On October 30, Head of School Raynard Kington hosted The New York Times journalist and bestselling author Larry Tye in Andover’s final installation of the presidential election speaker series.
In an email to The Phillipian, Kington explained the value of examining history to better understand the present. Acknowledging the positive feedback that the events have received, Kington mentioned a plan to continue such political discussions following the election.
“I knew of Larry Tye’s work and had read some of it. I found the premise he makes about America’s struggles to reconcile its politics in the McCarthy era relevant to issues we deal with today. That was a really compelling case for us to discuss… Having a lens on history and thinking about the lives and careers of historical figures is often a helpful context for thinking about the challenges we face today. Circumstances change, but we can always learn from our past,” wrote Kington in an email to The Phillipian.
Tedy Berman ’25 attended all of the events of the speaker series that Andover has hosted this year. Interested in politics, he stated how he wanted to take advantage of the resources and opportunities that Andover offered and offered a comparison of Tye’s event to others. Berman noted that he was surprised by the connection Tye made between Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and the 1939 Nazi rally.
“I think [the presidential election series] were great. They were framed in a way that they weren’t biased, they weren’t partisan, which obviously is the goal at Andover now that we’re a non-profit and we can’t be partisan. Going to most of them, I did feel that the Larry Tye one was definitely the most intellectually stimulating and free of restrictions. Right off the bat, the [Madison Square Garden] comment, that shocked me… But I was all for it. I felt like it was a necessary step to talk about the election,” said Berman.
He continued, “So the big thing [with] Larry Tye being a historian and being a writer, was connecting this election to past events, and to past people. There’s a cliche saying that history repeats itself, which isn’t true. But history inspires us, history inspires us to do things. I think what Larry Tye was trying to do, and what he did do really well, was frame the current election, frame what people do when they’re in situations and positions of power, and how they go about politics.”
Tina Phan ’26 reflected on the discussion between Kington and Tye, explaining how the content related to the personal questions and concerns that she had preceding the election.
“[The talk] articulated what I’ve been feeling for so long. I’ve just always wondered how people are able to disregard a leader’s choice of words so easily because they champion certain policies that that leader supposedly pushes… I think for me personally, in terms of American politics, because I’m an American citizen, it is policy I’m most concerned about. But it’s getting to a point in history right now, where you can’t only look at policy, and it’s really important to think about the character of a leader. Mr. Tye has really articulated that sense of it’s not just about the policy,” said Phan.
Caroline Odden, Dean of Studies, was a member of the team that organized the event and invited Tye to Andover. Odden described outcomes she hoped students would take away from events hosted this fall.
“As we consider this moment in our nation, I thought Tye would be a great person to inspire us all to learn from history and to begin to imagine how this era will be viewed in the future… Our goal was to expose students to a range of relevant topics and provide programming that would help inform our campus community. We had a great turnout for all three evening events, and I am hopeful the students found the programming impactful.” wrote Odden in an email to The Phillipian.
Kington noted that while the election series may be over, Andover will continue to hold discussions about politics and engage with history as a tool for the future.
“I’m pleased to hear that the speaker series sparked deeper learning and a desire to interrogate pressing issues. I’m sure our post-election conversations will be equally important, especially given our country’s stark political divisions… I hope students are motivated to ask big questions and to think seriously about the impact they can have as engaged, informed citizens. In the case of Larry Tye’s discussion, I hope they think about journalistic integrity, the meticulous work of research and fact checking — all the elements that take an idea from concept to, in this case, biographies of historical significance and books on other important and interesting topics,” wrote Kington in an email to The Phillipian.
