Welcome to the official beginning of Culver’s 110^th year.  We have a tradition here at Culver of calling together students, faculty, and staff for a convocation to signal the start of our time as the newest Culver Academies community.  We take a few minutes to celebrate our connectedness and our interdependence.  If you are new—welcome to Culver.  If you are returning—welcome back.

              You students represent potential for the future; you faculty and staff represent the wisdom, experience, and dedication to make the future exciting. Each of us has something special to share with Culver whether you realize it yet or not.  I hope and expect you will share your gifts with our community during the next 10 months. This will be an exciting year as we work, learn, and grow together.

              At an all-school meeting last January I shared with many of you my New Year’s resolutions.  Among them was my commitment to read more literature.  I explained that while I read a number of professional journals and periodicals, regularly, I had not disciplined myself successfully to read the fiction and non-fiction that edifies and inspires me.  That is, after all, what good stories do for us. They remind us of universal truths and help us gain perspective on our lives.

Mrs. Buxton and I love to read.  We are committed to the habit of reading and we have done everything we can to pass this on to our children and grandchildren.  We always give at least one book to them on their birthdays, and it is such a part of the fabric of our family that our daughter, who is pregnant with her first baby, and her husband read to her stomach every night – currently it is Harry Potter that this very little one is hearing about.  It’s never too early to begin—or too late to start.

              When I was an admissions director at a highly competitive boarding school, alumni with young children would often call to ask what they might do to ensure that their children would be well-prepared for a selective boarding school or college.  I always replied in the same way:  Make sure they read as much as possible.

              So maybe I was only resolving to do something I love to do and see the value of.  Maybe it was not the most challenging resolution, but it was important nonetheless.

              I stand before you now to report on my progress.  In a word – inspirational.  I was inspired by the lessons in humanity and the power of stories.  I became even more aware of the importance of perspective as we see the world and create our own stories.

              I have done such a good job with my resolution, there is not time to share all the books, details, or lessons I have enjoyed, but I want to give you a snapshot, focusing on a few of these stories and what I have learned.

First novel: I was inspired by Pat Conroy’s honesty and compassion in “My Losing Season,” his story of his time as a member of The Citadel’s basketball team, revisited 45 years later.  Conroy discovered what the philosopher Kierkegaard suggested to us: “Life must be understood backward.  But it must be lived forward.”  Sometimes we need understand where we’ve been, so we can understand whom we are and where we are going.  If we could only know the outcome before the action, life would be much simpler.

              Conroy went back to his college playing days to try to understand his role and the roles played by others during that time of his life. He needed to put into perspective his emotions, his experiences, his relationships, and the consequences of his decisions.  He came to understand what his citadel story had meant to him throughout his life. His was a story about losing too many games and learning from them.  More importantly, for me it was the realization that the people we live with and work with, and with whom we share the journey, shape our lives in significant ways.

              Reflect for a moment as you sit in this chapel. Why you are you at Culver?  You must have a reason.  Are you clear about what is it?  What motivates you?  Is it related to where you have been?  Or where you are going?  What will you be looking back on in 25 or 50 years?  Will you have taken advantage of the opportunities here?  I hope so.

             Consider also how the actions and values of other members of this community will influence you and your path to the future.  Do you alone control the outcomes?  Will colleagues, teachers, coaches, roommates, department heads, residential life staff, or administrators play a role? Of course they will. 

              Second novel: I was transfixed by the power of Yann Martel’s story “Life of Pi.” Pi is a teenage boy who grows up watching and studying the dual worlds of religion and zoology as a zookeeper’s son in India.  His story is of his adventure while adrift in a lifeboat with a most unusual crew when the ship carrying his family to their new home in Canada and transporting some of their zoo animals, including a zebra, tiger, hyena, and orangutan, sinks.  His story is of faith, survival, and reconciliation, and it reminded me how necessary stories are to support us and to help sustain our beliefs, especially in difficult times.

Pi’s voyage and his perspective on it reinforced for me the importance of stories in giving us a sense of purpose and connection.

              We are a community that has as rich a tradition of stories as any secondary school in the country.  You new students have just heard one of the best – the Logansport Flood story – as part of your matriculation process.  Returning students and staff and faculty already know it, or certainly should.  In the winter of 1913, Culver cadets rescue 1400 citizens of the town of Logansport from raging flood waters using 28-foot summer crew boats.  Selfless and heroic?  Yes.  But how could I put this into perspective 70 years later? I met a man two summers ago at a dinner and he told me he had been born in Logansport. So I asked him what he knew about the flood.  I was simply looking for another perspective on the event to help me understand the importance of the story to Culver.  He paused and said, “Without your students, I would not be here today.  My grandmother was a baby and she and her mother, my great-grandmother, were stranded on one of those rooftops.  Culver students rescued them just before the waters overcame them.  She recorded the story in her diary.”

              More recently I was at a national conference and the keynote speaker, noted educational theorist Tom Sergiovanni, was discussing the importance of stories in organizations.  Our stories, he explained, represent the shared values that define our communities.  Share your school’s stories, he told us, in an effort to build your sense of community. 

We dispersed to break out sessions and our group leader asked if anyone had a good story to share that was representative of his or her school’s values or mission.  I proceeded to tell the Logansport Flood story.  The room went silent and people began averting their eyes.  No one wanted to be next.  What could they do for an encore?  People said later, “We were planning to talk about restoring the old headmaster’s home or bringing technology to the classroom. Those things suddenly seemed pretty insignificant.”

