Roxbury Latin began its winter term, and welcomed the new year, on January 3 with a celebration honoring beloved, veteran faculty member Paul Sugg, who served as RL’s Dean of Students for 23 years. The Hall marked the installation of the Paul E. Sugg Deanship, a generous gift of alumnus and trustee Jim Quagliaroli ’93 and his wife, Kim.

Mr. Sugg, who began at Roxbury Latin in 1983, has served as an inspiring teacher, a dedicated coach, and a caring advisor to RL boys for 40 years. For more than two decades he also served as Roxbury Latin’s firm but fair Dean of Students—both advocating for RL boys and holding them accountable. He is an exemplar of what we hold dear in our school: knowing and loving the boys in our care.

“While I regularly acknowledge the Board of Trustees as the force for institutional continuity, and the students of the school as our most distinctive feature, it is the faculty and staff who inexorably provide RL’s connective tissue,” began Headmaster Kerry Brennan in Hall that morning. “Faculty and staff daily, yearly, and generationally breathe life into our capacity for affecting positively the lives of hundreds of boys… We are called to this work. We are fortunate to do it here, in this hallowed place, and to recognize and esteem colleagues both long in the tooth and wet behind the ears who bring energy, commitment, talent, and panache to our collective enterprise. Schools like ours not only tolerate, but usually revere, idiosyncratic colleagues, quirky manifestations of lived experience, personality, and individual needs and goals. Today we will celebrate such a remarkable individual.”

Read Headmaster Brennan’s complete tribute to Paul Sugg.

Read Paul Sugg’s complete address.

“This day, we also celebrate the profound act of gratitude that leads to a former student remembering with fondness and possibility a teacher and coach who changed his life for the better,” continued Headmaster Brennan. “Over the years, we have been fortunate that a number of alumni, parents, and other friends of the school have seen fit to establish professorships and chairs, many honoring by name individual faculty whose impact has been acknowledged through this benefaction… In growing an endowment that helps to take care of faculty and helps to compensate them fairly, benefactors signal both appreciation for what has occurred and a hopefulness about what is to come.

“Jim Quagliaroli, Class of ’93 and trustee, acknowledges the impact Roxbury Latin had on the man he became by honoring a teacher and coach who was instrumental in his development in order that subsequent teacher-coaches, and in this case, deans of students, might have a similar impact on students yet to come. What a marvelous instrument for signaling a regard for the circle of life that is schools: One cohort paving the way for the next, teachers inspiring and shaping the next generation to be good and to do good.

“Jim stood out during his time as a student, as one of the school’s most dynamic and versatile leaders. Both faculty and Jim’s peers admired his unwavering work ethic, and his pursuit of excellence. However, while Jim challenged himself to grow and improve, he never placed his drive for personal success above what was best for the class, or the team. Today, Jim is managing partner of Silversmith Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm that he co-founded in 2015. Jim’s resume includes notable prizes and honors, but it also includes an impressive list of leadership and service commitments that have marked Jim as a person who cares deeply not simply about doing well, but—more important—about doing good.”

Roxbury Latin is so grateful to Jim and Kim Quagliaroli for their generosity and for the ability their gifts afford us in honoring our faculty in meaningful and important ways.

On November 29, Roxbury Latin welcomed back Adam Layne, Class of 2007, who delivered a personal and inspiring Hall to students and faculty in Rousmaniere. Adam serves today as the Treasurer of the City of St. Louis. He began his talk addressing the boys as his “fellow RL brothers,” and offering insight into what he does and what he’s learned along the way.

Adam described his North Star as “always being where I am needed most.” He began his career with Teach for America, through which he taught math in a public high school in the city he now serves. In this role, he was reminded of the value of education—a value his mother had long instilled in him—and creating opportunity in places where it’s needed. From there, Adam began consulting on educational matters and ultimately entered politics by serving on the Public School Board of Education in St. Louis in 2019. (He was elected on his second run, after his first unsuccessful campaign, underscoring for RL boys the value of persistence and the need to learn from—and then move on from—failure.) Once on the board, Adam quickly learned that the role was less about education and more about politics. Regardless, he strove to develop and nurture programs of significant impact in the sometimes slow-moving government realm. It was during his time on the Board of Education that Adam was appointed to his next job, as Deputy Chief of Staff in the St. Louis Treasurer’s Office in March 2020—mere days before the pandemic shutdown. He loved the role, and he aligned himself with St. Louis’s future mayor. He was eventually appointed City Treasurer in 2021: “It’s hard work, but I love every day, because I love making people’s lives better,” Adam said.

