|
Opening
Convocation
August
25, 2002, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Chapel
John
N. Buxton, Head of Schools
THAT’S THE DEAL
Welcome to Culver and to the beginning of our 109th
year. As our historians know, it is almost literally the
beginning of another year since the school began in July
of 1894, but with a mere handful of students.
A lot has changed since then.
There are clearly many more of us—both
students, and teachers.
We have girls and boys in the student body, and
men and women now populate the faculty and staff.
We have a chapel to meet in, whereas early
generations met in the rec building. And we have seen and benefited from the construction of many
new buildings. As importantly, we have more than one
hundred years of tradition, stories, and history.
However, much has remained the same.
We are committed, as we have always been, to the
intellectual development of our students and in their
preparation for college and life.
We continue to utilize intentional leadership
models. We work hard to educate for character. And we
are concerned about the physical and mental well-being
of our students and faculty.
Also, we continue to struggle with the apparent
contradictions between personal freedoms and authority,
just as our predecessors did.
John
Gardner, leadership expert, in his book, Excellence,
explained the challenge we face in making sense of
life’s seeming contradictions. He summed it up in just
two lines::
“Liberty and duty. Freedom and obligation. That’s
the deal.”
Gardner was describing our human dilemma as we seek
to achieve synthesis of apparently opposing or
contradictory concepts.
This is known as dialectical reasoning, and it
challenges us to see the interdependent relationships
between and among things we normally think of in
either/or terms or as mutually exclusive.
Liberty and duty. Freedom and obligation. That’s the deal.
Another example of this juxtaposition of opposites
might be continuity and change. At first they seem to be
awkward bedfellows, but as with freedom and obligation,
they are usually connected in successful organizations.
We all understand that policies and practices
have to be revisited periodically. Traditions must be
refurbished to keep them fresh in the context of changes
in society. But,
the values of an organization must not be compromised.
So, at Culver, as in life, we must remind
ourselves to hold fast to that which is good.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to welcome all
new members to our community and all those returning for
another year, and also to have the opportunity to
reflect on the relationship between individual strengths
and needs and those of the community.
I will begin with a story. Three weeks ago Mrs. Buxton and I realized we needed to get
away for a few days to clear our heads before school
started. We
had had a wonderful and busy summer celebrating the 100th
year of the Summer Camps and participating in six weeks
of Culver camp fun with nearly 1400 campers and 350
staff. We
needed a change of scenery, no more e-mails or voice
mail for a period of time, and a change of pace.
A dude ranch seemed to be the obvious answer:
horses, mountain hikes, and a secluded cabin.
We flew to Wyoming and spent a week hiking, reading,
and riding, mostly by ourselves. And we welcomed the
privacy. But
there were also special opportunities during the
evenings for group activities—there was a fashion show
sponsored by the ranch store, an evening of square and
line dancing, and a talent show—none of which could
have worked without the cooperation and participation of
the guests and staff.
On our first day there Mrs. Buxton was recruited to
model some western wear –the type that belongs on the
country music channel, and she proved to be a reluctant
but good sport, and led off the show.
Her outfit looked great in the ranch setting, but
it might have been a little much for the Edgewater or a
trustees’ meeting so she didn’t bring it home.
On dance night I helped organize the Virginia reel, a
skill I learned during our civil war reenactment last
year. My
primary contribution was coaxing teenage boys to partner
with the taller and more mature teenage girls. My task
was made easier by the knowledge that the boys were
actually dying to be forced into the action.
The evening was a success for all concerned.
But when it came to the talent show, neither of us
had what we considered an appropriate offering. Fortunately, there were many others who had, and the Brittney
Spears’ lip-synchs of the seven-year-old girls, the
stand up comedy of a button-downed banker and a
six-year-old with “knock-knock” jokes, the cowboy
poetry of two gnarly wranglers, and the crooning of a
silver-haired country western singer filled the evening
air.
Near the end of this totally volunteer production, a
young woman who worked in the kitchen stepped to the
microphone to offer a tribute to another employee who
would be leaving at the end of that week.
She explained that for tonight,
“she was that other person’s talent,” and
she proceeded to mesmerize the audience with her
beautiful voice. What
a special gift it was for her friend and for us and, as
important, what a unique concept: to be another
person’s talent.
We all knew that the person she was honoring had many
special abilities, but maybe they were not in the realm
of the performing arts.
Or possibly, this other person was not
comfortable performing publicly. Or would have been too
emotional. Regardless,
for that night, a friend had acted as proxy and
represented that person’s talents by sharing her own.
