Class of '62 Student Enrichment Fund Event
Campus visit by Alison Levine
September 3, 2023
Biography
Alison Levine is a history-making polar explorer and mountaineer. She served as team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, climbed the highest peak on each continent and skied to both the North and South Poles—a feat known as the Adventure Grand Slam, which only twenty people in the world have achieved. In January 2008, she made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse from west Antarctica to the South Pole following the route of legendary explorer Reinhold Messner. Levine completed this arduous journey on skis while hauling 150 pounds of her gear and supplies in a sled harnessed to her waist. She made history again in 2016 when she completed two first ascents: Hall Peak in Antarctica and Khang Karpo in Nepal. Her success in extreme environments is noteworthy given she has had three heart surgeries and suffers from Raynaud’s disease, which causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse in cold weather — leaving her at extreme risk for frostbite.
In addition to having tackled some of the most challenging environments in the outdoors, Levine also spent time climbing the corporate ladder. She worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, earned an MBA from Duke University, and spent three years working for Goldman Sachs. She left Goldman in 2003 to serve as deputy finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful bid to become Governor of California.
Levine spent four years as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership and is a board and faculty member at the Thayer Leader Development Group at West Point. She was a contributing author to the book Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services and First Responders (Naval Institute Press). She also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics at Duke University.
Campus Visit
Those on campus for the day of Alison’s visit included classmates Craig Duchossois and Tom Westbrook. Here is Tom’s review of the events of the day:
Monday, September 4, 2023 (Labor Day)
The day began at 8:00 AM. Ms. Levine was a compelling participant in each of the following one-hour segments:
Hour One was a staff catered breakfast at the Schrage Leadership Center with select faculty, Josh Pretzer (Dean of Faculty), and Doug Bird (Head of Schools). Alison made a few remarks and then took questions. (Anecdotal Aside: The breakfast was quite good.)
Hour Two was a short presentation by Alison with Q&A addressing student leadership (15 from CGA & 15 from CMA). It was also held at the Schrage Center.
Hour 3 was the lecture itself to the entire student body. It included slides, videos and a Q&A. And, of course, it was held at Eppley.
I was pleased to have been at each of them. After the lecture there was a brief conversation and picture with Alison and me backstage. Craig was not in "uniform" and shied away from the "official class picture", but Josh insisted. So there is also a picture of the three of us.
Next, I had lunch at the Dining Hall with Alan Loehr and Mike Magee from the Development Office.
After lunch I spent two hours attending two leadership classes with two very different (but very effective) instructors and 12-16 third year students. In my opinion, these kids are doing rudimentary graduate level work. (Anecdotal aside: My doctoral work was in Organizational Behavior & Leadership). BTW, the classes are usually 85 minutes long. That's right. 85 friggin' minutes long. They were cut back to 60 minutes because of the lecture. I later caught up to both Alan and Mike (separately) and asked each about my observations of the instructors and the students. Each has (and had) kids attending both CGA & CMA. They confirmed my experience and opinion that these young men and women are extraordinarily bright and committed to the Academy's culture.
Lastly, I would highly recommend reading her book "On the Edge''. It should be available at your local library given that it was both a NYT and WSJ best seller. At a minimum, at least read her Wikipedia profile as well as her web page. The most interesting thing that I took away from her lecture is that each time that they reach the next plateau, they need to return to the base camp. It is all about being able to acclimate to the very thin air. If you go straight up to the summit without returning to the base camp, you will die! Whenever there is a story about reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, this "little" fact is seldom, if ever, mentioned. Also, the higher you go, the slower you go. Each and every step is a challenge!
All in all, a very long … but very rewarding … day representing our class.
— Tom Westbrook
Thanks, Tom, for the write-up. And thanks to Josh for the pictures.
Subsequent to Alison’s visit, she and Josh exchanged messages, which Josh shared. This excerpt from one of her messages should be particularly gratifying to all Culver grads:
"Just wanted to send you a massive, MASSIVE thank you for the opportunity to come back to campus and speak to the amazing young men and women of Culver Academies again.
"YOUR STUDENTS BLEW ME AWAY! I was so inspired to be in the room with these young leaders who are determined to make a difference in this world. They were so articulate and thoughtful during the Q&A sessions, and a few of them have contacted me through my website to ask additional questions about my views on fear, failure, and leadership.
"I wish every kid in America could embrace the mindset that is instilled in your students when it comes to leadership, compassion, ethics, and moral courage. What an honor it was to have the opportunity to speak to them."
Thanks for the compliments, Alison!!!
(Also see the Culver Cannon and Vedette articles about Alison’s visit.)
Tom Westbrook, Alison Levine, Craig Duchossois
Tom Westbrook, Alison Levine
CLASS OF 1962 STUDENT ENRICHMENT FUND FEEDBACK
Speaker - Alison Levine
September 4, 2023
As compiled by Alan Loehr, Director of Stewardship
I thought Alison Levine was very inspiring and a great speaker for the student body. Her message of overcoming obstacles was very powerful, and I resonated with her emphasis on focusing on the controllable aspects of life, not the uncontrollables. When she described her setback in being unable to reach the summit, she was very resilient and persistent. Overall, she was a great speaker!
--Kari ’24
I personally loved Alison’s speech and am grateful for the opportunity I got to hear her speak prior to the all school meeting! Hearing Alison speak helped me find motivation to work hard this year. As a senior, I have a million responsibilities piled on me, from college apps to leadership duties, all added on to the stress of classes and sports. Her resilience and detailed account of climbing the highest mountain on Earth reminded me of the fact that we as humans are always stronger than we think and we CAN overcome the challenges set before us as long as we keep thinking about the long-term rewards!
The part of her story that stood out the most to me was how she explained her experience after climbing Mount Everest! She told us about how she didn’t technically reach the peak, falling short all of 200 or so meters, and how people would interview her asking if she felt like a failure. She responded that she didn’t, understanding fully the weight of what she had accomplished and even though she didn’t fully summit, she still completed 99% of the hike up the mountain. I was inspired by her response to criticism and found her self-confidence as a source of inspiration for me. She didn’t need the fame of reaching the peak or other people’s opinions to feel rewarded for what she had done and I think that’s a really important lesson we can all take away as students!
--Celeste ’24
She was amazing. Though, to go more in-depth, she showed all of us that perseverance is key to success. No matter who you are, challenges will come, though it is what you do in the face of those challenges that make you successful. However, as much work as she put into climbing Mount Everest, she still needed help to get there. One of the big things that I don’t think could have been stressed enough is that self-determination can only get you so far, which is why learning leadership skills is so important.
I think bringing in more perspectives on community perseverance is very important. Many times, we believe leadership or success can only be seen in a person when we forget that the team to get there is just as important. Show great followers can help inspire both CMA and CGA members to accept and embrace their roles in our community.
-- Johnny ’24
I related to Mrs. Levine’s speech in how she looked at her challenges. I like to take things one step at a time, and hearing her focus on this mindset allowed me to affirm that it was a beneficial mindset to have. I enjoyed how she captivated the audience, as everyone was intrigued by what she was talking about. Everyone I have spoken to about her speech said they thoroughly enjoyed it and were inspired to learn more about her story.
I do think hearing her speak helped me change the way I felt about some challenges. It also helped me understand the actual difficulty of climbing Everest. I was surprised at the amount of back and forth that the climbers had to do, as this was something I never thought about before. Hearing her speak about her original “failure” was intriguing because not everything in life should be a failure just because someone didn’t reach the very top.
-- Aiden ’24