. I’m sure some of them are still around.”
Ivan says that in those early days, people had little idea people think about them. Maybe the students were right
of what the school would or could become. “We didn’t and maybe I was right, but at least they think about it years
know if we were going to be kind of a hippie school or a afterward,” he says.
“When I talk to my former students, they don’t re‑
seriously political school. It was still up in the air,” he says.
As the founder of World Affairs (now Global Issues), member my lectures on Bismarck or causes of WWII,” he
Ivan stressed the school’s need to encourage greater un‑ adds. “What they do say is, ‘You taught us how to think
derstanding of world events and issues. His interest in critically and ask questions,’ and that makes me feel re‑
explicating conflict came to fruition in several encounters ally good. A lot of UWC graduates come back and say, ‘you
with students, but he says two World Affairs incidents know, I might not have the most famous job in the world,
stand out. For one class, Ivan brought in a speaker who but I have principles I stand for and I’m not afraid to stand
worked with the homeless in Berkeley, Calif. Prior to the up and say what I believe in,’ and that makes me feel very,
lecture, “he came to the cafeteria as a homeless guy beg‑ very proud indeed.”
U W C - U S A
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W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
AN INTERVIEW WITH JANET GERARD
By Hannah Saulters ’12
Her interest in the students shows in
Working first as a receptionist and later
Janet’s daily routine in the library, as she
as admissions assistant, Head Librarian Ja‑
strikes up conversations about schoolwork
net Gerard has been a part of the UWC‑USA
and recommends movies when students
community since September 1983.
are ready to take a break. Interested in a
Janet began her school career in
wide range of topics, Janet says this is a
the Old Stone Hotel, where her job was
wonderful place to learn about the world be‑
welcoming visitors and managing the
cause now she can associate a country and a
phones. Later, in her role as admissions
culture with a student’s story and face.
assistant, she recalled the challenge of fill‑
Taking a wider perspective on the school
ing seats. “Some years, we would only get
and
the movement, Janet looks back at her
120 applicants or so,” she says.
The more people
time here at UWC as one marked by won‑
Janet has witnessed many changes over
that are exposed
derful experiences, such as this year’s An‑
her career. The landscape changed dramat‑
ically when classes were moved from the
to this ... the more nual Conference. Recognizing the school’s
relevance in the face of today’s issues, Janet
Old Stone Hotel to the IT Center, the Kluge
likely we are to
quietly and matter-of-factly states, “I think
Art Center, and eventually the Castle.
“When I first came, there was the sense
change the world. it’s really important that we’re part of a
whole UWC system. The more people that
that people really wanted to make it work,”
are exposed to this, the more potential—
she says. “I loved it from the beginning. I
was always interested in meeting students from countries intellectual and professional—the more likely we are to
I’d never heard of [and learning about] their backgrounds, change the world. I’m always very conscious of that. After
all these years, I still believe very strongly in that energy.”
their cultures, their traditions.”
ORAL HISTORIES
CONNECTIONS
The Intimate Work of Changing the World
A Love for Language
AN INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH TYSON
By Hannah Saulters ’12
Sitting in her Santa Fe home with two brindle corgis at
her feet, Hannah Tyson recalls her memories of her time
at UWC. In response to the question, “What do you re‑
member?” she frankly responds, “Very little. I am not a
memory person. I’m not the kind of person who takes all
kinds of photographs or keeps memory albums.” Despite
this admission, Hannah’s eyes twinkle when she recalls
her early days at UWC, saying mischievously of her experi‑
ence finding a job at UWC, “We wanted a job, so they gave
us one. How could they resist?“
One distinct characteristic of early UWC‑USA was the
general interest in world conflict that was shared by the
student body. There used to be a sentiment of purpose
that pervaded the school, “like this is not just a college
preparatory school,” she says. “We have a greater mission
than that. I remember a highly politicized feeling. People
would stay up all night arguing about things. It was very,
very intense. … I was really struck by how vigorously peo‑
ple took on these issues.”
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Formerly a resident
tutor for Tyson dorm
(now Mont Blanc),
Hannah says that the
reason she stayed in‑
volved with UWC for
so long was the stu‑
dents and her desire to share a love of the English language.
This commitment was not always easy, however, as she re‑
calls, “running a dorm, teaching a full schedule and super‑
vising 17 extended essays and doing all the other stuff.”
Despite the pressures of her work, though, Hannah
maintains a witty and fond recollection of her 23 years at
UWC and remains involved in developing curricula for the
International Baccalaureate. She says she is busier than
ever. “[I] have more ideas about what I [want] to do than
there [is] time to do them,” she says. “And of those things is
finding a way to stay more effectively in touch with all the
impressive students that I’ve taught.”
21
ORAL HISTORIES
CONNECTIONS
22
On Becoming a Privateer and
Marching for Hunger
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN GEFFROY
By Nico Grubert ’12
Social and cultural anthropology teacher John Geffroy
originally came from New York City to live in Las Vegas,
N.M. in 1974. In 1981, he heard about the opening of a new
school in Montezuma and applied for a position. A year
later, he started teaching.
John retired this year, “graduating” with the Class of
2012. A former university professor, he says his experience
at UWC‑USA was very different from his previous teaching
role: “It is much more rewarding ... and harder in a sense,”
he says.
What John appreciates about the school
is that “teachers here are expected to find
their own niche, their own role. They have
a large degree of power and autonomy in ac‑
tually defining what they want to do.” John
uses the word “privateer”—a word that en‑
capsulates the idea that teachers are not told
what to do but that they go out and create
useful experiences for students.
John has applied his creativity in differ‑
ent areas and says he’s always learning. At
one point early on, he felt the need to get
more acquainted with the IB: “I thought
I knew my subject very well. But I did not
know the IB,” he says. When he was unsuc‑
cessful in his search for an IB workshop, he
started his own. It has been going ever since.
Besides his classroom work, John
spent plenty of time in UWC‑USA’s the‑
ater. “I will never forget doing William
Shakespeare’s The Tempest because that al‑
most killed me,” he says, recalling how he
spent a full Project Week in 1992 building
the set by himself.
John also remembers a humorous
moment in the production of Luigi Piran‑
dello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author. “We actu‑
ally did it twice,” he recalls. “On the first night, there
was a point when somebody had to move a ladder. We
moved the ladder and no one had noticed a pot of paint
on the top. So paint got all over the place. The student
who was playing the part of the director said, ‘Hey you,
get the mop.’ I guess the audience thought it was part of
the play. Of course it wasn’t. The second night there was
less improvisation.”
John cherishes more the consequential memories,
as well. “Before the ending of Apartheid in South Af‑
rica, we had students who were sponsored not by South
Africa but by the African National Congress,” he says.
“These students knew they were not just representing
a country but they were representing a movement, a
movement to end Apartheid. We have and had students
from conflict regions. These were and still are people
that we all learn from.”
Above all, the experience that continues to resonate for
John is the 1985 Hunger March for hunger relief across
Central Africa, a region that was suffering from the ex‑
treme Sahelian drought and subsequent famine and mass
displacement. The Hunger March started at the state capi‑
tol in Santa Fe and ended in the Las Vegas Plaza the next
day. John remembers that by the end of the 70-mile march,
more than 2,000 people had joined the walk. He credits
Dean of Students Andrew Maclehose for being the “main
sparkplug” for the event, which ultimately raised more
than $17,000. “I don’t think we’ve done anything on such
a scale since,” John says. He hopes that sharing the story of
this “great event of the past” will inspire future classes at
UWC‑USA to continue to find large-scale ways to contrib‑
ute to the causes they believe in.
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W W W . U W C ‑- U S A . O R G
AN INTERVIEW WITH HILDA WALES
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Hilda Wales was hired to work at UWC‑USA in 1983 said, ‘What is this place?’ And the students really needed
as a school counselor. However, she quickly took on a big‑ a place to get away.” The community’s desire to be a part
ger role, performing a wide variety of functions around of UWC and the students’ need for time away from cam‑
campus and in the community. In addition to counsel‑ pus provide the perfect combination for creating Get-Away
families. The program is
ing, she took on all external
still going strong nearly 30
communications, regularly
years later, and it is kicked
gave campus tours, and was
off at the beginning of ev‑
instrumental in the develop‑
ery school year with the
ment of the Constructive En‑
much-anticipated Sundae
gagement of Conflict (CEC)
Sunday—an ice cream sun‑
and Get-Away programs.
dae social in which students
Hilda did it all without
meet the families they have
a computer and with lim‑
been matched with for their
ited phone access. “If you
two years at the school.
wanted to talk to someone
Ice cream was central
on campus, you walked and
to another of Hilda’s rou‑
found them,” she says. “Call‑
tines at UWC‑USA. She
ing home was also difficult
often invited students to
as there was only one pay
her house during orienta‑
phone in each dorm. No cell‑
tion to share ice cream and
phones. No computers. No
stories, providing a forum
ATMs. Just lots of exercise!”
for students to share news
In recalling the first
from their home countries.
days of the school, Hilda
Photo courtesy of Hilda Wales
“Around a large world map
tells a story that she will
on a dining room table was
never forget: “The first stu‑
a wonderful way to become
dents arrived here by bus
acquainted with one anoth‑
at night in the rain, before
“Calling home was also difficult
er,” Hilda shares.
there were green fields.
as there was only one pay phone
Some of Hilda’s best
One student from Hong
memories
are associated
Kong got out of the bus and
in each dorm. No cellphones. No
with the CEC Program, a
started walking toward the
ATMs. Just lots of exercise!”
course she helped develop
dorm, in pure New Mex‑
with a professional facilita‑
ico mud, and his feet got
tor and other UWC faculty.
heavier and heavier. He had
never walked in mud because he lived in Hong Kong. He She says the program was positive and influential not
said, ‘I couldn’t believe it, my feet were heavy and I didn’t only for students, but also for faculty. Seminars associated
with actual conflict situations were occasionally hosted on
know what was wrong.’”
