View the complete list of graduates and Prize Day award winners.
The following are the texts of all speeches from Sunday, May 29, 2011.
-- Commencement Speech Excerpts--
Benjamin J. Stein
May 29, 2011
Mr. Stein, an award-winning actor, political commentator, author and economist who is perhaps best known for his iconic dead-pan portrayal of an economics teacher in the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," gave a commanding address. He began by thanking his long-time friend, Peter Flanigan '41, for bringing him to the School, and also paid tribute to another friend and Portsmouth alumnus, the late John Gregory Dunne '50. Stein regaled the crowd with a few jokes before giving the graduates several pieces of advice he said he wished he'd been told at his high school graduation.
Stein said, "The world is going to change in unpredictable ways. When I graduated from high school in Maryland much of the USA was totally racially segregated. We thought that would always be the way it was...but it has changed totally. This is now a completely integrated country, racially, ethically, and in terms of gender. The country has become incomparably more open to all Americans, especially and most importantly to women. Women are now able to achieve on a level thatwould have been unimaginable in my childhood. This has become a much greater country than we ever thought it would be.
"The life-or-death struggle between Western free societies and the Soviet Union is mostly over. We still have China to think about. China is now one of our largest trading parnters -- still a Communist dictatorship but much more open than we dreamed it would ever be. They are not our best friends, but they're not likely to fight a war with a country like us that owes them two trillion dollars!"
Stein said that, as a country, "We've made incredible progress racially...look at Selma, Alabama. Where there had been police brutality against black and white demonstrators who wanted voting rights for blacks, Selma now has a black mayor and a black police chief. We've made great progress in medicine, and we have much better communications all over the world via the Internet. Almost everyone with a computer who has Internet access has a medium to a world of information and entertainment instantly. The bad side of that is that the Internet is a running sewer of pornography, slander and libel; the pornography on the Internet has to be the most vile attack on human dignity there has ever been."
Despite all the great things going on, Stein said, he lamented what he called the "dismal" current state of U.S. public education: "The public school system in the USA has largely collapsed. Not here at Portsmouth Abbey, of course, but elsewhere the ignorance of much of this nation is stunning. Data from test scores is stunningly discouraging. Despite the fact that they're endlessly recalculating SAT scores to make them seem better, they're going down, down, down, and the ACTs are going down, down, down. The ACT recently issued a study in which they said that most college students know less about history and literature after two years of college than they did when they were high school seniors."
Stein recounted a recent conversation he had with contestants on a reality game show for which he was a judge, saying that not one of the 16 finalists could name five rivers in the USA, only a few could name five species of trees, and every single contestant thought the official language of Australia was "Australian." "This is a huge crisis in this country, especially for non-white Americans, and it shows the pitfalls ahead for the USA. We're not going to remain a first-class power without first-class education, and we don't have it now for most Americans. We are in for some rough sailing. We're competing against nations whose students do far better than ours as a group in many areas of testing. Education is huge contributor to economic growth or lack of it. We've got some problems.
"Government stewardship of the economy has been extremely questionable in the past 12 years or so from both parties, and there's no sign that this incompetence will stop. We're seeing a potential foreign policy and defense disaster taking place in the Middle East as democratic events make the region more unstable and more unfriendly to the USA. We welcome democracy, but the signs of what's happened after the revolution in Egypt are extremely worrisome. How are we going to respond to this? This is a huge question. How are we going to answer it when the players in the region have nuclear weapons? We've seen the nightmares of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- what do we do when the whole region is aflame?
"This is going to call for leadership. We're a great nation of people, but we need leadership much better than what we've been getting...and this feeds back into education, because if our leaders had been better educated, especially in history, we would not have had the debacles we've had in the economy and in foreign policy. I often think history is the single most important subject since it is the likeliest to teach us about the future. The times have always been uncertain, but they're going to be even more uncertain in the days ahead."
He looked to the graduates as the next generation of leaders: "Because of this, we're going to need your strength and the values you have learned here to lead our country in the uncertain times ahead...but that means we need to be more certain than ever in our personal lives." Stein told the students, "It is vital that you have in your heart a true belief that you have a God who is your best friend, your teacher, your boss." He also reminded the students, "The single thing I wish I'd learned when I was young: feelings come and feelings go. However bad you feel after a bad exam or a break-up with a friend, your mood will change in a few hours or a few days. Feelings come and feelings go."
