Pickett Davis Randolph ’56

Coming from Baltimore with her legendary wide smile and embracing manner, Pickett and Foxcroft began, in 1953, a lifetime relationship of shared values, hard work, joyous humor, and mutual respect.

Becoming a FOX was her first signature moment, and to this day her greetings and farewells, in person or on her answering machine, are always GO FOXES! The competition, loyalty, and friendships inherent in the Fox/Hound tradition, met the discipline, precision, and ceremony of the Drill. The lessons and the values of Fox/Hound and the Drill became guiding principles in Pickett’s life, though her rallying her troops to march at deb parties and wedding receptions garnered strange facial expressions from non-Foxcroft attendees!

With a strong sense of self, Pickett went to Wheaton College and subsequently began a career with the CIA. In 1982, she was awarded an MA in National Security Affairs from the Naval War College. In her class of 360 at the War College, she was one of eight women and one of two civilians. These women collaborated almost like a “survival unit.” Perhaps being the Lieutenant of Foxcroft’s Fourth Platoon prepared her to “rally these troops” as well. Or perhaps, it was her inherent dedication to fairness. Nonetheless, her voice strengthened, her focus honed on equity, her belief in schools for girls rather than schools with girls solidified, and her passion for Foxcroft became her mantra.

Serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for eighteen years, as her Reunion Chair every five years since her graduation, as a Major Gifts Volunteer for the Gateways to Excellence Campaign, as a Career Day Participant, as a Speaker at the Senior Dinner, as the Class Rep, as the Facilitator/Analyzer of the Myers Briggs Inventory for Students, Faculty, and Trustees alike, and as the Co-Chair of the Memory Committee for the Centennial Celebration, Pickett has more than responded to the challenge of her greatest mentor, Miss Charlotte. Living and breathing “To whom much is given, much is expected,” Pickett’s sense of service also touches the world at large as a volunteer at the District of Columbia Rape Crisis Center, at the District of Columbia Women’s Jail, and the Humane Society, and as a Docent at the National Gallery of Art. For a short time, she volunteered at the White House Commentary Line. Her leave-taking from there says it all: “I had great stories to tell, but I was not making a difference.”

For a lifetime of meaningful service, the Board of Trustees and Mary Louise Leipheimer, the Head of School, honor Pickett Davis Randolph, Class of 1956, by presenting her with Foxcroft’s highest honor, the Anne Kane McGuire Distinguished Service Award.