After walking the boys through his career path—winding, and emerging as he “said yes” to unexpected opportunities that came his way—Adam shifted to reflect on his experience at Roxbury Latin. He thanked his mother, who was in attendance, for the sacrifices she made to send him to RL. He then highlighted five experiences that stood out to him during his time here:

“My First Day”
On Adam’s first day at Roxbury Latin, he showed up to school wearing a jacket and tie, quickly realizing it was overkill for the RL dress code. He also arrived with a blank check to buy his books. While waiting in line to pick up his textbooks, he worried about the cost—not only of the books, but also of an RL education. After tallying up the price of the books, an administrator told him simply, “It’s covered.” At that moment, Adam knew he was also “covered” in the care he would receive here, and that RL was likely the right place for him.

“That’s Gay”
As a student, Adam remembered a Hall speaker who addressed the use of toxic language and bigoted terms. As the school day continued, teachers in every class led intentional and constructive conversations about the topic, to hear what the students thought, and to help them understand the damage language can impart—ultimately in the aim of helping the boys become good men. For Adam, this Hall and his teachers’ care demonstrated how to be an effective and thoughtful educator—knowing when to set the syllabus aside to focus on other important topics.

“Dropped Kick-off vs. Belmont Hill”
Adam shared that he made many mistakes at RL. One that stood out for him happened on the football field: As a student-athlete, Adam dropped an opening kick versus the school’s rival in a big game. He was devastated, but quickly realized it was an opportunity for growth. At Roxbury Latin, his coaches, teachers, and friends helped Adam to reflect and improve after seemingly devastating mishaps.

“Could’ve Been a New England Champion”
When he was cut from the basketball team, Adam pursued wrestling during his RL journey. He could have treated the sport as a secondary part of his school experience, but he learned through his time on the team to present his best self and “show up fully” in everything he did. This lesson has helped him discover and pursue a variety of unexpected opportunities throughout his career.

“Simple Pat On the Cheek from Rev. Jarvis”
Throughout every school day, the adults at school and Adam’s RL brothers prepared him for the world through gestures of support and care, both large and small.

The Hall concluded with several questions from the students. In his answers, Adam expressed that his proudest moment as Treasurer was navigating COVID-19 in an equitable way for the City of St. Louis. He also shared that even though he did not see himself ever going into politics as a high school student, he refused to say no to any opportunity that would allow him to serve others in need.

For nearly 20 years, Roxbury Latin has launched the school’s Thanksgiving break with the annual Thanksgiving Exercises Hall—an opportunity to reflect on our many gifts, as individuals and as a community. “As you will hear from others today, in readings and song,” Headmaster Brennan began, “each of us has a bundle of blessings for which we ought to be grateful. As you’ve heard me say before, the only thing wrong with Thanksgiving as a holiday is that it may suggest that this is the only time to give thanks, or at least the most important. Each day—virtually each hour—offers an occasion for gratitude.”

During Hall students, faculty, and staff sang out—We Gather Together, For the Splendor of Creation, America the Beautiful. Ms. Reynolds read Psalm 100, and Mr. Beam read John Critchley Prince’s poem Harvest Hymn. The Hall featured the resonant Litany of Thanksgiving—which includes a boy from each of the six classes—reminding us all of our “blessings manifold.”

Delivering the morning’s address was faculty member and alumnus Tom Guden ’96, teacher of Classics and RL’s Assistant Headmaster for Advancement. Mr. Guden’s address was personal, and powerful, and it beautifully honored several other adults in the Roxbury Latin community who have made an impact on him, and for whom he is grateful.

