Enduring Gratitude
Read the Spring/Summer 2024 Hotchkiss Magazine
The story of four siblings and one family’s transformational relationship with Hotchkiss
By Eliott Grover
“We were not a boarding school family,” says Steve Sullivan ’76, the first of four siblings to become Bearcats. “Frankly, I didn’t even know what boarding schools were.”
The Sullivans––Steve, Scott ’78, P’15,’18, Tim ’81, P’13,’16, and Christine ’82––grew up in Loudonville, NY, a hamlet that sits just north of Albany. They all did well in the public school system and their parents had no intention of sending them elsewhere for high school.
The summer after his freshman year, Steve was at a friend’s house when he came across several admissions catalogs. He flipped through them, learning about magical places like Hotchkiss and other schools. With each page, Steve became more entranced by the opportunities that were available to the students who lived and learned in these dynamic communities. He went home and told his parents about this discovery. His father appreciated his enthusiasm, but explained that with four children, the family could not afford the tuition. Steve opened one of the catalogs and turned to the section on financial aid.
“Well,” his father replied thoughtfully. “If you got a scholarship, maybe.” Determined, Steve submitted a handful of applications, but because the admissions deadlines had passed, he did not receive any responses. However, the late Peter Adams ’63, director of admission at Hotchkiss, reached out to invite Steve and his parents to Lakeville.
“That was eye-opening,” Steve says. “My parents saw the campus and could sense the culture of the school.” Adams was a gracious host and explained that while enrollment was full, the admissions committee was impressed with Steve and wanted him to apply the following year. Back in Loudonville, Steve threw himself into his summer job as a caddy. Whenever he returned from a round of golf, his parents asked whose clubs he had carried. One day, he told them he met a man named Woods McCahill ’33, P’61,’69.
“Woods McCahill,” his father repeated with a trace of recognition. “Go get that Hotchkiss catalog!” Sure enough, McCahill was listed as one of the School’s trustees. The next day at the golf course, Steve donned an extra nice shirt and lobbied his boss to let him caddy for McCahill again.
“Excuse me Mr. McCahill,” Steve asked after the third hole. “Are you the same Woods McCahill that is on the Board of Trustees at The Hotchkiss School?”
McCahill hesitated. He studied the young man. “Yes,” he finally said. “I am.”
Steve held out his hand. He introduced himself and explained that he was an admissions candidate. “It was my first pitch,” he recalls fondly. McCahill peppered him with questions over the next 15 holes. At the end of the round, he told Steve he would write a letter to Adams on his behalf.
One night a few weeks into the new academic year, the phone rang in the Sullivan house. It was Adams. He explained that a spot had opened up at Hotchkiss and asked if Steve was still interested in attending. Two days later, Steve left for Lakeville.
“The rapid ascent into that world for Steve was something for us all to appreciate,” says Scott, who joined his brother two years later. “The first time you come to the four corners and that blinking red light, it starts to register that this place is very different. And very impressive.”
Top left, Steve Sullivan ’76. Top right, Scott Sullivan ’78, P’15,’18. Bottom left, Tim Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16. Bottom right, Sissy Sullivan ’82.
The Power of Scholarships
Scholarships made Hotchkiss possible for all of the Sullivan children. “Our dad grew up in a close family, but one of modest means, in Lowell, MA,” says Christine, who went by “Sissy” at Hotchkiss. “My grandmother would open up the pantry and if she had canned food, she felt rich because she had lived through the Depression.”
Their father put himself through Columbia University and became a doctor. “He had a great family practice and was very successful,” says Tim. “But the idea of sending four kids full tuition to a private school was not something that would have been possible. For me and for all of us, financial aid unlocked this wonderful access to what really was a life-changing experience.”
At Hotchkiss, each sibling blazed their own trail. Steve and Scott excelled on the football team. Tim and Christine often joined their parents for home games, making the 90-minute drive from Loudonville to cheer on their brothers and go out to dinner with their teammates.
“I kind of grew up in the stands and in the woods behind the field,” says Christine. “Hotchkiss became a second home.” By the time she arrived as a student, she was well-acquainted with the campus. She took piano lessons, which were enabled through a special scholarship, and wrote for The Record.
