EDITOR’S NOTE: 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of a rural LaPorte gem: LaLumiere School. A gala celebrating this milestone will take place Saturday, May 3, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, where more than 350 alumni, parents, faculty and guests from around the world will gather. WNLP asked one of those alumni, LaPorte native and LaLumiere Board of Trustees member John Rumely, to offer his thoughts.
By John Rumely
LaLumiere School is soon to conclude a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary. The observance of this milestone began last May with Chief Justice John Roberts’ commencement address, continued with alumni receptions across the country, and will climax
John Rumely
this Saturday in Chicago, with over 350 attendees at a sold-out gala.
While the school holds regular fundraising and social events throughout the academic year, these anniversary events are a special tradition at LaLumiere — every 10 years the school takes stock of where it is and what the previous 10 years have brought. I’ve attended every one of them and the 50th promises to be special in many ways.
I’ve known the school since its inception, and graduated in its second class, but my tenure of service as a trustee began 10 years ago, just before the 40th anniversary. That year marked the transition in leadership from Larry Sullivan to the current headmaster, Michael Kennedy. Sullivan, who had begun his career as a math teacher and rose to headmaster, guided the school through some tough years and set the stage for a new generation of leadership. Kennedy, a member of the Class of 1986, seemed groomed for the position. Not only had he attended the school, he served as a faculty member under its founding headmaster, Jim Moore, and subsequently furthered his credentials with a stint at the prestigious Chicago Latin School. He arrived in LaPorte in 2004 with his wife, Colleen, who had strong credentials in corporate marketing and management.
The Kennedys had barely been on the campus a year when the school unexpectedly found itself the focus of national attention. In September 2005 President George W. Bush nominated Roberts, a 1973 graduate, as Chief Justice. Initially, it seemed the school was basking in his notoriety, but upon further analysis, many observers concluded it was more the case that Roberts was a reflection of LaLumiere and the values it has instilled among its graduates. It turned out that while Roberts was an exceptionally gifted student, he was no anomaly; the school has been consistently turning out graduates particularly well prepared for college and achievement in their careers.
LaLumiere’s success has much to do with its fundamental approach to its mission. From the beginning, the school emphasized three aspects of student life: scholarship, character, and faith. Scholarship was based on a rigorous curriculum and small class size. Character was developed through team building on campus and on the athletic field. Faith was rooted in the school’s Catholic heritage (each class day begins with a prayer in assembly), and includes mandatory community service. These values were in place in Roberts’ era and are very much evident today.
The faculty-student ratio is particularly high, allowing class size to remain small. “There is no back of the class” and “everyone knows everyone” are two LaLumiere hallmarks. The fact that Roberts’ senior-year curriculum was customized for him is consistent with the school’s student-focused approach of setting goals, and providing the resources for the student to achieve them.
The school has been consistently blessed with strong leadership and governance. Founding headmaster Jim Moore, recruited from Canterbury School in Connecticut, arrived in 1963 and was charged with getting a faculty assembled and a freshman class recruited within a year. The founding trustees, Ray Daly, Andrew McKenna Sr., Richard Schaub and Lex Wilkinson, among others, committed to underwrite the fledgling school for an indefinite period. Although resources were always stretched in the beginning, these “angel investors” gave Moore enough time to get the school up and running and earn credibility. A second wave of trustees was recruited — including my father, A.J. Rumely Jr., and Attorney Frank Lanigan, both from LaPorte — who were among several who served in the early years.
Much of LaLumiere’s growth derives from family and social connections. Our family’s contribution was typical of many: While lacking the financial horsepower of the original trustees, my parents, A.J. Jr. and Frances Rumely, helped the school by integrating it into their extensive network within the foundry industry, my father’s fellow trustees at Purdue, and their relatives throughout the Midwest. These connections resulted in bloodlines deeply rooted in the school — such as Hiler, Noel, Hillenbrand, Decio, Rentschler, Mullett, Sparrow, and Costello — now extending through second generations. Other families have done the same, and in fact the school’s most effective recruiting technique continues to be “living room chats” with the headmaster, hosted by parents and alumni throughout the region.
A LaLumiere student champions the anniversary. (LaLumiere photo)
The last 10 years have been particularly eventful for the school. A capital campaign, commenced in 2005, exceeded its goal by 50% and resulted in funds for a new science center, new faculty housing, enhancements to the school’s technology and infrastructure, and improved athletic facilities. The average headcount rose from approximately 120 to 220 today, with students arriving from more diverse economic and geographic backgrounds. Ten percent of the student body is foreign-born and the school has become much more competitive in terms of the quality of the applicants. There is a lengthy waiting list most years.
The school has also identified and focused on its “Centers of Excellence,” which are the crown jewels of the curriculum. In some cases they happen to be the disciplines of particularly gifted faculty; in others, they have been identified as endeavors worthy of extra resources. The Centers presently planned or in the works include the 21st Century Science and Math, Global Studies Program, English Language Institute Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Institute of Faith and Leadership.
Athletics were always an important aspect of life on campus. Even in my day, the school “punched above its weight,” taking on much larger public high schools in the area, as well as the more established prep schools in Chicagoland and Indiana. In those days, it was football, cross country, wrestling, soccer, basketball, and baseball. Today the choices have been broadened -– for both boys and girls — to include lacrosse, tennis, golf, track & field, softball, volleyball, cross-training, and crew (yes, somehow the lake is long enough for rowing!).
The boys’ basketball program, in particular, has been a “center of excellence” among athletic endeavors. Spearheaded by the gifted Coach Alan Huss, varsity basketball has catapulted the school onto the national arena. The Lakers White Team was ranked No. 5 by USA Today among preps nationwide. This has not been lost on area basketball fans: When I take in a game on campus, I notice a significant number of people from town, out to see this extraordinary display of talent. This past season I got a chance to watch the White Team compete in two tournaments in New England and New York City. Sitting next to Michael Kennedy, the conversation touched on virtually every student athlete over the course of the game. In typical LaLumiere fashion, the headmaster went into detail on each student on the court, recounting where he grew up, his family history and how he found LaLumiere, his prospective college opportunities, and his other extracurricular activities. There was little doubt Kennedy was proud of each of these student athletes, but I also got the impression he thinks their contributions off the court were more valuable than their contributions on the court.
When I arrived at LaLumiere 50 years ago, there were only 40 boys, clustered in the main house, living cheek-by-jowl with eight faculty members, who were with us from dawn to dark every day, eating, studying, competing on the fields, and sharing what was perhaps the most formative four years of our lives. We arrived as pimply, adolescents kids, uncertain of who we were, and intimidated by the prospect of living with strangers. Four years later, we left as confident students; comfortable with our abilities to analyze, critique, and express our ideas; familiar with the benefits of team sports, and aware of the importance of community service.
LaLumiere is a very different institution today – larger, co-educational, more competitive, ethnically diverse, international, and jaw-dropping in the capabilities of the students it turns out. This is our year to celebrate. And I can’t wait to see what the 60th brings!
JOHN RUMELY, a LaPorte native and 1969 graduate of LaLumiere School, lives in New York City. For more information on LaLumiere, visit www.lalumiere.org.
The school’s science center, added within the past 10 years. (LaLumiere photo)
