Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Our mission, as
always, is to take really complex, dense information
and distill it into knowledge that actually sticks
with you. And today, we are taking a journey
through... Well, through the history, the finances
and the culture of an institution that is, you
could argue, the blueprint for elite American
education. We are talking about Phillips Academy,
but of course, everyone knows it as Andover.
Right. And it's so easy to think of these places
as, you know, modern creations of wealth. But
Andover's history is, it's truly foundational.
When you look at the source material, the dates
just jump right out. They really do. It was founded
in 1778. 1778. It's the oldest incorporated academy
in the entire United States. They started educating
students during the most volatile and uncertain
phase of the American Revolution. And that deep,
deep history is matched by its output, which
is just astonishing. We're talking about a school
whose alumni list includes two U .S. presidents.
George H .W. Bush and George W. Bush. And five
Nobel laureates. That number of Nobel winners,
you know, it ties it with only three other high
schoolers in the entire world. That track record
alone tells you this isn't just a prep school.
It's a centuries -old engine of influence. So
our source material for this deep dive is a genuinely
comprehensive stack. It covers everything from
the original intent of its founders to its staggering
financial mechanisms today. And its academic
philosophy and some of the more recent cultural
reckonings it's had to face. It's all in there.
So let's frame our central question for this
deep dive. We really have to understand how a
school established in the late 18th century with
this very narrow, very specific goal. To prepare
young Calvinist students for the ministry. That
was it. Exactly. How does that school possibly
evolve into what it is today? One of the world's
highest ranked nonsectarian, and this is crucial,
need -blind college preparatory schools, backed
by an enormous $1 .41 billion endowment. That
transformation is the whole story. It requires
a deep dive into centuries of decisions. And
the school's own identity really acknowledges
that link between the past and the present through
its mottos, right? Absolutely. The main mottos
are in Latin. The first and maybe the most famous
one is non -civi. Which means not for self. It's
this ideal of selfless service, which is particularly
potent for an elite institution that's designed
to train leaders. Decisely. And the second one,
which is just a perfect anchor for analyzing
almost 250 years of history, is Phoenix Origine
Pendant. The end depends upon the beginning.
Exactly. So we are going to spend this entire
dive tracing that lineage of Andover and really
examining how well it has managed to uphold that
selfless ideal of non -Sibby while navigating
these massive shifts in, well, in theology and
wealth and in educational philosophy. All right.
Let's unpack that beginning then. So let's start
at the beginning. We're talking 1778. Right in
the middle of the revolution. And the founder,
Samuel Phillips Jr., he wasn't just some educator.
He was a local businessman from a really influential...
New England family. And his vision for the school,
it wasn't broad at all, was it? It was laser
focused. Incredibly focused. The whole point
was to create a school to educate Calvinist students,
specifically for the ministry. That was the mission,
an explicitly theological one. And you can't
overstate the context of the founding of the
American Revolution itself. Our sources really
highlight that New England's traditional educational
system was... Well, it was in complete disarray.
Oh, totally. The war had created this huge educational
vacuum. I mean, think about it. The Boston Latin
School, which was the big name, actually had
to shut down. Why was that? Its headmaster was
a loyalist. So when the British evacuated Boston
in 1776, he fled north to Canada. Just packed
up and left. So Phillips Academy was founded
in part to step into that void. Exactly. It wasn't
just filling a need. It was establishing a new
patriot -aligned educational stronghold. And
the founders themselves, Samuel Phillips Jr.,
the first head of school, Elipha Pearson, they
were actively involved in the war effort. I mean
actively involved. They were literally manufacturing
gunpowder for the Continental Army right there
in town. So these were not just academics sitting
in an ivory tower. They were revolutionaries
with a plan for the future leadership of the
country. And they saw the revolution not just
as a military conflict, but as, well, an opportunity
to get resources for their new school. What do
you mean by that? The source material notes that
they actually tried to stock Andover's first
library with books that had been confiscated
from the homes of wealthy, loyalist families
who had fled the area. Wow. So they're building
their library with the spoils of war, essentially.
It speaks volumes, doesn't it? It shows just
how immediate and strong the political ties were
between the Academy and the new American establishment.
And that patriot connection gets even more deeply
cemented when you look at who they hosted. Right.
George Washington himself, while he was president,
made a personal stop at the Academy in 1789.
