Every Quarter

In this special episode of Every Quarter, we catch up with Emmy Award-winning actress Dana Delany and producer Jonathan Meath, both from Phillips Academy’s Class of 1974. They take us back to how they became friends starring in theatre and film productions on campus, discuss their impressive careers in the entertainment industry, and share plenty of inside jokes and stories that bring back wonderful memories. A few fun highlights from the conversation: - Jonathan and Dana reminisce about their class’ infamous “Mother Phillips” photo, and Dana shares how it became a topic for her appearance for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. - Jonathan talks about being the Number 1 Santa Clause in the world and how his likeness is used by Coca-Cola in their marketing campaigns. - Dana reflects on past roles, and how she now only chooses to play complex characters that resonate with her.

Jisung Park ’04 is an assistant professor at UCLA, with joint appointments at the Luskin School of Public Affairs (Public Policy) and the Fielding School of Public Health (Environmental Health Sciences). He is also the founder and codirector of Sense & Sustainability, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating leaders with a holistic understanding of sustainability and equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue solutions. Park’s introductory economics class at Andover gave him an entirely new lens to view the world, through which he recognized climate change is the “ultimate global public good problem” and that economics could be a tool for helping people better understand and take action against its disastrous effects. After Andover, Park attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He then moved on to Harvard, where his groundbreaking research shed light on how climate change will affect human productivity and economic health.

Faran Krentcil ’99 is a style and fashion expert currently writing as Editor at Large for Elle.com. On this episode of EQ, Krenctil talks summer fashion, fame culture, her recent interviews with Kim Kardashian and Cardi B, and how shopping sustainably can change the world.

In this special episode of Every Quarter, we sit down with lifelong friends Lou Bernieri and Leon Modeste. Their bond was formed in Brooklyn on the football field of Poly Prep and has lasted for more than 30 years together at Andover as coaches and colleagues. We trace their friendship from young players to now mentors to hundreds of Big Blue athletes. Their journey is filled with many stories, lessons, and laughs. This podcast honors Leon Modeste as he makes his way into retirement after 33 years at Phillips Academy. Congrats, Coach Mo!

Anjali Sud ’01 is the CEO of Vimeo, and in 2016 she was charged with the task of pivoting the video hosting platform from producing original content to a SaaS (software as a service) technology company that focused on empowering creators. This shift came with tough decisions, a redefined business strategy, and a greater emphasis on Vimeo's mission. In this episode of Every Quarter, Sud talks about those first 100 days as Vimeo CEO, her non-linear career path that led her to that point, and how she found Andover as a middle schooler growing up in Michigan. She also reflects on the power of leadership and how the consumption of video is changing our lives by the minute.

Eileen Christelow, Abbot Academy class of 1961, returned to campus in November 2018 to receive the Andover Alumni Award of Distinction, meet with art classes, and share her experiences creating children's literature. Christelow is the author and illustrator of The Five Little Monkeys books, along with several other titles including Letters From a Desperate Dog and Vote! In this episode of Every Quarter, Christelow discusses her career path, changes in the publishing industry, and how her dog, Emma, was once her muse. She is joined by Emily Goss, Oliver Wendell Holmes Children’s and Access Services Librarian.

How do we educate our society as it consistently evolves? The Institute for Recruitment of Teachers seeks to answer this question. Founded in 1990 by Kelly Wise, the IRT has a nearly 30-year history of producing socially justice minded educators in both the K-12 and professoriate. In this episode of Every Quarter, we sit down with the new Executive Director of the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, LaShawnda Brooks and Jessica Acosta Chavez '06, IRT ’12, Phillips Academy's Associate Director of Admission and Outreach. As an alumna of both the program and Phillips Academy, Acosta–Chavez has the unique opportunity to speak with Brooks around the history of IRT, the current needs in educating diverse populations, and the new possibilities for the IRT. As the American demographics change, so do our need for educators. According to the Learning Policy Institute, people of color represent nearly 40% of the population and 50% of our students. Since the IRT's founding in 1990, the percentage of K-12 educators of color has increased from 12% to 20%. Currently, there are over 2,000 individuals who have received a Masters degree and over 330 Ph.D.s awarded to IRT alumni.