The thanks that he offered—by way of stories and memories, some funny and some poignant—were far-reaching, and included not only his former teachers Mo Randall, Mike Pojman, and Paul Sugg, but also the students in the seats of Rousmaniere; the staff members who commit their time and talent to various aspects of the school; the loyal and dedicated alumni and parents who support the school financially each year, in order to perpetuate its mission; members of the RL community who have gone before us, leaving lasting impressions in their wake, including faculty member Steve Ward, and Billy McDonald, Class of 1980, who passed away his senior year; and Mr. Guden’s own parents, who sacrificed for their sons to attend Roxbury Latin.

“I am grateful that my parents sacrificed by scraping and saving to give me this opportunity to attend RL,” said Mr. Guden. “Both of my parents were educators, and they saw that Roxbury Latin would reinforce the values of hard work, accountability, humility, and respect for others that they strove to instill at home. Your parents want the same for you. All of you again should thank your parents tonight for the commitment they have made to send you here.”

“It was the generosity of those folks I’ve mentioned and, in general, the parents and alumni during that era that allowed my family to be a part of this community. I am grateful for those who gave me this opportunity. Each person in the room today, whether you are a student or a member of the faculty and staff, whether your family needs financial assistance or not—each one of us is benefiting from the support and investment of the larger community of alumni, parents, and friends who care about this place, ensure its long-term welfare, and want to give you this opportunity. We are all blessed to be here, and we should not take that for granted at any time, but especially in this season of giving thanks.”

Read Mr. Guden’s Hall remarks in full.

On November 10, Headmaster Brennan welcomed students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests to Roxbury Latin’s annual Veterans Day Commemoration Hall, which honors, as Mr. Brennan began, “those veterans who are with us, and also all those others who have served our country in peacetime and wartime over the past 250 years. Their commitment, loyalty, and service to our country, to the values for which it stands, and for each one of us ought never to be forgotten.”

Following a welcome by Mr. Brennan—which included a brief history of Armistice Day, and of the RL alumni who committed their lives to military service—came a reading by senior Michael Thomas of In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae, and a reading by senior Brandon Clark of High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee. Rousing renditions of the songs America, I Vow to Thee My Country, and God Bless America rounded out a celebration that culminated in personal, memorable remarks delivered by Brigadier General Enoch Woodhouse II, father of alumnus Enoch Woodhouse III, Class of 2003.

General Woodhouse was born in Roxbury, raised in Mission Hill, and attended high school in Jamaica Plain. In 1944, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned 2nd Lt. at age 19. He was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group known as the Tuskegee Airmen, as Paymaster. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. During World War II, Black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to Jim Crow laws, and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. General Woodhouse and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen played a critical role in World War II and in the early integration of the American Armed Forces.

After retiring from the U.S. Army Air Force, General Woodhouse attended and graduated from Yale University. He then studied at Yale Law School and at Boston University Law School, earning his JD from the latter in 1955. He worked as a trial lawyer in Boston for more than 40 years, and in the State Department, and for the City of Boston, as well.

​Among his many awards and honors, in 2007 he—along with 300 of his fellow Tuskegee Airmen—received the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush. When his active military service was over, General Woodhouse joined the reserves, where he was recently appointed Brigadier General by Governor Charlie Baker. General Woodhouse has long been a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, which was chartered in 1638. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company is the oldest chartered military organization in America and the third largest in the world.

Last month, a mural of General Woodhouse was unveiled at Logan Airport, painted by renowned street artist Victor Quiñonez. The mural—located in Terminal C, outside of the USO facility—celebrates him and his many fellow Tuskegee Airmen, which includes not only the navigators and bombardiers, but also the mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel.

During the Hall, General Woodhouse described in straightforward language—as only a nonagenarian can—what he experienced as a young, Black military man in 1940s America. He described growing up in Boston without much money, and his mother telling her two sons—after the attack on Pearl Harbor—that she wanted them to enlist in the military and fight for their country. He described the discrimination he experienced both at Yale and in the military, but he urged students to rise above the challenges in their lives; to stay true to their own values; to persevere; and not to take for granted the privileges they’ve been given.

“General Woodhouse is a stalwart patriot, and representative of a critical part of our nation’s history,” said Mr. Brennan. “We are grateful to General Woodhouse for his example, and for the service of the millions of men and women who have fought to defend the lives and freedoms that we enjoy today.”