Since 2016, School leaders have communicated our collective commitment to transparency as we have come to understand and reckon with the distressing incidents of sexual misconduct and abuse that took place at The Hotchkiss School years ago.

We have previously shared with you that the School was named as a defendant in lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct towards former students by former faculty member Roy G. Smith, who worked at Hotchkiss as an instructor in English and as an athletic trainer from 1970-2000 and died in 2014. Since then, several other individuals have brought and resolved claims against the School based on their own experiences with Smith. We recognize and appreciate their courage in coming forward and are profoundly sorry for the pain they have endured. Although nothing can undo any of the heartbreaking wrongs of the past, we continue our commitment to learn from them and to do the work to promote the well-being and safety of everyone in our community above all else.

To that end, we will continue to make available a third-party investigator, Allison O’Neil, to receive and review any reports of sexual misconduct by adults towards students at Hotchkiss. If you have concerns or experiences of sexual misconduct by adults at Hotchkiss, Ms. O'Neil can be reached at (617) 239-0729 or by email at hotchkissinvestigation@lockelord.com.

We have also undertaken a number of concrete actions to support survivors and to ensure that current and future students are safe and protected. These measures include:

• An audit conducted by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) of the School’s sexual misconduct program, which found that Hotchkiss had a strong foundation in policies related to sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination.
• Ongoing partnership with Learning Courage, an organization dedicated to reducing incidents of sexual misconduct and improving responses in schools through policy reviews, training, educational assessments, and survivor-centered, trauma-informed care.  
• Ongoing partnership with Authentic Connections, an organization that focuses specifically on student wellness in high-performing schools, to conduct an annual student survey that anonymously captures responses spanning emotional, social, and academic wellbeing, substance use, social media use, discrimination, and other topics.  
• In partnership with a group of dedicated alumni, creation of a Courage Garden – a deeply significant addition to campus that serves not only as a memorial but also as a catalyst for dialogue, self-reflection, and restoration within the community. Every fall, our head of School addresses the entire on-campus community about the School's history of sexual misconduct and our unwavering commitment to keeping current and future students safe from harm during an event that culminates in a silent procession of community members to the garden.
• The naming of a sexual misconduct prevention representative to the Community Life Committee of the Board of Trustees. In coordination with a small group of advisors, this representative works to keep the Board fully apprised of the School’s efforts related to historical sexual misconduct and ensuring that all current and future students are kept safe from harm.
• Financial support to survivors for mental health counseling.
• Annual training for all faculty and staff on ensuring appropriate boundaries at all times, recognizing the signs of sexual misconduct, and mandatory reporting in the State of Connecticut. 
• Consent talks for all students as well as curricular programming in the Human Development courses, which we require all preps and lower mids to take.  
• Implementing a reporting form, immediately available to all students online, that can be used to report any incident of bias or other concern.  

As we have done before, we want to apologize again to this community for the terrible wrongs of the past. Our commitment, now and for the future, is to support survivors in healing, to maintain transparency, and to ensure, to the best of our ability, that no child at this School faces the same pain in the future.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth G. Hines '93 and Robert R. Gould '77
Co-Presidents, Board of Trustees

Craig W. Bradley
Head of School