You may not recognize the name Peter Chermayeff, but if you’ve ever lived in, or visited Boston you’ve probably experienced his work. Have you been to the Boston Aquarium and walked the spiral ramp along the central tank? Did you ride the T to get there and wonder why each line is colored the way it is? Well, Peter designed both of these Bay State projects and are just two of the topics he gets into on this very special episode of Every Quarter. He’s joined by his niece—filmmaker Maro Chermayeff, Class of 1980—and they discuss Peter’s early years at Andover, his circuitous career path, and how he became the preeminent aquarium architect in the world. Chermayeff earned an AB degree from Harvard College and an MArch degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His many projects have included the U.S. exhibition at Expo ’67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; design guidelines and standards for Boston’s transit system; the San Antonio Museum of Art; and “Where’s Boston?”, an exhibition for the U.S. Bicentennial—plus aquariums in Baltimore, Boston, Chattanooga, Genoa, Osaka, and Lisbon. Since 1990, Chermayeff has been president of IDEA, a firm that manages aquarium development and operations; he has been president of Peter Chermayeff LLC since 2009. An AIA fellow, he has served on the visiting committee of the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was presented with the Andover Alumni Award of Distinction in November 2018.

In this episode of Every Quarter, educator and alumna Tamar Szabó Gendler speaks with Andrew Housiaux, Currie Family Director of the Tang Institute, about changing face of higher education and the responsibility prestigious institutions have in owning their histories. They also discuss Gendler’s experience with the Mellon Foundation’s New Directions program, wherein Gendler essentially became a full-time student at Yale during the 2009–2010 academic year, completing coursework in psychology, neuroscience, and statistics. Gendler, Andover Class of 1983, also shares moments of nostalgia, recounting memories with the Jewish Students Union in Cochran Chapel, growing up as a faculty child, and how changing her focus from math to social sciences lead her to the path she is currently on. During her visit to campus in November, she was presented with the Andover Alumni Award of Distinction. Gendler is Yale’s inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science.

Jake Bean, Class of 2008, grew up with deep respect for those who served their country. He knew he wanted to join the Navy and live a life of service. He comes from a military family and clearly saw his future in the armed forces. But growing up in Idaho, he had no clue about Andover or the path in which he'd take to become a Navy helicopter pilot. In this episode of Every Quarter, Lieutenant Bean talks with Director of Communications Tracy Sweet about how he applied to Andover without his parents' permission, the tough decision between Georgetown's School of Foreign Services and the Naval Academy, and his deployments overseas, where he flies missions to support aircraft carriers, tactical operations and at-sea medical rescues.

Never in her wildest dreams did Carrie St. Louis imagine that she would be attending her 10-year PA Reunion with three Broadway musicals under her belt. Even as a child, St. Louis was a natural on stage, performing musical theater in a variety of classic roles in productions like Annie, The Wizard of Oz, and The Sound of Music. A background in opera helped the hard-working actress find her way to the big stage remarkably fast. In 2014, just a couple years out of college, St. Louis auditioned for the original Las-Vegas based production of Rock of Ages, and landed the lead role of Sherrie Christian. From there, she scored what she excitedly calls a “dream role,” playing Glinda in the smash hit Wicked. We caught up with St. Louis on campus while she was reconnecting with friends and Andover family at her 10th Reunion. She recounted her time spent at PA, shared some valuable lessons learned, and a bit of insight along her journey in carving out a spotlight on Broadway. This year, she can be seen stepping into the role of Lauren in the Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots. She is a member of Andover’s Class of 2008.

For the past three decades, George Smith Jr., Class of 1983, has specialized in covering the intersection of sports and society. While at ESPN in the 2000's Smith was the go-to reporter on breaking stories like Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case, Michael Vick's dogfighting ring and the Duke Lacrosse investigation. In this episode of Every Quarter, Smith looks back on his broadcast journalism career and the evolution of the business with Director of Communication Tracy Sweet. He recounts how he started off in the field, why social media has changed the game, and theorizes an approach to a potential on-camera interview with elusive fellow alum and New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick '71.

2020 marks the 100-year anniversary of the 19th amendment, and yet still voting and voter's rights remains one of the most vital issues facing our democracy. As a newly appointed Mellon-Schlesinger Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, Corinne Field is looking at the intersectionality between this historical milestone and women in America by exploring the closely intertwined roots of race and age segregation in American feminism. Field is an assistant professor of women, gender, and sexuality at the University of Virginia and a member of Andover's Class of 1983.

Jonathan Adler, class of 2008, is unnecessarily humble, completely self-depreciating, and while he'd never admit it, a hilarious talent. As a staff writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Adler is part of the team that — as he describes it —makes people laugh and feel good every night before they go to bed. On this episode of Every Quarter, Adler traces his comic roots from writing for The Phillpian to the Harvard Lampoon to late-night TV in New York. He talks his first on-air pitch, how he ended up on camera in a recurring bit, and one controversial Features satire that had the PA administration knocking at his door. While he admits Andover initially wasn't where he wanted to be, ten years later, he now credits his burgeoning comedy writing career to his time spent telling jokes and finding his voice in the basement of Morse Hall.

