"I look back at my Darlington experience, and see how important it is to surround yourself with incredible people—the classmates and mentors you're exposed to,” said Norman Bonnyman (’07). “RUMPUS was kind of a manifestation of that."
While at Darlington, Bonnyman served as head day prefect in Neville House, where he also worked as one of the members of the first RUMPUS planning committee. The engaged student was also on Honor Council, served as a community service prefect, was a member of IMPACT International, and also rowed crew.
The beginnings of RUMPUS find their roots with former Head of House and admission officer Kila McCann, who brought an initial concept to the team of head prefects in 2006.
“From a student life perspective, the house leadership teams wanted to put on a big, new event that brought the whole campus together,” said Bonnyman.
This “exploratory” committee was looking for a way to encourage resident and day students to identify with their respective houses, and to especially reach out to day students, encouraging them to bond with those in the dorms.
“We go to class as individuals, to homecoming as Darlingtonians, to prom as couples, and to graduation as a class. We wanted to do something as houses,” said Bonnyman.
This student-driven, campus-wide event soon materialized and became known as RUMPUS, a competition involving a variety of challenges between Darlington's six houses. The event was so named as a nod to the classic children’s book "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak.
Even without a precedent, there was lots of excitement and enthusiasm for the first RUMPUS weekend in 2007.
“We wanted to have all of the Darlington Community involved—students, faculty, faculty kids—all together as a campus,” said the alum.
According to Bonnyman, his most memorable events were those that brought the most amount of the energy and "boisterousness" implied in the name RUMPUS. He vividly remembers a spot lit Ben Pate ('07) in the woods standing over a table of Fear Factor dishes, the "fashion show" in which brother and sister houses dressed the others' prefects in outrageous outfits (now known as Gender Bender), and the culminating Gauntlet event.
It was this sense of collaboration and connection fostered at Darlington that helped propel his future in nation's capital.
At just 25 years old, the Princeton University graduate is the managing director of Veterans Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan, non-profit organization that helps military veterans continue their public service beyond the armed forces.
The outfit brings together elected officials, corporate leaders, civil servants and members of academia to instruct, mentor and guide their transition into public service.
“The public sector does not have the same level of support for transitioning veterans as the private sector does. That’s where Veterans Campaign comes in,” said Bonnyman. "We are an incubator for bright, motivated emerging leaders to learn the skills they need to make a difference in their communities."
A typical day could easily consist of the alum planning and collaborating alongside generals and members of Congress to connect veterans with much-needed resources.
"Like at Darlington, the magic really happens because an extraordinary community of people are coming together around a shared set of values and an ethic of servant leadership," said Bonnyman.
Fittingly, the Darlington graduate is part of the historic First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, a component of the Pennsylvania National Guard, distinguished for a unique history of serving without pay and producing a long list of distinguished military, civic, and business leaders.
“Darlington's motto has been a driving force in my life," said Bonnyman. "Those fundamental concepts of service, wisdom and honor do not get the attention they deserve at a lot of other schools. We had a lot of outstanding role models at Darlington.”
To this day, Bonnyman has the motto displayed on his desk as both a reminder and a badge of Tiger pride.
“My roots at Darlington and what I do today have instilled within me a servant leadership ethic,” said the proud alum.
Norman Bonnyman ('07) is the son of Al and Jean Bonnyman (Darlington's Upper School learning specialist) of Rome. Bonnyman resides in Washington, D.C.
For more information about Veterans Campaign, click here.
