A Publication of George School, Newtown, Pennsylvania

Volume 75 • Number 2 • Summer 2003Georgian

Inside this georgian

A Quaker in the militaryA pacifist reflects on a special

government mission.

Page 2

An EnvironmentalChargeOwning an electric car helps an activist

demonstrate concern for the environment.

Page 3

Career Day 2003 — Choosing A PathBy Cristina Lucuski

Emmy Laybourne ’89 was happy to be back on campus to give a career work-shop and to see that her favorite teachers were still here.

She cocked her head to one sideand, with a wide grin spread onher face chortled, “Like, oh myGod! Like, that is so cool. Youknow, like, I could do my whole,

like, speech talking like this!” In an audi-torium filled with more than 200 GeorgeSchool students, Emmy Laybourne ’89mimicked the character she played in the1999 comedy Superstar.

As one of 13 career workshopsoffered to students on April 7, 2003,Emmy’s presentation of her career as anactress was lighthearted and funny, hold-ing the attention of the student audiencefor nearly an hour.

Always interested in comedy, Emmyjoined an improvisational comedy troupewhile she was a student at Vassar Collegein Poughkeepsie, NY. Upon graduatingfrom college, Emmy landed a job with animprovisational troupe. “When I startedgetting paid for doing improvisation, Ithought, ‘wow, I can get paid to do this.’”That’s when she knew comedic actingwould become her ultimate goal.

A lot of hard work eventually landedher a supporting actress role in Superstar.She later did a one-year stint working onthe NBC sitcom DAG, playing a SecretService agent. Her second film The In-Laws, released Memorial Day 2003weekend, included co-stars MichaelDouglas and Albert Brooks.

Emmy told the student audience thatthe most important thing in life is to beyourself. She then quoted a line from themovie Field of Dreams, “‘If you build it,

they will come.’ It’s up to you to makeyour art, whatever it may be, and do thebest that you possibly can. If you aredoing something that you believe in,then people will come and pay goodmoney to see it.”

Besides Emmy, there were severalother alumni, parents and friends whogave workshops. Antonio (Tony) PierreJackson ’71 and Marie Hooper Jackson’73, both alums and parents ’03, talked tostudents about their respective careers.Tony, an attorney, described his privatelegal practice, and Marie spoke about herexperiences as an obstetrician, gynecolo-gist and certified menopause specialist.

Dickson Sorenson, parent ’04, talkedabout his work shooting photographyand film for famous commercials, celebri-ties, movies, and concerts. Amanda Sozer,parent ’06, shared her experiences of pro-viding expertise, education andmanagement for DNA identificationissues. Helicopter designer and manufac-turer Franklin Carson, parent ’04,explained how he built his first helicopterfrom spare parts and started his businesswith the profits. Luke Titus, parent ’03and ’04, a program manager, spoke abouthis role in the design and production ofspacecraft systems, subsystems and com-ponents. Lou and Amy Grossman, parents’05, illustrated the role of a public rela-tions firm in crisis communications andstrategic communications planning.

Kingdon Swayne ’37 gave a presenta-tion to over 50 students who wereinterested in learning about his career.

continued on page 4

“…If you are doing something that you believein, then people will come

and pay good money to see it.”

War and Peacein our lives

Georgian • Page 2G e o r g e S c h o o l

S u m m e r 2 0 0 3

A Quaker in the Military: Reflections of a Pacifist Among the WarriorsAdapted by Rebecca Wilkinson

At George School this yearwe’ve been working hard topromote knowledge and

understanding about the war inIraq and the issues surrounding it,and to help our students sort outtheir often conflicting feelingsand opinions. Much of this workhas taken place in classes, inmeeting for worship and in infor-mal conversations, but there havealso been several student- andfaculty- initiated programs organ-ized around these issues.

Fall Assembly Series. Last fall,George School hosted a three-partassembly program featuring:

•Mary Ellen McNish, Executive Director of the American Friends Service Committee,

How is George School Addressing Issues of War and Peace?By Head of School Nancy Starmer

who reminded us of the Friends’ peace testimony and addressed some alternatives to violence against Iraq and against the threat of terrorism;

•Scott Simon, journalist and National Public Radio host,who gave a thoughtful andchallenging presentation toour students analyzing what hesees as our responsibilities inIraq and discussing his ownjourney from someone whoembraced pacifism to some-one who supports war withIraq;

•Robin Wright, Los Angeles Times correspondent andauthor of books on militantIslam, who presented a schol-arly overview of Saddam

