Memorial Resolutions

MS. STAMBAUGH: I am grateful to Suellyn Scull, interim head of the Trinity School in New York, who will read a memorial she wrote for Henry Moses, former headmaster of the Trinity school. The second memorial is for Mariana Leighton, former head of the Calhoun School in New York, written by Trudy Hall, head of the Emma Willard School where Mariana also served as chair of the board. Trudy could not be with us, and I will read that shortly.

May I call upon Suellyn Scull.

Henry Moses

MS. SCULL: Good afternoon, everyone. I want to say a special thanks to Blair because it's a great honor for me to stand here and read something about Hank, who was my boss for a long, long time. And this time last year I was at this conference and he had just had a heart transplant, and we were all very upbeat and hoping that he would be back here this year. It didn't turn out that way.

So let me share a little bit about Hank's life and what he did for us at Trinity School.

Henry C. Moses, Trinity School headmaster, died on the 16th of April 2008 at the age of 66. The cause was complications following a heart transplant. Hank was born on the 18th of August in 1941 in Washington, D.C. He attended New Rochelle High School in New York and then Princeton University and Cornell University. Dr. Moses served on both the faculties in those universities, lecturing in English, and in the dean's offices of Cornell University, Princeton, and the University of Virginia. In New York, he was dean of students and then the vice president for student development at Manhattanville College, where he also taught several courses in English.

Prior to coming to Trinity, Dr. Moses was the dean of freshman at Harvard College. There he was responsible for the academic and residential welfare of 1,600 freshmen. As a lecturer in American literature at Harvard, Dr. Moses taught a survey course in American literature, lectured on Mark Twain and Henry James, and created and taught an upper-class course on William Faulkner.

Hank Moses became Trinity's twenty-seventh headmaster in 1991 and under his leadership, Trinity has flourished. He oversaw numerous improvements to Trinity's campus, including the construction of new building to house the middle school and two gymnasiums, as well as significant renovations through the school. New instructional, athletic, and administrative spaces were constructed, and a historical archive was established in preparation for the school's 300th anniversary, which indeed we are celebrating this year.

Dr. Moses, known as Hank to his friends and colleagues, brought a love of education and enthusiasm for childhood and teaching to his work at Trinity. He would walk through the halls greeting students, teachers, and parents, and he always did the high five. The kids loved to do it as Hank walked down the hallway. And occasionally he challenged them to impromptu arm-wrestling matches, and he always won, although lots of the boys really gave him a good run for their money at times. At freshman orientation he asked the ninth-grade students to write what they hoped to have accomplished by the time they graduated from Trinity. At the senior retreat, he asked the graduating twelfth-graders to write about their experiences at the school, and to describe their impressions of the place. He treasured these notes from the beginning and the end of each student's time in the upper school, and he pored over them to find inspiration to improve the work of the school. Actually, he had started on a book, which he had been working on during the summer before he died, and had actually finished about three or four chapters. I'm encouraging his wife, Missy, to try and get those published, because they're really wonderful readings.

He sought to strengthen the students and students' connection to Trinity Church Wall Street, where the school was founded in 1709, by establishing events at the church. He created a matriculation service for the freshmen and a baccalaureate for the graduating seniors. Throughout his tenure at the school, he sought to connect to every member of the community and to enhance their lives by reaching out to the larger world.

A dedicated outdoorsman, he enjoyed running, cycling, backpacking, and mountain climbing. And indeed, in my office now, I have his mountain bike, which he loved to ride, leaning up against the bookshelves. During his tenure at Harvard, he started programs like the freshman outdoor program that became the model of many of the freshman programs that we know about nationwide.

Frequently asked to consult on education issues over the years, Dr. Moses worked with students, faculty, counselors, parents, and trustees at secondary schools and colleges including Phillips Academy Andover, Brown University, Dalton School, Drew University, Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions, the Nightingale-Bamford School, Oxford Enrichment Program, and UC Berkeley. Right before he came to Trinity, he published a book called Inside College: New Freedom, New Responsibility.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Sarah Holland; his children, Lawrence Holland and William Holland; James Moses, Bruce Moses, and Paige Lewin. He delighted in his five grandchildren; and his father Henry C. Moses, also survives him. And he has two sisters whom we had the fortune of getting to know during that difficult year, Catherine Barber and Margery Phillips.

I know a lot of you who are here knew Hank, and thanks very much for listening to this.

Mariana Leighton

MS. STAMBAUGH: A memorial for Mariana Leighton. Mariana was a woman who moved through life briskly and efficiently. Born April 6, 1937, in New York City, she attended the Dalton School until 1952. Eager for adventures beyond Manhattan, she headed up the river to Emma Willard School in the fall of 1952. Her recommendation from Charlotte Durham, head of school at Dalton, was effusive. "She is as enthusiastic as she is talented, and is always filled with interesting ideas."

Mariana was already making her mark in the independent school world. A proud "jock" her entire life, she was a star on the field hockey team while at EW, and a serious competitor on any golf course for the rest of her life. She took a well-honed sense of fair play everywhere with her, justly earning a reputation for both her collegiality and her sizeable heart. After graduating from New York University and the University of Michigan, marrying and becoming a mother, she was eager to put her newly minted educational degrees to work and get serious about her independent school career as an administrator.

When asked in the 1980s if a woman could raise a family successfully and have a career, she answered with a resounding "absolutely agree." And her life was certainly a testimony to that. She taught and served as an administrator at the Park Avenue Christian Church Day School, Allen-Stevenson School, Trinity School, and Calhoun, retiring from the last as head of school in 1998. She earned a stellar reputation in New York City educational circles as a woman who spoke her mind and served schools with great compassion. After her official retirement, she remained active as a consultant, handling the increasingly challenging task of kindergarten placement in the competitive New York City school market.

A no-nonsense professional with a quick wit always at the ready, she was strictly opposed to whining and well-known for her trademark admonition, "Stop whining and do something about it." Her aura of confidence and distinctly devilish spark in her eye were memorable traits as she made life happen while starring in leadership roles both in school settings and as a stalwart volunteer for numerous educational and social causes in both New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. Mariana invented the notion of social networking, elevating it to a fine art when she discovered the Blackberry, connecting friends, professional colleagues, and good causes effortlessly, efficiently, and strategically with crisply written e-mail communiques. She was energetically connected to people, to places, to projects.

The last chapter of her life included three grandchildren, her consulting, summers in Greenwich on the golf course, her tenure as a trustee at the Gillen Brewer School, a school for special-needs children that she helped create in New York City, and her leadership as board chair of the Emma Willard School. When Mariana lost her battle to lung cancer on April 25, 2008, she was still very much in charge, boldly living a life of purpose, caring deeply about the right things, taking her commitment seriously, yet almost always smiling. As one of her friends noted, Mariana was spunk and pluck personified, and her zest for life will be her legacy and our inspiration.

John Blackburn

Before we rise for a memorial minute, I would ask you to remember also John Blackburn, who died in January 2009. Jack was a long-time member of NAPSG as a college representative. He was dean of admissions at the University of Virginia from 1985 until his death.

Rebecca Stickney

We also remember Rebecca Stickney, former director of admissions at Bennington College. She served her alma mater from 1948 to 2008 as alumnae director, director of admissions, director of development, and assistant to the

president. She also was a member of the board of trustees and later its corporate secretary.

Will you now rise and join me in a memorial minute to Hank Moses, Mariana Leighton, Jack Blackburn, and Rebecca Stickney.

Thank you.

MS. FORD: Thank you, everyone. We are going to take a five-minute break, and then we will regather here to hear Pearl Rock Kane. Thank you.