Editorial

It’s a Big Deal for Students Too

During the Smith Center picnic this past Wednesday, students gave a standing ovation to Barbara Chase, Head of School, as she announced her retirement after the 2011-2012 school year. Mrs. Chase claimed in the opening of her speech that what she was about to announce was a big deal for her, but not for students. The standing ovation certainly implies otherwise. Not all students teared up during the announcement. Many probably don’t feel differently about the school going to sleep that night. For each of these students, however, there is at least one student who was struck with emotion upon hearing the words and who now has Mrs. Chase’s retirement at the forefront of his or her mind. Even the students who feel unaffected about the school at this moment undoubtedly perceive that a large scale change is coming. Uppers and Seniors will have Mrs. Chase as Head of School for the rest of their time here, but they still may feel a certain change in the mood of the school as Mrs. Chase completes her tenure and a search committee begins looking for the school’s next leader. Juniors and Lowers wonder about the next Head of School who will lead the them in All School Meetings, announce Head of School Day and send them off at Commencement in a unique style, different from Mrs. Chase’s. To gain a sense of the importance of this change to the student body, consider the recent election of the new President of the Board of Trustees, Peter Currie ’74. Currie will be a critical leader of the school for years to come, yet many students were not even aware of the turnover. Even fewer had an emotional reaction to the election. Of course not every student had an emotional reaction to Chase’s speech. But enough did, especially compared to the reactions to Currie’s election, to highlight an important difference between the Head of School and other high-level administrators at the school. The Head of School has a crucial functional role on campus, but he or she also has a symbolic presence. Because the average term of a Head of School is 16 years at Andover, most classes spend their time at Andover without experiencing a change in the Head of School. For these classes, the Head of School is integrated into how they think of Andover constantly throughout their years here. Even if students never get to know the Head of School personally, his or her constancy in the background of students’ collective consciousness assures that students all think of this figure as part of Andover. Similarly to Gunga or the color blue, the Head of School melts into Andover culture and identity. The collective understanding of the Head of School, not known personally by all students but associated with Andover by each, turns the position of Head of School into something more complex than a leadership appointment. The Head of School affects the way many students think about Andover, even subconsciously. With Mrs. Chase leaving, some students, especially Lowers who have known her but will go through their senior year without her, may feel lost. A small but consistent part of their understanding school, maybe even one they never recognized before, is going to change. For students who are here for only four years at most, sometimes it is easy to forget that Andover changes. This timespan of change, 18 years for example, is too long for students to feel a palpable effect on them. But a significant and sudden change of great relevance to the school reminds all students that Andover is a dynamic organism, not a static institution that will always have Mrs. Chase appearing at All School Meetings. Mrs. Chase was wrong. Her retirement is a big deal to many students, not to every student, but to many students. It forces students to grapple with the changing nature of a school many feel is sedentary. It forces students to create a blueprint of the school which, as difficult as it is to imagine, does not have Mrs. Chase at the helm. This Editorial Represents the views of The Phillipian Board CXXXIV.