About NMH Northfield

NMH Trustee Carol J. Ramsey's Moody Dinner Speech

October 9, 2004

Last May, we all gathered here and heard remarks from my classmate, Karen Spaulding '70. It was the first time the Moody Society had gathered since the announcement of the decision to consolidate the Northfield Mount Hermon School on one campus. Karen took that moment to look to her Northfield experience to interpret the changes that were on the horizon for our school.

Her remarks were inspirational and as it turns out, instructive, for they laid out the process by which the NEXT large step – the consolidation on one campus and determining an alternate use for the Northfield campus - would be patterned. Karen said:

When board vice chair Barbara Freedman called to ask if I would speak, I was touched and honored. And while I accepted with enthusiasm and anticipation, after I hung up the telephone, I must tell you I felt entirely daunted. After all of the communications announcing the decision, how does one possibly say anything of meaning about such a significant, carefully wrought, painfully considered and courageous moment? How on earth do we think we can possibly control turmoil, embracing the future, continuing DL Moody’s legacy, being mindful of cultures of nostalgia, watching how we approach the NEXT steps of our journey?

A few weeks after Karen delivered those now prophetic comments, the Northfield Stewardship Committee, the NSC, was appointed by the trustees. I was asked to be chair, and like Karen, we on the committee were faced with a daunting challenge: How would we proceed? How on earth were we to control the turmoil, embrace the future, continue D. L. Moody’s legacy, remain mindful of cultures of nostalgia, and effectively approach the next steps of our journey?

The answer was much the same as it had been and as she described: We would undertake this challenge with thoughtfulness and courage; we would intentionally and deliberately seek to find the highest and best possible use for that campus that is at the heart of this institution.

Determining an appropriate and dignified reuse of the Northfield campus, to my mind, is an integral part of the transition of the Northfield Mount Hermon School to greatness. The Northfield campus is all about who we are as an institution. Northfield is our progenitor, our core.

The Northfield Stewardship Committee is charged with this mandate:

To oversee the development of proposals, for presentation to the board of trustees, for the future use of the Northfield campus facilities and for non-contiguous Northfield Mount Hermon land, and to ensure such proposals are evaluated for consistency with the school’s mission and financial needs.

With that challenge in mind, the committee organized its work into two phases. The first phase is focused on information gathering, learning, and listening. When confronted with a decision of this magnitude and gravity, the greatest danger is not knowing what you don’t know. Serious study of alternate uses, zoning, land use, land development, regional and local economic and environmental impact, historic preservation, building and landscape architecture are all areas of study that the Northfield Stewardship Committee had to aggressively engage and understand.

To help in this early phase, we hired consultants to research and sift through hundreds of pages of studies and document to help us identify and review a wide range of possible reuses including some ideas proposed by some of you in this room tonight.

The consultants developed a comprehensive Property Profile which provides a composite view of such topics as the condition of our facilities, environmental and forestry inventories, water quality, zoning, regulatory issues, property titles and encumbrances, and the historic and social significance of our buildings and grounds.

In addition to fact finding, Phase One and the development of the property profile allowed us to informally expose the campus directly to the market and gather feedback regarding various scenarios from developers and experts with experience in large-scale reuse and development projects.

Just yesterday, the consultants delivered to the NSC their summary report, including detailed descriptions of reuse scenarios, with examples of lessons learned from other institutions undertaking a similar change.

Also, during phase one, we started an effort to reach out and organize the creative energies of our alumni and friends and apply their interest and professional expertise to the questions arising during this process.

On August 22, at a meeting of school volunteers, we were able to enlist help to structure an advisory committee that will assist the NSC to do the heavy lifting needed to move this project forward.

The mandate of the Northfield Campus Advisors is:

To bring special expertise to the work of identifying adaptive reuses for the Northfield Campus. The advisors serve individually or in small groups and occasionally as a body of the whole to review potential reuses, evaluate and assess their potential impact, conduct research or planning and make recommendations as needed and requested by the president of the school in support of the work of the Northfield Stewardship Committee.

If anyone ever had any doubt, we now know with certainty that alternate use and redevelopment of the Northfield campus is an extremely complex process. The NSC anticipates needing expertise in many fields. A few include:

Architecture and facilities planning, especially related to reuses in the arts, culture, and health care

Banking and finance

Communications, marketing, and fundraising

We will need help fleshing out the

Historical context of our buildings, landscape and traditions

Exploring possibilities in international education

Managing legal affairs

Pursuing local, state, and regional government relations

The advisors are now being organized around these areas of study. If any of you would join us in dealing with any of these topics, please tell us so now, by contacting Carol Lebo who joins Richard Mueller in staffing and coordinating the work of the Northfield Stewardship Committee.

We expect to complete phase one of our work by early November, when we make our first report to the board of trustees. Soon thereafter, we will report what we have learned to you and others interested in this process.

Phase two will focus on marketing, valuation, evaluation and prospect generation.

It will involve deeper assessment of the most likely reuse scenarios as they might be anticipated to impact the school, the Town of Northfield, Franklin County and the region. We will

Establish a timetable and budget for this phase of our work
Develop a marketing plan that will formally introduce and expose the campus to the universe of potential users
Assess the viability of the most likely scenarios in the context of the market for properties of our size, our location, our mission, and the conditions of our building and infrastructure
Identify synergies with respect to other local and regional land and economic development projects in the region
And, from the point of view of potential users, determine the value of our facilities, building and grounds, and develop models that will help us project the long-term financial impact of each option or choice
I must tell you and remind all those involved that during the whole of this process, the needs of Northfield Mount Hermon School will be paramount and foremost in our thinking. We will do everything we can; we will do our best, to give advantage to the current and future generations of Northfield Mount Hermon students.

As Karen told us when we last met as the Moody Society:

The Northfield story encapsulates what happens here in this marvelous place… Every day, here at NMH, there are defining moments -- small and large -- that offer opportunity for growth and introspection, for revelation and humility, for gratitude and grace. And, as we look ahead – not back – while we know that the Northfield School exists on one of the most beautiful spots in this universe, we also know more importantly that Northfield resides in every head that has been challenged and enriched; in every heart that has been enlarged and deepened; and in every hand that has found rhythm and beauty in the discipline of daily tasks.

The Northfield Stewardship Committee moves ahead to honor the legacy and history of the Northfield campus, and we welcome your attention and support of the important work at hand.

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