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When Quaker Process Triumphs: The Selection of Peter Sommer as CFS Head of School By Hugh Gelch, Clerk, Head of School Search Committee
We have much to be proud of in the process leading to the selection of Peter Sommer as CFS head of school. The Cambridge Friends School community worked together in the best sense of Quaker process, looking to the Light within each of us to discern the best choice as head of school for our institution. I would like to highlight some of the steps we have taken in our search that exemplify our use of Quaker process leading to a deepening respect, efficacy, and love within our community. Our committee organization and search process were designed to include all constituencies within CFS, reflecting our quest to recognize the Inner Light within each of us. Each of the committees reflected the diverse backgrounds of our community including Friends, faculty and staff, alumni/ae, parents, and people of different races, genders, and sexual orientation. We dedicated one entire committee, the Search Advisory Committee, to the critical task of vetting the entire CFS community as to the qualities of CFS, the vision of CFS in the future and the qualities desired in the next head of school, and then to the community’s sense of each of the finalist candidates as they related to those qualities. The decision making and responsibilities of the committees were clearly defined and communicated to the entire community, following the spirit within which Quaker organizations work through committees: We understand that it is impractical if not impossible for every individual to make every decision, and we entrust the members of committees to make decisions not based on their individual sense but on the sense they receive from the organization as a whole.
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We learned from one another as the process unfolded, following the Quaker faith in continuing revelation, and were able to make better decisions than we could have individually after listening to each other’s wisdom. One example was the modification made to the structure of the Search Advisory Committee as it was being developed. With feedback from faculty to a draft proposal, we expanded the number of faculty on the committee, created a dual clerkship with one parent and one faculty member, and approved that faculty choose their own representatives on the committee. Each of these changes constituted major improvements from the original concept. Another was our committees’ listening to and learning from our outstanding, experienced search consultant, Clay Stites. His help in guiding our search was invaluable to avoiding pitfalls during the process and focused us on the positive aspects of our task at hand. A final example was the way in which members of the Head of School Search Committee were able to learn from one another in their meeting to determine a recommendation to the Board of Trustees for head of school. While each member had individual opinions coming into the meeting, our sharing of those opinions and respect for each other and our community led to a shared sense of the right decision for Cambridge Friends School. Overall, our search process proved to be an example of Quaker faith in the transforming power of love. With love for each other we were able to create a search structure and receive the benefit of our collective Inner Light, leading to a timely and wonderful choice for head of school. We rejoice in our choice today with the appointment of Peter Sommer.
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