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The Headmaster's Run
For more than twenty years, Mark H. Mullin served as headmaster of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. Now, for the first time, he brings us into the hallways of the most prestigious preparatory school in the nation's capital.
The Headmaster's Run takes readers on the journey of an Illinois high school runner who becomes Ivy League champion and leader of his class at Harvard. As a Marshall Scholar, he continues his academic and athletic pursuits at Oxford and marries the love of his life, Martha, while preparing to become an Episcopal priest. His training takes him and his wife to an Alaskan Indian village and a parish in Spanish Harlem. Mullin then becomes a young chaplain and teacher at the Choate School during the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. In this memoir, the author tells stories from his life and work, including surviving a fatal storm on the Irish Sea, late night faculty parties, and Halloween antics.
Mullin writes of the challenges of becoming headmaster of St. Albans in his thirties, raising three children in Washington, D.C., and attempting to share with his students the ideals of courage and truth. He takes us behind the scenes as he educates the sons of the powerful, counsels a teacher diagnosed with AIDS, and confronts his own controversial departure from St. Albans.
At its heart, The Headmaster's Run is the story of a man committed to education, faith, and family.
The Headmaster's Run takes readers on the journey of an Illinois high school runner who becomes Ivy League champion and leader of his class at Harvard. As a Marshall Scholar, he continues his academic and athletic pursuits at Oxford and marries the love of his life, Martha, while preparing to become an Episcopal priest. His training takes him and his wife to an Alaskan Indian village and a parish in Spanish Harlem. Mullin then becomes a young chaplain and teacher at the Choate School during the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. In this memoir, the author tells stories from his life and work, including surviving a fatal storm on the Irish Sea, late night faculty parties, and Halloween antics.
Mullin writes of the challenges of becoming headmaster of St. Albans in his thirties, raising three children in Washington, D.C., and attempting to share with his students the ideals of courage and truth. He takes us behind the scenes as he educates the sons of the powerful, counsels a teacher diagnosed with AIDS, and confronts his own controversial departure from St. Albans.
At its heart, The Headmaster's Run is the story of a man committed to education, faith, and family.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published November 27, 2007
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January 14, 2017
Why you might ask would I read a book about a headmaster when I have never met a headmaster, know very little about the private education business and know very little about Choate, St Albans and all of the other private schools covered in the book. The answer is that a friend of mine read the book and knowing about my interest in running he thought I might enjoy it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book but as I got into I actually began to enjoy it. Mark Mullin is certainly very intelligent and he was an excellent miler, running the distance in just over four minutes. Mark was well educated. He graduated from Harvard and received a Marshall scholarship to study at Oxford. I suppose that I have different goals than Mark. If I had his education I would have headed into business and become a Captain of Industry (I did have a very successful business career but I was definitely not a Captain of Industry). Anyway Mark decided he wanted to become an Episcopal priest and then have a career as a Headmaster at a private school.
The book is basically a compilation of anecdotes, some of them interesting, some of them not so much and a few of them downright intriguing. Two of the intriguing ones definitely captured my interest. The first involves his father who was obviously quite brilliant. He was a professor at the University of Chicago and ended up as the president of Shimer College in Mount Carroll Illinois. I’m from the Midwest and thought I knew all of the colleges in Illinois but I had never heard of Shimer college so I decided to do a little investigating.
During the 1960’s the college had an incident known as the Grotesque Internecine Struggle and Mark’s Father, Joe Mullin, was right in the thick of it. The following is from Wikipedia:
In the 1960s, thanks in part to the Baby Boom, enrollment rose to an all-time high. By 1966, enrollment stood at 510 students. At the same time, the administration of Shimer became increasingly isolated from the community, as the president ceased teaching classes and strict conservative social mores continued to be enforced despite cultural changes. Restrictions over dress, conduct, and fraternization were a source of frustration for students. Tensions thus developed between the administration and older faculty on one hand, and the students and younger faculty on the other.
In 1966 and 1967, the school underwent a severe internal crisis subsequently known as the "Grotesque Internecine Struggle" or "GIS". The roots of the crisis involved a power struggle between the dean and younger faculty and president Mullin over Mullin's increasingly dictatorial style.[32] The specific issues under dispute included an unwillingness by the president to involve the faculty in decisions on buildings and personnel issues, and to consult with them on matters affecting the college.