Hilda is repeatedly described as one of the “founding campus, allowing professional conflict-resolution facilita‑
rocks” of the school—dedicated, compassionate, and truly tors to demonstrate ways to deal with real-world issues.
committed to creating community on many levels. She Hilda says students and faculty were able to attend these
handled challenging student issues with grace and dex‑ seminars, and while it was a valuable learning experience
terity, and she was beloved by faculty and students alike. for everyone, it was also “a challenge for students when
She says she lived in Las Vegas because she wanted to be they were not allowed to participate in those dialogues but
a part of life in town and to find ways of connecting the simply observe.” UWC students, Hilda says, have always
school with the local community. “I was a ‘townie.’ It was wanted to engage and have a voice.
Hilda is grateful to see that her work at UWC‑USA has
wonderful,” she says. “I got to know community and I was
up here, of course, every day and often on weekends, too.” taken root; indeed, the Get-Away and CEC programs are
Hilda’s desire to unite the school and town led her to integral to the school’s focus. Truly, Hilda brought much
found the Get-Away Program. She shares: “People in town of UWC to UWC‑USA.
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ORAL HISTORIES
Creating Community
23
1987: Following a glitzy photo
shoot, UWC-USA students are
featured in a United Colors of
Benetton catalog.
TIMELINE
Timeline
1989: Second-year Michael Stern
(now a distinguished UWCUSA Board trustee) meets with
President George Bush and Nobel
Laureates after being named a
finalist in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Five
years later, Katarzyna Lubowicz
follows in Michael’s footsteps and
receives the same honor.
1984: The Get-Away Program
is created and the IB Summer
Workshop for teachers is
introduced.
MAY 24, 1984: Ambassador
Oliver Wright of Great Britain
delivers the first commencement address.
1996: Jim Taylor becomes the
Chairman of the Board.
OCT. 1988: Sir Ranulph TwistletonWykeham Fiennes, hailed by the
Guinness Book of Records as “the
world’s greatest living explorer,”
presents a lecture and joins students on a “small day hike” to Gascon Point in the Pecos Wilderness.
1982
1985
1985: 2,000 people, including UWC
students, faculty, and members of
the Las Vegas community, participate in the Hunger March to raise
money for hunger relief across
Central Africa.
OCT. 9, 1983: UWC-USA holds its
first “International Day.” More than
2,500 guests enjoy tours, performances, and food.
1996: The Virginia Dwan Light
Sanctuary is completed. Judy
Collins sings Amazing Grace at
the opening ceremony.
OCT. 11, 1992: The campus
participates in National Coming Out
Day, an event designed to celebrate
coming out and raise awareness
around gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender issues.
1990
1995
1995: Board Chair Alec Courtelis
retires. Nelson Mandela is named
president of the UWC International
Council and Her Majesty Noor alHussein, Queen of Jordan, assumes
the role of President of the United
World Colleges. A year later, Queen
Noor gives the commencement
address for the Class of 1996.
1994: UWC-USA hosts an international conference on women’s roles in
the peace-making process in Eastern
and Central Europe. Attendees come
from countries including Azerbaijan,
Albania, Hungary, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
OCT. 28, 1982: Official dedication
with addresses by distinguished
guests including HRH Prince
Charles and Dr. Armand Hammer.
The event is covered by more than
700 newspapers in the U.S.
24
1993: President Ted Lockwood
retires and hands the reigns over to
Phil Geier. The school holds its first
alumni reunion for the classes of
1984 and 1985.
U W C - U S A
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W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
TIMELINE
2005: Phil Geier retires; Lisa Darling
is installed as UWC-USA’s third
president.
2000: “Save the Castle—Serve the
World” campaign is launched to
raise funds for the Castle restoration project. Celeste and Armand
Bartos endow the Bartos Institute
for Constructive Engagement of
Conflict. Philip Glass and Jon Gibson
perform at UWC‑USA. They offer a
repeat performance 12 years later.
2007: The school hosts the UWC
International Board meeting.
Gracias, Amigos! performance celebrates UWC-USA’s partnerships in
Las Vegas, Santa Fe, and other communities in northern New Mexico.
2001: Her Majesty Queen Noor
al-Hussein of Jordan visits to celebrate the Castle’s reopening, and
artist Dale Chihuly donates two
chandeliers for the new cafeteria.
2008: Jim Taylor steps down as
Board Chair and is succeeded by
Tom Dickerson AC ’68.
© Ana Karen
2004: UWC-USA hosts Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta
Menchu Tum of Guatemala, a leading advocate of indigenous rights
and ethno-cultural reconciliation.
2000
2005
2006: Nobel Prize Laureate and
former Polish President Lech
Walesa visits the campus and
speaks at a conference organized
by the Bartos Institute.
1998: Shelby Davis endows the
Davis Scholars program with a gift
of $40 million—the largest private
contribution made to the field of
international education. The meritbased scholarships allow high
school scholars to attend UWCs
around the world.
1998: A new dial-up internet connection is introduced.
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S U M M E R
2010
2012
2010: Minnijean Brown-Trickey,
one of the Little Rock Nine and
Martin Luther King Junior’s followers, speaks at UWC-USA in honor
of MLK Day. Primatologist and
humanitarian Jane Goodall is the
speaker on Earth Day.
2011: The school launches the
Global Leadership Forum, a twoweek intensive short course.
Author/Activist Bill McKibben,
founder of environmental group
350.org, and author of 15 books,
speaks to UWC-USA students.
2002: The school celebrates
its 20th anniversary with One
World, a show performed at the
Lensic Theater in Santa Fe. The
Technology Center opens and
The Edith Lansing Field House is
inaugurated.
2 0 1 2
2012: The school undertakes a
fresh strategic planning initiative.
Meanwhile, UWC-USA partners
with the Las Vegas First Presbyterian Church to open a community
center at the Old Mission Church.
25
ORAL HISTORIES
CONNECTIONS
In the Thick of It
AN INTERVIEW WITH BOB AND CARROL PEARSON
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
A series of misadventures
marked Bob and Carrol Pear‑
sons’ arrival to UWC‑USA, but
nonetheless, they still recall
their first visit to campus fondly.
It was sleeting and muddy
when they came in May 1983 for
Bob’s chemistry department in‑
terview. Told they could see the
site where housing would soon
be available, they trekked past
the current Health Center to the
empty, mucky site beyond.
When they arrived with
Photo courtesy of the Pearsons
their four young sons later that
summer, the mud was gone but
the house was still absent. “We drove across from Mary‑
land, and we had all our possessions in one U-Haul truck,”
Carrol remembers. “The Maclehoses were very good to us.
They put us up in a room in their upstairs.”
When the pre-fab house finally arrived, it got stuck on
the bend in the road near the Castle and couldn’t be moved
for a few days. The Pearsons lived in the Maclehose house
for many weeks un‑
til they were able to
“It was an exciting
settle in to their own
home on the hill.
experiment; UWC‑USA
Bob and Carrol
spread the ideas of the
agree that Andrew
conflict resolution program to Maclehose, dean and
Theory of Knowl‑
Atlantic College, to Swaziland, edge instructor, was
a monumental figure
to Italy—so it was a way in
on campus in the ear‑
which colleges were in touch
ly years. “Andrew was
absolutely key in set‑
with each other.”
ting the tone for the
place. He had high
expectations of the students and faculty,” Bob says. Carrol
adds that Andrew’s wife, Heather, also played a vital role
on campus and was responsible for setting up community
service programs in Las Vegas. “It was through Heather
that I got involved in the State Hospital,” Carrol recalls.
After Bob and Carrol had been at UWC‑USA for six
years, they were granted an opportunity to teach at Water‑
ford Kamhlaba UWC in Swaziland for three years. Hav‑
ing lived in Ghana for 17 years previously, they jumped
at the chance, and moved to Waterford with their three
youngest sons (their oldest was attending Pearson Col‑
lege). Carrol reflects, “It was a great experience for our
26
children and for us. We were
there from ’89 to ’92, which
was just the time that apartheid
really fell apart.”
Bob remembers that Nelson
Mandela came straight to the
school after he was released.
Carrol says, “He came into the
staff room without any security
guards and he talked with the
staff for a long time. And we
were able to meet so many of the
people who had been involved in
the struggle.”
