Landon and Bullis -- schools that are evolving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that both Landon and Bullis are going through periods of redefinition. I think Bullis has been trying to appeal to a broader academic pool, and Landon is still working hard to distance itself from the George Hugely/Yeardley Love tragedy. Can some people who have experience at these two schools speak to what the atmosphere and direction of these schools are at this time? Who is the current Landon boy and who is the current Bullis student?

I think UVA was impacted by the Huguley issue - he left Landon after 4 years and was a highly recruited student athlete. After 4 years at UVa he was a monster. Not saying UVa takes all the blame, but something happened to him at that school. If he was a monster during his time at Mater Dei or Landon, then those schools should be commended for helping him control his inner beast. Note the Yeardly Love family sued UVa, not Landon or Mater Dei.

Bullis has been on the uptick and Landon remains the best secular all boys school in the area. Neither school has had to confront a pedophile teacher issue in recent years which is something that most other schools can't say. As a parent, the thought of a pedophile on campus is something that I find truly frightening.

I've never been a Landon basher but this is ridiculous. The Love family didn't sue Landon or Mater Dei because he wasn't murdered there. And most reports were that his problems were fully formed well before he showed up at UVA. You don't commend a school because he waited until he left to murder somebody.

You are deluded if you think any school is safe from pedophiles. They are adept at making themselves appealing and all schools really do is a criminal background test. If they've never been arrested they will pass. I'm sure you can think of something better to say about Bullis than "we haven't had a pedophile scandal."

And most reports were that his problems were fully formed well before he showed up at UVA.

Are you serious? Huguley was destined to be a murderer when he showed up at UVa??? Can you point to one report to support that absurd suggestion. Huguley graduate in 2006 FOUR years before the murders - the widely reported incidents "red flags" occurred AFTER 2006 when he was at UVa. I guess OJ Simpson's problems were "fully formed" at USC?

He was never destined to be a murderer. He wasn't destined to be a murderer when he showed up at UVA or a week before the murders. He became a murderer when he committed murder.

He had violent and bullying incidents at Landon. He also came from a very destructive family dynamic. I don't know how you think a university can make someone commit acts of violence like this. You can't blame any single institution. His life had its own complexities. I find it really weird that in your need to keep blame away from landon you feel the need to blame UVA. he was a screwed up kid and the older he got the more screwed up he became.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am no fan of Landon, or UVA, for that matter, BUT:
Unless you know Huguely personally and are willing to bring yourself out of anonymity to establish some credibility, don't use this forum as an opportunity to state when/how/what he was/is and how he became that way.

I agree. The only thing we know for certain is that Huguely spent most of the four years prior to his crime in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia away from family. The extent to which things that happened to him during his childhood influenced him as a young adult would be speculation even for a psychologist examining him - and completely baseless speculation for those who don't even know him. I don't think anyone wold suggest that Mater Dei, Landon or even UVA has a track record of turning students into murderers.

Do you seriously thin our upbringing no longer affects us after we leave home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am no fan of Landon, or UVA, for that matter, BUT:
Unless you know Huguely personally and are willing to bring yourself out of anonymity to establish some credibility, don't use this forum as an opportunity to state when/how/what he was/is and how he became that way.

I agree. The only thing we know for certain is that Huguely spent most of the four years prior to his crime in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia away from family. The extent to which things that happened to him during his childhood influenced him as a young adult would be speculation even for a psychologist examining him - and completely baseless speculation for those who don't even know him. I don't think anyone wold suggest that Mater Dei, Landon or even UVA has a track record of turning students into murderers.

Do you seriously thin our upbringing no longer affects us after we leave home?

Of course it does - but it is seldom possible even for PROFESSIONALS to identify the specific reason that someone turned out the way they did or did what they did. It seems logical that events occurring close to the crime were more likely to be the reason that someone commits a particular crime or even became a person capable of such a crime. But every person is the result of everything that happens to them in life -- and unique. That's way it's so stupid to try to tie the actions of one defective person to a school they attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am no fan of Landon, or UVA, for that matter, BUT:
Unless you know Huguely personally and are willing to bring yourself out of anonymity to establish some credibility, don't use this forum as an opportunity to state when/how/what he was/is and how he became that way.

