Lately, students have noticed changes to the structure of All-School Meeting (ASM), such as Q&A sessions moved to after meetings and an emphasis on meaningful student engagement. These adjustments are in addition to last year’s return to bi-weekly ASMs.
On weeks when there is no ASM, blocks are allocated for protected time or community-building initiatives, including class and cluster meetings. Henry Zimmerman ’27 noted that many students appreciate the additional free time, and expressed how less ASM events could lead to better speakers.
“I don’t think many students are complaining about [having] more free time. Fewer All-School Meetings means that we get to hear from fewer speakers. Hopefully, that would mean that since fewer speakers are being selected, the quality of the speakers would increase and speakers would be coming in with presentations specifically designed to be given to Andover,” said Zimmerman.
This year, most Q&A sessions for guest speakers have been restructured to occur separately from ASM. Zimmerman acknowledged the benefits of this change while expressing concerns about accessibility and reach.
“It allows students to opt in to going deeper into the topic, and it gives presenters more time to share their insights, but it also removes the opportunity for all students to hear the answers to important questions at the moment,” said Zimmerman.
According to Gina Finocchiaro, All School Meeting Coordinator, before the bi-weekly schedule was adopted last year, it was last used in the 2021-2022 school year. She emphasized the importance of ASM in giving students a “shared experience,” yet acknowledged how it can be difficult to keep students engaged in the programming.
“Holding the attention of a chapel full of students (and some campus adults) can be a steep challenge,” Finocchiaro wrote in an email to The Phillipian. “Every year, school administrators do their very best to carve out a schedule that balances the different ways we want to gather formally in community — by class, by cluster, as a whole school — but also in advisory and in dorms.”
She added, “[Linda Carter Griffith, Associate Head of School for Equity, Inclusion and Wellness, and I hosted a few listening sessions on ASM last year, and we met with student and cluster co-presidents this fall to gather more. We are always open to feedback and perspectives from students.”
As stated by Finocchiaro, the ASM schedule is set for the following year by spring term, and that “all suggestions for ASM speakers need to come through a campus adult, as there is a process and protocol for bringing guest speakers to campus.”
Vivien Valckx ’28 reflected on the selection process for ASM speakers. She highlighted a level of transparency in the administration, yet explained how making student input and requests more accessible could lead to better student engagement.
“The administration has been pretty honest about [ASM]. They tell us that if we have anyone we want to see at ASM that we can go to specific people and reach out. I’m not really sure how they go through the selection process, but they have in the past told us that if you’re interested in having someone speak or if you have an idea for ASM, there are people you can talk to,” said Valckx.
“The topics that are covered in ASM are important and are interesting and helpful and they’re also related to Andover,” said Valckx. “At the same time I wish that students had more of an input into the speakers brought into the school. I’m not sure exactly how that could be executed, but if students had more of an input, maybe there would be more interest shown in the ASM.”
While some students appreciated the restructuring of ASM, others felt that its logistics could have been better communicated. Ashiq Kibria ’26 reflected on the biweekly format of ASM and expressed a lack of clarity regarding its plans.
“With [my] schedule [this year], I have a commitment that’s revolving around ASM or cluster meetings. It just feels like so much,” said Kibria. “The administration really has not been transparent about what’s happening with ASM, what’s going on, and how exactly it works. I remember for Grasshopper, as I’m a producer as well, it was a whole confusing situation and stuff like that. They haven’t been very clear about how ASM works.”
