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B
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Navigating the
Waters of
College Admission
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
PROTECTING NEW YORK’S
Architectural
Heritage
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B U L L E T I N
Fall 2004
Volume 75 Number 1
Bulletin Staff
Director of Development
John E. Ormiston
Editor
Julie Reiff
Alumni Notes
Linda Beyus
Anne Gahl
Jackie Maloney
Design
Good Design
www.goodgraphics.com
Proofreader
Nina Maynard
Mail letters to:
Julie Reiff, Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.
ReiffJ@TaftSchool.org
Send alumni news to:
Linda Beyus
Alumni Office
The Taft School
TaftBulletin@TaftSchool.org
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Winter–November 15
Spring–February 15
Summer–May 30
Fall–August 30
Send address corrections to:
Sally Membrino
Alumni Records
The Taft School
TaftRhino@TaftSchool.org
1-860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
The Taft Bulletin is published
quarterly, in February, May,
August, and November, by The
Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road,
Watertown, CT 06795-2100, and
is distributed free of charge to
alumni, parents, grandparents,
and friends of the school.
This magazine is printed on
recycled paper.
FEATURES
Building a Better Athlete ................................... 18
In a culture of specialization, are three-season athletes headed
toward extinction?
By Andrew Everett ’88
The Guardian ...................................................... 23
Page 9
In New York City—where demand for real estate is soaring, land is
scarce, and money is plentiful—the stakes are high. Bob Tierney
’61, who chairs the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, helps
protect its heritage while still allowing for growth.
By David Lombino ’96
Navigating the Waters of
College Admission ............................................. 28
How parents and students can steer clear of myths and
misinformation to find the college that is right for them.
By Andrew McNeill
DEPARTMENTS
Page 10
From the Editor .................................................. 4
Letters ................................................................. 4
Alumni Spotlight ................................................ 6
Around the Pond ................................................ 10
Endnote............................................................... 34
On the Cover
Bob Tierney ’61 shows off the rotunda in New York’s landmark City
Hall. The rotunda has been the site of municipal as well as national
events; Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant were laid in state here,
attracting enormous crowds to pay their respects. DON HAMERMAN
The Heroic and Pathetic Escapades of Karagiozis, designed and
directed by Guggenheim Fellow Ralph Lee ’53 and performed at Taft
by his Mettawee River Theatre Company in September. PETER FREW ’75
Page 12
E-Mail Us!
Send your latest news, address change, birth announcement, or letter to the editor
via e-mail. Our address is TaftBulletin@TaftSchool.org. We continue to accept your
communiqués by fax machine (860-945-7756), telephone (860-945-7777), or U.S.
Mail (110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100). So let’s hear from you!
Taft on the Web:
Find a friend’s new address or look
up back issues of the Bulletin at
www.TaftAlumni.com.
What happened at this afternoon’s
game?—Visit us at www.TaftSports.com
for the latest Big Red coverage.
For other campus news and events,
including admissions information, visit
our main site at www.TaftSchool.org,
with improved calendar features and
Around the Pond stories.
Don’t
forget
you can
shop online at
www.TaftStore.com
FROM
THE
EDITOR
From the Editor
There’s no doubt about it; I have a fun job. It
has its difficulties, of course, but most days I
find myself fortunate to indulge my own
curiosity and busybody nature as I seek to tell
the stories that define the larger Taft community. I am intrigued by your tales of success
and adversity, of daring and commitment,
and above all your concern for others.
One challenge I face is convincing the
more modest among you that your story is
worth telling. Why me? some ask. It’s a fair
question. With nearly 8,000 living graduates how do we highlight some over others?
I have my own prejudices, and find some
subjects more interesting than others, but in
most of our lives there is some moment,
some choice, some commitment, that makes
our tale worth sharing. The trick is connecting at the right time.
I get plenty of help, too, from proud parents and humbled friends who tell me about
the exploits of their children and classmates.
Others include the Bulletin in their list of
publicity contacts, happy for whatever exposure their endeavor might gain.
One bias I will admit to is my conviction
that people want to see faces. Eye contact
seems as important in print as it is in person.
In an age of increasing isolation, we want to
connect, to read expressions, to make the
story personal. Which is why we ask for
photos of you, why we include so many
images in class notes, and why we’re picky
about the quality.
We live in an age when we are inundated
with information. I find my own house gets
buried periodically in an onslaught of paper—things I keep intending to read, or file
away for the future. So I make it a point to
value your time, by keeping stories to a reasonable length and trying to find stories
you’ll find useful or interesting.
I imagine many of you, like me, also like to
live vicariously through the adventures of graduates who have dared to do things the rest of us
only dream about. We have those dreams in
common, and we gain the opportunity to find
out what might happen if we choose to move
to another part of the globe, if we climb a
mountain, race sports cars, or adopt a dozen
kids. It may be a cautionary tale, or it may give
us courage, but it helps us connect to one
another, to share more than our memories of
a small campus in suburban Connecticut.
As always, I welcome your stories, even
though I can’t print them all. I also want to
thank all of you who completed the readership survey* in the summer issue. Your
feedback is enormously helpful. I encourage
you to continue the critique by sharing your
thoughts on each issue in our letters column.
So, please, let me hear from you.
interfere with my 50th—which seems a lot
closer now than it did back in May 1959.
Your father-in-law, Al Reiff, was a wonderful teacher. He was a friend and mentor to me
and the teacher I remember most fondly from
my years at Taft.
—J. Stephen Buckley ’59
Ind., in the whole state, as well as all he did for
Taft and Yale. I knew his sister, Clementine
Tangeman, much better because she preceded me as president of the board at Emma
Willard. What a model she was!
—Don Buttenheim ’33
—Julie Reiff, editor
*Congratulations
to Wilma Johnson, a Taft employee for
16 years now living in New Mexico,
who won the Taft chair. Her survey
was chosen at random from all entries
received before September 30. Thanks
again to all who responded.
Recipe Alert
Sandy Saxten’s recipe for Poke Rolls in
the summer issue of the Bulletin (p. 29)
was missing a key line of instructions:
“After assembling the rolls in wonton
wrappers, sauté in a small amount of olive
oil for two minutes or until golden brown.
Slice and serve with dipping sauce.”
Our apologies for the omission.
—Julie Reiff, editor
Letters
We welcome Letters to the Editor relating to
the content of the magazine. Letters may be
edited for length, clarity, and content, and
are published at the editor’s discretion. Send
correspondence to:
Julie Reiff • Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
or to ReiffJ@TaftSchool.org
I want to take this opportunity to tell you
what a good job you are doing with the
magazine. The editorial balance is terrific,
and I like the layout and design. I especially
like the picture pages you have interspersed
with the class notes.
I missed my 45th Reunion in May, as I had
to be in Atlanta for a business meeting. I guess
I’ll have to make it a point to let nothing
4
Taft Bulletin Fall 2004
Just finished a page-by-page scan—alternated with intense reading—of the summer
Bulletin. Special thanks for the treatment of
’33 as usual. I do wish Kay and I had swelled
that luncheon picture to seven.
That Citation of Merit award to Wesley
Williams ’59 was really inspiring, and I mean
to drop him a note of admiration. Hope I do!
Speaking of that group. We lost a real
standout recently in J. Irwin Miller ’27. I
knew him a bit personally and was always in
awe of his accomplishments in Columbus,
I was immensely pleased to see the photo of
my little granddaughter in the Bulletin. It
came out really well. I think the magazine is
outstanding. I can even see it in the stack of
mail in the mailbox. It is visually very appealing, and the colors are vivid. There seems to
be a good balance of photos and print.
I probably read about half the articles, but
am much more likely to read an article like the
one on Oscie than one on someone I didn’t
know. I also like “From the Archives.” The
photo in the summer issue is much earlier than
1954 (see next page); that tree was gone by the
FROM THE ARCHIVES
The cameraman is, indeed, Ken Parker, who
came to Taft in 1942. Ken taught French and
Spanish and was the director of public relations.
—Harry Hyde ’52
The picture had to be taken around 1947. Bill
Browning is second from the left in front of the
tree. The first man on the left might be George
Gershel, and Jerry Rogers on the far right, all
of whom graduated in 1948. By 1954, Bill and
I had been married for two years.
—Jane Browning
Summer Bulletin, page 46
Ken Parker but not in 1954
The archive photo in the summer issue was
probably “snapped” in 1945–46. Not realizing
Ken was a faculty member, someone along the
way must have attached his son’s year to the name
on the photo. Thanks to the following readers
who helped us identify most of the film crew.
—Editor
The picture could not possibly have been
taken in 1954, when two-tone cars with fins
were at the height of their popularity. Running boards died out right after the war.
—Chris Davenport ’56
There was a master at Taft named Ken Parker;
his son was a member of the Class of 1954.
Mrs. Parker succeeded Mrs. Shons as librarian
in 1953 and was librarian for two years. The
Parkers left in 1955, when he became public
relations director at Trinity College.
I recognize all but the man peering from the 1941
Ford wood-sided station wagon. [Alan] Ward
’46 is the first on the left. Hester, who worked
backstage for the theater productions, wears
the gloves. I don’t remember enough about the
next two to call their names. [Thomas] Merrill
’47, the last on the right, played clarinet.
—Alexander King ’47
time I got there, probably when the street was
widened for the intersection.
One suggestion for an article would be on
day students or Taft’s relation with the town.
Being a boarder whose family had been in
Watertown since 1678, I saw things a whole
lot differently than my peers. The older generation, my grandmother in particular, always
referred to it as Mr. Taft’s School, presumably since she knew Mr. Taft.
—Tommy Hickcox ’57
not to place the photo on the cover of the
Bulletin, it is on the school’s web site for all the
world to see. Even if the photograph were
excluded, one wonders what moral and ethical
values Taft is inculcating to its students. Are
any of Taft’s 577 students pro-life, and did any
participate in the Pro-Life March in D.C. on
January 23? I hope future issues of the Bulletin
will be more discreet and discerning about all
aspects of sensitive issues.
—Henry N. Giguere ’52
I was disturbed and saddened by the Taft
Bulletin staff in the insensitivity of its coverage
of the Women’s Pro-Choice March in D.C.
It’s one thing to report an event in print, but
quite another thing to include an “in your
face” color photograph of teenage students
holding placards advocating abortion. Although some discretion apparently was made
My wife Sally and I were positively delighted
to read in the latest issue about the award
given to Wes Williams. As chaplain from
1955–60 [for more on Dave, see page 61),
Wes was one of my favorite young men. I’ve
often wondered what happened to him—
and now I know!
—Dave Duncombe
Photo vintage is 1944–48 as most autos in
background are pre-WWII. Only recognizable student is Bill Browning ’48, second
from left.
—Craig Bristol ’48
George “Tony” Allerton ’46 also checked in
via telephone to identify Alan Ward ’46 as the
boy on the far left.
If you have more information about the photograph from the summer issue or this one (see page
32), please contact:
Alison Picton, archivist
Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road
Watertown, CT 06795
or e-mail pictona@taftschool.org
We all know Taft’s reputation for excellence
at the highest level, but the Bulletin excels
even Taft’s lofty standards. The layout, the
photos—ever crisper and clearer—every facet
of the magazine is superb.
One singular advantage you have is the
incredibly broad and varied lives and careers
and doings of your students and alumni.
They range the four corners of the globe,
using their talents and commitments in art,
music, writing, community service, athletics,
and involvement at the highest level.
You must be aware that you set the standard that so many independent schools are
emulating. I receive several publications from
my and my children’s schools—sadly none of
them Taft—and the pattern is clear. They’re
all following your lead.
