• An Anniversary Convocation, Honoring the Trustees and Dennis Kanin ‘64

    An Anniversary Convocation, Honoring the Trustees and Dennis Kanin ‘64

    On January 6, the students, faculty and staff gathered in Rousmaniere Hall to formally commence the Opening of Winter Term, with more than 60 special guests in attendance. Those guests included current and former trustees—including all three living board presidents: Harry Lewis ‘65, Dennis Kanin ‘64, and Bob O’Connor ‘85. The special anniversary convocation was intended to honor Roxbury Latin’s “feoffees” and trustees over 375 years, and to celebrate, especially, Dennis Kanin, for his long-standing and unwavering commitment to Roxbury Latin.

    “When John Eliot admonished his successors to ensure that The Roxbury Latin School would prepare its students ‘for service in Church and Commonwealth,’ he was simply putting before them the urgent ambition that the school’s graduates would lead and serve,” began Headmaster Brennan. “To lead and serve does not simply mean in politics or actions on behalf of a cause or party. Indeed, the leading and serving we care about has to do with everyday lives and people who make a positive difference on behalf of communities large and small, insignificant and consequential. You are called to that kind of life. And, indeed, you need look no farther than this school’s trustees over 375 years to know the kind of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and commitment to a cause that mark their lives, and indeed their leadership and service on behalf of Roxbury Latin and the ideals for which it stands.”

    After a reading delivered by Charter Trustee Anne McNay, and after Assistant Headmaster Emeritus Bill Chauncey read portions of Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena,” Professor Harry Lewis ‘65—former board president and Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard—shared with the students (through clear, accessible, and funny metaphors) what a trustee’s role actually is. Professor Lewis knows well long-standing institutions—the dynamics and complexities, the successes and opportunities—and he has long served as a great steward of RL. In Hall he described himself and his fellow trustees as: the turtles, the climate, and the people. Read Professor Lewis’s remarks in their entirety.

    Finally, everyone who was gathered in Rousmaniere Hall turned to honor the man of the hour, Dennis Kanin, who was joined by his wife, Carol; three sons—Zach ‘01, Jonah ‘04, and Frank ‘06; dear friend Niki Tsongas; and several members of the Tsongas family.

    “Mr. Kanin’s eagerness to lead and serve was evident from his school days here, during which he showed the virtuous spirit and belief in the political process that would serve as the leitmotif of his whole life,” described Mr. Brennan. “During his schoolboy days he was co-editor of Tripod, played football and soccer, acted, and sang in the Glee Club. As a senior, he co-founded Massachusetts Teen Democrats. At Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Kanin led efforts in opposition to the Vietnam War and on behalf of greater student empowerment. He became involved in the campaigns of several catalytic Democratic candidates: Gene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Ted Kennedy. Most notable, however, was Mr. Kanin’s political and personal partnership with his dear friend Paul Tsongas. Mr. Kanin both ran his campaign for the House of Representatives and then served as his chief of staff. Subsequently, he would run Paul Tsongas’s successful Senate campaigns and his unsuccessful run for President.

    “In these instances Mr. Kanin’s distinctive ability to utilize political knowhow on behalf of worthy causes, and the candidates who champion them, earned him the notice and admiration of all those in the political establishment—locally and nationally… From 2000 until his retirement as a Life Trustee in 2018, Mr. Kanin served our Board and Roxbury Latin with unfailing energy, integrity, and effectiveness. For nine years, when he served as the President of the Board, I had the pleasure of his partnership advancing causes in which we and, ultimately, the whole Board believed. Mr. Kanin’s faithfulness to the school’s mission and his unselfish eagerness to give others credit for the good work he had done served him well as he led the school’s acquisition of 35 additional acres; authored the first Strategic Plan in the school’s history; established a financial model that would ensure our need-blind admission and enrollment commitment and ensure a distinctively representative student body; and solidified the historic decision to proceed with the renovation of existing athletic facilities and the building of the Indoor Athletic facility and Hennessy Rink. This year he serves as chairman of the celebration of our 375th anniversary. More important than any of this, however, is the model Mr. Kanin offered for humble, smart, tireless leadership—leadership on behalf of the school he loves and the values for which it stands… No one I know so consistently follows a North Star that guides him ethically, politically, and personally.”

