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Last week and this evening I have received a few questions about the March 27 article in The Sun with the catchy headline, “Pressure Cookers Wilt Headmasters.” I was glad I wasn’t mentioned. For the record, I think many professional and personal responsibilities today are inevitably more complex and I don’t subscribe to the notion leading schools is unusually stressful and laced with impossible demands.

It is a privilege to serve McDonogh because it is a school with a clear mission and a few timeless core values that we all endorse. Sure, there are times when each of us comes up a little short in supporting the mission and the values. That is because we are human. But I submit that as we arrive each day on this inspiring campus, we know what they are and understand our responsibility to live by them.

Being a teacher and headmaster is certainly complex but I don’t associate the phrase “pressure cooker” with the job. There are plenty of faculty and kids who inspire me each day.

Last week I was leaving Keelty after teaching my freshman English class and two third-graders walking outside by the Upper School library shouted, “Hey, Mr. Dixon, how are you?” Their arms were waving as though they were directing a jet into its gate. I yelled back—asked them how their spring break was. Then I could tell that they were trying to figure out what to say next. Spontaneously, one boy yelled, “Hey, Mr. Dixon, have fun (pause)—working!”

Out of the mouths of babes came a priceless piece of advice, for all of us. I am having fun, and signs of wilting have more to do with a little less hair and a few more wrinkles.

I want to share some thoughts this evening but emphasize that these are my thoughts. When the pope speaks ex cathedra, he is speaking for the Catholic Church—for the cardinals and all followers. I am not speaking ex cathedra tonight. These are a few simple thoughts. We all enjoy giving gifts—to a spouse, to our friends, to our children. Some gifts are expensive but only last a week, like a special vacation. Other gifts are priceless because they last a lifetime. You are giving your children the gift of a special education that will allow them to follow their dreams as they incorporate timeless values to guide them forever.

There is a gift that we can all choose to give to McDonogh. That gift is the ability to fulfill its mission for decades regardless of the economic conditions, the demographics of the region, or the surrounding cultural, national, or international affairs.

The gift guarantees that McDonogh School will be a major player, a leader, in serving families and children in the Baltimore area. Well, it has survived for 130 years, why won’t it be here for decades to come?

In 1992, if I had said to people that Alex Brown would not be a major player in the Baltimore area in 2002, most would have looked at me as if I were crazy. Well, guess what? Alex Brown is no longer a major player. Coincidentally, the story in today’s Sun, “Alex Brown Name All But Gone,” includes this quote: “How wasteful to let 200 years of established outstanding performance in the financial industry slide under the waves.”

With McDonogh, we have a choice. On the one hand, we can roll the dice, and hope that ten years from now McDonogh continues to have balanced budgets, a thousand applicants, an excellent faculty, a talented, diverse, student body, and a campus with facilities to meet their needs . . . and hope that we are not sliding “under the waves.”

On the other hand, we can elect to lock in guarantees that, regardless of the winds of change, we will be able to deliver our promise of an inspiring education to 1,260 young people.

Let me explain how we can grant McDonogh that precious gift of fulfilling its mission for years to come.

As preparation for the K-12 evaluation next fall (conducted by a 30-person committee representing the Association of Independent Maryland Schools), we have reviewed and rewritten McDonogh’s philosophy to keep the key components while reflecting some current beliefs. It reads:

McDonogh School is a community that finds joy in work, in play, and in the discovery and realization of personal potential. Strong, mutually respectful relationships among and between students and teachers inspire a passion for learning, a dedication to personal integrity, and a commitment to excellence. Embracing diversity of background, culture, and thought, the school builds upon its founder's original mission to provide a life-altering opportunity and to develop in students the will "to do the greatest possible amount of good."

To make that philosophy work, to make sure these words really mean something, the school’s strategic plan cites six essential goals that should guide our work together:

1. Recruit, develop, and retain the finest faculty in the profession.
2. Provide sufficient scholarship funds to admit and enroll a student body that is diverse in all grades.
3. Further the excellence of the K-12 academic program to ensure that students continue to demonstrate both preparation and passion for life-long learning.
4. Maintain and renovate the campus and facilities so that they continue to support exceptional programs, attract talented students, and inspire the McDonogh family.
5. Enhance student life at McDonogh by balancing our commitments to excellence and to joy.
6. Create the financial infrastructure to enable strategic goals and to ensure future excellence.

In addition, the board of trustees and the administration agreed that if we are to be faithful to our philosophy, if we are to reach our goals, if we are to continue to play a significant role in Baltimore, we must invest in our two most compelling—the excellent faculty who are “called” each day to inspire young people and outstanding students who trust and believe in the school’s philosophy.