Stein admonished the students to "have in your heart extreme gratitude to your parents, grandparents and other forebearers. It is incredibly, unbelieveably, hardwork to be a parent. Show some gratitude. Not many people in your life will treat you the way your parents have treated you. It's indecent to have that much love and work devoted to you without being grateful. Have deep gratitude also to your teachers, friends, family members and colleagues -- you cannot walk this world alone. Be grateful to your friends, and show it.
"Show respect for work. Work is the surest cure for any problem, mental or emotional. Samuel Johnson said that work elevates the spirit, creates self-esteem, creates human capitol, creates an ability to negotiate this world. Work is vital. I'm sure there are people in this graduating class who will never need to work. It doesn't matter; you have to work anyway.
"Believe in what you really believe in your heart, and stick to it. Don't be afraid to take on unpopular or politically incorrect causes. Long ago, probably at the instigation of Peter Flanigan, I became a devout believer in the Right-to-Life cause. I came to believe that a baby, when conceived, is a life and no one has a right to terminate that life. That has placed me in extreme opposition to 99.99 percent of the people in Hollywood. It doesn't matter. Life is sacred, and I would not be me if I gave up on this point. This has made enemies for me, and I hate making enemies...but as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, 'If you don't stand for something, you fall for everything.' If you have certain beliefs, even if they are unpopular, stick to them. It shows who you are."
"Be smart about your companions. Don't choose pals or acquaintances who are liars, braggarts, or addicts.
"Finally, be extremely grateful to be in America and to be an American," Stein continued. "This country is the greatest invention of mankind, the absolute best -- the first nation to allow its citizens to make the best of themselves and to live by their talents, the first large nation to govern by consent of the governed, and the first to run its economy on the principles of the free market. This great nation was stained for 330 years by wicked racism of a vicious, sick kind that has changed completely. We have to be grateful for that." But, he cautioned, there is much work yet to be done: "This has become a much greater country than we ever thought it could be, but we still have big problems. How are we going to face this new, ever-changing world?"
As an actor and one who is neighbors in California with what some people call "real stars," Stein added that the stars in this country are "...not in Hollywood. The real stars are putting on battle-dress uniforms over body armor and wearing the Stars and Stripes on their shoulders in Afghanistan and Iraq. The real stars are police and firefighters, the real stars are teachers at inner-city schools, doctors in emergency rooms, men and women of faith who minister to the desperate, and our ancestors who took off on tiny aircraft carriers and had to land in the night to fight and win World War II to keep us free.
"We have to think of them, and when we think of them we can see past the politicians and crooks and drug dealers and pornographers, and we can see that America's best days lie ahead."
Stein finished with a challenge to the Class of 2011, paraphrasing a portion of John F. Kennedy's 1960 Presidential inaugural address. "'If you ask how, despite this seas of difficulties, we'll get there, I'll tell you what a man whose family was familiar with this school, John F. Kennedy, said when he was inaugurated President 50 years ago -- and I was blessed enough to be able to see that inauguration in person: 'We all ask God to bless this great nation, and we all ask God to go to work for this great nation...but here on Earth, God's work must surely be our own.'
"Get to work, kids!"
Delivered to the Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2011
by John "Mac" Regan, III, '68, P '07
Chairman of the Board of Regents
Mr. Stein, parents and family members, alumni, friends and graduates, on behalf of the Portsmouth Abbey School Board of Regents, it is my pleasure to welcome you to today's Commencement.
Last year, I spoke to the graduating class about the challenges we all face as both Americans and global citizens. I was delighted by the lucidity and relevance of my remarks. How could the graduating class not fail to be inspired as they went off to change the world for the better? Spotting my daughter Caroline, Portsmouth class of 2007, a serial graduation attendee, I asked her how she liked it. She didn't. "Wow Dad, that was really dark and depressing." Well, of course it was. The world can be a dark and depressing place. But she was correct. Graduation is a time for celebration and looking forward. While there is much wrong with the world, the solutions for these problems are percolating in businesses, academia - even the government and politicians occasionally get into the act, when forcibly prodded.