Upon their return to
UWC‑USA, Carrol became
more involved in campus life, becoming a resident tutor in
the dorms and taking over the Constructive Engagement
of Conflict (CEC) Program. Guided by Hilda Wales, Carrol
organized the structure and curriculum of the program—
which included conflict resolution classes based in every
discipline taught on campus. “None of us had any exper‑
tise in it, so we were all very much learning along with the
students,” she says.
In addition to providing a rich learning experience,
Carrol says CEC became a vehicle for connecting UWCs:
“It was an exciting experiment; UWC‑USA spread the
ideas of the conflict resolution program to Atlantic College,
to Swaziland, to Italy—so it was a way in which colleges
were in touch with each other.”
Though they have been retired for 11 years, Bob and
Carrol remain engaged in UWC and active in the Las
Vegas community. Among many other things, the local
Amnesty International chapter and the Las Vegas Com‑
mittee for Peace and Justice occupy much of their time.
Bob says 9/11 and “all the disasters of human rights and
civil liberties that followed that” have given them even
more purpose to live out their personal interpretation of
the UWC mission.
Bob says their experiences at UWC‑USA, as well as
overseas in Ghana and Swaziland, “made us keenly in‑
terested in what was going on in the world and seeing
things through the eyes of other people.” Bob says he
hopes “the students who leave UWC are filled with de‑
termination to make a change in the world. There are
many ways in which this can be done. Some of them will
raise families and have ‘regular’ jobs, and as concerned
citizens who involve themselves in what’s going on in
their communities as widely as possible, they will make
a difference.”
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W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
AN INTERVIEW WITH RUDY VIGIL
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
The heart of the small community of Montezuma,
N.M. stands at the intersection of Highway 65—leading
up to Hermit’s Peak—and the road that dips down to the
right and up to the UWC‑USA campus. A visitor arriving
during the school year is likely to see students walking
across the foot bridge that leads to the “town center”: the
Montezuma post office.
The Montezuma post office is a cozy, intimate space.
The front windows are filled with plants spilling over their
pots: a hanging fern, sprawling geraniums, shiny cactus,
and jade plants. Plaques and medals line the walls, plaques
for superior postmaster performance for the U.S. Postal
Service, and gold and silver medals for Senior Olympics
awards in badminton and golf—the postmaster’s pursuits
when he wasn’t helping customers decide how they want‑
ed to send a package.
Postmaster Rudy Vigil retired after working for the
post office for 29 years. “I started working here in
1981 and was appointed postmaster in 1982,” he
recalls. “I came here from Las Vegas. I’d already
worked for the post office there for 16 years. Alto‑
gether, I’ve worked 46 years in the postal service.”
Arriving in Montezuma before UWC‑USA was
founded, Rudy watched and participated in some of
the school’s most memorable moments: “I met Dr.
Armand Hammer, all the school presidents, Prince
Charles. The girl who worked for me got to serve tea
and wait on Charles; I got to meet him through her.
And I met The Beach Boys when they played here.”
But Rudy says the best part of his job was get‑
ting to know the UWC students. He remembers
the pre-internet days: “When they started, there
was no such thing as email, and selection was all
done through mail. The university acceptances
would come in and there’d be big, thick packages
… and there were kids jumping with glee. A lot of
kids come back and stop by and they’re in their
30s and 40s. It’s strange to sit down with them
and have a beer!”
Rudy got to know some students really well.
“They’d come and tell me their problems,” he
shares. “There were some kids who couldn’t af‑
ford to send stuff home, and I’d say, ‘don’t worry
about it; pay me when you can.’ And they would
come back and say, ‘Here’s the 44 cents I owe
you,’ and I’d say, ‘For what?’ I’d forgotten, but
they were honest.”
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One of the most unusual items Rudy shipped in 29
years was moose antlers. A Japanese student wanted to
ship them home following his graduation in 1984, and
Rudy remembers, “I made a box for him and apparently
they got to Japan. I could do that back then because they
used to send them by ship, but now they have size limits.”
Rudy also recalls a recent graduate who called him
“Sir.” When Rudy asked him to use his first name because
“Sir” made him feel old, the student explained that “Sir”
was a sign of respect in his home country. “So, he called
me Sir Rudy,” he laughs.
Rudy is adjusting to retirement and travels with his
wife Nancy. He continues to play golf and badminton and
competes in the Senior Olympics. And he still teaches bad‑
minton at UWC. He says he often receives postcards from
alumni, and remembers the badminton players in particu‑
lar. “They helped make me a better player,” he shares.
ORAL HISTORIES
Fat Envelopes, Moose Horns, and
Badminton Stars
27
ORAL HISTORIES
28
A Fire Truck and Three Arabian Horses
AN INTERVIEW WITH TED REINEKE
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Ted Reineke’s last title at UWC‑USA was audio visual
and lab technician, but as generations of alumni can attest,
he is truly a jack-of-all-trades. Ted, who retired this year,
made himself indispensible over the 29 years he worked at
the school, whether he was teaching lighting, sound, or set
construction; helping science teachers find the equipment
they need for their classes; setting up for cultural days and
graduation, or driving buses and booking airline tickets.
Ted was hired as the school’s lab technician in 1983.
His stories about those early years evoke a campus brim‑
ming with energy. “We were the new kid on the block; half
the town thought we were a school for the KGB and half
the [incoming] students thought we were a farm group for
the CIA,” he says.
Ted jokes that UWC‑USA did have its own piece of Rus‑
sia on campus the first year: a makeshift dorm dubbed “Si‑
beria.” In the school’s first year, six more students arrived
than was anticipated, leaving administrators scrambling
to make dorm arrangements. The solution? The six were
assigned to live on the top floor of the science building—
far away from the other
dorms and only heated
by small space heaters.
Thus the moniker “Sibe‑
ria” came into being.
Ted also remem‑
bers founder Armand
Hammer as the source
of many stories. Ted’s
favorites involve a fire
truck and Arabian hors‑
es. “[Hammer] always
wanted to have a fire
department here,” Ted
recalls. “And so finally,
[the board] found a fire
truck, and asked if he’d
like it for the school. He
smiled and said yes, and
they said, ‘It’s $5,000.’
He said, ‘Well, gentle‑
men, come up with it!’
And so they all made a
donation and got the fire
truck.” Ted says it was never used to put out fires, but at a
handful of graduations, it was driven down from its park‑
ing place by the Castle and “they’d shoot water like those
fire boats in New York Harbor.” The fire truck lasted about
four years before its brakes gave out in a terrifying wild
ride down the hill.
Four years is also about the length of time the school
owned its own Arabian horses. Ted says a student, sent
to Los Angeles for Hammer’s birthday, revealed the stu‑
dents’ difficulty in getting to their horseback riding activ‑
ity in El Porvenir Canyon. As Ted tells it, “Hammer said,
‘Oh, well, then you’d like horses!’ And she said, ‘That’d
be really nice!’ So right across from the maintenance
building, they built stables, and we got two horses which
the students named Ted and Neil—the president and
vice president at the time. And the next year, we got a
third horse, Andrew.” Ted laughs as he finishes the story:
“Hammer paid for the stables and for the initial food, but
eventually the food ran out and we had to buy more food,
and Ted Lockwood went to him and said, ‘It’s pretty ex‑
pensive to keep up those horses.’” But Hammer wasn’t
interested in ongoing funding, Ted says, so the horses
stayed at school for one more year and finally were given
to a ranch nearby.
Not only is Ted a gifted storyteller with a sharp mem‑
ory for detail, but he also is skilled at helping create the
space for students to tell
their own stories. His
stagecraft class taught
students how to work
the auditorium’s sound
booth, operate the lights,
construct elaborate sets,
and manage actors and
a backstage crew—all es‑
sential skills for the Cul‑
tural Day performances.
“I think cultural days
are wonderful, a great ex‑
perience,” Ted says. “You
see leadership develop.
You see talent come out
that you didn’t ever sus‑
pect. Besides taking all
the sciences, they can
also sit down and play
piano like you’ve never
heard before.”
Though he has left
UWC‑USA, Ted remains
invested in the students and the school’s direction. Ted
says he’d like to see the school grow so that more students
can experience UWC and so that every student can have at
least one country-mate. “It’s awfully hard on a kid who’s
here from a country by himself,” Ted says. “It’s very nice to
have someone to talk to.”
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AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BENNETT
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
David Bennett was UWC‑USA’s first employee. Born In fact, there was still a lot of work to do even after the stu‑
and raised in Montezuma, David watched the land that dents arrived in August. David says there was just dirt on
was to become the UWC‑USA campus transform many the fields, and not many trees. As a result, he remembers
times before Armand Hammer purchased the property in crews working around the clock—and through the night—
June 1981. “I went with the place. I never did do a resume to transform the landscaping. By the time Prince Charles
arrived for Dedication, the campus had been transformed
or application. I was a part of the woodwork,” he says.
David had worked for the school’s previous owners, the with grassy fields and newly planted trees.
