Greetings at the opening of the 116th academic year of Woodberry Forest School. Today, Wednesday, September 15, is the first day of classes for this year. The new boys came on Sunday. They are a splendid group. It was a beautiful day (perfect for a move-in day) and spirits were high among the boys and parents. Leesa and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting "the future of Woodberry." We have done considerable work in Turner Hall and Dowd Finch dorms this summer. There is all new carpeting, new painting and new lighting. The old boys returning look at Turner Hall and comment to me that we are "getting soft." Of course the completion of Terry House is very satisfying. It is all sixth formers, and they are pleased with it. As with any new building, there are numerous finishing touches still to be done. We forgot, for instance, to order book cases for the rooms. We realized that as soon as some of the boys moved in for early ball and the new shelves will be here shortly. The major challenge now is the landscaping, but that will go well and relatively quickly. By the time of parents' weekends all of the finishing touches will have been made to the building and the landscape should be complete. The brick work on the new courtyard between Anderson and Turner is gorgeous and already that space and openness is having a positive impact on the school.

The William H. White Library has also seen significant improvements this summer with new lighting and additional carrels for individual study. Our physical plant is important because it creates the right setting for our academic program. The faculty is excited about the new year; and they have prepared carefully for the needs of the students in their respective disciplines.

Last night was our 116th Opening Convocation, which followed our first seated adviser-advisee dinner. At the Convocation I announced the following: We are opening with 390 students. The breakdown is as follows: 76 in the third form; 113 in the fourth form; 92 in the fifth form; 109 in the sixth form. Eight countries other than the U.S. are represented in the student body: China (Hong Kong), Saudi Arabia, Korea, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Germany, Lithuania and Moldova. We have two boys from Lithuania, one an ASSIST student, the other a regular student. We have a significant broadening of US representation. New boys join us from Alaska, Idaho, California (several), Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois in addition to our usual group of states.

We have 81 regularly appointed full time members of the faculty. We have added five new faculty members. I introduced them: Peyton Bowman '98, a Princeton graduate, joins us as director of our web site. He will also teach Latin and serve a resident dorm master on B3. Frank Tallman '95, a Vanderbilt graduate, joins the history department as an experienced teacher. He is assistant varsity soccer coach and is living on Middle Taylor with his wife Tricia. Jason Slade '90 joins us as associate director of admission. Jason is a graduate of Guilford, is married to Sharon, and they live in lower Turner. Jason is an experienced administrator and I believe he will help us a great deal in admissions. He is infectious in his enthusiasm for WFS and will be full time in admissions. Henry Heil joins us in the history department and will serve as our head varsity baseball coach and resident master in Finch. Henry is a graduate of Davidson College. He has an earned master's degree in history from the University of South Carolina and has extensive teaching and coaching experience at some fine schools, including boarding schools. Kurt Hiester joins us as full-time athletic trainer. For some years there has been encouragement from our medical and athletic departments to have a full-time trainer devoted to the boys' needs. Mr. Hiester is a certified athletic trainer with both bachelors and masters degrees in the field. He is an impressive person and is married and has a one-year old daughter. Kurt and his wife Ruth are living in the lower Duncan House apartment. These persons will add a great deal to the school.

At the Opening Convocation I talked with the whole school a great deal about our 105 year-old honor system, the WFS tradition, our emphasis on residential community and leadership. I addressed the matters of trust and respect, and told the students stories about the impact of the honor system in men's lives both at WFS and throughout their lives and careers. I talked about the intention of the honor system, and the way it shapes us all for life-long integrity in all aspects of life and work. Woodberry Forest is committed to educating for the moral life. I believe that our honor system prepares us for a lifetime of integrity everywhere and at all times. The prefect board and faculty are working with all new boys on honor orientation; and we will do an honor reorientation in a few weeks.

The president of our Student Advisory Council is Coleman Hubbard, a sixth former from Columbia, South Carolina. Coleman spoke briefly at the opening convocation.

I am happy to let you know of the officers of the prefect board: Ty Peebles is the scribe; Robby Battle is the deputy senior prefect. The Senior Prefect for 2004-05 is Myles Wynn of Charlotte. Myles will do a superb job. His speech at opening convocation was moving and well-delivered. It is posted on the WFS web site in the news section.

On Friday evening, September 17, this year's Fitzpatrick Lecture will be delivered by Professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia at 7:00 p.m. in Bowman Gray Auditorium. Larry Sabato is famous for his computer model to project elections and is widely quoted and extensively interviewed on radio and TV. He is a great speaker and we think this will be a good beginning to the academic year. No doubt it will spark discussion in classrooms and dorms.

Our varsity soccer team beat Covenant 4-1 yesterday in our first varsity athletic contest of the year. The 2004 football team has been working very hard under the enthusiastic leadership of our new head varsity football coach Richard Wright. They debut this Saturday at home against Norfolk Academy.

You may be interested to know that recently Leesa and I were in Salt Lake City and hosted a dinner for WFS alumni there. On August 18 we had a large gathering in Jackson, Wyoming at the home of former trustee Jim Ambler '57. That was a great occasion which included alumni of all ages, and a prospective family and student. Within the past two weeks we have been to Spartanburg, S.C. and Columbia, S.C. In Spartanburg we welcomed a large group of alumni and prospective families at a beautiful reception hosted by Sarah and George Todd (PP'02, CP'05) in their home. In Columbia we were at the Palmetto Club where the crowd was over 100. There, too, we had alumni, current and past parents, some new boys, and some prospects. These occasions are well received and important for "showing the WFS flag."

In the next couple of months Leesa and I will be in New York and Raleigh. The Raleigh event will be on Tuesday, October 5. On Tuesday, October 12 we will do a general reception in New York connected with the opening of an art show by Stone Roberts '69, a distinguished artist.

We wish you all the best and encourage you to be in touch if we can be of help.

Sincerely,

Dennis M. Campbell