    Two tangible works of art were then unveiled, both honoring Mr. Kanin in different ways. The first: a portrait of him, commissioned by the school, and painted by the remarkable portrait artist Jason Bouldin. The second: In Tony Jarvis’s fifth and final book, titled Men of Roxbury—published by the famed Boston publisher of fine books, David Godine, RL Class of 1962—Mr. Jarvis included the following dedication:

    Dedicated with profound gratitude and affection to Dennis Roy Kanin, Class of 1964. Trustee 2000-2018, President 2006-2015. Wise, strong, and courageous leader—unifying and conciliating peacemaker—who, in the hour of need, was the man of the hour. Scholae Salvator.

    Erin Berg

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  • Matt Weiner ’89 and Squirrel Butter Perform Daland Concert

    Matt Weiner ’89 and Squirrel Butter Perform Daland Concert

    On December 10, Roxbury Latin’s anniversary “Men of RL” alumni Hall series continued with some music. Talented bassist, guitarist, and pianist Matt Weiner, Class of 1989, performed a number of bluegrass and country songs to the delight of the students and faculty, in the last week of the marking period. Matt, who resides in the Pacific Northwest, has more than two decades of experience as a highly sought-after music teacher. As a bass player he has been known to perform upward of two hundred shows per year. In Hall he was joined by his friends Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven, who comprise the duo Squirrel Butter, an old-time variety duet that performs the genres of early bluegrass, country, and Cajun while adding their own unique perspectives.

    Matt and Squirrel Butter’s set list included a single by country duo The Louvin Brothers and the 1928 Eddie Anthony song “Georgia Crawl.” Between songs, Matt shared ruminations on his experience at RL—including a very spectacular leg injury on the soccer field—and encouraged the boys to try out a number of pursuits, passions, and professional paths, remembering that you never truly know if you like something until you try it. Matt is no stranger to the Rousmaniere Hall stage; he last performed there in a Recital Hall on March 2, 1989, with his classmate Jake Shapiro, delivering an original composition “for three synthesizers, drum machine, guitar, and computer.”

    This concert Hall was supported, in part, by the generosity of the Andrew Daland ’46 Memorial Concert Fund, established by Andrew’s wife, Pamela Worden, and his family and friends, with the purpose of bringing a musical concert to Roxbury Latin boys each year in Andrew’s memory. We are grateful for the generosity that fuels this musical experience each year.

    Erin Berg

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  • Joshua Rauh ‘92 Named Principal Chief Economist to President’s Council of Economic Advisers

    Joshua Rauh ‘92 Named Principal Chief Economist to President’s Council of Economic Advisers

    Alumnus Joshua Rauh, Class of 1992, has been selected to serve as principal chief economist of President Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Josh is a senior fellow and director of research at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and the Ormond Family Professor of Finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The CEA is charged with offering the president objective economic advice on the formulation of both domestic and international economic policy.

    Josh formerly taught at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and the Kellogg School of Management. He has studied corporate investment, business and individual taxation, unfunded pension liabilities, and investment management. He is a recipient of the Brattle Prize and the Amundi Smith Breeden Prize, both awarded by the American Finance Association. His work has appeared in top academic journals including the Journal of Finance, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Political Economy.

    Josh’s research has received national media coverage in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, and The Economist. He has presented his work in numerous academic and public forums and has testified before Congressional committees on unfunded pension liabilities.

    Josh earned his BA in economics, magna cum laude with distinction, from Yale University and his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Photo credit: Patrick Beaudouin, Courtesy of Hoover Institution

    Erin Berg

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  • Veterans Day Commemoration Hall Honors Alumni Servicemen

    Veterans Day Commemoration Hall Honors Alumni Servicemen

    On November 11, Headmaster Brennan welcomed students, faculty, staff, and three dozen guests—alumni, parents, grandparents—to Roxbury Latin’s annual Veterans Day 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.” Several veteran alumni, parents, and former faculty members were in the audience, and invited to stand to be recognized.