Among David’s favorite memories is his story of
Catholic Conference, before the Castle and grounds were
sold. Before that, he had spent his childhood roaming the Prince Charles’ visit. Security was tight, and once Prince
area and knew many essential details about the grounds. Charles had arrived, no one was allowed to leave or enter
When the campus was renovated before the school’s open‑ the campus. David says he was the exception to this rule;
ing, David found that his knowledge of the site was espe‑ with no science facilities in those days, students had to
cially critical for contractors. “They’d ask, ‘Do you know take the bus into Las Vegas to use New Mexico Highlands
University labs. David drove the
where this water line might go?’
science class bus in, and at his coAnd I knew a lot of it because as a
workers’ request, completed some
child, I had watched it being put in
errands in town.
or redone,” he says.
“My orders were to drop the
David lived in the New Mex‑
students off by the soccer field and
ico room in the Castle for the
take the bus up to the Castle,” he
first year and a half after he was
says. With the bus parked, David
hired. “He took a liking to me,
proceeded to sneak down the arroyo
Dr. Hammer did. The day after he
to the Welcome Center to make de‑
purchased the place he sent word
liveries to his co-workers. Suddenly,
to me to move into the Castle. It
he heard a huge ruckus and saw
was a cold place. I did get some
lots of lights at the hot springs. He
heat but never did have running
high-tailed it back to his room in
water,” David remembers.
the Castle and stayed there.
Stationed there to keep van‑
Photo courtesy of David Bennett
“The next day, I heard Prince
dals away, David was armed with a
.44-caliber cap-and-ball gun and a
Charles had snuck out of his room
to go the hot springs,” David re‑
watch dog. He was able to discour‑
age most vandals, but on the odd occasion that they proved calls. “Earlier that day, I had given a little speech to him
resistant, he resorted to other tactics. “I knew where they about campus history. He asked me about the hot springs
parked, and I had this little valve stem pin remover,” Da‑ and said he would love to try them some time. Well, he
vid recalls. “I would remove one or two [pins], and they did that night, and needless to say, he caused a big com‑
couldn’t go anywhere because they had two flat tires. I motion. I was scared to death and thought I would be shot
bought a little time that way; I did that many times. Boy, because I was crawling through the arroyo!”
That wasn’t David’s only scare during Prince Charles’s
I was a real bad guy wasn’t I?” David’s mild-mannered
laughter and sparkling green eyes make it hard to imagine. visit. During the dedication, David opted out of the speech‑
David says people didn’t really know what to make of es and ceremonies. However, he wanted to take some pic‑
the school when it first opened. “People thought Dr. Ham‑ tures from the Castle tower. He walked up the stairs only to
mer was a communist and starting a communist school be surprised by two men dressed in trench coats pointing
up here because he had ties with Russia,” he says. The machine guns at him.
“I guess they recognized me and I had this P on my
misconception faded with time, but David misses those
the early days. “I was married to that job, and the students lapel that stood for ‘personnel.’ They asked what I was do‑
were my kids. Now they are grown up and have kids and I ing, and I said I wanted to take a couple of pictures,” he
am on my own. I want to back up to the ’80s,” David says. recalls. “They said take the pictures and then get back. You
Hammer had hoped to renovate the Castle, David are supposed to be stationed in your room; get straight
remembers, but Prince Charles was set on opening the back there and stay there. I took maybe two pictures and
school in October 1982 and there was not enough time. went back. I am lucky to be alive.”
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Prince Charles’s Hot Springs Commotion
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ORAL HISTORIES
The UWC Family
AN INTERVIEW WITH LINDA CURTIS
By Francesca Annicchiarico ’12
After more than 25 years of service at UWC‑USA,
Dean of Students Linda Curtis says without hesitation,
“The students are what made me stay.” This past year
marked her last at UWC‑USA, as she and her husband,
Spanish teacher Tom Curtis, retired. It was bittersweet;
Linda’s care for the stu‑
dent body and sensitive at‑
“I remember all the
tention to how things have
changed over time shine
students singing on
through her words.
the patio when Nelson
Linda says UWC‑USA
in
the
early days was a
Mandela got released.
campus where dorms
Where else can you get
were co-ed, the Castle was
off-limits, and the dining
that experience?”
hall was in the current
IT Center. “There were
no computers or cellphones, so when students wanted
to be in touch with their families, it was through writing
letters,” Linda says. “When they needed to phone home,
they would use the resident tutor’s phone, so we would
constantly have students in our house on the phone in
any language you could imagine. It was just a joy to be
there. I didn’t know what they were saying, but just the
excitement or crying on the phone kept the RTs more
in touch with the students.”
Over the course of her UWC‑USA career, Linda expe‑
rienced many historical events on campus. “I remember
when the Berlin Wall came down and having all these
students at our house. Just being able to experience that
together was great. And I remember all the students
singing on the patio when Nelson Mandela got released.
Where else can you get that experience?” she says.
Of course, the famous “late-night conversations”
were a highlight of student life even back then. “There
was a lot more activity in the day rooms,” Linda says.
“That’s what students did in the evenings—hanging
out, cooking, and arguing about politics or home.”
Linda has watched the passions and interests
of the student body change over time. “In the ’90s,
the students were much more politically involved,
whereas right now, I see the shift toward more envi‑
ronmental and sustainability concerns,” she explains,
acknowledging that “the school has changed the way
the world has changed.”
The dean of students admits that living on a cam‑
pus in rural New Mexico was quite an adjustment for
her—as it is for every student. Besides “keeping up
30
with the rapid pace of the world”—which has been a con‑
stant challenge throughout time, Linda believes that one
of the challenges the school continues to face is building a
community relationship with Las Vegas. However, though
Linda thinks that “there is still hesitancy on both sides,”
she is also aware that we are actively trying to make it work.
Ultimately, Linda says it’s the everyday life challenges
such as roommate relationships and cross-cultural under‑
standing that make UWC‑USA the incredible school it is.
Not only is UWC‑USA the place where Linda says she has
learned “to be open and to listen well,” but it is also the
place that has made her who she is today. “I am confident
that UWC students will bring peace to the world some‑
day—perhaps not in my lifetime—but sometime. That’s
my hope for UWC‑USA,” she says.
Reflecting on her retirement, Linda says she departed
with many treasured memories. “UWC is more than a job;
it is a way of life that Tom and I, along with our children,
have been blessed to be a part of,” she says. “The students
have been our family, our sons and daughters, and we are
so thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from them
and to share with them our hopes and dreams.”
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AN INTERVIEW WITH TOM CURTIS
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Tom Curtis remembers the pioneering years of UWC‑USA
fondly, particularly the strong faculty community forged,
in part, by the campus children. Hired to teach Spanish at
UWC‑USA in August 1985—just before the birth of his daugh‑
ter Anna—Tom drove a U-Haul truck out to New Mexico from
Virginia. His wife (and future dean of students), Linda Curtis,
opted to fly even though, as Tom recalls, she “was eight-anda-half months pregnant; they almost didn’t let her fly on the
plane.” Their son, Judd, was 3 years old.
Tom and Linda were among many young families arriv‑
ing at the school in those early years, and kids quickly banded
together and roamed the campus. Tom says that the eldest
of the group, Juan Mejia, acted like a big brother while Dan
and Hannah Tyson served as communal grandparents. “Dan
would organize community efforts to build stuff and get the
playground going,” Tom recalls. “We had a treehouse we built
that he coordinated.”
Tom says the school’s newness, along with the public’s un‑
familiarity with the IB, made it risky for his family to come
to middle-of-nowhere New Mexico—but it was this risk that
created a strong connection among all the faculty and their
children. While the children wandered around the campus to‑
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gether, the faculty established their own bonds, engaging in
heated matches of trivial pursuit, croquet, and softball. “I think
it’s why I was actually hired; I was a pretty good softball player,”
says Tom, joking.
Faculty kids weren’t the only youngsters with whom Tom
interacted. He soon found himself surrounded by children
from nearby Las Vegas. Tom’s love of music and passion for
teaching quickly led him to inherit the Children’s Chorus CAS
from Bonny Hobson. He says directing the Children’s Cho‑
rus for 25 years has been one of the biggest highlights of his
UWC‑USA teaching career, and he appreciates the myriad of
ways teachers can expand on their passions at the school. “That
has always been the beauty of this job to me; you can tailor it to
fit your interests,” Tom says.
For many faculty—Tom included—Wilderness and Project
Weeks quickly became a valued part of their jobs. Wilderness,
with its own extensive curriculum, allowed plenty of opportu‑
nities for faculty to get involved. Orienteering was particularly
challenging, Tom remembers, and he adds that teaching this
skill to students was “one of the reasons for check—to make
sure that people came back. And if they weren’t back at check,
we would know and be able to act upon it.”
And while wilderness trips to the Grand Canyon for
Southwest Studies have been a mainstay at UWC‑USA,
the early years at the school were rooted also in frequent
Project Week trips to Mexico for service work, sightsee‑
ing, or both. “Mexico was much more accessible then
and much cheaper, as well. We would leave the night of
the day of the last class on Friday to go down to the bor‑
der and cross it. We had Project Week after trial exams,
which was nice because if you had to kill 60 hours on a
bus, you had time to study—or grade papers,” Tom says.