After a twenty-year careeras an applied mathemati-cian, Quaker Loren Cobb

’66 wrote a paper on catastrophetheory that caught the attention ofthe CIA. So much so that a CIArecruiter took him to lunch andoffered him a job as an analyst.Loren turned downthe job offer butwas soonapproached by theUS Office of theJoint Staff. Thistime, Loren accept-ed the position andbegan analyzingsimulations of theSoviet Union’sinvasion of Europe.He ultimatelyhelped confirm apreexistent militarytheory: the use oftactical nuclearweapons duringmilitary conflictleads to a rapidescalation and nuclear holocaust.The military was impressed andLoren was offered a contract toprovide mathematical simulation

support for military exercises inUN peacekeeping and complexhumanitarian emergencies.

Loren has used his time work-ing with the military and the UNto examine and reflect on thesocial elements that contribute toinstability and violence on nation-

al levels. He writes,“I have come tobelieve that war hascauses on three lev-els: personal,psychological andinstitutional. Themost direct andimmediate cause ofthe outbreak of waris an institutional fail-ure, a breakdown atthe highest level thatoccurs within theinstitutions responsi-ble for conflictresolution.”

At a personallevel, Loren states,“People can be

swept up in war enthusiasm, orthey might support a war out of adesire to achieve a goal as rapidlyas possible, through sheer mili-

Matthew Wilkinson Crocker ’94is a captain in the US MarineCorps and a C-130 Herculespilot. During Operation IraqiFreedom this spring, he flew 37combat support missions in 25consecutive days. He willreceive seven medals, includingthree Air Medals and two NavyAchievement Awards. TheTown Journal of Allendale, NJ,featured Matt in a January2003 cover story highlightinghis lifelong interest in Navy andMarine flying. Matt’s fatherserved in the Army in Vietnamin 1969. Matt’s paternal grand-father was a bomber pilot inWorld War II. His maternalgrandfather served in Europe inWorld War II as well.

Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, therise of militant Islam, and therelationship of all of these tothe growing conflict with Iraq.

Young Friends-SponsoredActivities. This winter, our YoungFriends group organized 80 stu-dents, parents and faculty toattend an anti-war protest inWashington, DC. Young Friendsalso sponsored George School’sparticipation in the FriendsSchool Day of Peace held onFebruary 23 in Philadelphia.

Voice to Voice, or Kol L’Sot.Initiated by George School teach-ers Polly Lodge and Jackie Coren,this program — focused on creat-ing dialogue about issues relatedto the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

Loren Cobb ’66 believes that the followingstatement by Mahatma Gandhi bears closestudy: "Man for man, the strength of non-violence is in exact proportion to the ability,not the will, of the non-violent person to inflict violence."

“I prefer to work with

the institutions whose

weaknesses cause the

problems in the first

place: court systems,

legislatures, civil

services, militaries,

police, unions, political

parties, organized

religions, and

education systems.”

continued on page 3

continued on page 3

David E. Bassert Jr. ’70(shown here with wife, Linda) iscurrently deployed in Baghdad.A colonel in the US ArmyReserves in the specialty of CivilAffairs, Dave is coordinating thehumanitarian aid the Army isproviding in the Baghdad region.Before relocating to Baghdad,Dave had been in Umm Quasrsetting up distribution lines forfood and aid to flow into thecountry. Dave’s son Daniel is anArmy sergeant on active duty,currently flying Hunter UAVreconnaissance planes, whiledeployed to Mosul in the north.

Two Alumni onActive Duty

Quakerismin practice

G e o r g e S c h o o lS u m m e r 2 0 0 3

Georgian • Page 3

Anne Thomas Moore: Peace Activist With an Environmental Chargeby Ann Langtry

vehicle in 1991. “My husband is6’6” and they needed to alter thedesign of that early model toallow for more headroom,”explained Anne. The car’s unusu-al shape drew lots of attentionand the Moores found themselvesdescribing the benefits to every-one who asked about it. “We hadto be careful not to be too smug,”said Anne, pointing out how theelectric car creates less pollution, ismore energy efficient, is virtuallysilent but for the sound of rotatingtires, and causes less vibration,thereby extending the life of thevehicle. The only major cost isoccasional battery replacement.