That is a massive early sign of institutional
approval from the highest office in the land.
And Washington's visit wasn't just a one -off
photo op. The connection was sustained. Eight
of Washington's own relative nephews and grandnephews
attended Andover in the years right after his
presidency. So from its very first decade, Phillips
Academy was directly linked to the political
and social elite who were going to guide the
new republic. And when it came time to define
the school's visual identity, its seal, they
went back to another key revolutionary figure.
Paul Revere. Such a great detail. He didn't just
ride. He was a designer. He designed a very complex,
very symbolic seal. It had all these key visual
motifs. There was a beehive. Symbolizing industry,
community, everyone working together. Exactly.
There were crops for plenty and prosperity. The
sun for enlightenment and knowledge. And surrounding
all of this were those two Latin mottos we started
with. Non -sibi, not for self. And finis origin
pendet, the end depends upon the beginning. Powerful
mottos. But the Academy's original constitution
also had two other really important aspirational
phrases that speak to their goals. Which were?
Youth from every quarter and knowledge and goodness.
So youth from every quarter. That sounds like
an early commitment to diversity, right? Geographic
diversity, at least. That was the intention,
absolutely, drawing students from all over, not
just the local town. But the other part, knowledge
and goodness, reminds us of that underlying Calvinist
purpose. The education was strictly for fostering
virtue and preparing students, at least initially,
for religious or public service. And that vision
of expanding access to education, even though
it was just for boys at first, it sort of paved
the way for its sister institution. It did. In
1828, Abbott Academy was established right on
a neighboring campus, and it became one of the
first secondary schools for girls in all of New
England. It's important to see Abbott Academy
as this parallel. equally pioneering effort.
For sure. But, you know, the administrations
of Phillips and Abbott were very careful to regulate
and limit contact between the male and female
students, despite being right next to each other.
They kept a strict social distance that really
reflected the morals of the time. Which, of course,
eventually changed, leading to that landmark
1973 merger. And the start of coeducation at
Phillips Academy. But as the academy flourished
early on, it was still deeply anchored by this
Orthodox theology. You could really see that
with the Andover Theological Seminary. Right.
It shared the campus with Phillips Academy for
almost 100 years. From 1808 all the way to 1907.
And the founding of that seminary is just a fascinating
snapshot of early 19th century religious politics.
What happened? Well, it was founded by Orthodox
Calvinists who had become really alienated by
the theological drift they saw happening at Harvard
University. A more liberal direction. Exactly.
When Harvard appointed a liberal Unitarian professor
of theology, these traditionalists basically
picked up and moved to Andover to create a sanctuary
for strict doctrine. So it was a conscious deliberate
rejection of Unitarianism. And the Phillips family,
I assume, was on board with this. They provided
significant financial backing to the seminary.
The two institutions were even governed by overlapping
boards for a while. This strong, traditional,
and really well -funded Calvinist foundation
is what defined Andover's early identity. And
crucially, it set the stage for the rivalry that
would become its most famous cultural marker.
That theological split is the perfect bridge
into the next phase, isn't it? Defining the rivalry
and the academy's path to becoming this modern...
powerhouse. We have to talk about Andover versus
Exeter. This is, I mean, truly America's oldest
high school rivalry. But the origin is even more
specific than most people realize. It's personal.
It's a family feud. Samuel Phillips Jr. founded
Phillips Academy in 1778. Just three years later
in 1781, his uncle, John Phillips, founded Phillips
Exeter Academy just down the road in New Hampshire.
So the entire educational dynasty was established
by two family members with these parallel but
competing visions. Exactly. And as you mentioned,
that early rivalry, it wasn't really about athletics.
It was all about theological positioning. Right.
Because Andover was so fiercely committed to
Calvinist orthodoxy, to the point of hosting
the seminary that literally fled from Harvard,
it became the main prep school funneling graduates
to Yale. Which was seen as the more Calvinist
-friendly university at the time. And Exeter.
Well, Exeter, being founded by John Phillips,
was considered a little less overtly religious.
It was more welcoming to Unitarians. So as a
result, Exeter became the dominant feeder school
for Harvard. That's just astonishing, a centuries
-old rivalry that's actually rooted in an 18th
century theological schism over Unitarianism
versus Calvinism. It makes the modern -day football
game feel like a much higher -stakes historical
conflict. Well, the rivalry endures, of course.