    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 Cameron Estrada titled The Blue and the Gray, by Francis Miles Finch. Rousing renditions of the songs America, I Vow to Thee My Country, and God Bless America—and a performance of Waitin’ for The Dawn of Peace by the Glee Club—rounded out a celebration that culminated in three brief and powerful addresses by three RL alumni who serve, or have recently served, in the U.S. military, including Lieutenant Thomas Buckley ‘11 (Navy), Captain Colin Murphy ‘05 (Marine Corps), and Staff Officer Josh Rivers ‘11 (Army). Each of these men shared with students the very different paths that led them to military service; stories of what their experience has been like, both state-side and abroad; and how their decision to serve has affected their lives in positive ways.

    In this 375th anniversary year, Roxbury Latin is honoring its alumni, in particular, as examples of leadership, service, and excellence, representing a wide range of pursuits and passions. Throughout the year these “Men of RL” are visiting campus and interacting with students in the form of Halls, performances, exhibits, panel discussions, and classroom visits. Thomas, Colin, and Josh played an important role in this series on November 11.

    “Through these RL men we can draw a direct and impressive line to those WWII vets honored by the school several years ago, to four RL alumni casualties in the Civil War, and to RL’s most famous veteran, General Joseph Warren, Class of 1755, who lost his life at Bunker Hill. The inclination to serve our country is a natural extension of John Eliot’s admonition to serve as he said, ‘in Church and Commonwealth,’” said Headmaster Brennan.

    Erin Berg

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  • Founder’s Day Celebrates Boston and John Eliot

    Founder’s Day Celebrates Boston and John Eliot

    On November 5, Roxbury Latin celebrated its annual Founder’s Day, honoring the very beginning of the school, founded in 1645 under King Charles I by “the good apostle” John Eliot. In this 375th anniversary year, the school celebrated the history of the City of Boston and Roxbury Latin’s place within it.

    The day began in Rousmaniere Hall with choruses of “Jerusalem” and readings in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English from members of Class I. Massachusetts Maritime Academy Professor, and RL alumnus from the Class of 1982, Dr. Christopher Hannan gave the morning’s Hall address. Chris studied pre-modern European history at Harvard, earned his master’s in Medieval History from St. Andrew’s in Scotland, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Colonial American History at Boston College. Chris has studied and written extensively about John Eliot, and on Tuesday morning he told stories from Eliot’s life of service as a teacher, writer, and evangelist. Chris focused particularly on the herculean task of creating a written Algonquin language from the spoken one and using it to translate the Bible, which Eliot undertook in order to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.

    At the conclusion of Hall, all 304 boys and more than 55 faculty and staff members piled onto the MBTA Commuter Rail for a full day in Boston’s Back Bay. (This is an appropriate time to thank all of the commuters who shared their train with us on Tuesday.) Throughout the day, boys got a faculty-guided tour of the Back Bay, meandering past the Boston Public Library and the Arlington Street Church, to the Public Garden and learning about the history of one of their city’s most historic neighborhoods. As they made their way down the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, boys regarded statues of the first published African writer in America Phyllis Wheatly, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, and the sailor and maritime historian Samuel Eliot Morrison, among others.

    Then it was up to the Skywalk in the Prudential Center (after, for some, a quick pit stop at Eataly for gelato), where boys enjoyed panoramic views of the city and interactive exhibits on Boston’s history and neighborhoods. Before the train home, the group gathered in Trinity Church at Copley Square, considered by members of the American Association of Architects as one of the country’s top 10 most important buildings. Welcomed by Trinity Church’s rector and RL parent, Reverend Morgan Allen, boys learned the fascinating historical and architectural facts about the building itself. The British Consul General to New England, Harriet Cross, also spoke, offering her thoughts on the founding of Roxbury Latin and its ties over the years to England. 

    Back on campus there was ice cream for all, and another Founder’s Day was in the books. The day’s rain did not dampen spirits, and all enjoyed a special day, in a very special year.

    View photos from this year’s Founder’s Day adventure.

    On Thursday evening, alumni and faculty gathered for the annual Founder’s Day Pub Night in Boston. View photos from that gathering of friends.

