Notable Alumnus Delivers Annual Lecture in the Meetinghouse

On the evening of January 22, Willie Perdomo '85, acclaimed poet, educator, author, and former New York State Poet Laureate, delivered the 2026 Peace Week Lecture in the Meetinghouse. Addressing students, faculty, families, alumni, and friends, Willie declared, “It was in this Meetinghouse where I cultivated my spirit, where I found peace, where I found communion. It was here that I declared myself a poet.” The event, held in alignment with this year’s Peace Week programming theme, Growing in Peace, Grounded in Spirit, offered an evening of poetry, music, and reflection centered on community, memory, and the formative power of place.

Music and poetry came together in Variations on That’s My Heart Right There, a collaborative performance featuring Willie’s words set to jazz. Led by Upper and Middle School Performing Arts Teacher Nikara Warren and performed by student musicians, the piece underscored the idea of peace as something created collectively through listening and creative exchange.

Willie reflected on his years at Friends and how time spent in the Meetinghouse helped shape him as an artist and as a person. Growing up in New York City in the 1980s, he spoke of poetry as a means of witnessing and survival, and of silence as a practice that taught him how to listen.

As part of Peace Week programming, Willie engaged students across all divisions on the power of poetry. His visit concluded with a Lower School assembly when poets from Grades 3 and 4 performed original work they had created under his guidance.

This program was made possible, in part, by the Isaac Rauch '08 Fund for Literature, which was established by Marc Rauch and Lisa Anderson in memory of their late son Isaac (1991-2020), to support events at Friends that reflect his love of books. To learn more about the Friends Seminary endowment, click here.