I was struck by the power of the metaphor, and I
immediately thought of Culver.
We each possess a special talent—some may be
still undiscovered, unappreciated, or not yet
recognized—but each of us will play an important role
in this community, this year.
And there may be times when we will need to stand
in for one another, to be dependent on each other, to
be, “one another’s’ talent” if we hope to have a
successful year as a community.
Will we be ready or willing to play this role?
Will we take advantage of our opportunities for
doing that? Will we be responsible to and for ourselves
and others to help our school function well?
After all, all leaders need participants, just as
all participants need leaders.
We cannot do it alone.
That’s another part of the deal.
Each of us has something that defines us and makes us
unique. We
need to develop and nurture that part of ourselves.
That is the first responsibility we have.
However, each of us is also part of a larger
whole, and we have an obligation to the common welfare
of the community. Is this a contradiction or another example of dialectical
reasoning at work? —it is not about self or
others; rather, self and others.
Tonight we have gathered our community and processed
into the school’s chapel for our opening convocation. We have asked our faculty and staff to don academic regalia
and our students to dress in a formal uniform.
We need to understand whether we are honoring
some empty tradition and doing this because of inertia
or continuing a tradition that has a purpose.
Is there practical or symbolic value in this
meeting…or both?
Turn your attention to the banner to my left.
This pennant marks the 50th
anniversary of the memorial chapel and celebrates the
school’s core values.
The motto that circumscribes (underscores) the
alumni crest reads, “we accept these signs and symbols
as our guides.” The
four emblems of the crest represent the virtues of
wisdom, justice and service, courage, and friendship.
If the crest were designed today it would include
moderation, but these virtues are the signs and symbols
we use or try to use in our individual and collective
decision-making.
Our coming together as a whole—new and experienced,
young and old--is the expression of our collective
commitment to one another and to the traditions of our
school. For
me this meeting symbolizes the values of friendship,
trust, and community we hope to build this coming year.
Our academic robes remind us of the importance of
education, experience, and reason—the virtue of
wisdom. Your
formal attire is the symbol of respect, for self and
others.
Lastly, this chapel is an appropriate place to meet
as a reconstituted community because it reminds us of
justice and service, and courage, since it is a memorial
to those Culver graduates who died in the service of
their country. These
men met the obligation of duty that was required to
protect the freedoms they valued. Entire school.
That was part of their deal.
This is, however, one of the few times we will gather
here as a single entity to celebrate our shared secular
values. Throughout
the rest of the year you will have the opportunity to
honor the diversity of your individual faiths that
undergird these values.
But tonight we celebrate our common unity.
Our being called together in this place is a
tradition that reminds us to know and value and
act on our shared values.
Possibly, we should rethink the notion of the
three r’s standing for “reading, riting, and
rithmatic,” and substitute them with the three r’s
of Culver: respect for self, respect for others, and
responsibility for all your actions. That’s also the deal.
We all know there are many new things about this year
besides the new people we welcome to Culver tonight.
Culver is new for many of you, but even for those
returning, there have been changes.
We will begin our science and math classes in new
buildings. We
will have a new schedule for the first time since the
beginning of Culver time.
You will study a new leadership curriculum, and
service learning will be a formal part of that program.
You will have new and safer walkways to town, and
more convenient pathways from Linden and Benson to the
main quad. CMA will not be using sleeping bags this
year; CGA will have a seventh dorm; and no one will be
having pop/soda in the mess hall.
Furthermore, there are changes you as faculty, staff,
and student leaders will initiate--in training and
teaching others and in refurbishing and restating your
own programs.
Maybe most significant change we will have to
confront is the change we have felt in our worldview
since September 11th, regardless of our
nationality.
There is much change, but our signs and symbols must
guide what we do. The
stability we seek and need will come, in part,
from the support we get from our collective sense of
purpose.
We all know that our life together is not typical of
the average high school or day school.
You have been and will continue to be
asked for more—of yourself and on behalf of others.
You will be tasked to navigate the delicate
balance between personal freedom and authority.
You, faculty and students, will have obligations
to a variety of outside entities as well as to yourself.
Remember the concept: freedom and duty. That’s
the deal.
We want you to succeed and prosper-- as students and
teachers, athletes and coaches, participants and
mentors, and as members of this community. Most of all
we want you to recognize and develop your personal
talents because only then will you have the power to
share them generously with others and use them for the
good of the community.
Finally, some simple advice.
Be a part of Culver…get involved…when
appropriate and possible, be another person’s talent
this year, because that, too, is part of the deal.
Have a great year! |
