In August, 2014, Buzzfeed, an internet media company, announced Canterbury’s very own digital business veteran and former President of Criteo and Huffington Post, Greg Coleman ‘72 would be joining the company as its President. Mr. Coleman was first introduced to Buzzfeed through his daughter, who upon graduating from Georgetown University, started working at an unknown start-up company of about 20 people called Buzzfeed.
Mr. Coleman came back to Canterbury on April 19 and presented an on-campus professional development workshop for secondary school placement directors, feeder school colleagues, and local Canterbury parents, faculty, and staff along with kicking off Canterbury’s new Facebook page dedicated to alumni. After a busy day of presentations and meetings, the staff at The Tabard was able to catch up with him about his time at Canterbury, while he shared some of his memories and challenges.
Transitioning from an all boys school to a co-ed one, setting a pole vaulting record and learning how to study were some of the challenges met by Mr. Coleman ‘72 during his four years at Canterbury.
Just what was it like going from an all boy’s school to a co-educational one?
“Well, all of the girls wanted to date me, so it was just such a nuisance,” he joked. But kidding aside, Mr. Coleman felt the transition was a positive one for the school, mainly because it changed the ambiance of the school.
“We really couldn’t be the complete jerks we were,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the same afternoon of his graduation day, Canterbury had its final track meet against Trinity-Pawling. It was a quadrangular meet, and on that day he set the school record for pole-vaulting – a school record that still stands. So, it was an especially memorable graduation day.
Mr. Coleman’s biggest challenge here was one many students can identify with – trouble studying.
“It was difficult for me to sit down and apply myself,” he said. “ Essentially, I had to learn different life skills to get my way through and to absorb information. I discovered it was easier for me to grasp the information through my classmates than my teachers.”
When his Canterbury days were over, Mr. Coleman left for college a different person from when he arrived
“I left confident in that I could make friends, I was confident in sports, and confident in who I was,” he said.
But some things don’t change. Mr. Coleman has been back to Canterbury several times since he graduated, and has noticed that some things remain constant.
“The passion and commitment of teachers and faculty to build well-rounded students is something that has never changed,” he said.
Looking back at his years at Canterbury, Mr. Coleman has this advice for the students here.
“Live in the moment more and appreciate every day you have at Canterbury. Like the old saying says, ‘You never know what you have until it’s gone.’”
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