On March 3, Roxbury Latin students and teachers gathered in Rousmaniere Hall to celebrate a tradition that is distinctly RL: Exelauno Day dates back more than 130 years, when Classics master Clarence Willard Gleason inaugurated a celebration of the Classics, in which Greek students would be exempted from homework. Today, the event allows for the singular annual pleasure of hearing from boys of every age and level of exposure to Latin and Greek. (It is worth noting that the day continues to be one in which Greek and Latin students are exempted from homework!) Gleason chose March 4th as a punny reference to Xenophon’s Anabasis and its use of the verb “exelauno,” meaning “to march forth.”

During the morning’s special Hall, boys in Class VI through Class I competed in this year’s David Taggart Clark Competition in Greek and Latin Declamation—reciting the stirring words of Ovid and Caesar, performing the story of Noah’s Ark from Genesis, and bringing to life the tales of Vergil himself. The declamations culminated in a surprise duo performance, in which Owen Butler (I) rose from the audience in reaction to the words recited by James McCurley (I) and then joined him onstage—to the audience’s delight—as they reenacted Thersites (James) questioning the motives of Agamemnon, before Odysseus (Owen) intervenes, from Homer’s Iliad. The duo’s unsanctioned performance was met with a standing ovation from students and with a good-natured disqualification from Classics Department Chair and Exelauno Hall emcee, Mrs. Morris-Kliment. (Duo performances are not allowed as part of the competition.) This year’s winners were Nick Glaeser of Class IV (Lower School Latin), Akhilsai Damera of Class II (Upper School Latin), and Caleb Ganthier of Class III (Greek).

RL extends its heartfelt gratitude to this year’s Exelauno Day judges, Michael Howard, teacher of Classics at Boston Latin School; Rachel Philbrick, lecturer on Classics at Harvard; and Walter Young, teacher of Latin at Buckingham Browne & Nichols.

View a video of the morning’s Hall in its entirety, and even enjoy a brief highlight reel of Mr. Brennan and Mr. Reid being used as props by the morning’s participants!

You can also view a complete gallery of photos from the morning, taken by Mr. Pojman. Congratulations to all of the day’s declaimers for impressive performances across the board.

On February 14, famed New York Times journalist Bret Stephens spoke with students, faculty, and guests in Rousmaniere Hall about his life and work. Mr. Stephens—one of the premiere conservative journalists of our time—has been an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times since 2017, after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he served as Deputy Editorial Page Editor and, for 11 years, a foreign affairs columnist. At The Wall Street Journal, he most notably wrote “Global View,” the foreign-affairs column, for which he was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. Prior to that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, a position he assumed in 2002 at age 28. He has reported from around the globe and interviewed scores of world leaders. Along with journalist Gail Collins, Mr. Stephens co-writes a popular New York Times column titled “The Conversation,” which contributes thoughtful, balanced commentary on American politics.

Mr. Stephens opened the Hall by mentioning Roxbury Latin alumnus and fellow journalist James Kirchick, Class of 2002. He called James one of the “greatest journalists working today” and passed along a message of thanks from James to teachers Stewart Thomsen and Mo Randall. Mr. Stephens then continued by offering “vignettes from [his] life, to hopefully inspire some [students] to take up journalism as a career.” 

He began with his childhood, talking about his youth as a Jewish-American being raised in Mexico City. He described himself as an “insider-outsider” as a child, and having that “hyphenated” identity has, he said, perhaps been the richest feature of his life. Mr. Stephens said he believes that “true thoughtfulness lies in the hyphen.” He brought this hyphenated identity into his teenage years, when at 13 he realized he would need to move to the United States for his high school education. He attended Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where he and his peers embraced “constructive rebellion”—starting a second, more irreverent student newspaper and pulling pranks with classmates.

After Middlesex, Mr. Stephens studied at the University of Chicago, where he emerged a better thinker from so many “intellectually humbling” experiences. He then took the audience through the up-and-downs of his career: from his first job at a magazine right out of college—which, he describes, ended in humiliating fashion—to The Wall Street Journal and the prestigious role running The Jerusalem Post at the age of 28. When he returned to the WSJ and won a Pulitzer in 2013, he reflected back on how his earlier work experiences shaped who he had become. He shared that if you have enough time to reflect on earlier disappointments—even humiliations—you will likely become thankful for what they teach you down the road. 

Mr. Stephens concluded by sharing the reason behind his move to The New York Times in 2017. The move was sparked by his “Never Trump” attitude during the 2016 election cycle. As a traditional conservative, he viewed the rise and right-leaning media’s coverage of President Donald Trump as the “antithesis of a healthy conservative movement in America.” This brought him to the NYT, and he said he knew it would be “okay to be a contrarian.” In his role, he embraces being a dissenting voice, and he feels the only way to “disagree well is to understand well.”

After the Hall, Mr. Stephens spent first period speaking with members of 三脚架, answering questions from them and other faculty and students who wanted to continue the conversation.

1月31日,获奖的景观建筑师凯特-奥夫(Kate Orff)--SCAPE的创始负责人和合伙人--发表了RL的年度怀纳讲座。这个系列讲座是由1943级的杰瑞-怀纳和他的妹妹伊丽莎白-怀纳-马克建立的,是对他们的父亲鲁道夫-怀纳(1912级)的活纪念。学校很荣幸地邀请了杰里'43和他的家庭成员出席奥夫女士的演讲。

奥夫女士的公司。 SCAPE通过结合再生生活基础设施和新形式的公共空间，应对全球挑战，如气候变化和环境正义。A 纽约客一篇文章将奥夫女士描述为 "处于一种新兴的气候复原力方法的最前沿，该方法认为我们应该在建筑时 与自然，而不仅仅是 在自然。它的指导原则是，"灰色基础设施"--现代社会用来遏制和控制水的堤坝、大坝和海堤--往往是不够的，有时甚至是破坏性的。相比之下，绿色基础设施包括战略性地部署湿地、沙丘、红树林和珊瑚礁，以减少灾难性的洪水和海岸侵蚀的威胁，同时也使土地恢复活力。这种精心设计的'第二自然'的想法，可能是我们的第二次机会。"

在整个上午的大厅里，奥夫女士提供了她的公司如何与自然互动的例子，作为一个设计问题。她的公司正通过与市政当局合作，在历史上一直是混凝土区的地方建设公园、广场和其他生态系统，来 "修补景观"，以恢复城市生态。项目包括在路易斯维尔、波士顿和纽约市的工作。在所有这些例子中，奥夫女士强调，任何城市景观现在都是一个行动和合作思考的模板。

奥夫女士最引人注目的项目是 "十亿牡蛎项目"，这是一个非营利性倡议，旨在将牡蛎大量重新引入纽约市的水道，作为其沿海基础设施计划的一个重要组成部分。她分享了将牡蛎引入港口如何开始让纽约为其被破坏的生态系统按下 "重启键"，并在对抗气候变化和侵蚀方面提供实际支持。

奥夫女士以领导复杂的、创造性的、合作性的工作进程而闻名，推动了广泛的环境和社会特权。2017年，她被授予著名的麦克阿瑟基金会 "天才奖 "奖学金，这是在景观建筑领域的第一个奖项。2019年，她被提升为美国景观设计师协会理事会成员--这是对在美国执业的景观设计师授予的最高荣誉。

在带领听众了解了她的职业道路和这些例子之后，奥夫女士在演讲的最后解释了她在SCAPE的工作是如何涉及许多主题和行业的，包括科学、设计、艺术、工程、法律、政府和商业。然后她接受了热心学生的几个问题，包括对她的设计过程和客户的询问。