Hafsat Abiola ’92 is a fighter. A seeker of justice. A champion for human rights. Her life is a story of discovery, tragedy, resiliency, and action. Inspired by the unlawful imprisonment of her father and the assassination of her mother, Abiola has dedicated her life to promoting democracy in Nigeria and empowering women around the world. In 1996 she founded the NGO Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), which seeks to involve women and youth in Africa’s social, economic and political development. Most recently, Abiola was named Executive President of Women in Africa (WIA) Initiative. In this episode of Every Quarter, Emily Ndiokho ’18 sits down with Abiola to discuss how Andover has inspired her, current challenges facing Africa’s economic development, and the spread of Nigerian culture across the world.

Adobe After Effects is a staple in the visual effects post-production world. It is used in large-scale Hollywood productions, network television, and even by the Office of Communication here at Andover. The software’s co-founder, David Simons, is a member of Andover’s class of 1986. On this episode of Every Quarter, Simons sits down with Neil Evans to discuss his career path to Adobe, the struggles of having one of the first personal computers at Andover, and his advice for aspiring coders. Simons’ new project, Character Animator, combines elements of After Effects with live action puppetry technology and has been featured recently on the Stephen Colbert Show [embedded below] and a live episode of The Simpsons.

Gus Quattlebaum ’93 is a baseball lifer. From his time at Andover playing in Phelps Park to setting hitting records at Davidson College to traveling across the Americas in search of the next big league star, Quattlebaum has made a career out of the game he loves. Now, as the Boston Red Sox’s Vice President of Professional Scouting, he manages a team of national scouts, compiles players reports that influence roster moves, and oversees the club's minor league talent development. Back in January Gus returned to Andover to participate in our Hot Stove night with fellow baseball insiders, and took some time to talk with Kevin Graber, Senior Associate Director of Admission and Varsity Baseball Coach. He even hints at the eventual signing of slugger J.D. Martinez. This one’s a must-listen for Red Sox die hards and anyone who follows baseball or is looking to break into the business of sports. Play ball!

What does the term citizenship mean? Does it relate to place of birth or residency? What are the requirements of citizenship and have those requirements evolved over time? Who determines citizenship and by what criteria? We’ve been trying to answer this question in as many ways as possible in the classroom, during All-School Meetings and with varied guest speakers on campus. Citizenship is not only the theme for Andover's 2017-2018 academic year but a pressing issue that is affecting everyone around the globe. Since September 2017, more than 20 guest speakers—recruited from departments across campus—have touched on the theme of citizenship. Their talks have addressed a range of timely issues and spurred ongoing conversations on topics such as gender-based violence, politics and identity, climate and economic policy, citizenship and race, and others.  The winter 2018 issue of Andover magazine explores the complexities of citizenship. Andover faculty were asked to contribute to the conversation and write essays on their experiences and interpretations. We then asked three of them—Marisela Ramos, Elizabeth Meyer and, Eric Roland—to read their essays for Every Quarter.

A member of the Class of 1990, NBC News Correspondent Stephanie Gosk, returned to campus recently to discuss her latest assignment: the rise of the #MeToo movement and cases of sexual misconduct that are plaguing industries from business and entertainment to sports and politics. In this episode of Every Quarter, she talks about the scandal erupting around USA Gymnastics, journalistic integrity, and what it’s like to report from a war zone. Super Bowl fans will want to stick around for her decidedly biased view of the big game.

John Marks '61, P'95, sits down for a discussion with Carmen Muñoz-Fernández, director of Learning in the World and instructor in Spanish, and Eric Roland, Precourt Director of Partnerships at the Tang Institute. Marks reflects upon his time as a student at Phillips Academy, recalled moments from his life’s work, and shared his views on the meaning of global citizenship and the state of the world today. As you scan the globe, what catches your attention the most? What are the highlights of a career dedicated to conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social entrepreneurship? These are some of the questions that John Marks ‘61, P’95, explored with the Phillips Academy community during a recent visit to campus. Marks was, until 2014, president of Search for Common Ground, a peacebuilding NGO he founded in 1982 that now has 600 staff with offices in 36 countries. He also founded Common Ground Productions and is still a senior advisor to both organizations. He is a best-selling author, a former US Foreign Service member, a Skoll Awardee in Social Entrepreneurship, and an Ashoka Senior Fellow. The UN’s University of Peace awarded him an honorary PhD.

