How to Truly Recognize Elizabeth Phillips
On Oct. 25, students and faculty gathered in the Assembly Hall to observe the recipient of the annual John Phillips Award. That morning, however, we all found out that it had been renamed the John and Elizabeth Phillips award to acknowledge the fact that Elizabeth Phillips was a co-founder of the school. Many students applauded the news and were excited about what the change represented. I and a few others, however, were conflicted with what this change in name was really expressing.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for giving credit where credit is due. I think that it is great that we, as a school, are finally recognizing Elizabeth Phillips as a co-founder of this institution. This is reflected in the name change of this prestigious award and the name change from the Phillips Academy Center to the Elizabeth Phillips Academy Center. The source of my confusion, however, is that the school could be doing a lot more to let Elizabeth Phillips leave a lasting impact on the school. Why are we not doing so?
Though changing the name of this historical award is a big deal, it feels a little like an afterthought of the administration rather than a planned event. The fact that they only had to add “and Elizabeth” implies that the Academy was trying to encourage more equality without actually changing anything. And even if changing the award’s name was completely deliberate in its decision, the fact that the award has decades of history only known as the John Phillips Award will make it hard for current students and faculty as well as alumni to think of it as an award also commemorating Elizabeth Phillips.
Something else about the changing of names for both the award and building that irks me is that the Academy just slaps on “Elizabeth” to the names of these titles that have been John Phillips-centered for so long, instead of building something new dedicated solely to Elizabeth Phillips.
If the Academy were to dedicate a brand-new building to Elizabeth Phillips, then it would make much more of an impact on the feminist movement, since she wouldn’t have to “share” her name with her husband. With something dedicated to her memory from the very start, people will always know it as something for Elizabeth Phillips—it would be her building or her award.
Ultimately, I think if the Academy wants to improve on gender equality, it has to do so more actively. Instead of simply changing the name of these awards, award more strong women and create space for their accomplishments in the first place.
When Kathy Nekton was honored with the Founders’ Day award last year, her story of being the first female coach had much more of a lasting impact on me that the changing of the name of any award. That’s because when we dedicate time and space to strong women, we don’t just get their title—we learn about their complex, intriguing stories and what they did to become the women that they are.
With Elizabeth Phillips, we receive a lot of information about how she co-founded the school but so far, I have heard nothing about the specifics of her achievements. If we were to learn more about her, then students would also have a better understanding of her achievements, and therefore have a fuller appreciation of her name and her presence on campus.