I’d like to share some quotes by a letter I received recently from a mother who had two kids graduate from McDonogh and then moved to Chicago when her third child was an eighth grader:

“I want to share a few thoughts about McDonogh. They are influenced by the experience that Joe has had attending a respected private school here and my experience as a trustee of another K-12 school.

Comparing the experience Joe has had in Chicago with his McDonogh experience, he has missed a great deal. McDonogh has a much larger group of truly outstanding teachers than most schools: teachers who are very smart, teachers who challenge the students, teachers who go out of their way to connect with all of the students. Our family knew they were special when our children were at McDonogh, but we didn’t know how truly special they were.

McDonogh has an incredible sense of community that is grounded in a respect for the whole person, a sense of honesty and of directly dealing with difficult issues. It is a community that values students who work hard at academics, athletics, cocurricular activities. Don’t take it for granted.”

What does it really mean, to invest in and support our two most compelling assets? During the past year, we have analyzed what it would cost us to meet the goals put forward by the strategic plan. Remember, two years ago we began a thorough study process on eight critical issues to McDonogh’s future—curriculum, technology, scholarship, student life, endowment, compensation and benefits, facilities and housing. Last year I reported the research and recommendations for that study.

Now here is the part when it might be best for us to take a deep breath and hold on to our seats. There is, with everything, a cost to meeting promises, to injecting meaning and teeth into a philosophy. Without meaning and teeth, you might as well put the philosophy on a dusty shelf somewhere.

To recruit, develop, and retain the finest faculty in the profession we must increase salaries so as to place McDonogh near the top of the independent school norms, improve faculty benefits, provide enough faculty housing for recruitment and retention purposes. Cost: $18 million

To attain reasonable diversity in all grades, to attend to our founder’s original intent for the school (to be for the poorest of the poor), to balance the number of middle income scholarship students (grants of less than $10,000) with the number of low income scholarship students ($1,000+). Cost: $17 million

As we brace for unprecedented teacher shortages, as salaries of public schools rise more rapidly than McDonogh’s, as tuition inevitably increases during shifting economic climates, it is imperative that we give much more than lip service to what is at our school’s core—the teachers and their students.

In the spirit of full disclosure, there is one other strategic plan recommendation that, although it does not meet the test of a critical core value, is nevertheless gaining strong support from all constituencies. The committee on student life recommended that the school seriously consider building a student life center which would be resource for a wide variety of student needs—academic and personal counseling, college counseling, dining, recreation, school store, and a resource available to kids seven days a week. Most of us have said often, “You know, I learned a lot outside the classroom too.” The student center would be a compelling place to celebrate that concept. Cost: $18 million

Yes, with some quick math, added to the reality that we still must take care of a beautiful but aging campus, the total cost is between $60 and $70 million. If you are still breathing, the most common reaction is probably, “We can’t afford that.” Now here is where I am really speaking ex cathedra. It is my belief that we can’t afford not to rise to this challenge.

Remember, the choice—between rolling the dice with hope that McDonogh can remain a major player for children in the Baltimore community, and giving McDonogh the gift of fulfilling its mission—its promise of excellence to young and old. Frankly, my observation is that most schools and businesses choose to roll the dice. Whatever problems come our way, they say, we shall overcome.

On the other hand, it is personally exciting to me to achieve a level that has few precedents in this area or in the nation. That would not only be fun, it would mean perpetuating a distinguished educational experience that has served so many so well. Rolling the dice, maintaining what we have, is not appealing to me, nor is it being responsible stewardship to future generation. Who makes this choice? We all do—the trustees, the alumni, and you, the patrons, with our eyes wide open.

The choice to reach, to give the gift will mean enormous effort, it will cost all of us personally and financially. For example, patrons, your percentage of participation in the Annual Fund is significantly lower than all but one other Baltimore school. Our annual giving goal (alumni and parents) is over a million dollars. Significant? Yes. Appreciated? Without a doubt. Enough to give McDonogh the ultimate gift? Not even close.

In the coming months and before classes begin in September, all of us will be wrestling with this choice. Do we raise and can we raise what it takes to meet the strategic planning goals? Do we compromise? How? Where? How much? What are the short and long term results of compromise?

Many people will make this a question of finance. What can we raise? I believe it is a question of will. How strongly do we feel about doing what it takes to be true to our philosophy and mission? As we enjoy the environment of the Ceres M. Horn Theatre, I am reminded of many comments six years ago expressing doubt that we could build such a facility. Fortunately, the voices that said “we must” won the day. I hope the “we must” voices will win again.

I look forward to listening to your voices for a few minutes tonight and over the next three months.