Meet the New Dean of Students

Ashley Taylor hired in leadership role.

If the stacked boxes and unhung framed photos lining the perimeter of Ashley Taylor’s Jeremiah Smith Hall office this fall are any indication, Exeter’s new dean of students has been just a little busy since arriving in July. The Washington, D.C., area native spent the summer, she says, settling in to her New Hampshire home with her husband and two young children and learning as much as she could about the Academy before the school year began.

A few months into her first term, Taylor is focusing on getting to know the “engaging and interesting” student body, including her eight advisees in Webster Hall. “Our students seem to seek really big challenges in one way or another,” she says. “They’re here with a sense of purpose and a sense of ‘What can I make of this opportunity?’”

Taylor arrives at Exeter after 14 years at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, where she spent the past nine years as the coed boarding school’s dean of students. Prior to that role, she had been a teacher, coach, dorm head, student adviser, senior leadership team member, member of the student life and student health review committees, and chair of strategic planning and scheduling committees and a diversity task force, among other responsibilities. She received numerous awards and recognition during her time there.

In a large pool of highly qualified candidates, Ashley stood out for her ability to inspire students and build meaningful collaborative relationships."

Principal Bill Rawson ’71

Taylor earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University, where she was a member of the varsity women’s lacrosse team. She earned a Master of Liberal Arts with extension studies in Biology from Harvard University.

In an email to students and staff announcing Taylor’s appointment Principal Bill Rawson ’71 wrote: “In a large pool of highly qualified candidates, Ashley stood out for her ability to inspire students and build meaningful collaborative relationships across the community, and for her commitment to challenging and supporting all students in an environment where they are deeply known and encouraged to develop character, self-awareness, resilience, and a sense of purpose.”

Taylor says she was drawn to Exeter for its values, as well as its commitment to diversity, need-blind admissions and Harkness pedagogy. “Exeter is so committed to making this opportunity accessible to students regardless of financial means,” Taylor says. “The fabric of this place is about conversation and diversity of perspectives and being comfortable being challenged and asking respectful, challenging questions.”

For perspective on her new role, Taylor relies on her professional experience, as well as the memories she has from her days as a high schooler at an all-girls independent school in D.C. “Similar to my experience,” Taylor says, “there is an emphasis here on academic excellence, but there’s also an importance of high school being a time of fun, where kids are forming lifelong friendships, trying new things, finding real success in something that they feel good about. I’m impressed by how students seek challenge, and I’m interested in continuing to see how they balance that with fun and joy.”

Taylor says she didn’t come in with a rigid action plan to implement and is instead using the conversations she’s having with students, faculty and staff in her first term on campus to help shape her vision for the future.

“What I have found success in is being able to ask questions, identify where we could be even better in serving the student experience and then help create a process that helps us find the right answer.”

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Presidential scholar brings historical context to 2024 race

Professor Ellen Fitzpatrick shares the history of women's pursuit of the presidency in visit to campus.

Throughout the history of the United States, most people running for president have had common traits. Regardless of party affiliation, white men of means have traditionally found themselves at the top of the ticket. But as Ellen Fitzpatrick told Assembly Friday, the history of women running for the highest office in the land dates back much further than you might imagine.

“I’m going to begin today with the takeaway message,” Fitzpatrick said. “Historical change takes a very long time. Often to achieve especially transformative and profound change, it doesn’t come easily.”

Fitzpatrick spoke briefly about Hilary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2016 bid for president and acknowledged Vice President Kamala Harris’ current campaign, but chose to use the majority of her time on the Assembly stage to talk about some lesser-known political pioneers. She pointed out that over 200 women have run for president including the first, Victoria Woodhull in 1872, nearly a half century before women had the right to vote.

“She was among the most radical presidential candidates of any sex,” Fitzpatrick said. “She set up her own political party and her own newspaper to promote her candidacy … at 34 she was ineligible under the constitution to even hold the office that she sought.”

A veteran professor of Harvard University, M.I.T. and Wellesley College and Emerita at the University of New Hampshire, Fitzpatrick is the author of The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women’s Quest for the American Presidency, a 2016 “Editor’s Choice” by the New York Times. She continued the conversation with students during a lunch and learn session in the Elting Room where the topics ranged from the upcoming election in the United States to recent elections in Mexico and Europe that have seen women assume ruling positions.