    Erin Berg

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  • New Art in The Bernstein Tea Room, Care of Erik Zou ‘19

    New Art in The Bernstein Tea Room, Care of Erik Zou ‘19

    On June 8, 2019, Erik Zou walked across the stage of Rousmaniere Hall to receive his diploma, and we bid him farewell as he looked ahead to a year at Eton College followed by four at Harvard. But he had barely made it home to Lexington for the summer when Headmaster Brennan beckoned him back to campus for a special project.  

    Mr. Brennan wanted to commission Erik—a talented visual artist already creating watercolors for celebration of the school’s 375th year—for twelve painted murals, one on each newly-exposed panel on the wall of the Bernstein Tea Room. Each panel, Mr. Brennan thought, could represent a month of the year, ultimately depicting the Roxbury Latin campus over all four seasons. The idea of providing a sense of place and time during this important year in the school’s history, while also adding some vibrancy to the newly painted Tea Room, appealed to Mr. Brennan. 

    Erik agreed, and he made quick work of the project at hand. “I thought this would take Erik several months,” said Mr. Brennan. “I thought maybe he would get a few done this summer and come back on vacation and get another couple done, and it would go on all year.” But when Erik got to work, he flew through the murals, completing all 12 works in 70 hours. “He was amazingly productive, sometimes completing one in a day,” said Mr. Brennan. By the time school began, all twelve were done and ready to be admired by new and returning boys, faculty, and staff.

    These murals depict many corners of campus—from the Perry building, to the arts wing, to the athletic fields. Memorable moments from distinct, annual occasions appear—most notably fall’s Opening Day, all-school handshake and spring’s Closing Exercises. Viewers will even recognize some specific RL people: Mr. Brennan conducting the Messiah Sing in front of Rousmaniere’s organ, and Jack Hennessy ‘54—the generous donor behind Erik’s own Eton College scholarship—appearing in the hockey rink named in his honor. Ultimately, the countless students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents who move through the Tea Room this year will find reason to pause and admire Erik’s work. “He created beautiful paintings,” said Mr. Brennan. “I think it’s just the right touch in that room, and in this year.”

    Because Erik’s work was quick, it couldn’t have happened without the help of many. RL’s Buildings and Grounds team erected the scaffolding on which Erik painted, and the Technology team projected photos onto the wall for the artist to get a sense of size and scope before tackling each one. RL’s Communication team provided Erik with countless galleries of images from which he could choose, and Erik’s art teacher, Mr. Buckley, offered instrumental advice along the way. And none of this would have happened if Erik’s mother, Jenny Yao, hadn’t driven him to and from campus each day—well after she thought her RL commuting days were behind her.

    View all twelve of Erik’s Tea Room murals here, in photos taken by Dongxu Shan.

    Many who joined us on campus in October for the 375th Homecoming Celebration had the chance to take in some of Erik’s newest work, and we hope that many more will have the opportunity to view these additions to the Bernstein Tea Room, as we host a number of events on campus in celebration of Roxbury Latin’s 375th year.

    Erin Berg

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  • Dr. William Taubman Delivers 16th Annual Jarvis Lecture

    Dr. William Taubman Delivers 16th Annual Jarvis Lecture

    On October 15, Professor Bill Taubman—Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, at Amherst College—visited campus as this year’s Jarvis International Fund Lecturer. This year marks the sixteenth annual Jarvis Fund Lecture, named for the Reverend Tony Jarvis, who for thirty years led Roxbury Latin as its 10th Headmaster.

    Dr. Taubman (former professor of Headmaster Kerry Brennan) has a long and illustrious academic career as a “Sovietologist,” focused on the former Soviet Union, its politics and foreign policy. Drawn to a historical approach to political science, to addressing large and enduring questions—such as the nature of revolution, sources of tyranny, perils of reform, and the impact of leaders and their personalities—Dr. Taubman offered students and faculty in Hall a historical insight to understanding current global events, especially pertaining to Russia and the former Soviet Union.