The football game is one of the nation's oldest,
played annually since 1878, though they started
playing sports against each other way back in
1861. But institutionally, the religious heart
of that rivalry has completely faded. Completely.
Even though the Phillips Academy Constitution
originally required all teachers and trustees
to be Protestant, a real commitment to that initial
Calvinist mission, our sources confirm that both
schools are now entirely nonsectarian. So we
see this transition from a religious mandate
to a secular idea of excellence. But Andover
actually went through a bit of a slump after
the Civil War. It took three visionary headmasters
to really revive and transform it. Cecil Bancroft,
Alfred Stearns, and Claude Fuse in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Bancroft's tenure was
really critical for the academics, right? It
was. He dramatically improved Andover's academic
reputation by reforming the curriculum. He made
sure the courses met and even exceeded the increasingly
tough expectations of major university presidents.
And he looked abroad for inspiration. He did.
He proactively studied the best practices of
elite English public... schools, you know, places
like Eton, and he imported and adapted successful
educational models from Europe. This era also
established this really intense focus on college
placement and academic rigor. The sources describe
a sink or swim policy. Oh, yeah. Underperforming
or undisciplined students were, frankly, expelled.
And the placement statistics from that time,
they really confirm the results of this pressure.
Let's look at the data from the 1930s. Okay,
so in 1931, 64 % of Andover graduates were placed
at Yale, Harvard, or Princeton. 64%. And by 1937,
that astonishing concentration of success had
jumped to 74%. Wow, so that's what cemented Andover's
identity, not just as a religious academy, but
as the premier engine for producing Ivy League
students. But to maintain that status, especially
with rising competitors, the physical campus
needed to be modernized. The school needed money.
And this is where we meet the pivotal figure
of Thomas Cochran, class of 1890. Cochran, a
powerful banker, a partner at J .P. Morgan. And
he had this singular, incredibly ambitious vision.
He wanted to make Phillips Academy the most beautiful
school in America. He didn't have any children,
and he decided to dedicate his immense philanthropic
resources to Andover. And the financial scale
of his gift is staggering, especially when you
think about the time period. He donated roughly
$10 million to the school. That money funded
a huge campus expansion, including the library,
the dining hall, the world -class art gallery.
And when you adjust that $10 million for inflation...
It's equivalent to about $181 million today.
But here's the most fascinating detail about
Cochran's commitment. And this really speaks
to that non -SIBI ideal. It's the definition
of it. When he died, his entire estate was probated
at only $3 million. Wait, so he gave the school
more than three times the value of his own final
net worth? Yes. This level of disproportionate
transformative giving just immediately professionalized
the fundraising game for elite high schools.
It fundamentally changed Andover's ability to
compete on the world stage. It moved it from
a regional academy to an architectural and financial
giant. It sets a precedent that philanthropy
doesn't just fund buildings. It funds an entire
institutional leap forward. Beyond what the donor
could even personally hold on to. And while the
campus was being rebuilt with this huge infusion
of cash, the school also took its first tentative
and often conflicted steps toward diversity.
Phillips Academy does have a history of some
remarkable firsts, even if they were slow to
really take hold. It was one of the first New
England boarding schools to admit black students,
starting as early as the 1850s. And in the 1870s,
it educated stewards who participated in the
Chinese educational mission of 1872. Including
Liang Cheng, who later served as the Chinese
ambassador to the U .S. And yet, this early progress
stalled, which highlights a real contradiction,
doesn't it? It does. The sources reveal that
under Bancroft's successors, black representation
actually declined drastically. Between 1911 and
1934, only four African -Americans attended the
academy. Just four. And other institutional biases
persisted well into the 1940s when the administration
actively capped Jewish enrollment at roughly
5 % of the student body. So this is a crucial
paradox to understand. The school had the ideal
of youth from every quarter literally written
into its constitution. But the cultural reality
of maintaining an elite, predominantly white
Protestant identity in the early 20th century
led to explicit limitations on access for non
-Protestant and non -white students. This conflicted
era finally started to shift pretty dramatically
in the post -war period under head of school
John Kemper. Right. He actively led a process
of democratization. He really tried to dismantle
some of the structures that reinforced social
exclusion. He was responsible for abolishing
the school's secret societies in 1949. He was.
