For the Class of 2026, 'love is a great beautifier'

In her novel “Little Women,” Louisa May Alcott writes that “Love is a great beautifier.”

“Reading that line felt like [she] reached out and handed me the secret to our purpose as students here,” Lily Hare, the 2026 Lady of the Hall, said as she addressed her classmates during Harpeth Hall’s annual Step Singing ceremony 

At Harpeth Hall, that purpose is woven into the enduring tradition. Each year, the junior class gathers on the library steps to accept leadership of the school from the departing seniors. Together, the juniors pledge to leave the school greater, better, and more beautiful than they found it. Over the last year,  the Class of 2026 elevated that charge  to one idea: love.

“Love is how you make a place greater, better, and more beautiful,” Lily said. “And I think our class did a pretty good job of that.”

The Class of 2026 has poured love into the school. You can feel it in the stands at each home game, in the audiences of theatrical performances, and in the spaces in between, the pods, lobbies, and the Senior Patio — wherever the class gathered together.

“The beauty of this place has never just been in the buildings and trees and traditions,” Lily said. “It has always been found in the people who make this place beautiful.”

On Sunday night, the eve of graduation, it was the Class of 2026’s turn to complete one last love-filled task — to pass the responsibility of leadership to the girls who come after them. The special ceremony carried on the beautiful singing tradition started by the women of Ward-Belmont nearly a century ago. The ceremony also honored the Lady of the Hall, the highest honor given to a member of the senior class, and representatives from each Harpeth Hall class.

Standing together on the steps of the library, the Class of 2026 passed on their leadership of Harpeth Hall by singing The Beatles’ “In My Life.” Senior class president Emery Sonsino announced that the seniors would be donating to the Winterim travel fund in honor of their class. The juniors accepted leadership of the school with their song, “Vienna” by Billy Joel.

As the seniors prepare to embark on the next stage of their lives, upper school English teacher Joe Croker encouraged them to remember the words of the poet William Wordsworth and be “surprised by joy.”

Finding a “joy that will abide” is a cornerstone of Harpeth Hall’s alma mater. Mr. Croker sees this theme reflected in three alumnae whose paths were unexpected, nonlinear, and “animated by enthusiasm and curiosity and sometimes sheer grit.”

First, there was Tallu Schuyler Quinn '98, who went from a degree in textiles to Nicaragua to divinity school at Columbia University to feeding 5,000 people a week during the pandemic as the founder of the Nashville Food Project, and became a “New York Times” bestselling author. Like Ms. Schuyler, Mr. Croker hopes that the Class of 2026’s “life’s work becomes an expression of your very nature.”

Then Katie Hill '00, who, after being the editor in chief of “Logos” and Lady of the Hall at Harpeth Hall, felt burned out after her freshman year at the University of Virginia and took time off to pick grapes and olives in Italy. She returned to complete a degree in classical studies, served as the assistant press secretary in the White House for President Obama, as  vice president of communications for the National Football League, and now as senior vice president and global head of communications and external affairs for the New York Times.

“If there is a simple lesson in Katie’s story, it’s this — stay interested,” Mr. Croker said. “Listen to yourself. The way will find you.”

Finally, there is Whitney Downs Hermandorfer '05, whose Harpeth Hall career was a mix of athletic achievements driven by ambition, intention, and goals with her wit, love of poetry, and work on the literary magazine, “Hallmarks.” She now serves on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and has been often mentioned in lists of potential future Supreme Court justices. 

“What do all of these women have in common?” Mr. Croker asked. “For them, hard work — which they learned right here at Harpeth Hall, which you have learned in spades — became not an end in itself but a happy and consistent reflex. It’s automatic. You don’t have to think about it. It’s part of the package. Meanwhile, a greater animating interest propelled them and will continue to compel you — a joy that will abide.”

Looking out at the senior class, Mr. Croker added that he hopes their paths in the years ahead will not be straight lines either, and he knows that one day the alumnae stories shared in speeches will be those of this senior class.

For the Class of 2026, that path to their future pursuits begins in the days and weeks after Step Singing and commencement conclude. And, like the March sisters in “Little Women,” each of the 104 sisters of the senior class shares a lifelong connection to each other — and a pathway that will always lead the way back to Harpeth Hall. 

“Though tomorrow we will walk across these familiar steps and begin lives that will likely look very different from one another. … No matter how far away we might seem, we will always belong to this place and to each other,” Lily concluded. “Always remember that your love has the power to make every community you enter a little greater, a little better, and a little more beautiful.

“Love truly is the greatest beautifier.” 

Lady of the Hall and the 2026 Court
Lady of the Hall: Lillian King Hare
Senior Representative: Sarah Heath Roper
Junior Representative: Olivia Iorio
Sophomore Representative: Caroline Virginia Young
Freshman Representative: Briar Annette King
Eighth Grade Herald: Julia Grace Dahl
Seventh Grade Herald: Avery Virginia Stimson
Sixth Grade Crownbearer: Campbell Buntin Willse
Fifth Grade Crownbearer: Caroline Macauley Newman
Flower Girls: Emerson Denise Brown and Diana Jane Hannon