The success we celebrate in this annual report would not be possible without the hard work of hundreds of volunteers who support Woodberry with one of the most valuable gifts of all, their time. Volunteer contributions range from members of the board of trustees working with the headmaster to chart a course that ensures the school’s continued success, to class volunteers keeping more than seven thousand Woodberry alumni connected to the school and to each other, to parent volunteers supporting their sons’ experiences at Woodberry and serving as the school’s greatest admission ambassadors, helping to identify and enroll future Tigers.
In these pages, we’ve gathered a few of this year’s volunteers and their success stories. But for every story included on these pages, there are many more equally relevant and compelling tales of dedication. Woodberry is made stronger by the unparalleled loyalty of the volunteers who roll up their sleeves every year and put in countless hours of work. We are deeply grateful for their efforts on behalf of the school.
Class of 2006 – Amici Fund Spotlight
The class of 2006 stands out for the way they support Woodberry with their time, energy, and charitable gifts. The class has recorded seven consecutive years of 74 percent or higher alumni participation, and this year recorded a 79 percent participation rate, the tenth-best performance among alumni classes. They have doubled their Amici yearly dollars raised over the past few years, increasing from $12,501 in 2020 to $28,810 in 2024.
Peter Wilson led the 2006 class volunteers for years, but recently Avery Moncure has stepped up to chair this powerful group. Avery has continued Peter’s strong tradition of sending consistent, personal class emails that keep everyone updated on notable news about their classmates and everything happening with Woodberry, on and off campus. Roddey Dowd, Bratton DuBose, John Grey, Ross Howard, Ben Matthews, Avery Moncure, John Petrone, and Peter Wilson make up the volunteer team, proudly serving their class and their school.
Joe Farmer ’04 – Richmond Regional Chapter Co-President
The Richmond Chapter has historically been one of Woodberry’s strongest and most important chapters serving alumni and parents. When new leadership was needed, Joe Farmer ’04 stepped up and helped assemble a leadership team made up of Doug Gabbert ’08, co-president; Tom Ellington ’08, admission chair; John Scott ’01, career networking chair; and fifteen other alumni and parent volunteers.
The Richmond Chapter has experienced an incredible turnaround and renewed energy this year. The chapter hosted a happy hour for a football game against St. Christopher’s School, a watch party for The Game, a rafting trip and James River Park service event, and multiple organizational meetings. Joe has driven the chapter forward, demonstrating a strong ability to mobilize volunteers and area constituents.
Class of 1951 – Amici Fund Spotlight
As the years go by, many things change at Woodberry. But others stay the same: the beautiful campus, a devoted triple-threat faculty, the foundation of the honor system, and 100 percent Amici Fund participation from the solicitable members of the class of 1951. Led by class volunteers Charlie Bourland, Ned Hardison, Frank Mountcastle, and Dick Taliaferro, the class of 1951 reached full participation for the third year in a row.
While at Woodberry, the class of 1951 led the football team in one of the most famous contests in the history of The Game. In 1950, the two teams entered the fiftieth Game tied in the series. When the hard-fought game finished, the series remained tied. Woodberry trailed at halftime 13–0. Team Captain Ned Hardison successfully urged Assistant Coach Blair Gammon ’44 to convince legendary Woodberry Head Coach Leonard Dick to run a special trick play to start the second half. That play resulted in a touchdown by Charlie Bourland, the fastest player on the team, and turned the game around.
Members of the class of 1951 have always exhibited the traits of that football team: hard work, creativity, leadership, a never-give-up attitude, exemplary sportsmanship, and devotion to Woodberry. They were leaders while at Woodberry and have distinguished themselves since graduation in their communities and churches and through their military service and leadership in business, finance, medicine, law, academia, and the nonprofit world. Their exemplary leadership as Woodberry alumni includes supporting the school financially, serving on the board of trustees and as class volunteers, and sending their sons and grandsons to Woodberry.
The last of these grandsons, Frank Bossong ’24, grandson of Ellen and Ned Hardison, graduated in May. The Hardisons were proud to attend the ceremony and noted that as parents and grandparents of eight alumni, they have an abundance of Woodberry graduation memories.
New York City Regional Chapter Leads on Career Networking
Under the leadership of Gunnar Gregory ‘07, chapter president and national career networking cochair, the New York City Regional Chapter provides innovative programming opportunities for alumni, parents, and friends in the area. In particular, due to the critical role the region plays in developing young professionals, the chapter has worked hard to develop unique career networking programming through summer experiences like internships, shadowing opportunities, and other events to expand professional circles and explore new career paths.
This summer, the chapter hosted a career networking gathering at Papillon Bistro with more than thirty alumni and parents in attendance. Many currently live in the NYC area, but part of the focus has been to offer opportunities like this to college-aged Tigers who have recently finished college. Thanks to Gunnar and his fellow chapter board members Mitch Hull ‘77, Peter Wilson ‘06, Henry Dyke ‘12, Sean Spector ‘12, Ford Beazley ‘16, and Holden Fockler ‘16 for promoting and running the event.
