Dan's Papers - October 19, 2007 - High School Pins Made, Not Distributed

Pierson Middle-High School's centennial celebration was a weekend to remember, reuniting almost 1,000 alumni to commemorate an important piece of Sag Harbor history, but amid the festivities and excitement was a small cloud of controversy. At the rededication ceremony on Pierson Hill held for the school on the first day of the celebration, pins designed by seventeen-year-old Pierson Middle-High school senior Dhruva Corrigan were not distributed because they featured an altered version of the school's official coat of arms. The original design includes the phrase "My Hope is in God," but Corrigan took things into his own hands and replaced those words with "Enrich the World." A positive message nonetheless, the new design was not approved by Sag Harbor District Superintendent Kathryn Holden or centennial organizers, and therefore not authorized to be handed out. However, Pierson Middle-High School art teacher Peter Solow, who supervised the creation of the pins, supported Corrigan's choice to change the phrase, and made the decision to produce them, according to Ms. Holden.

This clash on the coat of arm's design stems from a collaboration gone sour between the Pierson centennial's head organizer, George Simonson (class of 1966), and Corrigan over the use of the word "God" in materials created to promote the centennial celebration. The two men worked together, but eventually split because Corrigan claimed the use of the word "God" in the school's crest went against his principles. It is not clear whether Corrigan is an atheist or a strong believer in the separation of church and state, but Simonson believed he was taking his artistic license a little too far. After all, who has the right to change the coat of arms?

But this wasn't the first time Corrigan spoke out against the use of the big man upstairs' name. Last month he stated at a Sag Harbor School Board meeting that he would not be available to complete his task of designing the new sign that will hang over the school's front door if it included "My Hope is in God."

"Two years ago, the Pierson Board of Education deemed the current coat of arms the school's official logo unless otherwise notified," noted Mr. Simonson. "And I haven't been notified."

The logo was adopted by Pierson Middle-High School in honor of Margaret Slocum Sage, the school's primary benefactor who donated over seventy-five percent of the funding needed to build the school in 1908. The coat of arms and crest represents her family's heritage. The school is named after the Piersons, Ms. Sage's mother's side of the family, who were Sag Harbor natives. Ms. Slocum was a true philanthropist, as she also provided the funds to construct the John Jermain Public Library, which was named after her grandfather and her summer home now serves as the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. During the centennial celebration, a sculpture was unveiled in remembrance of Ms. Slocum and the words she spoke at the school's first dedication 100 years ago were recited.

Although Corrigan and Simonson continue to disagree, Simonson insists there are no hard feelings. "I actually like Dhruva. He has done some nice work on this project," he said. Pierson Middle-High School has consulted with its attorney and is currently awaiting answers on how to incorporate the school's official logo with the use of the word "God" on their sign.

But Mr. Simonson doesn't want the pin fiasco to deter from the success of Pierson's anniversary weekend. "The two main reasons I headed the two-year-long planning were to honor Pierson, of course, and to pay back some teachers I didn't work hard for," Simonson added. "When I was in school I rarely did my homework. I hope this makes up for it."