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Mr. Barry Gallant
Address by Brian Denney
on Monday, June 7th at the last Assembly
Rightly or wrongly, the year 1999 will be a landmark year for many
citizens of the world because it will signify the end of a decade, the
end of a century, and the end of a millenium. The year 1999 will also be
a year of great significance in the history of Stanstead College and the
Stanstead family because it marks the end of a most distinguished career
for Mr. K. H. Barry Gallant. Mr. Gallant is arguably the one headmaster
in this century who may have had the most impact on the reputation which
Stanstead College now enjoys amongst the independent schools in this
country. It is impossible in a brief write up to ever do justice or
properly recognize the career and accomplishments of any individual such
as Mr. Gallant. However, in this brief report I hope to let you in on a
little of who your headmaster is and what he has done for Stanstead and
for all of us.
Mr. Gallant was born in Vancouver but grew up and graduated from high
school in Victoria, B.C.. He moved east in 1955 to study first at the
College Militaire Royale (CMR) in St. Jean, Quebec and later at the
Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario where, in 1960, he
graduated with a B.A. degree. The year 1960 was to be an important year
in Mr. Gallant’s life for two other reasons. First of all he married
Dorothy whom he had met in 1957 and secondly he joined the 1st Princess
Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada’s oldest and most
distinguished army units. In 1963 Mr. Gallant entered graduate school at
McGill and received his Master’s Degree in 1969. In between, in
1964-1965, he worked for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and
Biculturalism in Canada and wrote a report for the commission on the
status of language use in the armed forces in Canada. In 1965, he
received a phone call from Mr. Ed Cayley, a past headmaster at
Stanstead, and was offered a teaching position that he accepted, thus
beginning an illustrious 34 year career at the school.
The Mr. Gallant that began at Stanstead in the fall of 1965 smoked a
pipe and a few years later sported a full moustache. He taught both
English and history in the early years and would eventually teach
political science and economics as well. No stranger to athletics, Mr.
Gallant coached the senior boys’ soccer and bantam hockey teams and for
several years was a player-coach in the spring term intramural softball
league. You’ll be interested to know that his senior boys’ soccer teams
won 3 consecutive championships in the late 1960s. Mr. Gallant was also
a referee in the senior soccer league for, as he puts it, “too many
years”. Not surprisingly, Mr. Gallant’s interest in the success of
athletics at Stanstead carried over into his years as headmaster where
he has proven to be one of the school’s most ardent and consistent fans
of all teams at all levels both at home and, if he was in the area, on
the road.
 In 1968 Mr. Gallant became the House Director of Bugbee House, the Head
of the Humanities Department in 1969, and in 1972 was appointed
Assistant Headmaster. It is as the Assistant Headmaster during the
turbulent 1970s where his administrative abilities were really put to
the test and which would ultimately result in his appointment as
Headmaster in 1980. The 1970s were somewhat troublesome years for
Stanstead as we were a school that seemed out of sync and unable to meet
the challenges and the needs of the youth of the day. In his role as
Assistant Headmaster Mr. Gallant proved to be the person best able to
right the ship. As Headmaster he did so, putting Stanstead squarely on
the map once again.
Respect for Mr. Gallant was also recognized by his peers in the private
school profession as through the 1980s and 1990s he held such positions
as the Secretary of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools
(CAIS), Treasurer of the Quebec Association of Independent Schools
(QAIS), and President of the QAIS in which capacity he was the
Conference Chairman for the CAIS Conference held in Quebec City in 1992.
As Mr. Gallant steps down, you might also be interested to know that he
is currently one of the three longest serving headmasters at any
independent school in Canada.
 At this point I would like to point out that much of what Mr. Gallant
has done for the school would not have been possible without the love
and support and dedication of the schools first lady, Mrs. Dorothy
Gallant. What most of you probably dont know is that Mrs. Gallant,
outside of the normal expectations of the wife of a headmaster, taught
English from Grades 7-10 and history in Grade 10 for close to 15 years.
>From members of the Board of Trustees right down to most of the student
body who have had the privilege to know and work with Mrs. Gallant, I
cant think of a better word to truly describe this remarkable lady than
gracious. While Mrs. Gallant may have kept a low profile in the
day-to-day life of the school she has, nevertheless, been an outstanding
supporter of Mr. Gallant and the school and the consummate first lady of
our Stanstead family. Mr. and Mrs. Gallant have a son, Geoffrey,  who is
hoping to receive his Ph.D. in December and a daughter, Rachel, who will
graduate in December with her teaching degree.
As you can imagine, many changes have occurred at Stanstead during the
34 years that Mr. Gallant has been here. I asked him to mention a few of
the major ones and what came immediately to mind were a return to
co-education in 1979 after 20 years as a boys only school, a return to
proper standards and a more varied uniform, higher academic standards,
and the fact that the entire school was now a much more professional
operation. When pressed a little further and asked if there was any one
or two things he was most proud of accomplishing as headmaster, he
simply replied that he was very impressed by the long-term dedication of
the senior faculty and their impact on the younger staff and that he is
very happy with the direction in which the school is going. I think that
direction is the key word here.
 Mr. Gallant is an ideas person and a
man of vision and under his guidance spearheaded a number of committees
a few years ago to redefine the schools mission. The outcome was a new
and fresh look at ourselves, who we are, what we stand for, and where we
are going. The bottom line is that we are dedicated to preparing
students for university study with not only a Canadian focus but a North
American focus as well. As a part of that vision Stanstead College is
the only Canadian school to be accredited by the prestigious New England
Association of Schools and Colleges (1996) and to have membership (1997)
in the Independent Schools Association of Northern New England.
As many of you know, Mr. Gallant is a keen and qualified sailor. I think
it is therefore appropriate to use the analogy that Mr. Gallant took
over the helm of the ship in 1980 when it was in very troubled waters
and during his 19 years as Headmaster he has guided us into calm seas
and set us on the right course.
Like the past 100 plus years in Stansteads history, the annual
baccalaureate and prize-giving this year will close a chapter in the
lives of the graduating classes as they receive their high school
diplomas and head off to do post secondary studies. It will also close a
chapter in the history of the school and the careers of Mr. and Mrs.
Gallant who have been here for 34 years.  When asked about his retirement
plans, he smiled and said I could probably answer that question as
easily as he could. He was looking forward to some unstructured living
where he and Mrs. Gallant could set their own timetable. Amen to that.
The Stanstead family thank you both for your outstanding contributions
to the school and wish you all the best for many years to come.
On Friday, February 26th, Mr. Philip Webster, the Chairman of the Search Committee for the new Head of Stanstead College, visited the school to announce that Mr. Christopher Shannon has been appointed Head effective the 1st of July.
Mr. Shannon is a Montrealer who for the past 14 years hs taught at Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. He is their Director of Academics and has much experience in Canadian independent schools.
I know you will join me in welcoming Mr. Shannon, his wife Hilary and their two children to Stanstead and in extending good wishes to them.
Barry Gallant
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