He recognized them as sources of elitism and
exclusion, though our sources do note that at
least one society still operates today. And more
significantly, he ended mandatory attendance
at religious services in the early 1970s. Which
really signified the definitive move away from
the founder's core Calvinist mandate. And that
drive toward democratization, it all culminated
in 1973 with the merger of Phillips Academy and
Avid Academy. After nearly 150 years of regulated
contact, the two institutions became one co -educational
powerhouse that really cemented its modern identity.
And this institutional maturation also led to
greater coordination within that whole secondary
education world. It did. Andover helped establish
the 10 Schools Admission Organization in 1952,
which was designed to standardize the application
process for the top prep schools. And later,
it became a founding member of the Eight Schools
Association, formalized in 2006. Positioning
it globally at the absolute apex of pre -collegiate
education. Okay, that moves us right into the
contemporary reality of Phillips Academy Section
3, where we're going to look at the raw data,
extreme selectivity, massive wealth, and the
demographic profile of the student body today.
And we have to start with selectivity, but size
is a really key factor here. Andover is intensely
selective. The acceptance rate usually hovers
around 13 percent. But what's unique is how large
it is. Right. It's not a tiny boutique school.
Not at all. Our sources cite this fascinating
statistic from 2016. Phillips Academy was actually
larger in student population than the other three
most selective boarding schools combined. Wow.
So it manages to maintain extreme exclusivity
despite its scale. Exactly. And we saw during
the pandemic that the selectivity just intensified
even more. The acceptance rate dropped to a mere
9 % in 2022. Suggesting that in times of uncertainty,
these elite boarding schools become even more
desirable commodities for parents. For sure.
Now, let's talk about the financial profile,
because the scale of the wealth is just critical
to understanding the school strategy. Okay, lay
it on us. As of September 2024, The endowment
was reported at $1 .41 billion. $1 .41 billion
for a high school. It's an absolutely monumental
figure. It provides a level of financial stability
and operational freedom that few colleges, let
alone other high schools, can even dream of.
And to make sure that endowment keeps pace with
their goals, they recently ran a huge capital
campaign. A very successful one. Between 2017
and 2023, the campaign raised $408 .9 million.
But what's crucial here, and this ties back to
that non -CBI deal, is where that money was earmarked.
increasing the financial aid endowment. And another
121 million was targeted for modernizing key
campus facilities. That financial cushion allows
them to pursue this ideal of access. But we have
to acknowledge the immediate sticker shock. The
cost of admission is enormous. It is. For the
2024 -25 school year, boarding tuition is $73
,780. Day students pay $57 ,190. And the rate
of tuition growth over the years has been relentless.
Let's look at the numbers. In the 2001 -02 school
year, boarding tuition was $26 ,900. Okay. Just
10 years later, 2011 -12, it had jumped to $42
,350. And now, just over a decade later, it's
at $73 ,780. That is almost a threefold increase
in costs in just over two decades. Which makes
the school's financial aid policy a genuine necessity
if they're going to fulfill that youth from every
quarter ideal. Right. So since 2007, Andover
has used a need -blind admissions policy. Meaning
a student's ability to pay is completely excluded
from the admission decision. And beyond being
need -blind, they guarantee they will meet 100
% of the demonstrated financial need for every
single student they admit. And the data supports
this commitment. 47 % of the current students
receive some form of financial aid. and 12 %
are on a full comprehensive scholarship. And
they actively try to diversify the application
pool with programs like ILEA. Right. The ILEA
program provides funding for prospective financial
aid applicants and their guardians, especially
from historically underrepresented backgrounds,
to visit the campus during the admissions process.
It removes that first financial hurdle of just
traveling to Massachusetts for a tour. So we
have a school where nearly half its students
get aid, but it also has one of the highest tuitions
in the country. It begs the question, how integrated
is the student body really? Let's look at the
demographics, starting with race and ethnicity.
The Academy reports that 59 % of students identify
as people of color, which makes the student body
significantly more racially diverse than the
state of Massachusetts as a whole. But our sources
provide this fascinating comparison of how those
numbers change depending on how the data is collected.
They do. When you look at the 2021 -22 NCES data,
the federal data, which requires a single racial
identification, the numbers were 36 .5 % white.
