Marlyn McGrath on Gratitude and Roxbury Latin

On November 22, students, faculty, staff, trustees, and other members of the Roxbury Latin community gathered for the school’s annual Thanksgiving Hall. This year, Marlyn McGrath delivered the holiday address. Ms. McGrath has been a member of the Roxbury Latin Board of Trustees since 2016 and spent 34 years serving as the Director of Admissions for Harvard College until her retirement in 2021. 

Dr. Schaffer opened the Hall by offering some historical context of the holiday—initiatives and affirmations from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dr. Schaffer wove snippets of history leading up to the Thanksgiving of today, and our collective thanksgiving for Roxbury Latin. “Thank you, with all of my heart, to all of you for gathering together in good spirit, forging this nurturing community, and for extending such a warm and complete welcome to me and others,” he stated. 

After a brief litany of thanks from boys in each grade, several readings and song, Dr. Schaffer introduced Ms. McGrath—sharing many of her impressive career achievements and contributions, and then touching on those essential characteristics that are not easily conveyed on paper. “Her kindness and warmth, her generosity and sincerity, keen insights and support are among the gifts she shares in abundance,” Dr. Schaffer stated. “On a day of gratitude, I will say I am deeply grateful for the love she has shown this school, and the support she has shown me over these many months.”

In her address, Ms. McGrath focused on the history of Roxbury Latin, and on her gratitude for all those who have come before to make the school what it is today. She highlighted the many trials, tribulations, successes,trailblazing decisions, and the courage of many individuals that led from Roxbury Latin in 1645 to Roxbury Latin in 2024. She underscored the distinctive mission of RL—the idea of the accomplished generalist, and the access to an RL education regardless of financial situation and how, for these reasons, the school stands apart from many of the other schools she has worked with in her time in higher education. “This school is not a building, it is a group of people. You are the school of today, we are the school of today, and that is worthy of our thanks.” 

Read the entirety of Marlyn McGrath’s Thanksgiving Hall address here.