Buffalo Seminary Is Still A Great School…
If one prefers a school with teachers that diddle students and an administration that ignores the complaints about said diddling…one would agree with the author of this Letter To The Editor.
Read the original article that details the whole mess and let me know if you think Buffalo Seminary is still a great school.
Sounds pretty dysfunctional to me…especially when you read the last sentence in the article:
“He’s the best teacher my kids ever had,” one parent said, “absolutely the brightest.”
I’m sure the parents of the 15 year old girl he was having sex with would agree with that sentiment.
First, I think you’re a loser for believing those rumors. Not everything you hear in the media is true, everything has become so out of focus, I don’t even reconize the situation. He never slept with the student and the administration did not ignore this because it never happened! There are rumors, sure, but nothing’s proven. All these rumore come from the media and should not be believed. I attend the Buffalo Seminary, and it is the best school in the world! You obviously didn’t know the teacher because he is the smartest person I know. Every single student has learned so much from him, he is an amazing person and that is not being shown. I think you should keep out of this because you have no idea what the situation is. We are all trying to move on from this and people like you make it hard. Don’t talk about what you don’t know. The Buffalo Seminary is the best school in Western New York, I encourage all students interested to apply because the SEM is the best. Everyone knows eachother well and everyone gets along great, that is why this is so hard to deal with. The news blew it out of proportion and this close knit school keeps taking the blow. Just because it’s a small school and everyone is close to eachother dosn’t mean that it’s a perverted school. The students truely care about eachother and no teacher ever slept with a student. Don’t spread these awful lies just because you can’t afford the amazing education that SEM offers, or you are the wrong gender. Don’t hate us because we are the best and the smartest. These lies don’t do anyone any good. I want to say that the teacher involved was the best person I’ve ever known, and this incident dosn’t erase everything that I’ve learned from this amazing teacher.
Pervs are pervs. Maybe Mr. Wonderful didn’t molest YOU
I unfortunately went to the Buffalo Seminary [quite rightly abbreviated as BS], and it IS a bull shit institution of phoniness. Malcolm is a creep, and he did molest the girl. [And, as a teacher, he was not that great...unless you have a thing for Pez Dispensers.] And the fact that the administration ignored the students who spoke up is CLASSIC BS. That school, discluding Schooley of course, is all wrapped up in preserving a clean image, and will sacrific anything, even a student’s well-being, to keep it that way.
That school is just plain awful. If you want your child to be taught to not think for herself, to not have confidence in herself, and to be manipulative in order to get what she wants, send her to Sem.
This is the best thing to happen to BS since they discovered that medicine to combat genital warts!
Another thing… while I don’t doubt for one second that “Lina” truly is the “best and the smartest” – one thing she obviously did not learn from the “best” and “smartest” person she’s ever know (i.e her child molesting English teacher) was the correct spelling of the word “doesn’t.” Given “Lina”‘s inablity to write coherently, it’s scary to think about the education being received by people who are not fortunate enough to attend WNY’s “best school.”
It would appear that a lot has changed since I went to high school with Malcolm in the ’80′s. At that time he was not all that bright, he couldn’t get laid to save his life and WNY’s “best school” was accurately referred to as Buffalo SEMEN-ary.
Moreover, most of the girls I knew from BS turned out to be trophy wives or whores; which is not surpising now that we have a better understanding of the interactions taking place between the faculty and the students.
On that note, has anything been decided on the sentencing for this “amazing” teacher, from whom “every single student has learned so much?”
Please do not reflect Malcolm’s actions back on the school. It truly is a wonderful place. I resent JJJ’s statement that “That school is just plain awful. If you want your child to be taught to not think for herself, to not have confidence in herself, and to be manipulative in order to get what she wants, send her to Sem. ” Buffalo Seminary has changed who I am for the better and has made me more confident in myself and my abilities, not less. But this is besides the point, because the discussion here should not be about the Seminary, and stereotyping the girls who go there does little or nothing to support or prove any ideas being posted here.
Sem is a polarizing institution. Its connections to the city’s power brokers and old money will always make it a target for criticism. Whether these people are right or wrong, I have no official position on the quality of education at the school or the type of women it produces.
I go to school at Sem. Malcolm was not only my English teacher, he was my mentor. When I was having issues with another teacher or student, I went to him for advice on how to handle it. I’m not defending him. What he did hurt all of us, and it was sick.
But the claims in these comments, especially the one from JJJ, are simply not true. Maybe she knows some whores and trophy wives that went to Sem, but I know students at MIT, women who are directing plays in NYC, and the author of one of my favorite books. Sem girls are kind, friendly, motivated, and honorable.
