[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  IN HONOR OF DR. JOSEPH T. COX, THE 8TH HEADMASTER OF THE HAVERFORD 
                                 SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PATRICK MEEHAN

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 5, 2013

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, we honor Dr. Joseph T. Cox, the 8th 
Headmaster of The Haverford School, who is retiring after 15 truly 
transformative years at Haverford School, an all boys Pre-K through 12 
independent school located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Dr. Cox came 
to The Haverford School in the summer of 1998 as a decorated Vietnam 
War veteran who had risen to the rank of Colonel in the United States 
Army. Colonel Cox provided great service to our country as a Commander 
of the 101st Airborne Division Battalion. Not only was Dr. Cox a 
successful military officer, but he was also a gifted poet who 
graduated from Lafayette College and earned his Ph.D. from the 
University of North Carolina.
   Despite this somewhat unique combination of talents and skills, Dr. 
Cox came to The Haverford School as a largely unknown person with no 
experience in the world of independent schools in 1998. However, 
fifteen glorious years later, Dr. Cox leaves The Haverford School with 
his personal imprint embedded throughout the entire community. Dr. 
Cox's strong servant leadership, his vision, his passion and his 
compassion had a lasting impact on the many boys and young men who 
attended Haverford during his fifteen year tenure.
   During his tenure, Haverford graduated 1,240 young men. Dr. Cox 
opened the doors of Haverford to a much broader and more diverse group 
of boys and young men and he pushed to meaningfully increase the 
financial assistance for the boys by five-fold in order to assure that 
Haverford attracted a truly remarkable group of talented boys and young 
men of character.
   Dr. Cox also implemented a nationally recognized and highly 
acclaimed faculty performance system coupled with a program of 
performance pay and he obtained a strong commitment from the Board of 
Trustees to pay Haverford's teachers at the top of the pay scale for 
local independent day schools. This program was critical to attracting 
and retaining a group of extraordinary teachers, coaches, and senior 
administrators to Haverford.
   Dr. Cox led and carefully oversaw a facilities renaissance at 
Haverford with the building of a new Field House, a new Lower School 
and a new and expanded Upper School during his tenure. He also led a 
series of record-setting capital campaigns and he led fund raising 
efforts which resulted in contributions of more than $100 million to 
Haverford during his tenure.
   Most importantly, Dr. Cox installed and encouraged the development 
of a series of game changing programs designed to make Haverford a more 
holistic place. Included among his programmatic accomplishments was 
development of a novel and now much copied school-wide decision 
education program. He also put in place a student-run Honor Code, a 
school-wide servant leadership program, numerous character education 
programs and an important community guidepost with his Principles of 
Community.
   Dr. Cox encouraged excellence in academics, the arts and athletics. 
During his tenure, the arts programs flourished with new studios, new 
programs and the establishment of an annual Arts Week celebration. 
Athletics enjoyed a strong resurgence during Dr. Cox's tenure with 
Haverford teams winning 41 Inter-Ac championships.
   In short, Dr. Cox, a man of passion, compassion, and vision led a 
remarkable renaissance at The Haverford School and his servant 
leadership made a genuine difference in the lives of the entire 
Haverford School community.

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