This alumni newsletter is sent out with a heavy heart. Please forgive the omission of the usual chatter and humorous asides here.

Most of you no doubt have heard about the terrible event at L-S on Friday, January 19.

This school year had already been a difficult one for Lincoln-Sudbury. Within the past month, three very young, former students died.

But nothing in our wildest imagination or school history could have prepared us for the murder of a student by another student in our own school building. This is a very rare event anywhere. Indeed, L-S, with its humane, nurturing culture, is just about the last high school where anyone might expect such a terrible act to happen.

Those of you who were at school in the '70's and '90's when we had a series of fatal car crashes and suicides, or were at L-S for 9/11, will understand what it is like to be in our school community in the midst of a shared trauma.

Over the last several days, everyone has been really torn up, confused, grieving, crying, counseling or being counseled, hugging, and trying to somehow carry on into exam week and beyond, to heal, and to re-create a sense of normalcy amidst the surreal facts of last Friday.

The task is not made easier by the apparently senseless nature of the crime.
Beware of quotations you read in the paper which attempt to fit the event into a facile "Columbine Junior" framework. In due course, the facts will come out at the trial. The one thing I would like alumni to know is that, as of the date of this posting, no evidence demonstrating a prior relationship between the victim and alleged perpetrator has been found, no grudge, no argument, nothing even that rational. This is according to the Middlesex County DA. The story that emerges will not be a simple one, I suspect.

The victim was James Alenson, a freshman. His family had just moved into Sudbury. All of our hearts go out to them in this terrible time. We also recognize that another family is involved in this tragedy. We feel compassion for them.

There are two things that have buoyed us. As I am certain you can imagine, the school community has come together in a powerful, moving affirmation of each other and of a school that students and staff love. Dr. Ritchie has led us through this crisis with strength, wisdom, and compassion. After a weekend when the school was open (and heavily used) for counseling, students returned on Monday, January 22, for an abbreviated day of classes. Police and parents were present in the building. The most amazing experience came during the all-school assembly that began the day, with all of us packed into Gym 1. Dr. Ritchie spoke. There was a solemn moment of silence for James, and then at the end, students stood in a spontaneous standing ovation for the staff and for Lincoln-Sudbury.

The other wonderful affirmation has come from alumni. Thank you for your deeply-felt words. They have helped us all a great deal. We welcome more reflections and communications from you.

I have a special request: please forward this alumni newsletter to every L-S alum you know and have them do the same, all the way down the line, and feel free to post this newsletter on any Internet site you think useful for a wider dissemination.

A special edition of the school newspaper is now online. You can access it through the alumni page or through the link below.

Thank you so much,

Bill Schechter
bill_schechter@lsrhs.net

THE ALUMNI PAGE
http://www.lsrhs.net/alumni/default.html

FORUM/ THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
http://www.lsrhs.net/alumni/forumnewspaper.php

Return to the Newsletter Index