Alum sheds light on perils of media addiction

SeiSei Tatebe-Goddu ’01 discussed the “full-on mental health crisis” affecting teens in assembly address.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

SeiSei Tatebe-Goddu’s ’01 pointed words rippled through a captivated Assembly audience on Friday. The founder of Lights on Labs, which builds and directs public demand for responsible technology, discussed the consequences of media addiction with the exact audience that so many companies target — teenagers.

Tatebe-Goddu noted that the daily average amount of screen time for children in the United States is seven hours. She then extrapolated to show that by the time a student graduates, they will have spent more than a full year of high school looking at a screen. She went on to explain the effects of teens seeking positive affirmations on social media through features such as “likes.”

“You know what seven hours of non-stop dopamine hits leads to?,” she asked rhetorically. “Unsurprisingly it is not healthy teens. Tragically, it is higher rates of suicide among 10-14 year olds and other illness like depression and ADHD.”

Throughout the presentation Tatebe-Goddu used the term “big” to describe the warped sense of self-worth, productivity and success outlets present to impressionable young people. Equally damaging to what’s being consumed by teens online, she argued, is what is being minimized or replaced by kids pursuit of “big.” She turned to the crowd for suggestions, hearing examples like “family,” “friends” and “sleep.”

Tatebe-Goddu, part of the executive committee of Exeter’s General Alumni Association, was on hand as part of Exeter Leadership Weekend. Her campaign, Mothers Against Media Addiction, was launched in February and has quickly developed 17 chapters nationwide and received recognition from tastemakers like Oprah Winfrey.

Model students

Exeter Summer course provides hands-on experience in introductory architecture.

Midday light pours through arched windows into the top floor of the Mayer Art Center as focused students hunch over drafting tables, sketchbooks open, chipboard and X-Acto knives in-hand. Instructor Brian Murphy surveys the scene, “They’re working on designing their own design studio and building small scale models,” he says of his upper school students. “It’s about learning the language of how to communicate an idea.”

This week’s project is the latest in the Architectural Design Process class, an introductory course where students learn the basic principles of architectural design and process. In addition to creating, students also learn by observation during walkabouts led by Murphy, a professional architect in nearby Portsmouth, NH, through Exeter’s sprawling campus.

“This campus is a great place to have an introduction to architecture. We have many generations of buildings represented and we have one of the best-known icons of mid-century modern architecture in the library [designed by] a world-famous architect, Louis Kahn.”

The students in the class arrived at Exeter Summer with varying levels of knowledge of architecture. New York City-resident, and rising senior, Jessica says she plans to study architecture in college.

“I was always drawing, so people used to tell me, oh you should be an architect,” she says. “I’ve done a bunch of courses outside of school for architecture and I just think it’s really interesting.”

Pointing to the scale model on her desk, Jessica explains some of the choices she’s made in designing her dream studio.

“I just really like having a lot of open space, so I wanted to make something with huge windows,” she says. “I felt like having two completely open sides would allow me to be inspired by what’s outside.”

One table over, Lia is using today’s class period to overhaul her original plan.

“I started with something more conventional because I didn’t really know what to do, but I felt like I was forcing it,” she says. “I started doing the model and I got the proportions wrong, so I had to start over.”

She used the setback to get a bit more ambitious with her design.

“I was like, ‘What if I do something with a circle?’ And once I started drawing it transformed into this,” she says pointing at her scale model.

“There’s a terrace here, this part would be all windows and try to incorporate a lot of nature, which I like.” The Dominican Republic-native says she didn’t have much prior architectural knowledge and has loved the opportunity to learn about the process, “I never thought I would be designing something like this,” she says with a smile.

Parents, family members and friends of the Class of 2024 gathered in force along with Exeter faculty members on a brilliantly sunny Sunday to send off the graduates in grand style.

Accompanied by the elegant strains of a student string quartet, the seniors made their way across Front Street and proceeded up the center of the lawn, followed by faculty members. After Principal Bill Rawson ’71; P’08 kicked off the ceremony, Senior Class President Ayaan Akhtar welcomed family and friends, as well as his fellow seniors.

