Hope Rupley Makes Milton a Happening Place

Student Activities Director Hope Rupley is officially responsible for promoting fun. Hope plans dances and special entertainment throughout the year and, through her roles as advisor of Student Activities Association and overseer of all student organizations, she acts as a sounding board for students with ideas of what to do for fun. Not only do theatre productions, varsity games and jazz concerts liven up the weekends, for any moment in which you might imagine a lull, student programming kicks in: “If it’s reasonable and out budget can cover, I try to help them make an idea happen. An event could be as simple as getting a group of students together for dinner and a movie in Boston,” Hope says.

She is expert at planning the events that students remember forever, like the amazing senior prom in 2004. Recently she has helped the Parents’ Association plan student events, as well. (Note that Snappy Dance Theatre [http://www.snappydance.com] is coming to the King Theatre at 7 p.m. on October 22).

Hope says that approach is important in working with young people. She manages to come off as a friend who nevertheless demands and is awarded authority (a rare accomplishment). Along with Fran McInnis, Hope’s colleague—a 25-year Academy veteran in the activities world—Hope welcomes students into her office, which is just steps from the Schwarz Center, and invites them with overstuffed furniture just right for lounging.

Hope points to A Cappella Night as one of her favorite annual events. This evening brings college a cappella groups, most with recent Milton alumni as members, to campus to perform. Groups come from across the nation—from schools such as Dartmouth, Yale, Brown and Kenyon College. She also organizes events such as Massage Night, for which the School hired a certified therapist to come to campus just before exams, offering stress relief at the perfect moment. Beatnik Cafes, a Milton student coffee house, is a regular event that draws many students; open houses in the residences are other events that bear Hope’s stamp and her infectious energy and willingness to put a fresh face on an old campus tradition. She has also helped students bring well-known rappers to campus as well as magic acts.

Hope has enjoyed her role here since her arrival four years ago. She says that she reached the ”perfect mix” when the School offered her a position as class dean two years ago. With all of her hats—including one as coach of the girls’ champion tennis team—Hope works with students from many angles; this enhances her work in all her roles, she believes.

Along with Andre Heard, assistant dean for residential life and Hope’s partner class dean for Class II, she oversees students, supporting class cohesiveness and bringing the talents of individual class members to the forefront. “We found the right moment for one student to play the bagpipes for the rest of the class—most of them didn’t even know that he could do it,” Hope says.

“I started working with Class IV students in their first year in the Upper School. It’s cool to see them go all the way to Class I and to see them grow.”

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