—Fran Snyder
[widow of Philip ’38]
5
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
Alumni
S P OT L I G H T
A Concert to End All Concerts
Despite mud and other hardships, some 70,000 fans made the pilgrimage to Coventry,
Vt., to sing and cry along with Phish during its final concerts over the August weekend.
Fans left an estimated 5,000 cars parked in neat rows along Interstate 91 and hiked for
miles to reach the concert. TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES
The news broke at the end of May that
the Vermont-based band Phish—often
referred to as a younger version of the
Grateful Dead—was breaking up. The
band’s leader, Trey Anastasio ’83, said
at the time that “Phish has run its course
and that we should end it now while
it’s still on a high note….We don’t want
to become caricatures of ourselves, or
worse yet, a nostalgia act. We realized
that after almost 21 years together we
were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group,
6
united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude. So Coventry will be
the final Phish show. We are proud and
thrilled that it will be in our home state
of Vermont. This is not like the hiatus,
which was our last attempt to revitalize
ourselves. We’re done. It’s been an amazing and incredible journey.”
Anastasio later gave an hourlong interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose, and the
band played on the David Letterman show
a few weeks later—performing from the
top of the Ed Sullivan Theatre marquee,
two stories up from the street. After the
show ended, the band performed an additional 20 to 25 minutes for fans.
Despite a summer schedule of 13
concerts, the final August festival in
Coventry sold out in June. The band
auctioned off 80 pairs of tickets, donating the proceeds to Vermont nonprofits
through The Waterwheel Foundation,
created by Phish in 1997 to oversee the
band’s various charitable activities.
To meet the enormous demand from
“phans,” the two-day festival was simulcast in high-definition video and Dolby
surround sound at theaters across the
nation as well as on XM satellite radio,
making it possible to listen in to the concert from anywhere in the U.S.
An onsite radio station—a regular
feature at other Phish festivals (each with
its own name: The Badger, Thin Air, or
The Bunny)—also pumped out “an
eclectic mix of music, traffic reports,
event updates, interviews with fans and
festival crew, a double session of Phish
archivist Kevin Shapiro’s ‘From The
Archives’ programs, late-night audio
freakouts and of course all of Phish’s sets”
from Thursday through Monday.
Capturing some of the frenzy surrounding this final summer, select
public television stations aired a 90minute special on Phish’s 2003 festival
in Limestone, Maine. Shot in highdefinition video, It combines exclusive
interviews interwoven with live material. The official Phish web site refers to
It as “unquestionably the best footage
ever captured of the band playing live.”
When it came time for the final concert, held at the Newport State Airport
in Coventry, Vt., more than 70,000 fans
came from all over the country to say
goodbye creating a daylong traffic jam
on Interstate 91. Record precipitation,
though, turned much of the parking areas to mud, causing some ticket holders
to be turned away.
In tears during the final show, Anastasio
reportedly told the crowd, “We’re having
some emotional ups and downs up here,
as I’m sure you are. When we started we
had so many ideas, we were going to do
this thing and that thing and break down
that rule. When I think back on it now, I
think of how little I knew about music
and about friendship.”
“Although Phish was at the center of
a jam-band scene that’s full of collaborations and connections,” wrote the New
York Times, “it also stood alone. Phish
operated on a scale to rival the Grateful
Dead, its career model and sometime
musical model as well. One thing Phish
takes with it as it disbands is the ambition
to put on one-band events like Coventry.”
Medea Turns Muslim
With the New York debut of Medea in
Jerusalem, Roger Kirby ’65 has transported Euripedes’s play from the
Mediterranean to the Middle East. But
the shift in geography is not as great as
the shift in time. Instead of 406 B.C.E.,
Kirby updates the story by casting
Medea as a Muslim woman who marries a Jew and moves to Israel.
Critics praised Kirby for bringing
new life to the classic play, updating the
language and developing the plot around
contemporary events, while remaining
faithful to the original. The New York
Times described the play as “wilder and
bloodier than Euripedes imagined.”
Not surprisingly, the play “provoked considerable controversy and
very heated reviews” as well, says Kirby.
“To the very positive side, a memo was
circulated within the U.N. suggesting
that it be seen.” A Mideast broadcasting system did a segment on the show
that was shown throughout the region,
including Iraq, in September.
The reason Kirby wrote about the
crisis in the Middle East, he told the New
Sean Haberle as Jason and Rebecca
Wisocky as Medea in Roger Kirby’s
recent New York production
York Daily News, is that “no sentient person, especially living in New York, cannot
not take an interest. Apart from the terror issue, there’s the seeming stupidity
and blindness and lack of common sense
on the part of so many different entities.
One can’t just stand by and let events
take their natural course. Twenty-four
hundred years of violence is enough.”
A New York lawyer by trade,
Kirby’s three previous plays, Natural
Inclinations, Modern Man [Fall 2003],
and Burleigh Grimes each had its debut
in London. Medea in Jerusalem was performed at NYC’s Rattlestick Theater
from August 5 through September 4.
Friday Night Lights
It has been a busy year for actor/director
Peter Berg ’80, who appeared in the film
Collateral with Tom Cruise and directed
Director Peter Berg ’80 and Actor Billy Bob
Thornton on the set of Friday Night Lights
his own movie, Friday Night Lights, about
a Texas high-school football team.
Based on the novel of the same name
by H.G. Bissinger (Berg’s cousin), Friday
Night Lights is the story of the 1988
Permian High School football season, but
it’s really a “story about community and
the sociology of a town,” said Berg, who
starred as the hockey-playing doctor Billy
Cronk on the television series Chicago Hope.
As director and co-screenwriter, Berg
spent much of last year’s football season
in Austin and Odessa, Texas, staying with
the players and their families.
“What I saw [at games] was absolute
chaos, with the coaches talking to these
17-year-old boys like they were soldiers,”
Berg recalls. “Everything is happening at
once, there’s pure desperation in the air,
and 40,000 people are screaming in the
stands. It was a lot like the beginning
minutes of Saving Private Ryan.”
These were big schools and football
was big time there, said Berg, who played
for Larry Stone at Taft.
“Coach Stone was a very intense
character,” said Berg. “He used to traumatize me. He’d say, ‘It takes a special
breed of cat, Berg. Are you a special breed
of cat?’ I always remember him saying
that to me. I even put it in a speech one
of the characters says in a television show
I did called Wonderland.”
Friday Night Lights opened in theaters in October. Berg also directed last
year’s The Rundown.
7
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
From Connecticut to Cork
Jaywalking with the Irish
David Monagan ’70
Lonely Planet Publications, 2004
Other Alumni
Works in Print
Over the Edge of the World
Magellan’s Terrifying
Circumnavigation of the Globe
Laurence Bergreen ’68
HarperCollins, 2003
PATRICK LYNCH
For David Monagan,
the dream of dropping everything to
pack off to another
country for a great
family adventure
became real when he
and his family left
the “Volvo-purring
perfection of the
Connecticut hills”
to move to Ireland
for one, two, or three
years—or perhaps a lifetime.
What he and his family discover
upon landing in a peculiar Cork City, is
an Ireland transformed. By turns hilarious and withering, Monagan’s book,
Jaywalking with the Irish, is the tale of
how profoundly the new Ireland differed
from the Monagan’s dreams. What they
found was a world still whirling with eccentricity and abiding heart. The result
is a uniquely nostalgia-free portrait of a
country wrestling with its place as the
fastest growing economy in Europe.
“You won’t find a better or truer
Singing Her Praises
Between Here and Gone
Mary Chapin Carpenter ’76
Columbia Records, 2004
8
House of Holy Fools
A Family Portrait in
Six Cracked Parts
Amy Biancolli ’81
Lulu Press, 2004
depiction of Ireland than this
one,” says Frank McCourt,
author of Angela’s Ashes.
“David Monagan captures
the country and its landscape in exquisite detail and does it with
wit, charm, and compassion.”
Monagan is a longtime journalist
and publisher whose numerous credits
include the New York Times, Boston Globe
Magazine, Forbes, Discover, Psychology
Today, The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, and
Reader’s Digest. He is currently writing a
nonfiction book called Explorers of the
Heart. A former Dublin college student,
Monagan says he can “talk about most
anything Irish,” from his adventures on
lifeboats or in building Kerry megaliths
or in the mother of all eccentric pubs.
Mary Chapin Carpenter ’76 has a new
album out, Between Here and Gone from
Columbia Records. Released in April, this
is her first collection of new songs since
getting married in 2002. The Chicago
Sun-Times called it her “most pointed
and poignant songwriting” yet.
“Carpenter sustains an introspective
tone throughout the album,” agreed the
Washington Post, “crafting thoughtful
songs about unresolved emotions (‘What
Would You Say to Me’), spiritual refuge
(‘My Heaven’) and hard-won love
(‘Elysium’). The Paul Simon-like portrait
‘Grand Central Station,’ beautifully
Back to Life
Introducing the Simple Cure
for Back Pain and Sitting Ills
Condict Moore ’33
Butler Books, 2004
Kindness of Strangers, edited by Don
George ’70 [Fall 2003] was named
the winner in the Best Travel Essay
category at the eighth annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. The
IPPY Awards, as they are known, were
presented at BookExpo America
2004 in Chicago. “We are extremely
honored,” said George. “From the beginning, we believed that these tales
of human compassion and connection
around the globe would resonate with
readers and inspire them to create acts
of kindness in their own lives.”
drawn and hauntingly arranged, ranks
among her finest ballads.”
Between Here and Gone “addresses
the theme of travel and transition, the
fragility of life, and the ephemeral nature of happiness,” said Amazon.com.
“Carpenter reestablishes herself not only
as a world-class poet, but as an artist of
the first order.”
Fans flocked to her summer concerts
around the country to hear her latest
songs as well as her Grammy-winning
favorites. Carpenter also appeared on
CBS Sunday Morning in late August and
the Jane Pauley Show in early September.
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
On and Off the Wall
Other recent and upcoming alumni
artists exhibits
Adam Brent ’91
“Cooked Green”
June 12 through August 31
The Art Lot
Brooklyn, New York
John R. Whitton Bria ’69
“New York Points of View”
September 17 through December 31
The Gallery in the Park
Cross River, New York
William Hudders ’82
“Summer Light”
September 5 through October 30
Ahlum Gallery
Easton, Pennsylvania
Marc Leuthold ’80
“Expanding Vortex”
March 22 through May 15
Gallery Pahk
New York, New York
[For a list of exhibits in the Mark W.
Potter Gallery, please turn to page 15.]
“Bend,” 2004, 48" x 60", oil on linen
COURTESY
KATHARINA RICH PERLOW GALLERY
Upcoming Exhibits for Ken Rush
Artist Ken Rush ’67 will have a selection
of his recent landscapes included in a
three-artist exhibition at Katharina Rich
Perlow Gallery in New York City that
opens January 6. He will also be having
a solo exhibition opening February 18
at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in
Manchester, Vermont. Spending time in
New York and Vermont, Rush is entering his 26th year of teaching art at Packer
Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.
“I work from, with, and in the landscape,” says Rush. “At first, my painting
made very specific reference to what I
saw. Now I am no longer working from
any specific reference or source.”
Rush’s landscape has been internalized into thematic series that basically
find voice in his studio. They are neither
memory images nor observed ones, he
explains, but instead are personal explorations of the act of painting. “I consider
them,” he says, “in spite of their elements
of familiarity and recognition, to be essentially abstract.”
Rush has studied at some of the
finest institutes worldwide, including the
Sir John Cass College of Art in London
and the Syracuse University School of
Fine Arts. He is the author and illustrator
of several children’s books, including The
Seltzer Man and Friday’s Journey.
