The ReMarker newspaper • St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, Texas • Volume 64 Issue 1 • September 22, 2017
Genecovs gift school with new endowed chair
REMARKER
by Duncan Kirstein new master teaching chair, given by Dr. David Genecov ’82 and his wife Lisa, was announced at a special faculty meeting Sept. 14 by Headmaster David Dini. The chair, the Sally and Edward Genecov Master Teaching Chair, is named for Genecov’s parents. “I am who I am today because of my parents and the importance they placed on education in allowing me to come to St. Mark’s,” Genecov said. “Master teaching chairs are an investment in the most important part of the school. They are what makes St. ark’s different from any other school.” The Sally and Edward Genecov Master Teaching Chair becomes the school’s 19th fully endowed position here. “We’re here to celebrate an investment that the Genecov family has made in the school,” Dini said. “This gift is the result of their desire to contribute to the quality of teaching that occurs on our campus every day.” Math instructor Amy Pool, who also co-advises the Junior lass, will be the first holder of the chair, Dini announced. Pool, who began her career here in 2011, teaches David, Sally and Lisa Genecov pre-calculus, AP calculus AB and independent study in advanced math and serves as Upper School Math Team co-sponsor. “There are so many exceptional teachers at St. Mark’s who are master teachers in their own right,” Pool said. “It’s gratifying to have that recognized in a public way. We all know we make a difference in everyday life but it’s nice to have that more formal recognition.” The Genecov family has a more than 40-year history with the school. David Genecov serves as the chair of the Education Committee, and he has served on the Board of Trustees since 2011. His brother, nephews and three sons all graduated from here. The Master Teaching Program goes back to 1977, when the Cecil H. and Ida Green Master Teaching Chair was established. Prior to the Genecov gift, the two most recent Master Teaching Chair appointments were science and engineering instructor Doug Rummel, who holds the Founders Master Teaching Chair and history instructor John Perryman, who holds the Adams Master Teaching Chair. These appointments were made in 2016.
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TRIAL BY
FIRE Domestic terrorism. Nazi echoes. The glow of torches illuminating the crowded streets of Charlottesville, Virginia. These symbols have sparked the question: what See story, page 7 has Charlottesville ignited?
• Story Kobe Roseman, Zach Gilstrap, Blake Daugherty Photo illustration Riley Sanders
23 minutes with...
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Before I came to Texas, I thought there would be cowboy hats, boots and big belts, but I haven’t seen a guy like that yet, probably because we’re in Dallas.
Dominik Fronc Page 15
News in brief
For the record
Leadership ISD underway After joining in partnership with Leadership ISD and Unitedtolearn, a group of 12 sophomores and juniors will begin attending monthly leadership meetings Sept. 23. Students who were selected for the fellowship will work with other Dallas schools’ students learning leadership skills and participating in seminars on topics ranging from poverty to Dallas educational history.
News in brief
Self-study begins
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Wins
Losses
VARSITY FOOTBALL
The school is set to evaluate itself over the coming year during its self-study — a process necessary to remain in the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS). Through the study, ISAS ensures its member schools have high standards. During the year, the accreditation requires each academic department and other groups on campus to reflect on their goals and needed improvements.
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News • September 22, 2017 • The ReMarker • Page 7
‘DISCUSSION MUST BE HAD’ Keeping perspective
H In a round table discussion, humanities instructor Meagan Frazier (left), History and Social Sciences Department Chair David Fisher (center) and Political Forum President Austin Montgomery (right) discuss the issues behind Charlottesville.
Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Master Teaching Chair Bruce Westrate (left), senior Mateo Diaz (center), and Hill Washburne, president of the Political Speaker Series (right), debate Dallas’s vote to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Lee Park.
After the Dallas City Council voted 13 to 1 for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Oak Lawn, a temporary restraining order halted the removal just hours after the vote Sept. 6.
Crews were ordered by Dallas officials to remove the 14-foot-tall statue Sept. 14.
Voices
Continued from page one
e was scared. On Aug. 11, Luke Williams ’14 was on the University of Virginia (UVA) campus, training for his new job as a residential advisor in his senior year. News of the Unite the Right protests had already infiltrated campus walls — people knew this would happen. But as the events unfolded that night and through the morning, some couldn’t believe their eyes. Backlit by the hue of tiki torch ames, members of the “alt right,” the u lux lan and the neo azi movement marched through the UVA campus to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. “ hite lives matter ” “ lood and soil ” “Jews will not replace us ” Shouts and chants bellowed throughout the campus, and without trying to sensationalize it, illiams says he and the people around him were scared. And that fear lasted. After the protests, after the deaths of Heather Heyer and two Virginia state troopers, Jay ullen and Berke Bates, a harrowing fear hung over harlottesville like a thick, hazy fog. Many of Williams’ friends were hesitant to do what they usually did around town — many of the protest ers were still in harlottesville. ut in the weeks following har lottesville, the country has struggled to figure out what to do next, how to respond. Movements have emerged to encourage the removal of onfederate monuments like the ones in harlottesville. The Trump administration has faced backlash over its response to the events and the growing political polarization in a post harlottesville world have ushered in what some call a new era of discontent in the nation. But despite the noise throughout the country, senior ateo Diaz says discussions on campus and across the nation can be the method to finding solutions for these issues. “Discussion must be had,” Diaz said. “It may be uncomfortable. You may not enjoy it. But there are topics that if left to yourself, your opinion will be devoid of a richness of knowledge that comes from listening to others and hearing what you might not believe.” So, sitting around a Harkness
The country, city and Marksmen past and present reflect on the issues that have defined the month following the events in Charlottesville, Virginia.
