The Brace Center is the academy’s resource and center for student and faculty discussion on gender issues. Donna Brace Ogilvie ’30, an Abbot Academy graduate, made a large donation to the school in support of the renovation of Abbot Academy, which in turn was used to create the Brace center in 1996. The Brace Center strives to develop Phillips Academy as a coeducational and multicultural institution through investigation of complex issues relating to gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity. Tony Rotundo, co-director of the Brace Center, said that the Brace Center was created to “keep the memory of Abbot alive” and to “raise awareness and promote discussion on gender.” In the past, several prompts encouraged an establishment such as the Brace Center. “Changing admissions policies, enforcing sexual harassment laws, and allowing women faculty and women administrators to play a significant role for the first time in school decision-making were major changes that happened in the 1980s,” said Kathleen Dalton, co-director of the Brace Center. “Before that, men largely ran the school and the atmosphere needed work.”
