One of the first memories a new student makes at Hill is the welcoming presentation by Dean of Students Ari Baum. Baum, who also serves as head coach of girl’s hockey and Carl Knobloch Instructor of Economics, is known for his unique presentations. Besides urging students to “be a better person and prioritize good over great,” Baum said his presentations have the ultimate goal of making change according to the world situation. In particular, the pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism this year. 

Each presentation starts on the whiteboard, where Baum lays out important ideas and concepts while playing music. When working on specific topics, Heidi Eccleston, associate dean of students, mentioned how they “make sure that we have all our messaging because we realize that when we do have the opportunity to stand in front of students, that time is valuable.

After this, Baum streamlines his ideas by contextualizing them into much simpler words. Through this process and his natural public speaking skills, Baum never outlines a specific word-to-word speech. 

“I use this, the slides, just as much as the slides are used by the audience,” Baum said, referring to how he only has an image of what he will say. 

The slides appear in virtually all of his presentations. They don’t simply represent the planning of the lecture; they reflect on the format and style Baum purposefully creates.

Throughout his range of presentations, the format, style and goal are kept consistent. 

Additionally, the slides have the same background with the Hill logo. Different typing features are always utilized, the most noticeable being color coding. 

“I generally just think the brain and the eye like to see a mixture of colors. It helps keep things interesting, wakes people up,” Baum explained. Aside from the visual aids, Baum also characterizes his presentations with his “on-stage” movement. The movement, similar to the simplicity, facilitates and enhances the speaker-audience engagement. 

Lastly, Baum adds shifts in his tone and intensity. “There’s not any planning behind it; not all slides are, in my own mind, needing to be emphasized to the same extent. I get louder and more emphatic about a message,” he explained. 

Speaking on the matter, Girls Hockey Captain Julia Weiss ’21 added, “He doesn’t raise his voice too often, but, when he does, it kind of says something in itself. He just has a lot of passion.”

The passion and engagement in Baum’s presentations form and reflect the significance of the topic. It helps students bridge the gap between their lives at Hill and the world we live in, or simply the task at hand.  

“He’s able to synthesize complex ideas into like, three sentences. And then those three sentences typically become like mantras of a sword that sticks in the audience’s head in general. It creates this impact that’s longer-lasting than just the length or presentation,” said Coordinator of Student Life Laura McConney. 

There is significant work and thought behind the scenes of the presentations that explain the importance of rules and protocols in the current times, the supply and demand of a market, or the game plan against Lawrenceville. McConney illustrated this with a question on Baum’s Chapel Talk. “Do you not think the length of it was intentional? The whole talk was about patience.”