Few environments are more positively charged than the colleges you will attend. For many of you, college will be some of the most fun and challenging years of your lives. Your families, fellow students in the Portsmouth Abbey community, and your teachers and coaches have you well prepared. Class of 2011, can you please stand and join me in acknowledging their contributions to your success.
Since my retirement from business three years ago, I have had the opportunity to attend four great colleges. In each, there have been some slackers, a majority of dreamers and a small group of high achievers. Interestingly, while the incidences of body piercing were as prevalent at Sarah Lawrence as Vineyard Vines outfits were at Connecticut College, I found little difference in the overall quality of students across these four institutions. In their own ways, they were each interesting and intelligent as individuals. All could do the work. But it is clear that some make the decision to take on more challenges, sample more activities and work a bit harder than others.
During your time in college, I hope you will find it within yourself to try some things that are truly challenging. You need to experience hardship sometimes to attain lasting gain. Let me give you a personal example. A recent magazine article asked the question, is there really a hell? I can assure there is a hell - it exists every summer at the Middlebury Language School. In 2008, I spent 9 weeks in this gulag, isolated from friends, family, English, and all creature comforts. I got up at 6 a.m., worked 16 hours a day, experiencing only modest grade point success for my efforts. But I became passionate about the subject and the pain is now a distant memory. And, what I learned has stayed on. I challenge you, each year in college, to try something really difficult (a course, a sport, volunteer work, as my younger daughter would say, "whatever").
But individual choices you make in college are only one dimension of your opportunity.
My favorite fellow students have an additional distinguishing characteristic, one not limited to just the high achiever. That is, the willingness to empathize and connect with others. At Portsmouth Abbey, you have learned to work together in a small community. Here you have laughed and cried together, shared winning and losing experiences, and developed shared norms, values and habits. You are moving on to larger communities as individuals but your eventual success there will rest not only on your individual commitment and hard work, but also on what you bring to the community. The Benedictine and Catholic environment you have experienced at the Abbey provides a sound platform for community participation. As New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested in a recent op ed, "Just as giraffes got long necks to help them survive, humans developed moral minds that help them and their groups succeed. Humans build moral communities out of shared norms, habits, emotions and gods." Your Abbey education has prepared you to question the status quo, to solve problems, to respect others, and to ground your decisions on timeless ethical and moral platforms. Use these skills to better participate in your college communities. You will take away as much as you give.
Regrettably, college will be over all too quickly. But what you learn in college will remain, to be deployed in a world that genuinely needs an array of individual and cooperative skills. You will vote in a world where governments shirk their responsibilities in the face of powerful special interests. A world where the richest 20% of the global population enjoys nearly 80% of private consumption while the poorest 20% manages with less than 2%. Where rich countries fail to adequately support basic education, water and sanitation, and adequate health and nutrition for the world's poorest. It has been estimated that these can be provided to all people in all countries for less than U.S. $30 billion annually. It seems a small price to pay if we consider that world military spending approaches U.S. $800 billion per year or that consumers in the USA and the EU alone spend U.S. $30 billion annually on perfumes and cosmetics. W here is the community that demands that this be fixed?
Surely there is opportunity here. These things can be fixed. Strength of community and purpose can lead to solutions. We can choose to look optimistically at the recent turmoil in the Arab world. But we should also be concerned that without guarantees of basic human rights, it is easy to conceive scenarios where the optimism in these communities will be swept away by radical fundamentalism that commits to addressing education, food and water requirements without commitment to basic human rights and respect for different points of view. I believe George Marshall had it right in his speech at Harvard University in June 1947. In reference to the need to rebuild Europe following the destruction caused by World War II, "The US should do whatever it is able to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty and chaos." Marshall went on to say that the goal is "to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist." Where is the community that demands this type of vision?
In today's world the USA can be a leader among other like-minded leaders. I suspect we will not get there through the efforts of tea partiers, G8'ers, or other groups who fail to represent broader global interests. A new human community, built from cooperative vision and reliant on what Marshall called "an understanding of the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied," is needed. I invite all you future college slackers, dreamers and high achievers to define and build that community.