I know the girl who was victimized. She is one of the nicest, hardest working girls I know. And she is just that, a victim of a man who we all trusted.
The school messed up, but they have been working hard to rectify it. My fellow classmates and I have been trying to change people’s views of Sem after this event. We want to show them Sem isn’t just the school that child molestor worked at, it’s the school that the girl who spent her summer volunteering at the Museum of Science goes to. It’s the school with the Crew team that sends boats to Nationals every year. It’s the school that puts an emphasis on community service, hard work, honesty, and respect. And we aren’t going to let one man, or even one student who bad mouths us, stop us from being an awesome school.
I also attended the Buffalo Seminary, and I’d like to point out, in defense of JJJ and in defense of what I’m about to say, that we are not basing our opinions on the actions of one teacher. Our opinions are based on our four years as students at the BS and on our experiences in the “real world” in our years since graduation. In my four years of high school, I encountered more hypocrisy, blatantly flawed policies, arbitrary rules and favoritism than in any other phase of my life. Malcolm’s most recent newsworthy actions had no effect on my opinion of my high school.
Underneath the facade of school dogs, friendly H/J competitions, free periods instead of study halls, a personal chef and small classes is a horrible mix of competition, stress, lies and a faculty that cares more about how their students’ AP scores reflect on them than the fact that their students are getting less than four hours of sleep per night (only to be berated and made to feel guilty each day in class for not working hard enough).
The true spirit of the school was evident, to those on the non-benefitting side of it, long before the student in question even applied to high school.
It’s the way the students are polarized against each other beginning freshman year, when the “honors group” is told repeatedly to expect more homework and harder tests because they are smarter- based solely, of course, on their performance on the entrance exam the year before.
It’s the school claiming that 100% of their students go on to four-year colleges, when we know one of our friends didn’t.
It’s the claim that 100% of the alumni from our class contributed to the annual fund each year, when I know I and at least three others (more than 10% of the class, right there) didn’t.
It’s watching a student be expelled while another student gets away with the same offense, something that would have been caught if the administration had looked into the matter even remotely before deciding on an expulsion.
It’s the lack of support among the faculty of extracurricular activities that interfere with their students’ ability to do hour upon hour of needless homework activity per night. True, the crew team goes to nationals. But do you think for a moment that this is supported by their teachers? From personal experience, it’s not. They’ll use national medals to promote the school, but punish the students who had to skip a day or two to travel to another state to earn the medal.
It’s the transcripts that the school forgets to send to students’ colleges of choice, making the students themselves look careless and jeopardizing their chances of admission.
It’s those NHS inductions, where everyone comes dressed up, not to find out that they didn’t make it until their name is skipped alphabetically and then to watch those- arbitrarily chosen, make no mistake- who did make it praised and rewarded. (I’ve heard that the BS has changed this lovely tradition somewhat, so that members are told whether or not they’ve been selected before the actual induction, and selection is based primarily on grades. While these are positive changes, the cruel ritual continued for far too long while the objections from those hurt by it were ignored.)
It’s the way that the faculty has little respect for or trust in the students despite the constant talk of the honor code. If they suspect you of cheating, doesn’t make a difference whether or not you signed the statement- so why have it in the first place?
It was walking down those stairs and seeing someone sobbing, at least once a week, from stress or a cruel teacher’s comments or whatever- and that was just a normal part of the day.
I will say that I had a few good, caring and honest teachers in my years at Sem. And sure, I had and still have friends who enjoyed their time at Sem. But many were in for a rude awakening upon entering college. Turns out hours and hours of repetitive high school homework is not preparation for the more thought-provoking work of college. More homework does not equal a better education, and lack of Regents doesn’t equal better than Regents.
I’d never wish this experience on a student, and I’m sorry it had to happen to this girl. I never would have placed Malcolm at this level of indecency. The truth remains, however, that the atmosphere of the Buffalo Seminary had problems long before they were printed in newspapers. Perhaps people will now think twice before believing everything they hear at Open House.
I disagree with you, JD.
Yes, there are some bad teachers at Sem. Some are bad people, others are good people who are bad teachers.
YOU WILL FIND THIS IN EVERY SCHOOL IN THE USA.
I do not know anyone who has gotten less than 4 hours of sleep because they were finishing a project or studying. I wouldn’t be suprised if it has happened, but it’s not a common occurence.