“Congratulations — we made it,” Akhtar told his classmates. He mentioned challenges they worked through together during their time at Exeter, including beginning their ninth grade fall in September 2020, deep into the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We attended our first-ever classes scattered across the globe, staring blankly at a Zoom screen,” Akhtar said. “We lacked the instant physical connection every other prep class made as soon as they stepped foot on campus during orientation, yet we brought passion and an overwhelming desire to learn and love one another.”

Akhtar called for a moment of silence for classmate Matthew Clemson, who died last year. “Our class is incomplete without his presence,” Akhtar said. “He brought in irreplaceable light.” He also mentioned world events, including the effects of climate change and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza, among other regions.

“Transitioning into adulthood brings a rising responsibility to use our education to recognize global adversity and its intersectionality,” he said. “Education truly is an extraordinary gift and an extraordinary luxury we have all been afforded, so it’s on us to use this gift as we become adults in a world full of injustices.”

Graduating students listen to opening remarks from Principal Rawson.

Akhtar ended with a message of “hope and promise” for himself and his fellow graduates. “Let us continue to imagine, to dream — let us utilize our immense curiosity and ability to envision and create a better world.”

After Akhtar’s remarks, Rawson recognized five retiring faculty members who he said represent a combined 162 years of service to the Academy. Michelle Dionne, instructor in the English Department (appointed in 1996); Mark Hiza, instructor in the Science Department (appointed in 1993); Becky Moore, instructor in the English Department (appointed in 1990); and Russell Weatherspoon, dean of students and instructor in the Religion Department (appointed in 1987), were sitting onstage during graduation. Dana Barbin, former athletic director and longtime varsity boys’ hockey coach who was appointed in 1987, also retired this year.

Principal’s farewell

“You came to Exeter to learn and grow, have fun, make lifelong friends, pursue your passions, and lay the surest foundation for the rest of your lives — the surest foundation for leading purposeful lives,” Rawson said at the outset of his farewell address to the Class of 2024. “You have done all that, and you have done it well.”

Like Akhtar, Rawson spoke of the challenges many members of the class had faced together. “I am proud of all that you have accomplished, but even more proud of how you have contributed to the life of the school, and how you have supported each other,” the principal said.

Rawson also discussed the impact of world events on the school community, and the toll taken by daily news reports of “war, violence, disease, hunger, poverty and injustice.” “You have to decide how you want to respond to these and other challenges that you see in the world every day,” he told the graduates. “You have to decide how you want to make the world, the communities in which you live, and the places where you work, better than you found them — not just for some, but for all.”

Crucial to that effort, he emphasized, would be not surrounding themselves with people of similar opinions and outlooks, but seeking to continue learning “with and from others whose ideas, experiences and perspectives differ from your own.”

During their time at Exeter, Rawson said, the seniors heard many alumni speak from the Assembly Hall stage and elsewhere about their experiences applying the core values learned at Exeter in work and life. With graduation, they join that community of Exonians seeking to bring the values of goodness and knowledge to bear on some of the world’s greatest challenges.

“It is your turn now to begin writing your own non sibi stories,” Rawson said. In closing, he welcomed the Class of 2024 into the family of Exeter alumni, assuring them that “You will always be Exonians, and you will always belong here.”

Honors and Special Awards

Before Rawson’s remarks, Dean of Faculty Eimer Page P’22, Akhtar and retiring Trustee Wole Coaxum ’88; P’24 presented this year’s endowed college scholarships, followed by the commencement awards and prizes.

The Faculty Prize for Academic Excellence: Jack Gordon

The Cox Medals: Beeke Fock, Jack Gordon, Daria Ivanova, Emi Levine, Luca Shakoori

The Yale Cup: Byron Grevious

The Ruth and Paul Sadler ’23 Cup: Caroline Shu

The Perry Cup: Nhan (Reggie) Phan

The Williams Cup: Achyuta Rajaram

The Eskie Clark Award: Adora Perry

The Thomas H. Cornell Award: Gretchen (Gigi) Lannon

The Multicultural Leadership Prize: Solu Ajene, Ayaan Akhtar, Stacy Chen, Aliyana Koch-Manzur, Emelia (Emmie) Zarb

Ceremony program

A string quartet consisting of Jaehyun Park ’24, and Ethan Ding ’25 on the violin, Evan Fan ’26 on the viola and Luke Miller ’24 on the cello, played the prelude and processional at the beginning of the ceremony.

