A Legacy Honored

Lynda Fitzgerald P’93,’00 is a trailblazer. In her almost forty years at the Academy, she has many “firsts” on her resume: first female dean of students, first female dean of faculty, and first assistant head of school, just to name a few. She teaches because she cares deeply about young people and finds joy in watching them go on to thrive.

A decade after coeducation began at the Academy, there were girls who wanted to play ice hockey, but there was no team for them. Seeing this as an opportunity to help create something for the students she cared so deeply about, Fitzgerald started the first girls ice hockey team in the fall of 1983. She had never played ice hockey, but that did not stop her. “It was a struggle and we had to work hard for years to convince people we belonged on the ice,” she said. The team’s first game was against Middlesex in January 1985.

At the girls varsity hockey game on January 14 this year, the Academy honored Fitzgerald and the critical role she played in creating the program and supporting girls athletics at the Academy. There was a ceremonial puck drop at the beginning of the game and she tended the bench door in her custom “1” jersey. Head of School Dr. Peter H. Quimby ’85, P’14, awarded the cup to Governor’s, who won the game 3-2 in overtime. After the game, alumni, employees, players, and parents were invited to the rink lobby for refreshments and remarks honoring Fitzgerald and the girls ice hockey program.