ANDOVER, Mass.— In Phillips Academy’s 226th commencement ceremony, filled with tradition and jubilation, 306 seniors—153 boys and 153 girls—graduated Sunday, June 6.

About 3,000 people attended the graduation exercises, which took place in front of Samuel Phillips Hall on the school’s Great Lawn. In a time-honored Andover tradition, the graduation procession of faculty and students was led by the stirring sounds of the Clan MacPherson Pipes and Drums of Lawrence, Mass. Boys wore suit coats and ties; girls wore white dresses, and each carried a red rose.

Sunday’s celebration followed a weekend of commencement events, including a senior-faculty banquet, a senior concerto concert and a candlelight baccalaureate service Saturday evening in Cochran Chapel.

In her commencement address to the graduates, Head of School Barbara Landis Chase offered three lessons to be learned from stars and planets she observed through the telescope in the new Gelb Science Center. Like the rings of Saturn, “most people, things and ideas we encounter in life prove to be much more complicated than we had at first thought,” she said.

Chase urged the students to consider what will serve as their North Star or fixed point. “Whatever it is, it must lie far from the vicissitudes of fad and fashion, from the seduction of fame and fortune for their own sake,” she said. “It will be something so strong that it asks a lot of us—no easy path.”

Comparing the Class of 2004 to the Hercules Star Cluster, Chase said, “We are not just a random group of people. We have come together and we go out into the world together because we believe in certain things: in hard work, in the search for excellence, in ‘youth from every quarter,’ in the need for goodness and knowledge, and in living a life of non sibi, not for self.”

School President Allegra B. Asplundh-Smith of Ringoes, N.J., also spoke with eloquence to her classmates. Amanda L. Senatore of Andover presented the senior gift, the Class of 2004 Scholarship, in honor of David M. Underwood ’54, retiring president of the Board of Trustees.

Chase announced major prizes awarded to outstanding members of the graduating class:

• Ryan C. Chapoteau received the Non Sibi Award, given to a student who has honored Phillips Academy’s non sibi (not-for-self) tradition through efforts on behalf of others.
• Cory F. Schneider received the Yale Bowl, given to the member of the senior class who has attained the highest proficiency in scholarship and athletics.
• Jenny Wong received the Madame Sarah Abbot Award, given to a young woman for strong character, leadership and outstanding scholarship.
• Matthew J. Garza received the Aurelian Honor Society Award for sterling character, high scholarship and forceful leadership.

The Phillips Academy Class of 2004 will matriculate at a total of 108 four-year colleges and universities. Top choices, accounting for more than a third of the class, include: Harvard, 17; Brown, 15; Columbia and Yale, 10 each; Johns Hopkins and New York University, 9 each; Cornell, Northwestern and University of Pennsylvania, 8 each; Georgetown, MIT and Princeton, 7 each.