The last formal ceremony of the school year is a compelling tribute to the school. We have graduated another class of wellbred young women and men. These students have the social, ethical, intellectual, and civic skills that a free society needs to
survive. These graduates will find roles in their adult lives that will enrich many communities. They know how to behave, how
to work, how to think. They are collectively outstanding people. I can make this statement about every one of the thirty five
graduating classes that the three schools that I have served have produced. Along with their parents and a few other critical
influences, most of you seated before me, teachers and administrators, account for the quality of people in this class. Their
generation is by all means a team effort. The investments that all of you made in these ninety- one young people will produce a
lifetime of service to others and personal happiness. I feel proud to stand among you.
A week ago I heard John Allison retired CEO and President of BB&T and now CEO and President of the Cato Institute give
a talk on the Future of Capitalism. He spoke about the three pillars of capitalism: knowledge, tools, and incentives. He
celebrated innovation that thrives on these assets. He warned against excessive regulations that strangle freedom and thereby
undermine innovation. He was speaking a language that I believe in. Speaking largely extemporaneously, he wove a theme with
grace, ease, and humility. I believe that we are born with natural rights. I believe that we covet freedom and do best when we
are free. I believe that we freely seek community with like- minded people, often people who have different ideas from ours
but who mutually respect differences. I believe that as long as we do no harm to others, we should be free to be left alone. I
believe that freedom drives us to sacrifice for the good of others. There is a reason why philanthropy flourishes in capitalist
economies.
Two thoughts struck me directly. Mr. Allison’s reference to the importance of incentives rang true, despite my sympathy to
Daniel Pink’s view of the value of intrinsic motivation (re: Drive). However, financial incentives are just one variety, by no
means the strongest incentive—freedom and self-respect—doing meaningful and satisfying work—these are powerful
incentives.
The other item that I made a point to remember I can only paraphrase:
We think that capitalism is good because of the prosperity that it breeds. Allison refashioned the idea by reversing cause and
effect: Capitalism breeds prosperity because it is good. Allison proceeded to make the argument that capitalism is the most
morally sound system of interaction among people. Not perfect and of course capable of excesses and exploitation, especially
where monopolies-corporate or governmental seize control.
Over the last thirty years, I have thought a great deal about what makes independent schools better than the rest of the
phylum. At the very base of the difference between independent schools and all other types of schools is that we operate like a
business. Please take the simile seriously: I refer to independent school with the attributes of a business but not the essence of
a business. Yet significant market-driven attributes account for our superiority in our class. When we pay for a service, we
expect performance. I am frequently astounded that academics so often renounce capitalism, imputing corruption to the
profit motive but enjoy the fruits of the system
Beyond our wages and benefits, the capitalist nature of independent school cultivates the single factor that makes us as good
as we are and leads to long careers in independent schools: freedom. The latitude that non-public schools like ours have over
every other brand of school-including parochial schools- is the freedom to plot our own course. That freedom is fundamental
to our success. Freedom is the heart of our enterprise. That freedom breeds open discourse and open expression, so vital to
growth and the development of ideas. That freedom promotes autonomy and pride in our professional value. By operating on
our financial basis, we are, as Milton Friedman said, “free to choose.” We are beholden only to our implicit trust with our
patrons and our colleagues. Those among us who have taught in public school surely realize how much more freedom to
choose, how much more independence, how much less red-tape we find at CCES and in all independent schools. This
freedom makes us better teachers, coaches, chaplains, and administrators. Not to mention the freedom to pray and actively
discuss faith.
We provide a high-cost service. We exist only if our patrons value our service and we deliver on our promises. Independent
schools are the product of capitalism—we offer a service and people decide whether what we offer is worth their patronage.
This transaction is totally voluntary-not a hint of coercion on either side. We have a core workforce—teachers-and an
infrastructure to ensure sound financial management and effective promotion so that our market is aware of the virtues of our
service. Independent schools do not exist outside of capitalism: even when you find a boarding school knock off in a third
world country run by an autocrat the school operates like its American counterpart-it operates on a fee-for-service basis even
if the rest of the country is plutocratic or oligarchic.