Sem is stressful and competitive. I won’t lie. But it is this way because that is how the real world is. And if it wasn’t so competitive, I would not feel like I have to work as hard as I do. This isn’t a bad thing. I love getting back papers with an A+ at the top after spending hours writing them. It makes me feel like I’m being recognized for my hard work. It makes me proud to know I put everything I could into that paper and got an A, while the other girl who slacked off got a D. It may be stressful and competitive, but the reward is worth the pain.
Most teachers do not give homework just for the hell of it. Some do. We deal. It could be worse. It’s never out of control.
There is no longer an “honors group”. I was in some honors classes my freshman year, and I did not experience much more homework than the non-honors students. What we learned was harder in some classes, but we didn’t have a problem with that. Honors students are the ones who aren’t afraid of a challenge.
I do think the teachers support the crew team. I should know. I’m on it. I am expected to do the homework, get the notes, and take any tests that occur while I’m gone. I don’t think this is unreasonable. I have never been “punished” for going a trip with my team, nor do I know anyone who has.
NHS is no longer like that. The girls who are inducted have the best grades and are the most dedicated to community service, and are told beforehand.
Every teacher who I’ve had respects the honor code, to an extent. But none of them are naive about it. And it would be naive to assume that just because she signs it, she followed it. But most girls do follow it. And when we find out someone didn’t, we are upset with them for breaking it and hurting the trust the school gives the rest of us.
Yes, I have cried because of stress. But when I go to the teahcer of my advisor and tell her I’m stressed out about something, they help me fix it.
You can always find someone who wants to help you.
I am sorry that JJJ and JD had bad experiences at this great school. But that does not mean every student has the same experience. JJJ and JD, I have to ask: do you think you are worse off for what you experienced at Sem, and why?
Hey, SS. Thanks for responding.
Now, I am not out to try to convince you to change your opinion of your school. You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, and if you enjoy high school, that’s great. You may or may not change your mind by the time you graduate, but it should be based on your own experiences, not some stranger’s on the internet. The experiences mentioned in my first response were real- I did not imagine them- and there are certainly many who agree with me, even if you and your friends have not experienced the same problems. But in the end, it comes down to individual experiences and opinions. Just remember that things are truly not always what they seem to be- how many people thought the Malcolm thing was all rumors, even as more and more evidence appeared?
So I just want to comment on a few things you said. The first is “Honors students are the ones who aren’t afraid of a challenge.” This is perhaps the case at many schools, but unless Sem now asks each student whether or not she’d like to take honors classes before placing her, it’s still not the case there. I was not placed in honors classes based on the entrance exam in 8th grade. I asked each year to be allowed to take honors classes. So did my parents, until we found out the faculty members were saying at their meetings that my parents were trying to push me to take classes I wouldn’t be able to handle. We heard this from another faculty member. I was told I wouldn’t be able to get higher than a 2 on the AP History exam. I was told, to my face, along with other members of my English class, not to expect to get higher than a 3 on that exam. It was simply not an encouraging atmosphere. Most, if not all, of the students in honors classes were completely unaware that the classes were not open to everyone. They honestly did believe that if a student wanted to challenge herself, she’d be allowed to try. Unfortunately, that’s what colleges believe as well, when they look at a transcript to see whether or not there are honors or AP classes on it. This was just not the policy at Sem, and I am not by any means an isolated case. So please, do not assume that a student is not as smart or would not take honors classes if she were allowed. This is an extremely stressful situation for a 14-year-old, and comments like that from my classmates made it 10 times worse.
The other thing on which I want to comment is far less important to me, but I’ll bring it up anyway- I am sincerely glad for you all if the teachers at the school have started to support the crew team going on trips. But seriously, if you think I’m making this up or exaggerating- just ask Mr. Becht about the response from the teachers when the crew team first started, around the time his daughters went to the school. He even felt (pretty strongly) that the administration rigged the school elections against the rowers. Do you guys still go to Canadian Nationals? That one always got the worst response. I did sort of understand the faculty’s position on us missing the last few days before finals; I just find it hypocritical to then use the team’s successes to promote the school. (Isn’t Mr. Becht cool, though?)
To answer your last question- no, I do not think I am worse off at this point. During high school, I absolutely think I was worse off, and perhaps at the beginning of college, but not anymore.
That’s about all I have for now. Good luck with the school year and don’t stress too much
I find it very interesting about your experience with honors and AP classes. If you’re willing to say, what teacher(s) told you that you would do poorly on the AP exams?
