Commencment 2017
Students, parents, family members, alumni and friends, faculty and staff, trustees, and most of all, graduates of the Class of 2017, welcome to the 201st Commencement ceremony at the Academy in our 204-year history.
I would like to recognize the honored guests who have joined us in the processional and are seated in the front row. Immediately to the left of the Reverend Gregory-Davis is our Assistant Head of School, and Dean of Faculty David Weidman, assisting me with diplomas. The Honorable Governor Sununu our Commencement Speaker and members of the Board of Trustees:
- Mr. David Pond, Class of 1964, Vice Chair of the Board
- Mr. Joe Thibert, Class of 1981 , 2017 parent
- Ms. Kris Graham, parent of a member of the Classes 2009, 2012 & 2015
- Dr. Cathy Pipas, parent of a member of the Classes 2014 & 2017 parent
- Mr. Robert Shi, 2017 parent
- Mr. David Allyn, 2017 parent
- (Adam Black, 2017 parent)
I would also like to call your attention to the women and men seated to the left and right of the class - the Kimball Union faculty whose dedication and talents are the personification of our Mission: mastery, creativity, responsibility, and leadership. I invite everyone to join me in showing our appreciation for the inspirational efforts our extraordinary faculty and Trustees.
On behalf of the Class of 2017, the faculty and the board of trustees, I want to also extend our thanks to those of you seated before us, parents and grandparents, family and friends for your faith and confidence in Kimball Union, entrusting the education of your loved ones to our care, and to all Kimball Union families and friends and alumni for your sustained efforts, for your encouragement, and support in our partnership to prepare and inspire these talented young people as we ready them to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. They are prepared and ready. And so are we!
And finally, and most importantly, this morning, we welcome and congratulate you – (look to Class of 2017) each and every one a member of this Class of 2017 – each in your own unique way is an important part of this very special school community, and this senior class, full of curiosity and imagination, promise, purpose, and full of spirit, and care one another and this school. Your legacy is clear and now as alumni, it will be your school to claim and sustain….May the many relationships and lessons endure, may they enrich you in all ways, and may your tomorrows be abundant with opportunities, happiness and love.
In this, the 201st year of celebrating graduates of the Academy – our alumni – whose global reach extends around continents of the globe – Dating back to our roots, founded by Daniel Kimball, a revolutionary war officer who fought in the Battle of Ticonderoga, who laid the first stone for our first Academy building with his own hands, and his wife, a life-long-educator, Hannah Kimball, whose portrait hangs in the class of 2014 room in Miller Bicentennial Hall. Hannah Kimball began the women’s seminary, making Kimball Union one of the oldest co-educational boarding schools in our Nation, long before the advent of free public education.
Graduates from across the globe and all our Nation are represented by Free Slaves, Native Americans, Americans, immigrants, and International Students representing all the states and territories of these United States and over 80 countries, whose vast array of talents and influence sustain us still through this day and beyond.
Who would have ever imagined, that in your senior year, the Kimball Union flag, would summit Mt. Everest, reaching the top of the highest Mountain on earth, thanks to the family of Nepalese sherpa Tensing Norgay, whose son Dhamey, class of 1989, presented the actual flag at All School Meeting to the school, with that very flag, and whose son, Khenrab is here in the class of 2019. Tensing Norgay’s motto of leadership rings true for this class. BE GREAT, MAKE OTHERS GREAT!
Today, I have three recognitions.
Janie Chase Cozzi Recognition:
This fall, on Sunday morning of October 9 following a glorious parents weekend, we were shocked to learn of the tragic death of our student, Janie Chase Cozzi, who the evening before was returning home from an event with four of her hometown friends. Five beautiful children, dear friends from their earliest years, all fifteen years old, four from the same Harwood High School, and our Janie, perished in the crash caused by a homicidal driver traveling in the opposite direction on the interstate.
I raise this tragic event now because Janie, her legacy, and her family, will always be a part of us. For the tragic loss of our dear student, teammate, dorm-mate and close friend, we will be forever mindful of the grief we shared over the loss of Janie, and how the class of 2017 and many others held this community together. Amidst the happiness we feel today, we recognize the fragility and temporal nature of our lives here on earth. In a myriad of ways, large and small, the students, faculty, parents, and this whole, strong, loving community, came together to help one another. Many member of this year’s class had the hardest lesson in leadership to learn, to lead, to follow, to grieve and share our deepest emotions, and still feel free to love and laugh, and to accept one another, all hard for teenagers and adults alike.