I agree. The only thing we know for certain is that Huguely spent most of the four years prior to his crime in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia away from family. The extent to which things that happened to him during his childhood influenced him as a young adult would be speculation even for a psychologist examining him - and completely baseless speculation for those who don't even know him. I don't think anyone wold suggest that Mater Dei, Landon or even UVA has a track record of turning students into murderers.

Do you seriously thin our upbringing no longer affects us after we leave home?

Of course it does - but it is seldom possible even for PROFESSIONALS to identify the specific reason that someone turned out the way they did or did what they did. It seems logical that events occurring close to the crime were more likely to be the reason that someone commits a particular crime or even became a person capable of such a crime. But every person is the result of everything that happens to them in life -- and unique. That's way it's so stupid to try to tie the actions of one defective person to a school they attended.

Exactly. You were tying it to UVA.

[Anonymous]

According to this report on ESPN Huguely was a pretty normal kid before he got to UVa.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5165967

[Anonymous]

That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

Sure, but nothing in the media to contradict the impression of GH before he went to UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

Isn't that the point? There were no red flags except in hindsight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

Sure, but nothing in the media to contradict the impression of GH before he went to UVA.

Not true, the articles came out subsequently. Read some old posts. Not to mention there are many folks in the community -- certainly some I know -- who are familiar with the family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

Sure, but nothing in the media to contradict the impression of GH before he went to UVA.

Not true, the articles came out subsequently. Read some old posts. Not to mention there are many folks in the community -- certainly some I know -- who are familiar with the family.

Hindsight is always 20-20 - the snapshot taken at the time was an accurate portrayal of what was known at the time. I tend to ignore unnamed after the fact sources. The only relevant point is that despite what we know now, there were no red flags for Mater Dei, Landon and UVa -at least up until the time GH started to get into trouble while at UVa.

If underage drinking and being from a dysfunctional family were signs that a kid was destined to become a murderer no one would be safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, 22:35, sports is a focus for us, but academics are also. We have heard that St. Albans is a primo location for both, but we were a little squeamish about getting involved in a school that was also religion-based. I have heard that the religious aspect of St. Albans is not incidental. Some have warned us that Bullis has some watered-down academics, which is of course not what Bullis represents, so we were trying to get a realistic sense of that aspect by tuning in here.

The religion isn't incidental, but the atmosphere is quite open and inclusive religiously -- lots of Catholic, Jewish students in addition to the many varieties of Protestants. The twice-weekly chapel is often more about ethics and what's important to the speaker (most homilies are given by the students, and some faculty), which could be religious faith but is not necessarily. The religion courses are more in a spirit of academic inquiry -- certainly no proselytizing. If you like what you hear of it "other than religion," you should have a look -- you may find the religious element more than you prefer, but you may also find it is not troubling to you.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was literally within the first few days after the murder. A lot more came out subsequently.

Sure, but nothing in the media to contradict the impression of GH before he went to UVA.

Not true, the articles came out subsequently. Read some old posts. Not to mention there are many folks in the community -- certainly some I know -- who are familiar with the family.

Hindsight is always 20-20 - the snapshot taken at the time was an accurate portrayal of what was known at the time. I tend to ignore unnamed after the fact sources. The only relevant point is that despite what we know now, there were no red flags for Mater Dei, Landon and UVa -at least up until the time GH started to get into trouble while at UVa.

If underage drinking and being from a dysfunctional family were signs that a kid was destined to become a murderer no one would be safe.

Again with the destiny. Of course not all people from these kinds of backgrounds are "destined" to become murderers. No one is destined to become a murderer. But the fact is that George Huguely was from an extremely dysfunctional family and had a terrible alcohol problem going back to his Landon days.

What do you think possibly happened at UVA to turn this boy whom you think was perfectly lovely into a murderer?

[Anonymous]

PP is either dumb as a rock or responding to a straw man.

"Perfectly lovely?" Jeesz - just making things up

The fact is there were several arrests while at UVA, nothing before UVA - except things you think you might have read from some unnamed source.

Young people who are known to have "terrible alcohol problems" are not recruited into elite D-1 programs. Trust me and give it a rest.

[Anonymous]

its weird he went from mater dei to landon. nobody goes to landon from mater dei. big rivalry and completely catholic to totally secular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:its weird he went from mater dei to landon. nobody goes to landon from mater dei. big rivalry and completely catholic to totally secular.

I thought that was unusual. Don't Mater Dei boys usually go to Prep or Gonzaga? However, I doubt it was a matter of being admitted as Landon is usually harder to get into.