Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

learn to take care of their spiritual life … I’ve learned that spirituality is deeply connected to culture and to a lively intellectual life. Spirituality connects the mind, body and spirit in an inclusive way.  The enduring values of integrity, inquiry, courage and compassion have always been at the heart of the school, but those values have the most meaning when they are expressed in action. That is why Havergal has long made it a practice to provide students with a wide range of leadership opportunities. That tradition began with Ellen Knox, who was, once again, ahead of her time. As noted in “Democracy at Havergal—Empowering Our Student Leaders,” an article by Susan Pink published in the Fall 2015 issue of Torch , Miss Knox “began teaching her students about the democratic system 14 years before women were given the right to vote in Ontario in 1917.” Her mission was to prepare students to live their values in the wider world, to be an inspiring example.  The 2015 Torch  article goes on to explain that under the terms of a new constitution introduced in 1903, the student leadership structure was enlarged to reflect the values Ellen Knox so prized. Upper School students in each grade were then able to vote for class presidents and vice-presidents. Girls in these elected positions worked with a group of seniors selected by faculty and staff, and six prefects chosen by the principal. In 1917, a new position was created, that of school captain, a girl chosen by faculty and staff. In 1929, however, students were able to vote for the school captain, though the votes of the principal, faculty and staff carried more weight. With the creation of a school-wide house system that year, seniors became house prefects and later were called house captains. Many years later, in 1983, a spirited discussion of the leadership structure prompted the school captain and prefects to submit a proposal for significant changes. As a result, six prefect positions were added, with each prefect now responsible for a portfolio. In addition, the weighting of election ballots was changed to give more

“Do you remember the time when you were startled and glad to find out how much good as well as harm you could do in the world? How much relief and pleasure your sympathy could give, and what a difference it made to others if yours was ‘a heart at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize’? And better still the surprise that came to you when you found that your quiet stand for the right had meant the turn of the tide and stopped what was the beginning of so much harm to your companions and especially to the younger girls who were waiting for your lead?”

—ELLEN KNOX, LUDEMUS, 1905–06

The Rev. Susan Bell made the following observations about the spiritual dimension of the school as a whole in the Fall 2009 Torch : [T]here is a rich history and institutional and ethical commitment to spirituality [at Havergal]. We have a place where the big questions can be asked, and a place for pastoral and spiritual care … We’ll have healthier, happier and higher-achieving girls and graduates if they

90  HAVERGAL COLLEGE