Architectural Heritage - The Taft School

B U L L E T I N 

Navigating the 

Waters of 

College Admission 

BUILDING A BETTER 

Athlete 

PROTECTING NEW YORK’S 

Architectural 

Heritage 

F A L L • 2 0 0 4

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 



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 



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.

F E A T U R E S 

Building a Better Athlete ................................... 18 

In a culture of specialization, are three-season athletes headed 

toward extinction? 

By Andrew Everett ’88 

Page 9 

The Guardian ...................................................... 23 

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 

D E P A R T M E N T S 

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. 

—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 

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 

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, 

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 

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 

4 

Taft Bulletin Fall 2004

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 

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. 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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] 

Taft Bulletin Fall 2004 

5

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT 

Alumni 

SPOTLIGHT 

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, 

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 90- 

minute 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 

6 Taft Bulletin Fall 2004

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


From Connecticut to Cork 

Jaywalking with the Irish 

David Monagan ’70 

Lonely Planet Publications, 2004 

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 

PATRICK LYNCH 

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. 

Other Alumni 

Works in Print 

Over the Edge of the World 

Magellan’s Terrifying 

Circumnavigation of the Globe 

Laurence Bergreen ’68 

HarperCollins, 2003 

House of Holy Fools 

A Family Portrait in 

Six Cracked Parts 

Amy Biancolli ’81 

Lulu Press, 2004 

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.” 

Singing Her Praises 

Between Here and Gone 

Mary Chapin Carpenter ’76 

Columbia Records, 2004 

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 

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. 



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


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


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 photography. 

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.” 



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. 

Jade Scott ’05 with Charity, 3, at the New Day foster 

home for children with special needs in China. 

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 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.


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.” 

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. 

Advanced Placement Studio Art 

at The Taft School 

April 1 to April 16 

Taft Independent Studies 

Program Exhibits 

April 19 to April 26 

Taft Student Work in Drawing, 

Design, Painting, Sculpture, 

Photography, and Ceramics 

May 16 through the summer 

*Rockwell Visiting Artists 


15


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 

Marilyn Katz 

B.S., University of Pennsylvania 

Teaching Fellow in Science 

Daniel Keating 

B.A., Duke 

Teaching Fellow in History 

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 

Manna Ohmoto-Whitfield 

M.S., Princeton, Rutgers 

Science 

Andrea Orben 

B.S., B.A., University of 

Colorado, Boulder 

Learning Center 

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 

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 

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 



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 


In a culture of specialization, are three-season athletes headed toward extinction? 

By Andrew Everett ’88


Athlete 

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 

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 



Athlete 

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 

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 momentum. 

“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 


Guardian 

The 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DON HAMERMAN 

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

“ 

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.” 

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 

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 47- 

foot 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 

“ 

People 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

“ 

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.” 

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

Mark 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. 

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. 

“You say this college is 

a long shot, but there’s 

nothing to lose, right?” 

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. 

“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.” 

“I keep hearing about 

taking a year off; why 

do people do that?” 

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 

SAT prep?” 

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. 

“What if I don’t get into 

a school I’ve heard of?” 

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.” 

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 

of my mom’s old 

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 N D N O T 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, 

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

Taft Bulletin 


Watertown, CT 06795-2100 

860-945-7777 

www.TaftAlumni.com 

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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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