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Alumni Reunion 2023: Nurturing the Soul of Proctor

Scott Allenby

To be a part of the Proctor community, even if just for a short period of time as a student or an employee, is to have Proctor become an inextricable piece of you. Relationships run incredibly deep here at Proctor, and there is no time of the year better to remind ourselves of our long-term work as educators than Alumni Reunion Weekend. 

 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

A hug at Reunion has the power to unearth shared experiences from decades prior as we connect with former teachers and classmates. While cold, wet weather tried to put a damper on Reunion 2023, our alumni rallied to join together in conversation, activities, meals, assembly, and celebrations of new inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame, Alumni Service Award, and the lives of David and Alice Fowler. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

Friday morning’s golf outing was followed by on-campus activities and a special dinner celebrating the 50th Reunion Class of 1973. The first graduating class with female students, nine members of the Class of 1973 made their way back to campus to reconnect and share stories from a half century earlier. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

We kicked off Saturday morning with an all-school assembly in the Wilkins Meeting House. During assembly Brooks Bicknell ‘77 was honored by the Alumni Council with the 2023 Alumni Service Award. Brooks is retiring from Proctor after spending the last 34 years of his life, alongside his wife Mindy, working at Proctor Academy. His list of roles and accomplishments at Proctor are too many to list in a post like this, but suffice it to say that Brooks’ impact on Proctor and its programming, especially its off-campus and experiential programming, has been immense. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

Following assembly, a student panel and series of outdoor activities, campus tours, and open art studios and science labs saw our alumni dive back into their favorite parts of their Proctor experience. Patty Pond set up her Bluebird Baker trailer by the Jaxtimer Fire Pit and alumni gathered throughout the day to enjoy good food, coffee, and each other’s company. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

Saturday evening, classes gathered for class photos following an Alumni Spirit Walk during which everyone enjoyed samples of alumni-produced wine, ciders, and spirits. Our dining services team produced amazing meals throughout the weekend, including Saturday night’s dinner for all in attendance. Following dinner, we inducted our newest members of the Athletics Hall of Fame. 

  • Caite Zeliff ‘12 
  • Chris Smedley ‘78 
  • Max Cobb ‘83 
  • Anne Swayze (Coach) 
  • David Fowler (Coach) 
  • 1978-1979 Girls Soccer Team 
  • 2008 Football Team 
Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

Nick’s Other Band, led by Director of Development Keith Barrett and former faculty Chuck Will and Phil Goodnow, along with Max Barrett ‘16 on drums, put on an epic show in the Wise Center to close out the evening. The band played for four straight hours as we saw generations of alumni dancing, eating, and having fun together. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

Sunday kicked off with the Alumni Association annual meeting led by Alumni President Ryan Bowse ‘93. During Ryan’s introduction, he shared his own personal, almost spiritual, experience when he steps foot on campus. After he read Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of the Wild Things”, he encouraged each of the alumni in attendance to find, nurture, and hold as their own connection to Proctor and the sense of place this campus holds for each of us. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

The closing event of the weekend was a Celebration of Life Service for Alice and David Fowler held on the ground floor of the Alice and David Fowler Learning Center. As a variety of speakers stepped to the microphone to share reflections on both David and Alice’s lives, those in attendance experienced a powerful history lesson on how Proctor became the Proctor it is today. Many of the former faculty and staff who shaped Proctor throughout David’s headship (1971-1995) were in attendance, the hugs they shared most certainly eliciting powerful memories of decades past when they, collectively, visioned and turned Proctor into the school it is today. If you are so inclined, watch the service HERE. It is a powerful, powerful window into the soul of Proctor. 

Proctor Academy Alumni Reunion 2023

It is this soul of Proctor that sits at the heart of our work at this school. We see it show up equally in the most mundane of moments during the school year and in moments that fill reunion weekend. It lives in the buildings where the Proctor experience unfolds and in the relationships forged through our shared pursuit of our mission, regardless of our role at this school. We feel it in the hug of a graduate after Commencement, in the consoling of a colleague going through a challenging personal situation, in the pat on the back we give an advisee or player after they pull themselves up from a temporary moment of failure, and in a run through the woodlands. When you allow yourself to become a part of Proctor, Proctor reciprocates, and amplifies your initial action. May you always find a way to keep Proctor in your life. 

Check out more photos from Alumni Reunion 2023! 

  • Alumni
  • Community and Relationships