Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Hugh R. SilbaughUpper School Principal,2001–2005whether they like what’s comingor not, know that you are goingto treat them gently and fairly.You are generous in acknowledgingand celebrating students’and colleagues’ successes, anddeeply humane in talking withthem about unfortunate truthsthat have to be addressed. Youseek and find the teachablemoment in both success andfailure. You take your occasionallumps, some of them from me,humbly and learn from yourown successes and failures.Geoff, you teach us that characteris more lasting and moreimportant than accomplishments.You model goodness andintegrity for us. You are a greatfriend and we will miss you.Hugh R. SilbaughUpper School PrincipalI sent Hugh an email, welcominghim to Milton, the day afterRobin announced his appointment.A short time later, hedecided to teach a course I chair,so our emails became more frequent,and soon we were sittingin my backyard, talking books.Hugh had used a collection ofmodern novellas at Putney andthought he would use it atMilton. “You don’t want to dothat,” I said. “The kids signed upto tackle the big books; theywon’t be happy if you walk inwith a bunch of little booksinstead.” About an hour later, Iwas on campus and saw Hughwalking out of Cox Library withA Portrait of the Artist as a YoungMan, To the Lighthouse, OneHundred Years of Solitude, andBeloved under his arm. I phonedRobin and said, “This is my kindof guy.”I was pleased, therefore, whenRobin asked me to join Hugh’scommittee studying the MiddleSchool. We met late on Wednesdayafternoons, arriving grumpyand becoming grumpier, listingall the hurdles we foresaw in creatinga new model for this partof the school. Hugh sat quietly atsuch moments, making notes,and then said, “Here are theproblems I’m hearing youdescribe. We can take care ofthis first situation by doing A orB, and the other large cluster ofissues should be manageable ifwe do D or E.” I remember thinking,“The guy’s an optimist.”I hate optimists; they make mefeel old. However, I knew Hughhad extensive experience in outdooreducation, school work programs,and other endeavorswhich required group effort forsuccess and realized I couldlearn something by watching theway he moved people to consensusin order to solve a problem.He used his talent for this challengingdynamic to study manythorny issues after the MiddleSchool Committee finished itswork. In tackling these issues—and many others that arise inthe day-to-day life of a school––he put into action a professionalisminformed by integrity andcompassion. For me, a representativemoment of this ethic cameduring the discussion of a newcourse in the English Department.As the person responsiblefor issues of staffing and budget,Hugh asked a number of toughquestions of the faculty memberproposing the course, yet, at theend of the meeting, he offeredher his hand to show that thedifficult questions had in no waybeen personal.I truly came to value that handshakeduring Hugh’s years atMilton, as it ended my weeklywalk with him and gave me asense of security in having hisfriendship, so much so that Ionce walked back downstairsfrom my classroom to his officebecause we’d forgotten that ritualwhen we’d parted company.That handshake reminded me ofmy grandfather’s generation,one for whom a handshake wasnot simply a social gesture, but ameasure of the man who stoodbehind it. I took my first measureof Hugh on the day hearrived in his trademark footwearto interview here. At theend of his conversation with facultymembers, I wrote on myevaluation form, “Anybody whowears clogs to a professionalinterview is obviously his ownman––at least from the anklesdown.” I soon discovered he washis own man from the anklesup, as well, and, while I havehad the good fortune to be hisclose friend, I am only one ofmany people at Milton who dotheir jobs better because of thethoughtful guidance which isHugh’s stock-in-trade.John Charles SmithEnglish DepartmentHugh Silbaugh65 Milton Magazine