9
AROUND THE POND
pond
AROUND THE POND
The new
Moorhead
Learning Center,
located in the
former “Kitchen
Corridor,” as it
neared completion
in September.
PETER FREW ’75
The newest addition to the campus this
fall is the Moorhead Learning Center. A
warm, beautifully lighted environment,
the new center—still under the direction
of Karen May—will continue to offer
students help with strategic reading
techniques, study and writing skills, organizational and time management skills,
as well as evaluations and peer tutoring.
The new center is named in honor
of Rodman W. Moorhead ’62 and his
family, who have assisted the school in
students succeed. The first person a Taft
student should go to will always be his
classroom teacher. The center is simply an extension of what we already do
really well.”
“What I think distinguishes us
from the nation’s best day schools,” Liz
Shepherd ’05 wrote in The Papyrus last
spring, “are the resources we have on
campus—resources that remain open
long after that last class bell sounds. The
Learning Center is a sacred haven for those
Expanded Learning Center Moves to New Quarters
its efforts to provide more support for
student learners over the years.
“Rod Moorhead is one of the school’s
most remarkable, generous, and committed graduates,” said Headmaster
Willy MacMullen ’78. “In addition
to being a longtime trustee, he has
supported the school in every way
imaginable, and his unique commitment to student learning has changed
this place. Without his intellectual
curiosity, this center would never have
happened. This is clear: We will meet
the school’s mission of educating the
whole student even better now.”
The Moorhead Learning Center was
a project years in the making; and in
some ways it is the end result of research
showing that students learn in very
different ways. “In the same way that
our nation’s best universities created
learning centers, Taft is also committed
to providing both the space and resources
to ensuring that its students meet their
potential,” MacMullen said.
“People like Don Oscarson ’47,
who exemplified the role a tutor can
play in the lives of Taft students, taught
us how important that can be,” explains
MacMullen. “Taft has always been
and will always be a rigorous academic
experience. The Moorhead Learning
Center is simply one more resource
among many that we use to help students, another tool we have to help
who seek a more nurturing educational
environment. Some of Taft’s brightest
students spend time there just to gain
some extra confidence on their writing
or other areas they feel need some work.”
What’s remarkable, adds MacMullen,
is that so many students are interested in
how they learn, often honors students.
The learning center in the Arts and
Humanities Center proved so successful
that more space was needed.
With the additional room, May is
hoping to work more with teachers, to
run department workshops and help
them better understand ways in which
different learners learn. She also hopes
the new facility will allow them to
develop the existing Peer Tutoring
program. “Our learning center is open
to all students,” explains May, “which is
rarely found at other schools.”
Designed by architect David
Thompson, who was responsible for
the renovations to Walker Hall two
years ago, the Moorhead Learning
Center includes study space, three new
offices, a conference room, and several
tutoring rooms. In addition to the learning center, the renovation also includes
a counseling wing where school counselors Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75 and
Jonathan Bernon have their offices.
A dedication of the new facility,
located in the former Pond Wing, will
be held in the spring.
11
AROUND THE POND
Purely Artists for a Time
Seven students were awarded Kilbourne Summer Enrichment Grants in the Arts this year, helping them underwrite all or part of the
expense of “summer programs, classes, seminars, or trips which are enriching and will encourage and expand the students’ interest and
skill in the performing and visual arts.” Established by John Kilbourne ’58, the grants were all given to seniors this year, although
younger students are welcome to apply. Six of them share their experiences here.
CAROLYN LUPPENS ’05 loves the
Kilbourne program “because it gives students the chance to be purely artists for a
time. At school,” she says, “there are too
many pressures from too many different
things for the environment to be conducive to a solitary focus, but that is often
the discipline required to excel at any art.”
Carolyn went to St. Andrews University
in Scotland for a month to study creative
writing with some of the foremost Scottish authors and poets. “As excellent as the
professors were,” she said, “as inspiring as
the location was, and as incredible as my
peers were, the most valuable thing I
learned was how to be a writer, an opportunity for which I am eternally grateful.”
JESSICA GIANNETTO ’05 attended a weeklong photography course
at the College of Southampton on Long
Island that heightened her love for pho12
tography. She said her professor, a photographer for the New York Times, gave
her a piece of advice that she took to heart:
“Take every picture as if it is your last.”
She also said that the darkroom was her
sanctuary and that she spent much of the
day in it printing. “I learned a few new
techniques that I am anxious to experiment with and plan to do an independent
study project during the year.”
ELSPETH MICHAELS ’05 took a
sculpture class at Yale University. “It was
one of the most rewarding, intimidating,
challenging, and fun experiences I’ve ever
had,” she said. Learning plastering, welding, and woodworking, Elspeth says the
class totally changed her perspective on
art. She says her classmates, who were
mostly upperclassmen at Yale, challenged
her to think more and care more about
her art. “After submitting my A.P. Art
portfolio last spring, I felt I needed to
take a break from 2D art and try sculpture, something I’ve had little experience
with. Since this class, I’ve approached art
with a new attitude, clearer perspective,
more creative ambition, and a willingness to be more adventurous.”
AROUND THE POND
Monica Raymunt ’05, right, with fellow acting student Michal,
who came from Miami, at the Yale Summer Program.
Also at Yale, MONICA RAYMUNT
’05 studied acting techniques at the
University’s School of Drama. “We took
five classes each day in voice, movement,
acting, improvisation, and text analysis,
in addition to scene study and other
events every evening,” she said. “While
the schedule and workload were demanding, I honestly reveled in every moment
and wish I could experience it all over
again. The program strengthened my
passion for theater in ways I never
dreamed possible.”
NELL MALTMAN ’05 went to a
Second City training camp for two
weeks. She spent two and a half hours
learning improv and the same amount
of time for comedy writing each day.
“The class was, honestly,” she said, “the
best experience of my life.”
WILL SEALY ’05 chose to study filmmaking in New York. “While many other
students in the five-week program chose
to study 18mm film production,” explains
Will, “I decided on the alternate digital
course. Over the program, I wrote, directed,
and edited three short films. The second,
a four-minute-long music video of an upand-coming New York City band, was so
well received that I decided to send it to
the Hollywood Student Film Festival.”
Senior Sara Rubin also received a Kilbourne
grant, to study art.
A look at the numbers
For the school’s 179 openings for new students this fall, the Admissions Office
received over 1,400 applications. The current student body of 564 is made up
of the following:
• 288 Boys and 276 Girls
• 96 Lower Mids, 147 Mids, 158 Upper Mids, and 163 Seniors
• 462 Boarding and 102 Day
•
•
•
•
•
45 percent are from private schools and 44 percent from public schools.
22 percent are students of color.
They hail from 34 states and 18 foreign countries.
34 percent are on financial aid, receiving $4,250,000 in total grants.
Tuition for boarders is $32,900 and $24,000 for day students.
13
Poole Days
One of the most prestigious awards at Taft isn’t given out at graduation; it isn’t even
limited to seniors. Named for Bob Poole ’50, Poole Fellowships are travel grant money
awarded each summer to help students fund service projects around the globe. Poole, who
returned to Taft to teach and coach football, went on to devote his life to conservation in
Africa. His legacy of serving others lives on.
There were seven recipients this year. Their stories enrich our community and inspire
others to make a difference. Four of them share the highlights of their experiences and
what made it worthwhile.
VANESSA BROWNSTEIN ’06
had “an amazing time” on her Poole
Fellowship in Belize! “During our
orientation week, we hiked up Mayan
ruins, canoed through caves, and learned
about the country and its culture before
we went to our homestays,” she explained. “We spent a little over two
weeks in a remote town building a resource center. It was hard physical work,
which taught me to push my personal
limits both physically and mentally.
My host family spoke Spanish, so the
language barrier provided us an opportunity to find different ways to
communicate as well as teach each other
our native languages.”
Jade Scott ’05 with Charity, 3, at the New Day foster home for children with special needs in China.
JADE SCOTT ’05 spent three
weeks in China working with special
needs children in the New Day foster
home and helping at the New Day Factory in a small town outside Beijing. “It
was very much a culture shock,” says
Jade, “but the most amazing and eyeopening experience I have ever had. I
got to work with children, to practice
my Chinese [promoting her to Chinese
3 at Taft this year from level 1 last year],
and met the most incredibly generous
people. I went independently, without
a program, and that was one of the best
decisions I could have made.”
NICHOLAS CHU ’05 traveled to
Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia,
where he volunteered for five days at an
orphanage called Rumah Hope, as well
as at an orphanage for handicapped and
disabled children for another five days.
In Penang, he volunteered at an orphanage managed by the Salvation Army.
“My Poole grant was simply a great
experience,” said Nick. “I was given the
opportunity to travel to a country I’ve
always been interested in, to volunteer
in a way I’ve always loved—playing
with kids. It was a new and unforgettable experience.”
In Thailand, TAMARA SINCLAIR
’05 taught English and played games
with children between the ages of 3
and 5. “It was an institution set up by
monks and was therefore adjacent to a
temple,” she explained. “The children
approached me with apprehension at
first, but they soon grew to love and
trust me and in the same way I grew to
love these children and rely on them
for my daily dose of innocence, simple
happiness, and sheer unbridled energy.
Some days, after the children were taking naps, I taught the attendants basic
English; this was the most rewarding
part of my trip. To be able to hold conversations in English with women who
just two weeks before knew only a very
limited number of English words was
a great feeling.”
Other Poole Fellows for 2005 were
Samantha Glazer ’06, who went to
Australia; Jacob Hammer ’05, who went
to Tibet; and Leah Nestico ’05, who
went to Thailand also.
AROUND THE POND
PETER FREW ’75
Self Portraits in Learning
“Everything we write is a self-portrait,”
observed Joe Gordon, dean of undergraduate education at Yale College, who
addressed the faculty at their opening
meeting in September.
Speaking about plagiarism and Taft’s
mission as described in the recent “Portrait of a Graduate” (see summer 2003),
he offered the following observations.
“We can understand [in the Taft
Portrait] why the appeal to integrity
comes first and foremost. If everything
we write is a self-portrait, then our integrity is always at stake when we write:
we can either be working to build it, or
we can be risking its dissolution.”
“As anyone who has compiled a writing portfolio or read through one knows,
our essays show us at different stages in
our development and in a variety of
professional and social roles. Our writing reflects how we see the world and
how we have come to terms with it.”
Invoking famous portraits in literature,
Gordon quoted Oscar Wilde’s Picture of
Dorian Gray: “Every portrait…is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”
A member of Yale’s disciplinary
committee, Gordon explained that students who’ve plagiarized “don’t anticipate
that the greatest injury was somehow
in failing themselves.”
“We make portraits and value them
because they show us who we, or others,
are at a particular moment, in a particular
place. They are human reflections. They
are never immediate, that is, never unmediated; they may be flattering or critical,
but either way they are inevitably ‘alienated’ from persons, both from the subject
and from the viewer. Both because of this
alienation and despite it, they are among
the greatest teaching tools we have.”
Advanced Placement Studio Art
at The Taft School
April 1 to April 16
Taft Student Work in Drawing,
Design, Painting, Sculpture,
Photography, and Ceramics
May 16 through the summer
In the Gallery
This year’s exhibits at the
Mark W. Potter Gallery
Marine Painting Today
Selected Work from the
J. Russell Jinishian Gallery
September 16 to October 9
Questions of Travel
Photography by Joan M. Hurley
October 15 to November 20
Bridget Starr Taylor ’77*
Illustrations and Drawings
January 7 to February 3
Jamie Fuller*
Drawing, Paintings, Prints, Sculpture
February 11 to March 11
This exhibition is made possible by a
grant from The Andrew R. Heminway
’47 Endowment Fund.