    “I’ve been asked to talk with you this morning about how the Soviet Union got to be the Russia that we know today; about the role of key figures like Gorbachev and Putin; and about U.S.-Russian relations under Putin and Trump,” Dr. Taubman began. “To understand this, you have to go back—way back, to Russia before it became the Soviet Union; to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union itself; to the early hopes in post-Soviet Russia for democracy and a partnership with the United States; and to how Putin led the way to back to authoritarianism at home and a new cold war abroad.”

    “There are two big things I want you to know about Russian history over those many centuries,” he continued. “The first is that Russia was ruled by an authoritarian regime. A czar at the top—no rule of law, no constitutional norms…, practically no experience with civic activity, hardly any tradition of democratic self-organization. And the second thing about Russia is the effect of this rule on the Russian people’s view of themselves—that they themselves couldn’t really be trusted to govern themselves and needed to be governed by a strong czar.”

    “Now, Soviet Communism, introduced in 1917, was supposed to change all of this, but actually it had the effect of intensifying it. The aim was to create Communism—full equality, full democracy, in effect heaven on earth—but Russia wasn’t ready for that. If any place actually is, which is another big question to discuss.”

    Professor Taubman walked students and faculty through a concise but effective lesson in Soviet history, including the leadership and lasting impacts of Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin; the differences between authoritarianism and totalitarianism; efforts to reform the Soviet Union; the Cold War; historical patterns; and what we might expect in the future. Dr. Taubman then answered questions from students about U.S-Russian relations today; about the United States’ role in spreading democracy around the world; the potential of another Cold War between the U.S. and Russia; NATO; and the current situation in Turkey.

    Dr. Taubman has earned a number of awards and honors over his career, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships. His biography of Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, was the first comprehensive and scholarly biography of Stalin’s successor. The book won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography. His latest book, Gorbachev: His Life and Times, chronicles Mikhail Gorbachev’s rise and how his liberal policies ended the Cold War. Dr. Taubman travelled to Russia several times with his wife, retired Amherst College professor of Russian Jane Taubman, to meet and interview Gorbachev.

    Established in 2004, the F. Washington Jarvis International Fund Lecture has brought to campus several distinguished public servants and thinkers on foreign affairs—including economist Paul Volcker; Roxbury Latin alumni Ambassadors Richard Murphy and Mark Storella; Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense; Lisa Monaco, homeland security advisor to President Obama; and, last year, John Brennan, former Director of the CIA. The fund is a generous benefaction of Jack Hennessy, Class of ’54, and his wife, Margarita. The Hennessys have, throughout their lives, represented an unusual engagement with other nations and cultures. Throughout their lives, too, they have generously provided the philanthropic wherewithal in order that others might come to know and appreciate our broader world. Through their generosity, hundreds of Roxbury Latin boys and masters have been afforded the opportunity to travel to foreign countries over the years, developing new perspectives on many political, economic, historical, and cultural issues.

    Erin Berg

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  • Remembering Tony Jarvis, From Across the Atlantic

    Remembering Tony Jarvis, From Across the Atlantic

    This month—October 7—marks the one year anniversary of the death of Tony Jarvis, Roxbury Latin’s transformative tenth headmaster who served the school for 30 years, from 1974 to 2004. Through Tony, Roxbury Latin developed a close relationship with Eton College, an independent boarding school in Windsor, England. Several young RL alumni in recent years have gone on to experience a gap year as Hennessy Scholars at Eton, before going on to college. On this anniversary of Tony’s death, Eric Anderson—headmaster of Eton from 1980 to 1994 and provost from 2000 to 2009—shared these remembrances of his dear friend, Tony Jarvis:

    Tony Jarvis and I first met at Harvard’s 350th Anniversary celebrations. I was giving a paper to the seminar on Moral Education organized by Memorial Church, and Tony was appointed as the respondent. We took to each other, spent much of that weekend together, and met almost  every year for the next thirty-five years—either in England on his annual visits to Walsingham and the Three Choirs Festival, or at Roxbury Latin, where Poppy and I had the pleasure of being present on a number of occasions—when new buildings were being celebrated, and where I once had the honour of speaking to the RL community in Hall. In May of last year we lunched together in Oxford for what we both knew was the last time.

