Lawrenceville Celebrates Faculty Value: Kindness

Throughout the year, Lawrenceville faculty members honor colleagues who embody the values that define the School community — commitment, courage, enthusiasm, friendship, honesty, initiative, kindness, leadership, loyalty, perseverance, responsibility, and thoughtfulness. These values guide daily work in the classroom, Houses, and programs across campus, shaping a culture built on shared purpose. 

This profile—part of a series on honorees—highlights Spanish teacher Hunter Cuniff, recognized for the kindness he brings to Lawrenceville. 

A smile in the hallway. A follow-up question after a tough exam. A “congratulations!” on a successful athletic or artistic event. A small treat from a local bakery. For Hunter Cuniff, these simple moments of connection add up to something much larger: a culture of caring. It’s a quality that earned him recognition for embodying one of the School’s core values: kindness.

“I love my discipline and my colleagues, but helping students understand themselves and each other, and realize not just that we all need help at times but that we can all be that for each other at times – that’s what matters most. It’s about recognizing when someone is struggling and showing up in an authentic way so they know they’re supported,” he said.

When Cuniff learned he had been selected for a faculty award recognizing kindness, his first reaction was simple: gratitude.

“Recognition is not why we teach and it certainly isn’t why I choose to be kind each day,” Cuniff said. “And yet I have to admit that to get it feels really good. And to get it for a thing that I believe really matters makes it even more powerful. If the world could use more of something, it’s kindness.”

For Cuniff, kindness means being present–whether it’s asking a question and truly listening to the answer, noticing when someone needs encouragement and taking the time to lift them up, or dining with someone who might otherwise skip a meal because they didn’t have anyone else to sit with. “Time is our most precious commodity. When you give it to provide comfort and care for others–student or adult – it doesn’t cost much, but it makes a big difference,” he said.

Over his 16 years at Lawrenceville, Cuniff has taught Spanish at every level and coached both boys’ and girls’ tennis. He has led in Griswold and Kennedy Houses, advised in Stanley House, and now guides students in Woodhull House.  Through this wide-ranging work, he has remained dedicated to nurturing students’ growth as people.

That philosophy carries into every corner of his Lawrenceville life, whether in the classroom or on the courts. He notices how small acts—like a student sharing extra pens with peers in order to complete an activity or offering academic support when they feel they know the material—help build the culture of kindness he hopes to nurture. On the girls’ junior varsity tennis team, for instance, he sees daily examples of “comradery and support that is so authentic it fuels me,” Cuniff said. “There’s an authentic warmth to it that keeps me going and says, ‘this is why I teach here.’”

After earning his bachelor of arts degree in Latin American and Iberian Studies at the University of Richmond, Cuniff began his Lawrenceville career as a teaching fellow working toward his master’s degree in education in the University of Pennsylvania Independent School Teaching Residency program. He now mentors faculty new to Lawrenceville as well as current teaching fellows.

When not teaching, coaching, advising, or mentoring, Cuniff enjoys an unusual hobby: yo-yoing, which he jokingly calls his therapy. “It’s kind of silly how extensive my yo-yo collection is,” he laughed. (Watch an L10 News report on Cuniff’s hobby.)

Through all of it, Cuniff remains guided by a simple mantra he shares with every class: “Smile, and the world smiles back. If you can choose to be anything, choose to be kind. The little stuff adds up, and it makes a difference,” he said.

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.