Several Alumni Panels Help Celebrate The Haverford Difference

Last weekend the campus celebrated“the Haverford difference,” bringing together alumni, students, parents, staff, and faculty to launch the Lives That Speak capital campaign. But what exactly is“the Haverford difference?” It certainly includes the core ideals of trust, concern, respect, as the student-ratified Honor Code describes. But it can also be hard to put a finger on, as Board Chair Howard Lutnick '83, who had just announced his unprecedented $25 million donation, mused during Saturday morning's campaign kickoff event.

A series of afternoon panels, however, sought to define it a little more specifically, bringing together nine alumni from a range of professions to spell out how their time at 370 Lancaster Ave shaped their careers, and lives, for the better.

The first panel welcomed three Fords from the business world to the Marshall Auditorium stage, introduced by Neal Grabell '77 /P'14, a visiting professor of independent college programs who teaches courses in accounting and ethics.

“It's odd to think how uncommon a simple thing like honesty is in our world,” said panelist Jacqueline V. Brady '89, managing principal and co-founder of Canopy Investment Advisors LLC.“But wow, the dividends it pays.” She recounted the tough task of forewarning financial clients about potential losses before the recession struck.“I had that transparency months before others did,” she said. Now, said Brady, she has strong relationships with many of those clients  â€œbecause I built that trust.”

“Haverford,” she said,“taught me to live a life that expects the best of you.”

Leslie“Ellie” Power '92, a who works in the tech sector as program director at Phase2, a web strategy and development firm, said she finds herself reflecting on the Honor Code each day.“In software, there are a lot of problems and mistakes, all the time,” she said.“And often, we have to decide exactly how much do we tell [a client] about the problems we found?'”

Once, Power said, she removed an employee from a project because he wasn't performing up to par, and when a client asked why, she was honest with him.“He gave me a look, and I thought, ‘Uh oh, what did I do?'” said Power.“And he replied that nobody had ever respected him enough to just tell the truth in that kind of situation.”

For Daniel Price '77 /P'16, current managing director of Rock Creek Global Advisors and former deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs to President George W. Bush, the Haverford difference started in the classroom with encouraging—but demanding—professors.“As a freshman in ‘Western Civ,' [late Emeritus Professor of History] John Spielman told me, ‘You know, we'd appreciate your opinion so much more if it were informed by the facts.'” Which were, incidentally, in the assigned readings.“And when the President asks, ‘What do you think?' Let's just say you better have done the readings,” said Price.

A second memorable teacher, [Emeritus Professor of History] Roger Lane, once told a young Price who had cut him off mid-sentence,“Dan, hear what I say before you disagree with me.” That lesson was invaluable.“I've been in negotiations with Iranians, Russians, Chinese, Ukranians," said Price. "You just have to listen with the view that you might not be right. The other guy might be right.”

At the standing-room-only panel on Fords in medicine, which was held in the Sharpless Auditorium of the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center, the same deep-seated values were touted. Obviously, any high-end liberal arts education has benefits for a physician, said Steve Larson '83, a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and co-founder of the nonprofit Puentes de Salud, which promotes health and wellness in South Philadelphia's growing Latino immigrant population.“But it was the environment here, which prioritized tolerance, that had a lasting effect for me,” he said. In his practice, Larson focuses largely on global and community health, and on reaching underserved populations, so,“I might be treating a CEO one minute and a homeless fellow the next.”

Thomas L. Spray '70, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, came from a small town in Tennessee—and a less-than-challenging high school—and was drawn to the promise of Haverford's cutting-edge curriculum.“Still, the place had such an integrity,” he said.“It was an extraordinary community in those days, and still is.”

Though some students admittedly whipped out their Newsweeks as soon as then-mandatory Quaker meeting started, according to Joel R. Lowenthal '59 /P'12, who now practices family medicine in Bryn Mawr, the student body still took Haverford's Quaker values to heart.“There are endless ethical dilemmas in medicine, and here's where I learned how to approach them,” he said.“How many patients do you see in a day? Who do you refer them to? Which drugs to you prescribe? How much do you charge? What specialty do you practice, and where do you live? It goes on and on.”

Kari Nadeau '88 addressed the research perspective. Nadeau, who earned both a medical degree and a Ph.D., is associate professor of pediatrics and otolaryngology at Stanford University School of Medicine and directs its Allergy Center.“There are plenty of ethical questions when you're doing research on people,” she said.“But also, the element of curiosity, and of challenging yourself, which is supported here [at Haverford], is just so important.”

The final panel, also held in Sharpless, gathered three Fords working in policy and human services to consider how their Haverford experience helped them navigate the nuances of government and nonprofit work.

“It wasn't until way after Haverford, when I was actually [working] in the real world, that I realized how meaningful it had been,” said John C. Sassaman '87, a former philosophy major who now lives“the life of a practicing philosopher” as chief counsel and staff director of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics.“The decisions we make can be career-ending,” said Sassaman, whose role in Congress includes education, but also discipline when necessary.“Everyone really has to have and consider all the information.”

And those decisions are rarely easy, as Sara T. Slocum '98, a board member for the nonprofit Bottomless Closet NYC, which helps dress and prepare disadvantaged women for successful careers, emphasized. Luckily her time on campus helped prepare her to make difficult choices.“At Haverford, I designed my own major in cultural studies,” she said. That process helped her develop independence, critical-thinking skills, and confidence. So now she not only can work at“doing the right thing,” but also has earned the self-assuredness to make a choice about how best to do it.

Haverford taught Samantha Phillips Beers '84 how to speak up for herself, too:“As part of the first class of women here, and as one of three women of color, I was just bound to stand out,” she said.“We knew we were trailblazers.” Now, Beers, who directs the Office of Enforcement, Compliance, and Environmental Justice for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mid-Atlantic region, stands out as an influential decision-maker.“My hope is to make a difference on behalf of the people who can't get into the rooms, the conversations, that I'm in.”

The audiences for each panel were full of other alumni, parents, and students alike, but the panelists offered their most tailored guidance to young Fords—those still on campus or those just launching their careers.

For one thing, don't count yourself out of anything, advised Brady.“I had a Growth and Structure of Cities major tell me he didn't think finance seemed like a very Haverfordian field,” she said.“But it needs us, is the thing. What we bring to the table is different than what your average analyst brings.”

Though the panelists spoke through the lenses of their different careers, all of their experiences gathered together illustrated that there are endless ways to live the Haverford difference.“It might be how close you park to the handicapped space,” said Beers,“or whether you hold the door for someone.”

—Mara Miller '10