St. Albans welcomed former Vice President Al Gore ’65 back to campus to offer the keynote address at the annual Alumni Dinner and to award him the St. Albans Medal—an award bestowed only seven times in school history and to only one other alumnus, astronaut Michael Collins ’48.

In conferring the honor, Alumni Association President Thomas Duckenfield ’82 said: “Vice President Gore, of all the accomplished, courageous, and stalwart alumni of St. Albans School—and there are many, are there not?—including clergy, authors, astronauts, judges, physicians, NFL Hall of Famers, et cetera and ad infinitum, you are our most distinguished alumnus. Thank you for joining us tonight.”

The evening began with the Rev. Brooks Hundley giving thanks “for the school, for its teachers and its graduates, and for the ways it enriches the lives of boys and the friendships and learning that it nurtures.” 

In his update on the past year at St. Albans, Headmaster Jason Robinson expressed appreciation for a strong and “blessedly normal” year. “The place you love so much remains strong,” said Robinson.

Annual Honors 
In addition to the St. Albans medal, several alumni awards were offered. Former Alumni Association President Richard Ruge ’59 presented the Ferdinand and Louise Ruge Travel Fellowship Award—established to honor his parents and their years of service to the school—to Form II science teacher and Lower School hockey and lacrosse coach David Belsky. 

Vernon Holleman ’89, Don Gilchrist ’80, and Jim Gilchrist ’83 helped Duckenfield present the Gilchrist-Holleman Alumni Service Award, which honors the memories of their fathers, the Rev. Charlie Gilchrist ’54 and Vernon Holleman Jr. ’54, to former board chair, school parent, and alumnus Jim Paragamian ’73. Paragamian, whom Duckenfield described as a model of “unwavering dedication,” served as chair of the school Governing Board and Investment Committee, chair of the PECF Investment Committee, and chair of the Beauvoir Finance and Investment Committees. 

“What is the single most important moment that changed your life for the better?” asked Paragamian in accepting the honor. He then went on to recount the selfless act by his mother that led to him attending first Beauvoir and then St. Albans. (When the Beauvoir admissions director learned that Mrs. Paraghamian had taught first grade, an impending rejection was immediately replaced with an offer: “If you'll teach first grade here starting Monday morning and finish the school year, I will find a place for your son.” Apparently another first grade teacher had left, and the remaining teacher was threatening to do the same if the position wasn’t filled swiftly.) “The opportunity that moment afforded me I have never taken for granted,” said Paragamian. “Once my mother experienced the warmth of our Cathedral Close’s extraordinary community, its values, its ideals, she stayed the next eighteen years at Beauvoir and NCS, becoming a beloved and respected teacher. And as for me in these last sixty-one years since coming to St. Alban, this school and this community have been the most inspirational, the most important influences on my life.

The Hall-Hoffman Teacher-Coach Award went to Upper School math teacher and swimming coach Bowman Dickson. Established by Walter D. Haynes ’57 in 2006, the award honors and memorializes Carter Hall ’39, Sam Hoffman, and other St. Albans teachers who, in Haynes’s words, “taught us in the classroom and on the athletic fields that, through maximum effort, we could excel with honor in all that we do.”

The school named two revered community members as honorary alumni: former Governing Board Chair and school parent Robert Musslewhite and, posthumously, school spouse, parent, and grandparent Peggy Steuart, whose son Brad Steuart ’82 received the diploma in her memory. “Few alumni, spouses, parents, or grandparents of alumni were as involved with St. Alban School, as was Peggy Steuart,” noted Headmaster Robinson, who cited Steuart’s years of service as Mother’s Club president, Governing Board member, co-founder of the Christmas House Tour, and chair of the All Hallows Guild Garden Committee. 

In accepting his diploma, Musslewhite said: “I am deeply honored and genuinely humbled to be named an honorary alum of St. Albans. Since my son Nolan entered as a fourth grader in 2011 … and through my seven years on the Governing Board, I’ve admired so much about St. Albans and what it stands for: amazing teachers, outstanding facilities, caring parents and families, a moral and spiritual foundation, important traditions, tightly knit clubs and sports teams, and overall the camaraderie.”

