Hoyt Scholarship Dedicated To Man Who Made A Difference

By Vige Barrie, Sr. Dir. of Media Relations, Hamilton College

A 1964 Stoneham High School graduate, Ted Pitcher, recently honored his former Stoneham High assistant principal and friend, William L. Hoyt, by dedicating a scholarship to him. Hoyt, a fellow Hamilton College alumnus, devoted his life and career to secondary education in Stoneham, rising to superintendent of the Stoneham School District while making significant contributions to national and international educational development. The William L. Hoyt Scholarship was established this year to assist those students with demonstrated financial need to attend the two men's alma mater, Hamilton College.

“Had it not been for Bill steering me toward Hamilton, none of this would have been possible,” Ted Pitcher ’68 explained recently in a conversation about his gift.

Bill Hoyt was an English literature major at Hamilton and co-captain of both the football and lacrosse teams. After graduation he taught at Stoneham and at the age of 26, he was promoted to assistant principal, and four years later principal. Ultimately, he became superintendent of the Stoneham School District. Along the way, he earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Boston University.

Pitcher and Hoyt first crossed paths when Pitcher was a student at Stoneham High School where Hoyt was an assistant principal and football coach. Hoyt said he was “very impressed with Ted as a person, as an athlete, and as a student.” As his own junior English teacher had done for him years before, Hoyt saw to it that Pitcher traveled to Hamilton to see the campus and meet with the admissions department. “That’s what teachers do,” he explained on why he made the effort.

Tom Duff, another Stoneham High School and Hamilton College graduate, explained how Hoyt changed his life’s course. “Other than my parents, I would be hard pressed to find anyone who had more of an impact on my life. I had no idea what Hamilton College was all about or how fortunate I was that Mr. Hoyt showed an interest in me. I grew up in a small town... My father was a police officer, my mom cleaned houses. We lived a pretty insular life. Hamilton and Dr. Hoyt opened up how I would see and appreciate the world around me. My best friends are the guys I met at Hamilton, many coming to Hamilton under similar circumstances — blue collar, and someone saw some promise and offered them a chance.”

Steve Downey ’60 was one of Hoyt’s first recruits. A fellow football teammate at Concord High School, Downey recalled how Hoyt helped to foster a campus at which students would, “Play hard, study hard. Give all. Expect it to be tough! Prepare to win! Believe in yourself. Only then, expect to win. And win or lose, be gracious.”

Pitcher, like Hoyt, was the first in his immediate family to attend college and did so only with financial support from Hamilton. A chemistry major who “learned how to learn and how to write at Hamilton.”

Upon his graduation at the height of the Vietnam War, he anticipated being drafted. Hoyt suggested instead that he interview for an open teaching position in chemistry at Concord-Carlisle High School. Although Pitcher taught for more than five years, he recognized that teaching would not be his lifelong vocation. He attended Suffolk University’s law school at night. Although his teaching career came to an end, he never forgot the man who had had such a significant influence on the direction of his life.

“Without Bill and his influence, I would never be where I am today,” said Pitcher. “But for different paths in life, Bill would be doing what I am doing [in establishing this scholarship]. This seems like an important thing to do — to give back to Hamilton and to honor Bill.”

And in a complementary tribute to Pitcher, Hoyt said, “To have someone like Ted, to listen to what he has accomplished, is as fulfilling a moment as I’ve had as an educator.”

Ted Pitcher (left) and Bill Hoyt at Hamilton College. Photo by Nancy L. Ford