33 .0 % Asian, 10 .2 % Black, and 10 .5 % Hispanic.
Okay, so that's one picture. But if you compare
that to a student newspaper survey from March
2023, which allows students to identify with
multiple categories, the picture shifts. In that
survey, 50 .2 % identified as white and 42 .9
% identified as Asian. So the student's ability
to select multiple identities really complicates
that standard federal reporting. It suggests
a highly nuanced and multiethnic student population.
The survey also showed a slight increase in black
students, up to 13 .4%. And the school has a
huge global reach, too. About 15 % of the student
body are international students, totaling 184
as of March 2024. And it's interesting to note
that 55 of those are actually U .S. citizens
who live abroad, showing the school's draw even
among expatriate American families. We also have
to consider the continuing power of tradition
and legacy in this kind of... highly selective
environment. Oh, absolutely. The sources indicate
that about one in every eight students, so 12
.9%, has a parent who is an alumnus. They have
deep family ties to the institution. And even
more, at least one in five students has a sibling
who attended Phillips Academy. So that legacy
factor reinforces that while access is theoretically
wide, tradition maintains a really strong gravitational
pull. Now let's combine that financial data with
the admissions reality. Despite this robust financial
aid program aimed at broadening socioeconomic
access, the student survey from March 2023 painted
a very clear picture of affluence. What did it
find? Nearly half of the student body, 46 .8%,
reported coming from family household incomes
over $250 ,000 a year. Over a quarter million
a year. And on the other end. Conversely, only
11 .3 % of students reported coming from family
incomes under $100 ,000 per year. So while the
school effectively meets the need for those lower
-income students, the high concentration of wealth
at the upper end means the community is still
predominantly made up of students from the highest
socioeconomic strata. And that creates a real
tension, doesn't it? The policy achieves access
for a few, but the culture and the norms are
defined by the majority of students who come
from extreme privilege. Absolutely. And finally,
the political snapshot of the campus shows just
how far the institution has moved from its conservative
Calvinist origins. The 2023 student survey indicated
a decidedly liberal tilt. 38 .8 % identified
as liberal. But what's particularly striking
in that data is the high percentage of students
identifying outside the traditional political
mainstream. Right. We saw 8 .0 % who identified
as communist or socialist, which is a surprisingly
high number. for a prep school survey. And that
group is nearly equal in size to the percentage
who identified as conservative, which was only
8 .6%. So that political distribution suggests
a campus environment that not only tolerates
but actively encourages critical and highly progressive
political dialogue. And the religious data confirms
the secularization. Over 40 % of the student
body identified as either agnostic or atheist.
Compared to only 22 .5 % identifying as Christian
and 16 .9 % as Catholic. The theological anchor
that defined the school's beginning has clearly
been removed, replaced by a much more secular
and skeptical student body. We've established
the historical foundations and the modern profile.
Now we shift gears to Section 4, the academic
rigor and the sheer scale and design of the campus
that houses it all. Let's look at the structure
of learning. So Phillips Academy uses a trimester
program. The academic year is divided into three
distinct terms, each lasting about 10 weeks.
And this structure provides enormous flexibility
and intellectual breadth. And the resources they
devote to instruction are just incredible. The
school employs 232 teaching faculty and offers
around 300 different courses. All while maintaining
an enviable seven to one student faculty ratio.
That low ratio combined with the huge curriculum
is what really facilitates the deep personalized
engagement you expect at this level. What's particularly
fascinating about Andover's curriculum philosophy
is its relationship with the Advanced Placement,
or AP, program. Oh, this is the ultimate irony.
Phillips Academy actually co -authored the study
that led to the creation of the entire advanced
placement program back in the 1950s. So they
were instrumental in creating the gold standard
for high school curriculum acceleration across
the whole country. Yet they've walked away from
it in the 21st century. Why would they do that?
The sources indicate that Andover made a very
deliberate decision to de -emphasize AP classes.
And the rationale is simple. They want to maintain
absolute curricular flexibility and intellectual
independence. So they prefer to design their
own advanced innovative courses. Exactly. Courses
that often exceed the difficulty of the AP curriculum,
but without being constrained by the rigid, standardized
curriculum and testing requirements that are
dictated by the College Board. It's a huge statement
about their confidence in their own academic
design. That decision really underscores their
intellectual independence. Another marker of
that unique approach is their grading system.