Taft Independent Studies
Program Exhibits
April 19 to April 26
*Rockwell Visiting Artists
15
AROUND THE POND
New Faces on the Faculty
Otis Bryant
M.A., Trinity, Howard
History
Matthew Budzyn
M.A., Northern Illinois, Middlebury
Spanish
Roberto d’Erizans
M.A., Wofford, Middlebury
Spanish
Herbert Erick Dalton ’00
B.A., Middlebury
Teaching Fellow in History
Chad Faber
M.A.T., Georgetown, Brown
History
Catherine Guiffre
B.Ed., University of Reading
(England)
Mathematics
Jonathan Guiffre
B.A., University of Vermont
Development, Publicity
Peter Hanby
B.A., Colby
Science
Anna Hastings
B.A., Middlebury
English
Theodore Jewell
M.S., Harvard, University of North
Carolina School of Law, Yale
Mathematics
Legacy Students
Current students and their alumni connections
R. George Abood ’07 ......................... Randolph G. Abood ’68, parent
Lindsay C. Albert ’06 ................................... Eric D. Albert ’77, parent
Jamie E. Albert ’08 ...................................... Eric D. Albert ’77, parent
Cody E. Auer ’05 .......................... Bernhard M. Auer ’35, grandparent
Jacob B. L. Baldwin ’07 ................. Thayer Baldwin* ’31, grandparent;
Thayer Baldwin, Jr. ’58, parent
Martha J. Barber ’08 ............................... Robert C. Barber ’75, parent
Charles A. L. Bartlett ’08 ............... Charles A. Lamb ’42, grandparent;
Susan Condie Lamb ’77, parent
Alexander N. Bermingham ’08 ............. Eldredge L. Bermingham ’43,
grandparent
Max P. Biedermann ’08 ..................... John W. Biedermann ’77, parent
Marika K. Bigler ’06 ............ Edward Madden Bigler ’40, grandparent;
Paul G. Bigler II ’74, parent
Griffith B. Bigler ’08 ............ Edward Madden Bigler ’40, grandparent;
Paul G. Bigler II ’74, parent
Carissa Blossom ’08 ........................... Richard W. Blossom ’66, parent
Emily C. Boyd ’07 ............................... Martha Stine Boyd ’73, parent
Mary O. Brauer ’08 ................................ Henry G. Brauer ’74, parent
Elizabeth K. Brey ’08 ................................ Amy E. Upjohn ’79, parent
Renfrew M. Brighton, Jr. ’05 .. G. Renfrew Brighton, Jr. ’43, grandparent;
Renfrew M. Brighton ’74, parent
Whitney Z. Brighton ’06 ... G. Renfrew Brighton, Jr. ’43, grandparent;
Renfrew M. Brighton ’74, parent
John S. Brittain V ’06 .......................... John S. Brittain, Jr. ’77, parent
Charlotte G. Bromley ’08 ....... Dexter Barnes Blake* ’33, grandparent;
Arthur F. Blake ’67, parent
Eli M. Bronfman ’07 .......................... Matthew Bronfman ’77, parent
Vanessa R. Brownstein ’06 ................... Fred X. Brownstein ’64, parent
William C. Calder ’07 ...................... Gordon S. Calder, Jr. ’65, parent
16
Marilyn Katz
B.S., University of Pennsylvania
Teaching Fellow in Science
Manna Ohmoto-Whitfield
M.S., Princeton, Rutgers
Science
Daniel Keating
B.A., Duke
Teaching Fellow in History
Andrea Orben
B.S., B.A., University of
Colorado, Boulder
Learning Center
Bonnie Lui
B.A., Williams
Teaching Fellow in Chinese
Daniel Murphy
B.S., University of Maine
History
Jamie Nichols
M.S., University of Michigan
Science
Katherine Papay
M.S., Franklin & Marshall, Cornell
Science
Sharon Phelan
M.A., Wesleyan, Bread Loaf School
of English
English
Melissa Sullivan
M.A.T., Duke, Suffolk
Science
Robert A. Campbell II ’07 ...... Robert A. Campbell* ’34, grandparent;
Robert C. Campbell ’76, parent
David J. Carroll-Kenny ’07 ......... Livingston Carroll* ’37, grandparent
Nicholas W. K. Chu ’05 .............. Cassandra Chia-Wei Pan ’77, parent
Spencer T. Clark ’05 ............... Elias C. Atkins* ’15, great-grandparent;
June Pratt Clark ’72, parent;
Robert T. Clark ’72, parent
Caroline M. Coit ’05 ....................... Charles A. Coit* ’35, grandparent
Reed E. Coston ’06 ...................................... Bridget Taylor ’77, parent
Elias P. Coston ’08 ....................................... Bridget Taylor ’77, parent
Edward R. Downe II ’07 ......................... Hugh W. Downe ’73, parent
Madeleine E. R. Dubus ’05 .................. Peggy D. Rambach ’76, parent
Benjamin A. Ehrlich ’06 ........................... Paul M. Ehrlich ’62, parent
J. Keith Fell, Jr. ’08 ......................................... J. Keith Fell ’72, parent
Kristina V. Felske ’07 ......................... Peter V. Snyder ’34, grandparent
Andrew J. Foote ’05 ....................................... Jeffrey Foote ’73, parent
Amanda L. Frew ’05 ..................................... Peter A. Frew ’75, parent
William D. Gahagan ’06 ....................... Alexis D. Gahagan ’74, parent
Ashley I. Gambone ’05 .................. Michael D. Gambone* ’78, parent
Kyle S. Gambone ’06 ..................... Michael D. Gambone* ’78, parent
Helen P. Gazin ’07 ........................... Barnaby Conrad ’40, grandparent
Lindsay S. Gordon ’08 ................. Audley C. Britton* ’43, grandparent
Julia B. Griffin ’08 .................................. David W. Griffin ’74, parent
Joseph S. Guthrie ’07 ...................... Gordon P. Guthrie, Jr. ’62, parent
Caroline C. Hall ’06 ............................ Laura Weyher Hall ’78, parent
Carter E. Hibbs ’05 ..................... Elizabeth Christie Hibbs ’78, parent
Daniel M. Hillman ’06 ...... Roth F. Herrlinger* ’22, great-grandparent;
Edward F. Herrlinger II ’46, grandparent;
Katharine Herrlinger Hillman ’76, parent
Cai S. Hurt ’08 ........................ Nancy Goldsborough Hurt ’79, parent
Thomas S. Ide ’05 .............................. Herbert S. Ide* ’21, grandparent
Arthur L Kell ’08 ...................................... Laura Gieg Kell ’73, parent
Jane I. E. Kinney ’06 ................................ H. Craig Kinney ’68, parent
Arden V. Klemmer ’05 ........................ Andrew J. Klemmer ’75, parent
AROUND THE POND
Lee Whitfield
M.A., Princeton, Columbia
Mathematics
PROMOTED
Carl Carlson has been named dean
of students.
DEPARTING
Business manager Eric Norman ’81
has announced his departure at the
end of the fall semester.
FACULTY STATS
Male 64
Female 50
Average age 41
Average years at Taft 9
Austin G. Klemmer ’07 ....................... Andrew J. Klemmer ’75, parent
Adrienne P. Y. Lam ’07 ............................ Daniel K. F. Lam ’75, parent
Elizabeth L. Lanahan ’08 ... Roth F. Herrlinger* ’22, great-grandparent;
Edward F. Herrlinger II ’46, grandparent;
Leslie Herrlinger Lanahan ’73, parent
Gray B. Lincoln ’05 ................................ Brian C. Lincoln ’74, parent
Lysandra D. Lincoln ’07 ......................... Brian C. Lincoln ’74, parent
Claire W. Longfield ’06 ........................ John S. Wold ’34, grandparent
Charlotte D. Luckey ’08 ..... Charles P. Luckey* ’18, great-grandparent;
Charles P. Luckey Jr.* ’43, grandparent;
Todd W. Luckey ’75, parent
Drew W. Mayer ’08 .................................. Lisa Reid Mayer ’75, parent
Paige T. McGough ’07 ........................ Myles R. McGough ’68, parent
Laura R. McLaughlin ’06 ............... Sharon G. McLaughlin ’73, parent
Elisabeth T. McMorris ’05 ......... Gordon B. Tweedy* ’24, grandparent
Clare E. Mooney ’05 ............................... Laird A. Mooney ’73, parent
Emily L. Moore ’07 ......................... Condict Moore ’34, grandparent;
James I. Moore* ’41, grandparent;
James I. Moore, Jr. ’74, parent
Alexandra d. Nielsen ’07 ........................... W. Sam Carpenter III* ’34,
great-grandparent;
Jeffrey M. Nielsen ’77, parent
Kendra B. Pettis ’06 ................................ Kenneth A. Pettis ’74, parent
Thomas F. Piacenza ’06 ................. Jean Strumolo Piacenza ’75, parent
Antonia R. Pryor ’07 ......... Samuel F. Pryor, Jr.* ’17, great-grandparent;
Samuel F. Pryor III ’46, grandparent;
Samuel F. Pryor IV ’73, parent
Langdon C. Quin IV ’05 .................. Langdon C. Quin III ’66, parent
Adrian F. Quin ’08 ............................ Langdon C. Quin III ’66, parent
Diana P. Sands ’06 ...................... Edward Van Volkenburg Sands* ’14,
grandparent;
Edward Van V. Sands ’65, parent
Hilary C. Saverin ’06 ........................... Kenneth A. Saverin ’72, parent
Zachary S. Schonbrun ’05 .................... Roy A. Schonbrun ’68, parent
Stephanie D. Schonbrun ’07 ................. Roy A. Schonbrun ’68, parent
Elizabeth W. Shepherd ’05 ............. David W. Fenton ’48, grandparent
Hillary N. Simpson ’06 .................. Ronald H. Chase ’54, grandparent
Spyros S. Skouras III ’06 ............... Spyros S. Skouras ’41, grandparent;
Spyros S. Skouras, Jr. ’72, parent
Samuel M. Smythe ’05 ............ Thomas F. Moore, Jr. ’43, grandparent;
Cheves McC. Smythe ’42, grandparent;
L. Smythe ’70, parent
Mackenzie M. Snyder ’05 ...................... John P. Snyder III ’65, parent
Emma T. Strubell ’07 .............................. Taylor J. Strubell ’63, parent
Andrew C. Strumolo ’06 ........................ Tom R. Strumolo ’70, parent
Harriet E. Strumolo ’07 ......................... Tom R. Strumolo ’70, parent
Bridget K. Sylvester ’08 ............................ Paul A. Sylvester ’74, parent
Katharine T. Thayer ’07 ................... Samuel W. M. Thayer ’72, parent
Denisia K. Tseretopoulos ’07 ......... C. Dean Tseretopoulos ’72, parent
Hannah D. Utley ’07 .......................... George D. Utley III ’74, parent
Elinore F. Van Sant ’07 ............. Elizabeth Brown Van Sant ’75, parent
Susannah M. Walden ’06 ......... John B. S. Campbell* ’34, grandparent
W. Camp Walker ’05 .................. Harry W. Walker II ’40, grandparent
Holland E. Walker ’07 ................ Harry W. Walker II ’40, grandparent
Mary C. Walsh ’06 ................................ Sally Childs Walsh ’75, parent
Clayton C. H. Wardell ’06 ............ Christopher C. Wardell ’69, parent
James H. Wheeler ’05 ...................... Page Chapman* ’29, grandparent
Margaret H. Widdoes ’08 .......... Brooks Hendrie Widdoes ’73, parent
Mercer T. L. Wu ’05 .............................. Michael S. C. Wu ’73, parent
Peter H. Wyman, Jr. ’05 . Thomas W. Chrystie* ’21, great-grandparent;
Thomas L. Chrystie ’51, grandparent
Henry T. Wyman ’07 ..... Thomas W. Chrystie* ’21, great-grandparent;
Thomas L. Chrystie ’51, grandparent
Benjamin B. Yeager ’07 ..................... W. Dewees Yeager III ’75, parent
Lee S. Ziesing ’07 ................... Lee Paul Klingenstein ’44, grandparent;
Joanne Klingenstein Ziesing ’78, parent
*deceased
17
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
In a culture of specialization, are three-season athletes headed toward extinction?
