Michaels-Dickson Scholars Weekend

A few years ago, as McCallie senior Ellison Lord’s parents were trying to decide where he might go to boarding school, the choices came down to a prestigious liberal arts high school in Michigan or McCallie, where he was in line to receive a Michaels-Dickson scholarship.

It was a tough decision. Lord is outrageously gifted in music and theater. But Chattanooga was also much, much closer to his native Atlanta. Still, his mother Nadra was determined to keep proximity out of it.

Then she and Louis attended the Michaels-Dickson Scholars weekend, meeting with faculty, other scholarship finalists, and their parents.

“After that, we came to the conclusion that while (the liberal arts school) would certainly develop his talents,” Nadra said, “he would become an exceptional human being by going to McCallie.”

This is the message given by the parents of almost every Michaels-Dickson Scholar when they discuss their decision to send their sons to the Ridge for their high school education. Some 322 boys from 26 states have received MD scholarships since the program began 27 years ago. In that time it’s seen them go on to attend 49 Ivy League colleges, as well as such schools as Davidson, Georgia, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

As McCallie’s eighth Head of School, Lee Burns, kicked off Friday’s dinner welcoming this year’s MDS finalists to the Ridge, he said, “We’ve invited 16 young men and their families from a very talented pool of candidates from all across the country to share in this weekend. You are here not only because of your past achievements in the classroom but because of the kind of character you’ve displayed in your communities. We believe in men of integrity, or as we like to say around here, men of Honor, Truth and Duty. And for you to be here this weekend, we say, ‘Well done, Mom and Dad.’”

With that, one of the most special weekends McCallie hosts yearly began in Alumni Hall, with a tasty dinner that included beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and strawberry gelato from Milk and Honey. An ice cream social and a “dessert soiree” followed at the Westin Hotel for finalists and their parents on Friday night.

Come Saturday, after meeting with faculty and conducting interviews, a closing lunch was served in Alumni Hall featuring smoked beef brisket, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, fried okra and key lime bars for dessert. The menu did not disappoint.

But it was what was said on Friday night at the dinner that surely made the biggest impression on the finalists and their families. It began with Katie Post, whose father Ed Michaels ‘60 co-founded the Michaels-Dickson Scholars program with Alan Dickson ‘49, modeling it after the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Morehead Scholars program.

“I grew up with a McCallie man,” Post said. “And when I think of what McCallie does for boys, I think of agape love. Selfless, unconditional love. I’ve seen it with my own son (current senior William McDowell). What confidence, conviction and courage he’s developed here. He’s become a member of Keo Kio, the Senate, captain of the golf team. I remember the first time I brought him here as a student, I dropped off a quiet young man. The next time I came to get him, I picked up a confident young man who talked all the way home.”

McDowell spoke after his mom. He talked of how the faculty who live in the dorms look after the students, how they’re really concerned about them.

“They all know how to ask questions, the right questions,” he said. “McCallie is special because everyone wants to be a giver. On Friday nights, my dorm head, Will Givens, would always have fresh-baked cookies in his apartment for us to come get. But he really just wanted to know how we were doing. And once he’d asked those questions, he knew how to ask the tougher, follow-up question. How to really check on us.”

McDowell also noted how that carried over to student relationships with each other. “The bonds here at McCallie are different than anywhere else you can be,” he said. “Your teammates and classmates are always here to lift you up. If you’re lifting weights, the person next to you is cheering you on to do the best you can. If you’re studying, they want to help you make the best grade you can. The Brotherhood is real.”

This isn’t just Michaels-Dickson Scholars, of course. This is the McCallie culture in general, now 121 years old. But the impact of attracting bright and high-character young men from all over the country through MDS was immediate and far-reaching.

“It’s transformed the school in several key ways,” said Steve Hearn, former director of admission. “No. 1, from a public perspective, our boys are attending universities and colleges all over the country and doing great things after they leave McCallie. No. 2, it’s transformed the classroom for our teachers. Conversations are a little bit different. The energy’s better. The discussions are more enlightened and lively. I think the addition of these M-D Scholars has energized our faculty and inspired all our students. And third, it opened doors in different communities all across the country that didn’t previously know about McCallie. It allowed us to introduce the Michaels-Dickson program to families that might never have previously pursued McCallie as an option for their sons. It helped accelerate McCallie’s transformation into a publicly known and widely recognized great school.”

As John Arsala, a resident of New York City whose son Sebastian is a junior MDS recipient, said over the weekend, “There’s no other school like McCallie in the United States. What it does to develop boys into honorable, high-character young men is unmatched.”

The keynote speaker on Friday was Linda Ferri, whose son Marco is a senior Michaels-Dickson Scholar from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His time at McCallie has been unequivocally successful. Keo Kio. National History Day awards. Cheerleader.

But as Ferri recalled her son’s time here and her journey as a mother sending her only child 749 miles from home, his resume successes were not what made her most proud.

“Now, as his senior year soon comes to a bittersweet close, I can say that he has not only become the young man I imagined that day… he is so much more. McCallie doesn’t simply build impressive résumés. The young men in this room have remarkable accomplishments, but they are even more remarkable human beings. And that transformation is deeply connected to the culture here—a culture of good.”

She also touched on two points central to a McCallie education, an all-boys environment and the Honor Code.

Said Ferri: “One aspect that is often underestimated but has been incredibly impactful is the all-boys environment. McCallie is designed around how boys learn and develop. You can see this in the intentionally-selected book lists and class projects. By removing many of the social pressures that can exist in a co-ed setting, boys are freer to be themselves. They are more willing to raise their hands and participate openly in class. The result is authentic confidence… the kind that comes from being seen and valued.”

Then she turned her words to the Honor Code, saying, “Honor. Truth. Duty. These values are lived daily. Integrity is expected in simple, everyday moments. The boys learn that doing the right thing is not about recognition, but about responsibility.”

Read welcome dinner keynote speaker Linda Ferri's full address, and learn more about the Michaels-Dickson Scholars Program.