To fill the vacancies in the Choate prefect program, the administrators and prefect program coordinators have selected Samuel Wheeler ’08 and Brian McDermott ’08 to join the program as Memorial House prefects for the remainder of the school year.

Three vacancies in Memorial House, the freshman boys’ dorm, needed to be filled quickly. Mr. Yanelli and Mrs. Brenner, the heads of the prefect program, had little time and considered many options to make up for the loss of prefects in Memorial house.

Mr. Yanelli said, “We considered a number of options but we didn’t really have time to get together and meet. We did a lot of correspondence and communicating electronically. Our other options were to not fill the vacancies, potentially bring in some day students to do duty, or put some 5th formers living in [Memorial] basement and give them responsibilities. We discounted them for various reasons and came with what we think is the best solution.”

Although there were three vacancies in Mem, only two prefects were appointed. According to Dean of Students Mr. Ford, “We are down one but we will be ok.” Other candidates were considered for the third prefect position; however, for unknown reasons, a spot was left open in Memorial House.

Senior boys’ dean Bill Berghoff encouraged Sam and Brian to consider accepting prefect positions. He stated, “The people heading the prefect program decided to talk to them and ask them to consider it. They asked me to follow up because I know them as a dean and I spoke to them the next morning and talked about some of the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a prefect, just trying to give them some groundwork on making their decisions. I was an advocate for the prefect program to try to get them to accept.”

Wheeler and McDermott spent the night after their meeting with their dean to analyze the difficult situation and make a decision.

Sam said, “Once we talked about [prefecting] with Mr. Berghoff, we both knew deep down that we wanted to do it, so we talked with our dorm-mates. We thought hard because Gables is our favorite dorm on campus. We made a pros and cons list, and when we broke it down there were more positives than negatives. Our friends at Gables will not hate us if we leave; we decided [accepting the position] would be the best thing to do for the school.” The boys accepted the offer on Wednesday, January 16.

Sam Wheeler and Brian McDermott were roommates in the senior dorm Gables before accepting their prefect positions. This past Sunday, they moved into a double previously occupied by two boys on Memorial House’s third floor. Because Wheeler and McDermott wanted to remain roommates, “we had a lot of flexibility in managing third form rooming issues that we wanted to address,” said Mr. Yanelli.

Both Wheeler and McDermott were obvious choices to fill the vacancies because of their great leadership abilities and positive attitudes.

McDermott was a co-founder of the Badminton Associations at both his previous high school, New Canaan High, and Choate. He is an active student on campus, performing in Melody Travers’ student directed scene and sitting on the Class of 2008 Committee as well as running cross country and being a member of the varsity Tennis team.

Wheeler, already assistant captain of the varsity hockey squad, co-captain of the baseball team, Gold Key tour guide, president of the Chess Club, and one of four Project Leaders of the Peer Educators program, was well suited for the job as well. Spanish and Italian teacher Michael Rinaldi said, “Sam was a student in my Spanish 250 class, a bright student, highly motivated, well organized, caring. I think he would be great as a prefect. I’m fairly confident he will do a great job. He is a great kid, very talented—kids would feel comfortable going to him with problems in the dorm.”

The boys’ former adviser in Gables, Carey Turnquest, spoke highly of both Wheeler and McDermott. He said, “I think they will just fit in just fine. They are easy going, well loved in the dorm and around campus; they will really meld with the freshman boys and are very mature and easy to get along with. They will be a very positive influence on the boys; they make good decisions, and they will make the prefect program proud.”

When asked to comment on Wheeler, Turnquest said, “Sam is an articulate and forceful person; he speaks up when he doesn’t see something going right and really encourages others. We have a Thai student and in the beginning of the year he took him out to dinner and helped him acclimate to life in the US; he helps and nurtures those who are struggling and having a hard time, but also knows how to have fun.” Of McDermott, Turnquest said, “Brian will be a positive influence and easy going. He has a quiet magnetic quality to him and influences others to make good decisions.”

Mr. Berghoff also praised both Sam and Brian for their excellent qualities. He said of Sam, “Sam is very comfortable with himself. He knows what kind of kid he is and he has shown pretty clearly in other ways that he would be a good leader. His work in the Peer Ed group is pretty solid. He has a presence about him that make people know who he is. Athletically he has a pretty high profile, but he is not pompous about that.”

When asked to comment on Brian, Berghoff said, “Brian is quietly a leader; he is the kind of kid who does the right thing without a lot of glory or a need for people to recognize it. He just does it because he knows it is the right thing to do. That kind of role model is important for third formers. He may not be the most visible person. Sam may be working on the front lines, but Brian behind the scenes.”

Beginning to prefect in a new dorm in the middle of the school year has both advantages and disadvantages. Berghoff explained that one big disadvantage is that Sam and Brian started off the year in a comfortable senior house—Gables is a great social environment, and they will have to displace themselves from there and enter new territory. “Another disadvantage,” he added, “might be that as senior spring comes around, you’d like to have the free time to do what you like to do. As prefects you still have a job to do. You have responsibilities that don’t end until May.”

But, says Berghoff, there are distinct advantages as well: “[Sam and Brian] would have a lasting impact on the third formers—they may not remember the third formers but the third formers would remember them in 20 years.” He explained that the Mem environment is also more favorable than a senior house to completing work.

A major setback may be integrating with the students so late in the year. Mem resident Ross FreimanMendel ’11 said, “We had a close bond with the prefects we lost. I’m excited to see what these new guys are like, but they have big footsteps to follow.”

Mr. Berghoff is not worried about Sam and Brian integrating. He said, “They will both integrate pretty easily. They know that that it will be a challenge but know themselves well enough that they can do it. I suspect that if they were a little hesitant to integrate with the third formers, they wouldn’t do something like this. I think the third formers will connect pretty easily with them too.”

By accepting their new prefect positions, Sam and Brian hope to contribute to the betterment of the school. Said Berghoff, “They wanted to give back, and this was a great visible way to do that.”

Sam and Brian began their prefect duties at the weekly house meeting last Sunday night with an introduction by Mr. Yanelli, the head of Memorial House.

McDermott, who performed duty last Monday night said, “It certainly is a different experience than Gables, our senior dorm, however I am starting to get acclimated...I certainly am excited to get to know the freshmen.”

Sam Cabot ‘08, head boy prefect and dormmate of the two new residents, said “The freshmen won the lottery with the appointment of Brian and Sam. I know they will contribute their responsible behavior, great leadership skills, and easy going nature. We are also thrilled to bring in a couple more bats onto our P-Cup softball team this spring”, as last year, McDermott and Wheeler helped bring the Hill House Hippos from the basement of the league to the middle tier of teams.

Jamie Greenwald ‘11, a freshman across the hall from the two new prefects said. “After playing tennis with Brian, and seeing Sam on the hockey rink, I am excited to having them become my neighbors.”