As Portsmouth Abbey graduates (soon to be!), you understand better than most reverence for God and the human person, respect for learning and order, and response for the shared experience of community life. May you always use these as a backbone for your individual choices and your community participation, both in college and in your remaining lives. So, to my daughter Caroline, graduated this year from college, the world does not need to be a depressing place. There is reason for optimism if we, together, take responsibility for our individual and cooperative future.
Congratulations to all. Godspeed!
2011 Valedictory Address
Given by Michael Peter Flanigan '11
May 29, 2011
One second (bow head, pray). . . Thanks, I just had to pray for forgiveness—for finishing up my speech during the homily this morning.
Good Morning, and welcome to Dr. DeVecchi, Abbot Caedmon, Mr. Regan, Mr. Stein, the Abbey faculty and monastic community, family and friends, and, most important . . . welcome to the Class of 2011!
Having had a grandfather, father, my older brother and sister, and a cousin all go to the Abbey before me, I thought I had it all figured out. I was severely mistaken. On my very first day I slept right through our first dorm meeting, and then spent ten minutes wrapping a tie into useless knots around my neck. I'm pretty sure I would still be there right now, if it weren't for my first friend at the Abbey, Mike McLaughlin, who gave me a crash course in tying ties. I have been learning lessons from friends and faculty ever since.
At the Abbey, halfway through every term, we get our advisory grades. Sometimes this is good, and sometimes not so good. Mr. Zelden, our Academic Dean, advises us in these troubling times with a few words of wisdom: "Good Morning. Now you all have a record. You can choose to run from it, challenge it, or confirm it."
Mr. Zelden is right. Our graduating class does have a record.
When we hear the word "record" we probably think of all things academic: SATs, tests, grades, classes attended, classes skipped. During our time here we have created a pretty good academic record. We know how to spend hours studying for an exam, and when to just call it a day and hope for the best. Normally, that happens when we're trying to study for one of Mr. O'Connor's impossible quizzes. Honestly, who knows what color the cat's eyes were in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? . . . They're green, of course, O'Connor tells us.
Despite those quizzes, our transcripts are complete, but ours is a record of friendship, too. The kind of friends who never say no. This is great when your calculator dies mid-calc test and Riley Kinnane immediately passes his over. It doesn't always make sense though: for example, when Morgan Green and I stood shivering in our boxers about to plunge into the bay in the first week of January.
We have a record of hidden talents. Who could've guessed that Ryan Gladney had the Broadway talent to pull off the Captain in The Sound of Music? Or who could've guessed that Garret Behan, who during his Third Form year couldn't even make it through a five-second conversation, would be the life of the party at prom. . . and a total dancing machine?
Our class has a record of determination. Liam O'Farrell literally set the record when he scored his 1,000th point against Berwick this winter. Most people had never heard of Jake Flynn before his Fifth Form year—but those who had, know that he didn't just pop out of the ground as the weight-lifting hulk he is today. Oh no!—to get that jacked he had to spend hundreds of hours checking himself out in the gym mirrors.
We have a record of generosity. Garrett and Brigid Behan have made Flying Kites, a foundation dedicated to helping underprivileged children in Kenya, a part of the Abbey. The students here have broken their own record every year since they started Clothe-a-Child: this year they raised over $13, 000, which bought clothes for 487 local children in need. Almost every other week we have a dress-down day to help with cancer research, the Appalachia trip, or rebuilding Haiti. When it comes to charity, Betty, every kid's mom away from home here at the Abbey, has been the perfect role model. She's been "loaning" us bagels over at Tuck for years. I'm sorry, Betty, but I'm not sure you're ever going to be paid back for those.
This record is not ours alone; we owe so much of it to the Abbey faculty and monks. In our Medical Physiology class, Mr. Perreira has taught us everything from how to set broken bones to how to jam missing teeth back into people's mouths, all the while telling the cheesiest jokes in the book. Do you want to hear one? Every day Mr. P walks into class and we ask, "Mr. P, what's up?" "The sky." I know . . . it was a longgg year. Now, in our Faith and Life class we have learned from Mr. Hobbins that there is such a thing as Truth—and I can tell you that our Dean of Discipline, Mr. C. knows exactly how to scare it out of you. I learned that in my first week of classes, after using a "study guide" on a Latin quiz. By the way, the School's motto, Veritas, means "Truth" in Latin. I learned that the hard way.