The Moores now drive a con-verted Dodge Colt that runs oneight batteries and can speedalong up to 55 miles an hour.“Many of today’s electric car own-ers start with a regularcombustion vehicle,” said Anne.“The engine and gas tank areremoved and replaced with anelectric motor, controller and newwires.” Anne describes the“hybrid” car that is growing inpopularity as “a real break-through,” citing the Toyota Priusand the Honda Insight as exam-ples, both of which have acombination of electric motor andcombustion engine.

Concern for the environmentis just one of the Moores’ specialcauses. Their activities in connec-tion with the Nonviolent

Behind the quiet walls ofThe Hickman, a Quakerretirement facility in West

Chester, PA, Anne Thomas Moore’47 and her husband Tom maketheir modest home. Yet if youenter their world, you will soondiscover why this is no ordinarysenior couple. For instance, thereis Anne’s large loom situatedprominently in their apartment.Look further — and yes, that istheir electric car being charged.Ask them about how they spendtheir spare time, and a deep com-mitment to achieving internationalpeace bursts forth in the Moores’explanation of their part in agrowing international groupknown as the NonviolentPeaceforce.

Anne and Tom are activeQuakers with special passions forboth the environment and worldpeace. Using the electric car,Anne says, “allows us to put ourenvironmental beliefs into prac-tice.” She was raised with anawareness of electric cars. A greataunt, Martha Amoss Thomas, aformer George School Committeemember, owned an electric car inthe early 1920s, as did Anne’sgrandmother.

Today, the Moores are mem-bers of the Eastern ElectricVehicle Club, an organization thatwas instrumental in helping themlocate the company that builttheir first three-wheeled electric

— met four times this spring. Theprogram was open to all mem-bers of the GS community andwas facilitated by Lisa Santer, afounding member of the JewishDialogue Group and representa-tive of the National CoalitionBuilding Institute.

Students and Faculty Speak.Ten George School students andfaculty presented their perspec-tives and opinions about the warwith Iraq at an all-school assem-bly in Walton Auditorium in April.The presenters expressed a rangeof opinions, raised importantquestions, and were met withattention and respect by all mem-bers of the audience. •

Peaceforce also take up much oftheir time. “The mission of thisorganization is to build a trained,international civilian peaceforcecommitted to third-party nonvio-lent intervention,” says Anne. Thegroup’s pilot project in Sri Lankais scheduled for later this year.Anne is quick to mention that thePhiladelphia Area Affinity Groupof the Peaceforce was initiated byClarkson Palmer ’47, a GeorgeSchool classmate. After extensiverecruitment and training, theNonviolent Peaceforce enters intoa country’s conflict situation atthe invitation of local groups.According to the organization’s

informational website (www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org)their work involves deploymentof “hundreds of peaceworkers toprotect human rights, prevent vio-lence and enable peacefulresolution of conflict.”

While the peaceworkers areactive in a specific location, “themembers of Affinity Groupsaround the world will relay infor-mation to appropriategovernmental officials if there arehuman rights violations or othermatters needing immediate atten-tion,” according to Anne. TheMoores help the NonviolentPeaceforce with local fund-raising

efforts and providesupport for anypeaceworkers whoare recruited fromthis area.

Peace activism,environmental con-servation, Quakerideals. AnneThomas Moore andher husband Tomcouldn’t be happieras they remainactive in all three. •

Addressing Issues…cont’d from page 2A Quaker in the Military…cont’d from page 2

Anne Thomas Moore ’47 can be seen driving this electric car to themany board meetings she attends. Currently she is clerk of theGeneral Services Standing Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

tary force.” On a psychologicallevel, childhood abuse and neg-lect leave scars that lead to easyacceptance of institutional vio-lence in adulthood. Loren creditsQuakers with the positive impactthey have had on these first twoareas by being role models forpacifism and for working to elimi-nate slavery and domesticviolence.

It is in the last area, the institu-tional level, where Loren believesthat “Quakers are conspicuous bytheir absence.” While Quakersand Quaker-based organizationssuch as the American FriendsService Committee are extremely

effective in working with the vic-tims of conflict, they seldom focuson restructuring the institutionsthat failed to resolve the conflictbefore the outbreak of violence.Loren states, “I prefer to workwith the institutions whose weak-nesses cause the problems in thefirst place: court systems, legisla-tures, civil services, militaries,police, unions, political parties,organized religions, and educa-tion systems.”

