RE Log Spring 2022

32 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2022 Doing the Right Thing New Holzman Center of Applied Ethics empowers students to act with integrity On Campus I nspired to create a space for discussion and action relating to ethical decision- making, Ransom Everglades launched the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics in November 2021 and opened with a series of prominent speakers. The inaugural speaker, City of Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, discussed ethics in politics at an upper school assembly on December 7, 2021; he also met with a small group of student government leaders after his talk. Home Depot magnate and philanthropist Ken Langone spoke with upper school students on January 19 about the ethical demands of running a major corporation, and Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas visited the Lewis Family Auditorium on March 1, addressing the topic of judicial ethics. “The center reflects the belief that ethics and morality must be taught and reinforced so that principled decision- making becomes a way of life,” Head of School Penny Townsend said. “That is what Paul Ransom and Marie Swenson intended when they founded, respectively, the Adirondack-Florida School and Everglades School for Girls.” Housed in the Ransom Cottage and directed by Associate Head of School John A. King, Jr., the center is designed to empower students to make ethical choices and act with honor, excellence and integrity at RE and beyond. It will eventually offer a variety of programming – workshops, symposia, research opportunities and curricular updates – to ensure that Ransom Everglades students enter the world understanding the importance of ethical behavior in all endeavors, and the consequences to individuals and societies when integrity and honor are sacrificed. The idea and seed funding for the center came from Steve Holzman P’21, a former Parent Chair for The Fund for RE, “ Ethics are a higher standard than the law, much higher. When you’re in an ethical dilemma, err on the side of being totally ethical … If you’re going to rationalize bad behavior based on somebody else’s bad behavior, shame on you.” – Ken Langone, Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas with attorney John O’Sullivan (left) and Director of Inclusion and Community Engagement Wendell Graham ’74 (right) .