This spring, a few of us were sitting around, probably dodging some mandatory meeting, when we started talking to Brother Francis. We asked him about his life before coming to the Abbey, and why he would ever choose to become a monk. His answer surprised us.
He told us that when he was young and not sure what he wanted to do with his life, he made a list of everything he loved to do, and then tried to find a life that could include them all. That led him to the monastery and teaching. The way he put it, though, was: "I came to the Abbey to have fun." We all came to the Abbey for a great education, but we did our best to have fun, too.
The Abbey helped Brother Francis find everything he was looking for. It has also helped our class to make our own lists. After all, isn't a list simply a record waiting to happen? The Abbey has offered everything we could want in a high school, from excellent academics, to a beautiful campus, and lifelong friends. While we have been busy making our lists and creating our record over the last four years here, the Abbey has been preparing us. It has prepared us to take our own journey the same way it prepared Brother Francis to join the monastic community. As we stand here today, about to embark on this journey, we can already begin to see how the Abbey has prepared us to become contributors to the world.
Who knows?
I know that, after his outstanding student council career, and four years of perfect adherence to school dress (does he even sleep in a blazer?), I will vote for Chris Waterman when makes his long-awaited run for President of the United States.
Everyone knows that Shannon Muholland will star in The Real House Wives of Long Island.
I know that Henry Mullen, the SUPER-FAN and Tuck Dance enthusiast, will soon be the first Abbey graduate to be named a High-School All-American. . . in Cheerleading.
Years from now, when we return to the Abbey, where will we see our record? Maybe we'll see it carved in the stone with our class quotation, down near the fountains, or in all of our signatures on the class picture, hanging up in the Classroom Building. But the place we'll really find it is in ourselves. The physical impressions we have left here will eventually fade, but the bonds we have made, the experiences shared, aren't going anywhere. They'll be with us forever. So whenever we next meet, at the five- or fifty-year reunion, or maybe just bumping into each other somewhere, I know we will be happily reminded of the incredible time we shared here at the Abbey, and maybe compare our life lists, to see how far we've come.
God bless and God speed! Congratulations, Class of 2011!
Commencement Remarks
Delivered by Headmaster Dr. James DeVecchi
May 29, 2011
Thanks to our Director of Music, Mr. Josh Horsch, and our Abbey Singers -- especially our Sixth Form singers, Felicity McDonough and Tim McGuirk.
Commencement Speaker Mr. Stein, Abbot Caedmon and the Monastic Community, Chair Mac Regan '68 and members of the Board of Regents, Abbey Faculty and Staff, students, parents, and invited guests, welcome to Portsmouth Abbey School's 81st Commencement ceremonies and to the commencement celebration of the Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2011.
Please help me in welcoming back the many members of the Class of 2010 who are here to wish our 2011'ers well and to celebrate their unofficial 1st Reunion!
Class of 2010—welcome back!
A few Saturdays ago, while Mrs. DeVecchi and I were sitting with many of you at Vespers, waiting for D. Edmund to get into his "Alternate Mass mode," I was taken by how quiet you all were. There was not a sound in the Church, and barely a movement, for a good 10 minutes—a very uncharacteristic display of quiet for sure!
This got me thinking—after Mass, of course—about silence vs. quiet and, ultimately, about respect. Anyone who has visited our Monastery has likely seen the entrance plaque simply stating "silence." Indeed, one of the guiding tenets of The Rule of St. Benedict, and we know one of D. Edmund's oft-repeated admonitions at Church Assemblies, is the "restraint of speech," or as D. Edmund puts it, "QUIET!"
I'd like to think the quiet that I witnessed was motivated - apart from not wanting to mess with D. Edmund just before an Alternate Mass — by an understanding of how your "silence" actually equated to respect. The fact is that respect is at the core of Portsmouth Abbey School's Mission, and respectful is what all of you have been during your time at Portsmouth. Have I seen the occasional lack of good judgment by members of your class? Of course! However, I have rarely, if ever, seen you display disrespect -individually or collectively.