Loren’s vision of future suc-cess includes an atmosphere ofglobal cooperation and stabiliza-tion where appropriateinternational action — up to and

including UN-sanctioned govern-mental reform, backed by thethreat of military intervention — istaken to preempt the need forcivil wars and wars between sov-ereign nations. He writes, “I thinkit is beginning to dawn on theinternational community thatbefore-the-fact preventive UNaction can save literally millionsof lives a year, at far less cost,compared to what we are able toachieve now.” •

Tom

Moo

re

village in East Jerusalem in theWest Bank. Hannah’s parents(Catherine Peck and GeorgeSchool teacher Chip Poston) weredoing peace and reconciliationwork with Palestinians andIsraelis. Later, she traveled toRussia on a brief exchange pro-gram. “Most of the world does notlive as we do, and I learned that ata very young age. I’m thankful forthese experiences, because theyspur me to want to explain orexpress my feelings about theworld, and inevitably that expres-sion is writing.”

Although she knows she willmiss her family, Hannah is excitedto be going off to college. “UNC isa huge school, which is what Iwant. I’ve gone to tiny schools allmy life. One can only start to dis-cover one’s identity whenseparated from the familiar. I wantto talk to people with a sense ofthe world that is totally differentfrom my own, which is why I loveto travel so much.”

Poetry is also one of Hannah’spassions. “I have been writing andreading mostly poetry for the pastyear. I like poetry because it hasto be tight. Writers get away witha lot in novels that they couldn’tget away with in poems. In apoem, an extraneous line or anot-quite-right word sticks outand begs to be fixed.” She enjoyswriting in general because of herbelief that the written word canbe a powerful tool. “I knowpoems and books can affect lives,because they have affected mine.”

Yet it is the craft and the tech-nique that intrigue her. “I do itbecause I get ideas. I like the writ-ing, the rewriting, and I like theend product. I do it because I feelthat if the world is ever going tolisten to what I have to say, it’sgoing to be because I can com-municate through writing.” •

Poetryin motion

Georgian • Page 4G e o r g e S c h o o l

S u m m e r 2 0 0 3

She moved an assembly ofteachers and students to tearswith an impromptu speech

immediately after September 11,2001. She sought out every possi-ble writing opportunity duringher four years at GS and wonawards and recognition along theway. So in spring 2003, when thescholarship committee at theUniversity of North Carolina atChapel Hill awarded HannahPoston ’03 the Thomas WolfeScholarship, providing full, four-year financial support for her“exceptionally focused literaryability and promise,” it came asno surprise to those who knowher well.

“The streets of Hannah’spoems are lined with gold,” saidTerry Culleton, George Schoolteacher and former poet laureateof Bucks County. “It takes couragefor a young writer to project hervoice as confidently into theworld as Hannah does and ittakes courage, too, to focus herenergies so single-mindedly onan art as technically obscure aspoetry.”

The Wolfe Scholarship isoffered by UNC-Chapel Hill toone incoming freshman each yearand is based solely on writing. “Ialways have my radar out foropportunities for writers, and Ifound out about this scholarshipduring my junior year,” saidHannah. She submitted about 50pages of her work — “mostlypoetry, with one short story” —and after a personal interviewwith the judges, Hannah learnedthe good news. She is the secondrecipient of this annual writingscholarship.

How did her GS career help tonurture Hannah’s writing abilities?“Teachers are always willing tomeet outside of class with stu-dents, even to talk aboutsomething unrelated to class, likemy poetry. Larry Leverett,Stephanie McBride, Ralph Lelii,and Terry Culleton have allhelped me immeasurably as I’veworked to develop as a writer.”

Hannah’s unique set of youth-ful experiences also fostered heremerging perspective. From 1993to 1996, her family lived in a small

UNC’s Thomas Wolfe ScholarshipAwarded to ’03 Graduate Hannah Postonby Ann Langtry

Hannah Poston ’03 returned to the Middle East in June 2003 as part of the George School-sponsored, 17-day Listening Pilgrimage.

Bonn

ie B

oden

heim

er

“The streets of Hannah’s poems

are lined with gold. It takes courage for a

young writer to project her

voice as confidently into the

world as Hannah does and it takes

courage, too, to focus her energies

so single-mindedly on an art as

technically obscure as poetry.”

Kingdon served as a career diplo-mat in the US Foreign Service inEast Asia after he volunteered tolearn Japanese. Kingdon wasrecruited by workshop planningcommittee member VinceMurphy ’03 who was curiousabout the man who had his namecarved in granite on Red Squareas a donor from the Class of 1937.Erik Falk ’05 recruited his family’sfriends, Carolyn and RickWaghorne, parents ’99, to talkabout how they selected smallcompanies to buy and to explain

how important philanthropicefforts are to them.