Early in the fall of 1966, Dean of the Faculty David Weiser wrote a letter to Mullin requesting his resignation. This was rejected, and Weiser resigned in February 1967, the fourth member of the faculty to do so. Mullin released a statement through a Chicago public relations firm stating that "the recent turmoil instigated by a now former member of the faculty is passing with the receipt of his resignation." However, 18 members of the faculty responded with a statement praising Weiser. The Board expressed its support for Mullin in its March 1967 meeting, at which registrar James M. Green was present as a representative of the dissidents. The Board also set up a committee of faculty and trustees to improve communication, and honored a request by the dissidents for increased administrative staff.
The dispute soon evolved into a bitter personal struggle in which the actual issues were secondary. Over time, the struggle began to impact the academic life of the school. Protests were held, including one in which faculty and students carried the coffin of the Spirit of Shimer to the president's house. An independent report to the Board was favorable to the dissidents, but this was disregarded by the Board.[32] Most of the younger faculty departed in the summer of 1967.
The Grotesque Internecine Struggle led to the departure of many of the school's faculty and one-third of the students. The adverse publicity the school received as a result of the crisis was compounded by a 1968 article in Look magazine that described Shimer as "the Midwest mecca of the marijuana mystique". This publicity led to caution from both prospective students and their parents, further damaging enrollment.
In the fall of 1967, Mullin resigned from the presidency, departing on August 30, 1968. Mullin was replaced by Milburn Akers, a former editor of the Chicago Sun-Times who adopted a less adversarial style. Akers served until 1970. The presidency was then taken over by Robert Spencer Long, who served until the school's bankruptcy in 1974.
Now this is interesting stuff and I would like to know more about this incident. Unfortunately Mark just covers the fluff concerning Shimer College. I would certainly like to have heard Joe and Mark’s version of this event. Unfortunately Mark does not cover this at all in the book.
The second anecdote involves Mark’s leaving his position as headmaster and St Albans school in Washington DC. According to Mark, he was blindsided when the board asked him to resign in 1997. The board offered Mark two years to plan for his next career move but at the end of the two years he would have to resign. Mark refused the offer and things got pretty ugly. The minutes of the board are private and neither side has given any specifics.
Based on my research, it appears that Mark was supported by the faculty and students however the board had lost confidence in him. I found some information indicating that the board did not feel that Mark was communicating effectively with them and that the finances of the school were a mess. Ultimately Mark was effectively fired and St Albans faced some serious struggles over the next decade. It is interesting to note that Mark’s predecessor at St Albans, Canon Martin, was asked to leave his position and he ultimately retired. The politics at these private schools must be brutal.
As I said at the beginning, I do not know much about private schools but it seems to me that there is a lot more to this story. Mark really doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of this significant event in his life. I suppose that he is limited as to what he can say but if this were me, I would be a lot more forceful in defending myself.
From all I have read, I think that Mark is a good man. I think his wife Martha is a real asset to him. I would have liked to have learned more about her and the rest of his family. It sounds like they were all very supportive and he should be quite proud of them.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book but as I got into I actually began to enjoy it. Mark Mullin is certainly very intelligent and he was an excellent miler, running the distance in just over four minutes. Mark was well educated. He graduated from Harvard and received a Marshall scholarship to study at Oxford. I suppose that I have different goals than Mark. If I had his education I would have headed into business and become a Captain of Industry (I did have a very successful business career but I was definitely not a Captain of Industry). Anyway Mark decided he wanted to become an Episcopal priest and then have a career as a Headmaster at a private school.
The book is basically a compilation of anecdotes, some of them interesting, some of them not so much and a few of them downright intriguing. Two of the intriguing ones definitely captured my interest. The first involves his father who was obviously quite brilliant. He was a professor at the University of Chicago and ended up as the president of Shimer College in Mount Carroll Illinois. I’m from the Midwest and thought I knew all of the colleges in Illinois but I had never heard of Shimer college so I decided to do a little investigating.
