SIDWELL Contents FRIENDS MAGAZINE Spring 2020 Volume 91 Number 2 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief DEPARTMENTS Sacha Zimmerman 2 REFLECTIONS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Art Director Meghan Leavitt 6 ON CAMPUS Senior Writers The Whiffenpoofs pay the School a visit; the Black Natalie Champ Student Union Production explores American music; Kristen Page we ask Tamika Dudley five questions; students unravel the science of justice; and much more. Alumni Editors Emma O’Leary 20 THE ARCHIVIST Anna Wyeth Contributing Writers 06 Sidwell Friends was all about reuse and renovation Loren Hardenbergh before it was cool. Caleb Morris 42 ALUMNI ACTION Contributing Photographers Kelley Lynch 44 FRESH INK Tim Coburn 47 CLASS NOTES Susie Shaffer ’69 EVERY DAY. Freed Photography The Class of 1962 reflects on presidential impeachment—then and now. Digital Producers Anthony La Fleur 67 WORDS WITH FRIENDS Sarah Randall “Feeling Sly?” FOR EVERYONE. LEADERSHIP 22 68 LAST LOOK Head of School When you give to Sidwell Friends, you provide Bryan K. Garman “Night Moves” immediate and necessary funding for the experiences Chief Communications Officer FEATURES that our students value most. Hellen Hom-Diamond 22 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT CONNECT WITH SIDWELL FRIENDS And through those experiences, you empower The plans for a new Upper School are an object lesson students to take risks, develop confidence, @sidwellfriends in environmental design, ethical leadership, and edu- and overcome obstacles. @sidwellfriends cation of a “certain kind.” @sidwellfriends 28 GAME THEORY Your generosity makes a difference. Sidwell Friends Magazine Every day. For everyone. 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Sidwell Friends’ Sports Leadership Academy is Washington, DC 20016 28 redefining the School’s culture and transcending athletics. sidwell.edu/magazine [email protected] LIVES THAT SPEAK sidwell.edu/give 202-537-8444 36 MEAT WITH APPROVAL Beyond Meat’s Ethan Brown ’89 talks about Charlotte’s On the Cover Web, food as an energy issue, organizing ingredients Arjun Thillairajah ’20 outside of animals, and his abiding passion for (Photo by Tim Coburn) McDonald’s. 36 SPRING 2020 | SIDWELL FRIENDS MAGAZINE 1 REFLECTIONS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL letting their lives speak to these values. So are the distin- increasingly unpredictable world. We have also been think- guished alumni who will be honored on Reunion Week- ing about health as it relates to the design of the new cam- end. Two have drawn on their intellect and creativity to pus. Working in collaboration with our students and teachers, reimagine their fields: Tommy Kail ’95, the Tony and Emmy architects are developing a compelling vision that will trans- Award–winning director of Hamilton and Fosse/Verdon, and form the campus into an even more environmentally sound Kathryn Bostic ’75, an award-winning composer whose living and learning community. The children are watching the credits include Clemency, Toni Morrison: The Pieces That I decisions we make; we need to listen to their pleas and care Am, and Dear White People. Through new structures, such as for them and the Earth in equal measure. the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Center for Stewarding our commu- Ethical Leadership, as well nity means building enduring as in traditional classes and financial strength. Because with innovative coursework, “Sidwell Friends has Sidwell Friends alumni we will continue to create embody the School’s val- learning environments that always taken itself ues, they are ambassadors inspire in current students for our mission and, not sur- the remarkable success seriously, but the prisingly, have expressed alumni have enjoyed on so deep support for the Cen- many fronts. ter for Ethical Leadership, accomplishments of our run by Equity, Justice, and Stewarding our community Community Director Natalie means celebration. Sidwell students and alumni Randolph ’98. In addition, Friends has always taken alumni have donated the itself seriously, but the call for celebration.” largest gifts—one at $7.25 accomplishments of our stu- million, a second at $5 mil- dents and alumni call for cel- lion, and several at the $1 ebration. The annual Black million level—toward the Student Union Production provided an opportunity to appre- more than $53 million raised to date to purchase and reno- ciate cross-divisional collaboration as well as the voices and vate the Upton campus. Along with fellow board members, creativity of our students. The Quakers’ success during the alumni trustees are especially focused on strengthening the Upper School Dance Ensemble winter athletic season sparked spontaneous outbreaks of joy School’s financial foundation. Trustees Jason Carroll ’96, at conference and state tournaments. I always look forward Jamie Hechinger ’96, Kevin Johnson ’91, Jair Lynch ’89, and to Founder’s Day, which this year will feature an online Let board clerk David Milner ’86 understand that we cannot take Your Life Speak program. Author Anand Girhdidhardas ’99— past successes for granted; if