The past twelve months at Choate Rosemary Hall have brought about a ban on instant messenging, a new daily schedule, the advent of mandatory sit-down lunches, and the elimination of fall term examinations. Much change in a short period of time to be sure – but what deserves as much attention as the policies themselves is the process by which these new policies came to be.This has been a good year – relatively free from discipline, no major incidents like the 3/4 water-fight or the Irving Washington debacle of two years ago. The administration and student leaders on campus deserve some credit for this; more obviously, the student body and faculty do. The Deans’ Office has forged strong relationships with students. New Dean of Students John Ford, aside from his rookie mistake pulling the MLK Day Saturday D bait and switch, has made a smooth transition into his new position and has earned the respect of the student body.But where the good ‘06-’07 mood begins to fade is in the relationship between the upper reaches of the Choate administration and both the students and the faculty. Choate Rosemary Hall has, in recent years, become increasingly oligarchical, and the exclusivity that shrouds Choate policymaking has repeatedly flared up as something hard to stomach in a school that lists “[to] work...in partnership with others” and “teamwork” as values in its Mission Statement.A boarding school like Choate, even more so than the average high school, should be, if nothing else, a whole community, one where a broad spectrum of interests and perspectives on every issue is considered as policy is made. In the future, Choate, and especially our administrators, must look towards including those perspectives and taking advantage of our outspoken, bright community – every niche of it. The AIM ban was so difficult for students to take because no significant student input went into the development of the policy. Sit-down lunches, as we know, was simply a product of Mr. Shanahan creating and implementing his own plan. The elimination of the fall term exams, likewise, was a policy largely driven by Dean of Academic Affairs Kathleen Wallace, with little faculty input in the process. Change, as hard as it may be to adapt to, can be for the better. But this is much more the case when our entire community comes together in bringing about that change. Our administration must look to harness all the ideas, all the input, all the concerns and questions that ebb and flow throughout our dormitories, in department meetings, in the Dining Hall. The Student Council, in recent years, has failed to serve as a significant lobbying body on behalf of the student body. We hope that newly-elected President Jeff Rosen ’07 can help restore the respect and the influence that the Council has lost in recent years. And while the Faculty Committee has, under the leadership of Fran O’Donoghue and James Stanley, had more of an impact with the administration on behalf of the faculty, there is still a certain atmosphere of absolutism here at Choate.Choate is a rich, insightful community with many bright minds. It is crucial to the continuing health and prosperity of this institution that the administration strives to further take full advantage of the students and faculty who have chosen to be here and who very much want to play a role in making this community a better place to be.