I have not had a teacher who had a problem with Canadian Nationals. LAst year we only missed one day due to it. Yes, Mr. Becht is very cool. And I will ask him about the school elections. Everyone knows he and the school don’t get along, but the school dosn’t dare get rid of him. We would never go to Nationals without him, and the team/team’s parents would be furious.
FROM W, A FRIEND WHO GREW UP WITH MALCOLM
I grew up with Malcolm as my very close friend and classmate.
I am heartbroken.
I’m crying as I’m writing this.
Crying for the girl whose trust Malcolm betrayed.
Crying for Malcolm’s wife, whom I first met when we were in high school.
Crying for the great teacher who will never teach again.
Crying for the boy I grew up with.
Malcolm had a lot of unresolved issues that led to this tragedy.
I know what he went through.
Neither his students nor his colleagues nor the legal system
know what his closest friends know about what drove him.
I do not defend or excuse his terrible mistake; I understand it.
Does that make sense?
Lina,
Thank you for your praise of Malcolm.
“You obviously didn’t know the teacher
because he is the smartest person I know.
Every single student has learned so much from him,
he is an amazing person and that is not being shown.
I want to say that the teacher involved was
the best person I’ve ever known,
and this incident dosn’t erase everything that I’ve learned
from this amazing teacher.”
Please remember those words now that you know
that you were mistaken in believing that he didn’t do it.
He still is the smartest person you know today,
even if he may no longer be after you enter the adult world.
He is still the man from whom so many learned so much,
even though he is no longer a teacher.
This incident still doesn’t erase everything you’ve learned from him.
He is still an amazing person.
No, he’s not the best person you’ve ever known.
You’re mature enough now to understand
that even an amazing person can be seriously flawed,
and still be amazing.
Anita Hummer,
I remember you from high school.
You may or may not figure out who I am.
You say Malcolm in high school “was not all that bright”?
Sounds like a very accurate description of YOU.
As someone who WAS “all that bright”
I am amused by your presumption to judge anyone else’s intelligence.
You call Malcolm a “child molesting English teacher”.
Child molestation is sex with a prepubescent child.
What Malcolm did was statutory rape.
If the difference between child molestation and statutory rape
is too hard for you to understand,
that says much more about your intelligence
than Lina’s misspelling of the word “doesn’t” says about hers.
JJJ and JD and Moopsy,
I will not get involved in your argument about whether
The Buffalo Seminary is a good place to go to high school,
since I did not attend it.
I will say only that
for whatever was or is good about Sem
Malcolm does not deserve all or most of the credit,
and for whatever was or is bad about Sem
Malcolm does not deserve all or most of the blame.
Anita Hummer’s graceless and infantile insults
and childish need in her thirties
to denigrate a rival high school,
do not represent the majority of
City Honors High School graduates.
Lina, you think yours is the best high school in the world.
I think the same about mine.
Malcolm loved his own high school and yours as well.
SemStudent,
I am so very sorry about what happened to your friend.
And even though it may seem hard to believe
there is no doubt in my mind
that Malcolm’s remorse will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Does he deserve forgiveness?
He must earn it, and he will.
W,
You’re right, I’m not sure if I believe what you say about Malcolm regretting what he did. If the remorse is that strong, he understands that his actions were wrong. So Why didn’t he understand they were wrong when he did it? If he did understand, why did he do it anyway?
I have forgiven him. But that’s for me, not for him. I couldn’t live my life normally if I kept a grudge against him. I pass his old classroom probably 25 times a day. If every time I passed it I felt angry, I’d be pretty messed up.
“I will forgive but I won’t forget and I hope you know you’ve lost my respect”
SemStudent,
I commend your ability to understand that holding on to anger
hurts the angry person much more than it hurts the object of the anger.
Forgive him for your sake, not his.
Forgiving him for his sake
may be possible only for those who love him.
Why did Malcolm do what he knew was wrong?
I know enough about his life to understand,
to whatever extent anyone other than he can understand.
More than I’m free to post on the Internet.
Without claiming to speak for him.
Please trust me that there are reasons.
Not excuses, not justifications, reasons.
I don’t know what your life is like.
I don’t know how much you know about loss.
How loss can force a person to deal
by whatever means available,
healthy or not.
How loss can make your
judgment and reason and caution and common sense
collapse.
I have had moments when I simply ignored my conscience.
I don’t say it’s right. I just admit that I did it.
But I have had many more moments when I did the right thing.
And so has Malcolm.
I’m sorry I can’t give your simple and clear question
a simple and clear answer.
I’m sorry life is never going to be as simple and clear
as you grow up believing it should be.
I’m sorry you had to learn that lesson
in such a brutal way.
