Published Jan. 28, 2021
Nov. 27, 1935 – March 29, 2020
Greg Farrell ’57 was in his 80s when he joined former colleagues and their children on a river-rafting adventure that included a hike to a powerful waterfall. When the guides said people could stand under the torrent, everyone hesitated — except Farrell, who waded to the base of the waterfall and let the water pour down on his head.
“I happened to be standing next to the 16-year-old son of one staff member who turned to me and said: ‘Man, that guy is awesome,’” colleague and friend Richard Stopol recalls in an email.
“And indeed he was,” says Stopol. Farrell experienced life fully and zestfully, with a hunger to continue to learn, to grow, and to try new things, Stopol wrote in a tribute.
Farrell had worked as a high school English teacher, Princeton admission officer, newspaper reporter, and director of an antipoverty program when he took an Outward Bound course in Colorado in 1964. Then a light bulb went off: Why couldn’t school be more like an Outward Bound course, with its emphasis on adventure, discovery, teamwork, and contribution?
Farrell first helped 30 young men from Trenton attend Outward Bound courses. But it wasn’t until 1970 when he became executive director of the Fund for the City of New York that his vision of education began to take shape. In 1987 New York City Outward Bound Schools was born. Since then the organization has partnered with hundreds of public schools, bringing its emphasis on community and character to more than 200,000 students, according to its website.
Five years later, Farrell founded EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning Schools), a partnership between Outward Bound USA and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He served as its president until 2008 and remained on the board of directors until his death. The organization supports mostly underprivileged students in more than 400 schools around the country.
“Service and compassion were hallmarks of Greg’s life. I think that’s why Outward Bound made so much sense to him, because those are the two principal values of Outward Bound,” says former colleague and friend James Garrett ’65.
At heart, Farrell was a humanitarian. “Greg was truly committed to education of people at all levels,” says Garrett, “particularly to those whose educational circumstances would be considered disadvantaged.” Stopol, president and CEO of NYC Outward Bound Schools, says Farrell “was genuinely convinced there was dignity and worth, greatness even, in each person he met.”
Ron Berger, chief academic officer of EL Education, tries to emulate the “Greg Farrell approach to life” — being patient and kind and really listening to people. Unlike most of us, Berger says, Farrell considered “being stranded in an airport as an opportunity instead of an inconvenience.
“He would say he was lucky for the chance to slow down, learn new things, and meet new people,” Berger continues. “There is a long list of EL Education supporters whose entry to our world came because Greg sat next to them on flight or a train ride.”
Fran Hulette is a former Class Notes editor at PAW.
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2 Responses
Bob Durkee ’69
3 Years AgoThank you for including Greg Farrell ’57 among the tributes in your February issue.
In the spring of 1969 I had a life plan that began with attending Harvard Law School while enrolled in Naval ROTC. But a failed color-blindness test kept me out of ROTC, and I had a draft board that did not grant deferments for law school. In fact, its only deferments were for service in the Peace Corps or teaching in a public school that was facing a shortage of teachers.
Having worked with Greg and knowing his background, I sought his counsel. He told me about a New Jersey program he had helped create — an Urban Education Corps (a precursor to programs like Teach for America) that placed college graduates in classrooms as full-time teachers while they pursued certification and a master’s degree in teaching from Montclair State.
Greg got me into the program, and for the next three years I taught fifth and sixth grades in Trenton — one of the great experiences of my life. Even today I remain in touch with some of my students. In my third year of teaching, I ran into my thesis adviser, Stan Kelley, in the U-Store, which led to his suggesting me to incoming President Bill Bowen *58 for a position in his administration, the beginning of 47 years in Nassau Hall.
I don’t think any of that would have happened — the teaching in Trenton or the invitation to serve Princeton — had I not known Greg and turned to him for last-minute advice. I know I am only one of many whose lives were shaped by this remarkable and deeply caring man.
Frank Hamsher ’68
3 Years AgoReading the appreciation of Greg Farrell ’57’s life brought back memories and a turning point in my life. Greg headed the Trenton and then the state War on Poverty in the heady early days when all things seemed possible. He became a bit of a mentor to me and the late Jack Brizius ’68 as we learned about the issues of race and poverty.
I was torn about whether to attend Harvard or Yale Law School, a privilege that I was extremely grateful to have. Greg one day said, in his very matter of fact way, that in his experience lawyers from bothwere very well trained, but that Yale grads had an openness to new ways of thinking about societal problems and an ability to step right into his agency and make a difference. Harvard lawyers were very oriented to tradition and law firms, and often took awhile to adapt.
That was the deciding factor for me to attend Yale Law School. I have always been grateful, as I navigated a career of leadership in local government and civic issues. Sometimes low-key advice — even when not framed as advice — makes a huge difference. I am very grateful for his mentoring and mindful that small comments may be eye opening to students and young colleagues.