There comes an unfortunate time in every Headmaster’s tenure where he must decide how to address the actions of an unruly few. I had hoped such a day would take much longer to reach me but given the tumultuous times in Lowell’s present day, I cannot say I am terribly surprised.
Firstly, to the Scholarship students among us, I have to extend my deepest comforts to you. I understand this must be a confusing time and that you may feel uncertain about your future at Lowell. In efforts to give you an avenue of release and confidence, I have sought out and hired a counselor who specializes in emotions focused therapy, to help you deal with the adjustments of your life here at Lowell and the loss of our beloved Headmaster Dominic Westinghouse.
Second, I wish to address the foolish nonsense which has led to several unacceptable consequences. The loss of school property, the missing of classes for several students, and an unreasonable contagion of paranoia.
I myself was threatened with a letter much in the same way Headmaster Westinghouse was. I was given the same ultimatum outlined to him. A deadline of one year to rid the school of Scholarship students.
Let me be clear: there is no Order of the Primrose. The actions of this night were brought on by a radical few pranksters who have seized upon the growing imagination of the public to make a statement. Rest assured I will do the utmost to root out these rule breakers and put them before the mechanisms we have in place to deal with student misconduct. The student council.
I am holding any wrongdoing to account. Including the shirking of assigned duties by those scholarship students who elected not to attend the Masquerade Ball. All will be judged by the same measuring stick and all will be adjudicated by the same system. It is by upholding the rules we have set in place that we will send the message that those who do wrong will be punished.
I will continue to protect my students with prudence and to champion the student body of Lowell as a whole. May we move on from this disgrace having learned our lessons and moving toward a brighter more united future.
...which is host to the spectacular and the spine-chilling. It is a season of decaying facades before the ultimate renewal of rebirth and new beginnings. Each season leads us into the growth and death of the one preceding it.
Our ancestors had time honored traditions which arose out of the very things which allowed them to persist. Traditions which paid homage to and evoked the forces around us which we may not always understand. Forces which shape us.
Just as shadows take the shape of the presence of the light, so too do our identities take shape of the shadows surrounding us. Tonight we celebrate the time honored tradition of Lowell Academy’s Masquerade Ball. These celebrations invite us to ask questions about who we are and who we’re perceived to be.
Here, in the Grand Ballroom, you will find the spectre of your classmates hidden beneath the veil of a chosen mask. Here you will find where truth lies between the lines and what you will do with the freedom anonymity grants you.
At Lowell it is an indispensable truth that we are all in search of something or someone. Yet I invite you to look with something other than your eyes. Look with your heart. Look with your mind. Do not be afraid of what looks back at you. For it is within that dark that you will find yourself; and within that dark where you can be lost.
I am personally inviting all students within Lowell’s halls to attend this celebration. There will be a light feast in the Dining Hall before all students will freshen up and change into their costumes. You will be in the Grand Ballroom by no later than nine ‘o clock this evening. You will have until midnight to find your match...and a night free of curfew to enjoy them.
Any who do not wish to attend will be subject to curfew and will volunteer themselves for pre-chosen activities. I will say it is in all students’ best interest to join us. Tradition, after all, preserves us.
Today I pen to you a letter of proposal. While each new Headmaster has made their mark on this historic institution there can be no doubt that our students leave just as indelible a mark for future generations. This is true even more so now that we are allowing into the population those who have never before had the opportunity to attend.
It should seem to me that such a change in the student body should also bring about structural changes to better fit this new composition; lest an unintentional hegemony develop amongst student groups of any kind.
Power, however assumed or bestowed, can be a difficult thing for students to shape for themselves if left to their own devices. While I have the utmost faith in the young minds currently being shaped at Lowell Academy to handle such a responsibility I have a suggestion for its form and substance. I propose the creation of a Student Ambassador position.
This position would be awarded following the outcome of a student election wherein candidates are proposed and the students decide their leader. This position would require the elected student to act as a representative to the student body for any matters students would like to bring before the Board Members or myself.
This would not only give the students a voice with which to speak to authority but it would require cooperation and unity. If we wish to know how best to fortify Lowell’s future then I believe we must take into account the perspective of students whose experiences are defined by it. Having this official outlet to redress grievances and to effect change may very well be the very thing that makes some of the older Legacy families feel heard to an extent that this ‘Order of the Primrose’ business can be put officially to rest.
Additionally, it would give those students with politically minded futures the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the rigors of campaigning and to better themselves through the strife of competition.
Included in my letter is a proposal for the rules and considerations for the position. I look forward to discussing this in person at our next scheduled meeting.
How exactly do you plan on responding to the Order of the Primroses' threats? Does the Office of the Headmaster respond to terrorists?
“ The Order of the Primrose is a thing of the past. As proven by their belief that money is reason enough for us to abandon our efforts. This is not 1820. People have more - have always had more - to offer than the sum of their bank accounts. If they want to see change then let them come out of the shadows and tell us, face to face, their vision for the future. Until then they are not worth my consideration.
That being said, I will personally be replacing the stolen money and donating it to the chosen submissive assistance charities. Just because the leaders of our society can’t be bothered to take care of others doesn’t mean I share in their indifference. ”
“What reason do I have to be afraid of a vigilante society? If they were capable of running this school than Windsor wouldn’t have been skimming off the top for all of those years. Their rejection of change only proves that they are afraid of me.”