    He was the best headmaster I ever met. First and foremost he understood boys, he loved them, and he knew what would help them to live good lives. It was a sheer delight to walk round the school with him and to appreciate the extraordinary relationship he had with every student. None passed without a word, usually about something they had recently achieved. His views on education were always correct—especially, I have to say, when they were not politically correct—and I envied him the memorable way in which he could sum up his view in a memorable phrase.

    British schools, unlike American schools, are obliged to provide some religious education, and  boarding schools normally have one or more school chaplains. Eton was lucky enough to have Tony Jarvis as a supernumerary chaplain on two occasions. The first came as the result of a plot by his chairman of trustees Harry Lewis, Peter Gomes from Harvard, and me. We all felt that a few weeks of refreshment and renewal would be valuable to Tony, but removing him from the “One True School” for even a short time was a problem. He was resistant to the idea of a sabbatical, but the offer of a temporary post at England’s largest boarding school, under the shadow of the Queen’s weekend residence, Windsor Castle, might just possibly, we hoped, be an irresistible temptation to a patriotic Republican who was also an anglophile and royalist. I never discovered if Tony knew what had gone on behind the scenes, but he accepted the invitation and, as you would expect, was a great success.

    On the second occasion, newly retired from RL, he came for a whole year. He made lasting friendships with many masters and boys and was given the rare distinction when he left of  honorary membership of the Old Etonian Association—a status traditionally reserved for those with twenty years service to the school. Even better—Tony would have said this was much, much better—Jack Hennessy, Roxbury Latin Class of 1954, visited us when Tony was at Eton and decided to fund an annual scholarship for an RL graduate to spend a year at Eton before going on to college. The scheme has been a great success both for Eton and for the splendid young Americans it has brought into our midst, thirteen of them so far.

    That is not quite the end of the story. Eton was founded in 1440, as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor.” (You will readily guess how much Tony Jarvis approved of that!) In a side chapel of King Henry VI’s great Eton building there is a small mediaeval statue of the Virgin Mary, teaching her infant son to read. A few months ago the Provost, Lord Waldegrave, was discussing with the buildings committee the re-lighting of this Memorial Chapel, but had to  decide that with other pressing priorities it would have to wait. The next day brought a letter from a Boston lawyer to say that F. Washington Jarvis had left a legacy to Eton—to be precise, had left exactly the sum the committee had identified as necessary for the work. So shortly, very near the statue of Our Lady in a re-lit Memorial Chapel, a modest brass plate will appear commemorating the generosity of Tony Jarvis, “Headmaster of The Roxbury Latin School and friend of Eton.”

    Tony will not be forgotten here—although he will be much missed by many people on this side of the Atlantic—not least by the Etonians who met him when they were boys, and by Poppy and me. who counted him as one of our dearest friends.

    Eric Anderson of Eton College
    Headmaster 1980-1994
    Provost 2000-2009

    Erin Berg

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  • A Sunny Homecoming Celebration Kicks Off the 375th Anniversary

    A Sunny Homecoming Celebration Kicks Off the 375th Anniversary

    On Saturday, October 5, more than 1,100 Roxbury Latin fans—alumni, families, faculty, and friends—gathered on campus for a special Homecoming and Fall Family Day, which kicked off the school’s 375th Anniversary celebration for the entire RL community.

    The day brought athletic competitions across campus, including varsity matches in cross country, soccer, and football. Cross Country topped Belmont Hill, Lawrence and Thayer; soccer beat St. Mark’s by a score of 4-0; and football put up a valiant effort against Groton, but ultimately fell 16-7. Before kick-off, the Latonics performed the National Anthem from the balcony of the Bernstein Tea Room. At halftime, on the football field, Sixies and Fifthies battled it out in the annual tug-of-war. (Class V emerged victorious, “restoring order to the school once again,” as put by Class V Master Darian Reid ‘05.)

    After the games guests enjoyed dinner on campus served by five food trucks—including local favorites Roxie’s Grilled Cheese, Bon Me, and Cookie Monster—and younger party-goers made their way to the bouncy house, bubble soccer arena, and face painter inside the new Indoor Athletic Facility.

