In Memory of Justice David Souter-a Champion of the Mayhew Program

This past month, Justice David Souter passed away at his home in Hopkinton, NH.  He was a lawyer, Attorney General of New Hampshire and a respected jurist on the state and federal courts, including a distinguished 19 years on the US Supreme Court.  But he was also a dedicated champion of the Mayhew Program. 

In 1981, David became part of the community of supporters that make our work possible with New Hampshire boys.  During all these years, David had the chance to get to know our work, our boys, and our staff in his very trademark understated and humble way.  His constant support for Mayhew, captured in his words, his letters, and his emails, reflected his faith in the work we do in giving deserving boys a good start on the future.  And as we think about the future and the men, we want our boys to become, David practiced the values we teach to everyone in the program. 

Most of the world will remember David for being a very good student, a graduate of the world’s “best” academic institutions, and a meteoric rise through the law profession capped with being appointed a Supreme Court Justice during the first Bush administration.  These are remarkable achievements by any measure.  But these are not suitable enough to earn the respect of those around you.  History is replete with examples of flawed men who have many advantages in life, including a stable up bringing, college degrees, and lots of fancy job titles.  This is not what made David special and distinctive to the people that had the privilege of knowing him. 

Mayhew asks each boy to live by the ideals of responsibility, respect, community and challenge.  All these ideals were deeply ingrained in David’s life.  He took responsibility and owned the choices and actions he took - good, bad or otherwise.  Even when unpopular.  He recognized the influence he had on those around him and fulfilled his obligation to be the best influence he could be with those in his sphere.  David also valued himself and others, and his actions reflected this mindset of respect for all things.  With community, David understood that he had something valuable to contribute to the larger whole and that he needed to make his contributions the strongest they could be.  And David understood that he could do more than he believed he could do, meaning that he challenged himself to go beyond his abilities.  He pushed himself.  It’s likely what he wanted to be remembered for rather than what university he attended or what judgeship he held. 

In today’s world, the dearth of male role models for boys is striking.  There are far more examples of what not to do, then examples of what we should do.  All you need to do is peruse the media in whatever form you consume it, and you will be presented with a litany of poor choices and few people accepting responsibility for their actions.  It seems we are focused so much more on what we accomplish, rather than why or how we do it.  “The end does not justify the means” is a saying that I’m sure was prominent in David’s head as he contemplated the choices before him in his life. 

Last month, we lost another deeply influential man whose determination to do good will be missed.  However, I remain optimistic that other men will emerge and build on the work of David and others to make the world a better place. This optimism is fueled by what I see not only in the hopes and dreams of our newest incoming group of boys who arrive in a matter of days, but the determination, love and conviction of our staff that chooses to work beside our soon to be men.