During the 1960’s the college had an incident known as the Grotesque Internecine Struggle and Mark’s Father, Joe Mullin, was right in the thick of it. The following is from Wikipedia:
In the 1960s, thanks in part to the Baby Boom, enrollment rose to an all-time high. By 1966, enrollment stood at 510 students. At the same time, the administration of Shimer became increasingly isolated from the community, as the president ceased teaching classes and strict conservative social mores continued to be enforced despite cultural changes. Restrictions over dress, conduct, and fraternization were a source of frustration for students. Tensions thus developed between the administration and older faculty on one hand, and the students and younger faculty on the other.
In 1966 and 1967, the school underwent a severe internal crisis subsequently known as the "Grotesque Internecine Struggle" or "GIS". The roots of the crisis involved a power struggle between the dean and younger faculty and president Mullin over Mullin's increasingly dictatorial style.[32] The specific issues under dispute included an unwillingness by the president to involve the faculty in decisions on buildings and personnel issues, and to consult with them on matters affecting the college.
Early in the fall of 1966, Dean of the Faculty David Weiser wrote a letter to Mullin requesting his resignation. This was rejected, and Weiser resigned in February 1967, the fourth member of the faculty to do so. Mullin released a statement through a Chicago public relations firm stating that "the recent turmoil instigated by a now former member of the faculty is passing with the receipt of his resignation." However, 18 members of the faculty responded with a statement praising Weiser. The Board expressed its support for Mullin in its March 1967 meeting, at which registrar James M. Green was present as a representative of the dissidents. The Board also set up a committee of faculty and trustees to improve communication, and honored a request by the dissidents for increased administrative staff.
The dispute soon evolved into a bitter personal struggle in which the actual issues were secondary. Over time, the struggle began to impact the academic life of the school. Protests were held, including one in which faculty and students carried the coffin of the Spirit of Shimer to the president's house. An independent report to the Board was favorable to the dissidents, but this was disregarded by the Board.[32] Most of the younger faculty departed in the summer of 1967.
The Grotesque Internecine Struggle led to the departure of many of the school's faculty and one-third of the students. The adverse publicity the school received as a result of the crisis was compounded by a 1968 article in Look magazine that described Shimer as "the Midwest mecca of the marijuana mystique". This publicity led to caution from both prospective students and their parents, further damaging enrollment.
In the fall of 1967, Mullin resigned from the presidency, departing on August 30, 1968. Mullin was replaced by Milburn Akers, a former editor of the Chicago Sun-Times who adopted a less adversarial style. Akers served until 1970. The presidency was then taken over by Robert Spencer Long, who served until the school's bankruptcy in 1974.
Now this is interesting stuff and I would like to know more about this incident. Unfortunately Mark just covers the fluff concerning Shimer College. I would certainly like to have heard Joe and Mark’s version of this event. Unfortunately Mark does not cover this at all in the book.
The second anecdote involves Mark’s leaving his position as headmaster and St Albans school in Washington DC. According to Mark, he was blindsided when the board asked him to resign in 1997. The board offered Mark two years to plan for his next career move but at the end of the two years he would have to resign. Mark refused the offer and things got pretty ugly. The minutes of the board are private and neither side has given any specifics.
Based on my research, it appears that Mark was supported by the faculty and students however the board had lost confidence in him. I found some information indicating that the board did not feel that Mark was communicating effectively with them and that the finances of the school were a mess. Ultimately Mark was effectively fired and St Albans faced some serious struggles over the next decade. It is interesting to note that Mark’s predecessor at St Albans, Canon Martin, was asked to leave his position and he ultimately retired. The politics at these private schools must be brutal.
As I said at the beginning, I do not know much about private schools but it seems to me that there is a lot more to this story. Mark really doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of this significant event in his life. I suppose that he is limited as to what he can say but if this were me, I would be a lot more forceful in defending myself.
From all I have read, I think that Mark is a good man. I think his wife Martha is a real asset to him. I would have liked to have learned more about her and the rest of his family. It sounds like they were all very supportive and he should be quite proud of them.
November 15, 2012
Excellent book. A great inside look into the world of teaching, administering, and living the independent school life.
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January 29, 2008So far, much better than expected...
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