surprised and saddened

[kitty]

I have had a long history with Albuquerque Academy. I am just now coming to this blog, and I am shocked and saddened.
First of all I am heartsick at the idea that dissent is quashed at the Academy. AA is where I learned to cast an analytical and critical eye and to speak up for what I believed in. While I was there I took note of the ways in which faculty disagreed—collegially though at times heatedly—and the ways in which their criticisms were received by the administration—with consideration and respect. I learned that the best way of showing love for an institution was to find ways it fell short of its promise and work to make things better—not to punish the truth teller or, conversely, to pretend that the emperor has clothes.

I am frankly disgusted by the report of the February 9th meeting. Particularly number 2—what is a school without teachers and students?

I read the post from an alumna who mentioned Mr. Harper’s letter from the groundbreaking of the current campus. It seems that someone read that every year at Founders Day when I was a student. I could not find it just now on the blog to read it, but one thing I remember is that he warned against allowing money to become the focus. In the case of the current headmaster and board, Mr. Harper’s speech certainly seems to have been prescient. I hope that it will be possible to keep those wise words in mind; to refocus on academics, community, and uplift, and to bring the Academy back to its former glory. After all, to paraphrase Mr. Slevin, another great hero of AA’s past, excellence (not money) is joy.

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