By Andrew Everett ’88
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
Peter Frew ’75 remembers discussions 15
years ago about the Larry Stone Award,
given at graduation to the student who
contributes most to Taft athletics. Taft
coaches were convinced that that year’s
three-sport star was the end of an era,
that the great three-sport athletes were
going the way of the dodo.
Luckily for Taft—and in contrast to
what has been happening at other high
schools around the country—that has not
been the case. Frew, who has worked in
Admissions and coached for the last 20
years at Taft, and Headmaster Willy
MacMullen ’78 point to recent graduates
like Venroy July ’00 and Rob Madden ’03
as embodiments of the Taft ideal.
Why is it that Taft has been able
to resist what Williams College athletic
director and noted author on kids’
sports Harry Sheehy calls a “tidal wave”
of specialization?
MacMullen thinks it is due to the
nature of a liberal arts education in general and Taft’s culture particularly. “It
is so clear that in the current landscape,
specialization is the coin of the realm,”
explained MacMullen. “We understand
and see it, but the nature of a liberal
arts education at Taft is to take risks
and try things.”
And MacMullen makes it clear that
this philosophy extends well beyond the
athletic realm. Taft’s mission is to broaden
a student’s horizons, not just on the playing fields, but off them too.
“As a school, even though we recognize that kids have focused on one sport,
we push them to embrace all the opportunities at the school. It is bigger than
just athletics. Kids should audition for
Collegium or try out for a play. This is a
time in their life, and a place, to take risks
and take advantage of opportunities.”
July, who recently graduated from
the University of North Carolina, where
he was a Morehead Scholar and varsity
wrestler, praises Taft for differing from a
disconcerting norm. “Specialization is a
part of our entire culture now. Kids are
not trying to broaden their horizons.
They are trying to find the one thing they
can be good at. People seem to want to
stick with only the things they are good
at versus trying new things.”
July says Taft opened his eyes by forcing him to do the opposite. The only sport
he knew before he came to Taft was track
and field. And while a strong student, his
extracurricular activities were likewise limited. At Taft, July not only became a
football star and New England champion
wrestler, but also a tour guide, a debater,
corridor monitor, and the aforementioned
Morehead Scholar. Said July, “Taft gave
me a push and opened up opportunities.”
This push is a built-in part of the
Taft philosophy. As Dave Hinman ’87,
Taft’s athletic director, notes, the school
requires students to participate in a sport,
or an “ex” in Taft lingo, every season. “We
do not allow exemptions from the athletic program,” Hinman stated. While
many schools in America are devolving
towards pay-to-play, or are losing players to out-of-school select teams, Taft has
the luxury of not just offering but requiring participation every season.
Rob Madden, a sophomore at
Amherst College, is also a great example
of a three-sport athlete. A three-sport
captain by the time he was a senior, he
started out on the JV teams of each sport.
Madden had opportunities to
specialize in soccer as a youngster, but
he valued a summer camp he attended
and enjoyed other sports too much.
“I wanted to do other things, too,” he
said. “I just loved to play all sports.
As Mr. Mac and I joked a lot at Taft,
whenever he asked me what my favorite sport was, I told him it was whatever
one I was playing at the time.”
One of the best athletes to graduate from Taft, however, was also one of
the few to step outside of the three-sport
system, and she says it was the right decision for her. Barbie Potter ’79 rose to
the top 10 on the women’s professional
tennis tour after starring at the number
one spot on the boys’ varsity tennis team
at Taft as a 14-year-old lower mid.
“TAFT’S GIG IS TO PUSH YOUNG ADULTS
TO EXPLORE THEIR HORIZONS. In an
increasingly professional culture, it is what
differentiates Taft.”
—Barbie Potter ’79
19
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
Because of her superior skills and potential pro ambition, Potter was allowed to
train on her own during her last three years.
She was fully engaged in the academic and
social life at Taft, but got full “ex” credit for
her daily individual tennis practice.
While she sometimes wonders
whether she might have been a more balanced athlete if she had played soccer or
lacrosse as well, Potter made it clear that
“time invested in other things might have
made it impossible to get to the tour.”
“Taft is good at challenging preconceptions, regardless of the clarity the
kid brings. It’s what Taft is about,” she
said. “Taft’s gig is to push young adults
to explore their horizons. In an increasingly professional culture, it is what
differentiates Taft.”
Even if a student arrives on campus
having been significantly committed to
one sport, the Taft culture is dynamically
opposed to specialization. “Ultimately it
is the kid’s choice,” explains Hinman.
“But Taft has a few things in place that
help. We ask coaches to encourage kids
to play other sports, and the Founders
League does not let seasons overlap—
except for New England Tournaments.”
July, for one, knows this system drove
him to discover both football and wrestling, the latter which he continued to
great Division I success at UNC. “If I had
not gone to Taft, I am pretty sure I would
have specialized in one sport. Wrestling
was not even an option where I grew up.
Taft helps you recognize how much else is
out there. I will always know there are
other things out there in life. If wrestling
had not gone well for me in college, I know
I could have found something else.”
After a short pause, July added: “Doing all three made me a better person. I
sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had not gone to Taft….”
Another alum with similar sentiments is Patrick Kerney ’95, who came
to Taft with a primary focus on ice
hockey, but now patrols NFL stadiums
as the starting defensive end for the
Atlanta Falcons.
“If I had put all my eggs in the
hockey basket at Taft, I would not be
where I am today,” Kerney said. “I
almost gave up football to run cross
country in order to get in great shape for
hockey. I was counseled out of it.” He
credits coaches like Mike Maher, Jol
Everett, and especially Steve McCabe
with encouraging his participation in
other sports. Doing so made him not
only a better athlete, but a better person.
“With one sport, you do not branch
out,” he explained. “It is not as good for
the person. What it does in the long run
is identify you as, say, a hockey player.
There is no other way to see yourself. You
do not see yourself as also an intellectual,
or a musician, or whatever else might be
inside. I love the Taft mission to build
the whole person.”
Another alum who feels just as
passionately about his Taft experience,
and the lessons it taught him, is Colin
Aymond ’88. “I grew up in Michigan
essentially playing hockey year-round.
Going to Taft opened my eyes up. It
forced me to pick other sports, because
all the guys I was hanging out with
played three sports.”
Added Aymond: “It also forced me
to try new things outside of sports. I got
into an acting class, which opened my
eyes. I want my son to go to Taft so he is
forced to do things not in his comfort
zone. The Taft culture breeds it. You have
great teachers and coaches. They recognize your talents and push you to extend
and develop them.”
Clearly, some onus is on the student
as well. Aymond or Kerney or July could
have resisted the push to try new things,
but their willingness to embrace new experiences is what made them perfect for Taft.
Katey Stone ’84, women’s ice
hockey coach at Harvard University, is
a firm believer in a variety of athletic
experiences. She noted that although she
liked field hockey least of her sports at
Taft, her experiences there, especially
personal struggle, were as valuable as her
starring roles and success in ice hockey
“I TELL [KIDS] TO PLAY LOTS OF SPORTS, THAT I
SKIED, SAILED, AND PLAYED TENNIS,
LACROSSE, AND FIELD HOCKEY. There was no rink
in the summer, so I did not even skate from
March to September.”
—A.J. Mleczko Griswold ’93
20
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
and lacrosse. She also relished the variety of coaching she got by playing three
sports, something she looks for when
recruiting for Harvard.
“I am a firm believer in players being
coached by other people,” she said. “You
need different perspectives. I try to recruit
the kid I was. I hated to lose. I loved to
compete. I do not want a narrow focus. I
want kids with a long-term outlook.”
Jill Bermingham Isenhart ’82, a hall
of fame athlete at Bowdoin College,
agreed wholeheartedly. “The variety of
sports is so important because it forces a
change in the people around you, the
coaches and the experience,” she noted.
July, despite leaving Taft almost two
decades after Stone and Isenhart, thought
those sentiments held true for his experiences as well. “At Taft, my sophomore
and junior year, the football team really
struggled. But I learned a lot from losing. I knew how it felt to lose, so I had
no fear of losing in wrestling.”
When he got to UNC, he was initially fearful of facing teammates and
opponents who had done nothing but
wrestle since they were five or six years
old. He thought his lack of focus would
be a detriment. But the opposite was true.
Noted July, “A wrestling specialist is
not used to losing. In college everyone is
a winner in high school, but someone has
to lose. Many specialists can’t handle it.”
And Stone sees the same thing at
Harvard. “The multisport athletes I see are
more emotionally balanced,” she said. “The
specialists, who have been overcoached, are
becoming a huge problem. They have no
idea how to figure things out on their own.
They struggle when dealing with adversity
and conflict resolution.”
Her older brother Mike Stone ’75,
baseball coach at the University of
Massachusetts, agreed heartily. “People at
the next level are more impressed with a
well-rounded athlete. I look for the kids
who also played other sports like football and hockey. They have toughness.
They’ve been knocked down, or have dug
a puck out of the corners. I encourage
kids to play as many sports as possible.
They need to struggle in some things to
find ways to grind it out.”
Even A.J. Mleczko Griswold ’93, who
won gold and silver medals as a member
of the U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey
teams, cannot fathom the need or desire
to specialize. “The more sports the better,” she proclaimed. “I love to play other
sports. I am constantly amazed by the
parents who ask how their daughter can
make the Olympic team, and the kid is
nine! I tell them to play lots of sports, that
I skied, sailed, and played tennis, lacrosse,
and field hockey. There was no rink in the
summer, so I did not even skate from
March to September.”
While winning Olympic medals
may have been the highlight of her athletic career, ironically her participation
on the national team also led to her biggest disappointment—having to give up
lacrosse at Harvard.
“I was thrilled [to make the national
team], but it eliminated all spring participation in lacrosse. I would not trade my
U.S. team experience because of all that I
got out of it, but it is still a bummer to me
to have to have given up lacrosse.”
And Griswold remains passionate
about competing, whatever the sport. “I
still look for that competitive outlet,” she
said with a laugh. “I play golf and tennis, and love beach volleyball on
Nantucket. I’m also looking for a men’s
hockey league to join this winter.”
An interesting coincidence would be
if she ended up in the same Boston-area
league as James Driscoll ’96. While he is
best-known for his golf prowess—after
Taft he starred at UVa, finished second at
the U.S. Amateur, played in the Masters,
and currently ranks in the top 20 on the
Nationwide Tour, golf ’s top minor
league—Driscoll’s real passion is hockey.
He came to Taft as a postgraduate,
but there was no way he was going to
spend the winter working on his swing.
He had to play his “favorite sport,” even
though he was not quite good enough to
play varsity hockey. He said he “just loved
“I LOOK FOR THE KIDS WHO ALSO PLAYED
OTHER SPORTS LIKE FOOTBALL AND HOCKEY.
