Prefects old and young compare notes

 

The first-ever Selwyn House Prefects’ Reunion, held online on May 11, was a journey through the past and into the future. Nine decades of prefects and former prefects gathered with staff members to explore how being a prefect today compares with the experience of years past. 

 

“This initiative not only brings a unique look at leadership at Selwyn House, it will connect Old Boys from across the generations and inspire future prefects,” said Advancement Director Sharon Cozens.

 

Former prefects joined the call from Africa, Singapore, UK, Germany, Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal. Among the 53 people in attendance, older past prefects such as Tony Le Moine ’53, Chris Hyde ’57, Robert Diez d’Aux ’64, Cary Miller ’67 and Jody Amblard ’74, offered some interesting perspective on how the office has changed.

 

“The Selwyn experience was different for those of us from different years,” said Robert Diez d’Aux.

 

“I don’t remember what prefects did,” admitted Chris Hyde, who went on to be Head Prefect at Trinity College School after SHS.

 

Tony Le Moine, who was in the first Senior class after the arrival of Headmaster Robert Speirs in 1945, recalls that all 14 members of his class were declared prefects. But, at that time, Senior students were only 13 years old. “We weren’t given a lot of responsibility.”

 

For the most part, prefects’ duties in these years were limited to monitoring the younger students in the hallways and the dining hall.

 

Because the years being taught at Selwyn House were changing at that time, Cary Miller was prefect for two years in a row. Hungry for greater challenges, he and his fellow prefects demanded from Headmaster Speirs that they be given greater responsibilities or they would resign en masse. “We felt we should have some status,” he says.

 

Headmaster Speirs strongly disagreed, fired them on the spot and ordered Mr. Moodey to select the prefects himself.

 

Barely a dozen years ago, with the establishment of the student leadership program in Senior School, the role of the prefects was greatly expanded, Headmaster Downey explained.

 

In his time at Selwyn House, “The prefects had a big impact on the social lives of the other students,” says Aria Khiabani 2018, who sits on the Old Boys’ Board and who spearheaded the May 11 Prefect Reunion. “They were the people who gave so much of their time to student life.”

 

Being a prefect “is not about the position,” said Angus Scott 2018. “It’s more about bringing the boys together. It’s the memories they make. They make the leadership infectious and get other people involved.”

 

What is it like to be a prefect today? “The Selwyn of today is pretty cool,” answered the current Head Prefect, George Adamopoulos 2021, using terms like “brotherhood” and “community.”

 

Tony Le Moine said the experience of being prefect instilled in him values in his life that he still carries with him today. “I find myself mouthing the same ideas as I go through life,” he said.

 

Cary Miller advised his younger colleagues to recognize the value of being given a “top-notch education” at Selwyn House. “We had done the first year of McGill by the time we left Selwyn House,” he said.

 

Stephen Tsoukas 2006 agreed. “You’re more than prepared—you’re ahead of the pack.”

But Joseph Amblard offered a word of caution about being a Selwyn House prefect: “Don’t let it go to your head.”

 

Tony Le Moine concurred. “At Selwyn House, you’re a big fish in a small pond. Once you’re out, it’s different.”

 

His last words of advice for those who aspire to be a prefect: “Take it gracefully and do justice to the job.”

 

Attendees were:

 

Current Staff — Headmaster Michael Downey, Neil Banerjee, Mary Ann Cloherty, Sharon Cozens, Julia Fekete, Former Headmaster Hal Hannaford, Sebastien Lajoie, Courtney Prieur and Richard Wills.

 

Alumni — Anthony Le Moine 1953, Christopher Hyde 1957, Robert Diez d'Aux 1964, Cary Miller 1967, Joseph Amblard 1974, Bryan Fitzpatrick 1974, Nicholas Powell 1979, Thomas Antony 1983, father and son duo Justin Vineberg 1988 and incoming prefect Mitchell Vineberg 2022, Tom Kabuga 1993, prefect brothers David McKinnon 1995 and Sean McKinnon 1998, Jordan Goldwarg 1998, OBA President Joshua Wisenthal 1999, Dylan Jones 2003, Jonathan Munzar 2003, Thomas Spencer 2003, Andrew Funamoto 2006, Stephen Tsoukas 2006, Evan Sequeira 2008, Fernand Le Fèvre 2011, Jesse Caruso 2017, prefect brothers Dylan Kalaydjian 2017 and Luke Kalaydjian 2018, Israel Tamale 2017, Aria Khiabani 2018, Andrew Petrecca-Berthelet 2018, Angus Scott 2018, and William Petrecca-Berthelet 2019.

 

Current Prefects — George Adamopoulos 2021, Matt Azoulay 2021, Denis Dariotis 2021, Dean Farias 2021, Matteo Farias 2021, Michael Feldman 2021 and Matthew Homa 2021.

 

Incoming Prefects — Matthew Anderson 2022, Mackenzie Blaise 2022, Samuel Elkas 2022, Jack McLernon 2022, Zhencheng Qiu 2022, Ramy Sirhan 2022, Mitchell Vineberg 2022 and James Wiseman 2022.