GILL — When Northfield Mount Hermon School’s new Head of School Brian Hargrove was officially installed during a ceremony at Memorial Chapel on Sunday, his message to students and staff was clear.
“For more than 140 years, NMH has challenged the established norms,” Hargrove said. “We have thrived by leading.” Then, speaking of school founder Dwight L. Moody, he added, “We must lead in the very way you called us to lead — by serving others.”
Hargrove is up for that task, according to Julie Ramsey, a vice president and dean at Gettysburg College and a mentor of Hargrove’s who has known him since his undergraduate years at Gettysburg.
“Brian has found his genuine vocation where his extraordinary talents will be put to the best and highest use,” she said.
Ramsey’s appearance at the installation ceremony was followed by remarks from another Hargrove friend and colleague, Marshall D. Jones, who urged older students in the audience to join Hargrove in “carrying the torch” and show younger students “how to leave the school better than you found it.”
According to a Northfield Mount Hermon School press release, other speakers included Mariah Calagione, Class of 1989 and chair of the NMH board of trustees; Taneyah Jolley, Class of 2020; and David Powell, Class of 1948 and Moody’s great-grandson.
Amid the serious sentiments, there was humor. Hargrove noted the irony of becoming head of an institution known as “the singing school” when, years ago, his second-grade music teacher once advised him to “just mouth the words” when it was time for the class to sing.
“I didn’t then — and I am not now,” he said, after the sounds of “Hymn of Joy” filled the chapel.
There was also symbolism, with the Hargrove family helping to plant a maple tree after the ceremony to recognize the roots they’re putting down on campus. There was also a picnic lunch with a salsa band and dancing.
In the chapel, Hargrove concluded his remarks with a call to carry on Moody’s democratic educational mission.
“We are all here because of one man’s ability to take action,” Hargrove said. Back in the late 1800s, “when private schools were opening across the nation to serve a privileged class, Mr. Moody offered — no, he demanded — a different course.”
Moody offered opportunities to students of all races, religions and nationalities; to girls at a time when women could not vote in the U.S.; and to an African-American student who’d been born into slavery, the release states.
He was “disrupting with purpose,” said Hargrove, who seeks nothing less for the school today. Because “we live in challenging times,” he continued, “Northfield Mount Hermon must lead. Let us serve with courage, gratitude and generosity. Together, let us change the world.”