NEWBURY, Mass. - Governor Dummer Academy, the country's oldest independent boarding school, was founded before the Revolution. Jokes about its name have been around roughly as long. There's "Dumb and Dummer," "Getting smarter at Dummer," or students who go in "come out Dummer." The school is named for William Dummer, a former acting governor of Massachusetts who donated land to start the school. Over the years, students and alumni have accepted the ribbing about it with varying degrees of annoyance or indifference. "We all get over it," said student Kelsey Johnson, 18, of Newbury. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's...