Kathleen Drohan ‘84

Alumni Voices

Kathleen Drohan ‘84

Beaver Reflections:
I graduated from Beaver in 1984 and my experience was one of real community and connection. I grew up in Maine and moved to Chestnut Hill when I was going into high school. I didn’t know anyone but on the very first day of school, the class president approached me and she is a good friend of mine to this day. At Beaver, I felt embraced, welcomed, and had the experience to learn and find myself as a student and person. Looking back, one of my favorite classroom activities at Beaver was when we had to read essays written by our peers. My essay was chosen and at first, I was embarrassed to have mine being read. However, to have my essay being chosen as a positive was an amazing experience. This made me think about how I may be a good writer later in life.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
After graduating from Beaver, I went to Barnard College and then to Fordham University to get my MBA. I have spent many years working in classical music. Currently, I am in Florida and the Vice President of Public Relations and Communications for a training orchestra. For many years I have been in public relations and marketing for music and arts organizations. I started two non-profits: one in the 1990’s called High 5 Tickets For the Arts and in 2013 I founded the WQXR Instrument Drive in New York. High 5 Tickets For the Arts makes $5 tickets for people to have more affordable access to arts events. For the instrument drive, we collected instruments that were no longer being used and refurbished them, and gave them out to public schools in New York City. We put 10,000 instruments into the public school system which is amazing. A film producer heard about this drive and actually made a film about our effort titled Joe’s Violin. As a matter of fact, it was nominated for an Academy Award!

“The thing I believe in above anything else is access to art will make our lives better. Everyone should be able to experience museums, plays, and other arts events. In our society, we have moved towards a more elitist attitude towards museums and art events and it should not be like that. Everyone should have fair access to art.”
– Kathleen Drohan ‘84

Advice to Beaver students:
Dive in. Whatever it is, follow your passion but do not worry about it too much. Follow it, but know that you can always change course and find new pathways.

Beaver Country Day School admits qualified students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethnicity to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethinicity in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, athletic or other school-administered programs or policies.