This year marked an end to Tom’s 27-year career at
UWC‑USA. He and Linda retired and moved to Albu‑
querque, where they’ll stay while they plan the next leg
of their life’s journey. As he contemplates the school’s
future, Tom says he hopes UWC‑USA will offer a deep‑
er study of the Southwest in its curriculum. “We’re here
and these cultures are really important and play an im‑
portant part in the whole of the U.S. culture,” he says.
“We [need to be] exposing people to indigenous cul‑
tures—the economic, chemical, scientific, and cultural.”
Tom looks forward to new adventures in New
Mexico but will miss the school. “When I found myself
complaining about things, I thought, ‘Wait a minute,
they’re paying me to do this, and it’s something I love to
do.’ We have been paid to do what we love. That’s why
we’ve been here so long,” he says.
ORAL HISTORIES
Softball, Singing, and Orienteering
31
ORAL
ORAL
HISTORIES
HISTORIES
Brewing the First Pot of Tea
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOE NOLD
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
Joe Nold, who served as director of the Wilderness Pro‑
gram at UWC‑USA from 1983 to 1991, knows quite a bit
about challenge.
Joe grew up in the Saskatchewan dust bowl in Canada
during the Great Depression. At 15, he spent the summer
alone in a cabin in Algonquin
Park, where he learned to canoe
and be self-reliant. He took a
break from university to bicycle
from Vancouver to Los Ange‑
les, hitchhike through the Deep
South to Miami, and crew on a
cargo-carrying sailboat in the
Caribbean.
After graduating from law
school, Joe traveled for five
years in Europe and the Mid‑
dle East, financing his trips by
teaching at schools such as Gor‑
donstoun, Kurt Hahn’s school
in Scotland, and the Doon
School in India. He also volun‑
teered at Hungarian refugee camp in Austria during the
Uprising of 1956 and went on to run work camps for the
Round Square International Service in India—another
Hahn-inspired organization.
Later, Joe took up mountaineering, which provided him
with an altogether different kind of adventure. He climbed
in the Alps, the Himala‑
yas, the Rockies, Mount
Wilderness provides
Kilimanjaro, and Popoca‑
tépetel—among many oth‑
students with insights to
ers. Joe says mountaineer‑
self-reliance as well as
ing gave him not only “an
adrenaline high” but also a
“where one fits in in the
philosophy of life, a sense
broad scheme of things.”
of living life to the fullest,
a deeper awareness of the
stark beauty and grandeur of nature, and the camaraderie
of shared adventure.
Indeed, Joe credits mountaineering with giving him “a
whole new vision of human existence.” He adds, “It’s a
great way to feel alive. Fortunately I was able to find Out‑
ward Bound as a career where this might be relevant.”
Joe served as the director of the Outward Bound School
in Colorado for 15 years. That experience, combined with
his mountaineering, commitment to service, international
experience, and depth of familiarity with Hahn’s philoso‑
phies, made him an ideal wilderness director at UWC. “I
built on Andrew Maclehose’s design,” he says, referring
32
to the former dean of students. “I was attracted to his idea
that Wilderness was not just an adventure program but
rooted in service—a life-saving service.”
The Wilderness Program at UWC‑USA required all
students to spend their first semester learning mountain
craft skills, map and compass,
basic first aid, search and rescue
tactics and taking part in a wilder‑
ness expedition. Joe shares that
the star instructor for the Red
Cross basic first-aid course was
none other than Tom Lamberth,
Joe’s successor following his re‑
tirement in 1991.
Joe’s leadership and vision
were instrumental in develop‑
ing a core component of stu‑
dents’ wilderness experiences at
UWC‑USA. Indeed, the program
© Joe Nold
set the school apart from many of
the other UWCs. Joe says it is vi‑
tal to the UWC mission. Wilder‑
ness provides students with insights to self-reliance as well
as “where one fits in in the broad scheme of things,” he
says. “One learns that one is a part of a deeper unity.”
Joe says one of his proudest contributions to the school’s
Wilderness Program was in connecting UWC‑USA with
the New Mexico Search and Rescue (SAR) network’s strate‑
gy. “[Once established,] we could field 25 students on short
notice. The president, Dr. Lockwood, was supportive of
students missing classes in a humanitarian pursuit—and
several of the faculty became involved as well,” Joe says.
Joe believes that the Grand Canyon expedition was
his most spectacular addition to the Wilderness Program.
In addition, he and his wife Theresa helped to expand
the program to include expeditions to the Barranca del
Cobre in Mexico, canoeing on the Rio Grande in New
Mexico and the Big Bend in Texas, and other areas in
the Southwest. He views the wilderness as a place where
students develop leadership: “[It’s] an area where you
see this emerging kid developing the skills, develop the
confidence. It’s one of the great vehicles for a shared or
cooperative enterprise,” he says.
And although Joe recognizes the importance of dra‑
matic rescue service, he values the other opportunities
Wilderness and service trips offer. “I think the sweat-equity
type of involvement such as environmental cleanup, tree
planting, and restoring adobe churches are equally impor‑
tant. … The real heroes on the expedition are the guys that
get up and brew the first pot of tea,” Joe says.
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Blind Faith on Santa Fe Baldy
By Bonnie (Horie) Bennett ’85
Toward the end of my tenure at UWC‑USA, my wilder‑
ness experience led to the opportunity to co-lead a rather
arduous hike to the top of Santa Fe Baldy (at an impressive
~12,000 ft) in New Mexico. While my 17-year-old body was
fit and toned, this was still a challenge for my skill set. My
co-leader was Irfan Hassan, thin and lithe; I probably best‑
ed him in weight even then. We were perhaps the most un‑
likely wilderness pairing of the groups ascending that day.
While our enthusiasm never waned, the challenging
navigation and our resulting slow pace had us behind
schedule. I suppose we should have chosen to bypass the
final ascent, but we were determined. Our final push took
us slightly off track between trails. It seemed a like a good
plan until the grade became so steep we were pulling our‑
selves up the hill between trees until our arms and legs
trembled. Once committed, it was too late to backtrack, so
we labored slowly to the top.
The alpine line, where the trees stopped growing, re‑
vealed large open areas at the top of the mountain. The
summit, unlike the mountain’s base, was foggy, extremely
windy, and cold. We rallied our group briefly in honor of
our perseverance as tiny ice pellets buffeted our faces. Turn‑
ing to head back down, mentally weak and physically tired,
there was still a euphoric feeling of success. Recognizing
we were well behind the planned schedule, we moved the
group as quickly as we could with encouragement of warm
drinks and decadent snacks. About two-thirds of the way
down, we ran into a small team who had been sent out as a
search and rescue party—for
us! This seemed incredulous
It seemed a like a good
and offensive at first, and
plan until the grade
then hilarious. Our fearless
wilderness god, Joe Nold,
became so steep we
had assumed we had gotten
were pulling ourselves
lost—or worse.
I didn’t realize at the
up the hill between trees
time how much of a touch‑
until our arms and legs
stone this experience would
be for me. Many times in my
trembled.
life, I have recalled that day
as my own personal meta‑
phor. In blind faith and perseverance, we didn’t give up.
We found our way to the top and made it back down, even
if it was in our own sweet time.
ALUMNI MEMORIES
ALUMNI MEMORIES
© Tom Lamberth
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ALUMNI MEMORIES
MARCHING
Alia (Al-Matari)
Raviola ’90 of
Jordan and Vachararutai Bootinand ’90
of Thailand remind
New Mexico
motorists that
apartheid must end.
34
The Freedom March
By Tandiwe Njobe ’90
As the African National Congress (ANC) kicked off
2012 with centenary celebrations in Bloemfontein in South
Africa, I found myself reflecting on my involvement in the
anti-apartheid movement and how it defined my child‑
hood, teenage, and adult years. Born into a family that
was forced into exile before my birth, our lives were driven
by the ANC’s anti-apartheid campaign. So integrated was
this campaign into our
values, purpose and ac‑
tions, that upon com‑
pleting high school,
my brother showed his
commitment by joining
the military wing of the
ANC (Umkhonto we
Sizwe). He was stationed
in Angola where he lost
his life in battle in 1988
at the height of what had
become a global antiapartheid struggle.
That same year,
I was accepted into
the Armand Hammer
United World College
on a United Nations
Scholarship. Given my
political
background
and the recent loss of
my brother, it was only
natural that when I
entered UWC‑USA, I
sought an avenue to re‑
main involved in antiapartheid activities.
I was pleasantly sur‑
prised to find an active
and well-informed AntiApartheid Committee
(AAC) on campus, and naturally, I joined. The AAC was
a necessary connection to my family and friends back in
Zambia and Tanzania. I needed to remain involved in the
campaign that had defined my life.
Within a few days of my arrival, the whole school
headed out for a seven-day orientation. We spent the week
camping and hiking in small groups. One night we had the
entire student body around a campfire and each group was
asked to perform. I instinctively offered to teach my group
a South African freedom song, which we practiced as we
trudged up and down switchbacks. Later that evening we
marched into the campfire circle singing Shosholoza. I was
told that our singing was haunting and beautiful. Over
time, every student learned that song.