“The overall goal was for stu-dents to learn about careers thatthey are not normally exposedto,” said career workshop com-mittee chair Lisa Dayton, parent ofSara ’05. “Kids are really interestedto learn about the process of pur-suing career goals and the paththey have to take to follow in acertain career. Career workshopsgive them this opportunity.” •

Career Day…cont’d from cover

❝Life

as a student

G e o r g e S c h o o lS u m m e r 2 0 0 3

Georgian • Page 5

When Alex Germanacos’03 starts to feel nervous,he eases his tension by

retrieving his silver worry beadsfrom his pocket and mechanicallyflipping them over the top of hishand and massaging each beadbetween his fingers. Alex, aboarding student from Greece,flips the beads so methodicallythat it soothes and relaxes him.

“This is a Greek remedy forstress and anxiety performed most-ly by the men,” Alex explained.Called Komboloi in Greek, theseworry beads usually contain 16 to20 beads that can be made of mar-ble or even silver, strung on eitherleather, string or a metal chain withone bead tied and set off and usu-ally adorned with some kind ofpendant or tassel.

Using his worry beads wasone culturally Greek thing that hedid on a regular basis whileattending George School. ForAlex, adjusting to American cul-ture was a challenge. “It’s hard tofeel that you are keeping your loy-alty to your country wheneverything you do is American,”he said. During his first year atGeorge School, he was a little bitshy when talking to people. Byhis senior year, he found it hard tostop. Alex enjoys learning aboutpeople and maintaining relation-ships. “I think it is important to beyourself and take initiative,” he added.

Alex’s strong relationship skillsserved him well as both a prefect,supervising a hall of junior andsenior boys in Drayton dorm, andas a student council senior classrepresentative. He was also theassistant junior varsity basketballcoach and a stagecraft member,working on lighting, scenery,properties, sound, make-up, andstage management skills for GSstudent performances.

Alex values the lessons helearned at GS. He admits that hehad to learn to cope with his newenvironment. “I really value theway [George School] makes youthink deeply and how you learnto voice your opinion,” heexplained, “especially, the senseof open-mindedness towards newissues and cultural differences.” •

A Greek Perspective on American Student LifeBy Cristina Lucuski

Although Alex Germanacos ’03 has graduated from GS, he will be surrounded by a lot ofthe same Quaker values as a freshman at Earlham College this fall.

“My New Life Goalis to be Reborn asa GS Student”

— GSC Member

Bob

Kris

t

❞

The annual class visitation byGeorge School Committee memberstook place this year on April 11,2003. Committee members attendedwhichever classes they wished tovisit, beginning, if they chose, withan 8:00 a.m. class. At 9:50 a.m.,they attended assembly with theentire student body. Lunch followed,and they continued with classes untilthe end of the day.

This year, for the first time, the vis-iting GSC members were invited to adebriefing meeting in Head of SchoolNancy Starmer’s office. A new prac-tice suggested by the GSC last year,the wrap-up time allowed visitingmembers to share their experienceswith one another rather than go theirseparate ways at the end of the day.

“It was extremely gratifying to hearthe positive comments from our vis-iting committee members,” saidNancy. “They appreciated the warmwelcome by our faculty and stu-dents. I took notes during ourclosing meeting so that I could sharetheir reactions with everyone.” Whatfollows are a number of the com-ments by GSC members DeborahSpitalnik, Betsy Eschallier, TacieYerkes Trull ’74, Joe Evans, JackieBowers, and Cindy Sussman.

“I have two new books on my list toread this weekend.”

“The assembly was fantastic [allagreed with this comment] and Ireally liked how the studentsresponded to their peers and to theadults who gave announcements.”

“What comes across so strongly ishow much GS teachers love theirstudents.”

“I thought it was great that the lasttwo questions on the freshmanEnglish quiz had to do with currentevents.”

“There is a balance of accountabilityfor detail and ease of interchangethat makes the classes rigorous butrelaxed.”

“I was impressed with the level ofinquiry and also with the engage-ment of the students — even thecouple who clearly didn’t want to beengaged!”

“There is a wonderfully non-judg-mental tone in GS classes.”

“Adults clearly manage behavior herebut it doesn’t seem effortful oradversarial. This must come fromthe effort you’ve all taken to teachmutual respect.”

“The day just made me want tocome back Monday to see what hap-pens next!”

