An Evolving School Culture

- The Rat System - 

Throughout the time before co-education at Episcopal, the school had a hazing structure called the “rat system.” Here, a “New Boy”, Rat, would be pressured to follow “Old Boy's” orders. As a Rat there were six rules you must follow, you had to know every team captain, be able to recite the football schedule backwards and forwards, know all school cheers, hold the door open for all Old Boys, serve others food before yourself, and run relay to notify Old Boys when class ended. If an Old Boy felt a Rat had broken one of these rules or was out of line, the Old Boys had the right to require the Rat to do push-ups, give them demerits, and verbally berate the student. While the Rat system continued to allow hazing, over time the severity and misuse of the system transformed. Here are accounts from alumni from the 1950s through the 1980s on their experiences with the Rat system.

The Holy Hill Welcomes New Boys
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Beginning of the year registration for the New Boys.

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From the "Year in Review" page of a Whispers publication. Referencing move-in day for the New Boys, Rats. 

1950s

During an interview, Mr. Sandy Ainslie '56 discussed the rat system during his freshmen year in 1952. At this time, he described the system as "hard" but "one that taught you to think of others besides yourself." Furthermore, he told a story of a "friend who in his late fifties early sixties climbed Mount Everest, and I said "My golly how'd you do that?" and said "If I could live through the Rat System at Episcopal when I was fourteen years old I can do anything.""

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Drawing for the underclassmen yearbook page in a Whispers publication.

1960's

Mr. Chase discusses how race accentuated attention on African American New Boys from Old Boys. The attention on New Boys from the Rat System allowed upperclassmen to unfairly target African American freshmen for acting "out of place" and "unforgivingly black".

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Mr. Robinson describes some of the advantages and positive effects the Rat system had on Episcopal's campus.

1980s

The Rat System "was an equalizer. Whether you were a first year, second year, or third year everyone was treated the same. It wasn't always positive, but everyone was treated the same." - Rodney Robinson '86

- Confederate Symbols and the Challenge of Creating an Inclusive Community at Episcopal -

While Episcopal High School was founded in 1839, the abolition movement gained momentum and tensions between Northern and Southern States intensified. At this time, Alexandria served as major domestic slave trading post, and Faculty at Episcopal, including Headmaster McGuire, hired the service of enslaved workers on campus. Episcopal was the school to which some of the wealthiest plantation owners in Virginia sent their sons to be educated. Twenty years after the school opened, over 400 current students and alumni volunteered to fight for the Confederacy while the High School was occupied by Union troops. After the Civil War ended, the Confederate cause was remembered and honored by the many faculty and students whose family members had fought, served, and died in the Civil War. This Confederate culture existed on Episcopal’s campus through the mid-twentieth century as the Confederate Flag was frequently flown. Also, the Randolph Fairfax award continues to honor the memory of a fallen Confederate soldier.

Fallen Confederate Soldier Forever Remembered

Alex Jones discusses the Confederate culture reminisced on campus while he was a student.

During his interview, Mr. Jones recognized that the majority of Episcopal students in the 1960s had direct ties to soldiers in the Confederacy. While this connection created a strong bond between the student body and the Old South, Jones points out that he never once heard a student say that they wished the South had won the war and that the country was divided.

Whispers page timeline of events

From the "Year in Review" page of a Whispers publication. Referencing move-in day for the Old Boys. 

- Transformation of Diversity at Episcopal -

Over the past 50 years, Episcopal has gone from a student body with only four percent minorities in 1968 to thirty-six percent in 2018. This process began with Headmaster Hoxton's leadership and diligence while integrating EHS, and was continued by Headmaster Ainslie with the expansion of minority faculty and Board of Trustee members. Thanks to the path Mr. Hoxton and Ainslie built, the school has made tremendous progress in diversity and inclusion. While the school continues to strive to make EHS more welcoming to all, this project, along with our annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, are steps that our community is making to learn from the school's history and develop the campus for the future.  

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Diversity at Episcopal change over time.

This table shows the percent of racial diversity among the student body at Episcopal in the first twelve years of integration and the most recent twelve years. 

An Evolving School Culture