Bart Bronk Installed As 11th Head Of School At Princeton's Hun

PRINCETON, NJ — On Wednesday, Princeton's Hun School held a traditional Convocation ceremony for students that also saw the installation of the new head of school.

Bart Bronk was officially installed as Hun’s eleventh head of school by Susan Michel, chairperson of the Board of Trustees, who presided over the outdoor ceremony.

Bronk, who most recently served as head of school at University Liggett in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, began his tenure on July 1.

The ceremony began with a musical performance of “The Greatest Love of All” by siblings Farrah and Lewis F. ’25.

Bronk likened the school year and the “journey of education itself” to the “reliable stanchion of orientation programs everywhere: the Group Canoe Trip.”

Throughout his career — and many group canoe trips — Bronk said that he learned there were three major types of canoes on these trips: the fast canoe, driven by achievement; the fun-loving canoe, driven by experience; and the rookie canoe, driven by process. But he reminded everyone that each of these types can and should learn from each other, not just on the metaphorical canoe trip, but at school itself.

“Remember, that not everyone has the same equipment, and not everyone is navigating the same currents,” Bronk said. “Be empathic to the journeys of others and how they might be different from your own. Lift each other up in your best times and, especially, lift each other up at your worst. … [Let’s] all choose to be the kind of friends who cheer loudest for those who have endured the most.”

At the conclusion of the ceremony, students processed through a traditional faculty receiving line after receiving their own bucket hats from Bronk and Michel.