"Respect," as an integral part of the fabric of your class, has come through loud and clear, not only in what you have done, but also in how you have done it. Your respectful natures have proved most apparent in the way that you have handled yourselves when things did not exactly go your way - and this fact has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Our faculty have shared nearly all aspects of our lives with you here, from the classroom to the athletic fields to our very homes and families. Your respect for each other and your school has made this living arrangement a wonderful one for us all. For this I congratulate and thank each and every one of you.
Our soon-to-be graduates all found on their chairs this morning a gift from Tom Healey '60 -- a copy of his friend and Harvard Professor Richard Light's book, Making the Most of College—this book is an "easy read" and certainly seems like a timely topic for our about the be graduated students and their families. (Actually, Tom and Board of Regents member Meg Healey are here for Claire Allman's graduation—Thanks Tom and Meg.) Prof. Light was our Commencement speaker a few years ago and his clear message to us then was, "In college, get to know at least one Professor well." At Portsmouth Abbey School, knowing and being known by one's teachers are fundamental to the culture. Not that we take it for granted, this simply is the way it is at the Abbey.
I repeatedly hear students comment that "The things that I like best about the Abbey are my friends and my teachers. On Thursday evening at the 6th Form Alumni Dinner we heard from Annie Sherman '95 speak about her lasting Abbey friendships and you all know how strong your relationships are with your Abbey teachers. In fact, the gratitude for some of these relationships was expressed with the dedication of the 2011 Gregorian to teachers Mr. McDonough and Mr. Moffie, and to your good friend Pauline St. Denis.
Congratulations again Dan, Elliot and Pauline!
Well, relationships with teachers like these and so many others are something that you will have to work a far bit harder on in college but, as professor Light states,
it will be well worth your effort in trying!
Class of 2011, you have worked hard and you have had fun, and your leadership and positive spirit have set a consistently strong tone for our school.
At 107, you are Portsmouth's largest class ever and at 107 you are finishing the year with the exact same set of 6th Form students with whom you started the year. And at 59 girls and 48 boys your "ratio" and strong female presence has shown achievement, leadership, poise and grace most fitting for our 20th coeducational graduating class.
From Abby Benson and Liz Hammen in the Class of 1992 to our girls in the Class of 2011, congratulations and thanks to all who have helped to make coeducation such a wonderful success at Portsmouth.
Kelly Buckley and Drake Bonin, I was most pleased yesterday to present to you the Head Girl and Boy Awards. I truly looked forward to seeing you for Assembly every Monday and Friday morning. Your poise, your presence, and your unfailingly cheerful and positive outlooks set the tone for what has been a very good year for your classmates and our entire school—and made my job both easier and more satisfying. Also, I took particular pride in watching you grow as leaders and you should feel good about this growth and your contributions to our School. Thank you!!!
Head Girl- and Head Boy-elect Jisoo and Mike, you have very good examples to follow in Kelly and Drake!
Also thanks to 6th Form Class officers Chris Waterman and Sarah Stratoberdha.
Class of 2011, you are a very diverse group with students representing 13 states and 14 countries. Your Class is 18% international with students coming from Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvadore, Guatemala, Korea, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Philippines, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and Venezuela. This cosmopolitan presence helped to create a campus culture to the betterment of all and representative of the world in which you will be spending your lives.
As was cited at yesterday's Awards Ceremony, we are very proud that two members of the Class of 2011 will be attending service academies next year—Phil Lozier-Youngberg to United States Naval Academy and Chris Waterman to the United States Air Force Academy. Phil and Chris, your desire to serve is admirable and appreciated! Congratulations and thank you.
Also, it was very nice to have Mr. Morrissey back in January from service in Afghanistan. Kevin, thanks to you and your family for the sacrifices that you have made for our country and thanks to all in our Portsmouth constituency who are serving or have served in our country's military.