“I really value the way[George School] makesyou think deeply and

how you learn to voiceyour opinion.…”

NOTE: Pages removed from this document to protect the privacy of GS alumni.

Alumni may login to the alumni community at http://alumni.georgeschool.org to view the full version of this issue.

Ann Langtry, Acting EditorGeorgian@georgeschool.org215-579-6568

Volume 75 • Number 2 • Summer 2003NONPROFIT

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Advancement OfficeGeorge SchoolBox 4438Newtown PA 18940-0908www.georgeschool.org

GeorgianIn This Issue

Career Day 2003 ............................................1

A Quaker in the Military.............................2

Addressing Issues of War and Peace .....2

Environmentalist and Peace Activist......3

UNC’s Thomas Wolfe Scholarship..........4

A Greek Perspective.....................................5

Reborn as a GS Student ..............................5

Class Notes ......................................................6

Obituaries ......................................................15

Diverse Groups Get Along......................16

© 2003 George School Design: Turnaround Marketing Communications

“George School tries to create, in microcosm, the world as it could be,

not the world as it is,” said former Head of School David Bourns in 1992.

For over a century, other heads of school have had similar goals: to instill

in students a respect for others, and to create a community that embraces

differences and teaches tolerance. Probably for the first time, the school

can prove its success with statistical data. In January 2003, 385 of 540 stu-

dents returned a questionnaire that was designed to gauge their feelings

about prevailing attitudes on campus. The questionnaire was a joint proj-

ect of George School and the Peace Center, a local 21-year-old

organization that creates programs to help reduce violence and conflict

through a multicultural, community-based approach.

According to the survey results, 90 percent of the student respondentseither agreed or agreed strongly that different social and ethnic groupsget along well with one another at George School. This positive out-

come is all the more remarkable in a secondary school that, as AssociateHead of School Scott Spence said, “has a profound commitment to repre-senting in its student body the widest possible range of the humanfamily….” He comments that the school has learned “through the extraordi-nary vision and hard work of many people, going back many years …toembrace and resolve the tensions which are inevitable in such a communi-ty. [Teachers and administrators] work hard to teach and model peacefulresolution of any conflict that arises from the broad range of people andvalues within this diverse community.”

Ninety-two percent of respondents feel socially and emotionally safe, whichtranslates into George School’s being “an uncommonly safe environment,”according to Chris Porter, program director of the Buck County PeaceCenter. His perspective was influenced in part by a January 2003 NationalCrime Prevention Council survey release that showed 61 percent of USteens see bullying incidents one or more times a day. George School stu-dents, on the other hand, rarely see a bullying incident. Almost 90 percent ofstudents think that bullying is not a problem at George School. Over 85 percentof students believe that conflict is handled peacefully when it does arise.

James Grumbach, dean of students, believes that George School is suc-cessful because of the school’s fundamental Quaker values. “Answering thatof God in every person is at the root of expecting peaceful resolution ofconflict. We have conflict here in the community, but students know thatshould not lead to violent verbal or physical confrontations. Hence, most ofthem feel safe most of the time. They also receive and give a high degree ofrespect to one another and to adults; again, they are answering that of Godin every person.”

There is one area in which James sees room for improvement: enforce-ment of rules on campus. One third of the students felt that the GS rules

were unfairly applied. In response, explained James, “the deans have metwith Student Council to discuss this, and next year we intend to form a stu-dent/faculty committee to review all of the current rules to begin a dialogueabout what they are and how they are administered.”

Current Head of School Nancy Starmer feels “that the action James tookto elicit student input on perceived inconsistencies in rule enforcementexemplifies our institutional inclination: to respect others’ points of view.”She continued, “George School is an institution that solves problems fromthe ground up, not the top down. Sometimes the inclusive process of dis-cernment takes longer than we want, but the quality of the outcomes, andthe character of the school are enhanced.” •

Diverse Groups Get Along

Quakerismin practice

students agreed

or agreed

strongly that

different social

and

ethnic groups

get along well

with one

another at

George School

students feel

socially and

emotionally safe,

which translates

into George

School’s being

“an uncommonly

safe environment”

students think

that bullying

is not a

problem at

George School

students believe

that conflict

is handled

peacefully

when it

does arise

92%85% 90%90%

During the process of converting toa new administrative database sys-tem, we discovered that somealumni information did not convertas we had anticipated and may beincorrect. Please let us know if youreceive something from GS withincorrect mailing information on it.

2003 survey results reveal prevailing attitudes on campus.