Magazine Includes Headmaster Among 25 Noteworthy "New Americans"

Mr. Maqubela's session was called "A New American Story." He is among twenty-five representatives of “New America” featured in the current issue of Worth magazine. “Our public debate often frames immigration as a threat…” the article begins. The immigrants featured and their successes “are shaping the future of the country—and reminding us that the American Dream shouldn’t be a national nightmare.”

 

At the New America Summit, held at a hotel off Harvard Square, Worth editor Richard Bradley ’82 interviewed the headmaster. The conversation began with Mr. Maqubela's reminiscences of family members, including his mother, who was teaching his high school biology class when police stormed in to arrest him, and his grandfather, who taught Nelson Mandela and helped write the Freedom Charter, which influenced South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution.

 

Mr. Bradley led the headmaster through his journey; Mr. Maqubela recounted his escape to Botswana, carefully watching the habits of border guards so he could cross when they were inattentive, and his close brush with death when South African police hunted him down but went to the wrong house—the boarding school where he worked had just changed his housing because he was newly married.

 

Finally, came the arrival in New York City in 1986 and freedom—which meant living in a welfare hotel, eating at soup kitchens, and using food stamps—and eventually the chance to build a career in education. After working at the American Museum of Natural History as coat checker and cashier, he was hired to teach bookkeeping and computer literacy in a New York City school (despite his science degree), then accepted a job at Phillips Andover, partly drawn there because the school offered the opportunity to teach chemistry. (Mr. Maqubela teaches organic chemistry at Groton today.)

 

After twenty-six years at Andover, he was asked to apply for the headmaster job at Groton. When Mr. Bradley asked how it felt to join a school that was once considered "an establishment institution,” Mr. Maqubela explained how diverse today’s Groton is and how welcomed he felt during his job interview. “They were not saying, 'you’re welcome to be in our space.' They were saying, 'you belong in our space.'”

 

Mr. Bradley also asked about South Africa today. What has changed since he left? “It is vibrant as a democracy.” What is the same? “The poorest of the poor are still the same color," he replied. "They still live in the same areas.”

 

When asked about becoming an American citizen, Mr. Maqubela recalled the first time he voted in the United States, walking to the polls with the head of Phillips Andover. “I became a U.S. citizen," he said, "because my story—our story—would not have been possible in any other country.

See the Worth magazine article in PDF format.