table, students and faculty discussed and listened, agreed and disagreed. rom harlottesville to Dallas’s own onfederate statues most notably in Lee Park), one theme arose: the country needs dialogue. Discussion must be had. While watching the events of that
weekend unfold, humanities instruc tor eagan razier’s sense of place in history’s path seemed blurred. “ s a teacher, it feels like some thing that I teach my kids about in the past tense,” razier said, “but when it happens in the present tense, it adds a different tone to how I’m teaching it and how I’m explaining it to my students. It brings a whole new aspect to history. People are still carrying these feelings, and it’s definitely disheartening because it ipped my worldview of the place I call home.” History and Social Sciences Department hair David isher remains optimistic despite what’s on the news. “I think there has been genuine improvement in the relations between different kinds of mericans we’re not gonna go back there,” isher said. “ or every two steps we take forward, we’re probably going to take a step back. History has these uctuations.” Similarly,
aster Teaching hair Bruce Westrate sees the emergence of the “alt right” white supremacy as an outlier to the nation’s progress. “ e have to be careful of how we react to these things,” estrate said. “These people want to provoke an overreaction — that’s a part of their diabolical intent I really do not think that this represents what the nited States is. It’s an outli er, and these things happen, and always will happen in a place where you allow free speech and scope of opinion.” olitical orum co resident us tin Montgomery agrees that events in harlottesville were an anomaly, but he believes that the recent rise in political instability stems primarily from the 2016 election. “I do think this was something of an outlier,” ontgomery said. “I do think that in the months since No vember, this political polarization has increased to levels it wasn’t at before, You’re seeing more and more extreme views popping up.” These “extreme views,” accord ing to Diaz, serve as a forewarning to the state of American politics. He believes white supremacists’ public demonstrations represent their public reemergence. “I think it was a wakeup call on views that were presumed in the past,” Diaz said. “This shows that those people want to be heard. These groups have not been at the forefront
DOWN IT GOES Following protests, debates and a lawsuit, the City of Dallas removed the Robert E. Lee statue from Lee Park Sept. 14.
of public discourse recently.” s the nation rocked after har lottesville and racism returned to the national spotlight, so did the dilem ma of onfederate statues. Are they remnants of our nation’s history? Are they relics of a dead ide ology deserving to be forgotten? To isher, the initial response should be one of calculated thought. “The first reaction should not be It’s onfederate, therefore let’s elim inate it,’” isher said. “I would even say where there is a statue of [Robert E.] Lee there might be an argument to maintain a statue in that place. It’s sort of like a museum piece already. It re ects the values of the society of which it was a part.” Fisher acknowledges the values of a bygone era do not necessarily outweigh those of the values of the present. “ t the same time we have an ob ligation to the people of our society,” isher said. “If there is an frican American majority population of a southern town, and there’s a Lee stat ue in the middle of the town and that population really doesn’t want that statue there anymore I think we have to defer to the people who live there.” Westrate agrees • ‘If there is with Fisher’s desire such thing as for more of an in a positive that can come out of depth analysis of Charlottesville, the statues on a case it’s that it by case basis. Fur has forced a thermore, he stress conversation es the importance of which will then blossom into paying attention to many more.’ the circumstances Senior Mateo that led to the estab Diaz lishment of these statues. “To understand that the reason for putting up a statue can have more to do with heroism, the sacrifice, the tragedy, than the issue of slavery,” estrate said, “most of the soldiers that died didn’t own any slaves. Six percent of the troops owned any slaves at all. I’m not making excuses for the cause but I’m ust trying to point out that it is natural for people
who are going through an experience like that to want to remember the rel atives who fell in this epic tragedy.” On the topic of the historical rele vance of the onfederate Statues, ill Washburne, president of the Political Speaker Series, believes there’s a mi nority of people who use the statues to inspire hate. “The views held by those peo ple are obviously despicable and shouldn’t be tolerated, but I feel like it’s such a minority view and in a very rural location those people de scended on that location and protest ed on the removal of a confederate statue,” ashburne said. In the bigger picture, razier
believes the country’s past should be taken into account because the nation’s history brought the country to where it is today. “ hen we get into this habit of ‘let’s just throw all our dirty laundry away’ then we don’t acknowledge how far we’ve come and we start to forget all of the things that got us here,” razier said. “If the statues end up coming down, that’s fine, but I think that the bigger things that we are upset about and continue to be upset about are not going to be addressed.” The thick, hazy fog of fear and ominous hue of tiki torch ames the symbols of harlottesville and the events that followed have shaken the nation to its core and sparked con versations that will define a country during a time of confusion. The fear and hate still remain. But Williams believes it all starts with education and awareness. “This is not an isolated event,” illiams said. “ ntisemitism is not an isolated event. nti black racism is not an isolated event. We need to be teaching students how to under stand the reality in the world. Before we condemn white supremacists, let’s condemn white supremacy, whether it be how we teach history in classes, or just how we live in general.”
• Story Kobe Roseman, Zach Gilstrap, Blake Daugherty Photos Kobe Roseman, Riley Sanders ONLINE POLLS: SURVEYING MORE THAN 2000 AMERICANS AUG. 19-21
Opinions while watching the removal of Dallas’s Robert E. Lee statue
“The story is still real. So we must find ways to tell that story so our children will understand how we were born.”
“Some people still respect him (Robert E. Lee) a great deal. I think you just tell both sides of the man’s history. I think it’s up to the people to decide.”
— Clarence Glover, former African American Studies professor
— Jane Manning, Dallas Citizens for Unity and Reconciliation
SHOULD THE CONFEDERATE STATUES STAY STANDING? YES 54% ARE NEO-NAZI’S ACCEPTABLE? YES 9%
NO 27%
Source: Reuters
NOT SURE 19%
Source: New York Daily News
NO 83%
NOT SURE 8%