Woodberry Forest School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. Woodberry's current enrollment is 395. Students come from 25 U.S. states (plus the District of Columbia), and nineteen countries.
History
The school was founded in 1889 by Captain Robert Stringfellow Walker, who had been a member of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Mosby's Rangers) during the American Civil War. The school occupies approximately 1,200 acres (4.9Â km2) in Madison, Virginia. The campus is bounded on one side by the Rapidan River. It was originally the estate of William Madison, brother of President James Madison. The headmaster's residence, known as The Residence, is taken entirely from an architectural design by Thomas Jefferson. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The property eventually passed to the Walker family. The school was founded when Walker hired a tutor to teach his six sons and other local children because of the lack of adequate schooling in the surrounding area. Today the campus is known for its historic Jeffersonian brick buildings as well as state of the art science and arts facilities.
J. Carter Walker, son of Captain Walker, and a graduate of the school, graduated from the University of Virginia in 1897. According to Elizabeth Copeland Norfleet in A Venture in Faith, a history of the school's early years, his plans to go on to law school were interrupted by his father's request that he serve as "head teacher." Carter Walker later explained his decision to his brother thus, "I always did what Father and Mother told me to."
Headmasters
J. Carter Walker served as headmaster from 1898 for a tenure of 50 years until he retired in 1948. Headmasters since then have been:
- Shaun Kelley, Jr. (1948â€"1952)
- Joseph M. Mercer (1952â€"1961)
- A. Baker Duncan Jr. (1961-1970)
- Charles W. Sheerin, Jr. (1970â€"1973)
- Gerald L. Cooper (acting) (1973â€"1974)
- Emmett W. Wright, Jr. (1974â€"1991)
- John S. Grinalds (1991â€"1997)
- Dennis M. Campbell (1997â€"2014)
- Byron C. Hulsey (2014â€"present)
Prefect Board
A principal feature of life at Woodberry is its student-run honor system. A Prefect Board of roughly 18 senior students decide the fate of any students who "lie, cheat, or steal", and its decision is approved or vetoed (though rarely) by the headmaster and the dean of students. Anyone found violating the honor code on any scale is dismissed from the school. The Prefect Board is determined through a process involving students, faculty, and administration. In the spring trimester, an election among the students is held where students are given a roster of the rising senior class and asked to select the 18 they feel are best suited to the role. Faculty undertake a similar process, and later the administration interviews the individual candidates as determined by the initial elections. Finally, the headmaster decides the final composition of the board and they are announced publicly to the student body before the close of the year.
Aside from maintaining the honor system, the Prefect Board is charged with guiding the new students though orientation. Prefects also serve in roles similar to that of resident assistants, organizing dormitory events and informing students of news and events. A Senior Prefect is elected by the Prefect Board from among its members; his role is similar to that of a student body president, giving a speech at the assembly commencing the school year and at graduation in spring.
Athletics
Woodberry, nicknamed the Tigers, competes in the Virginia Prep League in a variety of sports including basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, swimming, lacrosse, wrestling, cross country, tennis, and track, and football.
The longest-running high school football rivalry in the South takes place each year between Woodberry Forest and Episcopal High School of Alexandria, Virginia. The schools first played against each other in 1901 and have competed in over a hundred consecutive games. "The Game," as it is known, draws back many alumni and is considered the homecoming game for both schools. The 100th contest, which Woodberry won, took place in 2000, drew nearly 15,000 spectators, and was featured on ESPN. Before every game between the two schools, Woodberry has a bonfire reaching heights of four stories where the entire student body lines up to throw torches into a tower of logs. The bonfire draws nearly as many Woodberry fans as The Game itself.
The school's facilities include an on-campus 9-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross, an indoor track/pool complex, two turf football/lacrosse fields, two baseball fields, three competition-level soccer fields, and three other grass fields for football, soccer, or lacrosse.
The Tigers send numerous players to play college football at all levels, including multiple NCAA Division I recruits each year.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Woodberry Forest School include:
- Donald Antrim, American novelist and MacArthur Fellow
- William Johnston Armfield IV, American business executive and philanthropist
- Marvin P. Bush, youngest son of George H. W. Bush and brother of George W. Bush
- Richard Thurmond Chatham, Congressman from North Carolina
- Martin Clark, author and Virginia circuit court judge
- Jack Cobb, standout basketball player for the University of North Carolina during the 1920s
- Charles W. Coker, former Chairman/CEO of Sonoco Products
- Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times
- Robert Daniel, five-term Congressman from Virginia
- Robert H. Edmunds, Jr., Associate Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court
- Thomas B. Evans, Jr., three-term Congressman from Delaware
- Gordon Gray, National Security Advisor
- Kendall Gaskins, NFL running back
- Emrah Gultekin, Turkish entrepreneur and real estate developer
- Arthur B. Hancock, Jr., Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder
- John Wesley Hanes II, investment banker who served as Under Secretary of the United States Treasury and President of the New York Racing Association
- Burr Harrison, Congressman from Virginia
- David Ho, founder of Harmony Airways
- Paul Ilyinsky, former mayor of Palm Beach
- William States Lee III, former Chairman/CEO of Duke Power
- Julius Curtis Lewis, Jr., former Mayor of Savannah, GA
- Alex McMillan, five-term Congressman from North Carolina
- James McMurtry, singer-songwriter
- Paul C. P. McIlhenny, CEO of McIlhenny Co., producers of "Tabasco sauce"
- Johnny Mercer, songwriter
- Halsey Minor, CNET Networks founder
- Rogers Morton, former United States Secretary of the Interior, United States Secretary of Commerce and Congressman from Maryland
- Thruston Morton, U.S. Congressman and Senator from Kentucky
- Heinz Pagels, particle physicist and executive director of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Noel Perrin, American essayist and professor at Dartmouth College
- Earl Norfleet Phillips, Ambassador of the United States to Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua, St. Vincent, and St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
- L. Richardson Preyer, former jurist and six-term Congressman from North Carolina
- Ed Reynolds, American football safety in the National Football League
- J. Sargeant Reynolds, executive vice president of Reynolds Aluminum Credit Corp., Virginia General Assemblyman, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
- James D. Robinson III, former CEO of American Express
- William Fitts Ryan, Congressman from New York
- Randolph Scott, actor
- Todd G. Sears, class of 1994,c American businessman and advocate for LGBT equality
- Dick Spangler, American billionaire, former President of the University of North Carolina
- Will Strickler, class of 2004, professional golfer on PGA Tour
- Roger Wilson, actor in Porky's
- Frank Wisner, OSS/CIA official
- Frank G. Wisner, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs, and former ambassador to Egypt
- J. Craig Wright, former justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
- Angus Wall, class of 1984, Oscar-winning film editor
- W. Elliott Walden class of 1981, President and CEO of racing operations for WinStar Farm
- Beto O'Rourke, class of 1991, Congressman from the Texas 16th Congressional District
- CJ Prosise, class of 2012, NFL running back for the Seattle Seahawks
References
External links
- Woodberry Forest School website