the School is to serve subsequent Community Guardians an editor-at-large for Time, an MSNBC political analyst, and generations as well as it served them, alumni must continu- a visiting scholar at New York University—will serve as one of ally invest in Sidwell Friends. They recognize the lasting effect the keynotes. So too will Baratunde Thurston ’95, a self-de- that the faculty and financial aid had on their lives—whether What it means to be stewards of the Sidwell Friends School. scribed “Emmy-nominated writer, activist, and comedian they received that aid or not—and they fully appreciate the who has worked for The Onion, produced for The Daily Show, role the endowment plays in the School’s future. By under- BY BRYAN GARMAN advised the Obama White House, and cleaned bathrooms writing faculty salaries and tuition grants, the endowment is to pay for his Harvard education.” Both are engaging and critical to our mission. With the generosity of alumni and the inspiring public intellectuals who will have a deep impact on entire community, we can implement a financial plan to qua- ver the past months, I’ve spent a lot of time address the underrepresentation of people of color in the tech our students. druple the endowment and retire our debt by 2037. traveling across the country, visiting with industry, Nichols convinced the social-media giant to hold alumni, and sharing plans for developing the a diversity networking and recruiting event, which Fischer Stewarding our community means tending to the health of Together, we have accomplished much and have more to do. Upton campus—which is also the focus of a fea- keynoted. Time and again, our alumni demonstrate an endur- our students and living our values. With the recent spread of That is the way of Sidwell Friends. Thank you, as always, for ture I wrote (see “School of Thought,” on page ing appreciation for the values of the School and the quality of COVID-19, we are working to ensure the immediate health your partnership. O22). These visits connect our past and present, surfacing feel- community relationships. And they pose thoughtful queries: and safety of the School now and in the future. We are fortu- ings that make the School special for our graduates. What does it mean, Fischer asked, to be stewards of the Sid- nate to have a remarkable Health Services staff, an engaged well Friends community in a complicated moment marked by Board of Trustees, and dedicated teachers to help us nav- In February, I landed in the offices of Facebook, where David political discord and widespread discontent? igate this challenge. Complex environmental factors are Fischer ’90, the chief revenue officer, and Jordan Nichols ’05, likely at the root of this novel virus, underscoring the need a client partner, shared news about a project they were launch- Stewarding our community means nurturing intellectual, eth- to make certain our students have both a deep connection to ing: “Amplified: Leadership in Sales & Marketing.” Seeking to ical, artistic, and spiritual growth. Fischer and Nichols are nature and a firm scientific foundation to prepare them for an 2 SIDWELL FRIENDS MAGAZINE | SPRING 2020 SPRING 2020 | SIDWELL FRIENDS MAGAZINE 3 ON CAMPUS The Middle School orchestra performs. 4 SIDWELL FRIENDS MAGAZINE | SPRING 2020 SPRING 2020 | SIDWELL FRIENDS MAGAZINE 5 ON CAMPUS ON CAMPUS From the Editor SACHA ZIMMERMAN P’29 STATE OF THE ARTS CULTURE CLUB Whiffenpoofs The Lion in Winter Regular readers may notice that this deeper look at Quaker education in action; Strike a Chord Lunar New Year means dumplings, magazine looks a bit different than next we will graduate to alumni stories music, and a rat. previous issues. For one, it is no longer with features that offer insight into Take one Sidwell Friends alum, subtitled “Alumni Magazine”—though those leading lives of purpose and vision; add a beloved a cappella group, Lions aren’t typically vegetarians. But the it is still certainly that. But it is also finally, we will hand off the magazine stir in the Beatles, and serve. lion who helped kick off the Year of the Rat so much more. Sidwell Friends is a directly to the alumni themselves— for the Sidwell Friends community during community-wide publication: It is they write Class Notes that routinely the Lunar New Year celebration? That lion for current and prospective students, amuse and touch us. My super-talented enjoyed a hearty vegan meal. “I liked feeding parents, and grandparents; it is for partner, art director Meghan Leavitt, the lion lettuce,” Erin ’29 said. After his the incredible faculty and staff; and, and I hope you find Sidwell Friends easy repast, the lion scattered leaves to spread yes, it is for alumni, some of the most to read, beautifully designed, and a lot good luck. Sponsored by the Parents of creative and enterprising people on of fun—to that end, each issue will now Asian Students, the celebration included the planet—like Ethan Brown ’89, the have a themed crossword by Aimee dumplings, a traditional New Year’s food subject of this issue’s “Lives That Speak” Lucido, a puzzle constructor for The (symbolizing longevity and wealth)—but feature (see page 36).