Right. Phillips Academy does not rank students,
which is designed to foster collaboration over,
you know, cutthroat competition. They use a unique
6 .0 GPA scale. Where 6 .0 is outstanding, 5
.0 is an honors grade, and 2 .0 is still a passing
grade. The goal is to move the student's focus
away from that hyper -competitive ranking. We
know from a 2023 student survey that the average
GPA was quite high at 5 .41, which demonstrates
success across the student body. And in addition
to the regular academic year, the school also
runs a popular five -week summer section. It
does. It dates all the way back to 1942. It serves
about 600 students entering grades 8 through
12, extending their educational reach beyond
the traditional academic calendar. Now let's
consider the physical environment. The campus
is colossal 706 acres, located in Andover, Massachusetts.
And the oldest parts of the campus core are highly
protected. They're listed on the National Register
of Historic Places as part of the Academy Hill
Historic District, which encompasses the historic
sites of the former Abbott Academy and the Theological
Seminary. And the scale and the beauty of the
campus were intentionally engineered. We mentioned
Thomas Cochran's desire to make it the most beautiful
school in America. And to achieve this, Andover
hired Frederick Law Olmsted, the legendary landscape
architect behind Central Park, and his firm.
Olmsted's advice on campus design started in
1891 and continued for five decades. So they
ensured the campus was laid out with this grand,
intentional, and aesthetically consistent architecture
and landscaping. And when you walk that campus,
you encounter buildings named after some truly
significant alumni and historical figures. At
Bullfinch Hall, which houses the English department.
Built in 1819, named after Charles Bullfidge,
the noted architect who actually taught the hall's
designer. Or Morse Hall, which contains the math
department, named after Samuel Morse, class of
1805. The inventor of the telegraph and Morse
code. These buildings really anchor the curriculum
to the school's historical achievements. Fast
forwarding to the 21st century, you find the
Geld Science Center, built in 2004. This modern
facility, which includes a campus observatory,
is named after Richard L. Geld, class of 41.
The heir to the Clairol Hair Care Company. So
that philanthropic lineage established by Cochran
continues to fund these major institutional leaps
in areas like science and technology. The Oliver
Wendell Holmes Library, known as the OWHL, is
another historic centerpiece. It was built in
1929 in the Georgian Revival style, holds over
80 ,000 books, and it's named after the poet
and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Class
of 1825. But though it's historic, it's far from
outdated, right? It houses everything from a
silent study room to a modern maker space. Blending
tradition with cutting -edge technology. I love
that the campus itself is just filled with these
historical anecdotes. The connection to Harriet
Beecher Stowe, for example. Stowe House, one
of the dormitories, was her family's former residence.
It's a wonderful human detail that grounds the
history. Stowe's husband taught at the theological
seminary when they lived there, and she famously
used the very first royalty check she received
from her groundbreaking novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin,
to renovate the house. And it was physically
moved to its current location in 1929 and is
still a central piece of the residential campus.
Speaking of residential life, the sheer size
of the student body and campus requires a really
sophisticated organization system. Which they
call the cluster system. And the cluster system
is the backbone of student life. which vary widely
in size, are grouped into five distinct clusters.
Each cluster serves as a subcommunity of roughly
220 students and about 40 faculty affiliates
who live nearby. And this system manages orientation,
social events, study breaks, and provides crucial
faculty supervision and interaction. Ensuring
that even on a massive 706 -acre campus, students
feel a sense of a smaller, more cohesive community.
Moving on to Section 5, we need to discuss the
truly unique cultural assets that Phillips Academy
has. I mean, this is where the institution really
transcends high school status and enters the
realm of world -class cultural stewardship. It
operates at the level of a small university.
You have to start with the Addison Gallery of
American Art. This institution was yet another
gift from Thomas Cochran, and it's open to the
public. And its collection is genuinely world
class. This isn't just a nice school gallery.
The permanent collection includes seminal American
works like Winslow Homer's iconic painting, Eight
Bells. Alongside pieces by John Simpleton Copley.
Jackson Pollock, Frank Stella, Andrew Wyeth.
And to demonstrate its significance, the gallery
underwent a major $30 million renovation and
expansion between 2008 and 2010. Just imagine
having access to American masterpieces as part
of your high school experience. Then you have
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology,
founded in 1901. This institute is completely
unique for a secondary school. It is one of the
nation's major repositories for Native American
archaeological collections. And unlike the Addison
Gallery, This is primarily a research facility.