After the presentation of honors and special awards, Music Instructor Jerome Walker led a performance of “The Road Home,” composed by Stephen Paulus, by seniors in Exeter’s Concert Choir, including Vera Aimunmondion, Nupur Malhotra, Riya Tyagi, Rodrigo Camara Moreno, Colin Maloney, Ellie Wang, David Goodall, Silja Pope, William Weber, Anna Hanzíková, Christopher Serrao, Corinne Wingate, Ava Lori Hudgins, Aidan Ting and Chengyue Zhang.

Seniors Willa Bazos, Elizabeth Catizone, Nataly Delcid and Nihaal Rana assisted Rawson in handing out the diplomas, while Class Marshals Corinne Blaise, Reid Burke, Lucas Rodriguez and Diego Shetreet escorted their fellow members of the Class of 2024 to their seats before the ceremony.

Alum chronicles father’s remarkable journey of Holocaust survival

Andy Laszlo ’70; P’00, P‘04 addressed assembly to share Andrew Laszlo Sr.’s against-all-odds story of perseverance and success.

From his sober opening line, Andy Laszlo ’70; P’00, P‘04 gripped Tuesday’s assembly audience as he spoke about his father’s survival of the Holocaust. “Many of you are 18 years old … that’s how old my father was when he went into his first concentration camp.”

But the story of Andrew Laszlo Sr. is not one of despair, but rather perseverance in the face of unspeakable horror. In 2002, the junior Laszlo published his father’s memoir, “Footnote to History,” which tells a remarkable firsthand account of the atrocities of World War II, the search for a better life and ultimately, finding success in the emerging mediums of television and film.

As Laszlo shared with assembly, his father chose to keep the heartbreaking contents of his childhood in an increasingly antisemitic Hungary and early adult years in multiple Nazi labor camps from his family for half a century.

“Why did he keep a secret? Maybe he didn’t want to relive his past. Maybe he thought it was too much for us to process or that it might define our lives and make us feel like victims.”

When the elder Laszlo did share his past, it was in the form of a book, sent to his son 50 years to the day from when he emigrated to the U.S. with $2 and the clothes on his back. Upon receipt, Laszlo called his father.

“He was in New York and I was in Montana and it was awkward. He was concerned how his oldest child might feel. I told him that I loved him and was proud to be his son. And from 2,000 miles away, I could feel the angst of 50 years falling off his shoulders.”

Once arriving in the states, Laszlo Sr. tapped into the same resourcefulness that enabled him to survive his persecution in war-torn Europe. A job with the U.S. Army filming bomb testing parlayed into an eventual decades-long career behind the camera. Laszlo was instrumental in broadcasting cultural moments like The Beatles’ 1965 concert at Shea Stadium, Ed Sullivan’s sit-down interview with Cuba’s Fidel Castro and eventually as a cinematographer for blockbusters like the 1982 Rambo film “First Blood.”

Members of the class of 1970 were in attendance to support their classmate, as was childhood friend Principal Bill Rawson ’71; P’08, who pointed out in his introduction that Laszlo’s address came a week and a day after Yam HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“When he died, [my father] had a smile on his face,” Laszlo said. “He had come to America, kept the family name alive, and had had a great career. His life was the triumph of strong will over evil and his survival is what gave me and my family the gift of life.”

The Big ‘E’asy

Visiting Preservation Hall Jazz Band All-stars bring New Orleans music center stage.

A warm, brassy timbre spills out of Assembly Hall, echoing down the Academy Building corridors to welcome arriving students, helping them shake off the chill of a frigid February morning. On stage, far removed from their usual off-Bourbon Street haunt, the Preservation All-Stars sail through a handful of jazz standards, pausing only briefly to set up the next number.

“This is an old song,” band leader and trumpet player Kevin Louis says in a Southern croak before the group launches into the up-tempo tune with a call-and-response chorus. “It’s called ‘Down to New Orleans.’ It’s perfect to think about because y’all got this cold weather.” The refrain, “Why don’t you go down to New Orleans?” was prophetic for some in attendance. The Academy’s jazz ensemble returned the visit in March to perform throughout the Crescent City and watch the group play at their musical home, Preservation Hall.

