The Board of Trustees came to campus last weekend for the annual Trustee winter meetings. According to a press release, the Trustees participated in a workshop focused on equity and inclusion. The workshop was organized by Head of School John Palfrey and Linda Carter Griffith, Assistant Head of School for Equity and Inclusion.
Robert Greene, author of five international bestsellers, led the workshop with members of the Senior Administrative Council. The workshop focused on un
conscious bias, asking participants to identify and raise their own implicit biases.
Trustees also discussed the upcoming steps of the campus master plan. According to the press release, architects from Architectural Resources Cambridge (ARC) led a virtual tour for the new 30,000-square-foot music building, which will be twice as large as Andover’s current music building, Graves Hall.
Nancy Jeton, Special Assistant to the Head of School, said, “The music program in particular is a program that is robust and does amazing things. Kids have incredible opportunities, but they are operating in sub-optimal physical facilities. We want to be able to provide better for them, which is what happened with the new athletics building.”
Before the new music building, the most immediate addition to campus will be a renovated version of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL). Thomas Lockerby, Secretary of the Academy, noted that the library renovation is top priority in coming months. As of January 31, 2018, 15 million of the 20 million dollars needed for the renovation have been raised, according to the press release. Another major topics discussed at Trustee Weekend was sustaining need-blind admission. For the twelfth year in a row, Andover’s budget for needblind admission has allowed the school to accept students regardless of their financial need.
Jim Ventre ’79, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, and Fernando Alonso, Dean of Administration and Finance, presented to Trustees on how Andover operates need-blind admission. They explained that as the number of applicants rise, need-blind admission becomes a greater priority for the admission committee.
Trustees also discussed all-gender housing and its success in its first year. Jennifer Elliott ’94, Dean of Students and Residential Life, and Emma Staffaroni, Instructor in English and House Counselor in the all-gender dorm Alumni House, spoke to Trustees on how Andover will continue to enforce a respectful and supportive environment in both the all-gender dorm and in the wider community.