Let me describe the Malcolm I know.
The college student who volunteered at the rape crisis center.
That may seem like bitter irony now
but it is not irrelevant.
The difference in power between an adult and a minor
renders the distinction between physical force and mental manipulation
almost irrelevant in the eyes of the law.
I would not have it any other way.
Your friend is not responsible. Malcolm is responsible.
Yet the fact remains
Malcolm is not and never was a forcible violent rapist.
And there is nothing in him capable of or interested in
violating a prepubescent child.
No matter what anyone says,
Malcolm is not a child molester.
The boy bigger and stronger than almost anyone else in his high school
who never used his size and strength to bully or intimidate anyone.
The friend who drove me home from parties
and parked outside my house until he saw me close my front door
and made sure I was safe before he drove away.
The friend who stood behind me the second time I went bowling
and surreptitiously pushed the ball as I let it go
and made me believe I had knocked down seven pins myself.
The friend who, after being cut out of my life completely for two years,
took my phone call out of the blue
calmed me down and reassured me
that his friendship would always be there for me no matter what.
Malcolm is the friend without whom I would not have survived
the worst time of my life.
Does his worst act erase all his best acts?
W,
Please, email me at greendreamer678@yahoo.com
Thank You
[...] You remember Malcolm Watson, right? He’s the teacher who was caught diddling a teenage girl at the prestigious Buffalo Seminary a few months back. [...]
Malcolm Watson is not a bad guy. He is a man that made a mistake and would probably do anything to take it back. Malcolm is a special person and he is not a criminal but someone who is being treated like one. The whole situation has been blown way out of proportion. He never had sex with the girl. I know Malcolm and know that he cared a lot about his school and his students. He was quite protective of both. I do not know why he did what he did but let’s not make that who he is.
Also this situation has caused his family and friends a great deal of hardship and hopefully things will only get better for him. I hope he gets to stay in Canada with his family and his life will be prosperice from there on.
I would just like to say that there should be no doubts that this man is guilty for anyone who doen’t believe so. I went to camp at BS one summer and Mr. Malcolm was my english teacher. He was indeed extremely popular with the students and a very cool guy. I supose I (as well as my mother) should have picked up on something strange when he called my house to request that I attend Buffalo Sem high school. He claimed that I was a good writter, and while I consider myself to be a fairly good one I still am not getting A+’s in english or anything spectacular enough to recruit me for my skills. But this is how a man like him manipulates girls into a situation like this; being complementary and, yes i’ll admit it, quite charming. Since i did like this teacher so much, I denied the possibility that he could have done something so terrible, as the faculty probably did as well. But we have to remember that sexual abuse happens all the time, especially to young girls, and that it is indeed possible, even probable that our beloved Mr. Malcom commited a heinous and intolerable crime. These days, I can’t help but feel that I may have dodged a bullet by choosing to go to a different high school.
I think if anyone knows about this situation it is me and my friends. I go to Sem. I was in the class that the girl was in for english freshman year. I rowed with her. Shes still in many of my classes. She is a sweet girl. Malcolm was my advisor. He made a mistake. He is suffering the consequences. Gilmore was in a tough position with the group of girls that came to her. Should she fire a teacher that was so well liked when there was no evidence and he and the girl denied it so strongly? It was a tough decision and hindsight is always 20/20. You can say he was creepy now but you probably would never have said that before you heard about this. It was really unexpected by everyone besides the people very close to the girl.As far as the alums who feel like Sem was not a good experience all I can say is maybe you were not a right match for the school. Sem is stressful, thats true, but it teaches time management a very valuable tool. Sem is definitly not a school for everyone but it molds the girls into accomplished young women. I talked to a man who worked for admissions for an Ivy League school and he said he has always been impressed by Sem girls. Most girls love Buff Sem, and this incident will not bring down a school that it over 150 years old.
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J.W… i know who you are. I figured it out. I also attend Buffalo Seminary.
thats not freaky or anything
but i think i know who you are too
W,
Please email me at sideponytail@gmail.com.
That is not my normal email address but I feel uncomfortable posting my regular emails online
I stumbled upon this site trying to find the date of Sem’s graduation this year. Normally I am not a blogger…but your insights into Malcolm Watson are very interesting. I am an alum of Sem.
W,
My friend sideponytailgrl didn’t hear back from you and we were wondering if you could email us at sirenloverface@gmail.com
I agree with sideponytailgrl in that your insights into Malcolm’s life and character are extremely intriguing. I wonder what else you know of or have opinions about.