Toward the end of my first year, I was elected president
of the AAC. In my second year, we organized a landmark
fundraising activity to raise awareness within our school
and surrounding community. The AAC, with support
from the school, organized a 70-mile march from Santa
Fe to Las Vegas, N.M.
The funds raised were
sent to the Solomon
Mahlangu
Freedom
College (SOMAFCO)
in Tanzania.
SOMAFCO facili‑
tated a key objective of
the ANC’s post-apart‑
heid strategic vision.
This high school was
established to educate
youth so they could
contribute to the recon‑
struction and develop‑
ment of post-apartheid
South Africa. Being the
beneficiary of a schol‑
arship to UWC‑USA, it
was important to me to
give back to my South
African peers who, un‑
der very challenging
physical and emotional
circumstances, were
pursuing their high
school qualifications.
The marchers in‑
cluded the UWC‑USA
community, and just
about every student
and staff member com‑
mitted to either walk or assist with logistics. Those who
walked committed to a distance and raised funds from the
community for each mile they walked. Many walked the
full 70 miles.
The march was covered in advance by the Kaleidoscope
and local newspapers. A heated debate was sparked about
the use of proceeds. One camp challenged the decision by
the AAC to route the funds raised to an ANC school. In
their view, the ANC was a terrorist organization. As the
head of the AAC, I was called to respond. I had never felt
so affronted in my life. For me, the ANC was the organiza‑
tion I had grown up in, the extended family that we did
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ALUMNI MEMORIES
not have in exile. There could be no wrong with the orga‑ made a personal connection (and I hope commitment)
nization that stood firmly behind the oppressed majority to the anti-apartheid struggle. In two days, we had drawn
in South Africa and committed to bringing change to the closer as a student body, and the disagreement that divided
unjust system of rule in South Africa. Fearing we would us at the start of the march regarding the use of funds was
lose sight of the larger objective of the march, my response forgotten as we exchanged hugs and words of congratula‑
tion in the Las Vegas Plaza.
was meant to persuade par‑
Today, I live and work
ticipants that our cause and
I remain committed because I
in post-apartheid South
beneficiary were worthy.
witnessed the mobilization against
Africa. We are a nation in
After months of plan‑
development with many
ning and fervent discussion
apartheid by ordinary individuals
socioeconomic challenges.
among the students—about
who may never set foot in Africa.
However, I remain optimis‑
its purpose, impact, and
tic and hopeful for South
participants—the day of the
Because of this, I believe South
Africa—principally because
march finally arrived. In the
Africans have a responsibility
I know firsthand the sac‑
early morning hours, the
rifices made by my family
marchers were transported
to uphold and build our young
and many other families to
to the Santa Fe Plaza to be‑
democracy—which we achieved
achieve the political free‑
gin the two-day walk back
doms we enjoy. And I re‑
to Montezuma. There was
through a shared resilience and
main committed because I
excitement among march‑
commitment by individuals within
witnessed the mobilization
ers about the personal com‑
against apartheid by ordi‑
mitment they were about to
and outside South Africa.
nary individuals who may
make and their contribution
never set foot in Africa. Be‑
to a greater cause.
The students marched and sang freedom songs as cause of this, I believe South Africans have a responsibil‑
they snaked their way out of Santa Fe onto the freeway ity to uphold and build our young democracy—which we
to Las Vegas. As the day wore on, chatter and banter achieved through a shared resilience and commitment by
among smaller groups of marchers replaced the sing‑ individuals within and outside South Africa—including
ing of earlier in the day. Exhaustion began to set in, and the students and staff of UWC‑USA.
marchers were relieved to ar‑
rive at the overnight rest camp
somewhere off the highway
about 35 miles from Las Vegas.
The next morning, a refreshed
and chatty group of marchers
returned to the highway to
complete our mission.
Later that Sunday at about 4
p.m., with aching feet and sore
muscles, a tired but inspired
group of marchers representing
all continents marched into the
Las Vegas Town Square. Some
still sang while others hobbled
along quietly celebrating their
personal achievement of com‑
pleting the walk. My spirit was
infused with pride at the suc‑
cess of the event. I was sure that
every marcher, supporter, and
some motorists and observers
RAISING
OUR VOICES
Catherine “Danny”
Daniel ’90 and
Tandiwe Njobe ’90
sing freedom songs
on the march.
© Tandiwe Njobe ’90
35
ALUMNI MEMORIES
IN THE
SPOTLIGHT
Dancing is an
integral part
of the student
experience at
UWC-USA.
UWC Dancing
By Nadejda Marques ’90
Dance always helped me at UWC‑USA. When I was
struggling with English during my first months at the
school and my first evaluations were quite poor, President
Ted Lockwood was kind enough to write, “Nadejda has out‑
standing dancing skills.” He was very kind because there
were many students who were outstanding dancers—the
school seemed like a dancing frenzy with rhythms and
moves from all over the world. Add to that the dance vibe of
’80s and early ’90s and you’ll have the picture. It was hard
to impress an audience that had seen almost everything.
And my time in the spotlight? Julian Ho was the cho‑
reographer. The song was Rock Around the Clock. We re‑
hearsed all the aerials, except we had one twist: Instead of
having him be the base, I was the base for the throws, dips,
and jumps. In the end, the audience erupted in cheers.
© Kate Russell
How We Got Locks
By Jan Boontinand ’90
When I was a first-year student back in 1988, I had a
roommate from Albuquerque who sometimes went home
for the weekend. I never liked to stay alone at night be‑
cause I was afraid of ghosts. So on a Friday night when my
roommate left, I asked a first-year friend from Malaysia to
come stay with me.
I woke in the middle of the night to the squeaking
sound of my door opening. When I opened my eyes, I
saw a man standing in the doorway. I knew this wasn’t a
ghost! I didn’t see his face clearly, but he had curly hair and
looked unfamiliar. I wasn’t sure what I should do. After a
few seconds, I shouted: “Who are you?” The man let go of
the door knob and ran away. I jumped out of bed and woke
up my Malaysian friend, who was sound asleep. When she
woke up, I told her what happened. We went out to look for
the man in the hallway, the common room, the bathroom,
and the laundry room. We didn’t find anyone.
The next morning, I told our resident tutor about the
incident. When my roommate came back on Sunday, I told
her, too. I felt frightened from then on. At night, I put a
chair against the door. Somehow, I had a feeling that the
man would return. As Friday approached again, I told my
roommate to be prepared in case that man came back. I
tried not to fall asleep, but in the end, I did.
I almost didn’t hear the door open; there was no
squeaking this time. But I opened my eyes and saw the
man standing there. This time, he was wearing only a pair
36
of shorts. I shouted, “Hey you!” He vanished. I called my
roommate, who quickly jumped off the bed. We checked
the bathroom, the common room, and the hallway. I saw
the man coming out from one side of the hallway and I
shouted, “Sara, he is here!”
My roommate screamed and jumped over him, lock‑
ing his legs. The man pulled on Sara’s hair. I was in shock
and didn’t know what to do. I knocked at students’ doors
to get help. Some guys came running down from the sec‑
ond floor and pulled the man and my roommate apart. My
roommate was all
right and the man
When I opened my eyes, I saw
was OK. My sec‑
a man standing in the doorway.
ond-year from Fiji
took the man away.
I knew this wasn’t a ghost!
I was told later that
he was from the
center for mentally ill patients in Las Vegas where our stu‑
dents went to do community service. He had come here
looking for his friends.
After the incident, the story that went around the
school was that I had used my Thai martial art skills to
bring the man down. However, I was unable to help my‑
self in that real-world situation. And I was truly amazed by
what my roommate did. She was so brave. And even better
than that, she got the school to install locks on the dorm
doors. Thank you, Sara.
U W C - U S A
/
W W W. U W C - U S A . O R G
By Geoff Blanton ’05
Our wilderness team wanted to win the hiking permit overcome this obstacle? We had come so far and it seemed
lottery. Getting a permit in the Grand Canyon the week‑ the canyon had won again. As I began to make prepara‑
end before you plan to hike is only a faint possibility—but tions for the return trip, a team member sighted a small
fate was on our side. In March 2005, I and my classmates ledge that went to the side of the drop-off and made its
Andi Cheney, Anna Harvey, Asad Panjwani, and Shannon way to the landing below. We scrambled up a rockslide and
O’Connor headed to the very trail that had promised me reached the top of the ledge. It was about one foot wide
Grapevine Canyon the year before. As I signed the permit, and covered in small cacti. We slowly began to descend,
one person at a time. Each person knocked more small
my hand shook with excitement and anticipation.
That same canyon had conquered me the prior year. On rocks off the stone tightrope. I watched as the stones fell
that day, we set out in the early afternoon with the hopes three stories to the bottom of the waterfall and landed with
of reaching the Colorado River, diving into its cold waters small clinks. I pushed thoughts of falling from my mind as
and escaping the merciless Arizona sun. At the end of the I inched along the ledge.
