Seniors took center stage during the first All School Meeting (ASM) of the school year. Starting next ASM, students will sit by advising groups according to a seating map.
Andover has postponed the pilot of a new All-School Meeting (ASM) seating chart, originally set to begin this week, following concerns that the change would affect the Student Body Co-Presidential Debate. The plan is now set to begin on April 10.
Drafted by Gina Finocchiaro, ASM Coordinator, the seating plan moves the majority of Lowers to Kemper Auditorium (Kemper) and has advisors sitting in the Cochran Chapel pews with their students.
In a schoolwide email sent out on Thursday afternoon, Head of School Raynard Kington announced that the seating will be postponed in light of the final round of the election.
“After listening to students and faculty about this particular ASM and the need for students to be with each other and cheer each other on, we will postpone the seating by advisory groups until the next ASM… We thought this was a reasonable request that should be honored,” wrote Kington.
Kington, who made the final decision to pilot the seating plan after discussions with senior leadership, explained issues with student engagement that the change sought to address in an interview with The Phillipian.
“I heard from both students and faculty that there was a sense that the All-School Meeting was no longer functioning as the community’s collective classroom in the way that it was conceived and has historically been in the past. That was reflected in a number of ways. One, for example, the common occurrence of students talking while a speaker was speaking. More than once, speakers have had to stop their speaking because it was so loud that other students couldn’t hear,” said Kington.
He continued, “[The plan] was a group effort, a number of the senior staff were involved. Our senior staff included the Deans and other people involved in planning. I don’t know exactly what specific people, but the senior leadership of the school was involved… There were conversations, and it was briefly discussed at faculty meeting… that’s not always the best way to engage [in] conversations.”
While rumors of a seating chart had been circulating prior to Spring Break, many students did not anticipate this change. Maya Tomlinson ’28 shared that she feels the decision resolves only a few of the issues associated with ASM.
“I felt that the fact that they separated it by advisory is just a little unnecessary. I know that there have been problems with the volume in the chapel, in that it’s very loud, but I feel like at least where I’m sitting, it’s not really that large of a problem, especially because it’s really only chaotic in the beginning and the end of the ASM… I feel like they’re making a big deal out of something that can be solved by a few more teachers walking through the aisles or just shushing people,” said Tomlinson.
Robert Budzinski ’26 similarly felt the chart marked a significant culture shift and commented on its implications for both students and faculty.
“My initial reaction was [surprise], as that’s a big change from what ASM normally is. I also honestly felt bad for the advisors, because they’re all teachers who are very busy, and that’s one of their break times. It’s the only time they can go eat at lunch without there being a thousand kids there. I felt bad that they were having to spend an extra hour overseeing us like that,” said Budzinski.
A notable aspect of the chart is the relocation of most Lowers to Kemper for seating. Tomlinson described the consequences of this change, noting that it conflicts with what she sees as ASM’s purpose and goals.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to force any group of students into Kemper. Not that it’s the worst thing ever, but it’s not ideal because you want to have that community that you get in ASM. It detracts from the point and the community that we’re trying to inspire because ASM is supposed to be a place for students or all students to get together and then learn something in togetherness, and now we’re splitting that up,” said Tomlinson.
Kington said the relocation considered both space limitations in Cochran Chapel and ways to maintain a sense of community.
“We don’t have a space on campus that can hold the entire student body and faculty. What we may do is we may ultimately rotate which group is in Kemper, but that was the thinking… there are different ways of building community, and one way is to have all the students together. One could argue that we’ve done that, and it hasn’t worked out well. So this seemed like the greatest chance of having an impact, and would least violate the sense of community,” said Kington.
Clara Isaza-Bishop, an advisor to Upper day students, thought that the change could also create more opportunities for discussion in advising groups.
“There was an old model that was not working that well, and we’re trying to create a different structure to create a sense of more community, and be able to reflect on what we see or what the students see in the [ASM]… I’m happy to share an experience with my advisees, actually. It’s like going to an event with my advisees and then kind of reflecting on what we saw in advisory,” said Isaza-Bishop.
Echoing Tomlinson’s sentiment, Allegra Lee ’27 explained how the chart may act as a restrictive measure that prevents students from taking responsibility for their conduct.
“Part of Andover is supposed to be figuring things out for yourself and learning how to be a respectful person on your own, which I think people are capable of, and I honestly don’t think the seating chart is teaching people how to do that. Part of what we’re supposed to learn here is how to recognize the value and the time and effort that ASM speakers put into their presentations and choosing ourselves without discipline just because we want to make that respectful choice to listen to them and to ask questions. I don’t think that more policies are necessarily fixing that,” said Lee ’27.
Colin Lee ’28 explained that similar policies can end up being ineffective for inducing cultural change and encouraged more intentional efforts to improve ASM.
“It’s making it feel like the administration’s doing what they want. I don’t think that’s going to really spark the change they want. You know the saying, you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink… What they’re doing is dragging the horse to water, but what they should be doing is seeing if the horse is thirsty, if that makes sense. They’re making policies to create changes that there isn’t much desire for, intentional or otherwise,” said Lee ’28.
ASM Coordinator Gina Finocchiaro declined to comment.
