On behalf of American Friends of Stowe, it is a pleasure to be providing an annual update on our activities. At AFS, we are looking forward in 2022 to continuing to pursue our dual mission – both to increase opportunities for over 400 Friends of Stowe and Old Stoics located in North America to connect with each other – as well as provide critical support to allow an increasingly diverse group of Stoics pursue a world-class education.
Covid has not surprisingly made it more challenging to deliver on the first half of our mandate as it has been impossible to celebrate our mutual bond in person – but we are optimistic that, absent a further pandemic setback, we will once again be able to host the Head for an “in-real-life” Cocktail Party in New York City in the Fall of 2022, at the start of the School’s Centenary year, 2022-23. The likely date is Thursday 27 October: please do ‘save the date’ and we would love to have you join us if you possibly can. We also aim to hold an in-person event in Florida in the coming months. More details on both these gatherings will be forthcoming as the plans for both become more concrete.
On the second part of our mission, let me thank all of those who contributed to our appeal mailing in December last year. While you have the ability to direct your donations to whatever part of Stowe resonates most with you, it has been particularly gratifying to see a marked increase in both absolute dollars and the share of total donations directed towards the ground-breaking Change 100 Campaign. Initial progress towards the appeal’s ultimate target has been encouraging, as you will read elsewhere in ʻThe Corinthian’, and this has already enabled an increased number of bursaries to be granted to a group of new Stoics who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend. I know that the Stowe community is already feeling the positive impact of these remarkable students and it is gratifying to see that your donations have so quickly helped to transform lives for the better.
The Head and the Governors of Stowe are particularly pleased with the continued success of American Friends of Stowe and the way the organization continues to grow and reinforce Stowe’s historic ties to the United States. I join them in thanking you for all your generous support and hope that, with Covid soon past us, we can look forward to meeting and sharing our bond with Stowe once again.
If you would like to get in touch with us about anything (perhaps you live here or have recently arrived and we are not yet in contact; or you may have just started at a university and would like to meet with a friendly face; or you may simply be interested in our wider work to support Stowe’s ambitions), then we would be thrilled to hear from you. Alyssa Weathersby, our Administrator, can be contacted on alyssa@americanfriendsofstowe.org, or please feel free to reach out to me on noah.walley@investorab.com
Persto et Praesto!
Noah Walley (Grafton 80) Chair, American Friends of Stowe