  But we at Culver could have chosen from among many stories:

 Ø  The Big Fire

Ø  The Great Robbery

Ø  The gift of the Legion Memorial Building

Ø  The Black Horse Troop

Ø  Culver’s 5 Medal of Honor winners

Our stories are rich, as are our traditions:

Ø  Graduating through the Arch or Iron Gate

Ø  Gold Star Ceremony

Ø  Mary Francis England day

Ø  Veterans’ Day ceremony

Ø  The Ringing ceremony

Ø  Beason Hall and its sacred lawn

Ø  Officers’ Figure

Ø  Senior/First Class ring

As Pi demonstrated, we can view our stories as confirmation of the triumph of the human spirit or see them less positively.

For instance, might not some objective observer interpret the Logansport Flood story as a tale of selfish promotion of the school or reckless disregard for the safety of our students?  “Send them to Logansport and we will make the national news.”  We do have options about how we make sense of what we do.  Casting things in a positive light is the Culver way.  We have a choice.

            And now, here comes “Seabiscuit” – the book, not the movie.  Laura Hillenbrand’s story of the unlikely miracle horse of the Depression era is an appropriate read for all Culver people.  The direct connection is interesting:  Seabiscuit’s owner, Mr. Charles Howard, is a past Culver parent.  His son, Charles Jr., graduated from in Culver in 1936, just the time of Seabiscuit’s incredible journey to American legend and icon.

            The indirect connection is that, depending on your perspective, “Seabiscuit” is a story full of Culver values.

            “Seabiscuit” is a story of determination, willingness to risk, loyalty, teamwork, and trust. It’s a story about the American dream and the value of a meritocracy. 

            Seabiscuit is a horse with great natural talent who would rather sleep and eat than work hard.  In the right environment, however, Seabiscuit responds well.  He needs to trust those working with him so he can give fully of himself.  Sounds like at least a few students I’ve known in my life.

            Enter the trainer (Smith) and the jockeys (Pollard and Woolf) who can challenge and support Seabiscuit.  They are the teachers and coaches for this horse who has greatness within him.  But they also need to trust him and one another in order to reach their goal. They must all work together to create the culture of success so they can overcome the challenges and unforeseen disappointments and stay on course.  They are determined and they are persistent – certainly important traits – but they prevail because of their teamwork and their commitment to each other.

            The story of Seabiscuit cautions us not to judge too quickly because of appearances or labels.  This not too impressive looking horse, Seabiscuit, takes on the perfect horse, War Admiral, in a match race, one on one, for racing’s top honor.  But parentage and reputation prove less important than heart and performance.  The lesson: Never discount any one or any thing on the basis of superficial measures.

My list is far from complete, but my remarks are not.  I will end them with a few words about a novel I received for my last birthday (remember the gift tradition). My son gave me a copy of “A Bell for Adano,” by John Hersey, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel written in 1946.  It is a timeless study of leadership and human relations.

            A U.S. Army major is given control of a small town in Italy as part of the Allied takeover at the end of World War II.  The Fascists have been driven from power and the Allies are setting up new governments for the people.  The young major has been given a rule book full of S.O.P.’s for leadership, but he does not have time or the inclination to study them, so he relies on what he has learned in his own training: Take care of your people first.

            In one noteworthy scene, the townspeople of Adano are lined up to get their bread allocation at a local bakery and an Italian officer left over from the previous regime by-passes the line, as he has always done to take care of his needs first.  The major, waiting his turn at the back of the line, observes this behavior and corrects it immediately.  Later in the day he calls together all of his officers and explains that regardless of what they have learned previously, the major’s requirements for leadership are simple:  “Consider yourself their servant.  You are here to serve them.  That’s what leaders do.  Serve those they lead.”

            The major also learns an important lesson about leadership when he realizes that the peoples’ town bell, one that has marked the rhythms of their lives for 200 years was taken as part of the war effort and melted down for ammunition.  The town elders advise him that if he really cares about making things right in the town, he will find a way to replace the bell. He cannot imagine this mostly symbolic gesture can be as important as getting food, supplies, and new programs for the town.  He learns, however, when he replaces the bell, that caring for their hearts is central to his responsibility as a leader.

“A Bell for Adano” is a primer on leadership: Model the behavior you expect.  Build trust, cultivate relationships, but as importantly, understand the power of symbols and tradition in a community.  I have thought hard about this compelling story.

            So what about your stories--not just the ones you have read but also the one you have created and will continue to write?  Every decision you make at a fork in the proverbial road, at the bottom of a long hill you have to climb, when you trip and fall, or, like Seabiscuit, are well in the lead but not fully challenged, will become a part of your story.   You play the most central role in your history.  Remember, you are here for a reason.  You have things you want to achieve.  Keep your destination in mind as you do.

            And know – also - there are many others who will influence how successful your story will be – for we will all be a part of each other’s experiences. And depending on how fairly and objectively we judge one another, how positive our perspective remains, or how determined we are to bring out the best in each other, we all will determine the kind of story we craft.  Will we see our responsibility as leaders and friends to serve others first, to care for their hearts, and respect their stories?

            We have an opportunity this year to write the next chapter of the Culver story.  Our year will definitely be chronicled, as will your personal story; regardless of how well we do.  And our stories will be intertwined.  I know that by working together we can create a culture of positive, shared values that will carry Culver and us to new heights.  We all have a role in this process, and each of us has a responsibility to care for this storied school and for one another.

            I look forward to working with you on this most important resolution.  We begin the year with a very full school and that is a good way to begin, but the size of Culver is not nearly as important as what we accomplish as we work together.  Let’s create a great story.