It's accessible to researchers and public school
groups, mainly by appointment. And the Peabody
Institute is really noteworthy for its proactive
stance on ethical stewardship. It has been a
leader in compliance with the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA,
since the early 1990s. That commitment to repatriation
and respect for historical resources that aligns
correctly with the ideals of knowledge and goodness.
Shifting from institutional assets to student
achievements, the extracurricular life is just
highly sophisticated. The Philippian, the school's
weekly newspaper, has been publishing since 1857,
and the independence of the student body is fiercely
protected. The paper's mission states that it
is entirely uncensored and student -run. Which
fosters a level of journalistic maturity and
accountability that you just rarely see at the
high school level. But the true highlight of
student intellectual rigor in recent years has
to be the Phillips Academy poll. This is the
first public opinion poll conducted by high school
students that has achieved national recognition.
The poll gained national media attention. including
features in The New Yorker, for his accuracy
in predicting the 2022 midterm election results.
It's evidence that these students aren't just
reading textbooks. They are engaging in sophisticated,
rigorous, and relevant social science research
that influences real -world political commentary.
Athletically, the philosophy is summed up by
their motto, Athletics for All. And just like
their academic history, their athletic history
is foundational. Andover participated in the
first ever high school football game in American
history back in 1875 against Adams Academy. Today,
it's a massive athletic powerhouse within the
New England Preparatory School system. The school
offers 29 interscholastic programs. And an incredible
44 intramural or instructional programs. That
variety is remarkable. It offers everything from
fencing and tai chi to figure skating and ultimate
frisbee. The commitment is clearly to universal
participation, not just varsity excellence. Though
they achieve excellence as well. Oh, for sure.
The boys' crew team, for instance, has competed
internationally at England's prestigious Henley
Royal Regatta, showing that their commitment
extends to the highest levels of global amateur
competition. Now, in the spirit of comprehensive
knowledge, we have to shift our focus to the
necessary counterbalance, the controversies.
These issues reflect the ongoing struggle of
a traditional institution trying to meet the
evolving modern standards of equity and accountability.
And they test that ideal of non -civi fundamentally.
The source material outlines three key areas
where Phillips Academy has faced intense scrutiny.
The first was in 2013 when the school drew national
attention for apparent gender bias. This was
highlighted specifically by a noticeable lack
of female representation in major student leadership
positions at the time. And it sparked internal
and external debate about whether the merger
with Abbott Academy in 1973 had really created
equal opportunity. Following that, in 2016 and
2017, the most serious historical allegations
surfaced. Reports identified former teachers
who had been involved in inappropriate sexual
contact with students over a period of time in
the school's past. The school's response was
immediate and comprehensive. They hired an independent
law firm to investigate the allegations of historical
misconduct. And school officials stressed that
transparency and a commitment to ensuring these
transgressions would never happen again were
paramount to rebuilding trust. And the most recent
and profound reckoning happened around issues
of racial equity in 2020. Right. This was driven
by the rise of the anonymous Instagram account
at Black Atandover, which started circulating
dozens of detailed stories from students identifying
as Black. These narratives detailed painful personal
experiences with racism on campus. But this went
far beyond just documenting individual racist
incidents, didn't it? It did. The core of the
critique focused heavily on systemic issues within
the school's disciplinary apparatus. Students
reported perceived racial disparities in disciplinary
outcomes, arguing that the system emphasized
punitive measures over restorative justice. And
there were also concerns raised about a lack
of due process outlined in the student handbook's
procedures. The public nature and severity of
this critique, which was covered in national
outlets like The New York Times, prompted a significant
institutional response. The administration formed
an anti -racism task force, which spent two years
investigating and released its final report in
March 2022. These controversies are vital parts
of the institution's current story. They really
force a critical assessment of whether the wealth
and resources, the $1 .41 billion endowment,
the world -class facilities, are truly serving
the ideal of non -CB and the youth from every
quarter motto. Or whether institutional traditions
and biases continue to undermine that mission.
These are the necessary struggles of a 247 -year
-old institution striving for modern relevance.
