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News and Events : News 06-07

Opening Convocation Speech
by Theodore Samets

Good morning.

Today, we are here celebrating not only the start of another school year, but also the groundbreaking for The Rhodes Arts Center .  Certainly, it is an exciting time for all with connections to NMH.  It is also an opportunity to reflect on where we are today compared with what Dwight Lyman Moody believed and hoped for this school.

Certainly, his goal of diversity is still held high.  Our college counselors often tell us that we will find no place as diverse as this one, in many regards that is so true.  While there are probably more conservatives at colleges than there are here, there is much less racial diversity and difference in background.

Our school still has an international flair.  While we today have changed the ocean that most students come across to get to NMH, they still come.  It makes the educational experience of all at NMH better.

And, here’s the real question: how do we measure up compared to the phrase often hammered into our heads at meetings like this?  Does NMH truly involve the head, the heart, and the hand?

I think we can all agree that the head is there.  There’s only been one week of school, and already my roommate and I have been up past midnight studying more than once.  It’s especially tough for those of us who are seniors, with college counselors, parents, and advisors harping on us for good grades in the fall term.  And our faculty is far superior to any other, including a certain school downriver, no matter what their reputation is.  We also have something else.

Mr. Moody called it the heart.  It can be seen through our advising system, in our dormitories, and in the classroom as well.  The people who run our dorms aren’t called “dorm heads” and there’s a reason behind that.  They used to be known as dorm mothers and fathers, and today they are simply “house directors.”  House directors support us.  Our teachers shepherd us through their class with support systems that are unparalleled.  While we may not have the religious support we once did, it is there if you seek it out.

What I’m here to question, though, is whether we have the hand.  Mount Hermon, where we stand today, was set up as a farm school.  Until fairly recently, students worked many more hours per week.  It was part of what made us unique, this trait of students giving back.  Students no longer serve as wait staff in the dining hall, though, and our farm is not as diversified as it once was.  We still work, but it is not as much a part of our life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not up here advocating more hours of work job.

But I am saying that Mr. Moody’s hand went beyond that, to a theoretical hand that promotes new growth, maturity, and an environment that prepares us for what is to come.

In many regards, we do that.  This spade, which is symbolic of the life of the school, brings us together at this time to tell us that there is growth left, that we are not adults.  That is why there is dorm closing, lights out, and those types of things.  It’s also why we have senior privileges.

For generations, our community has gathered for some sort of Convocation event.  Many people here have parents who came here as students.  For years, our school has been a place where we do things a little differently.  We can and we should be proud of that.

We are proud of our work job program and, while it may be changing its look, we continue to see the need for a long block schedule. 

There are a few things that could be added to the mix, though, that are currently missing.

I firmly believe that NMH needs to strive to make sure that when it comes to politics, to current events and values, students should be educated from multiple points of view.  We in the NMH community should work to truly educate ourselves: and that means going beyond what you learn in class.

It can mean reading the newspaper like the New York Times, even if your teacher doesn’t assign it, or take a look at some of the newsmagazines in the library.  My personal recommendation is the National Review.

Listen to what speakers have to say when they come to the school.  As a conservative, I have learned so much from listening to the left-leaning speakers that come and those without a political bent.  Last year, there was a state of the world speaker who was a Nepalese man fighting for democracy in his country.  His fascinating worldview opened my mind.

This year’s schedule for speakers has not yet been released.  I hope that those who chose the speakers agree with me and believe as I do that a good education inherently means debate from both sides.  The speaker series should work to open the minds of this entire community, students and teachers.

When Charlton Heston raised a gun above his head at an NRA meeting and claimed that Al Gore would take that weapon from him over his “cold, dead body,” people cheered and nodded their heads, but they didn’t learn anything.  They would have learned something if it had been Michael Moore speaking to them.

This community needs to be open-minded and embracing of minority views.  Repeating the quick slogans meant to put down the person you are speaking to is not what a learning environment is supposed to be about.

This one-sided view is not what debate at such a good school should be like.  We can’t settle for sloppy and untried ideas.  We must dig deeper.  This is the hard work of the hand that Mr. Moody believed in so strongly.

I love this school; I know that we all do.  In some ways, though, today we only scratch the surface of our education.

Many years ago, Mr. Moody saw the benefit to having a diverse community.  Today, we can take a lesson from our founder.  We have the head, the heart, and the hand, but there is room to expand on all of those ideas.

I look forward to a prosperous year.

May G-d bless these students of Northfield Mount Hermon, and we pray for the continued strength of this school.