By Adam Gold

President Thomas C. Hudnut will attend the annual meeting of the G20, a highly selective group of independent secondary schools in the English speaking world, held in South Africa this spring. The organization was formed in 2006 by Anthony Seldon, the Master of Wellington College, an independent high school in England, said Hudnut, the school’s representative to the G20.

Seldon traveled the world visiting secondary schools and meeting with school heads to come up with the list, which now exceeds 20 members.

The first meeting was held in March, 2006, at Wellington College in the United Kingdom, with representatives from all across the globe.
There are six schools from the United States, including Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, Lawrenceville and Buckingham, Browne and Nichols.

The United Kingdom is well represented, but there are schools from South Africa and Australia, as well.
One school that particularly interested Hudnut last spring was the Doon School in northern India.

“It’s in the foothills of the Himalayas, and the Indian intelligentsia or aristocracy has historically sent its kids there,” Hudnut said. “I want to go and visit because of the stables. The maharajas used to bring their elephants.” The group recently voted to add several new members, including a school in Lima, Peru and one in Singapore, Hudnut said.

Hudnut also hopes to visit some of the Australian campuses and possibly set up some research opportunities or exchange programs with schools there.

“I think Australia is more like the United States and most places in attitude and temperment and sense of opportunity and optimism,” he said.

The 2008 conference will be held in Jordan at King’s College, an English-speaking independent school founded by Eric Widmer, former head of Deerfield.