Eaglebrook Celebrates 78 Graduates of the Class of 2024

May 24, 2024 – Beneath a brilliant blue sky and surrounded by hundreds of family and faculty, 78 graduates of the Eaglebrook Class of 2024 took part in the school’s 102nd annual Commencement on Friday in Deerfield.

 

Following the procession and an invocation by Ms. Rachel Blain, Matthew Zhang performed Cécile Chaminade’s Arabesque No.1, Op. 61 on piano.  

 

Matthew was followed by Brad Mallory, who delivered the student address on behalf of his classmates. Brad shared personal reflections on his four years at Eaglebrook and said that the greatest lessons he had learned in his time on the Hill happened outside the classroom and came through experiences he shared with his fellow students.

 

“We are much more than the sum of our parts because we have lived and shared these years together,” Brad noted.  “We have learned how to thrive in a community, how to recognize kindness, and how to show compassion. We didn’t just learn with each other, we learned from each other, and for each other. We have a lifelong bond.”

 

Brad announced that the gift of the Class of 2024 to Eaglebrook would be a viewing stand overlooking the school’s new turf field, a fitting legacy from a class that always strived to cheer its members on. He finished his address by urging his classmates to remember the bond that they will always share as they leave the Hill for the next chapter of their lives. 

 

Head of School Andy Chase thanked Brad for his remarks and echoed the themes of family, community, and shared experience that ran through Brad’s speech. Mr. Chase shared the reflections of many Sixth Formers on what Eaglebrook has meant to them, noting that one student said, “At Eaglebrook, memories and people are more important than buildings and classes.” 

 

Mr. Chase closed by saying, “I offer no advice. Instead, I will repeat the words that came from one of you:  ‘I am deeply committed to carrying forward the curiosity and joy — that have defined my time here — into the next chapter of my life.’”

 

Following Mr. Chase, Charles Mosier delivered the class prayer, invoking a famous plea from The Iliad that Troy’s greatest hero, Hector, delivered when he returned to his wife and infant son after a victorious battle. Charles noted how much his own parents and grandparents had worked and sacrificed for him, and he urged his classmates to be worthy of all who have invested in their growth and success by aspiring to build upon their deeds.

 

John Palfrey P ‘17, an authority on Internet law and president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, then delivered the Commencement Address. Mr. Palfrey urged the Class of 2024 to leave Eaglebrook with the goal of building on the legacy that they have inherited through their families and through the invaluable gifts and opportunities that they have received from others. Drawing on Theodore Roosevelt’s renowned 1910 speech, “The Man in the Arena,” he encouraged the graduates to strive to make a difference in the world and to strive valiantly, knowing that even if they fail at times, they will have done so while daring greatly.

 

The 78 graduates of the class of 2024 will move on to secondary schools across the United States and around the world this fall. The following is a list of the schools that this year’s graduates will attend:

 

Berkshire School (1)

Blair Academy (3)

Choate Rosemary Hall (6)

Culver Academies (1)

Deerfield Academy (5)

Episcopal High School (2)

Frederick Gunn School (1)

Governor's Academy (3)

Hill School (2)

Holderness School (1)

Hotchkiss School (4)

Kent School (2)

Lawrenceville School (8)

Loomis Chaffee School (2)

Lycée Notre-Dame du Grandchamp (2)

Middlesex School (2)

Millbrook School (2)

Milton Academy (1)

Northfield Mount Hermon (2)

Phillips Academy - Andover (3)

Phillips Exeter Academy (4)

Portsmouth Abbey School (1)

Putney School (1)

St. Mark's School (1)

St. Paul's School (1)

Suffield Academy (1)

The Taft School (1)

Trinity-Pawling School (1)

Westminster School (3)

Wilbraham & Monson Academy (1)

Williston Northampton School (3)

Winchendon School (1)