The Power of a New Tradition
Like many independent schools, Browning has its own school song. While not to be confused for anything popular on contemporary streaming services, it’s a fine tune, and one could surely sing it to oneself. But my sense is that no one really does—not because it’s a poor song, but because it somehow feels more significant, more relevant, when it is sung collectively by those who identify with the Browning community. When students and faculty sing it together (as we did when concluding our opening assembly on the first day of school), the song can become a powerful way of connecting us to one another and to our shared belief in the purpose and potential of our school. On its own, the song is good; when brought into community ritual, it becomes something virtually sacred.
Communities require activities like these—rites and ceremonies, initiations and consecrations—in order to remain connected and coherent. At Browning, we have a bevy of such practices, from the more regular (the school song, morning handshakes, “circle time” in Lower School classrooms, divisional assemblies) to the more occasional (the Middle School welcome ceremony, the Winter Holiday concert, Field Day, Commencement). Whatever their scope or frequency, however, each activity or practice is designed to affirm a quality of our school: the significance of welcome and trust, the power of community reflection, the necessity of teamwork, the celebration of intellectual, artistic, and athletic excellence, and so on. As Charles Vogl notes in The Art of Community, “Rituals are a tool to bring meaning into our lives.” Such ceremonies enable a community to announce what’s truly important.
“In the Panthers’ Pledge, we believe we have all the elements of such a ritual, and that it can play an appreciable role in helping Browning become not only accomplished graduates, but men of the highest integrity and purpose.”
It is with this in mind that Browning has supplied its Middle and Upper School students with the Panthers' Pledge, booklets containing our the mission, core values, diversity statement, and Browning Code of Conduct. We have invited them to pledge their support for these foundational statements of character, which are essential elements of school and community life. All have been asked to sign their name to express their understanding and support of Browning’s mission and values, to commit to helping their peers do the same, and to grow from the inevitable moments when mistakes will be made. Through this invitation, we hope to encourage all Middle and Upper School community members to both reflect upon and deepen their embrace of Browning core institutional values and commitments. Just as the shared act of singing the Browning School song “thickens” its meaning, so too can a public pledge of support add significance to our foundational statements.
It’s easy to dismiss this sort of thing as either cheap symbolism or an empty gesture that does nothing to encourage the kind of prosocial behaviors and commitments that our community seeks. But these critiques ebb if we understand what the pledge is not: It is not a suggestion that students cannot be trusted; it is not an attempt at mere compliance. It is not a sole or final effort at ethical instruction. On the contrary: We see the pledge as a chance to affirm pride in a community that attempts to stand for important things; as an opportunity to actively consider meaningful principles and goals prior to committing to them; and as a catalyst for the kind of consistent and programmatic reflection, activity, and practices which allow Browning’s norms and values to become more than mere words on a page, but instead emerge as constituents of a student’s identity. In short, we ask for the pledge not because we don’t believe in our students—but because we do.
The best rituals are clearly connected to larger values. They initiate community members into a shared sense of togetherness and purpose. And they provide meaningful symbols and tokens. In the Panthers' Pledge—in its text, in its signature, and in the booklet itself—we believe we have all the elements of such a ritual, and that it can play an appreciable role in helping Browning become not only accomplished graduates, but men of the highest integrity and purpose.