· Athletically, your class has lead our varsity teams to a 55% winning percentage this year including a 58% winning percentage in our Eastern Independent League, and your 6th Form leadership led to 4 league championships. More importantly, 80% of the members of the 6th Form earned at least one varsity letter this year and 28 members of the 6th Form earned three varsity letters this year -- very impressive statistics indeed!
· Christian outreach and community service this year have included everything from raising funds (and shaving heads!) to helping to find a cure for childhood cancers to a three-on-three basketball tournament for an African orphanage, to annual events such as the March for Life in Washington, D.C., to a record-breaking Clothe-a-Child effort to our 18th annual Appalachia Service Project—the last 16 of which have been directed by Mr. "C." And regarding the "bottom line," your leadership helped to raise a total of nearly $34,000 from the Abbey community in support of the aforementioned causes and more.
All of this gets to the heart of our School's Mission of Responsibility for the Shared Experience of Community Life by putting knowledge and our gifts in service of others.
We enjoyed at a recent assembly a clip from Commencement Speaker Mr. Stein's memorable performance as the boring teacher in "Ferris Buehler's Day Off!" On our own campus, the performing arts leadership of the Class of 2011 has provided us with some wonderful chorale, instrumental and theatrical experiences over the past four years including 12 stage productions and three dance recitals. Indeed a full 20 of the members of your class have participated in theatrical performances ranging from "Check Please" to "Inherit the Wind" to this winter's wonderful performance of "The Sound of Music." In addition, the 2010-11 year has been our strongest year in music in recent memory. Particularly nice has been growth in both the Abbey Singers and Pro Deo, and the presence of some new student-initiated and student-directed musical groups.
Also, this year our performing arts programs were particularly fortunate to have benefited from a most successful parents' auction and gala which was led by the hard work of many of our 6th Form parents. Thank you!
Furthermore, all will forever be reminded of the Class of 2011through the wonderful sculptural piece of "thread art" created by Catherine Fairhurst and Daniela Vollmer—signed by you all and currently displayed in the Administration Building Lobby. This work was inspired by our Abbey Church's Lippold Wire Sculpture, The Trinity, and uses colored threads to represent the diversity and spiritual unity of our Abbey student body.
Noteworthy during your time at Portsmouth over the past four years was the completion of Phase I of Growing in Knowledge & Grace: The Campaign for Portsmouth Abbey School:
o When you arrived here in September 2007, St. Brigid's House was just opening and many of you (girls that is!) have been fortunate to enjoy what probably will be the best student housing you will ever experience. Boys, well you were greeted with a new girls' house and promises of a new boys' house when you arrived and are leaving as that promise of a new boys' house is about to be fulfilled! You have been good sports about all of this, I thank you and you should know that as with previous generations of Abbey graduates, your school will continue to grow, prosper and be a better place for future Portsmouth students because of your time at and support of your school.
o At the center of our campus, representing the core of our mission is the Abbey Church of St. Gregory the Great—the restoration of which was completed in the Spring of your 4th Form year.
o Next on our facilities plan is a new science center, which should be completed for you to walk through when you return for your 5th Reunion in the Fall of 2016. Specifically, we are planning to build a 17,000-square-foot facility as a wing off of the east end of the Burden Classroom Building, with the existing science center being renovated to provide much-needed classroom space and lecture hall facilities.
o Equally important has been support for Portsmouth's endowments for scholarship and faculty, and the commitment of your families and many, many of Portsmouth's alumni to the growth of our Annual Fund.
Please know that the Class of 2011's matched class gift to this year's Annual Fund is significant and most appreciated.
o Part of the endowment accomplishments mentioned above was the completion this spring of the Dom Andrew Jenks Chair in Mathematics. The Jenks Chair has been established through the support of many alumni and friends of Portsmouth whose lives were influenced by Dom Andrew Jenks, O.S.B. Through this Fund, the legacy of a beloved teacher, mentor and friend is honored, while providing support for future generations of Abbey mathematics leaders. Annual income from the Jenks Chair will provide support and resources for the chair holder's professional activity and pursuit of excellence for Portsmouth Abbey's mathematics program. I am most pleased today to be appointing our Associate Headmaster and Mathematics Department Chair, and my friend and colleague, Dan McDonough as Portsmouth's first Jenks Chair in Mathematics. Being the first Jenks Chair is a very big deal and is an honor the significance of which I know that Dan understands!