The members of this senior class, led your friends and teammates, and Janie’s family through this tragedy, all throughout the year. Today, as we are here to celebrate joy of our commencement, it is clear to us all that many of you are well along the leadership journey.
Erin Chase, Janie’s mother, and her family are here today to share in your joy and to show their appreciation for you, seniors, leaders, friends, family on this beautiful celebration day. They are here to say thank you to us as well, as we do with you Erin and Alex, Rider and Ollie. We are here to say thank you to Erin for your love and care, for your maternity and strength and courage, for helping us through our collective sadness. As much support as we may have given you, you have also been here for all of us to help us in our collective sadness. We will share always, through the loving memory of Janie, the way we have come together. Janie’s memory for this class and this school, will be a guiding source of strength and light, showing us the way forward, as we play for Janie, in the years ahead.
Honorary Diploma:
Becky Flynn:
There is a saying about education, it is the only gift that a teenager will not actually loose. I don’t know how many “things” Becky Flynn has found over the 36 years she has served, but we all know that she has served over 3,600 graduates since she began here at KUA – a place she calls “home” - how much she has given in return.
As parents and teachers when we work with our students and speak with them about their future, we often say, whatever you chose to do in your life, love what you do, and do what you love. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability.
Thirty-six years ago, Becky Flynn joined our housekeeping staff and twelve years later, Becky became head of housekeeping, where she has remained as our director until this summer when she officially retires from the Academy.
Becky is the cornerstone of the New Hampshire granite that is the foundation of our hilltop, she is in many ways the backbone of our supportive, caring community. No job too big or small, no day too long, no challenge too frustrating to do herself. From the bottom of the Hilltop to the top, Becky takes pride in every hour of her work and the work of her team, to ensure that everyone around her treats every child and every member of this community with respect and care in the impeccable work she performs. And in turn, because of Becky’s example, every student and faculty takes personal responsibility and pride in the appearance of our campus home. Certainly every student and faculty admires and respects the meticulous work Becky and her team performs to show our very best day in and day out. If ever there was a person who embodies loyal service to this school, for 36 years, the most obvious of leadership by example, lessons taught by Becky Flynn to over three thousand students and employees are sometimes the most important for those who have graduated or worked here, Becky is among our best teachers. Would Becky Flynn please come forward to accept an honorary degree and diploma as a member of your class.
Mike Cloutman:
Well, Mike Cloutman convinced his wife and long serving faculty member, Sue Halliday to take a sabbatical rather that retire together, but the elder Mike is headed for the golf course, and who can blame him after spending his entire career at KUA.
Mike arrived in 1979 fresh out of Bates College to teach history and English, coach skiing and lacrosse, soccer and cycling and mountain biking. With a short three-year hiatus to explore the financial world in 1996, Mike returned to work at Kimball Union, first in the alumni and development offices and returning full time to teaching and coaching from 2005 until this year. A man for all seasons, adored by his students and colleagues for his wry humor and contagious insistence on clear thinking, word saving brevity and exactitude, and summative precision. He insists on his students’ making relevant connections to literature and history through their own experiences and reflections on both. His love for the outdoors is contagious and he connects students to the natural and physical world around us. A life-long learner, he literally hooked hundreds of future explorers to the American Experience on the pages and on the roads and hills of this country. Among our graduates and many recent students, Mike is among their most memorable and inspiring teachers. A renaissance man he bridges old school values with new age students. A consummate school person par excellence, Mike has devoted his personal and professional life to the betterment of KUA and our students. Thank you Mike Cloutman, for your of dedicated service to the Academy. Please come forward to receive your honorary degree.
Valedictorian:
One of the great pleasures of our work as teachers is to simply be present, as witness. Our simplest joy is seeing students grow into the adults they will become. Clearly our valedictorian came here with promise. Through her hard work and thoughtful guidance, with each of her four years, we could see a young adult of impressive intellect and capabilities emerge.
Her depth of commitment to learning, leading, and serving has been marked by her “sensibilities and sensitivity to others”. Through a breadth of interests in humanities and sciences, her ability to connect ideas to the real world, her care and concern for the people and the world around her – her curiosity and perceptiveness, her calm leadership and capable composure – in many ways represent the many qualities of this exceptional senior class.
Her college advisor, Dr. Webb wrote that she is at the forefront of her peers in “constructing a life that matters, one of significant impact and meaningful contribution, one that will positively impact others.”
Ladies and Gentleman, The Valedictorian of the Class of 2017, Sophia DiAntonio