Our schools would not thrive without the support of entrepreneurs and those who serve that class. Let me recount briefly the
founding of one of the finest independent schools in the country: Albuquerque Academy. Begun in the basement of a church
in 1955 in what was then a sleepy Southwestern town before the arrival of Intel, Albuquerque Academy like most fledgling
schools scrambled until a board member enlisted the support of his brother. The brother, Albert Simms, property developer
and former congressman, succumbed to the pleas and donated an extraordinary parcel of downtown Albuquerque and I-25
corridor property that has produced an endowment that has resided in the 200-250 million range. Independent schools
nationwide depend on the generosity of people with high wealth. Their philanthropy has enriched opportunities for students at
countless schools. Two schools in Indianapolis received millions of dollars of support from the Eli Lilly company, a generous
donor to Indiana public education as well. Although Bill Gates and Paul Allen have bestowed many gifts on their alma mater,
The Lakeside School, a donor of longer tenure is the Pigott trucking family. 3M and Cargill families have supported Twin
Cities schools; the Hall (Hallmark) family and Espreys (Sprint) have contributed millions to Pembroke Hill in Kansas City; the
McDonnells (aircraft) and Danforths (Purina) have been major contributors to Mary Institute-St. Louis Country Day School;
the Fords to University Liggett School, in Grosse Point, the Perots to Hockaday, in Dallas, the Belk and McColl families to
Charlotte independent schools, and Atlanta independent schools have been nourished by the support of Coca-Cola gifts for
decades. I have touched the surface of support from entrepreneurial individuals, families, and their foundations. Walter
Annenberg, whose fortune derived from the a publishing empire that included Daily Racing Form, TV Guide, the Philadelphia
Inquirer, and Seventeen magazine, contributed two billions dollars to educational institutions, 100 million dollars in one fell
swoop to the school that nurtured him as a teenager during WWI-the Peddie School, in New Jersey. The two school s that I
was privileged to serve as headmaster prior to CCES were both beneficiaries of the munificent philanthropy of entrepreneurial
families: Charles and Liz Koch and Mary Lynn Oliver (Beech Aircraft) in Wichita were instrumental in leading the campaign to
build a new Upper School campus in the early nineties. Establishing a PS-12 day school in Joplin Missouri demanded passion,
purpose, and philanthropy. Founding trustees David and Debra Humphreys (TAMKO Products) contributed their time,
intellectual capital, and millions of dollars to create a high-functioning day school from day one and to sustain its impressive
trajectory since its establishment in 1992.
This kind of voluntary financial support protects the freedom of our schools to offer services that fulfill their respective
missions and meet market expectations. Such philanthropy is virtually unknown in collectivist societies where the
concentration of wealth is far more acute than it is in market economies.
Think about it: what makes us effective is our freedom from politics and mandates. We don’t have to curry favor with
taxpayers or compromise ourselves with legislators. The gifts that enrich our financial health come from people who like us—
because of what we do for their children and grandchildren or what we do for the good of the community. All voluntary. We
are remarkably free of strings. We have needed Washington’s admonitions about “entangling alliances.”
Our freedom to teach as we wish is the basis for another attribute that distinguishes us from the other schools that educate
99% of school age children: accountability. Accountability-an active sense of responsibility for our actions and ideas-stems
from our freedom. If we were constrained to do things, we could blame the authorities that mandate our decisions. However,
since we proclaim our independence, we also incur responsibility for choices we make. We do not shirk responsibility or assign
it to some external force. We own it. This model of moral accountability could not exist without our freedom. And our
freedom could not exist if we did not operate like a business—putting ourselves out there in the marketplace of schools and
competing for our market share.
Every year every one of our graduates has been conditioned to be a capable person. In my high school class of 1724, 50 or 60
of us got an equivalent academic education, though without the enrichment of character that CCES provides. But the other
1650 students were up for grabs.
Competition is the great leveler. In a community with one cable provider, we will remain on hold for hours if we choose. The
provider knows that it has a monopoly and if we want cable we will just have to endure the quirks of the service provider. We
have no choice; so, the provider feels no compulsion to strive for excellence. However, once an alternative- another provider
or another source of home entertainment like streaming enters the arena, then the once sole provider faces a threat and either
shapes up or shrivels. I served as a founding head of a school in SW Missouri. The public schools were weak; so, this fledging
school opened with solid patronage. A funny thing happened in a few years: my school continued to thrive and the public
schools discovered that they no longer had a monopoly and improved dramatically, thus enhancing education for the
community at large. Competition either makes us stronger or breaks us. When it makes us stronger, we internalize the
competitive spirit and begin to aspire to higher levels of performance. We develop a culture of continuous improvement.
Capitalism thrives amidst open and honest competition. If we do something of great value much better than the rest, we can
be both proud and solvent.
I thank you for a fine year. Cherish your freedom to teach in a community that reveres challenge and individual attention.
Respect the accountability to do a top-notch job for every student every day that adjoins that freedom. Finally, feel proud and
privileged that over eight hundred families freely sacrifice their time and tithes to enroll their children at CCES in a market
with “free” state schools and less expensive nonpublic options.
I return to my premise: what accounts for our success is that we are like a business. We stay true to our Mission. We take
responsibility for our chosen actions. We are focused on providing patrons with the very best service to ensure sustained
approval. We apportion the revenue that our customers remit to support one goal: the best education that we can provide for
every student. We cannot justify any expenditure that does not pass that test. Our shareholders are all of us: parents,
employees, even past parents. The return on investment is far more elusive than that with which we measure the standard
business but readily apparent: enriched human beings. Yet, the enrichment of mind, spirit, body, and heart that we cultivate is
indispensable to living a good life. Our success rests on outstanding performance. In contrast to the axiom that if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it,” I recommend that we never accept that we are good enough—that good can always be better. Innovation
keeps us limber and alive. Steve Jobs bestowed a memorable message on the Stanford class of 2005 that I urge you to
consider: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Have a great summer. Read, renew, recreate, and refine. God bless you all.