Class of 1964 – Reunion Spotlight
Members of the class of 1964 came from all over the world, including Kuwait (Hana and Fouad Al-Khadra), England (Sarah and Chuck Green), and Brazil (Sonia and Tom Purcell), for their sixtieth reunion. The class was at Woodberry during an important transition period, and members helped orient several new faculty members. They were the second senior class under headmaster Baker Duncan ’45, formed Woodberry’s first lacrosse team under Coach Bob Gillespie, and led Coach Red Caughron’s first undefeated football team with a groundbreaking pro-style offense.
Class of 1964 members and their families have supported every part of the school. Athletics benefits through the gifts of Johnson Stadium and the Lindsay Tennis Courts, hospitality and security is enhanced by the Grainger Gatehouse, residential life is improved through the building of Taylor Hall, and academics are enriched by the Fitzpatrick Lecture Series. In addition, class member V. R. “Shack” Shackelford served the administration as the school’s attorney for forty years, following his father and grandfather, and David Lindsay and Bob Roper provided outstanding leadership as trustees. Bob also chaired the search committee that recruited and recommended the hiring of Byron Hulsey ’86.
Under the leadership of devoted class volunteers, including Coddy Coddington, Luke Crosland, Ike Grainger, Edmund Perrow, and Bob Roper, the class continues to support its alma mater. For the fourth year in a row, at least 77 percent of the solicitable members contributed to the Amici Fund, and, for the second year in a row, they contributed more than $60,000. In addition, under Bob Roper’s leadership, class members contributed to capital projects, including their fiftieth reunion gift, the Class of 1964 Scholarship Fund.
Justin and Donyal Andrews – Fifth-Form Parents’ Gift Committee Members
“Kenan loves Woodberry,” said Justin. “He’s built a great friend group, and he’s being exposed to things he never would have done before — like playing the bagpipes and getting out on the golf course. And now he has friends from all over the country and from around the world. As parents, we love the culture and the legacy, hearing about how many kids have a father or grandfather who went there.”
While Kenan has immersed himself in student life, Justin and Donyal have also found ways to get involved. They hosted new boys in their home over the summer so the boys could get to know one another before school started, and they joined the school’s Advisory Council.
We love the school so much, and we want to be committed, not just for Kenan’s sake, but also for his younger brother, who is already talking about going there,” said Donyal. “It just felt like the right thing to do, to continue to learn at a deeper level about what is going on at the school and how the students are doing. In sending Kenan to Woodberry, we definitely wanted to see him become more confident and have more of a voice and use it. Those things have happened, and I’m confident they will continue to happen.”
Justin and Donyal Andrews first became aware of Woodberry when their oldest son, Kenan ’25, was considering boarding schools. At the time, they didn’t feel ready to see their son go away to high school, and they weren’t sure he was ready for it either. Over the next few years, though, Woodberry’s name kept coming up among their friends in Atlanta, so when Kenan started talking about boarding school, they’d become more open to the possibility.
Class of 2019 – Reunion Spotlight
The class of 2019 showcased Woodberry’s strength when an incredible seventy-five class members attended their first reunion. We believe this was the largest showing for any class in modern history. The class also set the record for most Captains Club leadership gifts for a five-year reunion class.
Much of this enthusiasm comes from a phenomenal team of fifteen volunteers, led by all-star current faculty member Makhail Anderson ’19. Makhail worked with the alumni office to ensure they had proper contact information and helped communicate important details. The class was rewarded with a special gathering at Headmaster Byron Hulsey’s home the Saturday afternoon of reunion. This event was so successful that Byron plans to host a similar reception next April with the classes of 2015 and 2020.
Bill Alden ’42 Inspires Young Alumni
For several years, Bill Alden ’42 inspired young alumni to emulate his philanthropic spirit. The Bill Alden ’42 Challenge encouraged young alumni who hadn’t yet contributed to participate in the Amici Fund.
Mr. Alden, who died in April at one hundred years old, was Woodberry’s oldest living donor. Before his death, he issued a challenge to alumni in the classes of 2014 through 2023, offering to contribute $1,000 for each participation benchmark the class reached. In addition, he offered $1,000 if a class set its participation record and $1,000 if it set its dollar record.
As a result of the challenge, young alumni participation doubled in the last two months of the fiscal year, and six of the ten classes set at least one record. Consequently, Mr. Alden gave a generous $25,000 gift.
Mr. Alden believed that Woodberry saved his life. He had been, in his words, “a disaster” before coming to the Forest and says that Woodberry developed him into a leader. He served as a prefect, senior warden of the chapel council, and captain of the golf team. During his career, he was an investment manager in Louisville, first at his father’s firm, Alden & Co., then at Hilliard Lyons. He was proud that his son, Bill Alden ’72, is also an alumnus.
OneWoodberry Surpasses Goals
and Wil Brawley ’92 on One Woodberry
OneWoodberry 2024 was a huge success. The effort exceeded goals for both dollars raised and participation, raising $3,180,748 from 3,269 donors. Much of the success can be attributed to the volunteers who helped out in ways that made OneWoodberry an inclusive event. Damon Mosley ’90 and his wife, Jen, made the trip to campus to help with programming, sending out great updates to his class. Wil Brawley ’92, cocaptain of this year’s event, spoke with the sixth form about mental health and well-being. And Gray Robertson ’16 served as a coanchor for the WFSPN broadcasts that streamed throughout the day. All three alums participated in multiple parts of the OneWoodberry program, leaning into career networking and the school community’s focus on LinkedIn as a networking tool.