They have toughness. THEY’VE BEEN KNOCKED
DOWN, OR HAVE DUG A PUCK OUT OF THE
CORNERS. I encourage kids to play as many sports
as possible. THEY NEED TO STRUGGLE IN SOME
THINGS TO FIND WAYS TO GRIND IT OUT.”
—Mike Stone ’75
21
Athlete
BUILDING A BETTER
to play,” so willingly started for and was
a great leader on the JV team.
“Playing another sport can never
hurt you,” said Driscoll, “and will likely
help you.” He points to both mental and
physical rewards hockey gives his golf
game. “My hockey helped, and still
helps, my golf.” In addition to similar
hand-eye coordination needs, Driscoll
explained that hockey “allows me to get
away from golf, so that when I return I
remember how much I want to be out
there and how excited I am to play golf.
Focus in golf is hard to come by, and if
you are out there for long periods, you
can lose it. After my time off [playing
hockey], my desire increases my focus to
the point that I play better.”
Madden said that his experience at
Amherst is another great example of this.
While he felt he was a better soccer
player than lacrosse player, he found a
role on the lacrosse team as a long-stick
midfielder. “Having kids who play many
sports benefits the team,” he said. “While
individual skills may not all carry over,
some will. For example, I learned more
about a solid soccer tackle by hitting guys
in lacrosse. But, more importantly, you
learn how to be a good team member.”
This willingness to contribute and
compete is what MacMullen says separates the typical Taftie from many of his
or her high-school peers around the
country. “We celebrate those who contribute to the school, those who do tend
to learn by competing wherever and
whenever they can, to represent the
school and learn.”
Isenhart hopes Taft can keep up this
stand, as she is dismayed by what she
sees with local sports near her home in
Boulder, Colo. “There seems to be too
much pressure to keep specializing and
increasing the level of competition. Kids
need the opposite—to be competitive
but diverse. I don’t like seeing good
athletes being forced to choose. It keeps
upping the ante for other kids.”
And Sheehy of Williams College
agrees that these other kids are the most
harmed. The best athletes will likely get to
the next level, be that college or pro,
whether they specialize or not. It is the kids
who try to specialize to keep up that are
denied potential opportunities to find other
outlets. “The worry is that if they do not
specialize, they will be selected out of the
system. And parents fear this for their kids.”
Even MacMullen is not immune. “As
a parent, I am sympathetic to the pressures to follow that trend. Every parent
faces it. If you want to do everything you
can for your child, then it follows that you
might need to do what everyone else is
doing. It can be difficult to resist.”
And resistance is exactly what
Sheehy said is needed to change the mo-
mentum. “What we need is for the parents of a few key players to have the
courage to say this is wrong.”
Hinman, father of two, is willing to
be one of those parents. “With my children,” he declared, “I’m just going to fight
it. I want them to do what they want, but
I also want them to do a lot of things.”
When Mr. Taft founded the school,
he did it to educate the entire child—
mind and body. One hundred fourteen
years later, the physical plant, student
body, and curriculum continue to change
with the times, but, says MacMullen, the
school’s athletic philosophy will not.
“Specialization will always happen
less at Taft,” MacMullen declared. “As
coaches and an entire school, we are
united in a belief that kids should do as
much as they can. We know this is
counter to the national trend and will
continue to run counter, and we’re
proud of it.”
Former “faculty brat” Andrew Everett ’88
played soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse at
Taft. A high-school All-American in lacrosse,
he captained the lacrosse team his senior
year at Williams College. He currently lives
with wife Elise in Charlottesville, Va., where
he continues to play ice hockey two or three
times a week. Formerly senior associate
editor of NFL.com, he now works in sales
for Expedia Corporate Travel.
“THERE SEEMS TO BE TOO MUCH PRESSURE TO
KEEP SPECIALIZING AND INCREASING THE LEVEL
OF COMPETITION. Kids need the opposite—to be
competitive but diverse. I DON’T LIKE SEEING
GOOD ATHLETES BEING FORCED TO CHOOSE.
It keeps upping the ante for other kids.”
—Jill Bermingham Isenhart ’82
22
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DON HAMERMAN
Guardian
The
In New York City—where
demand for real estate is
soaring, land is scarce, and
money is plentiful—the stakes
are high. Bob Tierney ’61, who
chairs the city’s Landmarks
Preservation Commission,
helps protect its heritage
while still allowing for growth.
By David Lombino ’96
H
“
is
greatest
challenge is to
make sure the
city preserves
the best of
our history,
while allowing
for intelligent
and wise use
of historic
buildings.”
Previous page, A former Koch adviser, Bob Tierney knows his way
around City Hall. The seat of New York
City government since 1812, the building is one of the city’s most treasured
landmarks. When the site was chosen
in 1803, it was at the northern limits
of the City. Today it stands only two
blocks from Ground Zero. DON HAMERMAN
24
New York is a city of superlatives, some more warranted and flattering than others. Yet few would argue
that two fitting descriptions are the unparalleled
beauty of its historic and modern built environment,
and its citizens’ relentless pursuit of prosperity. These
two characteristics, not unrelated, can often come to
blows as they did in 1963 when the beloved old
Pennsylvania Station was demolished to make room
for, well, a less lovable Madison Square Garden.
Visions of a New York that is unfettered to rebuild and
develop itself on demand are scary indeed—where
market fluctuations and fleeting design fads would
alternatively flatten and remake the city, leveling the
rich history that lines its urban canyons.
At the crux of these conflicting interests is the Landmarks Preservation
Commission, chaired by Robert Tierney,
whose career in public service to New
York City has spanned four decades and
now permanently influences the city’s
built environment.
“It is a contentious town. It’s filled
with people with strong opinions,” said
Tierney, a tall and lanky man with an
articulate manner and a crowded room’s
most commanding voice. “Everything
we do is open and very public. It is a
governmental-political process with a
small p.”
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is responsible for identifying and
designating local landmarks and historic
districts, and regulating changes to designated properties. The five boroughs of
New York City contain more than 1,200
individual landmarks, and more than
23,000 buildings housed in the city’s 79
historic districts. The agency has a fulltime staff of 45 employees that reviews
more than 8,000 applications a year,
making it the largest municipal preservation agency in the U.S.
By charter, the goals of the agency
are to safeguard the city’s historic,
aesthetic, and cultural heritage, help
improve property values in historic
districts, encourage civic pride, protect the city’s attractions for tourism, and
strengthen the economy. The nature of
the commission’s mandate is not to designate zones for commercial or residential
use, but to make the scale of proposed
projects suit the historical character of an
area, its sense of place. A research wing
looks at the city’s one million buildings
and proposes new structures and areas for
landmark or historic designation.
The 11-person commission holds
public hearings every Tuesday in a big,
bright boardroom overlooking City Hall
Park, in an area of town with a high concentration of bow-ties, a stylistic nod to
another era of public service and urban
politics. Depending on the issue, a small
army of local residents, historical advocates, developers, architects, and lawyers
will attend. “Interests are in conflict. The
owner may say he wants A, B, and C,
and we might say D, E, and F are more
appropriate,” said Tierney.
Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban
planning at New York University for
more than 30 years and director of the
Taub Urban Research Center at NYU,
where Tierney was a visiting scholar in
2002, put the chairman’s role in perspective. “His challenge is to balance the
importance of preserving the historic integrity of buildings and neighborhoods
with the need and opportunity for new
development. His greatest challenge is to
make sure the city preserves the best of
our history, while allowing for intelligent
and wise use of historic buildings.”
In New York—where demand for
real estate is soaring, land is scarce, and
money is plentiful—the stakes are high.
At one commission hearing, an architect
and a developer presented a bird’s nest of
plans, elevations, sections, and fictional
photos of a proposed three-story addition to a building in the historic district
of Tribeca. A three-story penthouse in
Tribeca, now one of the city’s trendiest
locations, is worth millions, and acceptance of the addition probably means life
or death for the entire project. In a courtroom-like atmosphere, the architect and
a team of lawyers and developers took
notes and listened attentively over the
drone of air conditioners.
Although the architect designed the
addition to pull back from the street in
order to be invisible to pedestrians, some
commissioners still worried that the 47foot top of the proposed addition could
be seen from certain angles from the sidewalk, diminishing ever so slightly the
historic nature of the area. A local resident appeared with a petition signed by
neighbors and compared the three-floor
addition to an “antique slot-machine”
and called it “completely out of control.”
Tierney acknowledged a “positive start”
and asked for more detailed information
and sightline drawings to prove there
would be no surprises, before closing the
hearing. The team grabbed their plans
from the front of the room, and, within
seconds, another mess of plans appeared
for a renovation of a historic 1880s house
on the Upper East Side.
Missteps in urban planning are
costly. A case in point is the 1963 demolition of the old Penn Station, designed
by the revered architectural firm of
McKim, Mead, and White—an act
Tierney characterizes as “civic vandalism.” The Landmarks Commission was
founded in the wake of that tragedy. Ten
years later, its authority was tested when
Grand Central Station was threatened
with similar destruction. The commission rejected the plan, and developers,
who argued the city was robbing them
of their property rights, appealed the case
all the way to the Supreme Court. This
year marks the 25th anniversary of the
1979 Supreme Court decision that upheld the charter of the Landmarks
Commission and paved the way for its
modern existence and relevance.
Tierney encountered the source of
his future passion for the built environment in Vincent Scully, a professor of art
history at Yale, still today lecturing into
his 80s. “In his last lecture to us, he said,
‘You are a graduate of Yale. You will go
off, and you will have in your lives an
opportunity to put into practice what we
have been talking about, what we have
learned here: to think about design, architecture,’” said Tierney, who graduated
in 1965 with a degree in English. “It took
a while, but I always remembered it.”
After Vanderbilt Law School, Tierney
did “the straight Wall Street thing,” practicing law for the New York corporate
law firm of Millbank, Tweed, Hadley,
and McCloy. But he was naturally interested in city politics. Living in the West
Village, he became acquainted with his
congressman and the future mayor, Ed
Koch, for whom he volunteered his free
time. Through that relationship, he had
the opportunity to work for New York
P
“
eople here
care about
what they are
doing,” Tierney
said, “and they
are not only
passionate, but
also skilled and
dedicated.
In lieu of
making a lot
of money,
they are here
for the service,
and there is
a tangible
feeling that
the city will be
better because
of the work
they do here.”
25
E
“
verybody’s
eyes are
on Lower
Manhattan.
The economy is
surging again
down here, but
we need to be
as careful about
what we tear
down as what
we put back up.
There is a
renewed sense
of design and
architecture
since 9/11,
and it’s great
for the future of
urban design.”
26
governor Hugh Carey, for whom he served
as an assistant counsel in the mid-1970s.
The motivation to work in government and in public service stemmed from
a familiar place. “It sounds corny, but the
Taft motto is actually a very serious thing
to me. It’s real, and it was a factor.”
In 1977, Koch took the city by surprise by winning a seven-person primary
and becoming mayor, defeating future
Governor Mario Cuomo in a runoff election. After three years in Albany working
with the governor, Tierney went to work
for his old friend, first as assistant counsel and eventually general counsel, for six
of Koch’s 12 years as mayor.
The honorable Robert Keating, now
the dean of the New York state Judicial
Institute who, as a prominent New York
judge, knew Tierney from his days as a
Koch adviser, described Tierney’s role in
government. “Bob has an extraordinary
combination of good judgment, intelligence, and integrity. When you put those
three together, you have someone who is
exceptional at advising someone at the
highest level. Because of his access to and
impact on these people, he has had a
more significant impact on the city than
the city can know,” he said. “In my experience, his has always been a concern
for the private citizen, while recommending that executives have a responsibility
to lead, to change. It is a difficult and
enormous responsibility.”
