Roxbury Latin Celebrates 380th Founder’s Day and the Big Dig

“O Roxbury, Old Roxbury, ever dear since the days of long ago!”

The Founder’s Song rang out through Rousmaniere Hall on November 7, as the entire school joined together to celebrate the founding of Roxbury Latin, now in its 380th year. After several opening prayers in Hebrew, English, Greek, and Latin, led by selected Class I boys,, Dr. Schaffer welcomed the community, providing historical context on the founding of the school and introducing the topic of this year’s Founder’s Day: Boston’s “Big Dig” infrastructure project that took place in Boston from 1991 through 2007. 

“On Founder’s Day each year, we honor John Eliot, and we focus on his works and Roxbury Latin’s mission, and how the mission has withstood the test of time, and how we keep that mission alive today,” Dr. Schaffer stated. “This year, we learn about and explore this city in hopes that we may better understand the community around us, acknowledge our own undeserved privilege, and lay the groundwork and practice the habits that will inspire us to serve others throughout our lives.”

This year, Ian Coss delivered the Founder’s Day address.. Ian is an award-winning podcast producer and narrator. He hosted the Peabody Award-winning, nine-part GBH podcast series, The Big Dig, which was named one of the best podcasts of 2023 by various publications, including The New Yorker, and spent over six weeks in the top 100 shows on Apple podcasts.

“When I was growing up, I heard a lot about this thing called the Big Dig,” Ian began, “and most of what I heard about it was bad.” Ian continued, “I think most people in Boston today feel pretty good about it, so how do you reconcile those things?” Thus, his interest in the Big Dig began. 

Ian explained the origins of the Big Dig, a solution to the highly congested and impractical elevated I-93 Central Artery running through the heart of Boston, built in the 1950s. A proposed solution—of burying the highway, of the construction of bridges and tunnels—was scoffed at and ridiculed. “It is hard to overstate how radical this idea was,” Ian explained. However, the project eventually began, and finally culminated two decades later in what is still one of the most complex, expensive infrastructure projects in United States history. 

“I don’t want to say the project had no problems or flaws,” Ian said, “but the narrative around it—the cynicism and the negativity—made it very difficult to see that, along with all of the challenges and complexities, we were getting a transformative project that would change the city forever.”

After Hall, boys, faculty, and staff gathered for the annual all-school photo on the Senior Grass before changing into more comfortable clothes to prepare for a venture downtown. But before hopping on the commuter rail, the school headed to the Smith Theater for the traditional Founder’s Day Kahoot! challenge. Dr. Schaffer provided the boys with more historical context surrounding the Central Artery project, while Mr. Sokol and Mrs. Carroll spoke about the engineering and environmental aspects, respectively. Finally, Mr. Piper hosted this year’s Kahoot!, a moment when the boys could show off their trivia knowledge and competitive spirits. After two close rounds, Liam Coyle (VI) was crowned the victor, and it was time to head downtown. 

Via commuter rail, the school journeyed together to South Station and then trekked the Rose Kennedy Greenway (a result of the Big Dig!) to Quincy Market for lunch. Afterward, it was time to experience the Big Dig fruits of labor first-hand, through faculty-led walking tours and time spent exploring the city.  

View photos from the students’ Founder’s Day adventures, and from the evening’s alumni Founder’s Day Pub Night.