Great Is the Truth

A shocking exposé of sexual abuse and the struggle for justice at one of America's most prestigious schools

The Horace Mann School, located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, represents the pinnacle of private education. With all its accolades and prestige, few could have anticipated the scandal that erupted in 2012 when The New York Times Magazine ran a cover story by the journalist and Horace Mann alumnus Amos Kamil detailing a decades-long pattern of sexual abuse by teachers.
In Great Is the Truth, Kamil and his coauthor, Sean Elder, uncover the full story of what happened at Horace Mann, and recount what has occurred in the aftermath of Kamil's watershed article. With craft and poise, they reveal a high-stakes environment of demanding academics and barely hidden debauchery, where many faculty members exploited their unchecked and undue influence to horrifying ends. Fast-forwarding to the present, Kamil and Elder relate how survivors emerged and petitioned for redress with the aid of celebrity lawyers while administrators and trustees scrambled to protect the school and themselves. They also look closely at how other schools have responded to scandal, often with far greater compassion and candor. How can institutions rectify their complicity in abuse and prevent it from recurring? How can victims achieve their due? "Great is the truth and it prevails," may be the motto of Horace Mann, but for many alumni, the truth remains all too hard to come by.