From 1983 to 2001, Tierney worked
as the head of public affairs for AT&T.
He left government behind after a more
than a decade of service. “I wanted to try
something different. It was not a Wall
Street law firm; it was a way to have a less
stressful job and stay close to government
and politics,” he said. “If you are a lifer in
either [sector], it’s not as interesting, you
are not as effective. I can be better at what
I do by experiencing the different worlds.”
When Michael Bloomberg was elected
mayor in 2002, Tierney had an opportunity to rejoin the public sector in a different
capacity as Landmarks commissioner. Af-
ter a year as a visiting scholar at NYU, he
was confirmed unanimously by the City
Council as chairman of the commission in
January 2003. Tierney praises Mayor
Bloomberg for his new approach. “He is a
great manager. There is no politics, and
you’re never looking over your shoulder.”
So far, Tierney considers his greatest
achievement as commissioner the designation of the Meat Packing area as a
historic district in 2003. Photos of the
Meat Packing District will never adorn the
cover of Town and Country. A mix of
low-lying, nondescript residences and a
few still functioning wholesale meat
warehouses line cobbled-stone streets as
Manhattan slopes towards the Hudson
River, just northwest of the West Village.
Five cobbled streets come together to
a point outside of the trendy French
brasserie Pastis. It is not uncommon to
see a large container filled with steer bones
parked next to a thriving nightclub. “Some
would argue about the architecture, but
it tells a story,” said Tierney. “When you
walk around that area, you know you are
in a special place. If we didn’t act, that
would certainly be jeopardized.”
Professor Moss agreed. “There were
three great pressures: owners who wanted
to tear down the structures and put up
hotels and high rises; groups who wanted
big-box retailers; and other groups who
were trying to have it become a destination for nightlife,” he explained. “They
have preserved the buildings, and there
will be intelligent reuse of them. The area
will forever be one of those naturally occurring places—people like being there.
It could turn out to be one of the great
successes on the West Side.”
Fiscal belt-tightening in the city hit
the commission hard, and they currently
have nearly half the full-time staff that
they used to. With more than a million
buildings in the city, the commission cannot possibly keep tabs on all of them, and
needs to rely on citizens and community
groups for proposals. Some complain
that designations are concentrated in the
wealthy borough of Manhattan and
lacking in the other four. “I’m trying hard
to go outside, and I’m very interested
in working on designating buildings
outside Manhattan,” Tierney said. “But
sometimes we lose one. We’ll get a phone
call. Occasionally it will happen.”
Yet Tierney smirks at the widely held
idea that the public sector is a frustrating, inefficient bureaucracy. “Believe me,
Ed Koch and Michael Bloomberg make
more decisions in a morning than people
in a well-known communications company make in a year,” he said. “This myth
of the private sector CEO is misplaced.
The myth of government workers and
bureaucracies is misplaced, and I’ve seen
both of them. People here care about
what they are doing, and they are not
only passionate, but also skilled and dedicated. In lieu of making a lot of money,
they are here for the service, and there is
a tangible feeling that the city will be
better because of the work they do here.”
The agency’s offices on Centre Street
are just a short walk from Ground Zero,
where developers recently broke ground
to build the Freedom Towers and a permanent memorial in the footprint of the
fallen World Trade Center. Tierney was
personally appointed to a commission
that will advise the Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation as to what
artifacts from the twin towers wreckage
should be brought to the site and incorporated in the memorial design. “Everybody’s
eyes are on Lower Manhattan. The
economy is surging again down here,
but we need to be as careful about what
we tear down as what we put back up.
There is a renewed sense of design and
architecture since 9/11, and it’s great for
the future of urban design.”
Looking ahead, Tierney, a jazz enthusiast and still a West Village resident, seems
purposely vague, but he cannot imagine
ever wanting to leave his current position
through a hypothetical second Bloomberg
term. A registered Democrat, he claims
not to be a political ideologue, merely
enamored with the process of politics and
government. “Politics is irrelevant in this
administration, which is great,” he said.
No matter his future course, Tierney’s
years of service to New York City will have
a permanent impression on its landscape.
Professor Moss said, “You take a walk with
Bob Tierney around New York, and it’s a
great learning experience. He has a remarkable sense of the city’s history, and
he understands the role of community
in the political process. He is one of the
most respected landmark chairmen ever,
and he has had an enormous impact on
the commission with his fairness, wisdom
and experience.”
David Lombino is working toward a
master’s degree in U.S. foreign policy and
media from Columbia University. Last summer he worked as a diplomatic reporter for
one of Japan’s largest daily newspapers,
covering the U.N., the Republican Convention, and the New York Yankees.
27
Navigating the
Waters of College
Admission
How parents and students can steer clear of myths and
misinformation to find the college that is right for them
By Andrew McNeill
M
ark Twain described the process
of negotiating the Mississippi
Delta as more a matter of
instinct than memory, that last
year’s clear channel might well have a shoal this
year. And so it is with the world of college
admission. As a college counselor, one must
recognize the greater influences and currents that
shape the admissions policies and decisions of
colleges, and intuit what lies downstream.
Staying abreast of the latest trends or strategies in admission leaves too many counselors
and parents ill-equipped to gauge the shifting
currents of admission. The popular media has
picked up on this, and into the fray surged a
phalanx of writers who would deign to inform
the public. Some writers, like Jacques Steinberg
who spent over a year researching before writing
The Gatekeepers, get it right for the most part;
others are willing to prey upon the anxieties of
students and parents in order to get a headline.
Often, these articles are, like a skillful
politician’s answer to a nuanced question, accurate while also misleading. It is not a matter of
malice; the popular media is motivated to make
sweeping generalizations to catch the eye—and
heart—of as many readers as possible, but there
are very few questions pertaining to admissions
that can be answered without a careful, individual, examination.
Almost any question posed to a college
counselor should be answered, “It depends…,”
for nothing is obvious. Unless you have navigated the river many times, it is easy to miss
the telltale signs that suggest a better or worse
channel lies ahead.
To make navigating that river a little easier,
let’s map out a dozen of the most frequent myths
or half-truths that students and parents are
likely to hear.
ILLUSTRATION BY ALISON KOLESAR
“Everyone in the class
is applying to the same
schools I am. Is this
going to kill me?”
How much will that competition hurt your chances? It
depends. Two years ago we sent 1,053 applications to over
200 colleges, but 75 percent of those went to only 39 schools.
Every year we know which schools will be sought out by our
students, and each student chooses to apply to those schools
or to look beyond the in-crowd.
A small college will not want to enroll a large number
of students from one school, but how many they will offer
admission to is quite variable. Most colleges have ways of
predicting the likelihood of a given student enrolling if
admitted. Larger universities don’t worry about the “school
group” at all, except to make sure their decisions are consistent and sensible.
“Joe and Mary love this
college, I think I want
to apply there.”
First ask why they love the college? If Joe loves it because his
girlfriend is going there, and Mary likes it because the soccer
team is so much fun, do these factors apply to you? Know
your own priorities, then find out how the school matches
them. Critical thinking and informed decision-making are
at the heart of any good college process. Not only will this
help assure that you wind up at an appropriate school, it also
helps you get in. Increasingly, applications ask, “Why did
you decide to apply to our college.” The only compelling
answer is a detailed analysis of your interests and the fit with
the programs offered by the college.
30
Duke’s dean of admission once told me that a marine biology applicant who fails to mention the fact that Duke owns
a research island is all but certain to be denied. An applicant
who didn’t scratch the surface enough to see how the school
would serve the student clearly is applying for a superficial
reason. He doesn’t want students simply looking to get in to a
“top” school; he wants students who can demonstrate that they
would get a lot out of Duke and in so doing contribute to the
university. He speaks for all schools.
“I’ve done a whole
lot of extracurricular
work. How much
will that help?”
The value of a strong extracurricular record varies from college to college, but as a general rule, smaller ones care more.
Every college will tell you that they care more about depth
than breadth, meaning they would like to see a developed
passion for something—almost anything—than a little of this
and that. Behind your activities are personal qualities such as
initiative, follow-through, commitment, and leadership that
can enhance the quality of life on their campus.
In extracurricular matters, leadership is the hardest quality for colleges to measure. If you are elected captain or school
monitor they know that you are respected, but they don’t know
if you can lead. Most of the highly selective colleges will admit, when pressed, that their well-rounded student bodies are
made up of students who are pretty strong at everything, and
exceptional at something.
“Admission is random.
Colleges accept one
student with an SAT of
1000 and deny another
with a 1600.”
Decisions often appear random when they are not. Every college has its priorities, and those can overcome a student’s
weakness in the academic record. Legacy, athletic or artistic
talents, ethnicity, gender, geography, potential major, even
political inclination can make any given candidate more or
less attractive. These priorities can change from one year to the
next. Some colleges have very specific requirements that are
not widely known. To have anything like a reasonable body of
data from which to draw useful conclusions one must look at
dozens of admissions decisions, preferably over time. Since these
currents are always shifting and beyond your control, it is best
to steer your own course with the knowledge that there is an
excellent college out there that values who and what you are.
“Getting in is
impossible these days.”
It often feels that way, but remember that only about 50 colleges out of over 2,500 accept fewer than 50 percent of their
applicants. Among those that accept most applicants are literally hundreds of colleges with excellent records of placing
graduates in top graduate programs and jobs.
Judging a college by its selectivity is like judging a hospital by how healthy the patients were before admission. In the
absence of hard numbers that describe the quality of teaching
and thinking on a campus, that is exactly what most families
do. As a result, highly selective colleges attract more applications and get even more selective without necessarily improving
their student bodies.
For years now, the most selective colleges have wrestled
with whom to turn down, not whom to admit. One admissions officer described her job as “separating the wheat
from the wheat.” At these schools the numbers of rejected
students has skyrocketed, but the average SAT scores, GPAs
and other concrete data of the inrolled classes have improved
very marginally.
If one looks beyond the most well-known colleges, there
are plenty of excellent options.
“How do I know how
many colleges to apply
to? If I apply to a whole
lot of top colleges my
chance of getting into
at least one of them is
better, right?”
Probably not. Appearances aside, decisions are not random
events. If your credentials do not suggest that you are competitive in a college’s pool, applying to a score of colleges at
that level doesn’t help you appear competitive at any of them.
If you are competitive at that level—your grades, SAT, and
extracurricular record are such that you might or might not
be admitted—it is wise to apply to more than one college,
but not too many.
Applying to a dozen colleges probably indicates a lack
of careful thought and research, and can cost you when the
letters come. If you apply to ten colleges you are likely to
be writing ten or more essays, each of which will require
multiple drafts and great care. Unless you write them over
the summer, that effort is taken out of your homework,
and that will drop your grades, and that is going to keep
you out of the colleges you just labored over. And, a shoddy
essay that didn’t get proper attention will also keep you out.
Instead, examine each of the “reach” colleges carefully, find
those three schools that best match your interests, and focus
your attention on them.
31
There is no right number to apply to. In rare cases, when
the student knows just what he wants and there is a wellmatched college that we know is all but sure to admit him,
two or three is sufficient. In equally rare cases, when the student shows a confusing record with both real strengths and
clear weaknesses, ten or twelve are advisable. In general, I advise one or two “reach” schools, two or three “possibles,” and
two or three “likely” colleges—or a total of five to eight.
As with any investment, it is important to take into account how risk-averse the student is. A student whose self-worth
is determined by the college process should assure herself of
options in at least equal ratio to her rejections. A student with
great reserves of ego strength can more easily go for broke.
“I want to apply early,
but I don’t know where.”
