The Return of a Student : Nick Smith
Nick Smith, a recent St. Paul’s graduate, came back to the school this winter to discuss homophobia through a chapel talk as well as at a speech at a meeting for prefects and team captains. He was both forceful and approachable, and he made quite an impression on our students.
After opening his chapel speech with anecdotes about his imaginary eight-year old son, Smith declared: “I refuse to believe that our nations’ parents have taught their children this [homophobic] language. No, what I’ve come here to talk about is where American youth has gone wrong [on their own], with their language, with their behavior, and with their attitudes about sexuality.”
Chris Albanese ’10 went to the meeting for prefects and team captains, and said of Smith, “He was young enough for us to relate easily to, but also very capable of selling [reliable] points.”
This analysis represents the basis of Smith’s authority. He described his role in the modern prep school world, asserting: “I’m SPS ’05, a former prefect, a soccer, hockey, and lacrosse player.” Thus, the experiences at St. Paul’s, Bowdoin and Taft that informed Smith’s talk were interpreted as contemporary enough to be meaningful for current SPS students.
Furthermore, he set an example for a diverse group of students at St. Paul’s, as he was able to connect with everyone from athletes to prefects to new fifth formers. Ms. Buzby Whalen, his advisor while at SPS, said, “He was an awesome student . . . He got recruited to play hockey. He was just here for fifth and sixth form, [but] he made it clear he was going to get good grades.”
Albanese added, “He was [a] passionate and smart young man with a good idea and an admirable cause. The frankness in his language during the prefect meeting and his extensive efforts to make his concept feel relatable to our community made his visit to the school, I think, a real hit. Best prefect meeting I’d ever had.”
Such intensity may have been necessary to achieve his goal. He concluded with exhortation: “Don’t let [homophobic slurs] continue. In my short life-time there are more people than I could possibly make mention of this morning that have been devastated by this kind of language,” and then returned to the image of the fictional son, “Maybe, just maybe, if he’s gay, he won’t have to endure the same hardship as so many others that have come before him.”
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