We all reached the bottom safely and felt a collective
day, though, threats of rain and flash flooding forced us to
turn around. In the months that followed, my thoughts re‑ sense of accomplishment, but that sense soon left when
turned to Grapevine Canyon again and again, and I began after two more bends in the canyon, we were faced with
to lose hope of ever returning to finish what I
started. But in March of my second year, I got
another chance.
We woke the day of our departure to three
inches of snow, but I hardly noticed. Soon,
I would be on my way to Grapevine, and no
snow could stand in the way. The first two
days passed quickly, and the familiar sights
were like a countdown: Day 10-South Kaibab,
Day 9-Kaibab Tonto Intersection, Day 8-Cre‑
mation Canyon. Finally, on Tuesday, March
15, we reached Grapevine Canyon where we
spent the night under a large overhang next
to Grapevine Creek. I made my famous torti‑
lla pizzas, and I spent a restless night imagin‑
ing what the next day would hold.
The side canyons of the Grand Canyon
are unlike any other part of the canyon. Wa‑
ter flows through many of them year-round,
© Geoffrey Blanton ’05
and the water creates small oases filled with
lush green grass that is soft to the touch and
blooming with spring flowers. Fresh water springs drip another drop-off. This time, there was no ledge; there was
and trees provide refreshing shade. But the biggest prize only a cliff. We decided to free-climb to the bottom. Look‑
of all is the chance to reach the Colorado River. There aren’t ing back on this decision, I realize it was incredibly foolish.
many access points to the river by foot, and they are sepa‑ We were a mile in elevation below the rim and at least 20
miles from a trail head where we could find help, but we
rated by many miles of trail.
On the way down the canyon, I slid down stone slides, forged ahead all the same. Once again, we all reached the
carved into the rock by years of rushing spring waters. I bottom safely, less two bottles of iodine which broke on the
jumped across boulders that had tumbled into place long ago way down. According to the map, the river was less than a
as the canyon was being formed. I stood beneath a spring and quarter of a mile away; we were almost there, but it may as
drank water sweeter and purer than any I have ever tasted. well have been 100 miles.
Ten yards. Ten yards. That was all that separated us
All the while the river was still foremost in my thoughts, but
from the Colorado River. It was within sight but out of
the last half mile to the river would not be easily traversed.
As we came around a bend in the canyon, we were met reach. Ten yards from the river was a final drop-off rubbed
by a 30-foot drop over which cascaded a beautiful water‑ so smooth by water that it was impassable. Grapevine
fall. The beauty was lost on the group. How would we ever Canyon won again.
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ALUMNI MEMORIES
Grapevine Canyon
CANYON
CAMARADERIE
Geoff Blanton ’05
and his team pose
on the precipice.
37
LIFE
CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS
LIFE CONNECTIONS
Montezuma Love
MONTEZUMA LOVE
UWC-USA is also the place where they met and fell in love, and in June
2009, they married. In lieu of wedding gifts, they established a scholarship
endowment fund at UWC-USA and asked wedding guests to contribute.
They said, “This wedding wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for UWC.”
38
U W C ‑- U S A
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W W W . U W C ‑- U S A . O R G
Photo courtesy of Alexa Melkman ’99
When they were both 16, Ben Melkman ’98 and Alexa Muñoz Smith ’99
obtained scholarships to UWC-USA. Ben represented Australia; Alexa
represented Mexico. Ben and Alexa say that their UWC experience has been “a
huge building block” for who they are today and opened their eyes to the world.
By Demet Tuncer Tanriover ’93
The biggest UWC story I can tell is our marriage. I
met Cagri Tanriover at UWC; he was my second-year. He
lived 10 minutes away from me in Istanbul, but I didn’t
know him. We became very close friends after we met
in Montezuma, and our friendship continued for many
years after we graduated. We had no romantic intentions
whatsoever; he was my country-mate, for crying out loud!
We kept in touch over the years, and we always got
together when he came home on breaks from the U.K.
where he was completing his master’s degree, and then
later his Ph.D. After 17 years of close friendship, we
kissed one night. One thing led to another, and we got
married. He was always a dear friend and a close con‑
fidant. I never wanted to jeopardize that by just having
him as a “boyfriend.” If anything happened, it had to be
for good. So here we are! Complete with a baby girl we
have named Ayza.
LIFE CONNECTIONS
Country-Mates
UWC Connection
By Tarra Hassin ’91 and Brian G. Lax ’92
When someone asks how we met, I wonder which
time? Brian Lax was my first-year and began knocking on
my door sometime during the year—to see my roommate.
Brian was quite involved with my beloved roommate,
Cecilia Tholse. I suppose that was one of the main reasons
I had never thought of him “in that way.” (For the record,
they did eventually break up and he later married anoth‑
er first-year, Rachel Lundgren. Indeed, I am not the first
UWCer Brian has married).
We met again years later, by chance, in the Kluge Au‑
ditorium for a Blue Moon Café. Brian was working as an
EMT in Las Vegas, N.M. and I was about to begin teaching
in Montezuma. I noticed him like I hadn’t before. Alas,
things were still complicated. Sometimes I joke that when
we met (for the second time, at least), Brian already had a
wife and a girlfriend. It was less sordid than it sounds, but
it took many more years of us going on in our lives and try‑
ing on a few more relationships before we met yet again.
The third time—at Brian’s 10-year reunion—was the
meeting that stuck. Both of us were “unattached,” and we
quickly started dating and soon moved in together. After
we married, we “honeymooned” on an extended travel
adventure, which included visiting four other UWCs and
innumerable, wonderful, hospitable friends from our
school days.
This summer marked Brian’s 20-year reunion, and we
have much to celebrate—our marriage, our friendships,
our lovely children, our great fortune in having attended
a UWC, and the luck to have finally figured out that we do
think of each other “in that way.”
A Wedding Anniversary
By Eran Bar-Am ’91 and Daniela Bar-Am (Beran)’91
In 2012, UWC celebrates its 50th anniversary,
UWC‑USA its 30th, and we celebrate our 15th wedding
anniversary! We came to Montezuma from Germany
and from Israel—two very different characters from two
very different cultural backgrounds. As a matter of fact,
throughout our first year, we did not care much for each
other (to put it nicely). But then, in our second year, a series
of “coincidences” brought us closer together, and before we
knew it, we were a couple.
So what is it like being a UWC couple? Well, it makes
some things easier: Your partner never gets bored hearing
about how great it was in Montezuma and doesn’t shake
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his or her head every time you get excited about the latest
gossip about your classmates. Some other issues can get a
bit difficult: international telephone bills, for example, or
choosing a name for your child that sounds good in both
“home countries.”
Jokes aside, the greatest thing about being a UWC
couple is that each of our three children is neither Ger‑
man nor Israeli but rather German and Israeli at the
same time. When you think about the dreadful history
that plagues these two cultural backgrounds, it’s almost
unbelievable. And it wouldn’t have been possible if it
weren’t for UWC.
39
Halley’s Comet
Making Connections
HALLEY’S COMET
MAKING CONNECTIONS
By Fernando Skerl ’86
By Emma Tilquin ’02
It was my second year, and Halley’s Comet was go‑
ing to be visible. My roommate Mike Aaron, an amateur
astronomer, had a telescope, and I believe the school had
another one. It was late at night when I ran across the soc‑
cer field carrying a telescope and jumped on the bus that
would take us out to open sky where we could best see the
comet pass by. The drive was long and the air was chilly.
We arrived and set up the telescopes. The sky was covered
with clouds; we could not see a thing!
At the beginning of my second-year service at the near‑
by psychiatric hospital, we played a “building trust and con‑
fidence” game with the teenagers there. Blindfolded, they
had to listen to our voices directing them through a maze
of chairs we had built until they successfully emerged from
the labyrinth. When they smiled at us, having reached the
exit without bumping into chairs, we felt like a connection
had been made. We could talk about our doubts and joys
together. It made every Wednesday morning an amazing
experience, and that reward made up for the lack of sleep
we experienced in waking early for the service.
REMEMBERING
REMEMBERING
HOTEL
RESTORATION
The Old Stone
Hotel is repaired
to house
classrooms, offices,
and the library.
40
Misappropriation
IMPROVISATION
MISAPPROPRIATION
By Colleen Lewis von Eckartsberg ’86
By Michael Stern ’89
I remember Julie van Hoogstraten noticing that the
dancers got all the attention on International Day and
what a shame it was that there wasn’t a good Dutch dance
she could perform. Then her eyes lit up as she realized
that no one would know what a Dutch dance might look
like! So she quickly made one up on the sidewalk in front
of Tyson House. She and Mieneke rehearsed just enough
to look credible and headed down to the cafeteria where
the crowds were assembled. Then they clonked around
in their wooden shoes, proudly performing their national
dance for a big audience.
In early 1989, we needed to invent a musical instru‑
ment for the New Mexico State Science and Engineering
Fair. We began at 2 a.m. the night before the contest. My In‑
donesian classmate Ilham disappeared to find parts and re‑
appeared with a massive television aerial that, we assumed,
he had taken from a nearby house. His English would de‑
teriorate when convenient, and he never did explain where
it came from. We converted it into a set of xylophones and
won the contest the next day. Our Malaysian first-year led
the team in playing a made-up tune which, she assured the
judges, was the Indonesian national anthem.