Recalling the 1990s computers with “Intel inside” stickers that were accepted as a sign of quality, Musslewhite said: “Having the label of a St. Albans graduate … says a lot about you. It says what you accomplished at a young age, but more importantly, it’s based on the reality that you carry something truly valuable and unique inside you: strength of character, moral compass, intellect, ability to think, decency and caring, spirituality—men in the best sense of the word … How very fortunate and grateful I feel to be an honorary part of this group and this alumni body.”

In introducing the keynote speaker, fellow Tennessean and former U.S. Congressman Harold Ford ’88 thanked former Vice President Al Gore ’65 for introducing his parents to St. Albans. “My six years here were as testing, joyful, challenging, uplifting, jarring, and hopeful as I could have asked for, and no influence in my life short of my parents has been greater than it,” said Ford. “I owe this opportunity to tonight’s speaker.” 

Gore—who attended STA from Form C to VI and who captained the football team, played basketball, threw the discus, served as Government Club liberal leader, and belonged to the Glee Club and Religious Club—gave a passionate talk about lessons learned at St. Albans and how he has applied them throughout life, including his decades dedicated to understanding and addressing climate change. 

“I am really deeply and sincerely grateful for the lessons that I learned here at St. Albans. This school meant so much to me. I would not be the person I am except for the many years I spent here.” Said Gore “I’ve always tried to live up to the lessons I learned here—not always to my satisfaction, and certainly not to the satisfaction of others—but I have always tried.”

Many of those lessons came from Canon Charles Martin, headmaster from 1949 to 1977, whom Gore described as “opinionated, compassionate, and much gentler than he first appeared—much like that English bulldog, from which the name Bulldogs comes, that he had on a leash preceding him as he patrolled his domain.” 

 “[Canon Martin] was a teacher and philosopher. I can’t count the number of times I learned lessons from him and my other teachers here that have influenced my entire life,” said Gore. “Maybe many of you know the most famous phrase for which he was known. I’ve repeated and repeated it in many speeches that I’ve made over the years in my political career. And for those of you who don't know it, I’ll repeat it again. He said there is the same lesson that we have to learn in life over and over again, and that is to choose the hard right over the easy wrong. That has meant so much to me. Canon Martin prized character building, and that is nearly the essence of what this school is all about really. Yes, there was in my day Latin and history and geography, everything else, but it was character building that he prioritized.” 

About his work on climate change, Gore noted: “For the last several decades, most of my own time has been spent trying to get to the truth about the climate crisis. And without doubt, each one of us might turn to the person on our right or left and find disagreement on topics related to this subject. But I doubt anyone here disagrees that we have to make changes, and we have to find a way to cross these divides of faction in order to build sufficient agreement to make the right changes ... St. Albans taught us to pursue common understanding through civil discourse, to listen to others with respect and to debate until collectively we discovered the best available truth and then to put truth to work by bettering the lives of others, not to let indifference or willful blindness cause irreversible damage to our nation, much less our planet. 

Gore concluded: “If I could channel Canon Martin, I would say just what I’ve said. In 1862, in the midst of a war that seemed unending, Abraham Lincoln wrote to Congress: We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here hold the power and bear the responsibility—each of us here acting alone, but most especially if we are acting together across factional lines, across party and ideological lines—to save it. We need only let truth steer us as St. Albans taught us. And if you ever doubt that we as human beings and as children of God have the ability to summon sufficient political will to save our country, always remember that political will is itself a renewable resource. Thank you.”

The evening concluded with the Rev. Brooks Hundley inviting all gathered to join him in saying the familiar words of the school prayer. 

James “Pop” Henderson (1957)

George Wharton Pepper (1957)

Albert Hawley Lucas (1957)

Ferdinand E. Ruge (1957)

Alfred R. True (1957)

Charles Martin (1959)

Michael Collins ’48 (1969)

Albert Gore ’65 (2025)

More Images from the Night

View more photos from the evening on our Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCfVXz

Alumni Dinner 2025