This is classic cart-before-the-horse thinking. Treat Early
Decision like a marriage: you don’t do it just to get it done,
you do it when you are in love. That said, the option of applying early could force some strategic thinking. If college A is the
perfect fit but also a reach, and B is a very good fit and a school
that you might or might not be admitted to, and all the others
are unattractive to you—do you apply early to B in order to
assure not having to go to one of the others and give up on
A—or do you try for A, knowing you might end up at C or D
as a result? That’s why we call it college counseling, not college
science. In any case, never apply early decision unless you are
100 percent certain that you are well matched to the college; it
is terribly sad when students come to me in the spring and say
“I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to go there anymore.”
“You say this college is
a long shot, but there’s
nothing to lose, right?” “I keep hearing about
taking a year off; why
do people do that?”
While I appreciate the pluck, I generally try to advise students
to steer away from applying to schools to which—experience
tells us—a given student simply will not be admitted. If he or
she has real ego strength and can say “their loss” when the thin
letter comes, there really is nothing to lose. But, for most teenagers, this is not the case.
Every year we work with seemingly confident young people
who forge ahead with early applications contrary to advice,
and when that rejection comes they collapse—sometimes ruining their final exams and hurting their chances for regular
decision. If the rejection is in the regular round, they feel stuck
at a “safety” school. Sometimes it is wiser to let go of the dream,
focus on what is realistic, and let yourself get excited about
your new “first choice.”
Has a student ever gotten in when I said the chances were
minimal? Yes, twice that I can remember; and that is why we
support every candidate at every school regardless of what we
think his or her chances are.
32
In England gap years have been common for a long time, and
they are gaining popularity here. Admissions deans at Harvard,
Princeton, Penn, and others have encouraged students to think
seriously about taking a year to recharge the batteries, to
explore one’s passion, to find direction, and to mature a little.
Studies have shown that kids who take the gap do better in
college than similarly able students who do not, and, despite
some people’s concerns, I have never heard of a student deciding not to go to college afterward. I don’t recommend just
hanging out for a year, but there are a myriad of exciting,
potentially life-transforming programs available.
“When should we start “What if I don’t get into
SAT prep?”
a school I’ve heard of?”
Before committing the money and time to test prep, I’d make
sure it is necessary. Take the test twice before deciding if the
scores will be a negative in the student’s file. If his grades are
weaker than the scores, flashy scores might suggest he is underachieving at school. And, remember that investment in test
prep increases the pressure on the student to perform. I often
hear a frustrated student lament, “Mom spent all that money,
I wasted my summer, and I still got rotten scores!” Maybe those
resources should have gone elsewhere. When test prep is called
for, avoid doing it during a school year. To get value from test
prep, homework is essential, but a student’s focus should be
on doing work assigned for school. Generally, the summer after junior year is the best time, but of course it depends on
what else might be done that summer.
“What should I do this
summer to help me get in?”
If you have never been active in community service, the summer at a soup kitchen or in a third-world country will impress
no one—unless you have a transforming experience and follow
it up with new commitment. I once worked with a student who
helped deliver an AIDS baby in sub-Saharan Africa, then held
that baby when it died two months later. She came back to school
and started raising money to fight AIDS, and her essay would
draw tears out of a statue. That helped. But colleges know that
many students try to improve their credentials, and they read
quite cynically. Magic bullet summers are very, very rare.
For most students I recommend further development of something about which they are passionate, whether it is a sport, acting,
or writing poetry. While having a great tan won’t help, getting
ready for senior fall and writing drafts of killer college essays is
probably better than an artificially constructed experience.
A recent Harvard admissions article, “Time Out or Burn
Out for the Next Generation,” encouraged parents to remember that their children are learning, growing, vulnerable people,
not products to be packaged, and went on to note that too
many students arriving at elite universities have no energy left
to take advantage of the opportunity they earned.
Statements about getting into the “right” places reflect a sense
that certain colleges represent necessary credentials to predict
success. An exhaustive study by MIT economist Robert
Samuelson, however, found that students who had been admitted to Ivies but did not enroll at one outperformed (if income is
the measure of success) those who did enroll. In other words, it
isn’t about being at such schools, it is about being a person who
could get in. If admissions offices were still separating the wheat
from the chaff, being offered admission could be important;
now that they separate the wheat from the wheat, it matters less.
Today, being denied admission at the hyperselective colleges is
not at all a statement about one’s future. Further, I often see
students who did not get into their top choice who come up
and cheerfully announce on Alumni Day, “You should recommend my college to more people. It’s great!”
A person heading into the college process might, at this point,
be ready to throw up their hands and say, “This is impossible,
these waters are too treacherous!” I would answer that, well, it
depends. It depends whether you seek a college or university at
which you can learn, grow, and step up, or whether you want
a certain college upon which you have set your sights with
your eyes clenched shut by your determination to achieve it.
Even today those students who present themselves honestly
and without cunning find that though they may not be able to
find a channel that leads to a dreamed of goal, the river takes them
where they can, indeed, learn, grow, and step up. If they relax and
take the channel that seems best, they escape the shoals of hubris,
and make their way to the open sea where anything is possible.
Somewhere along that journey they are likely to write back to Taft
that in hindsight, they would not have wanted it any other way.
There is still a certain Zen to the college process.
Andrew McNeill has been Taft’s director of college counseling
since 1998 and has been navigating the college admission waters
at Choate, the Gunnery, and Lawrence University since 1983. When
opportunity arises, he kayaks the wide open waters of Otis Reservoir
with his children Kaley, Ian, Maggie, and Ryan, and his wife Holly.
33
E
N
D
N
O
T
E
The LOST
and The FOUND
By Chaplain Michael E. C. Spencer
“there is something
special about the
place where you
grow up, your home.
It is the ground,
the rock, the center,
maybe the one place
you can be sure of.”
34
Seven tons. This past
summer I sold my
parents’ house, my
home for 23 years.
My job, one that I
had been putting off
relentlessly, was to sort
through all of the
rooms, closets, and
hidden corners, throw
away the old stuff, and
salvage what I could.
Now, I had been
dreading this. I had
been putting it off ever
since my mom died and my father had moved
out of the house. But, I ordered one threeand-a-half-ton dumpster and with three of
my cousins, I got to work. In four days, we
swept through the house and filled up that
dumpster, not once, but twice. Seven tons.
Needless to say, my parents were professional packrats. My mom never threw
anything away, and my dad had a knack for
accumulating piles of broken junk in the basement and garage—reserved, as he said, for
that chance occurrence when he would need
some spare parts for whatever project interested him at the time. There were endless piles
of power tools and five different appliances—
all of which were broken and had to be picked
up separately from the seven tons, making
me think now that I probably should add
another half ton to the total.
My parents had a lot of stuff, and as the
only son, I was left to go through all of it.
Now, in a way this was like a very cool treasure hunt. In the course of moving through
my parents’ house,
I found some pretty
interesting things: 30
o f m y m o m’s o l d
pocketbooks, clothes
my father hadn’t worn
in 40 years, art supplies
from his days as a
painter, a shotgun and
the live shells from his
hunting days, old medals from World War II
and Korea, old highschool yearbooks, cut
Brazilian gemstones
purchased by my mom in 1955, endless books
from their library, my grandmother’s fivefoot-high 1920 radio (still working), not to
mention all of my childhood games, toys,
and equipment that I hadn’t seen in years.
I saved some things and donated some
things, but most everything else I threw away.
Seven tons.
What I’ve come to realize is that the reason why I put this off for so long, and the
reason why it was so disturbing, was because
the seven tons was not just junk, but represented seven tons (or more) of memories from
home. In selling my parents’ house, I was dismantling home. I was dismantling the very
place where I grew up. And that dismantling
is tough stuff, and I felt lost and alone.
It’s true, I may have a home here with
my family, but there is something special
about the place where you grow up, your
home. It is the ground, the rock, the center,
maybe the one place you can be sure of. That
house holds memories for me. It provides me
E
“She stepped into
the chaplain’s office
and asked, ‘Is this the
Lost and Found?’”
with a sense of place that no other house can.
I climbed on the huge maple tree in the
backyard, I learned to ride my bike on the
sidewalk, I celebrated birthdays and Christmas in the huge living room, I spent countless
hours in the adolescent oasis of my bedroom,
I wrestled with my father on the kitchen floor,
I spent two weeks tending my mom as she
lay dying in the sun porch—her favorite room
in the house. This was more than just a roof
over my head, this house was the foundation
for my heart, the place where it was formed
and where it was broken. And so in a way,
now without it, I feel lost and I feel homeless. With empty rooms echoing with
memory, I keep thinking, when all is lost,
where do we find home?
One day, five years ago, in the first few
days of school, a wide-eyed lower mid wandered into the living room area at the back of
the dining hall and then into my office. She
had lost something during the rush of the
opening of school. She stepped into the
chaplain’s office and asked, “Is this the Lost
and Found?” I had to smile, wishing I had
thought of it myself. And I said, “Yes, this is
the lost and found, but I may not have exactly what you’re looking for.”
It is disturbing to lose things, and it is
disturbing to watch other people lose things
as well. I lose two to three pens a day and my
keys each week. Some of you may know that
I am a big “Lord of the Rings” fan. In the
first book of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the
Ring, Frodo inquires about the mysterious
Aragorn who wanders through the mountains
and forests. The wizard Gandalf says, “Remember, Frodo, all who wander are not lost.”
All who wander are not lost. There is a fine
line between wandering and being lost, but
the line is there. I saw a poster once. It pictured a late night foggy road, and in the
distance one bright streetlight. The caption
on the bottom read, “How can you be found,
if you’ve never been lost?”
You may at times feel very lost while you
are at Taft. Now, you may not want to admit
it, but deep down you may be feeling lost.
You may get a hint of the fears of physical,
N
D
N
O
T
E
psychological, and emotional homelessness.
You may be far from home. Home is not lost,
but it may be distant, and you may long for
it. Don’t worry; everyone here has experienced
the exact same thing. You may be lost, but
you are never alone. And even if this is your
second, or third, or fourth year at Taft, you
may feel lost just the same. You may be wandering. You may be found. You may be
completely lost. When all is lost where will
we find home? When all is lost, where will
we be found?
Five years ago I told that lower mid that
my office was the lost and found. I would
take it one step further. This whole school
is one big lost and found. We all come here,
and we choose to give something up. As
scary as it is, we choose to lose something.
It may be loss of freedom, loss of friends
from home, loss of number one star status
at a smaller school. And we all deal with this
loss, this dislocation, and this homelessness
in different ways, some are healthy and some
are addictive. We often feel disconnected,
we often feel like our sense of place is slightly
out of whack, or that our home is being
shaped differently.
We all lose something when we come to
Taft. And that’s OK. We all choose to lose,
so that we can discover something greater in
ourselves. For how can you be found, if you’ve
never been lost? When all is lost, we are found.
Remember that all who wander are not lost.
Sometimes we lose and sometimes we discover, and in the process here we create a
home. So, welcome to Taft wanderers. You
are the lost, and you are the found.
Michael Spencer holds a master of divinity degree from Yale University, summa cum laude, and
will soon complete a master of sacred theology
degree from Yale and Berkeley Episcopal Divinity School. He is a transitional deacon in the
Episcopal Church and will be ordained to the
priesthood this winter. In addition to serving as
school chaplain, he is head of the Humanities
Department and coaches girls crew. He came to
Taft in 1997 and lives on North Street with his
wife Amy and children Aidan and Katherine.
35
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Change Service Requested
Seniors Don Molosi as
Mr. Applegate and
Monica Raymunt as
Lola in the fall
production of Damn
Yankees, directed by
Rick Doyle PETER FREW ’75
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