So to conclude our deep dive, we have to look
at the colossal cultural footprint Phillips Academy
has left on the world stage, beginning with its
list of notable alumni. which reads like a global
power index. It is truly a list of distinction
across every field imaginable. Again, we emphasize
the two U .S. presidents, the five Nobel laureates
and the six Medal of Honor recipients across
four different American conflicts. But the list
is so diverse. You have leaders in law enforcement
like FBI Director Christopher Wray, figures in
finance and philanthropy like Ed Bass and Facebook
co -founder Chris Hughes. The sheer volume of
influential people is staggering. And this influence
extends into culture and sports. You see actors
like Humphrey Bogart, Jack Lemmon, and Olivia
Wilde. You find the creator of Tarzan, writer
Edgar Rice Burroughs. And in sports, the legendary
NFL coach Bill Belichick. The variety proves
the school is not just a political feeder, but
a multifaceted cultivator of talent. It also
has international reach, educating figures in
foreign affairs and royalty, like King Jigme
Kezar Namgyal Wangchuk of Bhutan. And going back
to its original purpose of fostering goodness,
it educated one of the most prominent 19th century
abolitionists, Theodore Dwight Weld. Phillips
Academy's identity is just so distinct and recognizable
that it's become cultural shorthand for the elite
in popular media. Which brings us to its footprint
in literature and film. In literature, you see
the duality of the school's reputation captured
perfectly. F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of
Paradise portrays Andover through this aspirational
lens, calling it a college -like democracy. But
you contrast that with J .D. Salinger's decidedly
more cynical perspective in The Catcher in the
Rye, where a boy from Andover is used specifically
to embody an air of pretentious boy, a symbol
of entrenched social status and condescension.
And that tension between the school's stated
democratic ideals and the perceived pretension
that comes with its social status, it's permanent.
Tom Wolfe leveraged this reputation, using Andover
as the ultimate shorthand for the elite prep
look in his 1977 book. And in film, it serves
as an immediate marker of high -level pedigree.
Incentive a woman when Al Pacino's character
makes a mistake about the former president's
background. Chris O'Donnell's character instantly
corrects him, emphasizing that George H .W. Bush
attended Andover. That correction is essential
to establishing the character's lineage and social
standing. And of course, for pop culture fans,
the lore extends into the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
where it's established that Tony Stark attended
Phillips Academy from 1977 to 1984 before moving
on to MIT. It places the institution firmly in
the public imagination as the place where future
geniuses and power players are forged. So what
does this all mean for you, the listener? Our
deep dive has taken us on a remarkable journey,
tracing Phillips Academy from its earliest days
as a small, fiercely orthodox Calvinist ministry
school founded during the height of the revolution.
To the massive, globally influential and secular
$1 .41 billion endowed powerhouse it is today.
It represents a really successful institutional
evolution. It transformed itself into a non -sectarian
school that tries to balance its extreme wealth
and exclusivity with a profound commitment to
access. Evidenced by its need -blind policy and
its promise to meet 100 % of demonstrated financial
need for nearly half of its students. Phillips
Academy in microcosm exemplifies both the incredible
resilience and continuity of American educational
tradition, it's still the oldest incorporated
academy, and the ongoing... complex struggle
for true equity within elite institutions. The
generosity of the need -blind policy sits in
sharp contrast with the demographic reality of
pervasive wealth and the difficult public reckoning
over historical misconduct and racial equity.
The institution has successfully shed the original
theological mandate that required all teachers
and trustees to be Protestant. That demonstrates
a clear embrace of radical, necessary change.
And yet it chooses to retain that powerful foundational
Latin motto, finis origin pendet. The end depends
upon the beginning. Which raises a powerful question
for you to consider as you process this history.
If the end that Phillips Academy seeks today
is defined by radical global access, socioeconomic
integration, and social equity, how much do those
revolutionary era beginnings, founded by Calvinist
businessman manufacturing gunpowder, tied to
powerful political elites, and initially constrained
by the cultural biases of the time, how much
do those beginnings still shape the institution?
How does a school so reliant on tradition and
the perpetuation of family lineage manage to
fully embrace a future defined by radical change,
ensuring that non -cibi truly means not for self,
for everyone? A perfect thought to end on as
we contemplate the weight of history versus the
speed of change. Thank you for joining us for
this deep dive into Phillips Academy. We will
see you next time.