Page 5 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 94, No. 3 Spring 2014

Another Admission Record
In its most competitive year ever, St. Paul’s
School offered admission to 163 of a rec-
ord 1,623 applicants, for an acceptance
rate of 10%.
The selectivity rate represents a signif-
icant change from 2013, when 14.9%
(239) of the 1,594 applicants were offered
admission to the School.
A 71% yield in 2013-14 resulted in a
total enrollment of 548 students, neces-
sitating a decreased acceptance rate for
2014-15. The 163 admitted students –
84 boys and 79 girls – hail from 23 states
and eight countries. Nineteen percent of
those admitted come from countries other
than the United States, while 37% of the
accepted students are non-Caucasian.
“This is the strongest and deepest pool
of applicants any of us has ever seen,”
said Director of Admission Scott Bo-
han ’94. “They are remarkable young
people, who will contribute in many
ways to this community.”
St. Paul’s offered admission to 113 stu-
dents (60 girls, 53 boys) for the Third
Form, 40 (26 boys and 14 girls) for the
Fourth Form, and 10 (five girls and five
boys) for the Fifth Form.
Also of note is that 26 percent of ad-
mitted students will receive some form
of tuition assistance during the 2014-15
academic year.
The SPS Admission Office received a
record 3,978 inquiries and conducted an
all-time-high 1,755 interviews – so many
that the interview season was extended
from its original closing date of January
15 through the end of the month.
“The School is in a great place,” said
Bohan. “People want to be where they
will be challenged and supported while
having fun – and they see that here in
every aspect of School life.”
Founder’s Day
On April 3, 1856, a 24-year-old school-
master, his bride of seven days, two boys,
and a dog arrived in Concord, N.H., by
horse-drawn carriage. A third boy awaited
them at the home of SPS founder George
Cheyne Shattuck, whose summer resi-
dence would become the grounds of
St. Paul’s School.
The three boys immediately received
their assignments. One wrote an essay
entitled “Strength of Purpose,” about the
moral qualities; the second was assigned a
composition called “Adventures of a Lion,”
about quality of action; and the third was
allowed to go fishing, indicating the qual-
ity of humane leisure and a relation to
nature. The day ended with the young
schoolmaster, Rector Henry Augustus
Coit, reading a story to his three students
and leading evening prayers.
To commemorate the historic day in
SPS history, students Duncan Norton ’14,
Clarissa Reichblum ’14, Priscilla Salo-
vaara ’15, Tekla Monson ’14, and Owen
Labrie ’14 staged a reenactment of the
School’s founding in morning Chapel,
with the help of Henry the golden retriever
(who belongs to the family of the Rever-
end Michael Spencer, dean of chapel).
Norton played the role of Reverend Henry
Augustus Coit, the first SPS Rector, while
Reichblum played his wife. Salovaara,
Monson, and Labrie reenacted the roles
of the first three SPS students – (fisher-
man) Fred Shattuck and (essay-writers)
George Shattuck and Horatio Bigelow.
Eva Wang ’15 and Chi-Chi Azoba ’14 served
as narrators.
The reenactment included a red wagon,
pulled by the Coits, to represent the horse-
drawn carriage, a large stuffed fish hooked
by a fishing pole, and a round table, where
two of the boys wrote their essays.
The Chapel service included recitation
of the School Prayer and singing of the
School Hymn, “Love Divine.”
Return of the Jackal
As he anticipated the arrival of Irish novel-
ist and playwright Samuel Beckett in a hotel
lobby many years ago, Andrew Wylie ’65
realized he needed to use the restroom.
On his return trip down a long, winding
staircase, he lost his balance and tumbled
down the steps, injuring his back. As Wylie
writhed in pain on the floor, he looked up
to see a man staring down at him, his face
awash with concern.
“It was Samuel Beckett,” Wylie told a
group of students and faculty gathered
for lunch at SPS on April 14. Beckett ex-
tended a hand to help the injured literary
agent off the ground, and he and Wylie
slowly made their way to a dinner table set
for three. To the surprise of Wylie, still in
pain from his fall, in walked Bob Dylan
to occupy the third seat. Dylan and Beckett
would both become a clients.
Wylie, one of the most celebrated literary
agents of all time, regaled the SPS com-
munity with stories of his many literary
clients on his first official return to SPS
since leaving the School four months ahead
of his scheduled graduation, in February
1965. His visit as a Schlesinger Writer in
Residence included an address in Memorial
Hall in front of students and faculty, lunch
with students, and free time for conver-
sations with SPS community members.
In her introduction of Wylie, humanities
faculty member Anny Jones touched on
the extraordinary breadth of his 1,000-
member client list – from Dylan to Hunter
S. Thompson to Andy Warhol to Annie
Leibovitz to Salman Rushdie.
Wylie spoke about how he “didn’t quite
fit into anything” at St. Paul’s, where Secre-
tary of State John Kerry ’62 was his “old
boy” – now called a “big brother.”
“I developed an inordinate fascination
with anybody else,” he said. “That directly
led to my interest in others’ work.”
COURTESY WYLIE AGENCY
PETER FINGER
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