Innovations in the Arts - Newark Academy

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faculty focus
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
RAY CRUITT
NA Faculty: 1966-1984
Chair, History and Humanities
Departments (1970-1980)
Director of Development (1979-1984)
Most people who know Ray Cruitt will agree that he has
made significant and valuable contributions to Newark
Academy – as a dedicated teacher, a principled department
chair, and an accomplished fundraiser.
Cruitt’s career path began at Dun and Bradstreet in East
Orange as a manager in charge of training new employees.
Growing dissatisfied in that position, he began taking
graduate courses at Rutgers for teaching certification.
One evening, a teacher from Newark Academy came to
his class with three NA seniors. Cruitt was so impressed by
these students that he scheduled a meeting with Headmaster
Robert Butler to discuss teaching opportunities at the
Academy. Two weeks later, an offer was made and Cruitt
began his teaching career here in 1966.
A student entry in the 1969 yearbook stated: “Whether it’s
teaching the basics to his European History students or
giving back a test to a disgruntled group of A.P. European
History students, Mr. Cruitt always commands everyone’s
respect. With an astute knowledge of historical movements,
he stresses evaluation and analysis as the keynote, and
not facts.”
Blackie Parlin fondly recalled the imaginative elective
course Cruitt developed that had a lasting impact on
many of Cruitt’s students. The course, “Cities in Civilization”
drew from Cruitt’s own experience in the Army where he
traveled to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Dublin and many
other thriving urban communities. It included a comparative
study of three influential cities: Rome, Florence and New
York. The course concluded with a look at cities in decline,
with hopes for urban renewal, such as the struggling city
of Newark.
Cruitt’s special qualities and talents, however, transcended
the classroom. Citing examples of thoughtful foresight
and disciplined leadership, Parlin attested, “Ray Cruitt is
an exceptionally fine human being, a man of integrity.”
In 1976, as the nation celebrated its bicentennial anniversary,
Cruitt was appointed to direct Newark Academy’s festivities.
OUTREACH spring 2008
With his usual determination, quiet leadership and skilled
organizational abilities, he coordinated programs, assemblies
and events. Little did he know then, successful implementation
of this charge was a prelude to the next phase of
his career at the Academy.
Cruitt was more than a bit surprised when, in 1979,
Headmaster Allan Strand asked him to serve as Newark
Academy’s director of development. “I’m not sure what
those people do,” Cruitt recounted. Nevertheless, he
accepted the challenge and learned within a short period
of time that it was a match made in heaven.
In his role as the Academy’s director of development,
Cruitt raised the annual fund to new levels by increasing
total giving and number of donors. He also established
a strong alumni relations program, reinvigorated the
alumni association’s leadership board, and spearheaded
the creation of a new Academy seal and graphic identity.
In the mid-1980s the charms of southern living beckoned,
and Ray moved to Asheville, North Carolina with his wife
Eve, and their children, Raymond and Jennafer. He served
as assistant headmaster for external affairs at the Asheville
School (an independent boarding school situated on a
300-acre campus) until his retirement in 2002. Once again,
his winning ways led to numerous awards and achievements,
including a CASE award for his outstanding development
program. In 2002 he was named “Fund Raising Executive
of the Year in Western North Carolina” and that same
year, the Ray Cruitt Scholarship Fund was established at
the Asheville School, later garnering a $1 million gift from
an alumnus in honor of Cruitt’s many years of dedicated
service to the school.
Beyond retirement, Cruitt has continued to serve as a
consultant to several nonprofit organizations, including a
community college, a YMCA, a nature center and a regional
medical center. Newark Academy is now fortunate to be
counted among those institutions receiving his counsel
and sage advice. He has recently been engaged to serve
as a consultant to the Office of Institutional Advancement.