    There’s something about gathering over food that brings people closer, whether it’s the smoky aroma of grilled favorites wafting through the crowd or the simple joy of sharing a plate under the open sky. Events like this remind us how food has a way of turning ordinary moments into cherished memories, especially when cooked in the fresh air. The ease and flavor of a camping grill can capture that same spirit at home, transforming a backyard dinner into an occasion that feels just as vibrant and communal. The sizzle of food meeting flame, the glow of twilight, and the chatter of friends nearby all combine to make these outdoor feasts as much about connection as they are about taste.

    Earlier that morning, about 30 RL alumni flocked to Centre Street field to compete against Belmont Hill grads in the inaugural Terry Iandiorio Alumni Soccer Game, played in memory of Terry Iandiorio ’89, who tragically drowned off Nantucket in August 2017. Terry taught at Belmont Hill in the 1990s and his wife, Ann, is a faculty member at the school. After the game, these alumni—along with the Iandiorio family, several of Terry’s RL classmates, and friends— gathered in the Jarvis Refectory for a reception. Headmaster Kerry Brennan welcomed the assembled crowd and spoke about Terry’s impact on the RL community during his schoolboy days. (Mr. Brennan was his faculty advisor.) Even at a young age Terry constantly put others before himself. Chris Sweeney—a Belmont Hill alumnus and colleague of Terry’s in the math department—spoke about Terry’s teaching talent and the care he showed his students as a teacher, coach, and advisor at Belmont Hill. In future years, the Terry Iandiorio Alumni Soccer Game will be played on alternating schools’ campuses. Terry’s fellow Class of 1989 members have also established an endowed fund in Terry’s name to support scholarship.

    View photos from the Homecoming 375th celebration here.

    Erin Berg

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  • Alumni Journalists Kick Off Anniversary Lecture Series

    Alumni Journalists Kick Off Anniversary Lecture Series

    As part of the school’s celebration of Roxbury Latin’s 375th anniversary, a special series of Halls will feature RL alumni, “Men of RL,” who represent diverse personal and professional paths—all examples of excellence, leadership, or service, intended to inspire students and help them gain a window into what’s possible. The series began on September 19 with a panel of three accomplished journalists: Chris Beam ‘02, Jamie Kirchick ‘02, and Scott Sayare ‘04. All three alumni nurtured their burgeoning writing and reporting interests while at RL by contributing to The Tripod, a publication also celebrating a big anniversary: 130 years since the publication of its first issue.

    Fittingly—as he advised all three grads during their RL years spent working on The Tripod— long-time advisor of the school paper and Assistant Headmaster Mike Pojman moderated the panel. He guided the conversation through topics of fake news, media bias, and the role of the internet in the ever-changing journalistic landscape. The conversation was lively, revealing shared hopes and fears for the future of journalism and respectful disagreements between friends and former classmates. Within the 45 minutes, Chris expressed his fear that the self-censorship he witnessed in China will be an increasing practice in the United States as journalists fear losing precious political contacts; Jamie reminded us that “fake news” is not a new concept, recalling when Jefferson hired the journalist James Thomson Callendar to call Adams a hermaphrodite in the news; and Scott asserted that any journalist who is absolutely certain about a viewpoint is to be questioned. Together, the group lamented that with social media dictating the consumption of news, many journalists are more concerned with being the first to report a story than getting a story right.

    Chris Beam ‘02 has written for The New Yorker, The New Republic, GQ, and the New York Times Magazine. For five years he worked in Washington, D.C. as a political reporter for Slate Magazine, before moving to Beijing on a Luce Scholarship to write about China’s rise. Jamie Kirchick ‘02 is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C and a widely published journalist. He spent time in Prague with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as their writer-at-large and has published a book titled The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues and the Coming Dark Age. Jamie is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Journalist of the Year award. Scott Sayare ‘04 served for several years as part of the Paris branch of the New York Times and now writes as a freelance journalist for publications such as The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Republic, GQ, and The Guardian Long Road.

    At the conclusion of Hall all three alumni met with members of The Tripod in the Refectory where they continued the conversation and dug further into these important topics and ideas.

    Erin Berg

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