Reunion Weekend is a special time for our alums. Everyone is back on campus, savoring the nostalgia, seeing old friends, and reconnecting with the school that shaped their formative years. We wanted to capture this feeling so for Reunion 2017 we tried an experiment. We set up a tent, a table, and chairs in front of George Washington Hall and invited alumni in to sit, relax, and reflect. We called it the EQ Lounge, and these are their stories.

Grit has been a pretty popular buzzword in education these past few years. The concept isn't exactly new. Perseverance, willingness to learn, passion, positively dealing with adversity—these are all characteristics that we typically associate with good students, and people for that matter. While we may have anecdotally known this for a while, scientific research is now confirming that grit is gold. Angela Duckworth is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development. Duckworth studies grit and self-control, two attributes that are distinct from IQ and yet powerfully predict success and well-being. She recently visited Phillips Academy to talk about her research and present to the community. Before hitting the stage Duckworth sat down with History & Social Science Instructor and Tang Institute Fellow Noah Rachlin to dive deeper into her thesis. Informed by research in the field, Noah Rachlin is now in his fourth year of leading an effort to help students and teachers see mistakes not as impenetrable roadblocks but as natural parts of the learning process. Rachlin has defined this practice as “learning disposition,” which he breaks into four key concepts: mindset (“I believe it is possible to improve”); motivation (“I want to improve”); deliberate practice (“I’m going to work at the upper limits of my present ability to improve.”); and focus (“I will commit myself to this work over time”).  During this coming year, Rachlin will lead a variety of activities designed to deepen and expand this work, through drawing connections with related efforts on campus, including work emanating from the Sykes Wellness Center, the Empathy & Balance curriculum, the work of the Dean of Students and Dean of Studies offices, and additional efforts. He will also continue efforts to partner with other schools and organizations who are implementing and developing strategies designed to help students to understand and guide their learning. Duckworth’s first book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, debuted May 3, 2016, as an immediate New York Times bestseller.

Earlier this year Every Quarter had the privilege of hosting a special conversation between Nancy Sizer and Louise Kennedy, Class of 1976. Sizer taught at Andover in the seventies and eighties and was the spouse of the renowned educational reformer and Phillips Academy's 12th Head of School, Ted Sizer. Kennedy came to Andover in the first year of coeducation and went on to serve as the first female editor of The Phillipian, the Academy's student-run newspaper. This episode is like listening in on old friends reuniting after many years apart. They discuss the merger of Phillips and Abbot Academies, what life was like on campus in the early seventies and how students and faculty adapted to the transition. Their wide-ranging and fascinating talk is filled with personal stories, random tangents, and perspective that can only be gained from looking back on their experiences some forty years later.

Fake news. Black Lives Matter. Women’s rights. These are just a few of the current issues Andover students are trying to grapple with. Phillips Academy is committed to equity and inclusion, youth from every quarter, non sibi. But how do you uphold these values when it feels like the world beyond our campus bubble is turning into the direct antithesis of everything we try to instill in our community? There are no easy answers. Conversations, however, are happening. Students want to be involved. They have a voice. And we need to listen. Back in April Andover hosted Stand Up: Student Activism in Independent Schools, a daylong symposium for independent school educators and administrators. One of our presenters was the writer, video blogger, and cultural commentator Jay Smooth. Jay grew up in the burgeoning New York hip-hop scene and is the founder of the city's longest-running hip hop radio program, WBAI's Underground Railroad. Before his presentation, Jay joined Dean of Community and Multicultural Development LaShawn Springer to discuss his path from DJ to pundit, the current state of hip-hop and how today’s students can be supported in their efforts to lead positive change through activism.

What makes you laugh? Is it the observational stand-up of Louis C.K.? Sketches on Saturday Night Live? Mark Maron’s podcast that you always listen to first before EQ? You see, comedy is subjective. What makes one person laugh probably won’t make another person laugh, and humor is rarely an acquired taste. It’s not like you turn thirty and suddenly like Seinfeld. Well, maybe that’s a bad example. The point is, you either get the joke or you don’t. In the early nineties, The Farrelly Brothers struck gold with a string of blockbusters that seemed to make everyone laugh. Dumb and Dumber. There’s Something About Mary. Kingpin. Outside Providence. Shallow Hal. Fever Pitch. You couldn’t escape their slapstick premises and earnest storytelling that made them the two of the most successful writers and directors in Hollywood. They’ve worked with comic icons like Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Alec Baldwin and Jimmy Fallon, but as Bobby Farrelly, Class of 1977 recently recounted at a Phillips Academy All-School meeting, the brothers had no real movie-making aspirations growing up, and sort of fell into the trade after a few failed ventures in Los Angeles. Upon his first visit back to Andover in forty years, Bobby sat down with Neil Evans to talk the current state of comedy, how to be funny in today’s politically correct climate and what he learned from being kicked out of Andover.

