At Choate’s 117th Convocation on September 7th, 2006, Headmaster Edward Shanahan, who prefaced his speech by saying, “this is not a political speech,” certainly touched on some political issues. He announced to the student body his dovish tendencies, his affiliation with the Democratic Party, and delivered a speech that centered around the War on Terror and his visit last spring to the Middle East. Despite his supposed disclaimer, Headmaster Shanahan showed political savvy delivering a message to the student body that has seldom been delivered by American politicians. His message: the individuals at Choate, especially students must be active citizens. This message is rarely put into practice in the Choate community.

The War on Terror has morphed into a campaign to establish a “stable democracy” in Iraq. The debate over this goal has provided both sides of the spectrum with plenty of fodder on how to deal with the damage America has caused. What both sides have realized, as Mr. Shanahan’s speech reiterated, is that we currently find ourselves in a war much akin to the Vietnam War, a war without any commonly agreed purpose, direction or solution. A solution that Mr. Shanahan offered is to show support to the soldiers as individuals fighting for our nation; and comfort the families of the soldiers in our own communities. By doing so, we can show our patriotism and simultaneously separate ourselves from actually supporting the campaign and philosophies behind the campaign itself.

The stark differences between this philosophy and reality show just how badly we as Americans have failed our country. Choate, despite Headmaster Shanahan’s remarks, too provides the perfect example of this grand failure.

The fact that we have to be reminded to do such a thing is just another example of the self-centered nature of the Choate community. Only four days after Shanahan’s speech on September, 11th, five years to the day of our nation’s greatest tragedy, nothing but a ten minute “reflection period” was observed school-wide--an event announced to the community on the day before. Even during those ten minutes, the Choate campus was bustling with people going about their days as if nothing had happened five years prior. Quite typical. Our disregard of the anniversary—not only by students but also by the administration—is a microcosm of 9/11 itself. We, as a people, were so wrapped up in our daily lives we never thought something could happen to us. Five years later, very little has changed.

By contrast, we note the school’s emotional commitment to military service embodied in the dedication of Memorial House in 1921. This tribute to genuine military heroism is discussed in Grace Ann Marrinan’s richly drawn News Centennial Celebration article on page 5.

Furthermore, as a school, Choate does not recognize national holidays. An American institution, the school has some duty to observe these days of national importance. In light of Mr. Shanahan’s speech, the school should seriously consider celebrating important American holidays especially Veteran’s Day. For example, last Memorial Day, a good percentage of the Choate population was either taking exams or studying for them. A special daylong program commemorating the heroes who gave up their lives for national and international freedom alike would be a good starting point. Choate students need to be educated on the values of America and the sacrifices her veterans have made. Ipso facto, our student body, both American and foreign, would understand that all they enjoy freely here at Choate is due to these sacrifices; and also would be inspired to support our troops not just through donations and superficial yellow ribbons.

In recent months the question has been asked: Are we safer now, five years later? We might be. However, if Choate is any indication of how every American thinks, then one thing is for sure, we are still just as self-centered.