Gilman enjoys a plethora of great resources for preparing students for life after high school. One such resource is the Carey Lecture series, in which admissions officers from some of America’s most prestigious universities visit our campus to share their insights with the student body. While these assemblies are often marked by drowsy students and confused faculty, members of the senior class have been known to take advantage of the presence of admission directors to bolster their chances of acceptance. This year, Brown University Dean of Admissions Logan Powell became the subject of seniors’ interest during his time on campus.

During lunch, no less than three seniors were overheard walking past Mr. Powell’s table loudly talking about the clubs they had founded to provide aid to everything from homeless penguins to toddlers serving in the armed forces. Interestingly, each student also mentioned their full government name along with their SAT score. 

The theatrics only continued after lunch. While on his way to the assembly hall, Toby Rosenband ‘26 conspicuously slipped on a banana peel in front of the Ivy League Dean before loudly crying out for help. Before Mr. Powell could help the student up, fellow senior and Brown hopeful Andrew Goodale ‘26 sprinted over to help his classmate. Toby was overheard saying, “Wow! Thank you, Andrew Goodale! Say, aren’t you planning on applying to Brown? I personally think you would make a great addition to their student body.” Andrew quickly responded, “Why yes, I am, but please, I’m just happy to be a contributing member of our community. You don’t need to list all of my accomplishments.” According to the two students, Mr. Powell walked past them after Toby had only been able to list two of the clubs Andrew is a part of.  

During his speech, Teo Garza ‘26 and Aariz Mozayan ‘26 turned heads as they loudly laughed at anything he said that could at all be considered a joke. Notably, both students also loudly said their names after each burst of fake laughter. When Mr. Powell finished his speech, both Jake Rody ‘26 and Jack Mashaw ‘26 stood up to try and encourage a standing ovation while wearing comically large nametags. 

Unfortunately, not all students were as successful in their schmoozing of the Dean. When Suli Leheny ‘26 got up to ask a question of Mr. Powell, he accidentally referred to Brown University as Cornell. Ever the clever Gilman student, he quickly pivoted by saying, “My name is Hugh Ward, by the way. That’s Ward spelled W-A-R-D.” 

Finally, the Gilman College Counseling office had to personally escort Mr. Powell off campus to prevent any more Brown nosing. While Mr. Herman could be seen visibly crying over the horrific attempts to curry favor from Mr. Powell, many Gilman seniors were confident they had secured their spot in the Brown class of 2030. In the words of Jake Rody, “I think it’s safe to say I’m a lock for an acceptance letter.”