To commemorate his Jenks Chair appointment I am presenting Dan with a Fries Medal. The Fries Medal was established in 1955 in memory of D. Andrew's good friend and school benefactor, George Fries, and is presented each year to the top mathematics student in the School—this year the Fries Medal was awarded to 6th Formers Francesca Bessey and Edward Kielb . Also, in the bag is a little something special for Dan that anyone who knew D. Andrew would feel should be part of any presentation in his memory!
Class of 2011, you have been terrific! Last year I stated a wish to parents that I repeat now:
"May you have joy in your children."
Parents of the Class of 2011, please know that we at Portsmouth Abbey School have had joy in your children—lots of it!!!!!
Class of 2011, all of your families made a special commitment to you by providing the opportunity to attend Portsmouth Abbey School. Moreover, it is particularly nice when families entrust child after child after child to Portsmouth. Unfortunately, but proudly, 2011 marks the end of the Portsmouth line for five such families:
· Jake Flynn, with siblings Griffin '98 and Sean '01; Congratulations Donna and Jack;
· Julia Hansen, with siblings Taylor '08 and Madison '10; Congratulations to Peter and Rita;
· Reilly Kinnane, with siblings John '03 and Brendan '07; Congratulations to Brendan '77 and Ellen;
· Epi Minondo, with siblings Elena '08 and Martin '09; Congratulations to Martin and Visi;
· And crossing the finish line at the same time are Andrew, Katie and Tori Sgarro '11; a special congratulations to Doug and Breda!
Especially gratifying to Portsmouth are families who attend Portsmouth generation after generation. Surely you were moved by the wonderful picture of our legacy girls on the cover of our Winter 2011 Bulletin in celebration of our 20th year of coeducation. Indeed Portsmouth Abbey School—like our Abbey of Our Lady of Peace and St. Gregory the Great—is not in the business of re-inventing itself, and our legacy families are an important part of the preservation of Portsmouth's Benedictine identity and traditions. In this regard, I am pleased and proud to congratulate seven second-generation Portsmouth graduates in the Class of 2011:
· Tiernan Barry, with Grandfather Gordon '41
· Adam Crimmins, with Grandfather Bill '48
· Emily Cunningham, with Dad Tim '74
· Lani Griffiths, with Grandfather John Dale '65
· Reilly Kinnane, with Dad Brendan '77
· Theresa Lonergan, with Dad Tom '71
· Mauricio Posada, with Grandfather Jaime Urrutia '60
· And Kate Skakel, with Grandfathers Peter Flanigan and George Skakel, both Class of '41
I ask our legacy dads and granddads to stand. Congratulations to these special families.
Furthermore, special recognition goes to one member of the Class of 2011 who is the third generation to attend Portsmouth Abbey School, Michael Flanigan with Dad Tim '75 and Granddad Peter '41. Very special congratulations to Peter and Tim!
As we have heard, there are three members of the Class of 2011 whose grandfathers were in the Class of 1941. The 30 members of the Class of 1941 graduated exactly 70 years ago this coming June 11th. The Class of 1941 has distinguished itself in service to God and Country, in business, and in support of Portsmouth. Portsmouth's founder and then Headmaster D. Hugh Diman presided over the Commencement of the Class of 1941. At that commencement, Peter Flanigan and Gordon McShane were named to Cum Laude and 2nd Former Alan (D. Damian) Kearney was the leader in scholarship for his Form and received the award of Excellence in CD for the lower school. The Commencement speaker was Bishop Francis Keough, Bishop of Providence. Bishop Keough concluded his commencement remarks by saying that the main purpose of an education was for the students to go out and save their souls, and by so doing, set a good example for others—words that apply very well today.
Yesterday's Award's Ceremony was an occasion to honor the special accomplishments of some of you and your schoolmates. You now sit here as equals in the eyes of Portsmouth and very soon to be valued alums. All gathered here are pleased and proud to be honoring Portsmouth Abbey School's Class of 2011 with these commencement ceremonies.
Now, and finally, Abbot Caedmon, Mac Regan and I will confer diplomas on the Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2011!
