Hope, springs eternal: Indian Springs celebrates 2025 class with 71st graduation exercises

Published 5:08 pm Monday, May 19, 2025

By Dave Domescik

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By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Families, friends, faculty and, most importantly, the Indian Springs class of 2025 gathered at McLean Lawn on the morning of Monday, May 19 to celebrate a new chapter while reflecting on past exploits.

The school saw 80 students receive their diplomas and officially graduate, with Head of School Scott Schamberger reflecting on the moment in his welcome to the ceremony.

“I woke up quite early this morning, a little unsettled with nervous energy thinking about the magnitude of this moment for the class of 2025,” Schamberger said. “What fills my heart today are the stories about each of the young people before you. They made us laugh. They made us cry. They frustrated us. And yet, above all, they have filled our hearts with great joy.”

Schamberger further expounded on the rich tradition of Indian Springs, and that its academic rigor and unique environment helped fuel the class of 2025 into future leaders in the classroom and beyond.

“Springs was designed to be hard,” Schamberger said. “To push your limits, to test your wills, to be an accomplishment, something in life worth doing. Remember, anything in life worth doing is going to be hard.”

Schamberger then gifted each graduate a copy of “Let Me Tell You What I Mean” by Joan Didion, a collection of essays from the famed writer and journalist and one of the pioneers of New Journalism. The book was Didion’s last published work before her death in 2021. Schamberger also provided each graduate with a slice of cake, as the day not only marked their graduation but his daughter’s birthday.

“As you prepare to leave the relative comfort of the Springs campus, know that you are prepared to do so,” Schamberger said. “You are worthy of the challenges ahead, you are more than good enough and know that you are deeply, deeply loved.”

Each year at Springs, the graduating class selects two students to speak at the school’s graduation exercises, excluding the mayors for the fall and spring term who have their own addresses. Rosa Schwebel and Julia Rosenstiel were selected to speak on the class’s behalf.

Schwebel delivered the ceremony’s opening remarks after Schamberger’s welcome, discussing her hopes for Indian Springs as she graduates from the school.

“Personally, I’ve decided that I’m very confident in the future success of Indian Springs because of its past, present and future,” she said. “Indian Springs is education in the fullest sense of the word… we care about each other and about what we do.”

Following Schwebel’s remarks, the Indian Springs choir performed a moving rendition of “In Meeting We Are Blessed,” a traditional choral arrangement by Troy Robertson describing the power of friendship and unity.

Edward Davis, the school’s mayor for the fall semester, discussed his burgeoning passion for films in his speech, more specifically the 1997 classic “Good Will Hunting.” The film tells the story of janitor Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, a troubled youth from South Boston who is also a self-taught genius.

In a particularly moving scene that Davis referenced in his speech, Dr. Sean Maguire, a psychology teacher played by the late Robin Williams, points out to Hunting that he is so adept at anticipating future failure in his interpersonal relationships that he deliberately sabotages them to avoid emotional pain.

Davis used Hunting as a cautionary tale in his speech, encouraging his classmates to take risks, as that is the only way the world progresses and betters. He used the example of Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist and the father of the Green Revolution who won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal for his work in combating famine and starvation.

“Borlaug serves as a contrast to Hunting,” Davis said. “At Hunting’s first sign of adversity, he would have moved back home, back to everything that was safe, had he ever taken the job in the first place. But Borlaug endured the struggle, inherited the risk and ultimately created a profit not just for himself but for humanity as a whole. I see that potential in this class of 2025.

“I see a group of people who have the intellect, who have the work ethic and who have the talent to do something just as impactful as Borlaug. But if we live our lives in constant search of safety and in constant avoidance of risk, we will never see the same results.”

Ibrahim Hamo, the spring 2025 mayor of the school, followed Davis’s speech with one of his own. In his remarks, Hamo discussed that among other things the intellectual and thought-provoking conversations he had while at Indian Springs are what make the school special.

“The purpose of a discussion is not to win, but gain,” Hamo said. “Springs gives you the tools to discuss, to advocate… the students, the teachers, the staff, the head of school are all so passionate in their pursuits.”

Hamo further discussed that while other prestigious schools across the country are focused on academic and personal achievement as a means to an end, namely getting into college, Hamo believes at Springs the means become the ends.

“At Springs, we believe that if you are intentional and sincere about your interests, the things that you do, the means if you will, the ends will sort themselves out,” Hamo said. “So once again, it’s not surprising to find Springs students who still academically excel but decide to ignore their homework just one afternoon to talk about subjective and objective morality.”

Hamo concluded his speech by discussing the importance of human interaction and relationships as he and his fellow graduates enter the next phase of their lives.

“Every individual you meet is another opportunity to form a connection (and) to form a bond,” Hamo said. “Connecting with people upon a common interest (and) a common love has led to many beautiful relationships.”

Following Hamo’s speech, three separate awards were presented to students in the senior class. Hamo won the school’s Leadership Award, in memory of Charles Jordan McDavid Jr., class of 1958. The recipient of the award is selected by the faculty on the basis of exemplary leadership and character exhibited through participation in student activities.

Kennedy Doyle and Hamo won the school’s Spiritual Awareness Awards, in memory of Allan Le Voy Furniss, class of 1963 and Robert Barry Kartus, class of 1968. The recipients of the award are recognized by their senior classmates as embodying the qualities of dignity, humanitarianism and spiritual awareness.

Schwebel was then awarded the Libby Pantazis Award. The award recipient is selected by the faculty on the basis of exemplary dedication, joy and passion in service to the school.

The 80 graduates were then awarded their diplomas by Schamberger and other faculty members. In a unique ceremony, the graduates were recognized in a randomized order rather than in an alphabetical one. The first student named, the 25th student named and the last student named received an Indian Springs jacket as well during the ceremony.

In closing remarks, Rosenstiel honored the strength and perseverance of her classmates in reaching this seminal moment.

“I have so much appreciation for these people, and I admire their strength every day,” Rosenstiel said. “I think back to those moments where maybe we thought we wouldn’t make it to this day. We took things one class at a time, one test at a time, one game at a time, one week at a time and we survived.”

Rosenstiel concluded by discussing the uniqueness of Indian Springs.

“There is something about this school that resonates with us in a way that is not easy to find,” Rosenstiel said. “I can now stand here confidently and say (that) what makes this place special is the people.”

The ceremony concluded with a singing of the school’s alma mater. The students of the class of 2025 will attend the following colleges after graduation:

 

  • Appalachian State University
  • Auburn University
  • Barnard College
  • Belmont University
  • Berea College
  • Boston University
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Clarkson University
  • Coe College
  • Colorado College
  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Columbia University
  • Duquesne University
  • Eckerd College
  • George Washington University
  • Georgetown University
  • Georgia Southern University
  • Kenyon College
  • KU Leuven
  • List College, Jewish Theological Seminary
  • Marymount Manhattan College
  • McGill University
  • Middlebury College
  • Millsaps College
  • Monmouth University
  • New York University
  • Northeastern University
  • Purdue University
  • Rollins College
  • St. Louis University, Madrid
  • Swarthmore College
  • Texas Christian University
  • The University of Alabama
  • Tulane University
  • Universidade Federal do Paraná
  • University of Alabama Birmingham
  • University of California San Diego
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Mississippi
  • University of St. Andrews
  • University of Vermont
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Washington University in St. Louis
  • Wofford College
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

For more information on Indian Springs, visit Indiansprings.org.

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