REMEMBERING
Improvisation
GRADUATION
SPLENDOR
Flags on the
balcony mark
the momentous
occasion.
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41
REMEMBERING
In Memoriam
42
IN MEMORIAM
A movement is defined by the community that keeps it vibrant and invigorated. Since 1982, thousands of people
have become a part of the UWC-USA
community and the UWC movement.
Along the way, we have been saddened
by the loss of some of our brightest
stars, but it is through their memory
that the rest of us continue on, inspired
by the vision, creativity, and passion
of those who have gone before us. As
Helen Keller once said, “What we have
once enjoyed and deeply loved we can
never lose, for all that we love deeply
becomes a part of us.”
We honor the faculty, students, alumni, friends, and supporters of UWC-USA.
Their legacy lives on.
Jorge Ricci ’84
Allan Glenn Bernardo ’85
Roger Kenna ’85
Ann Schroeder-Aryeh ’86
James Gritter ’88
Philippe Wamba ’89
Liza Malkoun ’91
Paul Mugabi ’92
Emeka Dillibe ’93
Marija Dokmanovic-Chouinard ’95
Kyle Faas ’95
Christopher Pancoast ’95
Amadou Cisse ’97
Cesar Simosa ’97
Aaron Anderson ’00
Jeremy McGaffey ’01
Imogen Curnew ’04
Fawaz Lukman ’11
DECEASED EMPLOYEES, TRUSTEES,
AND BENEFACTORS:
Armand and Frances Hammer, founders
Armand Bartos, benefactor
Alec Courtelis, chairman of the Board
Linda Halouzka, yoga instructor
Paul Hebner, trustee
Frank Hines, benefactor
K. Don “Jake” Jacobusse, dean of students
John Kluge, benefactor
David Lee, history instructor
Pir Maleki, mathematics instructor
Sadie Martinez, food services director
Pedro Medina, groundskeeper
Dorothy Meredith, librarian
Norman Meredith, resident tutor
Martin Meyerson, trustee
Emma Middleton, trustee
Simon Orme, trustee
Kaushalya Parashar, Ravi’s mother
Krishan Parashar, Ravi’s father
James Pugash, locator of campus
Dan Tyson, resident tutor/college advising
Frances Tyson, benefactor
Kemal Zeinal-Zade, trustee
REMEMBERING
DECEASED ALUMNI:
43
IN THE FUTURE
IN THE FUTURE
READY IN RED
Adilson Gonzales,
Selen Ozturk, YunYun Li, Mzwakithi
Shongwe, and
Cassandra
Doremus (L-R)—
all of the class of
2012, prepare for
their graduation
ceremony.
44
Looking Forward
By Emily Withnall MC ’01
A Siberian elder—whose name has long since been
lost—once said, “If you don’t know the trees you may be
lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may
be lost in life.”
The same holds true for an institution. As this issue
of Kaleidoscope illustrates, it’s the stories that ground us,
guide us, and teach us. The dual anniversaries of UWC—
the 30th for UWC‑USA, and the 50th for the Movement—
have offered a rich opportunity to capture those stories
firsthand from the very people who shaped our school.
We wish we could have included all the stories we
heard. However, in the process of collecting memories,
we were delighted to find that many of the same tales sur‑
faced from a variety of sources. Faculty from the early days
remembered the fields of mud that swathed the campus
during the first few years. Others recalled the fire truck
and Arabian horses Armand Hammer sent to the campus,
the makeshift dorm dubbed “Siberia,” the traditional howl‑
ing at the president’s house, Prince Charles’s visit for the
school’s dedication in 1982, and The Beach Boys’ perfor‑
mance at the first graduation in 1984. There is an energy to
each of these stories that mirrors the vigor and hard work
that went into creating a school from the ground up.
UWC-USA’s leaders have always embodied this en‑
ergy. Starting a new school wasn’t easy. Like all UWCs,
funding was a struggle—and still is, as Chairman of the
Board Tom Dickerson attests. But as alumni, teachers,
staff members and others reveal in these pages, UWC‑
ers demonstrate extraordinary perseverance and passion
in any challenge they meet—whether it is becoming a
“crusader for the cause” like Phil, or navigating the steep
slopes of Santa Fe Baldy in an all-student wilderness
expedition. When the way forward appears daunting,
the school’s administration,
faculty, and students forge
ahead, armed with an un‑
shakeable idealism.
Idealism is paired with ac‑
tion at UWC‑USA, and that is
particularly evident in times
of conflict and crisis. With
a student and alumni body
representing hundreds of
countries around the world,
UWC‑USA finds itself at the
heart of global events. Each
conflict or environmental
catastrophe is personal and
associated with a name and
face. In the early years, the
students spoke out against
Apartheid, staged perfor‑
mances addressing the heart‑
break of the Berlin Wall (and
huddled around televisions
later as it fell sooner than
anyone thought it would),
and marched to end hun‑
ger in Central Africa. These
events were not distant and
© Kate Russell
intangible; there always was a
student on campus who was
personally affected or had friends and family who were.
More recently, earthquakes in Haiti and Japan rever‑
berated along the mountainside in Montezuma. Students
led the way in fundraising and organizing support for their
classmates and the people in need in those countries. And
just as the Cold War and Apartheid dominated the politi‑
cal discussions of the early years, today’s students discuss
and debate the complexities of immigration reform and
climate change.
U W C - U S A
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IN THE FUTURE
UWC students are often known for their intelligence
and talent, but it is their intelligence paired with deep
heart and strong backbone that reveals the character of
UWC‑USA. Wilderness is a recurring theme in the for‑
mation of that character, demanding students to confront
personal challenges—a task they rise to with results that
outweigh their own expectations. As former Wilder‑
ness Director Joe Nold
observed, it is through
When the way forward
Wilderness that “one
appears daunting or unclear, learns that one is a part
the school’s administration, of a deeper unity.”
Taking risks in
faculty, and students forge
Wilderness helps give
UWCers the confidence
ahead, armed with an
to take other risks, as
unshakeable idealism.
well. Students strive for
what they believe in no
matter the opposition they face, as Tandiwe Njobe ’90 did
when she organized the march against Apartheid during
her second year. UWC students always put their curios‑
ity and creativity to good use, whether they are engaged in
political debate, in a tight spot at a science competition, or
facing the alluring call of the fenced-off Castle. Through
these experiences and more, students shed their precon‑
ceptions to form close bonds with friends from countries
previously unknown. These bonds prove to be unbreak‑
able; friendships endure through decades of even inter‑
mittent contact—and, as you’ll see in these pages, those
friendships sometimes result in marriage!
If students at UWC‑USA have
the heart and backbone to get
them through the toughest of situ‑
ations—from performing on stage
for the first time to confronting a
religious faith at odds with their
own—the faculty has served as
their inspiration. Whether it was
the adventurous nature of Bob and
Carrol Pearson, the hard work and
intensity demonstrated by Hannah
Tyson, acting on what you believe
in like John Geffroy, engaging with
the Las Vegas community alongside
Hilda Wales, deepening on-campus
community and relationships un‑
der Linda Curtis’ guidance, or sim‑
ply listening to the funny stories of
the early days from Dave Bennett or
© Kate Russell
Ted Reineke, students had a wealth
of role models. Indeed, it was the faculty that Phil Geier
appreciated the most during his leadership at UWC‑USA:
“The faculty we inherited was the faculty I worked with,
and I was very happy with that. They put in a lot of com‑
mitment and a lot of extra energy.”
This year, many faculty members who have been at
UWC‑USA since nearly the beginning have retired. As a
result, the school’s 30th
anniversary marks an end
Just as the Cold War and
of one era and the start of
another.
Philanthropist
Apartheid dominated the
Shelby Davis often says,
political discussions of the
“The first 30 years of one’s
life should be focused on
early years, today’s students
learning.” It would not be
discuss and debate the
a stretch to apply this to
UWC‑USA. Our first 30
complexities of immigration
years have been a tremen‑
reform and climate change.
dous time of growth and
learning. As new faculty
and staff arrive and the school adapts to new technologies
and a drier climate, we stand at the threshold of our next MARCHING
30 years. No one can be certain what the future holds, but TOWARD
our history confirms the passion and perseverance we TOMORROW
need to be a recognized leader of making education a force Anel Bueno (L)
and Rodrigo
to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sus‑
Coronel (R) lead
tainable future. President Lisa Darling says it best: “Our the graduation
history has helped us think about how we can take this processional for
the class of 2012.
exceptional school and make it even better.”
45
Kaleid scope
THE MAGAZINE OF UWC‑USA,
THE ARMAND HAMMER UWC OF THE AMERICAN WEST
V o l ume 4 3
UWC -USA
Post Office Box 248
Montezuma, NM 87731-0248 USA
www.uwc‑usa.org
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
© Kate Russell
UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations,
and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.