Parents’ Association President Phebe Mason Wahl ’96, P’27

Installation Remarks 

September 19, 2025

I’m Phebe Wahl, the Parents’ Association President, member of the Foxcroft class of 1996 and parent to current junior, Ellie. I’m so happy to be here with you tonight to celebrate this momentous occasion in Foxcroft School’s history. 

When I reflect on the most meaningful lessons of my life, all of them took root here on this campus—whether at the barn, in the dorms, or in the biology lab. I arrived a shy, uncertain freshman who rarely found the courage to raise her hand, and I graduated a confident young woman—student leader, class president, and, most importantly, at ease in my own skin. Foxcroft gave me the confidence that carried me through college, graduate school, and into boardrooms where I am often the only woman at the table. Foxcroft set my life on an entirely different path, one that gave me the fortitude to weather any storm. That, to me, is Foxcroft’s magic—what I call its secret sauce—the fearless spirit of Miss Charlotte herself, who today’s generation might call an “OG baddie.” 

She was bold, revolutionary, and joyfully unapologetic. Whether leading students on a foxhunt or reffing a Fox Hound basketball game, she empowered young women with lessons of leadership, empathy, integrity—and above all, joy.

That spirit is also embedded in the traditions she left us, each carrying important lessons for life. Sing Sings remind us of the importance of play—and the cathartic joy of sometimes just screaming at the top of your lungs. Sunrise service teaches us to pause and reflect, to see the breathtaking beauty of a moment even in the midst of life’s busiest seasons. And the reverence of walking in your sister’s footsteps through Miss Charlotte’s garden binds us to generations of bold, brave women who came before us. These customs may seem simple, but they instill the values of resilience, reflection, joy, and sisterhood that stay with us long after graduation.

My Foxcroft sisters and I remain deeply woven into each other’s lives, showing up with full hearts through every birth, loss, triumph, and setback. This bond extends to every alumna—because Miss Charlotte entrusted this school to us when she died, and it is our responsibility to keep her spirit alive in every Foxcroft girl. To be a Foxcroft girl is to carry a kind heart, a fearless voice, and unshakable joy.

It is this spark I see radiating now in my own daughter Ellie as she shines in her junior year along with her own fellow Foxcroft sisters… And I also see it shining in our new leader, Dr. Lisa Kaenzig, who will no doubt guide the next generation of Foxcroft baddies into the future.  

GO FOXES!