Founded in 1961, Preservation Hall has become a landmark in New Orleans’ French Quarter neighborhood. The space, and its band, a rotating roster of dozens of performers, has become synonymous with the New Orleans jazz sound.

Operating as a six-piece setup on this morning, the group closes the set with a second-line recessional, a free-wheeling, upbeat jazz style commonly performed in a parade as part of funerals within Black communities of New Orleans. The music continues as students bound toward their next engagements.

A short time later, the musicians proceed to the Forrestal-Bowld Music Center where they sit in with the jazz ensemble under the direction of Music Department Chair Marcus Rabb. The session starts as most in “The Bowld ” do with a cacophony of tuning instruments. The All-Stars find seats among the students as Rabb sets the tone for the class period.

“So today, we’re just going to play some tunes,” he says, “and if at any point our visiting friends want to chime in, they can do that.”

It’s the last rehearsal before the jazz ensemble’s winter concert and the All-Stars’ presence and guidance provides an extra level of excitement. “They’re tired of me,” Rabb says with a smile.

Music is not really on the page, just the notes are on the page. But the music, the magic, that’s got to come from inside.

Sheet music pages turn in unison and with a “one, two, ah one, two, three, uh” the ensemble launches into Milt Jackson’s “Reunion Blues.” After one run-through, Rabb pauses to work with the saxophone section on the song’s signature riff. All-Star saxophonist Clint Maedgen jumps in and wails through the notes on repeat. “You see where he’s putting those accents?” Rabb bellows as he motions for the students to join in. Mari Watanabe uses the momentary break to instruct Elaine Qiao ’25 on the piano. “You have to feel,” Watanabe says. “Blues is more one phrase, don’t cut with the measure.”

As classes elsewhere in the music building begin to let out, a crowd forms in the large doorway leading into “The Bowld” before people eventually spill into the room and the audience seats. With an eye on the clock, Rabb tries to close out the period before he’s persuaded by the ensemble and onlookers to play through Jon Batiste’s “Freedom” once more. As the students begin packing up Rabb thanks the visiting musicians with a humorous proposition. “I’m going to need you all to enroll as 12th graders,” he says. “You can all live at my house.”

Sit in on rehearsal

Join the Preservation All-Stars as they visited Exeter and played alongside students at a Jazz Ensemble rehearsal.

The All-Stars’ residency is made possible by a fund established in 1998 by Jane and Clint Gilbert ’47 that supports students’ pursuit of music through lessons, providing instruments and the Gilbert Concert Series, which brings renowned musicians to campus for performance and instruction. In addition to their time with the students, the All-Stars play an evening show for Exeter community in a packed Bowld that ends with audience members dancing and swirling around the band.

>> Watch the performance

Dream to reality

For Rabb, a jazz trumpet player, the group’s affiliation with the birthplace of the genre makes the connection extra special. “Preservation Hall is a community-based organization dedicated to preserving traditional New Orleans music,” he says. “It can’t be overstated that it’s one of the most important American musical institutions.”

After joining the Academy in 2021, Rabb dreamt of partnering with the All-Stars and taking Exeter’s jazz ensemble on tour to the Big Easy. “I figured it would take five to 10 years to have a group good enough to do that and we were able to do it in three,” he says. “The universe let me put my plan into action.”

The collaboration on this day and the students’ upcoming spring break trip to New Orleans is all part of Preservation Hall’s mission. “For us, that’s our goal, to pass this music on to the youth,” Louis says. He and his bandmates were impressed by the students’ level of musicianship and looked forward to hosting the ensemble.

“They’re going to break all their dietary restrictions; that’s first,” he says. “And I think they’re going to get the idea that the music is not really on the page, just the notes are on the page. But the music, the magic, that’s got to come from inside.”

In the break between winter and spring terms, Rabb, a team of chaperones, and 22 students traveled to New Orleans for a week performing and taking in the cultural sites of the city, including Preservation Hall. “You go into the small, wooden, many-times-flooded building, tucked into the middle of a street like any other, and you immediately feel the joy,” Will Simpson ’24 says about the Hall. “It feels like how people describe the Sistine Chapel or Notre Dame.” The drummer says he was inspired by the All-Stars in the exact way Louis had hoped. “These guys are insanely technically skilled, but they have the understanding that being so technically skilled allows you to spend all your energy being you, and playing in your voice.”

This story first appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Adam Loyd