Frank Stella '54 is the renowned artist he is today because of Phillips Academy. The access. The curriculum. The friendships (with fellow artists Carl Andre '53 and Hollis Frampton '54). Andover shaped the artist Stella would become. In this special episode of Every Quarter, hear the candid tales from his early years, stories of the New York art scene in the sixties and why he keeps coming back to where it all started. Throughout his prolific and influential career, Stella has been a major figure in the art world, internationally hailed as one of America’s most significant artists. In his paintings, metal reliefs, sculptures, and prints, he has explored abstraction, which emerged during the early twentieth century in the innovations of artists such as Vassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso. A pioneer of minimalism in the 1960s, Stella continues to experiment and innovate, creating some of the most daring work to be seen today.

Since the beginning of time, human beings have documented their experiences for future generations—on caves, tablets, scrolls and parchment. Now imagine a world where these records were lost. What if the Magna Carta were placed in a drawer, never to be seen again? In this episode of EQ, we meet Anishinaabeg members of White Earth Nation. Their search for one of their nation’s founding documents led them to Andover, where a large birch scroll containing ancient accounts from their ancestors languished undiscovered for more than a century. Phillips Academy’s Robert S. Peabody Museum is home to one of the nation’s major repositories of Native American archaeological collections. Founded in 1901, its first curator was the legendary Warren King Moorehead, known as “the dean of American archaeology.” So how did Moorehead come into possession of this sacred scroll and many other artifacts? And what does this discovery mean to its people and their future? Join archaeologist and Peabody Museum director Ryan Wheeler and three members of White Earth Nation, who recently met at the museum to tell the story behind the lost scroll, recount its incredible journey and describe ongoing repatriation collaboration.

In early 1942, two months after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. Nine-year-old Sam Mihara and his family were among the approximately 120,000 people who were sent to internment camps across the country. The Miharas, who lived in San Francisco, landed at Heart Mountain, a camp in northern Wyoming, where they would live for the next three years. Sam Mihara visited Phillips Academy in October 2016 to share his story of what life was like inside the camp and how he was affected by those years of confinement, intolerance, and discrimination. Andover Instructor and historian Damany Fisher talked with Mihara and his wife Helene about their experiences for Every Quarter. Fisher is an authority on the American history of residential segregation and housing discrimination. His paper, “No Utopia: the African American Struggle for Fair Housing in Postwar Sacramento, 1948-1967,” was recently published in the academic journal Introduction to Ethnic Studies.

The need-blind admission initiative is the single most distinct feature that Phillips Academy is recognized for around the globe. This episode dives into Andover’s progressive financial aid policies and the history of need-blind admission. On the eve of celebrating a decade of its existence Jim Ventre ‘79, dean of admission and financial aid, sits down to discuss the game-changing initiative, what ‘Big Blue Nice’ means, and why socioeconomic status plays no part in how students are admitted to Andover.

What does it mean to be born digital? How are adults and children navigating the ever-evolving and complex technological landscape of modern life? Are kids spending too much time on devices or are they using modern innovations to develop crucial life skills? Phillips Academy Head of School John Palfrey and Harvard Researcher Urs Gasser have spent years researching these topics and you might be surprised at what they've discovered. In this special episode recorded live at the recent relaunch of Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age, Palfrey and Gasser moderate an open forum with local students and share many of their findings. The excerpted conversations present much more questions than answers but know that we are all continuously learning together and must continue to think about what’s next. Read more on the EQ blog: : http://podcast.andover.edu/2016/12/07/episode-02-born-digital/

Our debut episode is a conversation about what it means to live a life of service. Commander Becky Dowling Calder '94 and Lieutenant Commander Laurie Coffey '95, two legendary Andover athletes, could have played college basketball anywhere they wanted. They each chose Annapolis and went on to fly F/A-18 Hornets at the highest level, selflessly serving and protecting our country for the past twenty years. Why? The lifelong friends returned to campus recently to commemorate Veterans Day and were gracious enough to answer that question and more. Visit the EQ blog: https://podcast.andover.edu/2016/11/17/episode-01/