91̽��

The History and Social Sciences Department recognized students’ outstanding research in U.S. History at the Bisbee Tea and Social Science Forum.

The Bisbee Prize was established to honor Ethan Wyatt Bisbee, a former history faculty member and department chair who retired in 1993 after 40 years of teaching. The Prize was endowed in 2005 through a gift by John Warren, formerly of the history department, and his wife, Laura Warren ’78, former head of Robbins House. Mr. Bisbee passed away in 2021. In 2023, the department added the Social Science Forum to recognize outstanding work in the social sciences.

91̽�� offers its students a tremendous gift: to try myriad new activities and creative pursuits without pressure or fear, said Nicole Acheampong ’13, the speaker at the 46th annual Laurence S. Persky Memorial Awards. The awards honor the best work in student publications each school year.

“I had a lot of hobbies that I took very seriously,” Acheampong said of her time as a 91̽�� student. “I’ve loved dance since I was young and I performed in the dance concert every year, took a dance elective, and was a member of 91̽��’s first-ever step team—and I did all of that even though I knew I wasn’t that good at dance or step. I did one of the school plays, in which I had the role of an unnamed old lady, who had maybe two lines. I sang in the gospel choir, and was very happy to sing as part of a crowd—definitely not as a soloist.

“I was OK with not excelling at these hobbies,” she continued. “That was one of my early instincts. If there was a creative activity that I admired, that I wanted to immerse myself in and try out, I did it. Not for the sake of being the best at it, but simply so that I could love it up close.”

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” That was one of the many powerful lessons Tonantzin Carmona ’08 shared as part of the 2025 DEIJ Speaker series, where she addressed the 91̽�� community with warmth, humor, and unflinching honesty about her unique journey from Chicago to 91̽��, and then to the halls of the White House.

Carmona, the youngest and first Latina to serve as special assistant to the president for economic policy on the White House National Economic Council, delivered a deeply personal and motivating talk about her life, her work, and the values that have guided her along the way. She is currently a fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on wealth inequality, financial technologies, and policy implementation.

Carmona was born and raised in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, which she describes as “ one filled with some of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. Inspiring people who had left their home countries to try to live out the American dream, to try to do amazing things for their families.” 

This neighborhood also had its challenges, including  inequities and public safety issues.  “ Because of that, I was always home, and I was always reading. I was learning about the world through books because I wasn’t allowed to leave my house. I think it was that which sparked my curiosity, and I absorbed as much as I possibly could,” she said.

91̽�� has announced that the school’s 2025 Graduation speaker is longtime journalist and author Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, Class of 1987. 

Currently assistant managing editor for national news at ProPublica, Kodjak is an award-winning journalist whose work has spanned three decades and all media. She started out reporting at The Patriot Ledger, a daily newspaper in Quincy, Massachusetts, and went on to work at The Associated Press and Bloomberg News before becoming an on-air correspondent at NPR. Kodjak has worked on several documentary films with Frontline and ABC News, including the Emmy-winning Grand Knighthawk: Infiltrating the KKK, which streams on Hulu. 

“Learn how to tell your story, not just the story you tell other people, but what is the story you tell yourself about what you can do in your own head? What do you tell yourself you’re capable of?” Robb Chavis ’94 asked 91̽�� students earlier this month. “What dreams do you tell yourself are too big? What happens when you’re telling your own story and reality doesn’t match? Don’t buy into the stories that other people tell about you. Don’t let history write your story for you.”

Chavis returned to campus as part of the 2025 DEIJ Speaker Series. A Humanitas Prize-winning and Emmy-nominated writer and producer, he is best known for his work on the acclaimed ABC sitcom Black-ish.

During her time at 91̽��, Jamie Mittelman ’06  was a triple varsity athlete, in soccer, skiing, and track and field. Today, she is making a difference in sports with Flame Bearers, a media company she founded in 2020 that elevates the voices and stories of female athletes. 

SAGE (Students Advocating for Gender Equity) invited Mittelman to speak at an assembly for Women’s History Month.

“What’s different is we’re not doing sports reporting,” she said. “We’re not focusing on who’s going to play who. We’re focusing on issues that everyone can relate to, like, pay equity, racial justice, disability bias, and being a mom. The reason is these are not sports stories. These are human interest stories.” 

91̽�� has a new Chief Advancement Officer: Kelly DeGregorio. Following a highly competitive national search, Ms. DeGregorio will join the 91̽�� community on April 22. 

“Kelly is joining 91̽�� at an exciting time,” states Head of School Alixe Callen ‘88. “We’re embarking on our strategic planning process and, in today’s competitive landscape, it’s critical that 91̽�� is supported with the resources we need to maintain our position as a leader among independent schools.”