“Walking out of Hotchkiss, I became a really good writer,” Christine says, noting how the rigorous academic culture pushed her to unlock her potential. “There was a grit that I learned just from working so hard and being surrounded by such smart, accomplished people. They expected so much from us. I also expected so much from myself.” She matriculated at Duke University, where she currently works at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences.
Scott shares his sister’s appreciation for the education they received. “The English Department blew me away,” he says. “They taught us how to write properly. With ‘The Hawk’ [English teacher Robert Hawkins], I would get a blue book back, and there would be more red ink than my own ink.”
Like Steve and Scott, Tim also played football, but he acknowledges that his contributions may not have been as prominent as theirs. “My senior year I was the smallest guy on the varsity team, so I didn’t have a lot of grass stains to show on Saturdays,” he says. He found some success on the wrestling mat and enjoyed the chance to compete athletically at any level. During his final year, Tim received the Allen Prize, an award given to the senior who, in the judgment of their class and the faculty, is most notable for honorable conduct, conscientiousness, and future promise.
The faith of his peers was well placed. Tim matriculated at the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar before receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served as the CEO of Match.com and Ancestry.com, and he credits Hotchkiss with building the foundational skills that have fueled his success.
“I’ve been fortunate to lead a couple of great companies in my career,” Tim says. “I like to think that my communication and speaking skills really were rooted in and modeled after some of the great teachers I had at Hotchkiss and then at Carolina.”
Steve strikes a similar chord in reflecting on how Hotchkiss has impacted a career that spans four decades as a leader in the financial services industry. “I learned to navigate under pressure, being able to operate the best I could when I was over my head,” he says. “The experiences I had at Hotchkiss, learning how to write and structure things, I use every day.”
Another subtle yet indelible mark that Hotchkiss left on Steve is that he wears a tie to work every day even though his office dress code is business casual. “People make fun of me,” he says, “but it’s like my game face. It’s definitely something that came from Hotchkiss. I feel uncomfortable without it.”
Still Serving the School After All These Years
The Sullivans have maintained strong ties with Hotchkiss over the decades. Scott notes that reunions, which his class has attended in record numbers, are opportunities to maintain old friendships while forging new ones. “It’s amazing, in terms of an overall observation of the Hotchkiss gestalt, that you always had your close friends, but at a lot of these reunions you end up making new and close relationships with people you didn’t really hang out with when you were there.”
One of Scott’s favorite memories is attending a Grandparents Day event with his father, whose name tag was overflowing with the class years of his children and grandchildren. “He joked later that he felt like an admiral because he had more stars than he knew what to do with,” Scott says. Steve takes pride in several members of his family’s next generation attending Hotchkiss. “It started off with just myself and I really had no idea that it wasn’t going to end there,” he says. “One of my takeaways is that whether it was Woods McCahill, or whether it was Peter Adams, it just took somebody to give you an opportunity.”
To express their gratitude to Hotchkiss, the Sullivan siblings have sought to create similar opportunities for current and future students. Their contributions to the School include estate planning gifts, generous unrestricted support, and the Sullivan Family Scholarship, which helps students receiving financial assistance.
In 2018, Tim joined the Board of Trustees, a role that has allowed him to serve the School while gaining an even deeper appreciation for the value of a Hotchkiss education. “It’s an incredible perspective to think about my experience as a visiting younger brother, then as a student, then as a parent, and now as a trustee,” he says. “I love the way Hotchkiss has maintained its commitment to excellence but really has evolved to become a much more supportive, pluralistic community where all of our students are safe, seen, and supported.”
Like his siblings, Tim speaks with conviction when considering the School’s role in their family’s history. “There’s no question that Hotchkiss is the single most transformative experience that I think has impacted my family,” he says.
Christine agrees. “It really did change the trajectory of the entire family,” she says. “I think it changed the perception of possibilities.”
These scholarships made it possible for the Sullivan siblings to attend Hotchkiss:
- Ann Hemingway Symington Scholarship
- Class of 1933 Scholarship
- Fred H. Gordon III ’55
- Memorial Scholarship
- Mrs. George van Santvoord Music Scholarship
- Reginald S. Young ’12 Memorial Scholarship
- Reader’s Digest Scholarship